Managing the performance of any employee is difficult, but absolutely necessary. To do it successfully, you need to have a few fundamentals in place first: 1) A current and accurate performance-oriented job description that focuses on accountabilities. This establishes a baseline for expected performance. Without one, you'll be measuring in the dark, and may end up focusing on areas that aren't priorities, and don't drive results. 2) KPIs are always recommended. But whatever you put into place, remember that project management is expectation management, and thus not everything can be measured empirically, like budget deviation or milestones missed. It will be important to consider anecdotal or 'soft' metrics, and get team and client input on how well they communicate, motivate, handle conflict, deal with cross functional issues etc. 3) Measure fit. Too many companies fail in this regard. No matter how well the PM functionally performs as per their job description, it's equally important to measure how well they fit the company's culture, live your purpose and core values, and contribute to achieving the company's overall vision. If you have a capable PM, with strong self initiative, a weekly meeting should be the bare minimum. That said, a quick 5 minute huddle at the beginning of the day is recommended – especially for new hires still in the process of getting their feet wet – followed by another quick 5 minute huddle at the end of the day to recap progress, issues etc. You can loosen or tighten this up as needed, once they begin demonstrating the autonomy and smart decision-making you expect to see. I'm happy to jump on a call with you to talk more specifics, and lay out a plan you can follow.

Great approach! Many people don't realize that campaigns must be created and implemented well ahead of time. Growth hacking for example takes time and a lot of diligence, many think is a quick solve all approach to marketing but contrary to that! I would be willing to help you if you have any questions. I have done several growth campaigns with significant results, you didn't seem to post a question tho. :)

Have a look at Digital Globe's map API. We partnered with them recently and I learned about their mapping disaster recovery assistance in Nepal after the quake. I think the maps they offer will meet your needs: http://developer.digitalglobe.com/maps-api/

I am not sure if your courses are video-based, but I have had success with Udemy and Teachable. I teach WordPress and have 7 courses on Udemy right now. They pay instructors based on a percentage and also if the students are part of Udemy already or if you drive traffic to the course from your own internet marketing strategies. I help companies get their courses started on Udemy as well. Also, if you want to control the pricing structure a little more, check out Teachable. They are pretty good and as you requested, they take a small percentage. I hope this helps. Bruce

I've worked with a couple of CRMs; if you are looking for a custom-like solution, I'd recommend Podio. Salesforce has a lot of options, but tends to overwhelm folks who are not familiar with their tool. If I didn't go with Podio, I'd choose HubSpot because of the integration with their other sales and marketing services. I don't know any other details about your venture, so it is hard to offer a tool that will grow with you. I'm happy to discuss more and give you a more detailed answer. Just book a call and we can get rockin' -Shaun

Hello. My experience showed me that it is definitely not easy to get money from a bank especially in the early stages. It really depends on what type of business you are starting. Banks would usually look for risk management in the form of assets you own in case the business doesn't progress as planned. Unlike venture capitalists who are used to take a risk on startup investment, in the case of a bank it's very different and not trivial but I may not know all the schemes that banks offer in the US (is this where you are located?) I'd be happy to help you on your thinking process and cover the key points over a phone call. Hope this helps Yonatan

You already said it: "He isn't interested in salary as much as equity." If this developer is any bit worth his salt, he is worth the equity. A smaller piece of a bigger pie is far more valuable than a big piece of a small (or worthless) pie. Profit sharing is a red flag to me that just sounds "Cheap," unless you guys are making tons and tons of profit already. I don't know where you're based, but In Silicon Valley, a good developer can easily fetch $300-500k (base + bonus + yearly equity). UC Berkeley's average starting salary for NCGs majoring in EECS or Computer Science is $108k. Salary is something a good developer can easily get; why your startup (possibly unstable) rather than another more established company? If as the other person said, he walks and you're company is crippled, give him equity. Happy to chat more.

Good question. However, I think the better question should be; what system and thought process do I need to have for my Company Because. Marketing is just one small factor of your enterprise. Each and every single part of your business needs to be working on all cylinders. Below is a System we use to scale. I call it... 4 Heuristic Chain of Command" #1 High Level Thought Process The Dynamics Between The Founders Creating The Vision For The Company "Painted Picture" The Management and Creation of Your Dream Team (Do you have the right people?) #2 Strategy Creating Fundamental Blueprints For Success (USP, Brand Message, Attractive Character, Product Fit) Find And Establish Key Relationships And Networks (Who, What, Where and How?) Building a Backend sales system. (80/20 Rule of Business) 80% Profits in Backend: Increase Profits #3 Tactics Leverage technology to enable better buying for customers and faster selling (Online Marketing) Leverage Weekly KPI Performance Checks (What doesn't get measurend does not get improved) Leverage Top Platforms For Exponential Growth (Double Down) #4 Execution Day-to-Day optimization of Sales Channels (Paid Traffic, Content Marketing, PR, Direct Sales, Phone sales) Advanced analytics, social strategies and conversion optimization,for your business.(Dynamic, behavioral funnels) Analyse and research, measure metrics, perform technical audits and get competitive intelligence. (Email Marketing) I know this is probably not the answering you are looking for, but I hope you can keep an open mind Adios Ameer

Zenefits is top of mind, growing fast and operating all over the U.S., which is incredible because they're only a few years old. All of their HR services are free, like tracking employee PTO, changing 401K contribution amounts etc. etc., but Zenefits also employs a small army of insurance brokers. If you use Zenefits you can continue using your current insurance broker for employee health care policies, but they can offer you a quote as well. That's where a big chunk of their revenue comes from, which is fine. Btw the CEO still serves as the Zenefits administrator for the company, which I think is really cool, but that's coming from a product guy. Anyway I researched this topic last month, hope it helps. Warm regards, Gregg M. Kennelly

Falling in love with their solution, not the customer's problem.

Relentlessly obsess over the problem facing your ideal B2B client and how you will solve that problem for them. I've written hundreds of thousands of words on this topic on my blog: www.shaunnestor.com The highlights are: 1. Know your goals and objectives 2. How how you will measure your performance to those 3. Understand your audience and their needs 4. Articulate how you will meet the needs of that audience on the platform of their choosing 5. Design the content (graphics, text, etc) to roll out 6. Measure, measure, measure 7. Adapt and adjust There is no one-size-fits-all marketing tactic for either B2C or B2B. Just as building a house requires different materials and tools, but the basics are the same. The foundational elements (which I outlined above) are the same regardless of industry, product, customer, or price point. The biggest mistake brands make when creating a marketing strategy is thinking about it from *their* perspective rather than identifying the problem of their customer and solving it. I'd love to help more. Book a call and we can get into the specific tactics you will need. I've helped hundreds of brands around the world create successful social media marketing strategies. All the best, -Shaun

This is akin to asking: "How much does a car cost?" The most annoying, yet fitting, answer is: "It depends." Are you asking about software? Will you be creating and sending invoices? Do you have employees and HR needs? Do you have a website? Need one? Will you be managing IT needs on-site? Are you asking about hardware? What kind of foosball table? Remote access to the office? Desks and chairs? I'd love to help, but the question is a bit vague. I'm not sure if any other experts will be able to add much value to your inquiry. Please add more detail and we can get rockin' -Shaun

If you are going to train, commission for them only model is out of the question. A nanny service is almost a commodity, there is only so much people are willing to pay, a lot of demand but not acquired by everyone. Your profit margins will most likely be small because essentially you are getting into a brokerage service for the nannies taking a commission off each placement. Because of the low margins, you're better off maximum get each sale. Instead of making the primary business model based off 1 time hires/sales, focus on selling memberships... Try annual or bi-annual memberships that guarantees them a discount when they do actually hire, maybe offer faster or preferred services. This guarantees you operating cash flows month to month on top of the sales off each actual hire that pays for the nanny's hours worked and can give you an additional profit margin as brokerage commission. Monthly + commission - (EBIT + Op. Exp)

Is hard to tell just like that. You can do some research online. Look up what searchers are currently entering into their queries, what does google give as possible search options... Do people search more as a conversation word1 and word2 ? Or without the and? For online sharing purposes you might want a shorter domain but that shouldn't stop you from going with the longer one because you can get "shortlinks" created for Twitter and such, also length is not an issue if you share clickable links that don't have to be retyped by your potential visitor. Your domain had to be SEO friendly... But also not an issue at the beginning, regardless of domain you will have to do a lot of SEO and marketing work to build relevance online so Google shows you in queries that don't include your direct domain name... My suggestion: If your product or brand will be mentioned out loud or read a lot to include the AND then include that in your domain..

Hi There, I'd be happy to help walk through the growth process with you directly, but I should be clear that there isn't a "one-size-fits-all-solution". You can't simply "growth hack" anything. But you can quickly find strategies to reach customers, and if you have a product that people want you'll start to see growth! First we'll need to work through the confirming that your product is a real need for customers (product market fit). After we've confirmed this we'll begin setting up a process to brainstorm the top channels for reaching customers and then rapidly testing each of them. At the end of a few iterations you should have some solid information on what works. There is no quick fix or hack to this process, but with a little discipline you should be able to find solid growth.

Samples are traditionally 100+ people. Can you get 100 customers? How many customers (users too) do you have participating on the idea? Once you've shared it past friends and family, strangers are interested in what you're doing I believe that is all that is needed for a product/service to be validated. Feel free to call me on message me on LinkedIn to discuss this more in detail.

If your goal is a proof of concept, use what you know and don't stress about performance yet. Other options for using a web stack to build native apps include Steroids (native transitions with web views) and React Native. From what you're describing, it doesn't seem like you'll hit any major challenges in the alpha stages. Once the project grows legs, it would probably be worth consulting with an expert to dig deeper into the architecture and requirements to make a more informed judgment. Good luck!

Mock role-play with both parties at the same time (remote or in the same building). Schedule an hour session, pay for their time. This is the fastest method. In your question, you mention "often takes several months". I would assume there is a scenario that doesn't take several months. I would focus on testing only those shorter scenarios if possible to reduce the timeframe from other types of lengthy encounters with your service.

I have some thoughts on this, that I hope could help you: Your traffic comes easy: Who doesn't want to make a million dollars in no time? But after jumping from your articles, people realize, that this is harder work than they thought. You are not just pushing product - you are asking people to make a career choice. And that is a harder sell. So make it easy for them to say yes. Create information products: - People are initially suspicious: If it is so easy as they say on the sites, why don't you do it? What is the risk for me, if I sign up for this. - Provide examples from your own experience: People love storytelling and to step in the footsteps of others - at least process wise. When they are familiar with the setup, they will create their own paths. - Business plan for the first 100 days. What is the time commitment? What is the upside and downside? What must be in place competencewise to be successful (product knowledge, network to sell, other things?) - Tell your own story in articles: this is how you did it - these are the pitfalls of setting up your own business. Let them know, that you can help. - Think about building it into your own site instead of Quora. That way you could integrate with your information products more easily. Good idea to be very open that you are affiliated. That sends a message of honesty. But make the article by itself worth their while, so they leave with something interesting - even if they haven't clicked through to the affiliates. Best of luck. Let me know, if you want me to clarify any of the suggestions further. Best regards Kenneth Wolstrup

The main advantage of having the company and the product/service sharing the same name is that it is much more cost effective to build the brand in the early stages. You also need to consider what relationship any future products are going to have with your first (if any) - do they complement, compete, same markets/customers, etc. Generally, you will be better off by keeping the names the same. Think about how you pitch your company vs the product - is it a different story? Which name do you want people to remember? Think about where the names would live - business cards, urls, websites, app (icon), signage, etc. There are countless successful examples of different brand naming structures that work - there is no "best" way. Keep it simple. We wrote a book on naming and identity design a few years back. Happy to send you the first chapter pdf to see if it can help. Dann Ilicic WOW Branding

If you're on a PC then Camtasia is great. - but paid for. There are other solutions for Mac

Yes to both. Because it is a lucrative business, there is a lot of competition. There are very few barriers to entry in the staffing/recruiting space (cash flow being one if you are focused on contract placements as you'll need free cash to support payroll). You need to be prepared to stick it out for the long term. Time is your friend here, because most recruiters and sales reps (those building and cultivating relationships with clients) come and go. The relationships you can scrape together in your first year will serve you well if you are still in business in years 2, 3 and beyond - because you'll still be around, where many of your competitors will have moved on (not necessarily the agencies they worked for, but as owners of the relationship, they take that asset with them when they leave). Good to hear you are focused on technical staffing - stay in your lane, figure out what the core in-demand skills are in your market (likely software engineering like everywhere else), and focus on direct hire placement initially to get some early traction and cash in the bank. Then, when the time is right, hire a business development/sales professional and get them out in the field meeting with hiring managers from growing companies in your market. Track their activity and incentivize them to generate contract business, so you can start building up a book of business. Good luck!

Not at all. To me your suggestion is not discounting - it is a free trial period for potential customers to try out your product. And you want to limit it to a one day test. In my view, you could go up to a week without devaluating - especially if you integrate it with a testplan, so you show the potential customers how they can quickly clarify, whether your product is for them or not. The risky discounting is the type, where you give f.eks. 25% discount for the first three months, thereby making people used to a lower price, and by increasing the price you create a situation, that will make them look for alternatives. Alternatives are a om hard to know, when I am not familiar with your market, but here goes some general suggestions that should get your ideas flowing. Your ultimate goal should be to be the service, that knows the most about this market. People should look to your service as not only a service but as a source of advice and knowledge: Web presence - Discussion groups on web (like clarity.fm or Quora) - solve issues for people, and mention your service as the solution. - Establish a newsletter or website about topics, that are interesting to your prospects, where they would get benefit from their participation by itself. Use the traffic to lead into your solution. It could be about the technical or business side of your service. Physical promotion - - Phone promotion - call them - either yourself or through lead generation services - you provide prospects, they will call through them and book meetings for you. (Could be pricey, though). - "Physical" promotion - have a seminar, webinar or slideshare - depending on your physical closeness to your prospoects - where you present how ingenious your solution is compared to your competitors. - Affiliates - have other agents sell for you with a no pain-no gain-model. Maybe there are people, who already visit or have contact with your prospective clients, and your solution would maybe enhance their brand as well through synergy? Could also be through your network, where your emotional connection replaces the professional connection from the affiliate. - Member-get-member - existing users of your business get a commission for attracting new members. Would also be an indicator of satisfaction with your brand, as unhappy customers do not recommend. Social media - If you are up for it, create videos about your subject matter. It takes time, but it is a relatively cheap way of getting your message out to your audience as most people just write emails or websites. - Depending on the general interest for your subject matter, you could also create a podcast, where you invite experts in to discuss relevant topics for your online service. All this could also sharpen your idea of what you want to be for whom. - Promote your service on Linkedin, Facebook, slideshare or whichever social media, your prospects are on. Write articles about your subject matter on those platforms. Again, be the guy who knows the most. I wish you the best of luck with your venture. If you need clarification for any of this, let me know. Best regards Kenneth Wolstrup

Hello! I am a former automobile dealer, and I had an auto repair shop, body shop, and licensed vehicle inspection station in central Missouri. I am very familiar with this industry. I entered this market at the wrong time, grew quickly, and hit the Great Recession at the wrong time. My goal was similar to yours, to wholesale vehicles, but also to export classic cars to the middle East. Canada is a great source for people here, because the prices are in fact lower for US buyers. I am still somewhat involved in the automotive niche, and I even recently purchased a replacement engine on a Scion from Canada because it was about one third of the price that I would have paid anywhere close. One thing you mentioned that stuck out in my mind is focusing on SUVs and trucks. When you specialize, you create your biggest potential. If you can create a name for yourself for supplying a particular size of truck, say a 1/4 ton pickup with an extended cab, you might be able to connect with volume buyers who are looking for low cost alternatives to buying new. This could be municipalities with tight budgets, small transport companies, service industry companies, etc. Once you find a hot niche, word could spread fast, and if you've mastered the supply side, you will be able to move vehicles super fast. And if you have the capability of doing some mechanical upgrades on the vehicles before you sell them, you'll make a greater return on your investment. One example of a hot niche is Jeep Cherokees in Colorado. Cherokees sell for 20% to 30% higher in Colorado than what they go for in the Midwest. I know of a person who did nothing but purchase Cherokees and fix them up for selling in Colorado. He had a very solid business. The advantage to focusing down on a very tight selection of vehicle models is knowing what to expect. You'll know what parts are likely to be worn out at a particular mileage, where these vehicles tend to rust first, what mechanical issues are common, or electrical problems that you can run into. When you are wholesaling and buying anything and everything, you'll heighten your chances of getting burned. I've been there myself, and learned some hard lessons. At the end of my run in the business, I wish I could have hit the rewind button and only scoped out a narrow variety of vehicles that I had the most knowledge on. I plan on re-entering the business soon. I've got a particular car in mind, the 1995 Ford Mustang. I rebuilt one of these, and I know all of the gory details for this car. Right now, they are a dime a dozen, and you can find them everywhere. My plan is to restore them and sell them, because this body style and the Fox body are the next ones which will become "nostalgic". Drill down and find out which pickup truck is your best prospect. Factor in common problems, cost of repair, and demand out on the market. Then stick with that model within a certain range of years, and make a name for yourself in that niche. You are guaranteed to have better success if you take that approach!

I can help with registering your brand with Amazon. Contact me if you would like to talk.