All your questions predicate/depend on site's monetization strategy. For example, if current pages all have great SEO traction in SERPs than any site change best be well thought out + in general the HTML structure should... 1) Only fix any existing HTML errors, as reported by the W3C validator. Never. Ever. Introduce any new HTML errors or site's SEO can circle the drain. 2) Only lower page weight, so the ratio of cruft (non-content) to content, should reduce. So decreased cruft, which will increase content. For example, converting a well SEO'ed WordPress site to use a Genesis theme can potentially destroy all your site's SEO traction, because Genesis (at least last time I checked) can produce a site which is 98% cruft + 2% content, due to all the CSS classing + attributes + other non-content junk injected into pages. When I take on a project for one of my clients like this, first I require them to host with me... Because wrestling with broken hosting introduces so much noise into analysis, I just refuse to deal with slow + glitchy hosting anymore. Next I have my client walk through their entire money flow, end to end. After I understand site monetization strategy, then we work through small increments of change, constantly tracking when GoogleBot visits the site + how page indexing is effected in searches after a 48 hour period. If it's a hobby site, all this is overkill. If the site measures profits by the hour or minute, then any change can potentially zero out all income, so in this case best to proceed slowly, with great care.

I love this! Congratulations on a smart approach to launching a startup. I got a chance to talk to DHH - founder of Basecamp and hacker. (read about it here: http://blog.unthink.me/what-i-learned-in-1-hour-with-basecamps-founder-david-heinemeier-hansson) One of his biggest pet peeves is the idea spreading like wildfire that entrepreneurs need to jump head on an idea and let the wind take hold. What he suggest and what is greatly showcased by you here is to hold a job and take your startup as the side business until it can sustain itself off sales alone. Don't give equity left and right because if it does take off the last thing you want is to build something you don't own. If you have been acquiring customers for your product before it's built - that means that it should be relatively easy (compared to most) to get sales once you launch. You are already doing the bulk of what needs to happen which is marketing - simply boost your focus on getting referrals and case studies off the initial sales, ask clients about their core reason for handing you their money and drive that message/reason home on everything you from website to branded material to PR articles, etc. If you end up hiring a marketing agency to help with the next steps, look for the added value of programmers in staff so that they can coordinate what's needed once things are rolling. Essentially consider the fact that you need to start marketing it and positioning the product with the right prospect clients, get it launched onto product hunt (i could add it for you) because the truth is that you have 3 months to create a marketing system that is helping you sale. Don't be too afraid of jumping in full time if you can afford at least a few months solvency for yourself and if you are having sales.

You do not have to request permission to e-mail customers; however, you must provide them with an option to opt-out of receiving your electronic communications, in addition to the other requirements to remain in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act. Here's an excellent resource for your reference: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business

Get investors to be able to visualize as much as possible. Tell a story. Focus on the solution it provides. Make your story relatable if you can. If you can get their buy-in on all these things (the problem, solution, common ground, good delivery of the message, etc) the prototype becomes less important at this stage of the game and all of those other variables will overshadow the thing you don't yet have. In your story/explanation, provide as much visual detail as possible--while still keeping it simple. Remember your ABC's and 1-2-3's.

It is a very vague question..like "What clothing suits me ?" Well.. I can try to answer. Question - Why do you want to move to cloud. Have you already decided it is Azure (not the competitors like AWS or Google Cloud, which is totally OK. I am a Azure fan. Just wanted to know) Businesses (sometime business units / specifica application) moves completely/partially to cloud for 2 reasons - Convert capital expenditure to operation expenditure - Build solutions or part of solutions that are scalable, available and reliable without breaking the bank. How to Prep - Answer varies based on if you are a IT Boutique shop, Enterprise IT solution provider or a Non-IT business with IT teams. If you can be little more specific, may be we can chat and find a way through it...

Sleep plays a crucial role in academic success, yet it’s often overlooked by college students juggling classes, assignments, and social activities https://www.collegenews.com/article/importance-of-sleep-in-academic-performance/ . Quality sleep enhances memory consolidation, concentration, and problem-solving skills, all of which are essential for learning and performing well in exams. Lack of sleep, on the other hand, can lead to decreased focus, increased stress, and poor decision-making. Prioritizing regular sleep schedules can significantly boost cognitive functions, improve mood, and enhance overall academic performance. College isn’t just about hard work—it’s about working smart, and good sleep is a key part of that strategy!

Don't do campaigns with mailing list which everyone is using. Rather create a new one based on your exact match. Trust me the result will be far better. With your list you can play around and get maximum result. I can be of help as I have the power of technology and research techniques. I can provide resources for business intelligence, data extraction and web scraping using digital strategy to reach a target specific to your business’ needs. What is your exact match? I can work around and share a sample data set. Interested ???

Same as any other entity (or person). Entity pays taxes in it's domicile jurisdiction. Best you talk with a tax preparer in your home country to ensure you have all the details. And... If you're a US citizen + your SAAS company is generating massive cash, likely best to organize your entity in a low tax jurisdiction, like Bermuda which is home to Google, Intel, Verizon, etc. And... best wait till Trump's new tax bill passes. If he has his way, corporate taxes may drop to a point low enough to keep your business in the US.

In a book, "Slicing Pie", Mike Moyers shows you different methods of securing talent prior to paying them a salary or securing investment capital. You can also use an ICO model similar to IPO except it is using a digital token to secure funding with a promise to buy back tokens. There are several models there. You can also try a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter or Gofundme. If you are truly passionate about it, find a way to make it happen and NEVER give up.

You can use a Factoring company (someone who purchases invoices). And likely they'll require some sort of seasoning of recurring payments before purchasing. You can go for Angel capitol + will have to give up a big chunk of income. If possible, write your own bridge loans by writing balance transfer checks on your credit cards. Usually this costs 1%-1.5% of check's value, so way cheaper than any other option + instant + you keep 100% ownership of your company.

Thank you for asking your question here on Clarity. The healthy discussion will also benefit many members of the community. The first company that I built and successfully sold, a BBS turned ISP (aka "Internet Service Provider", more here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/exitcoach), was indeed a "radical new approach". The internet back in the mid '90s was so "radical" that Elon Musk said this about it: "Back in '95 there weren't very many people on the internet, and certainly nobody was making any money at all. Most people thought the internet was going to be a fad." (video here: http://ElonMusk.fyi.to/YoungMillionaire). That company took me 7 years to build and sell, VERY painful first few years. No money for new tyres, then no money for petrol, eventually no money for public transportation. My second company, a free web hosting service, provided a radical new user experience. Rather than hosting your free web page on an "ugly" Geocities URL you could use an elegant www.yourname.hpg.com.br, among other clever enhancements. But at the core, hpG was no different than Geocities, Tripod or many of the other contenders. Apart from the enhanced user experience it was because we had a SOUND exit strategy from day 1 that we sold that company in 18 months and with a valuation 3X higher than my first company. BOTH with NO outside investors btw. Personally, I prefer the kind of "radical new approach" that enhances the user experience, zooming on an image by spreading 2 fingers over the screen (thank you Steve Jobs), than the radical kind of time/money that goes into the R&D required to create a palmtop, only for another clever entrepreneur to come along and leverage on your previous investment and reap the rewards thereof. Like what happened to Xerox, the inventor of the GUI, when Microsoft/Apple had a sneak peak at it. As far as investors go, it's a zoo out there. And "marrying" the wrong one can have grave consequences for the unexperienced entrepreneur. Most of the "big investors" are taking a portfolio approach (not that you cannot extract value from such a relationship) and many of the "smaller more manageable investors" bring little or no value other than financial capital. What you really want to find is intellectual capital, investors that have previously built and sold successful companies themselves before. The Marc Andreessen's of the world. Investor's that care much more about WHO you are, WHY you are pursuing entrepreneurial success, and that are asking themselves WHAT they can do to help you make your dreams come true. Investors that invest in true founders and not fundraisers. You may want to also look at this other related question here on Clarity: https://clarity.fm/questions/4857/what-is-the-ideal-time-to-reach-investors If there's anything I can do to help you build and sell a successful startup, feel free to engage me here on Clarity. Thank you!

Hello, you have a very interesting product in an interesting and growing industry. Anything with automated HR solutions is probably a good venture right now. There is a client of ours actually, www.BetaBulls.com who has specialized in automated Human Resources software (SaaS) as a CTO for other companies. I have learned a lot from working with them and based on that experience and the few startups I have launched myself including an online job posting platform and a game, I would say that generally speaking a good time to go for outside investment is when you have a validated concept, all legal documents in place and any type of demand from either partners or clients. Think of it as a business loan - you should only get one when you don't really need it, but for strategic leveraging is better to leverage borrowed money than your own. An investor should be the same, you get an investor if you need to buy yourself more time to improve on your technology or for market reach such as production or marketing. Not to prove the concept. It sounds like you are already there, so my recommendation would be to proceed with caution not giving any major control in any one area of your company or product.

WordPress MLM plugin features like commission management, distributor network management, payout management, compensation plan management and automation of marketing activities such as lead generation, sales prospecting, and customer relationship management will help you integrate and manage a resourceful MLM network in your business. It can seamlessly integrate ecommerce and MLM elements into your business if that is what you’re looking for. But, first analyze your business requirements and look for plugins that offer customization of MLM features. WordPress MLM plugin from Epixel (https://www.epixelmlmsoftware.com/wordpress-mlm-plugin), a direct selling technology company, can help you streamline your business with MLM features. It has advanced features such as prospecting tools, commission management system, distributor training module, promotional tools, and an efficient compliance management system. New age features such as gamification, personalized training and interactions, and customer support modules are integrated to help MLM businesses gain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving global marketplace. The WordPress MLM plugin also includes industry-standard security features that secures customer, distributor, and organizational data and allows all third-party integrations for businesses to operate seamlessly. The plugin supports all MLM compensation plans and commission structures to accommodate changing business requirements. Most WordPress MLM plugins offer businesses support to manage their wide distributor networks with exceptional features to engage, entertain, and encourage distributors to be more productive. From onboarding new distributors to retaining existing customers, an MLM plugin has all the features that a standard MLM software can offer.

Hello! We recommend using Hubspot's CRM - they integrate pretty much everything a business might need. We use it for ourselves and our clients and really love it.

For most sites both can have equal importance. SEO tends to be slower. PPC tends to be fast. Most of my clients balance both. So the "wisdom" of using PPC, is creating instant conversions.

Hi, I've helped people buy and sell businesses for years and have helped people dissolve and create partnerships and raise capital. When you take on a partner, you're selling a piece of a business. Either the one you have now or the one you hope to grow into. The question is, 'what do you expect your new partner to bring to the business and what will they need to get in order to justify the risks?' People use the word 'partner' to talk about real partners, shareholders, investors, etc. You can structure debt arrangements, equity arrangements or combinations depending on what you want to achieve and based on what inticements you think you need to offer. Give me a call to discuss the specifics of your situation and be sure to check out my reviews to see how I've helped other people with partner issues. Thanks Dave

The answer to this question depends on the nature of your product, and what 'class' of medical device it would fall under. Depending on what class it is, the process could be as easy as filling out a simple form and sending it to the FDA, or it could be as hard as a multi-year multi-million dollar process involving clinical testing in hospitals. In either case, I'd be happy to map out the process for you. Feel free to send over more background info and I'll look it over. best, Lee

Recent Udemy changes... well over last 18 months now, have rendered Udemy less than the best for marketing. If you layout your entire monetization strategy, likely there are far more lucrative + useful ways of marketing than Udemy. Be sure to mention if you're using your using your course as a lead magnet to build a list or your course itself is what you're targeting to monetize.

A recurrent question in the region. Thank you for asking! I've been based in Singapore since 2012 and have contributed to the expansion of the different startup ecosystems in Southeast Asia (more here: http://exitcoach.fyi.to/linkedin), including Malaysia. In 2014 I was part of MaGIC (Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre)'s Startup Academy Launch sharing about exit strategies for startups and have seen how both tech hubs have evolved over the years. Both options have their pros and cons with perhaps a few more pros for Singapore as the preferred business hub in the region. However it would be necessary to better understand the specifics of your startup as this will greatly impact your choice. For example, perhaps your startup caters to the muslim markets. Does your expansion include hiring of local and overseas talent? And so forth. Please use this link to setup a free 30min introductory call so I can learn more: http://ExitCoach.fyi.to/FREE and better support your needs. Thanks again for your question!

https://www.fraingroup.com - likely good place to start. Also setup Google Alerts to scrape Craigslist + email you immediately when something shows up you're looking for.

I would put content out for free on YouTube, share via social media channels. In your Youtube channel, promote people to visit your website. On the website, collect email addresses to begin building an audience. Use the email address to send behind the scenes exclusive content and in each email message you send request a donation via Patreon.

Yeah, this is a really interesting question.I would be thinking about: 1. An open letter from the CEO of your hotel chain that's hosted on your website. Something that shows empathy with customers who are considering booking your hotel but are majorly put off by the terrorist events. A letter that details out everything the hotel has done in the community, to help the victims and to increase security since it happened. There's no escaping the fact that when customers are researching this hotel via Google, they are going to come stories detailing the terrorist event. Perhaps the only way you can combat that is by detailing your side of the story and showing an openness to tackle the issue head on. This could also work well from a PR perspective because you could use the content to contact journalists and publications who covered the original story. PLUS from a reputation management perspective, you might be able to replace some of those news stories with an updated story on how you're handling the situation. 2. Revisit your deals, offers, and partnerships. If the hotel is struggling with sales, no matter how dire the situation, travelers are always going to be attracted to good offers and deals. Maybe you need to test ramping up your offers and promoting them via affiliates? Opening up an affiliate network is perhaps one way of creating an immediate boost in sales. 3. Find and reward your current advocates and returning customers. Have you got customers that have been coming back for years and years? How about customers that have CONTINUED to return, despite the events? You need to thank these people. Reward them. Speak to them and hear their stories about why they returned to you. This will help you to create your strongest messages. In addition to this, putting a strategy together to highlight great customer feedback, reviews etc. from this point forward is something I'd recommend. Good luck and thanks for posting this question.

You're saying is that your product strikes a middle ground, "providing powerful project management features without the learning curve." Why is no learning curve important? Because it allows teams to transition to it without taking time to do it. Teams that are already using complex products like Atlassian, etc. have already invested a lot of time into getting their whole team over the big learning curve, so they don't really have any reason to go with you. They would see it as a negative acknowledgement that they wasted time learning Atlassian, and since Atlassian already has more features than yours, they would be losing capabilities too (remember they're already over the learning curve). These are therefore the people that will say they don't understand your USP. You're not going to convince any of them to transition to your product. The main persona you should be selling to is the people that either currently use the less complex solutions (Trello, etc.), and also the people that are just starting their first product and are just starting to look at the tools available (i.e. they haven't been exposed to anything yet). These are the people that will immediately understand your USP, and it will resonate with them. They want better tools without the learning curve. However, aside from time to learn, another reason some of these people have not gone to a more complex solution is because they cost more. So to get those people too, make sure you have a long free trial period to let them get a feel with their own experience that there's no learning curve, and to get them hooked on the advanced features, so when they try to go back to Trello, etc. they get frustrated with the annoying repetitive tasks, etc. If you'd like suggestions more tailored to your specific product, send me a link and I'll check it out, Lee

I am not a lawyer, but the former seems to give you more flexibility and less paperwork.

It would be useful to know the role you'd like your cofounder to play (i.e. technical, business, etc.), but here are some general ideas. Finding a good cofounder isn't easy, and your relationship has to be, or become, very close to succeed. To find one you'll need an idea that people can be passionate about. That being said, here are some places to look: 1) Ask your friends (obvious, but a good place to start) 2) Sites: Meetup.com Linkedin Angellist http://founderdating.com/ www.cofounderslab.com http://shapr.net/ Weave app (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weave-meetup-local-business/id788443696?mt=8) https://startupxplore.com/ Sub-Reddits specifically relevant to your topic 3) Think of and research places (online or in real life) where people like who you're looking for would hang out. I know this sounds obvious, but think about not necessarily the exact interest you have in mind, but any usually associated interests that may go along with that interest as well. More specifically, if you're looking for a technical cofounder: 1) If you're specifically looking for engineers, look up local 'hacker' / maker spaces that may exist in your area (see here: https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hacker_Spaces). 2) Look up local universities and email the chairperson of whichever programs relate to the type of cofounder you need (i.e. electrical engineering, marketing, etc.). You could even possibly go there in person and put up a sign on a bulletin board. If you'd like a more specifics let me know, best, Lee