• Breaking News

    Monday, December 4, 2017

    NooB Monday! - (December 04, 2017) Entrepreneur

    NooB Monday! - (December 04, 2017) Entrepreneur


    NooB Monday! - (December 04, 2017)

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 05:07 AM PST

    Please use this thread to ask any newbie questions.

    We do this to not overflow the subreddit with newbie questions, so please try to limit the questions to this weekly thread.

    Since this thread can fill up quickly, consider sorting the comments by "new" (instead of "best" or "top") to see the newest posts.

    submitted by /u/AutoModerator
    [link] [comments]

    *Depressed? Unhappy? Not Getting anywhere with your startup? GTFIH*

    Posted: 03 Dec 2017 07:32 PM PST

    MOST OF YOU ARE UNHAPPY

    Many of you here on this sub-reddit are depressed, angry, and bummed out. You watched "The Social Network" and got all excited to be your own boss but you're broke AF and instead of cruising in that brand new Maserati, you're cruising in your parents' basement. Your bank account has cobwebs growing and the last person who checked out your E-commerce page was your red-headed stepsister who had the hots or you.

     

    But, But Euclides...I signed up for that Forbes Conference, I bought the latest Tai Lopez program, and I'm following all those #inspired IG motivational quote pages, and am even part of a dozen "brainstorming entrepreneurship groups! I've even put up a "CEO" on my LinkedIn.

     

    1. STOP MASTURBATING

    Here's my advice to you. Stop masturbating and be honest to yourself. You don't want to start a business, you want to dream about starting one. Entrepreneurship is HARD and is a LOT OF WORK. But it's not impossible. The reason most people aren't successful is not because they have "bad luck" but it's because they don't do anything. Going to conferences, scrolling memes, and making visions boards all day is NOT work. These things might be supplemental to the work you do, but it's NOT ACTUAL WORK. Too many people I see spend almost ALL THEIR TIME doing supplemental masturbation, than actually doing ANYTHING to advance their business.

     

    2. IDEAS ARE CHEAP, EXECUTION IS KING

    So now that you've understood that, here's the kicker. Want to know in one sentence what successful founders do? They are active and EXECUTE. They don't passively consume information and wait for life to "happen to them." They don't give a shit about the flashing of their iPhones or for that little (1) symbol on another tab of their Chrome browser. Nor do they give a shit about making it to every meet-up event or downloading every startup podcast, or doing $100 webinars with another YouTube ad star promising how they'll teach them how to make it big selling things on Amazon.

     

    What those obsessed with peak-productivity do focus on is execution. And they focus on it more than most people think humanly possible. Chris Sacca wrote a great medium post about the Founder of UBER, Travis Kalanick's work ethic. In it he says:

    "He doesn't sleep. He doesn't lose focus. He will even forget to eat. He executes again and again, inspiring those around him to have the same passion for the end game as he does."

     

    This unrelenting desire to be biased towards execution means that time is spent on getting out there and getting sh*t done rather sitting in the confines of your home in front of your smartphone scrolling at success memes or re-reading success guides all day.

    Stop just reading them. Apply them.
    That sales call you have been putting off? Do it now.
    That conversation you wanted to have with your boss about a raise? Stop putting it off, call him now.
    That blog you were going to start? Do it now.
    That podcast you were going to start? Start it now.

    You should be so obsessed with action that you cannot think about anything else. Get so consumed with action that you forget to check your phone.

     

    3. FAIL QUICKLY, SUCCEED QUICKER

    Take it from me, you'll learn more from screwing up in real life than you'll learn from hypothetical situations that someone posted on Reddit. That's how it goes. The quicker you fail, the quicker you can change to succeed, and the quicker you will succeed. This is how you get better. If you never execute, how will you know if your idea is good or not?

    This the way of man. Leave the endless planning and thinking to the dreamers. 5-Year plans might be the status quo in Soviet Russia, but we all know how well that actually ended up working out for them.

    You must fall to rise. You must break to recreate. A sword must be forged in fire. Be the sword.

    Now, if you're still serious about starting a business, get off this Reddit, zip your pants back up, and stop texting that chick who is going to ghost your broke ass anyways, and f*cking execute. Your wallet will thank you for it, trust me.

     

    Strength & Honor, -Euclides

    submitted by /u/TheEuclidian
    [link] [comments]

    How to Rank Better on Amazon (30+ Tips)

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 07:28 AM PST

    Happy Holidays to all my /r/Entrepreneur 's out there. This is Cory from Woodies checking in from Page, Arizona the site of Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. I viewed both of them yesterday (pics on Instagram) and made over $1,000 profit on Amazon/Shopify. I want to share with you the tips and tricks I use to improve my rank on Amazon. If you have some strategies that I didn't list here, please contribute, I'm always looking to add to my pool of knowledge

    See you at the beach!

    Cory, Captain of Woodies

    5/5: ESSENTIAL

    • Beautiful images (minimum 5 images) especially lifestyle images I use UpgradedImages.com for product photography (hey Ken!)

    • Keywords in your title (but it still needs to sound human)

    • Competitive price (contributes to high conversion rate)

    • NOT having 1-star reviews

    • DON'T STOCKOUT: it's such a killer and if you DO stockout, definitely DON'T raise your price right before you do, if anything LOWER your price for the last 10-20 units before you stockout, each ASIN has a 'memory' for when you do get back in stock so that will help you regain ranking quickly

    • DON'T VIOLATE AMAZON TOS: just don't

    • Perform QC on your stock before you send it in (I sent in a wrong box once and I had to 'remove' over 3,000 pieces so I could sift through them and remove the 150 contaminated pieces 0/7 would not recommend

    4/5: Pretty Friggin Important

    • Minimum 10 5-star reviews (do this before you do anything below this)

    • Well optimized PPC campaigns (could do a whole post on this, keep ACOS under 40%) here's a screenshot of some of my campaigns I use a combination of manual campaigns with exact phrases and high bids...and auto campaigns with a broad range of products and very low bids

    • Turning on FeedbackGenius for auto review requests (it's not as good as it used to be, but it's still worth it)

    • Get a trademark and get Brand Registry, this protects you from hijackers and other unscrupulous sellers

    • Quick response to customer messages (under 12 hours) here are my stats my mom does all my customer service "Employee of the Year" status

    • Drive outside traffic (amazon loves outside traffic because they don't have to spend so much to acquire customers) Facebook, Instagram, and Google Adwords are the usual suspects

    • Use ocean shipping to save mucho $$$ on unit costs (use flexport)

    3/5: Yea, I'd say that's important

    • Having a few reviewers attach images to their reviews

    • Strong bullet point copy (solve their problems, don't just list your features)

    • Launch Lightning Deals once in a while to boost all your statistics and the algorithm will eat it up PRO TIP: If your product doesn't yet have access to lightning deals, use this url: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/merchandising/manage/lightning-deals/create/CHILDSKUHERE to 'force' amazon into accepting it

    • Keep your pricing consistent, this is just a hunch, but I think when you change your price you lose some juice in Amazon's algorithm, also it affects whether you can run lightning deals and at what minimum price

    • Hack your way into AMS ([amazon marketing services](amazonmarketingservices.com)) and create product display ads

    • Make sure your lead photo 'fills up the square' this will help CTR

    • Offer a promotion (Buy 2, Get 20% OFF) this increases your cart size looks like this ..... for this product

    • Fill up your description with lots of relevant keywords (this allows your auto-ppc campaigns to have a lot of words to target)

    • Have a shopify store, drive traffic, give them an option to purchase on Amazon via your affiliate link here's how I do it......for this product

    • Use Privy in conjunction with Klaviyo on your Shopify store to collect emails, this will serve as your list that you can blast when you launch a new product

    2/5: If you have time, go for it

    • Enhanced brand content (it takes longer for people to scroll to your reviews)

    • Having a reviewer 'ask a question'

    • Creating variations, I'm mixed on this, a lot of people say do it, I think it confuses shoppers having too many options AND seeing different variations all lumped into the same review pool. Your call really

    *Contact seller support to remove negative 'seller reviews'

    1/5: Wasting time, might be hurting yourself

    • Stuffing your title with keywords

    • Long Description

    • Using a launch service to giveaway tons of product at a loss, going to cost you lots of money and Amazon might penalize you anyways

    • Don't hire people on Fiverr to post reviews, they won't show up as verified and Amazon is watching you


    What tips and tricks do you have? I'm always looking for better ways to sell better on Amazon

    If you see something on my listings that could be improved, PM me, I'll consider hiring you to fix it, there's a lot of talent in /r/Entrepreneur and it's definitely contributed to Woodies success

    submitted by /u/sigmaschmooz
    [link] [comments]

    Anyone interested in learning how to make basic VR content?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 04:47 AM PST

    hi /r/entrepreneur! I've been in the edtech space for almost 10 years now and built a bunch of successful (and unsuccessful) ventures. My next project revolves around a new way of teaching online and the first 'course' will teach anyone to create their own first Virtual Reality world that you could experience with a Google Cardboard (or other VR viewers that works with your phone).

    It's still very early and I'm in the process of testing this new format. Therefor I'm looking for beta testers that want to join the (totally free to take) course that'll teach you how to make your own VR world in under a week (even if you have zero programming or 3D experience).

    Interested in joining the closed beta group? PM me your details or you can join here

    Will share invites with the group later this month

    submitted by /u/krimjibly
    [link] [comments]

    Landed our first national retail account! Feel free to AMAA!

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 09:12 AM PST

    Hey there r/Entrepreneur!

    Several of you have messaged me over the last few months asking for an update, but so many things were up in the air that it just didn't really feel like the right time.

    First of all, for those of you who are unfamiliar with my company, I am the co-founder and CEO of Pure Sodaworks. We manufacture all-natural, pure cane sugar sodas using real ingredients like herbs and spices rather than using HFCS and "natural flavors". In other words, our strawberry tastes like strawberry because we use strawberries.

    So a bunch of things have happened over the last year or so. Back in mid-2016, our bottling machine starting having major quality issues (in addition to just being too slow to keep up with demand). Couple that with an overall glass shortage due to Coke and Pepsi getting into the "craft" soda market (and I use that term pretty loosely when it comes to what they put out there) and the fact that we hadn't really been working with a sustainable business model, and we were in quite a bind heading into 2017. So much so that we weren't sure if we were going to keep the business going.

    As an aside, it's on this point that I diverge with the a lot of the "new wisdom" floating around in startup culture. While I certainly agree with the principles of "fail fast, fail often" and "iterate, iterate, iterate", there can also be a tendency to quit an idea before it has been fully tested and vetted. I see a lot of people on here say that if they aren't making money after six months that they should scrap the project. Well, we've been hacking away at the soda business for six years, bootstrapping the entire time. Yes, it has been difficult (this year has been the hardest by far), but sometimes it takes a while to figure an industry and a market out. The old adage, "it takes ten years to be an overnight success" definitely applies here.

    Anyway, back to the story.

    This past summer, I was able to get in contact with the appropriate buyer at a national retailer with about 650 locations nationwide through a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend connection. Now, I say this in the spirit of full-disclosure. However, it was a tenuous connection at best, and I could have just as easily cold called and gotten the name of the beverage buyer. After several emails back and forth, I was able to set up a meeting with the buyer in late October (it took about three months of persistence to get a meeting set up). It ended up being timed perfectly, because it was after I taped my segment on the Pickler & Ben show but just a few days before it was set to air on CMT, so I definitely made sure to mention that and then sent a link to the clip after it aired.

    Another thing that happened during this time was that I was a part of a local accelerator program that really helped me to refine my pitch, work on my business plan, and rekindle my passion for the soda business. We also did lots of mock interviews in preparation for my meeting.

    The meeting went incredibly well. They seemed to like the product straight away, but of course they wanted to know about our production capabilities, pricing, etc. Over the next week, I was able to get answers to all of their questions. After a few follow up calls and emails, we finally got the PO a few days before Thanksgiving and our sodas are set to hit their shelves late next February.

    Needless to say, this is an enormous opportunity for us. So anyway, feel free to ask me almost anything about getting your foot in the door, talking to buyers, food manufacturing (and scaling a food business), and craft soda!

    submitted by /u/Merlaak
    [link] [comments]

    How much does a laundromat make

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 10:16 AM PST

    I want to open a Laundromat. In my country, this kind of business is not very popular, I mean I think there are only 2 laundromats in the country, and it's a 20 mil + people country.

    I found a lot of guides over the internet about How much money you can make with a laundromat. Some say that about 30k a year other says like 100k year but no one say with how many machines, costs etc.

    I found some links on the internet which seems kinda accurate but it doesn't show some real stats. If you can share some insights will be awesome.

    Thanks

    submitted by /u/saidhassan44
    [link] [comments]

    How would you go about monetizing a niche Facebook page with 140,000 likes with an engaged audience, an active group, and an attached website?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 11:45 AM PST

    Just had my first £100 day!

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 12:35 AM PST

    I've seen a lot of threads in here with people explaining how they made a shed load of money very quickly on their startup, which is amazing. I'm really happy for all of you who have worked so hard and been so lucky. You deserve it.

    I just wanted to make a post for all the others. Those who are working away, making small progress on a longer timescale.

    I registered as a business Nov 2016 as a cured meats manufacturer working evenings and Friday afternoons on top of my day job as an Electronic Engineer. I've made a point of not going to the meat curing kitchen at the weekends as I want to sustain some kind of work life balance. I have a wife, a dog and friends and family I like to hang out with. I'm not trying to make my first million but have some extra cash on the side to help save for a house. At the very least it's a money neutral hobby, which the wife is happy about!

    After over a year of running, selling via my website and personal contacts, I attended my first market. A local brewery, where my wife works, let me have a stall at their Christmas market. It was amazing sitting with other small sellers and learning from them. I made £100 which, for me, was amazing. This Christmas period has been my best few weeks by far. Prep started in September. It was a risk. I had to predict it was going to be popular. It could have so easily not sold and I'd be sitting here with three months worth of work for nothing. Although having an excess of delicious cured meats isn't the worse place to be :).

    Hopefully this Christmas success will allow me to scale a little bit. A larger curing chamber or automated slicing machine maybe. I have no plans to take out loans or borrow money to grow faster. All money from sales is going straight back in at the moment. I find increased confidence comes in knowing the growth is paying for itself. Every investment is justified because it's backed directly by sales.

    Not sure if there's a particular point to this beyond saying there are some people out there who are moving a little slower, and that's totally fine for me. :).

    submitted by /u/Sam__
    [link] [comments]

    Pros here that run a digital marketing or SEO business - what do people Google to find your services?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 11:38 AM PST

    (I do this on the side, but it would be nice to do this full time one day :).

    I've come to the realization that ranking for "SEO + Any Big City" is pretty much impossible for me. If I tried ranking for lets say, "SEO New York City", there would just be no way. WAY too much competition and way too many other firms going day in and day out to outrank each other.

    So, my strategy has been to instead, to create a ton of small city pages (that have the population of maybe 10,000 - 80,000 people) AROUND New York City, and try to rank for those.

    Much less competition. It's a hell of a lot easier to rank page 1 for "seo linden, NY" or "seo newark, NY", then that of trying to rank in a major city.

    I've created about 50 city pages so far, and all of them rank on the first page! Most of them actually rank #1.

    They're all built around the keyword, "seo + city".

    These pages have been ranking really well for a month. However, I've literally only received 1 email from all of these pages. I actually closed the deal, but I'm kinda shocked that only 1 person has emailed me - even though I have 50 of these city pages up.

    My question to you is..

    Do people even Google "seo + city" to find seo services? Coming from a technical person, they would. But I could obviously be way off.

    How do people find your SEO business? Really interested to see if I'm doing something wrong here.

    submitted by /u/jd0909
    [link] [comments]

    Want to begin to sell on Amazon, and I becoming a sole proprietor doesn't sound like a bad idea. Is this the right path?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 12:26 PM PST

    So I'm looking to begin to sell on Amazon and eBay and I see that it's pretty much a de facto requirement to be a business if you want to sell. I was checking out my options and it seems like a sole proprietorship is my best option, since it's really just me and all I'm doing is flipping some electronics, both new and used, that I find. I don't think I'll ever sell more than $15K in a year, but the sales that I currently make on eBay are enough that I continually hit the selling limits and have to wait until next month to continue to sell.

    Is a sole proprietorship a good idea in this case? I'm still doing more research but the more I can learn, the better.

    submitted by /u/GazaIan
    [link] [comments]

    Where to advertise my etsy handmade jewelry store?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 10:49 AM PST

    Hi guys, I dont know if this is the right subreddit for this, but I dont know where to ask.

    So I have a handmade jewelry shop on etsy, and I'm getting very little traffic. Do you have an idea where and how should I advertise or promote myself in order to reach an international audience? I'm from Croatia, so if I could get some clicks from the USA for example that would be great.

    I have an Instagram account where I post semi-regularly but it's not getting me anywhere.

    So if anyone has any ideas I'm all ears. Also if this is not the right place to ask these questions, any suggestions on where to ask them?

    Thanks a lot!

    P.S. Can I include links to my shop and Instagram in this post?

    submitted by /u/CroatianJewel
    [link] [comments]

    Journaling and it's uses

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 09:27 AM PST

    What are your guy's opinions on journaling while working on a project and throughout ones day to day life? I've been journaling for about a year now and I enjoy being able to revisit past schedules and ideas in life. For those who journal, do you take time per day or per week to journal? And for those who don't, why? What keeps you from journaling?

    Love to hear from you guys.

    submitted by /u/nosoupforsammy
    [link] [comments]

    What are the pros and cons of taking out a loan from a bank for an LLC?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 08:04 AM PST

    My business partner is saying we should do it and that it will not affect us personally (even if we lose it all?!). But I haven't researched it at all. Obviously, if the loan helps our business it would be very helpful. However, I am not willing to take a loan out that could potentially affect me personally. What do you guys think?

    EDIT: We have a little over $5,000 in revenue, over $4,500 in profit I believe. Does that have any significants?

    submitted by /u/SmokeOnTheToilet
    [link] [comments]

    Sales Strategy for New Product

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 12:39 PM PST

    My product was successfully funded on a crowdfunding platform about 6 months ago. I'm finally done with production, have the product and I've shipped to all customers. What would you do next in my situation?

    I have a patent pending fitness product that is the first of its kind. This has been a difficult challenge, spreading product awareness for something new to the market. Im intrigued by selling to retailers but I have a plain brown box with my logo and don't include instructions right now on my first order to save on costs. I personally email every person that orders online and tell them to watch our explainer videos and workouts on YouTube with links. I do this to guarantee that the customer will know how to use it. That makes it tough in the short term for display purposes in stores.

    I was contacted to audition for Shark Tank but feel it's way too early. I'd like more sales, better packaging and more expert advise/experience.

    Right now, I'm going direct to customers by running ads. This can get expensive quickly, especially since I've financed everything from the beginning and have built up debt. It will be worth it in the end but it sucks now.

    What would you do? If anyone else has run into something similar to this, I'd love to hear your story. I've searched Reddit and basically come up with drop shipping advise and apparel companies. Would love to find resources/strategies for newer products to the market! Thanks in advance!

    submitted by /u/AnthoKoka
    [link] [comments]

    Suddenly I realized what my goal costed me

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 04:38 AM PST

    Over the last year, I used almost all my salaries from my day job to invest in my online businesses, books and courses with seeing nothing back. I didn't mind at all because it was my purpose to keep going and not give up.

    Today all of the sudden, I had a thought "Do you realize that you just wasted THOUSANDS for nothing?" and it paralyzed me with horrible fear and grief of losing so much money I worked everyday so hard to get. I actually figured that thousands of dollars went to dust with nothing to show for it. I never thought about it before and it all hit me at once.

    Did any of you felt like this without any warning? How do you keep yourself not distracted from your goal?

    submitted by /u/johnsime
    [link] [comments]

    How to market a Podcast?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 11:27 AM PST

    Hey guys!

    So without getting too much into things, the title is pretty much self explanatory.

    I am somewhat very experienced / well connected in a niche and a little brainwave. Interviewing some of the main names and authorities in my niche and pick their brains on topics maybe once every weeks / once a week (I know the inclination is towards the whole "producing content every day" type of thing, but thats up for discussion).

    I have never done anything like a podcast before, so I would love to talk to someone that perhaps has done it before - just to see what's involved in trying to break the whole "chicken and the egg" issue.

    (No listeners without good guests, no guests if no listeners).

    Any advice at all would be great! Really interested in learning how to market something new!

    submitted by /u/Figrole
    [link] [comments]

    Ever heard of Glamping? (Glamour Camping)

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 11:05 AM PST

    Recently stumbled upon this idea and since my local places is experiencing tourist boom and land is cheap, I thought it sounds like good idea, relatively easy to set up, can't wrap my head around toilet options and running water but so far it seems quite easy to establish.

    I was wondering if anyone actually tried to build glampsite over-here? I know this sub mainly attracts unrelated and useless advice, but still.

    submitted by /u/Gioware
    [link] [comments]

    Good Social media marketing lessons?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 07:10 AM PST

    Hello everyone! I've been on here for quite some time and I thought I'd post for the dirst time. I want to start a SMM firm as I manage FB accounts and more on Fiverr. I just dont know where to start. I've been in university so I learnt the fundamentals behind SMM but Id like to learn how to professionally manage a page, group or profile... where should I start to actually be able to charge people larger amounts and make them see a return?

    submitted by /u/Pineberries96
    [link] [comments]

    Question About Risk Management

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 05:49 AM PST

    I've been reading up on risk management/prevention as part of my studies. One of the topics that interested me is 'Earmarking'. From what I read, businesses can seemingly get away with buying themselves expensive assets such as a car, and say it is for risk management, so say if something goes wrong they can sell the car to pay off the loss. However, all this time they are using the car for themselves. Is this really the case, can a director or shareholder etc of a company do this, or am I being farfetched?

    submitted by /u/LetsGoRollins
    [link] [comments]

    I’m Curious and interested in opening a recreational pot business in Oregon. Which is the most profitable side: growing or a dispensary?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 10:45 AM PST

    A legal and properly licensed establishment

    submitted by /u/ifiwereabravo
    [link] [comments]

    I have a free tax consultation today with Incfile. What questions should I ask?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 10:39 AM PST

    Hello r/entrepreneur, I've been working on a drop shipping web site and finally pulled the trigger. I know it's a long shot but what the hell? I figure at the very least I'm going to learn a whole lot more than I will reading blogs. I went ahead and filed thru IncFile and they are going to give a free tax consultation. I figure this is going to be a time for them to try and upsale me (good luck getting blood from a stone) but also an opportunity for me to get some valuable information if I know the right questions to ask. So, any suggestions or questions I should ask? Anyone who's been through this before have some insight? Thanks folks!

    submitted by /u/PorkHat
    [link] [comments]

    Has anyone ever started a business by snipering customers from their current employer? What's your story?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 10:36 AM PST

    5 Questions to qualify your digital marketing agency

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 02:09 PM PST

    Hi Guys, just looking to provide value to the community as I see a lot of soloprenuers and entrepreneurs alike looking for SEO,SEM, Digital marketing services but not understanding what exactly they're buying. I got the idea from podcasts, and compiling ideas from networking events.

    The Why

    I've gone to countless networking events, read numerous reddit posts about business owners getting ripped off by their digital marketing agency. What I am trying to illustrate is the the business - agency fit. In hopes of preventing wasteful advertising spend, and the lifeblood of your business.

    Helping you decide the difference between digital marketing agencies. How to qualify the business to agency fit, and agency's expertise and proficiency. Helping you understand goals, and managing your expectations.

    Everyone has a different understanding of digital marketing. Hiring an agency is often a confusing process. Digital marketing agencies vary from reputation management, social media marketing, and direct response, etc..

    First, determine your need - Is it, sales, leads, or awareness? Dig a little deeper, make sure you know what you want - not just because your competitors are doing it. Sometimes, you might not know what you want - that's ok too.

    Key here, understand what it is you're trying to achieve from a macro level. Main takeaway, does the agency have the 30,000 foot-view of my online strategy. Will this agency grow my business online or solely implement

    The idea helps you differentiate an agency between implementer or catalyst in your business' growth. Below are a list of questions which will help you determine exactly that.

    EXPERIENCE

    Not just total experience, but the range of experience. Whether its E-Commerce, Digital Product, Service-Based, Local, or SAAS companies. Their online customer journeys are varied and different - so is the online campaign. There are two major differences in digital marketing, branding and selling online. Social media, and your local reviews - examples of branding. On the other hand, selling online through marketing and sales funnels, helping you convert cold leads to sales. Simple difference, but costly to expect a social media agency to drive sales. Understanding what you're looking for is your first step to gaining clarity. Your agency doesn't have to have an understanding of your industry - it's ok, the importance is in understanding the difference is understanding how they can apply their knowledge to your and being aware it's not a one-size-fit-all solution.

    Takeaway - Make sure your agency, or consultant understands your business, especially, in consultation phases of your relationship. Someone with more experience in a certain niche will cost more, but its not to say you can't succeed with your freelancer.

    Ask questions like, what do you know about the industry, what's the online customer journey look like, have you worked with a business in the industry or similar.

    CERTIFICATION/ TRAINING

    Digital marketing is fairly unregulated when it comes to its training. A certificate from hootsuite.com is entirely different in nature when compared to a certificate from digitalmarketer.com. Where did they hone their craft? In school, on the job, online? Similarly, ask the agency for their specialization. Whether SEO, automation, or social media. Each in its own, provide different types of value to the business- whether ROI, or brand awareness.

    The two aspects are not exclusive to each other, you can ask your potential hire the same question you ask your agency. Takeaway - Once you understand what you need, understand which type of digital marketing you need, and the training necessary, then, business - agency fit.

    Trainings of interest.

    Hubspot (Automation, Sales & Marketing Integration),

    DigitalMarketer (Marketing and Sales Funnels),

    Hootsuite (Social Media Marketing),

    Lynda (SEO,SEM, Overall)

    Google (Google Best Practices)

    UNDER PERFORMING CAMPAIGNS & CAMPAIGN AUDITS

    Similarly to - how do you deal with a disgrunetled customer. How did you manage a dead campaign? This question puts the agency on the spot, a professional curve ball. Everyone talks about their best at bat, but what did you do with your non-performing campaign - trick question. There's no right answer to this Not only will you be able to gauge how they think on the fly, but you'll also be able to present the potential agency/consultant with a case study to work through. tell them about one of your campaigns you've ran, and gauge what they say about it. Let the agency show off. You'll either be amazed or know the fit simply isn't there Takeaway - providing further clarity between the fit, how they work , and what do they do when they're down.

    METRICS

    Metrics will paint a complete picture of what exactly the agency focuses on. This will allow you to further understand where their competencies are.

    First, understanding which metrics are important to your business. Is it impressions, or conversions. Do you want as many people as possible to see what you've done? or do you want people to engage with your content, sign up, and buy. Understanding your numbers internally will help greatly, for example, your cost of acqusition - offline. If a lead costs you 2 dollars to acquire and you close 50% of all leads, then average cost of acquisition is 4 dollars. You can then ask, how much does it cost typically, in my industry, to acquire a lead, a click, a sign up.

    Takeaway - understanding whats important to your agency, will provide you a thorough understanding if its the right fit.

    STRATEGY SCOPE

    Once you've narrowed down what type of agency they are, their knowledge, metrics of value - you're in the clear, and it comes down to a matter of the cost of hiring. It will be an intimate relationship, so where does the work start and end?

    Whether it's building a sales and marketing process, delivering leads, generating a social media presence, creating a webinar, or managing your website. Understanding when the torch is passed is the next on the scale of importance. This will also allow you to manage your expectations.

    Based on delivery of work, and the 30k foot view, are they able to give you business growth insights from a digital marketing perspective?

    Takeaway - outsourcing will be apart of your business' processes. Help your employees and your business by making this workflow seamless.

    Valuable? Let me know what you think.

    submitted by /u/cheetosuniverse
    [link] [comments]

    How do I make nutrition and fitness consulting to businesses into a viable business?

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 01:58 PM PST

    Hello everyone.

    I am wondering how to start a business giving lectures/workshops to businesses on employee health/nutrition/fitness. I have become the go to guy in the office on advice for dieting and improving workouts. I have a new person stop by my desk every day asking for explanations and help on their health questions.

    I would love to travel to different businesses and give lectures on different topics to their employees. I know people would be interested in this but I don't know if they would be willing to pay for it.

    Does anyone have any experience with something like this? Will insurance companies help cover the cost of bringing someone in to promote employee health or does the burden fall on the employer? Do you have any ideas how I can get paid to do this?

    submitted by /u/ElephantLibrary
    [link] [comments]

    Calling all entrepreneurs to share their advice

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 01:51 PM PST

    Hi /r/entrepreneur,

    I am starting a website that focuses on helping entrepreneurs, creatives, and people who just want to grow personally. The site is mainly directed at aiding young people.

    If you have experience or have an experience you would like to share, I would love to hear from you.

    Looking to find some people who would want to write a blog post about advice they want to share with others.

    This is not a paid gig. I can offer you exposure and possibly in the future shared revenue. If this is something you would be interested in just leave a comment and I will message you.

    I believe this is a wonderful opportunity to grow as a person, grow as a community, and to help other grow.

    Hope to hear from some of you!!

    Have a great week.

    submitted by /u/jackthompson-la
    [link] [comments]

    Do you have spare time and the desire to do good in the world? Let’s make impact our business.

    Posted: 04 Dec 2017 01:44 PM PST

    Im starting an online think tank for people who value people, planet, and profit. Our goal is start creative ventures that help us achieve collectively goals while also taking care of the people who put in work to make it happen.

    The first phase of this is going to be a rough, messy process. We have to flesh out goals and strategies, as well as figure out how to work together as on online community.

    Once we figure out that stuff, we'll be crafting new products, programs, and services. Somewhat like a giant incubator that uses crowd power to shape businesses.

    I don't care what your background is, for now I'm looking for passion.

    Are you serious about designing a world that works better for us? If so, please reach out so we can get this going.

    This is designed to convert those hours you spend browsing the Internet, into a chance to make money. I can't guarantee anything, but if enough of us our serious about doing this, we will find many chances to monetize.

    submitted by /u/the_coin_collecter
    [link] [comments]

    No comments:

    Post a Comment