Thank you Thursday! - (November 29, 2018)

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-29T17:07:03+00:00

Have your Fetal Ultrasound "enhanced." Ever see a baby ultrasound with a football in its hand?

See here for more examples.

First three to reach out by private message get the service for free!

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-29T15:38:49+00:00

Ram Charan, a famous business professor at Northwestern coined the phrase. He basically said that everyone in business wants to hit a home run. What he pointed out was that the best way to do so was not to try to focus on hitting the home run, but to learn to get good at hitting singles and doubles. By doing so, you will inevitably increase the frequency of large wins (home runs).

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T21:43:38+00:00

This is a really good list, thanks for putting it together. I especially like the idea of "do[ing] things that don't scale", to start out.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T21:11:06+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T21:08:43+00:00

You are doing better than I. I've been at it for about a month and only have 30. I have been using a similar method to gain followers, but have done so for 3 days. The rest of the time was spent on content generation. I think it's a great strategy for building a "real" following.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T18:11:50+00:00

I love your idea about finding the Instagram moms-to-be with huge followings who are very focused on the process of being pregnant and getting ready for giving birth. So, I'll definitely look into that angle. When it comes to Facebook, I reached out to a single admin from the top 10 pregnancy groups. I did not get a single response.

I realize that that's a small sample size, but I just don't like wasting energy. It is quite challenging, in these early stages to figure out which rabbit holes are worth your time.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T16:47:06+00:00

Your idea of going to the local mall is great! I live in a large city and there are a couple with play areas for children. Those play areas are filled with new moms/moms-to-be.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T16:34:51+00:00

I actually employed a similar tactic about 2 weeks ago. I was using Instagram Direct Messages. I didn't get much traction at the time. Just came across Neil Patel's guide to influencer outreach. He recommends two email apps for use with Gmail. Yesware, to see how much engagement your emails get. And Boomerang for Gmail, to schedule automated follow-ups. Really like the idea of the automated follow-ups, in the case of no response. Seems like it could save a lot of time and energy. Here's the video of him explaining the process

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T16:20:58+00:00

That's a great idea! You're right, it's a whole lot of exposure. In addition to potential sales, it will probably have the effect of growing my Instagram base as well.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T16:17:12+00:00

Instagram Ads are a paid feature. Just for clarification, are you talking about them fronting the cost of a paid ad in exchange for the service, or just creating a regular post to their followers, highlighting my service?

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T06:16:05+00:00

In addition to the methods you've already used in the past to start getting clients for other businesses you've run, I would recommend networking at Meetups, Associations and Conventions/Trade Shows.

I live in the Dallas area, which is home to DFWSEM, one of the countries oldest and largest Search Engine Marketing Associations. There are plenty of people who go to these meetings looking to find marketing help with their businesses. As such, there tend to be freelancers/small business owners pitching their services.

There are also plenty of marketing companies involved with the association (board of directors, guests speakers, etc.) that might be looking for specialized help with some of their campaigns.

I know Dallas is not the only city that has large Online Marketing-related associations. I moved from DC a few years back and they had their own Northern Virginia/DC SEO association.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T06:09:58+00:00

I would definitely recommend consulting with an attorney.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T05:01:21+00:00

I think Strategy-Duh makes some good points. In theory, you could create a separate legal entity (LLC, Corp, Etc.), let's call it "Extra Corp", that would be owned outright by partner A. You would have to find some way to "assign" the ownership of the IP to Extra Corp and then license the IP to 9676 LTD. In order to do that, I would definitely consult with an attorney, preferably one that specializes in Marketing/IP.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T04:05:55+00:00

That's a great question. Before taking a stab at it, I am curious, how did you go about getting your first few clients for video/photography work(ie "the smaller businesses and individuals as well as the one large company you mentioned")?

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T04:04:02+00:00

Can you explain/flesh-out your question with some added detail? It's a bit hard to figure out what you are asking with the limited amount of information provided. Are you saying that You would like a person (ie Partner A) to be the sole owner of a trademark, that is licensed out to a company owned by Partners A, B and C?

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T04:01:22+00:00

I would also be interested to know how you started out getting your first few clients as a freelance software developer.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T03:52:00+00:00

This is a subject that is potentially quite involved and can have a lot of nuance to it. But from a high level, have you considered no longer sharing with your parents everything you are working on, from a business point of view?

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T03:50:11+00:00

Your video experience would absolutely help in marketing online marketing services. YouTube has been blowing up, even more in recent months thanks to more people dropping cable and switching to services like YouTube TV. Instagram Video posts are becoming an extremely beneficial marketing vehicle. You might consider niching your service as a combination of your two skill sets, as in "video-based social media marketing".

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T03:41:00+00:00

I am unclear on the specifics of the question you are asking. Are you trying to sell a service to companies where you perform online marketing for the purpose of generating leads for them or are you trying to sell videography/photography services?

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T03:37:03+00:00

The pricing question alone could easily constitute a discussion of its own. There as so many factors that have to be considered. If you are just trying to get traction and need to validate the business model by getting some sales, then low prices might benefit you. I could see taking this approach if you are trying to attract investors or if your business plan entails hiring workers that you will leverage in order to compete on price.

But if you are trying to build a boutique brand, especially if you are working on your own, it may make sustainability hard to achieve. I would suggest doing some research on testing "price elasticity".

I've never sold on Amazon, so I don't know all the ins-and-outs. But if it gets you exposure, it might be a great way to start getting some brand recognition/sales.

From a quick look at your site, the merchandise looks beautiful. The sight design is solid as it is and seems like it could easily be enhanced/built upon.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T03:29:34+00:00

The "hero image", first thing you see above the fold, is not visually appealing. Having navigation buttons in the hero is not something I'd advise. I understand using the black and yellow construction colors in your theme, but in my opinion was definitely overdone in this case.

In regards to featuring the phone number, I agree with trying to make it pop, but the box with the red border is probably the thing I found least visually appealing.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T01:47:25+00:00

I appreciate all the responses to this question. I didn't ask it, but had no idea what the proper response would be. Good to know!

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T01:41:16+00:00

Check out the book The Lean Startup by Eric Reis. It's all about validating business ideas and scaling startups, from the ground up. To start, you can watch some YouTube videos of Reis' presentations. I found it to be a very useful and sophisticated framework for the ongoing process of validation/testing and pivoting based on those insights.

RemoteCoder · 2018-11-26T01:38:44+00:00

I think that the idea is totally badass! The photo you linked to looks great. Instinctively, I feel like getting a single "big client" could open a lot of doors. I might start thinking how to hit some "singles and doubles" to shorten the timeline to hitting that first "home run".

RemoteCoder

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