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Don’t miss out! Check out the previous chapters here:
–Chapter One
–Chapter Two
–Chapter Three
–Chapter Four
–Chapter Five

CHAPTER SIX (Bonus): Leverage Your Email Footer

In This Chapter:

• Leverage every inch of the emails you send
• Use your footer as a way to share important details

Before we bid adieu—We would love to share something that could really help you and it takes literally 15 minutes to implement, and will save you countless hours of time in the future.

Email footers are generally one of the most poorly utilized pieces of daily communication. Think about it for a second. How many emails have you sent and received? Of the received emails, how many footers have you paid attention to?

None, right?

That’s because most people eith...

When we begin working with a brand new client, they’re usually expecting for us to focus on the essentials.

Building their applications, designing the best user experience possible, focusing on their branding, messaging, etc.

That isn’t to say we don’t do this; we do this better than most, but we also focus on one other key attribute that often shocks our customers, our focus on their customer service.

Why do we do this?

Why is this important?

It’s simple.

We can build the best web apps, mobile apps, wearable apps, software and brands on the planet for our clients; but if they don’t have their customer service on-point, none of that matters.

They’ll lose users before they are even able to win them over, and they’ll destroy their brand.

Ima...

Here at Startups, we hate the term “free money.” But, it’s one that people throw around a lot when they’re talking about grants. The reason we don’t call small business grants “free money” is because they take a lot of work to get. And there’s a lot of competition, so oftentimes that work doesn’t even result in a payday. Sure, you don’t have to pay back a small business grant the way you do a business loan — but it’s certainly not “free money.”

However, we also understand that small business grants can really boost a startup, if they qualify. And it’s not like other forms of startup funding — like venture capital, angel investment, and even crowdfunding — don’t also take a lot of time and effort. So we thought we’d throw together some reso...

Got questions? Ask thousands of world class expert mentors from Clarity.fm!

Once you’ve selected a target audience how do you value market size?

Let’s say I have defined a target audience for my startup, defined a clear problem to be solved and the type of customer I want. How do I go from there to calculate the market size? Are there any good free tools out there for entrepreneurs and investors to figure out the monetary size of the market or to estimate the number of potential users?

Serena De Maio, Brand Builder, Marketing Strategist, & Entrepreneur, answered:

Let’s take the example of Uber, shall we? You have defined the following target group: 30-40 who use taxis but that are dissatisfied with the current taxi offer.

You could est...

In late 2013, I felt a strong calling to help build a tech company. That urge to create connected communities through empowerment became my life’s mission.

Those ambitions were the inspiration for my startup, Feel Free. The company was designed to bring people together through technology. I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into making Feel Free a success.

When I founded the company, I never thought I would one day decide to give up my equity and walk away from my passion project.

Startup Success

Feel Free was intended to foster physical spaces where people could connect and collaborate. We wanted to create designated areas in coffee shops and co-working spaces that would encourage face-to-face interactions.

Visitors would use our app to au...

When it comes to small business loans, you have two options: private and government loans. While private lenders may be reluctant to take a risk on a new business or startup, government business loans were created specifically to boost small business in the United States.

As a result, you might find that it’s easier to secure a small business loan from the government than it is to secure one from a private lender.

Most government business loans are managed through the Small Business Association (SBA), which partners with lending institutions that actually distribute the money.

Because the loan is backed by the government — meaning if you default, the government pays of the balance — banks and credit unions are more likely to take a risk ...

Leading a startup company is nothing like leading a big, established company. Startups are focused foremost on survival, while big companies direct their efforts toward growth or in the worst case, slowing decline.

Startup founders don’t get the luxury of looking too far down the road.

It’s natural that many entrepreneurs start companies with a task list that looks a lot like it did at their old job. After all, they’re likely coming from an established career in a big company. Big companies (usually) have the critical infrastructure in place and as inefficient as they may be, workers are free to look much farther down the road.

Startup founders don’t get the luxury of looking too far down the road. They don’t get to spend inordinate amounts...

What are Microloans?

Microloans are small loans that businesses that can't access traditional loans or other finance options. It could be because they don't have any — or great — credit. It could be because their businesses aren't very established yet or they're locked out of the traditional financing options for a variety of reasons. They're usually short-term loans, with low-interest rates.

Microloans started in Bangladesh with economist Muhammad Yunus in the early 1980s. It was primarily to help people in developing countries who didn't have access to traditional small business loans. Access to a microloan program gave them funding to start businesses and raise themselves out of poverty. There are now a huge range of microlending options w...

Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital through the collective effort of friends, family, customers, and individual investors.

This approach taps into the collective efforts of a large pool of individuals — primarily online via social media and crowdfunding platforms — and leverages their networks for greater reach and exposure.

Sounds great, right?

But because this method is relatively new, many people don’t understand exactly how crowdfunding works.

Simply stated, crowdfunding works by presenting your idea to people inside and outside of your network and allowing them to contribute toward your fundraising goals online.

Who is the "Crowd" Anyway?

The crowd is essentially your personal network, potential customers, and — in the case ...

As Startups.com and Fundable founder Wil Schroter likes to says, “There’s not a lot of ‘fun’ in funding.”

Raising equity funding for your startup is a long, difficult, and often demoralizing process. However, if you’re successful, you walk away with money that will help your startup grow and become everything you hope it could become.

But despite these challenges, thousands of startups raise funding every year, implying that the potential rewards outweigh the guaranteed strife and risk. Here’s an outline of what a startup founder can expect at each startup funding stage.

Pre-Seed Funding

Pre-seed funding is the earliest startup funding stage, so early that many people don’t include it in the cycle of equity funding.

At this stage, founders...