Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Get Into That Top 10: How to Ensure Your Online Company Succeeds

Time and again, experts tell you that 90% of startups — and in particular, online businesses — will fail. It’s a reality you must face if you want to start an online company of your own.


But knowing that, can you come up with an effective strategy to be in the successful 10%?


First, keep in mind that all successful startups have this in common: exponential growth. You will need to hit the ground running and grow consistently in order to ensure long-term success.


Now, you might be wondering:


How can I ensure that my online company can grow exponentially?


Unfortunately, there is no specific formula you can copy. But successful startups have a few things in common. You can learn from their past success stories to forge a path on your own.


Below, I will share 5 core principles successful startups employ. And I will explain why you must adopt these principles in order to make sure your company launches quickly and successfully.

Do Some Pre-Startup Planning



Businesses require a great deal of planning.


Here’s the deal:


You might not become rich overnight. Make realistic goals and measure success based on your unique situation. It might take years before your company takes off and maintains a consistent cash flow.


Now, here are four things you need to consider before you can set up your online business.

1. Find out what consumers want.


Your online business starts with an idea, but not every idea is profitable. Your business will fall flat if not enough people want your product or service.


Make sure you’re fulfilling a specific need by talking to prospective customers.

2. Reach out to users on social media.


Social media marketing presents two immediate benefits: It gives consumers an early look at your product. Secondly, it provides networking opportunities.


Additionally, you might be able to build a base of loyal customers. And you might find other business people to give you advice.

3. Come up with a dynamic business plan.


Whether you have a local or worldwide focus, you’ll need an appropriate business plan. With a business plan, you can establish goals and have something to present to any investors.


Making a business plan can be a complicated process, but here are a few things you should do with it:
Research your prospective market. You will not be able to appeal to everyone, so first focus on a smaller market.
Find out about your strengths/weaknesses. What do you do well and what are some realistic challenges you face?
Do the same for your competition. Know what your competitors do well and see if there is a market that is being neglected.

4. Figure out the Practical and Legal Issues.


There will be a few legal and practical issues you will need to take into account, including:
Regulations. You must comply with national and regional regulations. It’s best to start off small and learn about other regulations before expanding.
Trademarks. Do you have legal ownership of your product and the brand name?
Ownership. When you accept money from investors, you might have to give share in the ownership of your company. Establish ground rules before accepting money and decide how much control you are willing to give up.
Your “headquarters.” You might not have to pay any overhead by going completely virtual. However, having a physical mailing address is helpful for local SEO purposes and for building trust.
Create Your Website As Soon As Possible


Your online business begins and ends with your website. But how will you get people there and convert visitors into customers?


Do the following:
Make a “dynamic” landing page. You don’t have to use JavaScript heavily, but your website needs to do its job. Your home page should be pleasing to the eye, be mobile accessible, and give your visitors a reason to signup and buy from you.
Create valuable media, including blogs, images, infographics, slideshows, and videos.Your media should lead people to your website and establish you as an influencer.
Promote your website and update it regularly. You’ll need to maintain your website to make sure it is usable and work out security issues. Since this is your base of operations, make sure nothing clogs up your sales funnel.
Test the Potential of Your Product


Get your product out to the market as soon as possible. Then use your social media channels to get early and consistent feedback. Make sure you keep an ongoing dialogue with your customers.


Release your minimum viable product (MVP) quickly and have potential customers test it. Find out what works, what doesn’t, and if you need to include more aspects/features, put them in place.
Build a Team


Do you need a business partner?


Neil Patel points out that some startups find success because they have co-founders (who work well together).


Business partners are accountable to each other and they can bounce ideas off each other. Sometimes, it’s better to have two heads working on the same problems.


If you build a team with more people, make sure that team is talented, faithful to your mission, and adaptable. Also make sure not to grow your team too fast.


Sometimes, a lean startup can be more flexible.
Perform a Consistent Analysis


Before you begin your analysis, your metrics should be based on realistic goals for your online company. In any case, you will need to measure:
Your web traffic.
Your conversion rate.
The on-site behaviors of your visitors.
The number of customers acquired and your monthly retention rate.


Depending on what you find out, you might need to make changes to your website in order to make it more secure, usable, and to improve on conversions. Make sure you do this consistently so you are aware of your position in your market.

Conclusion


Creating an online company is never easy. You need to improve on conversions and account for them even in the planning phase. The 90% of failed startups often take these things for granted.


Be informed, focused, and diligent in order to prime your online company for success.




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Federal appeals court rules alien minors do not have right to court-appointed counsel

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] denied review of a Board of Immigrant Appeals (BIA) case on Monday, reasoning that alien minors do not have a constitutional right to court-appointed counsel.


The court ruled [opinion, PDF] that neither the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment, nor the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) impose a requirement that alien minors, whether documented or not, be appointed counsel at the government's expense.


The case arose when the BIA denied undocumented immigrant minor CJ representation at the government's expense. CJ left Honduras with his mother, Maria, in 2014 after receiving violent threats from a gang. The immigration judge (IJ) explained to CJ and Maria at the first hearing, that they could hire private counsel as representation, but Maria explained she could not afford to do so. Thus, Maria represented CJ at each hearing before the IJ. Ultimately, the IJ and BIA denied CJ's request for asylum and granted the government's deportation petition.


On appeal, the court assessed CJ's due process claim according to a three-part test, which it explained as follows:


C.J. seeks a determination that he is entitled to court- appointed counsel at government expense—a privilege that Congress has not conferred. Thus, consistent with the prevailing rule that a litigant must show prejudice to vindicate a due process violation, C.J. must show both that his constitutional rights were violated for lack of court-appointed counsel and that this prejudiced the outcome of his removal proceeding.

In its opinion, the court noted that the IJ told Maria she could retain counsel, even gave her information to contact pro bono services, and that Maria chose to act as CJ's representation. These factors support the BIA's holding that CJ failed to show he was denied a fair and impartial trial, and that he was prejudiced as a result; thus, his due process rights were not violated.

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Saturday, January 27, 2018

Supreme Court halts Alabama execution

The US Supreme Court [official website] on Thursday halted [order, PDF] the planned execution of Alabama death row inmate Vernon Madison.


Vernon Madison was convicted [cert. petition, PDF] in Alabama of murdering a police officer in 1985. He was scheduled to be executed on January 25. Madison's attorneys petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, claiming that Madison is not competent and the execution would violate the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment.


Madison suffers from vascular dementia, "encephalomacia (dead brain tissue), small vessel ischemia, speaks in a dysarthric or slurred manner, is legally blind, can no longer walk independently, and has urinary incontinence as a consequence of damage to his brain."


The Supreme Court previously denied relief to Madison after a 2016 competency hearing ruled Madison was competent. However, the court-appointed expert in that hearing has since had his license to practice psychology suspended after it was found that he had forged prescriptions for illegal pills due to his narcotics addiction. One of the forged prescriptions occurred four days after the 2016 competency hearing. The expert has not yet been convicted of any crimes as charges are pending.


The court granted Madison a stay of execution until a decision on a petition for a writ of certiorari is reached. If the petition for a writ of certiorari is denied, then the stay of execution will be automatically terminated.

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DOJ files statement of interest in First Amendment lawsuit at UC Berkeley

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a statement of interest [text, PDF] Thursday on behalf of two conservative student groups at the University of California, Berkeley [official website] who are suing the school for violation of their First Amendment rights to free speech, due process and equal protection.


The complaint [text, PDF] was filed by the Berkeley College Republicans (BCR) and the Young American's Foundation (YAF) [advocacy websites] alleging the University adopted a double standard toward campus speech, applying a more restrictive set of rules to BCR ultimately resulting in the cancellation of two speaking engagements featuring prominent conservative speakers in the month of April, 2017. The University has filed a motion to dismiss.


In voicing their support, the DOJ stated that the US has "a significant interest in the vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms in institutions of higher learning. As the Supreme Court has noted, '[t]eachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die.' In recent years, however, many institutions of higher education have failed to answer this call, and free speech has come under attack on campuses across the country."


The statement continues that "such a failure is of grave concern because...this sort of hazardous freedom-this kind of openness-that is the basis of our national strength and of the independence and vigor of Americans who grow up and live in this relatively permissive, often disputatious, society." The court should therefore deny the University's motion to dismiss.


Congress delegated the authority to DOJ to submit statements of interest under 28 USC § 517 [statute, PDF], which authorizes the Attorney General "to attend to the interests of the United States in a suit pending in a court of the United States."


This marks the third statement of interest filed by DOJ in a First Amendment case under Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

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