I am a freelancer in a sub-genre of graphic design. In a bid to get more clients, I'm attempting (through Craigslist) to hire a marketing professional (or professionals). My general idea is that they would work to get me more clients, and I would give them a percentage of sales resulting from my work with those clients. My question here is what the specifics of the deal should be. My initial thought was 15% of income for life on the clients they bring me. Does that sound reasonable? Too much? Too little? The wrong way to go about it entirely? I really like the commission model, at least for now, because I don't have money to lay out up front and I like that we both benefit or both don't. Is there any kind of standard for this kind of relationship?
posted by The Dutchman on Oct 7, 2009 - 13 answers

Do online companies need 800 numbers if most of their sales are online from their website?
posted by ckohrman on Oct 2, 2009 - 14 answers

I'm with a small web design/development team, and for the past three years we've done pretty well almost entirely by word of mouth. We really need to be more proactive in getting work in - we've known this for a while, just never been quite sure how to go about it. I've been put in charge of figuring it out. And of course, how to do it on a limited budget. We're in contact with our old and current clients, and have asked them for referrals. Our local isp sends us a good bit of business. What all should I be doing? [more inside]
posted by korej on Sep 15, 2009 - 10 answers

How does accepting Section 8 affect the future marketability of a two-family rental property? [more inside]
posted by fishthefly on Jan 30, 2009 - 10 answers

How could you target sales people? I would like to market a product that offers a benefit for them. I am especially interested in people who work in sales/international sales and go out in the evening with customers.
posted by yoyo_nyc on Nov 22, 2008 - 3 answers

I'm doing a career change into sales for an IT company. This company doesn't have a sales person now or a marketing strategy. How can I best contribute and succeed at this role? [more inside]
posted by diode on Jun 21, 2008 - 3 answers

How should we make the most of our business trip? Two partners and I are visiting NY next week for a client meeting. (We're normally in London and US West Coast.) We may have a spare couple of days, and I'd like to make those as productive as possible from a networking perspective. Suggestions? (More inside.) [more inside]
posted by diastematic on Mar 18, 2008 - 4 answers

Can you point me to studies/stats or bona fide case studies on the use of money-back guarantees with information products? [more inside]
posted by acoutu on Mar 15, 2008 - 4 answers

Help me know what people who sell online ads know. [more inside]
posted by SlyBevel on Mar 3, 2008 - 1 answer

My firm is trying to decide whether to hire a marketing/sales director. I have been tasked with gathering information about marketing and sales in general and presenting that information to the team, so that we can make a decision. So, what are the key responsibilities and duties of a marketing/sales director? What will such a person bring to our team? What's a good way to go about finding the right person for the position? What qualities should we look for in the hiring process? I am particularly interested in service marketing, for small consulting firms. [more inside]
posted by faustessa on Jan 8, 2008 - 9 answers

How do I learn to optimize my website/sales approach to sell online to college kids? [more inside]
posted by ZackTM on Nov 23, 2007 - 12 answers

How do I find an advertising sales agent who can represent a weekly commercial radio show to advertisers in the San Francisco-Bay Area market. of course there's [more inside]
posted by parmanparman on Nov 5, 2007 - 3 answers

I humbly and politely request your input on my forthcoming character-related logo wear apparel marketing. T-shirts, sweatshirts, keychains, hats, etc., featuring a character I created. [more inside]
posted by The Deej on Jul 20, 2007 - 13 answers

Marketing vs. Sales vs. advertising vs. PR -- help me find a great illustration that breaks down the difference between mktg sales PR etc. by showing different perspectives of a guy saying he's a good lover (advertising) or women describing the guy as a good lover (PR)... it was featured in DIgg or Lifehacker or boingboing a while back but I can't find it!
posted by kaytrem on Jun 12, 2007 - 2 answers

What is the most efficient organizational structure for a sales department? [more inside]
posted by tundro on Jun 25, 2006 - 2 answers

How do I pull off the sales event of the year? I have been put in charge of my company’s fiscal year end sale/open house. The purpose of this event is to generate sales (both immediate and future). We sell specialized machinery to hobbyists and professionals. This will be an opportunity for our local customers to come and see our show room and get great end of the year deals. This will also be marketed to our national customers. They will be able to call in and get the same deal as someone attending our event. We have the opportunity to market to several types: people in our database that have purchased a tool from us in the past, people in our database that have a deposit on a machine, people in our database that have expressed interest in our machinery in the recent and far past. I have several questions that hopefully this knowledgeable group can answer. [more inside]
posted by ieatwords on Feb 3, 2006 - 6 answers

Introvert. Fear of public speaking. Marketing degree. Successful career in sales possible? [more inside]
posted by saucy on Dec 9, 2005 - 22 answers

We need to do some online advertising and PR, on a just-above-shoestring budget, directed at people responsible for selling new information technology products. The minimum for a text ad from publishers like Ziff-Davis and CMP's TechWeb seems to be well over $2,000 per insertion. We'd like to spend less than that, so maybe we're looking for more obscure publications.
posted by bmckenzie on Jun 15, 2005 - 2 answers