Saul Colt

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• I'm an experienced marketer who has been in charge of global campaigns for previous employers. However now I'm striking out on my own as a consutant, I'm not sure what I should charge for my hourly rate and what expenses I can claim from clients. Any advice from anyone?

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    The truth is that you should charge as much as someone will pay you. Here is a better explanation. http://t.co/eaXHTtUl

• Ever since I was a toddler, I loved cars. My "beep beeps". I am trying to break into the re-sale market of German car "aftermarket" parts. I am trying to keep it fun and fresh, because it is. Question is: how can I make my deals a head turner? Like that Ferrari red on the opposite side of the road... What are some things to focus on and to stay away from?

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    Worry less about making the deals sizzle and focus on the customer and the rabid fan. This is a product I would have no use for but there are people out there who would sell a baby to get a certain part for their car. Find those people and talk to them. The “deal” will be less important than the “find”.

• At what stage can you make money on YouTube videos and how much?

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    Not an expert on this subject but common sense would say that if you have an audience and are delivering content people care about you can make some money right away as part of their ad bases rev share…but I would seriously question if that little amount of money is worth ruining the viewing experience for your customer. Another option is Product Placement, but also remember what David Lynch says about this practice… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4wh_mc8hRE

• I need to get small, local bike shops signed up for what is essentially an email list that they'd be highly interested in. Can you recommend any creative ways to target them other than the usual advertising routes? Thanks!

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    Are you looking to do this on a national level or a smaller geography? email the answer at saul@saul.is and ill flip you some ideas.

• We have a pretty niche market (South Asian Indians in America). What is the best way to incent the connectors in our community to spread the word about our business? Offering them free use of our products/services is one way we've tried but do you have any other creative solutions?

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    I would need more info about your offering but other general things to offer are relationships and introductions. Providing value is the key to it all and if your service isn’t something they need the there are probably things that have come from your service (not product related) that you can offer up.

• I recently got knowledge that my efforts have been slandered by a source (an industry collaborator to us) who have been media noted for his efforts. It has slowed down my business greatly and have put my team on egg shells with me and our time consumed vested project. I know for sure the information expressed by the source is mis-informed and totally wrong. The source has cut all lines of communication with me and has red flagged others on me. He also owes me money. Not much. What do I do? :(

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    If you want to fight and cause a stir then tell your side of the story in your own words either on your own blog or a media outlet that you trust.

    If fighting isn’t worth it or advantageous for you (and it usually isn’t) then just put it behind you and do great new work. I’ve been burned by lots of people and even cheated out of a fair bit of money. Sometimes I fight head on and sometimes I just put it behind me and do better things so that whatever I was burned for becomes something I wouldn’t take credit for anymore anyway.

    This is something you need to decide for yourself but if you do want to fight it is usually pretty easy to get your story out there cause everyone loves gossip and fights. Just make sure there is something worth winning at the end of it all.

• You say don't be a generalist, but what made you choose WOM as your niche?

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    It wasn’t saturated and I understood it.

• What is your suggestion... startup from home in your parents basement OR move to a coworking space and begin there?

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    both have benefits. I would base the decision on your personality. Do you work better feeding on the energy of other people or do you like to do your own thing alone?

• Hi, Trying to see what is the starting point to launch a product and what are the things I need to do to take care of that.

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    Not sure I understand the question.

• What resources and tools do you find useful for what you do?

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    Tools are interchangeable. Hootsuite, Tweetdeck etc. Don’t get caught up in tools. Get caught up in how to use them to change the rules.