Sometimes the simplest questions bring out the simplest solutions. I have three here, and I guarantee if you’re working for yourself, or someone else, you’ve had to deal with at least one of them at some point (and will again).

Naming Your Business or Product

Oh boy this is always fun! The hard part is of course coming up with a name that is unique, valuable, memorable, and available. Available is limited to your domain name. Even though .coms are harder and harder to come by, the grown nTLD (new top level domain) space offers lots of options that are less frightening to end users (i.e. why is it not “.com” anymore is less weird for folks). In fact, using an appropriate nTLD like .io or .agency can help improve your branding.

But what about all the social media handles? Our first hint for today is Namecheckr. This will take your new name – probably missing some vowels or consonants – and check against all social media so your not stuck with “robertjacobi” on Twitter and “robert-jacobi” on LinkedIn.

Pricing in a SaaS World

Recurring revenue is the holy grail of a successful business. Losing money is also a very real threat no matter how many people have signed up. Should you be giving anything away for free? Guido Zuidhof has a brilliant one-page site, aptly called NoFreePlan, and writes, “Counter-intuitively, the less the user pays the more likely they are to need your help.” Quick and insightful read that not only gets and the crux of the matter but provides some great alternatives. My favorite, “Instead of offering an entirely free plan, offer a lifetime “try-out” plan that has a one-time payment. Don’t make it too expensive. Low double digits seems reasonable, or make it pay-what-you-can.”

Controlling Leads

Last but not least, you’ll be in the sales process at some point, actually the upcoming advice can work in a lot of situations with a bit of tweaking. I heard about this in a recent happy hour. It’s called the magic email, and what Sandler sales training tells you to do (though Sandler isn’t referenced). The goal is to drive completion of a step in the process, or an entire conversation. The original Magic Email over at Win Without Pitching, gets a slight update at the super SEO juiced site, The Magic Email. Kai Davis hits the nail on the head, “It works because it makes it clear to the recipient that you’ve moved on. Since people are loss averse, their natural inclination is to reply immediately in order to keep you from walking away. You’re taking back control of the situation by declaring it over.”