We get calls all day, every day from companies that talk about ‘wanting’ real corporate publicity that will transform their company but few have the stomach for what it really takes and even fewer have the financial dedication it takes to obliterate their competition and take their rightful place at the top of the food chain.

Of course it’s important to cater to the traditional media (TV, radio, newspaper, industry journals, etc) but the genre of publicity that wins every time is viral publicity consisting of video, social and news bookmarks, article submissions, press release submissions and photo/logo sharing sites. The reality is online publicity is where you’re going to completely annihilate your competitors and claim your rightful position.

When you take into consideration the ultra powerful medium and stealth of viral publicity, all other promotional genres cower in comparison. Online your pre public or post public company will claim instant viewers and a cult-like following that TV and radio can’t even remotely compare. Billions of searches take place every day and it is the viral publicists job to do what SEO and traditional publicists can’t do and that is get solid search engine ranking while simultaneously bringing in powerful results that are targeted and strategically placed.  Read more...

Selling Shareholder Offering: The Key To Raising Fast Capital For Pre-Public Companies. As a consultant who has taken many companies public on the OTCBB (Over The Counter Bulletin Boards), consulted on even more and turned around and structured more companies I can even count, there are a few common threads inherent in all of them.

Most of the companies pursuing capital from angel investors, private investors, private equity firms or small groups of professionals looking for a quick in and out situation with rapid capitalization did three things that made all the difference in streamlining their raise.

First the executives structured their entity to attract investors which by default strengthened their corporate infrastructure. Now they are proposing investment opportunities from more of a position of strength.

Second they chose a team (in these cases they chose our consulting firm) with a proven track record of success with organizing companies for acquisition, merger and taking companies public.

The third element that is common in most successful enterprises which are seeking a first round of seed capital to fund their ‘going public’ ambitions is demonstrating confidence to the investor with a “selling shareholder offering”. Obviously this last element tests the skill of the consultants going back and forth with the SEC during the comments stage but this demonstrates confidence and organization by the company wishing to raise capital.  Read more...

Business Owners: Build A Corporate Structure That Investors Love! Ok, you’ve decided to go after investment capital but you’re not sure where to start. Here are the basics that you should pay close attention to before putting your company in front of investors.

First and foremost you need to perform an industry analysis that answers the questions pertaining to where you are in the industry and who are your competitors. It doesn’t matter what product or service you offer. You could be selling underwater sock fitting kits and there is a competitor and industry leader somewhere in the world. Don’t be so naive in thinking that there is no competition or that you are at the pinnacle of your industry. Show your audience that you’ve done your research and that you’ve identified the players in your market.

Next get your executive team together and it better be the who’s who in your industry. If you can’t attract the upper echelon of your industry genre then you need to do some serious PR on behalf of your individual executive team to show the public what they are made of. Brand them as the up and coming powerhouse executives in the industry. Publish their articles and knowledge on industry blogs and article submission sites. When a funding source initiates general due diligence you need to shine like a lighthouse in the fog. Each and every executive team member needs to have an image that screams power, success and investor security.  Read more...

Are you trying to raise capital for your start-up or corporation in expansion? Have you exhausted your traditional institutional sources and hedge fund contacts? Don’t lose hope just yet! First of all, take all those pamphlets and brochures from banks and other traditional lenders that are lying all over your desk and toss them in the trash…they are absolutely useless.

Banks don’t have your company’s best interest in mind as they are hardly even staying afloat in this economy. Today’s institutional financier isn’t qualified to run a bath let alone a bank. Don’t put your future in the untested hands of a 20 something knucklehead. After you’ve tossed all that useless info in the trash, clear your head and then look at your company and ask yourself a few tough questions: Is your company invest-able? Do you and your executive staff have a pedigree that investors deem as seasoned enough to take their money and make affective use of it and not lose it? What proprietary concepts/technology/patents do you have that give you a larger market share with the proper cash infusion? What is your current capital/debt situation?  Read more...

Pre IPO Investing: How To Triple Your Investment. A Must Read For All Investors!

It’s no mystery that IPO investing can make you millions overnight and investors savvy in this niche investment process constantly triple and quadruple their investments day in, day out. How do they do it? How does an investor pick a company with a winning model where they can buy a pre public share for .50 cents and go public with a solid share price of $2.00+ per share? Here is how it’s done.

First the company that you are considering investing in must be either a stable market or an emerging industry with massive demand. There must be rapid domestic and international expansion potential. The company must be a lightning rod for top tier strategic alliances that will voluntarily spend publicity, branding and PR dollars announcing its alliance with this new company.

The corporate structure must be one that is conducive to streamline processes with little need for micromanagement while simultaneously no being so macro managed that no one is accountable. Each individual executive and board of directors member must have a solid track record of successful ventures, similar to the enterprise at hand. Each C and Executive level member must be completely submerged in the industry and should be able to hold a press conference, give an intelligent interview and by mere presence be able to give a skilled public face to the company when they are put on the spot.  Read more...

Becoming a publicly traded company is an exciting and rewarding experience. The following sets forth the method, steps, fees and estimated timetable to go public on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) ‘from scratch’, or through a self-filing and discusses the 1934 Exchange Act responsibilities after a company’s registration statement has gone effective (after the company has become publicly traded):

Prior to filing the registration statement, a company that wishes to go public must first obtain an audit of the Company’s financial statements for the past two fiscal years. For most companies, the financial audit can be completed in about a month and costs typically range between $5,000 and $25,000, depending on the complexity of the company financials.

A public company will also need shareholders. To that end, if additional shareholders are needed, the company going public will need to complete a self-underwritten Regulation D, Rule 506 offering in which the company sells shares of its stock to investors for real consideration. This is not a difficult task, so long as you have a properly prepared private placement memorandum (PPM) and you follow the relatively simple rules of Rule 506. The price per share and number of shares offered can be determined by the Company, but most registered broker-dealers that will eventually submit a Form 211 for an OTC Bulletin Board quotation prefer to have a minimum of 400,000 shares distributed among the investors.  Read more...

Many companies have a unique service or product but either lacks the capital or know-how to go public. Going public slams open the doors to massive global capital possibilities and massive partnering and strategic growth capabilities. A financially broke company should never try to go public to raise money to stay afloat as you’ll only attract the fee based predatory consultants who make their money on individual fee oriented services without the ability to bring it all together in a turn-key solution so in the end there is no accountability.

The prototypical company that will succeed in going public is either a profitable and mature company or a start-up with contracts in place for capitalization and patented and/or proprietary technology or systems that give it a massive edge over competitors. The decision to go public should be based in the desire for rapid growth and capitalization. The qualities of a company that will succeed on the public forum is one with a solid executive staff, experienced board of directors and a service that is recession proof (Yeah I know, what business is recession proof?), and finished with the actual developmental stage with a solid product or service and identified partners and distribution sources.  Read more...

Corporate strategies’ consulting is, in its truest essence, a dirty business. Few understand this tiny, yet elite genre of consulting and even fewer are masters of its concepts. The same principles applied by this select faction of specialist should be applied by CEO’s and company executives in all industries.

First and foremost, executives must understand the idea of power. There are certain unbreakable laws necessary for the ascension of professionals to positions of influence and power within an organization or industry. Here are a few of the concepts applied by serious corporate strategies consultants that are mandatory prerequisites for the rise and maintenance of power in the corporate world.

The individual seeking to take a position of power must possess the ability to customize and facilitate a turn-key solution to transform the fate of a crumbling company. They must have the ability to construct an infrastructure that perpetuates growth and stimulates longevity and stability. Power, in a corporate sense, is purely economic without excuses of any kind that is driven by greed, self assured stamina and the inability to accept anything but a number one position in their specific industry genre.  Read more...

Structure your company should spearhead your capital raising initiative. Make sure that your corporate layout is conducive to creating and retaining investor and venture capitalist attention. You should have a solid and elite executive team composed of the best of the best that your industry has to offer and if you can’t attract those in the upper echelon of your business genre, you need to take an active approach to branding them as experts using on and offline PR campaigns labeling yourselves as industry experts who are innovating industry changing solutions. Create a stir, be controversial (but not offensive) and be ready to back up your stir with empirical evidence of your knowledge and success. You should have an advisory board and board of directors composed of industry specialists. Each individual should represent a forte that makes investors start to salivate when they are reading the bio section of your business plan. They should be able to contribute with contract negotiation, strong alliance introduction capabilities and more. When choosing professionals to fill the void of adviser and director positions you should think in terms of corporate ‘growth’ and ’stabilization’.  Read more...

Do You Need Capital For Your Company? Build Strong Strategic Partnerships! In this economy, companies who survive have more than just a strong business model; they have aligned themselves with strategic partners in a joint effort to create a win/win relationship where each contributes to a pool of contacts, promotional initiatives and industrial knowledge.

Strategic alliances are the number one way to strengthen your company if you are trying to raise capital from venture capital firms, angel investors, hedge fund lenders, angel investors or if you are trying to take your company public. Empirical evidence companies who demonstrate a track record of unified success strengthens the package and puts you on the radar as an invest-able entity and you’ll start to get attention from the big players as you watch the value of your company soar.  Read more...