Punching the critics in the head

| Published 21 September, 2010 | 1 Comment

I used to climb giant rocks, with a teeny tiny rope protecting me from death. And because I like challenges, I climbed things that were a bit beyond my ability. I could have died, probably should have died once. Climbing rocks is an idiotic idea and never did I tell myself that more often than right when I was preparing to climb something hideous.

And people would ask me, “Why climb rocks? It’s stupid and you could die.” And I’d think about it a while and I’d come up with the best answer ever, “I like it. Shut up.”

Then I had a corporate job where I was making a small fortune for doing an even smaller amount of work. Quitting my job was, at the time, the worst idea I’d ever had and many people felt the need to tell me so.

Then I quit, right in the middle of America’s economic collapse. The critics were wrong, and I nearly doubled my income and I’ve loved every second of it (almost).

I used to work with another online crew who’s huge and popular and all that. I did a fair bit of work for them, was offered a place in the limelight, yada yada. It was “The Dream Job” all over again. But when I started to get increasingly condescending emails, and “friendly tips” that my design abilities are no good, I quit.

Quitting was another “stupid idea,” the result of which was a windfall for my business, more happiness and a healthy acknowledgment of my design chops and ideal clientele.

(By the way…big, fat, oozing-with-love credit to Naomi at IttyBiz for taking my late-night call and helping me out of the above morass.)

Read the Rest →
Posted in Business Essentials, Happy Living | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

My biggest and most important business “secret”

| Published 14 September, 2010 | 6 Comments

Somewhere at the bottom of any money I’ve made as a business owner…

Somewhere at the heart of any service or product I’ve launched…

Somewhere in my refusal to work with some people and literally beg to work with others…

…is this one thing.

This is my secret.

This is how and why I make money, how I’ll continue to make money, and how you can do the same.

You ready?

My big secret is that I like people and try to help them.

Why is help a good thing and why does it even matter?

Plenty of people have made money by fraud, cheating and other dirty means. And while “The Game of Amassing a Large Pile” probably discounts the means by which you do so, I see two major problems with going about things in a dirtbag-like fashion:

  • It’s short-lived. You’re not going to be making money long if you do it by swindle.
  • The view sucks. So you made it to the top of the hill. Good job. Now look around and try to enjoy the view which consists of all the victims you’ve trampled.

    • So…earning money is the easy part.

    What’s not so easy is helping other people. But when you do – oh man, when you do – you have made a friend/customer/client for life. And the money comes easier. And you’re going to like yourself a whole lot for it, too.

    When you help, your sphere of influence grows. When you help, other people see/feel/hear your authenticity and that you’re for real.

    Liking people and helping them can help your business

    If you like people and want to help them, you’ll know if your product is good or bad.

    If you like people and want to help them, who your customers are becomes abundantly clear.

    If you like people and want to help them, you’ll know when you’re not a perfect fit for a client and you’ll cut them loose, knowing that by doing so you’ll help them even more.

    If you like people and want to help them, your own quality-control division is always on, always working, and you’ll be putting out only those things you’re proud of.

    Heck, liking people and trying to help them even explains SEO best practices.

    Read the Rest →
    Posted in Business Essentials, Getting Traffic, Happy Living, Making money | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

    If your consultant is saying this, please fire them

    | Published 8 September, 2010 | 4 Comments

    Overheard on Twitter: “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Business is feast or famine.”

    Ah yes, the old ‘feast or famine’ cliche. Time has certainly given that one the ring of truth, hasn’t it? But is it actually true? I mean, if you run a business, where does your love of old cliches cross over into marketing and making money?

    Let’s look at a couple scenarios.

    Doofy McSquirrelynuts, Consultant

    Doofy McSquirrelnuts is an A-lister consultant. He has 45,938 subscribers to his blog because he’s mastered the art of writing powerful headlines, getting on Digg and spreading the love. He is active on Twitter and has a lot of fans. He bases his effectiveness not on the success of those he helps, but off his web stats and newsletter sign-ups.

    But Doofy McSquirrelnuts cries himself to sleep every night because he feels guilty about things he sometimes tells clients. Things like this:

    Doofy: “How’s business?”

    Client: “Uh, it was going great for a while. But I haven’t had a new client in weeks. I’m a little worried.”

    Doofy: (Patting Client on the shoulder and nodding sagely) “Ah, yeah. It’s feast or famine out there. It’ll pass.”

    Client crosses his fingers and hopes the mystical famine will soon end. He goes on to have no clients until he starves or generates some new business, whichever comes first.

    While that illustrative conversation took place entirely in my imagination, it goes on for real every day on Twitter, popular blogs and even face-to-face.

    How the pros make themselves a feast

    Unlike Doofy, a consultant named Bizz Nissman is a genius and knows what’s up. While he thinks pouring goat entrails onto his kitchen table is interesting in his leisure time, he prefers to do business by measurable action and not augury.

    Bizz Nissman also has a client who’s not doing so hot. Here’s how their conversation goes down:

    Read the Rest →
    Posted in Making money, The Lighter Side | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

    What to do when fear starts calling the shots

    | Published 1 September, 2010 | 10 Comments

    I used to hate public speaking.

    By “hate” I mean that, given the choice between public speaking and being boiled in molten lava, I’d pick public speaking but only because I don’t have access to lava.

    I mean, I’ve called in sick to work to avoid giving presentations. I even turned down a lucrative promotion because weekly presentations would have been part of the job. Awesome. Well done, me.

    This is a perfect example of what we talked about last week: “Look Over There!” Syndrome and why you’re NOT getting things done.

    Translate this fear of public speaking into areas of your own life and what do you have? Fear of writing, fear of starting a business, fear of appearing average, fear of coming across as an arrogant prick, fear of getting dumped, fear of on and on and on.

    These fears have many symptoms, but really I only care about one of them because in that symptom is also the cure.

    Read the Rest →
    Posted in Business Essentials, Happy Living | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

    Do you have “look over there!” syndrome?

    | Published 25 August, 2010 | 2 Comments

    A famous philosopher once said: If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. If he gets distracted and walks away while you’re teaching him, he won’t learn anything and will starve to death.

    With this post, I’m going to hazard a guess and try to do my best to tell you why you might be having trouble getting things done in life. I don’t mean just going grocery shopping or cleaning the house, although what I’m about to say is applicable there, too.

    No, I mean the big stuff. Like becoming an architect. Or finishing your novel. Or accomplishing that “crazy dream” you thought up when you were only 5 and which hasn’t left you yet.

    In the beginning…

    Once upon a time, you dreamed of accomplishing Something Grand. Maybe you were young when you thought it up, and maybe not. But your first thought was, “I’m doing this,” and somehow it was just right.

    The world got quiet and maybe things seemed very simple to you right at that moment, for you hadn’t yet thought of the mechanics of how it would all be done. Nonetheless, you knew it was true: “Yeah, gosh. That’s it. That will be me. This will be my life.”

    And things were good and the sun came up and the dew sparkled in the grass. For the next week you hardly needed to sleep, such was your excitement.

    Read the Rest →
    Posted in Happy Living | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments