sales

The Best Example For Affiliate Program Marketing.

August 19, 2009 By chris

I’ve been thinking a lot about affiliate program marketing. I’ve read a lot of e-books, infoproducts and I’ve bought a lot of stuff lately, some because an affiliate has recommended them to me. I’m sure that that affiliate got a commission and I’m cool with that. I was benefited.

Let me admit something: I’ve been reluctant to promote other people’s products. I could do what Chris does, and Promote the HELL (emphasis his) out of thesis. I believe in Thesis (a lot). But, the bottom line is this: I don’t want to promote anything bad that someone has done. I don’t want to be held accountable and dissipate my credibility with any member of my audience for $40-50 bucks.

I’ve had people sign up with Aweber through my affiliate link. I’ve done this because I want cache with Aweber, not because the revenue is significant. I have, thus far, not gotten a check from them, and when I do I will donate it somewhere cool.

That is changing.

I’m going to start doing some affiliate marketing very soon. And I’m going to do it differently. This, I call Affiliates With Integrity.

Only the best products. I’m never gonna need the $$, so I’m only going to sell what I have paid for.
Nothing Comped. I won’t do an affiliate product if I’ve been comped for ANYTHING ever.
Non affiliate & affiliate links from the site. Just because I don’t want people to feel like they have to buy from me.
100% guarantee for all affiliates: If you bought via my affiliate link, I will guarantee your purchase 100%. That is how I roll. If you have ANY problems getting a refund, tell me about it, and I’ll make sure you get refunded.
Only stuff I’ve bought & Used. If I haven’t paid for it, I won’t recommend it. If it’s crap., I won’t recommend it.

I want to maintain your trust, and I want to talk a little about the good Ideas I’ve paid for. Freelance X factor fits. (No affiliate links)

Affiliate marketing won’t ever be a significant source of revenue. But, I want to participate in the programs and start building pages for other people’s stuff. I want to round out my education as an internet marketer, and why not do it with good stuff?

Five People I Would Drop $200 Because They Told Me To.

Nametag Scott Ginsberg- Scott has never let me down yet with recommendations of books and music. I believe that he gives a crap about what he slings out there. And I do believe that if he said, “Johnson, you GOTTA go buy this,” I’d be a moron not to.
Michael Martine- WordPress SEO secrets was solid as hell. He also put me in contact with How To Launch the **** out of your E-book by Dave Navaro, which was worth every single penny that it sold for.
Brian Clark- Let’s see, I’ve referred my clients to the Thesis theme, I’ve bough teverything but the Teaching Sells course that he’s sold lately. I’ve yet to be let down. He cares too much to putz around with a bad product.
Cristina Favareau- Solid advice, solid work. She’s never sold anything that I know of, but if she said, “hey Chris, this is $200 bucks, and I think you should have it,” I’d totally take a flier.
Pamela Wier.- Dude, nicest person on the planet. Solid copywriter/designer. She’s got EVERYONE’s best interest at heart. If you want good copy, go to her. IF she said that I needed to get this course, I’d do it. (She’s paid for dozens of internet marketing courses & is completely realistic about it).

I want to make sure that I earn and keep trust. I won’t ever do affiliate stuff that’s undisclosed. I will, however, take advantage of the affiliate programs that pay well.

Filed Under: Start Here Tagged With: marketing, sales

How Hybrid Products Can TURBOCHARGE Your Freelance Business

August 10, 2009 By chris

Everyone wants “products.” Every freelancer wants to create digital downloads that sell themselves and create legions of fans. I myself am not different. It’s the freelancer’s dream, to be good enough to earn a spot at the table with guys like Michael Fortin, Brian Clark, Yaro, or guys like Eric Hamm. It’s the holy grail of dreams. In the mean time, you think that the work you’re doing is some how beneath you because it’s work for others.

Yet, getting the critical mass to deal with this sort of thing is hard. Getting the credibility built up in a world where a bunch of high end people are coming out with great stuff is horrific. Do I honestly want to compete with Chris Garrett? Hell no I don’t. I can continue to make a KILLING without doing that.

You can create highly profitable, highly valuable, semi-scalable hybrid products as your bridge to what’s next. That’s what I’m doing now with my Guerrilla.ME site. My clients know exactly what to expect, I know exactly how to deliver it efficiently with a minimum of back and forth. I am profitable, the client gets value.

No, it’s not automated. That can EVENTUALLY come, but that’s a process.

What Is a Hybrid Product?

I’ll try and define it: A hybrid product is something that includes some custom work, and some recycled content. A good example would be my Thesis Blogs. I sell them and they are delivered quickly. The client gets:

A kickass blog
Frigging great design.
48 hour delivery in most cases
Custom training videos.
For Just $750. (Many people still charge & get $2500ish for blog designs)

I get:

prepayment
A well defined job that won’t be stuck in revision hell.
A happy client.

For this, I get rid of some customization. The client loses a little bit of choice. (Choice isn’t all that cracked up to be). The blog gets done on time, and it gets put in the client’s hands quickly.

It’s a hybrid product. When the Thesis Blog came out, I wanted to do it initially so I could find designers to work, mostly on the same template. I discovered by accident that the experience was better, and cheaper, and faster because of the same process. I could afford to charge $750 a website, and have it look hot.

That led me to think I was onto something, and I am. All told, after the close, I have about 45 minutes to delivere a Thesis blog now. I don’t design, I hire that out. I keep a good chunk of the cash, and the clients have been way happier (why? because of the value). I pay Brian and Chris $40, I pay a designer $100, and we go from there. The designers aren’t cheated because I do a design interview and they are just fulfilling an order. The client pays radically less than they’d pay, and I think they wind up with good looking stuff.

That’s the power of a hybrid product. A little work, a little planning, and you deliver something good. My clients also get a ton of videos. Costs me very little, and I work off of a checklist each day.

Hybrid Products Work To Differentiate

In a lot of ways, this post is a restatement of Blue Ocean Stategy: what can you take away to make something radically different. The example with Circue de Solei was the clowns and kid-stuff. That goes, make a circus for adults and we’re in a new category. For me, the blog thing was taking away

I couldn’t sell just ‘blog training,’ and I can’t really sell just blog design. That would be a race to the bottom. I sell what nobody does: kickass design (cause the starting point was good) and ALSO training. I’ve got a second product launching soon: Seo Superfuel: some training and some customization and access to my friend Michael Martine, WordPress search expert. The customer pays $399, and gets a consultation that they couldn’t get for half that because it’s repeated. They provide analytics info, WP login, and we tell them what to do and make some keyword sucking post headlines.

Those products work well, and we can deliver them cheaply.

Scarcity Becomes a Real Way To Close.

Making a hybrid product also makes scarcity real. You’re really delivering something that you just can’t get anywhere, so if you’re only offering a price to the first 10 people, it’s a real deal. It’s not subject to negotiation. By delivering this way, you don’t get questioned, and in my experience, prices haven’t been negotiated downward as much as the had been in the past. They see the value, they want it or they don’t. And, since you’re interacting, that time is finite, and believable.

I’ll come up with some rules for hybrid freelancer products soon.

Bottom line: combine some work that people need with some system and go from there.

I’ll define this a bit better down the road–but the bottom line is this is the way to go for 95% of freelancers. Hell, even Kevin Nations’ big ticket stuff is about a hybrid product.

Filed Under: Business Building Tagged With: sales

Debt: Making Good Men Bitches Since Time Immemorial

July 30, 2009 By chris

For those of you that know me, you know that I’ve owed the IRS for some time. It’s been a grind for me the entire time. Monday, I got IRS Letter 2850 sent to me. Excerpted below (click to embiggen)

My principal balance is under $25,000 which is the IRS’s apparent Magic Number for not making you endlessly fill out form 433a. I don’t know, I’m not a Tax Attorney, not like my friend Phil Hodgen. (Note: preceding link was gratuitous and contains deliberate anchor text.) This is down from over $93,000 in actual tax plus the juice that I ignored for a year:

Now, no doubt that there were some disproportionate consequences for my actions, but bottom line, 99% of this was my fault. Or, 100% of it was my fault, really, but the consequences that come from being in debt to the IRS are pretty friggin’ severe. I’m down to ~$35k, all in, no criminal investigations, no perpetual re negotiations, no more levies should hit me. I’ll pay this off by next tax season, and I’ll be and stay ahead of my taxes.

I’m sharing this because this whole taste has soured me against finance. I don’t want to be in debt–even if it costs me. It adds a level of complexity and ‘bitchery’ to my life. Debt saps my energy and it makes it harder for me to keep my promises. I’m not doing it anymore. I’m no man’s bitch. I have to get out as soon as I can conceivably do it…and never look back.

Here’s why: I had a great month in July. But it just caught me up. I didn’t get ahead, and I’m still waiting for my PPC bill to hit me so I can know how much I have (Google & Yahoo have never been accurate with their statements, have always been off). I’m still surfing the payables. I will be till this thing is put to rest. And when it is, I’ll turn the after burners on, get a little scratch up before I make another move.

Having this makes me work less hard. I understand the conservative argument: it’s futile sometimes to keep grinding out work. It’s futile to have to work & have all your money go to taxes. It sucks to look at your family and not be able to do the things you want because you effed up your 20′s. It sucks to pull in six figures and live like college students. (Though, as usual Mark Cuban is rockingly right). Paying a tax I don’t fully believe in kind of sucks.

Debt Slavery isn’t a lie. I’m not stuck on consumer debt, but I screwed up. I always thought that the checkerboard would arrange itself so I’d have one massive triple jump and be able pay everything off. I thought I’d earn enough to swiftly and permanently punch my way out of this thing. The way I expected things to roll was that I’d be able to pay it all off at once. Reality doesn’t work like that. I’m not gonna hold a winning track ticket and suddenly pay everything off. Gotta chunk it down a little at a time, grind it till the interest stops being most of my income, and do the Debt Snowball thing.

So, a commitment: I’ll update this about once a month. Eventually I’ll do the google docs goal tracking thing, but I’ve got other fish to fry, auto responders to write, blogs to sell and a course to design. Serving others at the highest level I know how is the way to punch through this wall.

Filed Under: Start Here Tagged With: irs, sales

A Coherent Design Interview: Focus on What the Blog is FOR

May 13, 2009 By chris

One of the things I’m not is a designer. I outsource my design work to guys local and not local. I have a good sense of what looks right at the end. I have a thick skin to mitigate the demands of the folks I work with. I have a knack for getting people to compromise. But I’m realizing now that a design interview is critical to the process.

Revisions are where I lose money. Every now and then a project gets in revision hell and has no chance of winning. Once something gets to the fine details, once a client is focused on the teeny things that are wrong, they lose focus on the big picture: Blogs dominate SEO, blogging, done right is STILL in 2009, the EASIEST WAY of rocket your business upwards. The Thesis Theme even moreso. When we don’t get really close the first try, the customer gets honked. I filter the work that comes from my three (freelance) designers before it gets to the customer. More often than not, it gets done quickly. Sometimes, when a customer sends something up, they lose focus.

So I need a design interview, accompanied by a video, that expresses what I want to express in the way I want to express it. Because I’m ridiculously cheap, I have to make it video based, with examples. So I think I’ll sue the Contact Forms 7 Plugin so I can show examples and the like.

More to come.

Filed Under: Products, Projects and Process Tagged With: marketing, sales

David Allen Named to Genuine Chris’s Board of Directors.

March 3, 2009 By chris

[Two weeks ago, I told you that I was going to be doing a Board of Directors post once a week. Here's the first one.]

David Allen Named To Genuine Chris’s Fictitious Board of Directors. GTD’s David Allen, author of Getting Things Done has been added to Chris Johnson’s board of directors. David is the source of inspiration for Chris Johnson as he forms businesses that make money, and gets tasks off of his plate. Through his books, David has provided astounding value to Chris Johnson as he moves into the freelancer sales space.

“Productivity doesn’t happen by itself” David was quotesd as saying. “Form and Function must match for maximum productivity.”

—

GTD was a godsend to me. Last may, I was still a mortgage broker, I was starting my journey as a freelancer, and managing a few projects. I had no clue, and I didn’t know ‘what next,’ about anything. I started reading http://lifehacker.com right as it was turning into what Greg Swann calls a venderslut area. (I don’t fault them for it, it’s an AWESOME site, you just have to wade through a load of crap to get the good stuff). They kept talking about GTD, and so I was naturally intrigued.

I got the book. I started rocking a moleskeine. This was sometime in 2006ish, and it changed my life. I handled more tasks better, I had more enegy, and the overwhelm was no longer there.

Organize.

Process

Review

Do.

I boiled it down to that, enough for massive improements. And David Allen’s enlightened common sense approach helped me with that in a big way. So, like everyone else, he’s on my “board of directors. “ It’s a totem ,a kludge, but I’ll tell you what, my office is organized. More than it would be anyway. And, for those of you that haven’t done this, please read the book today.

More to come, as I have to process stuff.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Genuine Chris's Fictional Board of Directors, GenuineChris, GTD, inspiration, mortgage broker, sales, space productivity

Client Intake: How To Make A Killer First Impression & More Sales.

February 28, 2009 By chris

When I talk cold calling with people, they have a hard time understanding how I get away with doing so little and still get good results. It’s becuse I’m thinking all the time. I try really hard to improve my process.

MY client intake process for paid clients is 21 steps on basecamp, it’s printed and it sits next to my Imac, on the wall. I make sure that I wow ‘em with a welcome letter that describes what’s going to happen, a clear understanding of hard deadlines, their expectations and requirements, and my own. I want to make it super simple to do business with me, so however they give me the information is fine. Even if they’re stuck in 1997 and insist on using faxes.

Some steps:

Welcome letter restating the project & deadline
Phone call or voice mail restating it to demonstrate understanding.
Mutual signed agreement in their box in minutes.
First deliverable, first 4 business hours. (along with the other stuff).
Introduction to team members that are also on the project.
Reminders sent of their commitments same day.
Basecamp set up and calendared.

Not every job is a big one, but every job worth doing is worth processing for a lot of reasons: you get REALLY good at processing jobs when you practice, and even if you’re on a $200 job, everything is an audition for the next gig. Everyhing is an audition, and even if it’s $300 bucks worth of work, Basecamp makes things easy, and you can be up and going damn near instantly. Google Notebook, same deal, copy project to a new doc/spreadsheet and go from there.

Now, you ASK for a referral at project start. “Since I’ve got this project solidly underway, I’m always trying to help more people–is there anyone that needs me to do X?” Low key, simple, obvious. It’s sales. It’s just asking killer questions, showing you care. The beginning is a surefire way to demonstrate virtuosity. Here are some simple rules:

NEVER EVER EVER make a client repeat themselves. Even if you have other team members. I use skype to (with permission) record m calls for design interviews, especially when I’m not actually doing the work (most of the time). We all get that there are multiple people working on something, but seriously, nothing says bad experience like that. When I’m asked to repeat myself ,I always wonder: what’s going to be faster, repeating myself or finding someone professional.
Always rephrase what you’re understanding the project to be.
ALWAYS restate terms, delivery dates and payment triggers. “Ok, so we’re on the same page, $3500 upfront, $1,000 when x happens, and $2,000 when y happens, with X happening before the 15th, and payment due on the 20th”. Freelancers are ham fisted about money, and don’t communicate expectations clearly, and then get annoyed when clients don’t pay when they imagined they would.

What is your client intake process? How many referals are you generating at that time? Even on little jobs? How many compliments on ‘being an excellent communicator,’ do you get? Note: this takes WAY WAY less time than fielding ‘where’s my stuff,’ calls.

If you’re not getting many, your results are poor, and you need to rethink the way you’re doing things.

Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing Tagged With: Basecamp, Mac, sales, voice mail

Sonia Simone at Copyblogger Misses the Boat, Big, With the Tribes Post.

February 27, 2009 By chris

I don’t know why Brian Clark and the Copyblogger people are going on this high school motif. Yes, there is differentiation and branching off going on in the Internet right now. Yes, the rules are evolving on how we make money. Yes, the “Fresh off The Used Car Lot” types are here. Yes, there are groups of people that are not communicating with others. Normal, human, don’t you think?

Sonia talks about how–ultimately–there are cool kids vs. Internet marketers. The cool kids get attention and the IM crowd gets paid. I get paid on the Internet. I’m not getting private jet money–but I do very OK thankyouverymuch. I…am in a tribe obsessed with human connection. You know, the one that didn’t get mentioned…the one that uses Facebook. The one that gets more and more leverage. Oh, sure, I did the book thing and made money selling ebooks, and I’m launching the **** out of my next ebook. I’ll do six figures from F#@% Therapy, if I hustle.

But ultimately, my income and security will be found in a third way–by connecting to people I meet on the Internet. No mention of that tribe. I’m working towards getting rich. I’m working towards running around with a cool group of people. Helping things grow to a higher and higher level, getting cool things made, cool people connected with, and keeping it REAL.

By growing my social media presence in depth, I, too am an Internet marketer. I am an unlimited freelancer, an unlimited salesperson. Sure, I get a little rush when my Blackberry pings from my e-junkie account And sure, I’m probably missing the boat by not putting affiliate linkseverywhere.

But…you don’t have to worry about my motivations. If I tell you that HeapCRM is the best thing since ACT 6.0, you can bet your sweet ass I mean it and why. I don’t lend my reputation to anyone, unless the product is F#%@ing great. You’re not thinking I’m going to be after some affiliate commission. I care about people, and it’s making me rich. I’m not saying that Brian and Sonia don’t care. I am saying that the best way to sell on Internet is to build your robust social media presence and sell to it, protect it, guard it, and add more value to it than anyone else can.

That’s the easiest way to make big cash on the Internet, and all it takes is caring, using Facebook, connecting and….helping. The best part is that the skills from both crowds come in handy. The cool kids crowd can help ya get an audience, and the IM crowd can help you sell. Provided that you care, you’re beyond contempt.

Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing Tagged With: internet marketer, internet marketers, marketing, sales, six figures, sonia

I see failed people: My Sixth Sense.

January 28, 2009 By chris

The following scenario has happened more times than I care to count: someone enters business. I get a call, email, a ‘what do you think,’ from an enthusiastic, bright eyed and bushy tailed would be entrepreneur. And, whether it’s a computer store, a sign business, a web-company, I have concerns. I smell the stench of frustration and failure.

See, I’ve failed in every way known to man. I know what the failure paths are, damn near intuitively. I been knocked around, you know? I know how to avoid bullies. I know what kinds of signals–the Gladwell Blink stuff–that leads to a failed project, aborted dream or misfired plan. It happens all the time. There are details that are either absent or present that scream ‘failure.’

Usually it’s an aversion to, or desperation for selling. Often it’s an entitlement mentality. But I’ve been asked for feedback. And I see trouble, the details that are missing to get money in the door. Something that will repel customers. I see this a lot.

So, I have three choices that I can see: I can say nothing. I can bite my tongue and let the oncoming bus shatter the toddler. I can also say, without passion a couple of pointers to improve. No urgency, just “hey, you might want to make it easier to buy without making the process feel like a job interview.” Or, I can want to preserve every chance they have.

“This is war, man, and you’re daft if you think that you can win with the army you’ve raised–what are you THINKING?”

But that’s rude. People don’t want to know what is wrong with their project. It stings me when people say things–even things I’ve thought my self–that hold me back. I imagine that it stings others as well. But you have to motivate them to action.

Because striking out on your own is a precious and American spark. Doing something, making something better, hustling more. Having the brains, balls and LaManchan dream to make something happen, even here, even now is beautiful. Letting that spark die is cruel and hateful.

So what do you do to convey passionately, with urgency when you know someone is in trouble? I’ve watched people’s businesses fail 3 years, weeks, or months later. For the reasons that I predicted, often. And the person blames things that they could control instead of the real causal things for the failure. It’s easier to blame others, it’s hard to own up to the real things: selling is flat out hard to start.

It’s easy once you punch through resistance, but it’s ALWAYS hard at first. And you can smell the funk of sales fail anytime you’ve been in the business. The revolting interruptions of that guy that wants you to like him no matter what. But you get an “I know what I’m doing, don’t be negative” reply.

As if being positive is the only way to support someone.

Most people fail, and all failure in business is a choice and a failure to adapt. Period.

As for me? I probably have things I’m gonna hafta correct before I get to the level I want to be at. I probably have stuff that I absolutely need to do better, stronger & more, and probably other things that I gotta do less. If you see them, point ‘em out to me.

Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing Tagged With: brain, brains, negativity, sales, small business, stench, urgency, web company

Transparency 2.0: No Lies, Blanket Permission to record my Calls…

January 23, 2009 By chris

Transparency 2.0 is a higher standard than I thought. Right now, I don’t feel trapped by my past. There’s no skeletons in my closet that would surprise anyone, and nothing that would harm me if it became known. I’ve not been perfect, ever, but really, there are few emails that I would mind having everyone be able to see. Nothing is floating out there that makes me look like that horrible.

If you are reading this, then you have blanket permanent permission to:

record my calls
Replay my calls (uneditied for context) anywhere, provide
post emails/ims on a website (this includes anything I say about others, but it doesn’t include correspondence from others without their consent).
make any ‘private’ correspondence public.
Disclose any of my financial details (what you’ve paid me, what I owe you, what I promised).

I will hold you harmless. I want the most possible scrutiny on my life, and I’m opening that up so I transact everything in the light of day. There are no kickback arrangements I have, there is nothing that I’m going to be ashamed of. Forward my stuff carte blanche, past and present. I’ve never been perfect, but that’s no excuse for NOT striving for excellent.

During the 3-4 times in my life that I’ve caused myself to be flat-ass-broke, there were some times I became a demon. When I became broke, I saw things through the prism of scarcity, and I got shitty, bullying and horrible. When I see people getting shitty, bullying and horrible, I always then assume “broke,” because that was my response to the stress of not earning enough to make ends meet. So, when you’re shitty, bullying and horrible, you’re generally being perceived as ‘broke.’

It comes from scarcity. Scarcity, people, is the idea that we don’t live in a world that’s going to take care of us. When we view the world that way, that it’s scarce, we fight and clamor over what we believe to be finite resources. The world is getting bigger and better, closer and more connected. We’re creating more stuff per capita than ever. EVEN IN A BUST. We’re all gonna be just fine. So we don’t have to view the world as a scarce period.

Right now, I’m nowhere near where I need to be financially, but for a sustained period, things have been pretty good. The IRS and my creditors are being paid regularly. I’m moving forward, and I don’t feel fear or lack. I need to up my sales and re-post my goal sidebars. Really, what I need to be doing is more selling and less implementing. I’ve got some ability to do basic stuff, but I never want to get in the code. The slow death of my blackberry is causing me some grief that causes me much vexation. More later.

book 100% written, 90% edited. Monday is definite, tomorrow is likely.

Filed Under: miscellany Tagged With: sales

Clearing Out Projects To Take New Ones (A Freelancer’s Mea Culpa)

December 17, 2008 By chris

Some 4am Notes On Project Management, Deadlines, and Freelancing

I’m up because I’m up. I was feedburnering people’s blogs, I was doing what I needed to do to make sure that everything happened correctly for my clients, and that the deadlines that I promised would be met. I was working on people in order of the amount of money that they paid me…in lieu of the order of my promised commitment. That’s not what I want to be in. I’m grinding them out LIFO now, and it is well…with my soul.

I go through these cycles, not often and I don’t really sweat it. I don’t sleep, it’s 4, and I’m fine with that. I am reasonably awake for the time of day, and I plan to power through and drop dead around 10p. The challenge is to not brag about being up all night to the people I have to see. We’ll get it figured out. I’m going to the gym in an hour, just for the novelty of getting there in the morning as it opens. It’s interesting noting my physiology, and what different things, different experiences do to me.

Right now, I don’t have any problem getting work. I’m grateful for that in this economy. My business is steady and picking up every month. GenuineWife is even happy about it. I’m not perfect–I’m reinventing the wheel too often, and I have to quit it. I’m working to diversify out of the FIRE (FinanceInsuranceRealEstate) business. (Though I still have a lot to give). I’m too eager to do things, but I’m defining what I want to make. I’m learning a bit about how I work, though. I thought a tool like Basecamp would change my life. I dig Basecamp a ton…and I like the tool. It doesn’t change my life if you don’t recognize how you’re fundamentally wired. I’m not wired to multi task, I’m wired to single task or have a couple things in order to do. “Support” isn’t my strong point.

I need fewer, bigger, projects. OR, I need a PM to grind the details and to continue to create the process. Because I was worried about some impending doom, and hungry Jack…everything that I could do, I basically took in every paying client that I could find. Anyone that didn’t have a huge credit risk or sell Porno, I took in. And I kept cold calling, drumming up business. That meant that I filled Basecamp up and had more to do. And less, overall, was getting done because I was getting ‘where’s my deal’ IMs/calls/emails. The week before thanksgiving was the worst, and I think I let lots of folks donw.

The reason I took half the work I did wasn’t because I liked it…it was because I figured new and more and better work was never coming… I still have the Ohio Scarcity mentality–that if I don’t really crank, I’ll die. But, the quality of my delivered stuff went down and (B) the deadlines got missed. And deadlines are the only the currency that I can trade in. Right Right Now’s core premise is hitting a deadline with a fiduciary level talent. I spent the last two weeks really hammering details of little projects. Doing blogs, instead of pursuing my muse. And I felt better. Each time I got to close out of Basecamp made me smile a little more. Going from 18 to 12 to 9…feels good, and then having the big projects under “my” company instead of others…felt better. Each one loosened the noose around my neck and away from that doomfog that comes to cause procrastination.

I’m not out of it, but it’s managable, and I no longer worry that I’m never gonna get control again. I got a lot handled and controlled and now I’m in a position where I feel like if I can’t take new work soon, I’ll be able to work ON my business (getting my website done, getting a core cadre of freelancers vetted, getting more of a sales process/bidding process).

I wanted to make some cumbersome thing, but right now, I think I will do the projects 60-40 with 10% going to a PM, 30% going to me, and 55-60% going to the person that executes for me…provided they execute at the grown up level and need little folllow up. This is a draft–I’m sure I’ll revise it, but I’ve got a welcome freelancers letter that I think works well. (See it here) It’s got some of the Ohio Scarcity that I wanna avoid in it, and so I’ll have to keep thinking about it.

I was going to do it in some more complicated/less transparent way, but I don’t really want bookkeeping hassles. I paid a bunch of people this week and it was stupid. I’ll noodle that over the holidays. I want to be different than a contract house, to honor freelancers, and to make sure that a business runs well. I can sell jobs, no problem. A straight percentage does things.

My friend Laura talks to me about really minding my store and keeping all expenses down. She laughed at my willingness to pay paypal’s vig when authorize had a lower one. OK fine. But really, instead of maximizing every single dime I get, why not really work hard. Not having to think about stuff, not having an extra password and an extra loop to process is well worth it to me. I have plenty of tools, kludges, and places to ‘check’ as it is. If paypal charges more, but I have less to think about and a 60 day chargeback window, I’m a happy dude.

Anyway, if you’ve got a project due it’s on its way. I’m not taking in new work till I get my current stuff completed, my muse launched, etc. I’m cafinated and going tothe gym now.

Scheduled this for 7:34. Only two weeks and 8? working days left this year. One week & one day till Christmas.

Filed Under: Business Building Tagged With: sales, sleep, time of day

We’re Sending Help Right Away Mrs. Fletcher!

December 4, 2008 By chris

I need a full time implementer. I need him or her now. Because as it stands, I’m able to write, and I’m able to sell and I’m able to do light coding, video editing, etc. I’m able to decipher my client’s specs. But I have dozens of tiny tasks that take time to do, and lots of people could do. I’m better used as a marketer and an evangelist and sales guy. I want an implementer that doesn’t need to be baby sat or coddled with every single milestone met. And those people are rarer than salesguys. Sales guys move the world, no doubt.

My clients should get more out of me than they are–but selling is the fun part. Meeting people, getting deals in the door. I care about the standards I uphold, but really, it’s a thrill to be able to take a project in and know it’ll get done. I wish I knew it’d be done perfectly, and not by me. That’s the next step.

It’s the case though–that the toughness of the times and the fact that I’m still punch drunk from paying Uncle…that I’ve got enough scarcity-mentality in me I’m not willing to give up the significant cut in revenue it takes to grow. As an economist, this decision should be easy. My output is sales. That’s where I’ve got a competitive advantage. My thick skin, can do attitude and General Pattonesque ethos makes me take those hills. Even in this economy I’ll take in work. I need to get it through basecamp so I can honor my commitments.

I think the thing that I need to keep to is this: anything that’s NOT marketing or writing, I don’t do. That means WP setup, that means DNS issues, that means even project management. I want to sell more widgets, not acquire the skills I need as a coder.

I had a goal to hire a project manager by EOY. I didn’t and it doesn’t appear that I’m going to be able to. But what I can do is delegate more, and get stuff off of my plate…so I can honorably put more on my plate.

Filed Under: Business Building, selling/marketing Tagged With: marketing, no doubt, sales, VA

Super Basic Marketing Plan for RRN:

October 27, 2008 By chris

Premise: Must get the business I want in 2.5 hours/day/less. 2.5 hours/day marketing 2.5 hours/day managing = 20 hours week. Goal: $25,000/monthly revenue, I keep 40% = $10,000….I get that done and scaled, and we go from there.

This means each week, I bill 25k/4.3 (weeks/month) = $5813.49. That’s solid stuff, good numbers. I need to consider some things:

[a] must average something in the realm of $2500/gig so I’m only at ~10ish gigs/month. This is up from current average of ~$1700. Less/fewer writing gigs (time, velocity). More of what? Develp big ticket type items? Make a web presence? Be a jack of all trades?

[b] iterated projects: I want simple stuff: build a blog, design a campaign, write some Aweber responders. I don’t want ‘make some sort of database that clients can access + loginto.’ Good developers hate that stuff.

[c] set a revision schedule upfront: spec–>revision (planned)–>tweak—>final.

===

OK, that said, that’s doable. And I can figure out work quickly. I need to also find more people that can do stuff, but the problem is, I can’t guarantee work right now, and it’s all on an ad hoc basis.

I think that I need to stop implementing; good paying work keeps me from selling, selling is the only thing that gets me leverage. Leverage is the only thing that makes this work @ 20/week.

[1] sales calls: minimum 15 contacts/day. (Phone)
5 new (minimum)
5 existing (minimum)
5 misc (wherever the flow is) This should not take that long at all, really.
[2] linked in questions: 20/month religiously.
[3] Linked in connections: Try to get 10/week w/depth, where depth = ppl. that will hear what I have to say, etc, etc, etc.
[4] blog posts: blog here and blog elsewhere to gett talent. Blogging around the freelance blogs should be done regularly to get freelancers to register.
[5] email messages & campaign built for aweber.
[6] Do I participate in any boards/rfqs? I don’t think so. I stil hate odesk (elance is somewhat better, but the douchebagifiying of the freelance market is why I’m here).
[7] Project log: what I’ve completed, and make it run in the company blog.
-deadline
-requirements
-date started
-date finsihed
-testimonial.
[8] authority site on small fast projects.

I need a way to make money on bigger projects, but I think I’m going to skip it, and leave that in the freelancer agreement.

I need a better method of veting people than trying them out, any ideas?

Do I do PPC? (No for now)

Do I hire sales people? (Could, but a project manager is more important, and I want that role to be revenue based and not salaried).

I need to make deadline dimentia part of my own ethos. I have to think in terms of scheduling projects with a 2 week otu deadline and doing them ALWAYS in a week. “We get busienss because we deliver on time, and the deadline for you is alaways early, blah blah.” Must develop that idea/ethos quickly & impliment for my own fuff.

More later, as is ever the case. Agile minde tonight.

Hate me if you want for posting too much.

To track:

Sales calls

LI Questions

Blog Posts

Guest Posts

Comments

Quotes

Quotes Won

Projects Started

Projects Finished.

There are plenty of other things I could measure, but this gets it for that component for now.

Filed Under: Achieving Goals Tagged With: sales

Wherein I Make Sweet, Passionate Love to Google Docs:

October 25, 2008 By chris

First of all, Larry, Serge, way to be a gangster. You’ve got way more info about me than the IRS does, and for that I applaud you. Across your servers pass my dreams and hopes, and god love it if I don’t know enough about your privacy. Second of all, this will be reworked for BHB or Lenderama soon.

Still, I trust you for the most part, for the time being, and so I am giving you even more information about me.

All your life life is about metrics: how many days, how many shots of adrenaline, how many kisses, how much breath, how many thrills, how many tears and how you felt about it all. And anytime you want to hit a goal, most of the time you can measure it with metrics.

How much weight do you want to lose? ~Calories Burned + Calories In = Weight (YMMV).

How much business do you want to do: (attempts–>marketing touches–>responses—>conversion %)

Anyway, the gorgeous thing about Gdocs is that the ‘fill out a form,’ function is stupid simple. And what I want to do (create a kickass bourse for small projects and elite freelancers) is easily measured. How many projects did I get, how many ppl. did I pitch, how many blog posts did I make?

So again, since the ‘fill in a form’ function makes things easy, and since I know, more or less what I want to do. Now, I’m not going back into Mike Ferry-douchebag land. That land is for some people, and I appreciate the standard of excellence, but I’m not making the commitment to lifestyle, and overhead and materialism that that stuff does.

Since I’m creating my life, I can choose, right? SO I’ll put together a doc that has:

Time I woke up (I’m not consistent–I don’t really care what time I get up, but I care what I do when I get up. scratch that. I want to be up by 7am, but I don’t need to get up at the BCD anymore)
Writing done/measured
1. Morning pages [discrete yes/no, should be 75% or better, averages s700 words]
2. Subprime (a novel, yes, a novel…want to write ~650 words a day.)
3. FT (next and nifty project…want to finish 2 essays a day)
  1. This will require some serious sales/promotion time in about 3 weeks. Kick
4. GCB: I like to have something ready for semi-public consumption once a day.
5. FT Blog Post
6. Other Blog Posts: I blog at a number of places and I want to blog 3x weekly around. (I used to wish to blog 4x weekly).
7. OPB: (I am a ghost blogger, and I must write for them in the morning or the snakes get out from my desk and run loose)
RRN marketing tasks (I am passionate about processes. always have had an operations bias. RRN gives me the chance to address that:
1. First sales call made by:
2. Leads generated
3. RRN Blog post written
4. RRN promotion done
  1. (this needs some love)
5. Projects Quoted
6. Projects Accepted
7. Projects Completed:
8. $$ Collected
Exercise:
1. calories in
2. Calories out
3. Weight (yes virginia, I gotta post)
4. Cardio
5. resistance)
6. Reading Done (pages).

Now: Because GDocs can be a damn simple form, I can do this really quickly. docs.google.com fill in a form. I create 180-200 columns and have the end sum them up. Each time I fill in a new form it appends a column, so what I’d be able todo this pretty easily; if I got my exercise done, it’d append to one, etc. The forms can all live on a PWD protected WP page that can be my “dashboard,” and I can make a public dashboard so I can be held accountable for my progress.

Since my blog is a thesis blog, I can put the code in the top right-hand sidebar and have it look semi attractive.

Next thing: I make them all add to a column with 60 or so days. I column sum it/divide it by days. I can see what %% I’m done, etc, pretty easily. This can be a kicking way to do numbers analysis and Opt Out of the meltdown.
The next thing that I need to add is some sort of ‘days past’ mechanism so I can know what pace I’m on.

So i’ll see:

Sub prime words: 700 goal 21,000: pace : 24000: % etc.

Not hard.

Filed Under: miscellany Tagged With: dreams, sales