Note: This is one of the best posts I’ve ever read on getting what you want. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t write it. Fortunately for you, Chris Anthony did, and he’s going to let you read it.

First, get a red marker, pen, crayon – whatever you have handy to write with, as long as it’s red. Then, draw a red line on the floor.

No, really. I’ll wait.

You didn’t do it, did you? “I just had these floors put in.” “This is a rental.” “My husband would kill me.” Read More

This article is by artist and designer Amy Crook, who I should have had writing here years ago.

I was talking to the magnificent Ashley Sinclair the other day, and one of the things she remarked on was that I had an unusual amount of clarity about my businesses — I know what I do and what I don’t do, what my assets are and where my boundaries lie.

So how did I get from there — from that sense that I had so much to offer but I didn’t know what or to whom or for how much — to where I am now?

Practice makes perfect.

I was in BNI, a networking group, for a while that required us to give a 30-second “infomercial” (what you would probably call an elevator speech if you’re not in BNI) about our businesses. We were encouraged to mix it up, say something interesting, tell a very short client story or have some sort of special going on every week. So every week I had to stand up and say, “Hi, I’m Amy Crook with Not Dead Yet Studios, and I…” Read More

This is a special edition guest post by Dave Navarro – who is actually quitting his day job AS WE SPEAK and joining the Ittybiz 1000. Read all the way to the bottom – he’s giving advice on how to ditch YOUR day job in the comments.

Quitting your day job is not easy. It’s actually pretty hard and has its moments of mind-blowing stress.

But you know what’s even harder? Staying in a job you can’t stand, where you have no control over your “job security” and your reward for working 5 times as hard as your co-workers is a 2% raise (if you‘re lucky). “Attaboy,” right?

Listen, I know it’s scary to break free and do something on your own. I get that. I’m feeling that right now as I finish my last few hours working for The Big Machine. But a while back I started doing some things that most other people don’t to help dull the fear and give me the confidence to quit the day job. Read More

Sometimes being self-employed sucks.

You spend every waking hour (and some sleeping ones, too) working on your precious business – it’s your baby, your lover, your ever so slightly co-dependent best friend.

You spend so much time and energy on it that your real baby, lover, and best friend complain that there is nothing left for them.

But you can’t help it – you are obsessed. You are determined to share what you got with the world.

And sometimes people love what you’ve got, love you, and shower you with roses and orders and blog comments and 83% organic dark chocolate.

And sometimes? Sometimes, not so much.

Sometimes it’s dead quiet out there and you feel a tad exposed. You troll Twitter and everyone’s tweets are so peppy, all about how great their businesses are doing, you start to feel a tad bad. The story line, “What was I thinking?” starts sucking you in. Read More

This is a guest post from my creativity and business coach, Charlie Gilkey. It’s one of the most relevant posts I’ve read in a very long time. You should read it. He gets a real bio at the end.

Things started out great. You had this creative thing that you loved to do. It was fun. And then you figured out that other people wanted your thing, too. YAY!! So you started selling your thing.

Then things went to shit.

In The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber tries to address why things went to shit. (Naomi’s note: E-Myth is one of those books everybody tells you that you absolutely must read before you start a business or your wife will leave you and your dog will die.) He talks about Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Technicians; he discusses who should be doing what and when, all told using Sarah’s “All About Pies” as a case study. It’s a great read, but it leaves one not-too-small question unanswered: Read More