Jun
06
The Best Of, or The Best I Could List On Short Notice After Three Glasses Of Reisling
Hi. I’m in Cuba.
OK, I’m not in Cuba. I’m several days away from being in Cuba. But by the time you read this, I will be in Cuba. How is that possible? Because the internet is magic.
Anyway, I thought I’d give you a little list of fun things to read.
Blast from the past, before I did this shit for a living
Read my first ever sales page, written while I was under the influence of cold medication and sleeping pills, in response to someone calling me a snake oil salesman. (Pay special attention to the story of how IttyBiz came to be and the last line.)
Warning! Cute Jack photos ahead!
Read my ode to Jack. (More on how IttyBiz came to be.)
In other Jack news, I present Jack Quotes Of The Week:
“Will you draw me something? Like maybe a shooting rocket? [pause] That’s not a rocket, Mummy. That’s a penis.”
“I can be anything I want to be. I can be lots of things. A mechanic. Or maybe a doctor. Or maybe a house. Houses are cool.”
Him: “I think I might be an artist when I grow up.”
Me: “Yeah? You want to paint pictures or something?”
Him: “You don’t have to paint to be an artist, Mummy. Everybody knows that.”
Seth Godin would be proud.
Me, endlessly amused by my own wit
Read my favorite post ever, how to become rich and famous on the internet in five easy steps. I read this about once a week just to give myself a high five.
For those who don’t get marketing
Read 101+1 small business marketing questions for people who don’t speak marketing. (The instructions are what make this particularly useful, in my opinion.)
Wherein my husband kicks total ass and I say cock and balls a total of 23 times
Figure out the difference between cocky and ballsy. You would not BELIEVE the search traffic I get for this post. Well, never mind. Yes, you would.
Back when I thought you had to use numbered bullet points to be taken seriously as a blogger
Find out the 9 steps to rockstar marketing. Brides on laxatives, baby. Brides. On. Laxatives.
Should you be cheap?
Best picture award goes to should you sell on price? This is a solid piece but the part on loyalty makes even ME laugh and I’ve been reading the damn thing for three years now.
Your customers are lying to your face. And my face.
This is one of the highest traffic posts on this blog despite the fact that I consistently forget to tell people about it. 6 things your customers mean when they say they have no money. (Hint: it’s not what you think.)
An experiment in not being such a damn whore all the time
Finally, we’re having a sale this week. In a bold move towards only prostituting myself in front of people who want me shaking my scantily-clad thing in their face, I’m not making a big fuss on the blog. If you want to hear about it, you’ll want to be on the cheap list.
With that, I go to Cuba.
This is a super cool post for someone (like me) who’s only just recently discovered your blog.
Have a great trip! Looking forward to an update when you get back ;)
Jack is made of win. You probably already knew that, but I thought I’d tell you anyways!
Houses *are* cool
Hi Naomi, hope you’re having a fab time in Cuba, plenty of Mojitos.
Thanks for the ‘Should you sell on price’ article – it’s something that’s in my mind a lot lately as I am not exactly swimming in clients. So far I’m matching my prices to others in my area and living off my husband. (Yes, I am very very lucky).
I was wondering though where you stand on offering discounts to pensioners or students. It hasn’t come up for me yet – my gut feeling is that my time is worth the same to everyone and if they want/need me then they’ll find the money. Yes/no?
Cheers, Diane
Wow Cuba for vacation. Never heard those words. In the US we’re not allowed to go there.
That could be a great place to do some serious marketing research. I wonder if marketing is easier or harder in communist countries? …or maybe people are people no matter where they live.
Have a great trip.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Cuba?! :) Only Naomi, the Capitalist Queen of IttyBizzes Everywhere, could vacation in a socialist paradise and not look like a closet pinko. ;)
(BTW, you know we Yanks are jealous? We can go just about anywhere but there. And you know how we hate to be excluded. Exclusive? Cool. Excluded? Noooo! “But, Uncle Sam, Fidel is old now. Can’t we go *yet?* Please??”)
Anyway, have a great time. And thanks for The Greatest Hits Album before you jet. Tis a fun trip down memory lane.
And, Gentle Readers, if you haven’t signed up yet for Naomi’s cheap list, do so. You’ll be glad you did.
Him: “You don’t have to paint to be an artist, Mummy. Everybody knows that.”
Quite right too, Jack – all the best people are sculptors! Clearly that child will go far in the contemporary art world.
Houses are definitely cool. I hope to have one of my own again some day. Last ‘house’ I owned was a church. I’m older now and prefer things like plumbing I don’t have to try to lift (aka portapottie). Thanks for the summary of good stuff, will read while you bask.
Cuba?? I’m im Miami. We’re like geographically closer now than we are in real life. And I’ve had mojitos and have had to retype some of these words.
I like how you talk about just jaunting off to Cuba on vacation the day before Chris Guillebeau complains about how much trouble he’s having getting to Cuba. I think you should send him a postcard.
Oddly, this post didn’t show up in my reader! I am baffled, Naomi. Baffled.
But thank you for the round-up. It’s a good refresher course. (I spent all weekend listening to you – Online Business School and Summer Camp. You’d think I’d be Naomied out, but no!)
I make the best Phojitos. Much quicker than reg. mojitos.
In the meantime, you gave me plenty to read.
I love your website and would like to congratulate you on the creation of such a fine resource. It has obviously been a tremendous labour of love for you … :) Madalyn Grabenstein