Naomi is in Ireland and mostly away from all things internet, and so we present for your reading pleasure and general edification Post #12 in the Unofficial List of The Top 15 Best / Favorite / Most Popular IttyBiz Posts.

Originally published June 12, 2008

If you’re like most home business owners or future home business owners, you’ve done your homework. You’ve probably been hanging around here for a while and you’ve probably read a lot of the posts and comments. Maybe you read Entrepreneur magazine. Maybe you have a Delicious profile full of resources and home business tips. You have researched and planned yourself to death.

Just to overwhelm you, I’d like to add one more piece of advice. This is probably the most valuable advice I could ever offer anyone in your spot. Read More

Naomi is in Ireland and mostly away from all things internet, and so we present for your reading pleasure and general edification Post #13 in the Unofficial List of The Best / Favorite / Most Popular IttyBiz Posts.

Originally published May 6, 2008

So I’m in the tattoo parlour — another favorite Tuesday morning activity, and I overhear this comment from the most badass looking tattooist I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a few) to a girl who is no more 18 than Jack is:

“You want me to put a heart and a maple leaf and a rainbow inside a shamrock behind your ear? Get out of my fucking shop.”

It’s nice that tattoo artists get to say these kinds of things. I have a feeling I’m in the wrong job. Read More

So, that thing that happens at the end of December is coming. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the thing that every year makes me threaten to convert to Judaism and every year, Jamie reminds me that the Jews don’t have it any better than we do.

Do Buddhists have the fat dude in the red suit?

Anyway, since you have to shop anyway, you may as well shop from a fellow IttyBiz, yeah? Here’s some awesome stuff to get you started. (For those of you into conspiracy theories, none of these are affiliate links. I’m just doing this because I’m cool.) Read More

Take a Hummer full of average self-made millionaires. Strand them in the desert. Strip them of their money. Take away everything they own. Rob them of their connections, their networks, their families.

Ten to one they’re millionaires again in less than five years.

Can you be a millionaire in five years?

As it stands right now, probably not. So what is it that’s different about John Q. Millionaire? Why can he take his kids to Euro Disney and you can’t?

Because he depends on himself and the rest of the world depends on, well, the rest of the world.

We used to be self-reliant.

For 40,000 years of human history, we depended on ourselves. We were part of a small network of people who helped each other out, but mainly we fixed our own clothes, cooked our own meals and traded our own chickens to make our way in this world. Read More

I was on the phone with a client today. He wanted some help with some internet marketing and information product stuff. Pretty typical questions — paid search, landing pages, conversion rates — nothing too exciting. I helped him, all was well. (It was well enough that he decided to send me more money to do more stuff, which is always a good sign.)

Now, right now, since he’s paying me, I’m his consultant. But if he weren’t paying me, a lot of people would say that in this particular facet of life, I’m his mentor. And I guess they’d be right.

Except this particular client attended Stanford Business School.

I have a feeling, just maybe, there’s something he can teach me, too. Now at the moment we’ve only just met and we might end up hating each other, so it’s not exactly the time to start proposing this sort of mutually beneficial relationship. Besides, right now all he needs is to start making some fucking money already. But later? I’d be kind of a dumbass if I didn’t pick his brain, don’t you think?

This leads me to the topic du jour. Read More