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.)

By Naomi Dunford - Dec 1, 2008 in Home Based Business
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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.

By Naomi Dunford - Nov 3, 2008 in Home Based Business
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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.

By Naomi Dunford - Aug 27, 2008 in Home Based Business
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Once upon a time, I wrote a post about the monetary benefits of having a financial cushion. And I agree with myself. From a purely money standpoint, you’re an idiot if you don’t have at least something tucked away for when all your clients die of smallpox.

But that’s the money part of it. What about business wise? As in, business growth-wise? From that angle, I don’t know if it’s the best idea. Here’s why.

By Naomi Dunford - Aug 3, 2008 in Home Based Business - 29 Comments
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Hi everyone,

Naomi is having a little bit of a family drama, and asked me for some help. Therefore, it has fallen upon me to take up some of the slack and get a new post out. Since I know dick all about marketing, I thought I’d try something a little different.

A little while ago, Naomi wrote about Brandon and the Homeless Dude. I have to tell you that something about that title got me thinking. I can’t hear “Brandon and the Homeless Dude” without thinking that they are some kind of crime fighting team like the dynamic duo. They have become one person in my mind.

By Jamie Dunford - Jul 6, 2008 in Home Based Business - 18 Comments
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This is the second post in a three-part guest post series about making money online and avoiding scams during your search. It’s by Joe and Steve of I’ve Tried That. They still maintain they are separate people. I still maintain they are not. Read part one here — How To Make Money Online and Avoid Scams.

If you’re new to this race—the “making money online” race—consider yourself lucky to have made IttyBiz one of your first pit stops. (Editor’s note: Remember the other day, when we were saying that in order to get a guest post on IttyBiz, you have to use the word “shyster”? Additional rule: Please suck up, but do so intelligently like Joe/Steve.) As you’re about to discover, there are LOTS of bogus money-making programs making false claims in an effort to take your money. One thing that’s in your favor, though, is that they all use the same or very similar tactics. Snake-oil salesmen are never original, it seems, and that’s a fact you can use to your advantage.

By Naomi Dunford - Jun 20, 2008 in Home Based Business - 37 Comments
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This is a guest post from Joe and Steve from I’ve Tried That. As far as I’m concerned, Joe and Steve are the same person. This will likely turn out to be false. Also, neither of them are the guy in this picture. Read, comment, go to their website, and I’ll be back when I’ve recovered from writing an ebook.

Even with a seemingly clear-as-ice title to lead you, half of you reading this are misunderstanding me. Well not you, of course, but some other reader less savvy than you. Because you’re an IttyBiz reader, you’re better prepared than most who come to the Internet looking to supplement their income.

You’ve already learned the lesson most people have yet to learn: those who go to Google and search for “make money online” are like country rubes stepping off the train in the big city and asking, “Can anyone tell me where I can give away a lot of money?”

By Naomi Dunford - Jun 18, 2008 in Home Based Business - 29 Comments
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Somebody I don’t know was recently given the unfortunate and God-given responsibility to publicly inform me that I am a shitty copywriter. (Sadly, this means I will have to quit my life’s work and become a perpetually temporary switchboard operator, but there you are. C’est la vie.)

The reason that this is coming up today is that I have spent a great deal of time over the last couple of days thinking about the blog post I will write to introduce my ebook. When you write a landing page and promote it — and therefore your product — through Pay Per Click advertising, you have the luxury of anonymity. When you write a blog about marketing and advertising and copywriting and you’re trying to sell your shit to the readers of that blog, well, the pressure’s on, isn’t it?

By Naomi Dunford - Jun 16, 2008 in Home Based Business - 36 Comments
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Hey everybody,

So it’s 1:30 Monday morning and Jamie and I are going to bed after successfully launching our ebook SEO School. If you would like to check it out, click here. If you don’t want to read all the sales copy you can just scroll down to the bottom.

Thanks all, more on this later when I am more lucid.

PS- If you do decide to purchase the ebook, when you get to the page that asks if you have a discount code, enter “MovingDay” (no quotes) to get $9 off. I’ll explain later.

By Naomi Dunford - Jun 16, 2008 in Home Based Business - 13 Comments
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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.

First, some background. When I started offering the IttyBitty package, one of my first customers was Selene Bowlby from iDesign Studios. She’s does custom website design, and she’s pretty damn good at it. But in addition to being a highly cool web designer, she is also possibly the most prepared home business owner I have ever worked with. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so set to succeed.

By Naomi Dunford - Jun 12, 2008 in Home Based Business - 41 Comments
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