When It’s Gotta Happen NOW

As previously hinted [insert devastatingly charming wink here], we have something new for your ittybiz today that I think might be just up your alley.

It’s a special clinic for rushes, turnaround situations, emergencies and near-emergencies called… wait for it!… The Emergency Turnaround Clinic. (In more corporate-sized businesses, a turnaround expert or consultant is someone you call in when a situation becomes dire and outside of normal Business As Usual. They show up, get you profitable, and leave.)

The clinic is for you if you’re in one (or, let’s face it, more than one) of the following situations:

  • You’re screwed.
  • You’re stagnant, and soon to be screwed.
  • You don’t just hate your day job, you HATE your day job. You need traction NOW.

When we realized how enormously popular our Turnaround Consulting Package was becoming, we wanted to make a version you could use at home.

IttyBiz Confessional: “Help! I’m trapped in social media and I feel like I can’t get out!”

Dear Naomi,

“A while back, I started using social media – Twitter, Facebook, a little bit of LinkedIn. Everybody told me it was really good for building a fan base, building loyalty, and getting traffic. The problem is, I’m spending a lot of time on it, and not getting a lot of results.

I’m surrounded by people who don’t seem to do anything but promote themselves and make inside jokes. It’s not that fun anymore but I’m scared that if I back out I’m going to get a lot of backlash from people thinking I’m too good for them.

The truth is, I’m starting to think I AM too good for them. The support network used to be really nice, but it’s changed. It feels like chatter, and I’m really not getting anything out of it anymore.

Management By Objectives, or How To Win In Fruit Ninja And Business

Fruit Ninja is a game for the iPhone and iPad. You are a ninja, and you must slash flying fruit with your sword. More fruit, more points. There are different modes of play, and the objective of the game depends on what mode you’re playing in.

In Classic mode, your goal is simply to survive. If you let three pieces of fruit fall without slashing them, or you accidentally hit a flying bomb, you lose. Completely.

To meet the objective of Classic mode, you must play a very conservative game. Don’t get fancy. Don’t drop fruit. Don’t hit bombs. But if you find yourself in an untenable situation and are forced to choose, drop fruit, because you get three strikes with that. One bomb and you’re done.

Don’t start messing around trying to get combos or pretty stuff because they don’t matter. Survival is the only objective. Everything else is a distraction.

5 Ways To Handle Your Nightmare Client, or Crazy Auntie Vera Comes To Dinner

Previously, we talked about your 5 buyer types and how each one responds differently to making repeat purchases from you. We’ve covered Amy, Bob, Carol and Daniel. But there’s one more buyer type we haven’t discussed, and that’s the one who nobody talks about… Crazy Auntie Vera.

Normally we tell you how to sell to these people and, for the purposes of this (still free!) course, how to upsell, upgrade, and cross-sell to them.

But in Vera’s case, that is the absolute worst thing you can do. Ever.

Vera has a dysfunctional relationship with commerce.

She buys – oh, yes, she buys – but she’s really, really screwed up about it.

Your 5 Buyers: How To Sell To Daniel

Previously, we talked about your 5 buyer types and how each one responds differently to making repeat purchases from you.  We’ve covered Amy, Bob, and Carol,and now we’re going to talk about Daniel (your fourth buyer type) and cover when he’s most likely to buy – and why.

What is Daniel Like?

Daniel generally has a personality type that borders on depressive. He is Eeyore and he knows it, and though he hates that attitude in himself, being Eeyore, he feels like it’s pretty much out of his control.

Financially, his money is not out of control, but he feels like the power over how much money he has (or will get) is completely out of his control. He is convinced that he has no money, regardless of how much he actually has. His house is very likely a mess, and he is almost definitely overweight.