Aug
14
Stuff I Loved This Week
Since my vacation broke the internet, I’m on a blog binge. I am consuming so much, I’m pretty sure I’m getting fatter. I get to the end of a delightful day of dealing with the fallout of 8 weeks offline and I do nothing but read blogs. Here’s some stuff I’ve loved.
(Note: this stuff could be more than a week old. I’m choosing not to look.)
God, if I hear one more guru talk about free I’m going to maim myself
Everyone and their mama is talking about “free” since Chris Anderson wrote a book by the same name. (Cliffnotes premise: Everything should be — and is about to be — free and if you don’t make all your shit free, you’re a fucking dinosaur and doomed to fail.) Subsequent commentary has turned into a coffee house open mic night full of first year philosophy students. Are we fucking communists now? Jesus. Jonathan Fields is clearly the only guy in the room with a brain in his head. He bravely jumps into the shark-infested waters of free.
Jon proposes that free-or-die is bullshit for the ittybiz owner. (I propose it’s also bullshit for the customer because only a statistically irrelevant group of people actually value free shit and the rest of us would gleefully and happily pay for something proven to be good, but it’s not my post.)
Why I Hope The Free Brigade Got It Wrong
Hang on, sweetie. Just let Mummy get to Inbox Zero and then we can play trains. I promise this time.
As a parent and an intellectual property based business owner, I find the whole email management thing absolutely laughable. Some very hip cats — all of whom tend to be about 32, male, childless, and working in the tech industry — have been telling us for years how to deal with email correctly. And it’s HORSESHIT. Sure, if you work for Google and get 300 emails a day, none of which actually require a response, getting your inbox down to zero should be a cakewalk. For the rest of us, with businesses in which we comprise of every department and SPOUSES and CHILDREN, it’s not so simple, OK?
Charlie hits us with a short but very important post on getting your priorities in gear, Mr. Productivity Pants.
Being a Good Parent IS Being Productive
And how to write a sales page in one easy lesson
Jessica Albon, SpeakEasy member and all around ridiculously cool chick, is one of the best people I know at attracting clients. (See: ridiculously cool chick, above.) Apparently, she also knows her way around a sales page, too. Since I feel like giving a workshop on how to write a sales page about as much as I feel like poking my own eye out with the business end of a gravy boat, you’re not getting any help from me. Go read her sales page and just do what she does.
Especially noteworthy:
The No, You’re Not Getting Your Money Back Guarantee
The Why-Not-Just-Do-It-For-Free section (note the genius use of the word “nominal”)
“The workbook includes actual, word-for-word scripts on what to say or write, specific websites to use, and step-by-step strategy.” The people love scripts and templates, people. If you’ve got ‘em, flaunt ‘em.
The targetting. Good for Jessica for not trying to sell to everybody under the sun.
(Also, if you’re in web design, graphic design, copywriting or any other kind of reasonably normal service business, you might want to actually check out the course. It looks pretty hot.)
Emergency Clients for Web Designers & Copywriters
Oh, and one more excellent post you may have read but not commented on
If you haven’t commented or emailed with your what-you-want-from-IttyBiz, for God’s sake, do so. I’m giving you the chance to pick your content here, people. Also, that’s where you go to sign up for the IttyBiz 1000 newsletter and get the details on SpeakEasy opening up. (MONDAY, people. THIS Monday.)
I think if you have children and spouses (as I do), inbox zero becomes even more important. It’s not about DOING everything required in the e-mails you receive, but simply DEALING with them. Delete it, reply to it, forward it or add it to your task list.
Keeping a fairly precise list of tasks and a clean inbox helps you to take better advantage of the time you have your PC, and helps keep your mind free of work-related stuff while playing with your kids. It’s a great thing.
On the free bit, I think it’s a bunch of stuff that’s just generating buzz for the guys involved in the ‘debate’.
It’s not a new debate. It’s not a new argument.
Music should be free. Movies should be free. People who created the stuff, once they created it, should or should not be paid for it and how much is it worth. The argument alters with new technology. But intellectual property is an old topic.
And essentially? What I do is worth something.
I also offer different services to different groups. I also only have a certain amount of time. If you want my ‘free stuff’, read my blog. (And yes. I have white papers I’m writing to offer for free as well, but I’ve been too busy with paid work to finish them, so…..priorities, right?)
Need more help? Sorry. I offer things that work for some and not for others. If what I do isn’t worth charging for, then I’ll have to do something else, something worth money.
I don’t mean for that to sound harsh. But that’s my take.
;-)
All the best!
deb
I’m a new parent and Charlie’s post hit home. I’m trying to get my blog/business off the ground and I’m working so hard that I forget the most important thing – spending time with my kid. Just watching him play with a mirror is fascinating.