Aug
13
Naomi Needs Help. What Do You Need?
I have a confession to make. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.
It would be nice to say, “There. I said it.” But I can’t say that because that’s not exactly a revelation to you if you’ve been reading this blog for any period of time. There are some things I’m really good at. Others, not so much.
Things I Am Good At:
I am good at taking Very Big Marketing Concepts and making them understandable.
I am good at taking Very Big Marketing Concepts and teaching ittybiz owners how to apply them.
I am good at creating marketing and business plans for ittybiz owners with no money and even less time.
I am good at making people feel like they’re not the only fuckup in the room.
I am good at swearing, drunkenly trying to get into strip clubs using a child’s paddle ball as identification, and embarrassing my mother.
These are good things to be good at, but they leave a large and embarrassing hole in my knowledge. Because here’s the thing:
My business has changed. Like, a lot.
When I started doing stuff — consulting, products, this blog — my criterion for what to do and what not to do was really simple: What did I wish was around when I was getting started?
The honest to God truth of the matter is that I don’t remember what it was like when I started anymore. It’s been a long time, and a lot of things have changed. So I don’t really know what I would’ve wanted. That means I don’t really know what you’d want, either.
Free Marketing Advice: Always Know What Your People Want
I’m going to tell you what I’ve got coming up over the next little bit. Then I want you to tell me what YOU need to make your biz awesome, join the IttyBiz 1000, and basically take over the goddamn world.
1. A LOT of people have been asking, so I’m opening up the SpeakEasy this coming Monday for the first time since we started. (If you think you might want in, go to the page and sign up to be notified when we open the doors. People in Summer Camp get first dibs and slots are going to go fast, so you’re going to want to move fast on this one. You can listen to what one of our calls is like there, too.)
2. We’re adding transcripts to all of our audio products (including the SpeakEasy calls) so people with no time or crappy internet connections can still benefit from the juicy goodness.
3. We’re doing a couple of new series’ of audio classes. One is tentatively called the Expert Series, where I get the smartest people I know to tell you what they know. The other, adorably enough, is tentatively called the Beginner Series, where I take three total newbies with three different business models and life circumstances and coach them through starting a biz.
4. We’re going to start a newsletter for the people who have signed up to be a part of the IttyBiz 1000. It’ll be kind of like the blog, but with a little more useful and a little less sex.
This is where you come in:
I want to know what you want. I’m not talking about paid products necessarily. But what can I do to help?
You want me to start a scholarship program?
You want me to start doing video posts?
You want me to do a free radio show?
You want me to make more ebooks? Cheap audio? More teleclasses?
You want more Ask IttyBiz? (I’d offer more Moral of the Story but it seems I’m not doing as much stupid shit anymore.)
You want industry specific stuff? Stuff for parents? Stuff for retirees? Stuff for laid off people?
You want me to go back to taking my shirt off on Skype calls?
Please come and comment, letting me know what you think we should do to make it easier for you to laugh at the nonbelievers and tell your boss to go to hell. You can put your vote in for the things you see on my off-the-top-of-my-head list or just let your imagine run wild and give me your IttyBiz utopia.
Come! Tell me!
Stuff for people who know what they want, but still have a dayjob (and utterly depend on it) and thus very little time to work on their itty-biz.
Would that be possible? Pretty-Please?
I want interviews of the top small biz people sharing how they totally screwed up in the beginning. The catastrophes of bankruptcies, divorces, and brinks of disasters, then I want them to humbly share how they overcame.
I love the idea of both Expert and Beginner series. I also like the idea of “Ask IttyBiz” because I have a big motherfucker of a question.
You should only do video or audio if they don’t annoy the piss out of you. Last think we need is you all pissed off because you think they suck but you’re doing them because people want it.
Oh, and more Johnny Truant. That guy’s a fucking genius.
More fish! There is a ridiculous lack of fish around here and I love the little fellas myself. The way they wander around eating other fish and never appearing to go to sleep, they’re so cute.
Failing that, I want expert stuff. I want stompernet without handing over the shirt off my back.
Stompernet with fish maybe?
I just checked and stompernetwithfish.com is still available, should I order it for you?
I can’t think of a funny or clever way to ask for this, and it’s way too specific, and you’ve already given it away for free, but I’m trying to see asking you for help as a way of helping you. Hmmm.
Anyway, the free marketing lessons for coaches and consultant are awesome, but I need more help (especially with lessons 1 & 2) and would be willing to pay a little more for that extra umph. (Willing to pay more than free…is that a real thing?) Or maybe that extra is already in one of your other products, and I’m just clueless.
Hi Naomi,
I want to be one of the three beginners you take from shitholeinhell to stardom. I’ve seen what you’ve done for Johhny Truant (that guy is a fucking genius!) and I would love for you to do it for me!
I have been stuck in a huge hole of a family problem for the past few months and had to stop posting because on top of work and single motherhood I had to take on the full-time job of dealing with this family crisis (a matter of ill health).
Now I am ready to resume and I have a super cool idea to steer my blog in a new direction. I have no idea what I would be selling except the chance for people to join in this conversation which I know at least half the planet will want to be a part of.
So, can I be one of the lucky three? Pleeeeez? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeez? Pretty-fucking-pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez-with-chocolate?
Thanks and much love,
Ilaria
I want more specifics — not just Big Concepts Broken Down a Little, but then breaking some things down further so that it’s easier to say, oh okay, so these are actual things I could actually do, and here, I’ll pick a couple and try them.
Not just “think up some ideas, man” but “here’s some ideas that people with more experience than you already thought up and tried and had work for them, maybe you can make them work for you.” Like the Moo cards thing we talked about on the SpeakEasy call — a specific marketing task that could be done, rather than big genres of marketing.
Does this make sense? Well if it doesn’t you can blame it being day-before-deadline and email or IM me and force me to explain. ;)
(Also, man, I wish I could get in on that Beginner thing because some days I feel like such a n00b even after a decade!)
Case studies and step-by-step stories of people applying your awesomeness into money. I learn a lot from hearing how other businesses took your ideas and turned them into a profitable, full time business. It was great hearing JBT’s story. What about the same for the major industries who hang out here?
And seriously, if you need more guinea pigs for case study shit, can I please sign up as the “woo-woo-coaching” contingency.
xoxo
I love Ilaria’s idea.
Have a free mentorship offer, where people who apply get % off your next fabulous product and out of the apps you choose one superstuck person to go from 0-6 figures in 2010.
Video entries only that answer:
1. What’s your ittybiz
2. Why should you be the chosen one
3. And because it’s you Naomi, what’s your favorite cuss word.
Oh what fun!
Retreat!! Yes, retreats are usually more on the woo-woo side and while I totally love the woo-woo, a retreat organized by you would be so fucking awesome.
Getting the chance to meet you and other IttyBiz wanna-haves, currently-ares who are Naomi-freaks would be so freaking fantastic.
A weekend free-for-all (holy shit could I have any more hyphenated words here)!!
And of course, selfishly, I request this because you are back in the Toronto hood and I could so totally go to a retreat near by.
I’ve already bought everything you’ve done except for Marketing 101 and Summercamp, because I think they’d be too basic for me.
I like that you make my entrepreneurial ups and downs feel like they are normal and I’m not alone.
I’d like more help in… uhhh…
Honestly, I think you have given me most of the help I really need. I just need more time to implement it and more help in knowing what is best to focus on in my limited time.
That said, I’m still buying. I’ll definitely buy your expert series. I will buy anything audio you do that is remotely related to my business. I hate video and only like ebooks OK.
The main thing with audio is I REALLY appreciate good sound quality. So edit the living daylights out of those suckers so they sound crisp. Yes, I will pay more if you assure me of the sound quality.
I can hardly understand a lot of recorded phone calls/ teleseminars when outside or in my truck, even with the volume cranked up to where it’s constant snow. That drives me nuts.
I loved how you and Sonia’s personalities worked together on MFNP. More of you and Sonia. (Her easy-to-make chocolate cream pie has become a problem for me, by the way.)
And also more info on making money online with one’s knowledge. You seem to have a love/hate relationship with ebooks. I want more ideas about what else to do to make money off the cool stuff I know in markets that are kind of flooded with free info.
And more info on offline service businesses. And how to deal with employees and keeping clients happy. Creative stuff that the books don’t tell me.
Also: What about an “Ask Naomi” feature? Where once a week, you answer an email from someone on the blog, for us all to learn from.
Like: Are their ideas that are never going to work as businesses? What if you’ve got an idea, and you’re part way there to monetising it, how the fuck do you get it up to total-income monetisation? It’s like there’s this big no-man’s land between “just starting up” and “i diiiiid it! i’m an ittybiz 1000!”
1. A big IttyBiz conference! Seriously, call it South by NorthWest or something. I would appreciate the time to hear you and your colleagues speak at length, and share ideas with other IttyBiz folks. Form those critical relationships you talked about this week. You could invite some of your cohorts (Dave, Sonia,etc), and it’d be a big love-in.
2. I’d like to have a module on what I’ll call, “troubleshooting”. For example, someone followed the instructions on niche blogs to a tee, and didn’t make a dime.
3. Ditto what Amy said.
I’m sure I’ll think of more later. Thanks for asking! Krista
I’m gonna email my reply. ;-)
I second the Ittybiz conference idea! And also the Ittybiz retreat idea! And the troubleshooting module idea!
I also love the idea of Ittybiz Radio, because HEY AWESOME, maybe some awesome people can be guests (like ME! or other people in the comments section!), and also I love your voice. I could listen to you for hours. You sound like a best friend.
I would also love a mentoring program. People who are maybe already veterans (or at least have achieved their ittybiz goals so far), and can help out those of us still wondering from day to day whether or not we REALLY know ANYTHING about how to do this.
Also: a buddy program, sort of like the mentoring program, except that we have a friend to whine at, complain to, and screech excitedly to during times of stress and excitement.
And I just thought of this: what about having specialists under the Ittybiz flag?
Like, those of us who are designers could have a Designer Specialist to field some design-related marketing questions or issues. And those of us who are woo-woo (like the awesome Goddess Leonie) could have a Woo-Woo Specialist to field our special kinds of questions or issues.
This way, you can concentrate on whatever you really NEED and WANT to concentrate on, and the communication burden could be lifted somewhat. (If that’s something you want, of course.)
And more fish.
Content-wise I would be interested in doing things on a shoe string, and the full range of IM, from rags to riches.
Product-wise my wish list would be a whole IM course which could be purchased as individual modules, so one could skip the areas one might already know enough about, and not having to pay for that bit. Perhaps sold as a homestudy course?
And I’ll volunteer as guinea pig, if I’m a suitable one. My website is a mixture of stuff – off-grid living, office craft, DIY, and foraging, with a downloadable foraging guide. Overall theme is self-reliance (but not selfsufficiency). I’ll kiss your feet. Metaphorically.
You know what? Forget all that other stuff. I’m with Johnny: More fish.
I’m gonna be slightly contrarian here and say that I don’t actually learn all that much from case studies and other people’s problems. My problems always seem to have some crucial difference in my own mind that keeps them from being solved by someone else’s case study.
Not to say you shouldn’t do them; but everyone else seems to find them more helpful than I do. I find that your general advice is more easily applied to my business than is your specific advice to another specific person.
I never travel because it costs too much stinking money from my small town, but I have to say, if you held a conference, I’d actually consider it. I’d definitely buy the (high-quality) audios later.
Yeah. Anyway. More fish.
What I’d really love is something along the lines of Summer Camp for people who now have a nascent IttyBiz (they’ve begun to offer stuff, maybe they have had a few clients/sales, but now they want to seriously apply the jetpacks to it) but aren’t quite sure Where To Go From Here(tm). Maybe do modules on marketing, client retention, how to avoid the wheels coming off on the admin stuff, and – most importantly – how to actually get up and do the thing every day. Like, without a boss breathing down your neck and telling you to do the thing.
I’m soooo close to being in the 1000, but I need a little push. There are probably a lot more people in the same boat.
I vote for more Beginner stuff. And scholarships.
I’m one of the people with lots of ideas but no idea where to start (Monday of SummerCamp). And could probably use some help dealing with fear (Tuesday of SummerCamp).
(Like Genevieve, I have to confess that while I find case studies interesting, entertaining and often encouraging, I don’t tend to learn easily from them.)
I’d like IttyBiz to:
- Fix our broken washing machine
- Prevent me from having a teary meltdown on a regular basis when I wail “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing any more!”
- Teach me The Secret (TM) to Making Money In My PJs While I Sleep And Lie On A Beach Laughing Like a Maniac. Actually, don’t do that one.
- More ebooks! More ebooks! More ebooks!
- Find me some friends who “get it” and who don’t look at me like I’m a complete loon when I try to explain “well, I write for blogs, I sell ebooks, I sell other people’s ebooks…”
So maybe, um, forums or mentoring or even “buddying” programs or something? Where we could find people for some mutual support/hugs/crying on shoulder/butt-kicking?
Generally, though, whatever the heck you do, I seem to love it, so, y’know, carry on…
My votes:
+ Free stuff
++ Audio (cheap or other)
+ Ask Naomi
@ JohnnyBTruant – Finally, a voice of sanity around here!
Naomi, I adore you. You’re openness, humour and just downright grittiness is awesome and keeps things real. Thank you for that.
My thoughts – please create an Itty Biz Library –
This library will be of your products, other products you recommend, other websites you recommend, etc.
Also, please organize your library into developmental paths – newbies to experts. Then into categories of skills to improve on, i.e. copywriting ebooks, people to read on copywriting, website development, etc.
I hate combing the internet for everything – its freakin’ time consuming to weed out the b.s.. You’re hooked up, do it for me and I will buy through your links. AND I will send link juice all the time. :)
Thanks again for being so awesome. I enjoy sending money to you for your lessons because I know you will help me improve. I can’t say that about many others.
Thanks again!
Tina
oh sooo many good suggestions! as much as i love the idea video/audio – i have found that i need text. i am far too easily distracted when watching video and then i stop paying attention and/or have to take notes and (falsely) assume i dont have time for that. I do better skimming text and copy/pasting or highlighting important/relevant stuff small chunks at a time.
What I need:
- how to MEASURE (analytics of the business, not just SEO. how do you know what is or isn’t working? how do you know when to wait it out because it WILL work or to give up and try the next thing?
- how to MONETIZE non-tactical ideas (setting prices, venues, developing products, etc.)
- how to build an overall PLAN to work against (helps us structured/big picture types)
- TEMPLATES (product you could sell, i would buy! Templates for all of the above to fill out that would help build out everything needed for the ittybiz. Various packages that could also include an hour of consulting to review the completed documents/plan with you for changes/suggestions.)
i second the following ideas already posted!:
- ‘buddy’ system (creating friends who get it and are strong where you are weak, etc.)
- conference!! (selfishly, i want it in the mid-atlantic :) )
I really love how real you are in your blog, Naomi. I feel like you’re a friend I know but can’t get out to see in person.
I’ve just been laid off 2 months ago, have not even enough money to survive on, and I’ve been dabbling way too long in the online field without being brave enough to wave my flag and declare myself a contender. See, the thing is, even though I have art awards out the butt and loads of really varied experience, I have huge self confidence issues. What I need is a scholarship so that someone as knowledgeable as you can take me by the hand, tell my what to do, and shove me off the cliff to show me I have wings of my own. Seriously, I’m petrified. Not enough money to hardly even leave the house, and I’m trying to support myself and my spouse who’s in the (stalled) process of immigrating to Canada. I know it’s in me somewhere, because there is a little voice at the back of my mind that knows I’m some kind of awesome. It’s just that there’s a competing voice that stomps on it whenever it gets too cocky.
So, in summary, I would love for you to offer scholarships, kicks in the ass, and more free practical advice for artsy/woo-woo type businesses as well as those who are doing not only that, but also working on building a cool LGBT supernatural avatar-based MMPRPG online. You know… for slightly off the wall people like me.
I’ll go against the majority and ask for more text too. I just can’t absorb audio only, my attention wanders. Ditto on video, I always end up having to transcribe it in order to get any benefit at all. It’s the one thing that’s stopped me from getting involved in things like speakeasy, etc…
Hey Naomi,
First- love the fish requests, but would prefer mine still living so I can feed them to the predator fish in my aquarium and feel like some sort of cannibal enabler. Or deep fried in beer batter, either way. Probably involves different types of fish though, eh?
Radio show- Freakin’ awesome! I would love that!
Scholarships? Freakin’ awesome, would love that too!
What do I need most? Love those kick in the ass emails, need lots of those. Would love to be someone you would take on as a project and kick my ass publically until I get my business where it belongs- making me so much money that I can keep moving back and forth across the ocean like big freakin’ gurus I know!!
Retreat- conference- THAT would be incredible!!! (although need my ass kicked into making more money or that scholarship idea, because I don’t have lots of retreat/conference money laying around!!)
Love ya Naomi an dhow you are always looking out for all of us trying to get it together here!!
Naomi:
1. You are EXCELLENT at conveying marketing and all of its aspects in an understandable and humorous manner.
2. Your website looks great and everything on it functions perfectly. Please don’t ever change it.
3. You virtually hang around with Sonia Simone of CopyBlogger which is way cool and shows that you aren’t a typical blogging toadie who has to mention Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki and Robert Scoble in every post to appear as though you have some panache by association.
4. Basically you’re great and perfect just as you are, and you have a husband with a great Hello Kitty tattoo and a child who wasn’t born with cloven hooves (although I would definitely have lost that particular bet).
5. You’re loved at large by many people in the Internet community, and based on all the ass-kissing comments preceding mine; you won’t have to use toilet paper for at least a month.
6. Just keep doing what your heart tells you to do, even if your heart is really drunk. Ignore everyone else, including me.
As to your ideas:
1. What can you do to help? Well, just keep being your witty, sarcastic intelligent self.
2. Scholarship program: Um, the only one that immediately comes to mind is sending Johnny B. Truant to Iraq on a scholarship to disarm road side bombs.
3. Video posts: Only if you grow your hair back out or if Sonia is in them with you. Otherwise I’m sticking to porn sites. Maybe I misinterpreted that part.
4. Radio Show: If you’re playing tracks from The Thermals albums, fine. Otherwise don’t waste the time. There’s no ROI there.
5. Ebooks. Make every other one free and you will continue to be successful.
6. Blog more. We’re always interested in what you’re up to. You’re an Internet star. Live the dream.
Resuming radio silence now.
I want you to do what you love.
And swear more.
Also with Kate, voting for more text only b/c there are more opportunities in my day to read stuff than listen to audio or video.
Thank you!
Not sure if this fits in your plans, Naomi, but to quote fictitious food critic Anton Ego, “I’d like some fresh, clear, well-seasoned perspective.”
I can brainstorm and come up with great ideas and solutions for other people, but I suck when it comes to my own stuff. I need intelligent, like-minded pros to help chew over ideas, problems, et cetera.
Not much of a fish fan. But I would enjoy more avocado maki (brown rice, please), which, in my humble opinion, is highly underrated.
Transcripts, LOVE transcripts! I spend a lot of time with deaf people, including one deaf client, and audio is (obviously) useless for them.
It’s a simple thing, but you have no idea how happy I am that you’re doing transcripts.
HELL YES to the scholarships. It might work if you partner with other folk and get them to help cover the costs. I really really want to work with you and get your services, but I can’t afford it at all. This is what you get when you’re an unemployed arts graduate spending more time performing than earning money!
Also:
* Ittybiz for young people (under 30)
* Ittybiz for more servicey type folk – especially on pricing!
* Ittybiz for artsworkers – I’ve seen quite a bit for visual artists and musicians, but not so much for performers like myself
* Ideas on getting funding/money/support for your project
I’m slowly starting to go back through the archives to learn more. What I need to figure out is where my ittybiz should be. Or what. Because I want to do something for myself, but something that helps others, too. I just don’t know what that is or where to begin or how to get started.
I need something for an over-30 WAHM. A network. Something that gets me out of the $15/hr time & motivation suck. I want more time with my kid instead of telling him to go play while mommy works 40+ hours a week. I want to do more than just scrape by. I want out of this rut.
I’m not a big fan of video. I need something that I can listen to while I’m trying to do other things, too.
I don’t know if anything you have here, or will have, can help. But if it can I’ll be first in line & an undying fan.
God, good luck sifting through the slew of killer input others have already put out there!
Here are a few of my faves that I’m voting for plus one new one:
* Like the idea of more case studies. Would love to be one, especially a contrasting one.
* Like the idea of some library reorganization. I think I’m on three or four mailing lists, only because each has something different to offer. Or at least it appears that way. Could there be an uber list for those who trust you to an amazing degree and are interested in just about everything?
* Like the idea of a mentoring program and network of ittybiz helpers extended from the speakeasy or some other program. You make money without having to do anything but exist. They make money from this other income stream because you exist. It’s such a win-win.
* Like that you keep it real – the tears, the rants, the expletives, the cooing to children and clients alike.
New idea:
* Focus groups that bring together smaller clusters of speakeasy member who brainstorm solutions to the problems we all share. Yes, this happens on the forum, which is fantastic. But, being able to connect voice-to-voice is a great change. Plus, if some of the groups are facilitated by people outside of your time zone, members in other parts of the world wouldn’t have to drink coffee at 10 PM to join in the fun.
Cheers and thanks for asking the question.
I would like the break down of how people realized their Ittybiz dream. I think interviews, their mistakes, your angle on why it worked, and talk about all the hard work it took to get there would be the best way for me to learn.
I’m glad you asked. It’s nice to see you care so much.
OK, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, “No,” to the fish, please. (unless you want us to look at them while you are taking all of us on A DELUXE ALL-INCLUSIVE 7-DAY SCUBA-DIVING VACATION IN THE BAHAMAS then I, bring on the fish. Oh, and more deluxe all-inclusive 7-day scuba-diving vacations in the Bahamas please. You don’t give away enough of those.
I would love if you did more case studies – analyzed people’s businesses to see what’s working and what isn’t. I read a lot of blogs – most of them on how to market and start your own business, etc, but I have a hard time modeling what they are doing because I have a photography businesses and while I can easily see how all of you make money selling marketing advice to people, I can’t always see how to create info products or teleseminars, etc from a photo biz.
So, to sum it up, less fish, more all-inclusive vacations and more examples of how to apply what you do to non-marketing-type businesses.
And yes, totally agree – more stuff with you and Sonia – you make a great team.
What do I want? I want some way to figure out what I want.
I want more specific step-by-step, how to make a shitload of money stuff. I have OBS, and tried to follow Johnny’s rise form obscurity to superstar, but it seemed too disjointed and i just couldn’t figure it out.
I have no list, a blog with maybe a dozen readers (I think. None of them comment, but some do talk to me in real life), and a crapload of ideas for info products as well as fifty gabillion PLR products I got for free from every Joe Internet Marketer out there.
My mind was spinning as I read your request. I’d like to add my vote for these:
• Case studies, IttyBiz-style
– Love the inspiration of before and after
– Success stories
• Conference would be a blast
• More bite-size actions like the SpeakEasy emails provide
• An IttyBiz manual/book
– Step by step for creating, launching and thriving
• More discussion about how to handle overwhelm
– My IttyBiz is starting to rock and I love your survival stories
Thank you, Naomi!
I can never make the ittybiz calls live, so I do appreciate having the recordings. However, I’m much better with text than audio or even video. Whatever you do, I’m much more likely to take in via text (blog post, transcript or ebook, whatever.) So there’s my .02 on format.
As far as content- I’m a newbie so I love the 101 type series. One of the things I most appreciate about you is how you break down the big marketing concepts into things I feel like I can actually do. And then you send me a little email telling me to get off my ass and do it. And because it’s one little thing, most of the time I actually do it. And then I feel great because I’m actually doing something instead of sitting around with my head up my ass because I don’t know what to do… Are you getting the picture here? It’s all about moving from head spinning to DOING…
And if you’re still screening for candidates for the beginner series- send me an application!
I was relatively new to the IttyBiz blog when the SpeakEasy opened, but I loved the posts and it was a more affordable option than some of the three-figure courses out there, so I figured I’d go for it. It was good (particularly the email access) but the content felt sparse and ultimately I looked forward to a (free) blog post more than a new recording.
I know that you need to serve who your clients are, but sometimes I feel like I’m not among them. Yes, I do have a one-person business AND I work from home BUT I’m not a life coach/web designer/etsy/etc. Sometimes it seems so catered to them that I feel like I need to get with the program and BECOME a life coach, just to keep up.
At my core, that’s not what my stuff is really about. My stuff is more about little web apps that people can use. I do want to keep it small and non-corporate, but it’s not quite the same as being a personality. More like Kawasaki to Alltop (founder, promotional, but not -the- brand) rather than Naomi to IttyBiz. I guess it would be nice to see more content applied to that type of business.
What about a TV show?
I first thought this idea was a joke in my head, but then I started to think about it more.
What if you took 3 of your ittybiz ‘clients’ (a “first-step-er” a “first-year-er” and a “seasoned-pro”) and gave them some advice over the course of a few weeks or so and had someone film you while you did it. You could serialise it and we could could watch the ups and downs unfold week by week.
That way we could see the difference in advice/strategy between someone starting out with an ittybiz and people who are more experienced. We could also see exactly what works with real results, and also, maybe, some things that don’t go to plan and how to deal with them.
Maybe I’m just thinking WAY out of the box…
I’d love to see the IttyBiz Client-Getting Guide for beginners
Hi Naomi,
I hope vacation was great! I’m not sure I can add much to the awesome comments you have already received but I’ll share my thoughts.
1) The thing I appreciate about you is your ability to cut through the BS in the world and focus on what really matters. It is why I subscribe to your RSS feed and your e-mail newsletter, and it is why I buy your stuff.
2) Articles like “What to do when you are scared shitless”, and “When You Feel Like A Raging Failure” are awesome. Some days we know we can be ninjas but some days we have doubts. Those articles help us know we aren’t alone and inspire us. More please.
3) I got to the IttyBiz party late and have done things in an arguably backwards order — I started with MFNP first, then did OBS quickly so I could come to Summer Camp. I hesitated to take MFNP first because I worried that it was a 201+ type course but I decided that I would benefit from hearing tweaks so I could avoid making the mistakes in the first place. I’m glad I did it. I’ll take anything you will offer regarding best practices.
4) I’d like to know more about the realities of running an online business. Examples:
* In Summer Camp, you mentioned that being out of the corporate world is hard at times because you can feel isolated. Good tip. I knew that but it was still good to hear it out loud.
* If you have multiple sites (IttyBiz, MFNP, etc.), how much does that complicate administrative life (such as WordPress, Aweber, CRM, etc.) What can I do about it?
* WordPress tips?
* AWeber tips?
* What would you do differently if you started over today?
5) I love interviews. In fact, I just heard an interview with you the other day on some other site.
6) I like transcripts with audio. When I am really trying to learn and focus, I read and highlight. But the audio’s reinforce the lessons for me, and I pick up different things from them. I agree with Genevieve that they definitely need to be high quality because the world is a noisy place when I’m driving to Corporate America. I’m not a video fan but that’s just me (and is greatly influenced by crappy bandwidth at my house.)
7) I also agree with Genevieve when she said, “I loved how you and Sonia’s personalities worked together on MFNP. More of you and Sonia!” Separately, the two of you are very good. Together, the two of you are awesome! You complement each other tremendously. You should both think about that.
8) I have purposely avoided Sonia’s chocolate cream pie as I don’t need any more dessert temptations, but what the heck, do you have any good dessert recipes? :) How about an IttyBiz recipe exchange? :)
Thanks for everything you do. It matters!
Mike
p.s. Save me a place in the IttyBiz 1000. I will make it. Note: Just having the IttyBiz 1000 as a destination encourages me. Thanks for that.
Naomi, you rock. Just in general.
There are a ton of great ideas here. I’d love to see some kind of more formal mastermind group structure within the SpeakEasy, where we can find (or be assigned, depending on our interests/needs) 4 to 5 committed, like-minded folks to encourage and inspire us, with you checking in with us occasionally to see if we have questions. I’m with Amber that the content in the SpeakEasy has felt a bit sparse, but I’m holding on to my membership because I’m confident that you’ll get your sea legs back under you and the whole thing will rock as much as your info products and blog do. :)
I’m a big fan of audio or text, but not so much video, unless it’s the kind of video I can listen to without watching, in which case, hey, it’s audio. And as a part-time champion of accessibility for learners with disabilities, I’m a big fan of having both audio and text.
I, too, would like to be in the IttyBiz 1000. I just saw the budget numbers for the university teaching center where I work, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be around much longer.
All my best,
Leslie
Dude, I just want you to lose some weight. I realize this is probably WAY too much to ask, but let’s be frank: your chub is way too much to bear.
Except, you know, possibly by a beluga or something. But they had YEARS of evolution to come up with that frame, and they have the water-buoyancy thing going for them. If you could float all the time, I wouldn’t worry so much, but the only thing I think I could convince you to swim in is a giant vat of Ben & Jerry’s.
(for those of you not in on this, Naomi is fat)
(not really. But I tell her she is)
(yes, of course she tells me too. What kind of sick relationship do you think we have?)
(neither am I fat, before Fatty McIttybizrunner here says anything)
Also, I want you to provide me with more ebooks. Because I like them, that’s why.
I’d love to see case studies of people who have applied the various IttyBiz lessons in non-Internet marketing businesses (or non-website development businesses) and who have achieved success in their niches.
That would totally rock and I’m sure you have a whole bunch of cases like this.