When you don’t get the sales you think you should be getting, the natural thing to do is to re-evaluate your products/services/sales strategy. You find ways to make it slicker. Polish and refine. All good, but it doesn’t always work. Sometimes it is necessary to ditch and start over. Sometimes the willingness to ditch and start over is all it takes.
When I studied art, finding inspiration seemed like a very hard thing. But now – now that my creativity puts food on the table – inspiration comes easily. It has to do with experience to some extent, but it is primarily about not having a choice.
Planning is a must. So is having a backup plan. But swimming becomes easier when you know that your feet can’t touch the bottom, when the alternative (sinking) isn’t really an option.
Before you empty a bucket of labor law on your boss’ head, make a list of privileges or perks that you receive. The ones that he is not required to give. Are you willing to loose them? I am not saying that your boss will retaliate (although he might – who knows), but he might simply be a good manager and remove those privileges that created the tension that lead to the problem which prompted you to empty a bucket of labor law on his head.
There are people who experience unimaginable trauma and come out the other side with their heads high.
Then there are those who are utterly disabled by comparatively little.
Sure it’s to do with genes and personality, but it is primarily a choice. If you are not okay, know that there is always someone, somewhere who is okay but has less reason to be. Someone who simply decided to not lie down, be average or produce mediocre work. Who instead *chose* to be okay in spite of, not because of their circumstances. You are also free to choose to be better than just okay. Choose “remarkable”. Why the hell not?
The next big thing will probably have to get two things right:
1. It will have to include people who are not Internet or computer savvy. Right now the Internet business sphere is still predominantly by and for nerds. Call them intellectuals if you like. I’m not talking about Hotmail users or the average receptionist who knows how to use Facebook, but the relatively few who actively buy and sell online.
2. It will have to refer to the Facebook way of doing things. It does not have to be a social networking gizmo, but it has to make sense to the Facebook user. Whether we like Facebook or not, people know it and understand it. If the next big thing is going to pull the masses, the next big thing must “feel” like Facebook.
I’m bitching about logo design money-back guarantees again.
The best money-back guarantee is an unconditional, unlimited one.
Second best: Unconditional but limited to x number of days.
Third: No refunds, but a satisfaction guarantee which means we will keep at it until you are happy.
Fourth: Nothing.
Fifth: Pretending to offer a money-back guarantee.
I found a logo designer today that claims to offer a money-back guarantee, but when you read the fine print it states: “…once the initial logo designs have been delivered to you, we are no longer able to provide a refund”. Huh? So your money-back guarantee does not apply if you send me crappy logo concepts? Why do you have a money-back guarantee then? Oh, wait, I know this one. People think you have one so they feel OK about ordering – and then there is no way they can get their money back, even if you don’t deliver. Sneaky!
I feel sorry for their clients, but I can’t complain when my competitors shoot themselves in the foot. You can’t build a business on deception.
Google is constantly making the tail shorter by getting better at search – and that allows the tail to grow. As more results turn up for long, specific key phrases, so searchers learn to become ever more specific when searching.
I’ll bet the average length of search phrases has doubled over the past decade.
That opens the door for the little guy. Or rather, it keeps the door open. It’s always been open on the Web.
So focus on differentiating your business/products/services. Make yourself the perfect destination for a tiny fraction of the online community and you will be doing very well. We offer logos for sale. Sure we do custom logos too, and some stationery and web design. Right now that helps to pay the bills. But selling pre-designed logos is what we shine at. Thanks to the long tail it has become possible to do away with the other stuff and sell only pre-designed logos – and it will one day be possible to build a business purely on selling pre-designed logos within a specific industry.
This applies universally, of course. Whatever it is that you are doing now, chances are that your occupation will be broken into 2 or more specialized areas over the next 10 years. You could wait for it to happen or you could lead the way. Be the first web developer who specializes in ___. By the time ___ is in high demand, you will be the established, respected leader in the field.
We should’ve done this sooner!
Biz-Logo.com now has a logo search feature to help you find pre-designed logos for sale.
It’s still very much in beta, but working flawlessly so far. Give it a whirl.
Being busy is not the same as being productive. Stop patting yourself on the back when you get all your work done every day.
It’s not the people who work hardest that are successful, but the ones who take a step back, plan, work out how to channel their efforts to achieve optimal results – and then work hard.
Bad idea.
Logo designers are creative souls who need to be “in the zone” to do their best work. The best logo designer in the world will deliver mediocre work if she thinks she’s mediocre.
If you don’t have the patience to work through many revisions of your logo or the patience to allow the designer to take her time, delegate the task. That guy on your team who never gets upset. He’s the one. Have him deal with the logo designer. He will get far better results than you will.
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