Petersen Media Group

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Why Partnerships Often Don’t Sail

sailingA reader asked me a good question last week: why don’t you like partnerships? A valid question, and since I’m so big on teaching how I do business, I decided to explain it fully instead of simply answering a comment that a few people might see.

A partnership is like a marriage in many ways. Immediately abandoning any attempt to avoid the obvious, 50% of Americans can’t pick a spouse to weather the storms (or the weekend), so don’t expect any better outcomes in a partnership.

There are many bad reasons to form a partnership, but there are a few valid reasons. The problem lies in the formation of a legal entity to accomplish a common goal because, like marriages, the people involved are often unequally yolked. One of the members of my mastermind group said it this way recently, “I spent as much time working on the partnership relationship than I was doing actual work.”

That directly relates to my constant brain state expecting to be interrupted when I was on a team, as many hours were spent with interpersonal relationships – building and repairing because people are individuals. What happens when individuals are legally bound to share profits and one of them goes off the range?

The list of things that go wrong in partnerships is long, and it’s sometimes referred to as “the D’s.” Divorce, dementia, drugs, disagreement, death, disaster, disability, etc. One partner has many influences on their life that brings garbage into the business, which makes the whole idea of partnerships very risky.

If one person is the business-minded partner and the other spends frivolously or feels mistreated because they what feels like all of the labor while the other “just emails people and travels to conferences.”

the alternatives

You can work with another person who also owns a business and form an agreement between the two companies, referred to as a joint venture. One person can own the business and the other can be a contractor or employee who benefits from an agreement of profit-sharing, which is financially the same as ownership without the mess if things sour.

You can create a commission or affiliate network among the interested parties. This is the loosest form of partnership, and also the easiest to set up. Commissions would be a percentage of sales (be sure it’s reasonable after expenses, so don’t make commission 50% if you pay a lot up front for hosting or your mail list service). Affiliates are people who get paid for making a sale… so that would be ideal for a sales and marketing expert you don’t need to partner with.

It’s kind of funny, but since I started writing this post, I have heard at least three different sources warn about partnerships. Do some of them work? Sure. Copyblogger (now Rainmaker) is still wildly successful and a lot of doctors and lawyers and some accountants have successful partnerships, but those industries are the only consistent winners of this model.

It’s only prudent to be prudent when considering tying yourself to someone else where your money, reputation, livelihood, sanity, and much more are wrapped up in.

How I Almost Destroyed My Business

When I was playing Little League Baseball, I was the smallest kid on the team, and was relegated to right field most of the time. I really wanted to play infield, but I didn’t have the reach of the other kids and I had a tendency to throw a bit wild under pressure.

One day the coach decided to start grooming me for 2nd base during practice. With drill after drill, I got used to ground balls on the dirt instead of grass and the ball got to our tall first baseman every time, so (finally) in my 3rd year of baseball, I started a home game at 2nd base. To everyone’s surprise, including my own, things went okay and I was able to hold the position for consecutive weeks.

Then all of my hard work came undone.
During one game, the other team had runners on multiple bases quite often. I felt unnerved concentrating on where to go, where to look, where to throw, and “dear God, don’t screw up” with everyone watching. Out of nowhere, a blazing ground ball came bouncing off the left side of the pitcher’s mound my direction and, as it was deciding if it was going to bounce one more time in front of me or not, I glanced to my left and my right to remind myself where the runners were.

I took my eye off the ball.

"Never, ever take your eye off the ball"That’s when the ball hit me in the mouth and broke a tooth I’d knocked out the year before. I was dazed. I was embarrassed. I don’t remember who rescued the ball, but it wasn’t me. I sat out the rest of the game with a busted mouth.

Something changed at practices and the next game. I was afraid of every grounder and started to let down my friends and teammates. Soon, I was back in right field, backing up someone who never let the ball get past him unless it went over or around him.

I lost everything I’d worked for to get out of the outfield.

fast-forward thirty years

After almost six years of growing my business, I was tired of wearing 30 hats but hungry for more (mostly better) work. With more work than I knew what to do with, my biggest stressor was trying to find enough hours to meet everyone’s expectations and my obligations set forth upon receipt of project deposits.

I gained access to a team. While I worked on a project, someone else did development on another, and another. The earning potential was great. We had worked out an arrangement that, if things fell together as I saw it happening, I’d double my income with little more work, if not less work.

Life didn’t work as planned. Over the course of the year working on a team made me more distracted. At home, we had newborn foster after newborn foster, and I was thus sleep deprived and missing meetings and deadlines. In the past, I was always able to work these things out under my own label, but things were different now. I was failing friends and clients and friends’ clients.

Everything became too much after over two months with a newborn we brought home from the hospital (the one we are in the process of adopting now). We resumed our separate ways over missed deadlines affecting others and just days later I had a heart episode that put me in the ER Trauma 1 and a hospital room for 3 days right before Christmas… and heart surgery right after New Year’s. It turned out that I had a heart defect that had likely been affecting my energy and oxygen levels for quite a while.

Something had to change.

My frustrated wife sat me down to talk about why I was insane in the membrane. We finally figured out that I had inadvertently trained my brain to expect to be interrupted. Chats, emails, text messages, tweets, Slack, and tiny people in the house all burst my thought bubbles constantly. I didn’t start tasks (let alone projects) for fear of getting interrupted. I rarely finished anything I started.

With lots of effort, I sorted that out, but there were no projects now. For a year, I had focused on someone else’s business. I stopped writing articles, developing new products, and promoting my primary skills.

I had taken my eye off the ball. Again.

My network thought I was busy with “my job” though we still have no idea why site contacts slowed to a drip and were almost instantly turned off with one email.

what turned it around

Well, I started talking about new ideas and new projects again. The world saw me busy and shaking trees. With that as the only quantifiable change, contacts picked up, the contacts started signing up, and I’m nearly back to having too much work.

It has been a full 4-month process of a humongous pivot to new business. I fall asleep most nights by 8pm, mentally exhausted, but very satisfied in my work once again. With new things coming out, the spark is there and people are excited and talking about them:

  • GenesisThe.me is nearing launch. With just desktop viewport remaining for coding, the only major building blocks unbuilt are documentation, support, and the shop with a demo. I’ve sold 4 limited-edition lifetime updates and support licenses and those people are my early adopters.
  • WordPress learning is in full swing with my Bootstrap Your WordPress Business video series. 5 of the 16 videos are posted, and at a $78 early-bird price, people are taking advantage of the discount before it’s done. I got 4 major sponsors for the series: StudioPress, WP Engine, Gravity Forms, and DesktopServer.
  • Related to my last article on Impostor Syndrome, I’m releasing a premium plugin that will be sold in the theme shop. It’s under tight wraps, but I’ve connected with a Genesis core developer to make sure it’s solid code.
  • Still doing full-site and mini projects, both custom and customized. I’m still one of the few who use mobile-first stylesheets and have positioned myself pretty solidly as a mobile-first advocate for Genesis themes.
  • I’ve taken on several support contracts to supplement projects and add residual income while product sales ramp up. I don’t want very many so I can keep my standards of communication and quality high, so that’s just about at full capacity already.

There you have it. I almost killed my business last year. Have you done something similar and had to start over or did you recover with a reboot?

Just Ship

Are you busy? I’m busy. When I get busy, I have the horrible habit of taking on even more things. Here I am writing instead of coding or reviewing my presentation for WordCamp Orlando this weekend.

In reality, though, I should be writing every day or few anyway. Writing is good for my soul and a few people (I won’t name names) have told me they enjoy the content. The problem I have today is that I just shipped a lot of stuff. Scotch is for shippers, so I’m three sheets to… no, but that would be rewarding. Since I shipped, I’m in the “what to do next” moment.

Of course, I need to recite my presentation aloud to see how long it is since I hit the road tomorrow at lunch. The rest of the afternoon will probably be spent on a couple of emails for some more December revenue and starting the next project in my queue. I told her my goal was to be done by the 18th.

This is what happens when you set goals. You find a way to meet them and you can’t be concerned about every little detail or you’ll never ship and never get paid, move on, drink scotch, etc.

So get going and finish something, cross it off your list, and move on to the next thing.

 

This post? It’s not really a finished, polished product this time, but I shipped it and someone will find it useful.

Never Give Up

Have you ever given something everything you had and wondered when life was going to get easier? It’s easy to get discouraged when you are working so hard and every day feels like you’re suiting up for battle and going to bed exhausted and waking up just as tired.

I’ve been there. Thankfully, we’re in the middle of our best month ever and each day (well, maybe not my inbox on Mondays) is way more fun when things are clicking.

I think I’ve almost thrown in the towel and looked for a job or tried to go back to my last office job at least three times in the past nearly six years. Each time was because I was not being a good businessman in one way or another and that caused money and stress problems. The two were never independent and were always an unhappy couple.

Here’s some encouragement to not give up in the form of a list of tips:

  1. Wake up at the same time every day. Your body will get used to that, no matter what time you went to bed, so be kind to your body and don’t stay up too late. My alarm is set for 5:03 every day. Every day. 5:03 because 5am would be too early!
  2. Exercise, even if it’s a walk. Moving around releases happy chemicals in your brain and you’ll feel better about your day and it’s a good excuse for a shower and changing your shirt if it’s been a few days. I’m up over 275 miles walked since I started tracking. I think it’s time for new shoes.
  3. Avoid your inbox until after you exercise. If you don’t, you’ll be thinking about it during your “healthy time.” I’ve stewed about a problem while I wanted to take a 1.5mi walk and cut them short to go back home… or I blasted out an email from my phone and just pissed everyone off. Both are bad, just in case you’re wondering.
  4. Eat protein for breakfast. Protein will stop the big crash before lunch. Nothing like working when you’re “hangry” to make life more interesting. That’s hungry + angry, by the way.
  5. Try your best to take a nap. I’m talking 20-60 minutes. You’ll feel better. After a couple of weeks, you’ll notice when you feel bad and then set an alarm to start your nap at the same time every day. For me, it’s 1pm. I aim for 36 minutes and set my alarm. Some days I need 75 and some only 20. I also listen to business audiobooks I’ve already listened to while I nap.
  6. Talk to someone. Find someone who you can talk business with openly and without judgement. After a while, give them permission to call your moves or ideas stupid because they love you. I’ve got several people who let me dump on them and celebrate with them.

What tips do you have for people who feel like giving up on their dream?

The Art of Being Trustworthy

trust meSeveral recent mini-projects that have come my way through referrals who see my About page or seeing my profile listed on a recommended list have come to the same conclusion and they’ve asked for a call to verify their initial impression.

Are you trustworthy?

Each person wants to confirm my claims of keeping clients, preferring long-term relationships with clients, and giving a straight answer. Do you make any claims about yourself or your services on any open channels? What would happen if someone tweeted the world asking what they think of your services?

Over the years I’ve been supporting people using WordPress in various roles, hardly a month goes by that someone doesn’t request help after [insert sob story here]. I’ve had claims that a developer took their money TWICE and they still didn’t get what they asked for. Sometimes it’s just been some organization that gets you to send money and shuts down communication and others are people you’d think would care about their reputation.

So before we continue, ask yourself if you are trustworthy enough for someone to send you a couple thousand dollars, do the work that’s been asked of you, do it to the best of your ability (even if that means calling the cavalry if you’re stuck), and do it in a timely manner?

It should be stated that at the time of this writing, I only know of one or two developers in my circle or whom I’ve noted from incoming projects that it was odd that so-and-so did this to the person I’m talking to. I have also been known to contact said developers to get them to come clean and do the work right or, if I know them, ask them their side of the story.

How to convey your trustworthiness

One case was a particularly jumpy client because she was the one who had been taken to the cleaners twice. Thousands of dollars gone and the site was a wreck. It’d been migrated to WordPress from Blogger and all of her SEO juice was gone. None of the permalinks were right. It wasn’t responsive because it wasn’t done in Genesis – as invoiced and discussed – and was barely “done” at all. It was more like a Blogger dump in a crap theme.

Then came the question, though it wasn’t explicitly asked because she was too polite: “The other person was a WordPress “guru” so how do I know you are who you say you are?”

That really is the question, isn’t it?

Let’s look at some clues about how you can start vetting developers you’re looking at hiring:

  • When did they register their domain? If it was last month, ask them about it.
  • How long have they used WordPress? How long have they been in business?
  • Do they have any plugins/themes? Do they contribute to WordPress core?
  • Check their social stats. Do any of them indicate a following and a real interest in WordPress and coding or just cats?
  • Do they server WordPress only or are they jacks of all trades and also do Magento, SquareSpace, Drupal, Joomla, and Expression Engine? They can’t be great at all of them.
  • Do they write about WordPress for the community. Blog, hello!
  • Do they have any speaking experience at WordCamps or other blogging or development conferences?
  • Are they listed on any recommended lists?
  • Can they produce links to any sites they’ve done that look great on all devices? Look for their info in the footer or stylesheet.

If all else fails, or sometimes a first step for my extroverted friends out there, would be a call to let the voice and cadence convey your intentions and abilities. But beware! If you’re not confident on a call, you won’t be doing yourself any favors. You’d best be unavailable by voice if you don’t exude a great ability and attitude on a call.

How about it? Are you hearing more and more about shysters ripping people off or do you have some additional clues to help someone trying to feel out a developer? Comment away!

Fear, Wondering, and Wandering

Running a business, especially as a solopreneur who is responsible for every aspect of the business, is really, really difficult. I won’t try to sugar-coat or deceive anyone about that. Sure, I take off more time than I ever used to working a J.O.B., but I’m the hardest boss I’ve ever had and there are times we don’t get to do what we want because a paycheck doesn’t just happen from sitting at your desk and going through the motions. I’ve never worked harder than I have in the past 5 years, nor had more fun.

I started losing my jobs back in 1998. By the time 2002 rolled around, I’d had 7 jobs in 6 different fields, ranging from cancer research technician to construction material testing. Ask me about those sometime – I used to be a jack of all trades. There was usually a celebration happening every time I hit the 90-day mark at any given position.

the event

The last time that happened, I was with a start-up and had already made the fearful leap to leave a “secure job” – lots of contracts and a lot of unique skills that made me (painfully) indisposable for more than a week of vacation. So, I’d already learned to work from home, work nights and weekends, and deal with customers for the first time in my life.

I was flat out scared to death and simultaneously excited out of my skin. There were many weeks without more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep, working on projects for 12 hours and building my own stuff for another 6.

my “own terms”

The day before waking up to do MY stuff full-time, I told myself that I’d never put myself in a position to have my mental health, self-worth, and my income be in the hands of one or two people. Never. I’ve almost broken my own promise during a few rough times, but I haven’t ever followed through with a call or e-mail to pursue something, and I’ve been asked a time or two about joining a team.

It is that drive that keeps me going when I feel like a failure. Yes, I feel like a failure more often than I publicly (or even privately) admit, but this is a new time of being authentic, right? No matter what invoices and projects are doing at any time, I need only remember that dozens or hundreds of people make up my revenues, not one person signing checks.

encouraging others

Ask anyone who really knows me and has seen my ups and downs over and over and you’ll hear that I’m an eternal optimist. When it’s bad, it’ll get better. When it’s good, even if it drops to bad, things will be better than now before too long. I get energized teaching others my lessons learned and encouraging people who need a push.

The #GenesisWP community had a tremendously encouraging Twitter event happen last week that made me do a lot of remembering, some reflecting, and now some communicating. Our good friend, Jonathan with SureFire Web Services was dreaming out loud about getting to work from home and do WordPress full-time.

By the time we were done encouraging him over 40 minutes later, 8 people had participated who continued to tag me and had some eavesdroppers along the way, too.

 

Are you considering a leap? A transition? What’s holding you back from transitioning or leaping? Let’s discuss – there are a lot of people in your shoes and a lot of people who have been there and are happy to help, coach, and encourage.

Come to think of it – if you’re wanting to leave your J.O.B. soon, what help, info, or encouragement from my last 6 years would you be searching for in your journey? I’m an open book.

Using P2 for (Certain) Client Communication

P2 ThemeIn my world, my inbox is my second biggest frustration, right after poor/inconsiderate communication of any form. I tried my extreme method of checking my inbox for a while, but it didn’t last more than a week in this form. It wasn’t realistic to go hours into the day not knowing that someone had changed their mind about a change overnight.

Why e-mail isn’t ideal for projects

Then new issues in my inbox started to become more frustrating. I learned in my last corporate job to not start with the oldest messages because someone usually took the reins or put an end to a thread by the time I got to my desk since many people had company laptops and worked from home after hours. Recently, I noticed several e-mails from people that looked like they were ready for an answer with the latest send, but there was information in the first message that was missing in all of the others.

In the end, in order to answer any e-mail from someone or for a project, I have to read all of the messages before responding to anything. My brain is too full for that. It simply doesn’t work that way with all of the other floating points that are informational spinning plates. I miss things. Wires get crossed because one thing overwrites a change made moments earlier, sometimes irretrievably.

That’s where P2 comes in

A few months ago, I kicked around the idea of using P2 as a way for each client to work through a project with me in a linear fashion with each item getting its own thread to follow and resolve. I’ve tried BaseCamp and I did’t like it. By the time I was done with a project of any length, I was ready to be institutionalized.

For those of you who don’t know what P2 is, it’s the blog theme that the developers of WordPress at Automattic use to communicate with their team and with core contributor users across the globe, so to say it’s effective is an understatement.

Personally, I didn’t yet have the experience to build a site like that because it involves multisite, a particular install of WordPress that I’ve avoided like the plague until October 2013. I started a pet project for long-term income that uses multisite and I have learned a lot since then.

Setup of multisite for P2

Installing multisite is the easy part for me, since I am a big user of WP Engine and they have a world-class, security-minded installer that has the option when you create an instance to create a multisite install right out of the gate. It may take some massaging of the domain settings to get it just right, but you should be able to get it up and running on a subdomain of one of your primary domains without too much trouble. Soon the fun begins.

I use subfolder sites instead of subdomains because my P2 multisite is a subdomain, so I want each install to be a subfolder. That requires an edit to the .htaccess file and the wp-config.php file (down at the bottom), besides the multiple domain name items throughout.

It should be noted that the Network Setup in your multisite will show a slightly different chunk than this if you’re on WP Engine. The chunk is already there, so you just need to modify what’s there based on your hosting. Line 1 isn’t in Network Setup, but it’s in my wp-config.php file.

Ready for fun? Plugins! Here is the set of plugins I have running on my business P2. It’s pretty bare-bone as far as installs go, but it’s very powerful for what you need to accomplish – and by all means, P2 is new enough to me that I’m open to great suggestions.

I only have P2 and the WooThemes child theme, Houston, so I have Default Theme (premium) to select Houston for new installs so it doesn’t default to a non-existent Twenty-fourteen theme.

P2 Likes by the great Scott Basgaard is there so I can like a post without commenting (and creating an e-mail).

P2 Resolved Posts is a way for me to track what’s remaining. If my client remembers, it is already that way by the time I get there, but it’s not an issue at all. It creates a widget you an put in the sidebar, so I can quickly look to see what’s open if it’s a long-term project with dozens or hundreds of posts.

Subscribe 2 allows us to be notified by e-mail of new posts with it set with checkboxes and users defaulted to be subscribed. It’s for posts, not comments to posts, so I also use Subscribe to Comments Reloaded, also with checkboxes defaulted to subscribe. See update at the bottom for a replacement plugin.

I’ve used Trusted Only on all of my staging sites for a long time now and it works great to block people from seeing the content at all unless they’re logged in.

Who’s Online creates a widget so I know if I can expect a reply any time soon. I really like this plugin’s simplicity and function.

When you put all of these together, you get a homepage that looks like this.

I already have six P2 sites fully ready and adding a new one only takes a few minutes, though I’m sure that I’ll find a faster way in the near future. I expect to see my inbox switch to a notification center for P2s rather than a mess of 20 threads with 6-30 messages each now.

Hit me – do you like this idea to break free from your inbox as a to-do list for projects, especially ones with multiple parties?

Update – 01.10.2014

I’ve switched out the two subscribe plugins for P2 by Email. It handles both subscriptions to the posts and the comments AND allows you to reply or post via e-mail if you’ve got access to WP-CLI or Apache cron jobs.

How to Reel in Clients Without Landing a Stinker

Jesse Petersen Speaking WordCamp Orlando 2013One of the greatest challenges I’ve faced as a solopreneur is quality client acquisition. Thankfully it’s not something that is still a challenge because of the mistakes I’ve made and the adjustments I’ve been agile enough to change who can refer to me as their WordPress guy.

I was honored to speak at WordCamp Orlando and presented on the topic that is the title of this post. My goal was to help people identify six different types of clients as early in the process as possible to avoid some of the trials I’ve been through. This is the first in a 7-part series, so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any of them.

Six Types of Clients

Without watching the video and the lengthy but amazing Q&A, here are the six types of clients I’ve been quickly able to identify within one or two exchanges and nearly every first call (for those that go that far). They are:

  • the noob
  • the rescue
  • the know-it-all
  • the “Client from Hell” candidate
  • the cheapskate
  • the dream client

As you can tell from that list, it’s critical to determine a couple of those types immediately.

Here is the talk and discussion in its entirety. I’ll be writing on each type in the posts that follow to expand on each but I’d like to go ahead and discuss red flags below the video since that is separate from the specifics of the types of clients.

Beware Red Flags

Red card!Over the years, I’ve become much more in tune to my “Spidey Sense” to the point that I have lowered the threshold for a red flag to where my yellow flags used to be. My wife has said that I boot potential clients too fast, but my goal isn’t more clients for the sake of numbers. My goal is to have as many dream clients as I can handle.

Right now, I have at least a dozen dream clients. Some of them are harder to recall than others because they are both completely autonomous when we’re not making improvements and they don’t mess anything up. They pay on time, respect my time and experience, and we get along great. More on that in the last post of the series.

I used to have a 2 or 3 yellow flags limit and sometimes I’d even overlook a red flag. Those, in particular, usually came back to bite me. If you haven’t been afraid of losing your good name and getting some baseless lawsuit, you haven’t had a crazy client that you regretted allowing the process to continue because you thought, “I’ll be able to make this work with my charm and excellent communication skills.”

As time went on, I upped my standards to create this formula:

2 yellow flags = 1 red flag = not going there.

Of course, nothing is simple

Now for the tricky part, what about after the first few e-mails and the first call or two? What if that’s when you realize they are going to be a challenge?

I’ve got one client right now who has officially put himself in my dream client category, but it started out pretty good (if not a good bit better than that based on our first contacts). As the project moved on, the WordPress install wasn’t jiving and something was fishy about the whole thing.

My Spidey-Senses were going wild a bit too late in the process. I started to lose sleep and my appetite for a couple of days. I started working on other projects and avoiding the situation.

Finally, I went out on a limb and expressed my concerns about what was being asked and why because it didn’t quite match what I was seeing in the dashboard. I was so bothered by what I was seeing that I quietly asked two of my closest developer friends if they agreed with my concerns and the consensus was worse than my own assessment.

His reply was quick and appreciative that I cared enough to voice my concerns. It turned out that the previous developer actually was a crack addict (how many times do you hear that and it be a sad truth?). He did the work $50 at a time to support his habit, so what I was seeing was the work of a bonafide crackhead. Now, we have great calls and lots in common once I was able to get past that hangup. He’s fed me at least 5 new projects to work on together and we love what we do and who we serve.

Red flags are a grey area

The bottom line in that case is that if I’d seen that stuff in the first contact, I’d be gone. I’ve run faster than that dozens of times. On the flip side, look at the effort it took to clear things up: an exchange that can go either way and turn into that ugly mess that strikes fear of a request for refund or worse.

That makes all of these following posts on the initial interactions guidelines that I follow. Just like in fashion, once you know the rules, you can break some and get away with it. Ignore several at your own peril. Yes, I often have to change one or more items before leaving the house – I don’t know those rules that well.

When have you ignored a red flag and it bit you? Have you ever been glad you didn’t throw a red flag?

How Confidence Affects Profits

confidence-jesse-petersen

It’s a funny thing, confidence is. There is a fine line between being confident, cocky, and a butt-hole. I know this because I walk that line every day and I probably cross over onto one side or another more often than I realize.

Just don’t live on one side. Where you live in relation to that line affects your name, your brand.

At WordCamp Orlando this past weekend, the questions and conversations had a common thread: how do you have the confidence to charge enough, say “no,” tell people to wait, and be confident on a call with a prospective client?

the answer is easy – not easy to reach

It takes time. I didn’t start out confident, but I also started out moonlighting doing support beyond what purchasing a premium theme provides. That’s why my e-mail signature since Groundhog Day 2009 has had this at the end: “WordPress and Business Services – for the things premium support doesn’t cover.”

The key there is that I didn’t become confident with the caliber of client that makes for a dream client by my standards today. It was with the nervous, desperate, and very small/starter businesses. Knowing your audience includes knowing what level of confidence they expect. With some people it is okay to not have an answer or have to research things for a simple question or quote.

Others will smell weakness and pounce. “Pouncing” in these situations gives them the upper hand, gives them something to negotiate with.

This leaves you two choices when starting out: work on projects with less-than-ideal clients or fake it until you make it.

what is fake confidence?

It looks and sounds like someone who:

  • doesn’t jump at every request for work
  • can’t start today unless it’s a 5-minute job
  • doesn’t publish their contact info
  • has a clean website with relevant posts (doesn’t have to be epic)
  • has to look at their calendar and the scope and provide a price

It’s easier to exude confidence in an e-mail than on voice or video. Human communication has too many non-verbal signals to fake too much. Once the call is over, it’s just as professional in appearance to then research plugins, code snippets, themes, and ask a colleague before e-mailing back with a plan, pricing, and a recap of the call.

That is what being professional is: a great communicator.

the proof is in the pudding

I’ve had a season where I wasn’t confident. I don’t recall the reason why, but I couldn’t land a new project to save my life for two or three weeks. Back in the day, my wife would comment that she loved listening to my calls because I was so confident and professional on Skype. One day in the middle of the drought, we realized I wasn’t confident at that point.

Without confidence, I wasn’t giving those potential clients confidence in my work – in me. Each day was another vote of no confidence in my abilities — based on my confidence, not my abilities. I’ve hired far better coders than myself to tackle problems because their body of work showed their abilities.

Prospective clients don’t give you that opportunity unless someone gushed about your work and their experience working with you. Even then, if you’re hemming and hawing while discussing a plan of attack, you may change their mind.

Scroll back up to the beginning of of this. Put on that face before every call. Feel the difference. Own your price. Command your brand. Increase your profits, starting with improving your client acquisition and quality.

For more tips on client acquisition, take a look at a slide deck on the topic.

Cutting the Fat: Business Expenses

Cutting FatLast week my friend, Curtis McHale, wrote a newsletter about reviewing recurring business expenses to keep overhead low. After a hectic week when it hit my inbox, I finally got around to reading it and it kicked my butt into making a bunch of changes with more to follow. It was simply time to start cutting the fat from my outgo.

who’s first?

The first casualty was Audible, which I use nearly daily on my phone. I had the 2 credits/mo plan for $22.95 and have quite a backlog and had 6 credits available. Just in case the price goes up or they change things soon, I placed it on hold for 90 days. If I am caught up on books by then (after getting 6 more, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy), then I can resume it or alter my plan. Savings: $275/yr.

The next one was much rougher, but something I’d been mulling over for many, many, many months. Such a long breakup just made the financial decision all the more obvious and, looking in hindsight, the delay was not very smart. I signed up for Scribe SEO very soon after it was released for 300 inspections/mo for $27/mo, which is no longer an offered plan. That was the sole reason I have held onto my license for over 18 months now and I just realized that alone was not a good reason to keep paying $27/mo. I barely use it because I know enough about SEO to not rely on it and I have been using WordPress SEO for many months with clients who can’t pay $97/mo for Scribe. Savings:  $324/yr

what’s next?

My next move is using a trial period of a new client invoicing system to shave some more fat off. I’ve used Freshbooks since before I was full-time running my business, but they charge more to keep adding clients using the grandfathered plan I have now or else switch plans and pay $29.95/mo. Right now I’m paying $24/mo.

Curtis’ e-mail pushed me to look at other solutions, so I signed up for Ballpark using a 30-day trial and really like what I see, especially for $12.99/mo. I imported all of my Freshbooks clients, invoices, and estimates and all appears to be great. You can use offer code JESSEPETERSEN for 10% off your paid account if you like it after your trial. I don’t really see any downside to switching other than losing my historical reporting and my wife learning a new system to do our finances. Potential savings: $132/yr.