You mapped it all out.

You found the right help.

You paid through the nose for rock-star graphic designer and genius copy.

Your auto-responders are all set.

Videos look fucking awesome.

Guest posts are ready and waiting.

Affiliates are ready.

You tease it out to your clients.

A bunch of people express interest your cool-whatever-ness.

You’re all a-flutter with anticipation…

Bamo! Launch day.

First thirty seconds pass… no buyers.

Refresh. Refresh. Refresh. Fuck. Refresh. Fuck Fuck Fuck.

Paypal shut down your account.

You forgot to upgrade to merchant status.

Website crashes for half your visitors due to traffic spike.

Fancy video fails to load.

Sales page has big grey box instead.

Buy Now button doesn’t work…

…your assistant forgot to connect the purchase link.

Annoyed potential buyers take to Twitter…

“Wish I could buy… oh well, guess @Yourname’s Cool-Whatever-Ness. Oh well, probably wasn’t worth it anyway.”

Email box reaches capacity… you recall your web guy saying something about increasing storage a while back. It was on your list… somewhere.

Breathe. You can do this. One thing at a time….

Fix video.

Connect Buy Now Button.

Upgrade Paypal.

Cross fingers.

Hope.

Hope more.

Tweet apologies. Assure world that Cool-Whatever-Ness is ready and waiting for them to get all excited again and buy! Buy! Buy!

More hoping.

More refreshing.

More tweeting.

More hoping.

Fingers are blue from all the crossing.

….

…….

………..

Moment has passed.

You sold two.

Let the tears commence.

Hope is dead.

Replaced by self-pity.

Now what?

I have had some WHOPPER failures. My first [as a business owner] was when worked on a course for three months solid. Selling it would pay my rent and bills for the next several months. On launch day, I was down to $11 in my bank account. It HAD to work. There was no Plan B.

I had several hundred people on the pre-launch interest list, and a lot of buzz. I did all the right stuff… creative launch, lots of build-up. My business coach was on-board. I wasn’t even a little bit worried.

I sold none.

ZERO.

Zip.

Nada.

And nothing actually even went wrong… I just totally misjudged the whole tamale. Most likely it was too expensive, too heady, too confusing… too something. The point is, we ALL get it wrong sometimes. I got cocky. I thought that I had hit the point where at least some people would buy whatever I’m selling. It took this experience to realize what a fucking pile of poo THAT is. It’s not real.

If you don’t put out the right stuff for the right people at the right time, it will fail. Period. It doesn’t matter how big or small your list is.

So what did I do next?

I ran away like my hair was on fire. I hid under a rock for a while. I cried. Like stupid, irrational, self-pitying ugly crying. And I whined – A LOT. Not my proudest moments.

But, these ARE the moments that separate people who were made for entrepreneurship from those who aren’t.

A lot of people quit when they have their first epic fail. The crying/depression and self-pity only ends when they submit to the Craigslist Gods to help deliver them back to the safety of a cubicle.

Instead, I reminded myself that I swore when I started that it was WORTH THE RISK.

FAILURE IS THE RISK.

No one, and I mean NO ONE who has reached a point of success has gotten there without at least one catastrophic failure.

So I decided, I’m either a hypocrite or I’m in business.

I chose business.

I embraced my meltdown as the keys to Entrepreneur’s Castle.  I had earned my stripes. I was part of the club. I tried, failed, dusted myself off and started again.

 So tell me… how did you earn YOUR stripes? What was your first epic fail?

Related Posts:

• How to make SMART growth decisions – With Ashley Ambirge
• Using launch powers for good {a sort-of case study}.
• Why Hallmark is so much cooler than you are.

Spend all our time in school… ignore family…. spend all our time at work… rationalize away our integrity bit by bit to get ahead…ignore our personal priorities to make way for our professional ones….

Let the misery and disappointment commence!

In today’s installment of Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, I’m talking to Danny Brown. Danny is very successful. His readers [myself included] are fiercely loyal. I generally find that of all the stuff I subscribe to, Danny is the one I pretty much always find the time for.

The thing I like about Danny is that he’s like the anti-guru. He doesn’t hover above his audience commanding we buy crap we don’t need - it’s more like he rolls up his sleeves and kicks back to really talk about the juicy stuff WITH his people. I love that. And so do a lot of other people.

So, when I asked Danny how HE makes decisions, I was not at all surprised by how grounded his response was:

“All my decisions are based on three key tenets:

1. Will I keep my integrity?

2. Is it right for me at this time?

3. Can I do this without sacrificing time with my family?

If there’s any doubt at all regarding any of these tenets, then I give the opportunity a miss and move on. So far it’s worked out pretty well.”

In a few sentences, Danny says a lot [which is sort of his specialty].

The Method: Priorities First. No Exceptions.

How he finds the ‘way forward’: Danny has his priorities straight. Like WAY straight. His process has a lot more to do with what aligns with his values than anything else. For Danny, integrity, timing, and family are key. Those choices are ALL about valuing quality over quantity.

Is this the right method for you? That depends entirely on your goals. Danny doesn’t seem to be someone who prioritizes the gathering of power and cash as the north star in his business. He focuses on making sure that he squeezes every bit of goodness and joy out of daily life. This means that his priorities are set by where is life is in the moment, and less-so by the eventualities of a given opportunity.

So this is where you have to look at whether you are craving happiness now or happiness later. Danny’s method seems to mean he gets both. Cool huh? But it’s not always as easy as it sounds… since the more ambitious we get, the more willing to chip away at our ideals we become.

That means that it takes a strong, focused approach to maintain a values-driven decision-making filter.

What do you think? How do your values factor in to your decisions? Or do they at all? Do you use a different system? Let’s talk about it in the comments section below.

Related Posts:

• How to make SMART growth decisions – With Ashley Ambirge
• How to make a brilliant decision – With Chris Guillebeau
• 29 Most important entrepreneurial lessons I learned while getting my MBA

Today’s contributor is the unapologetically awesome Ashley Ambirge – the wordsmith wizardess behind The Middle Finger Project. If you don’t know who she is, you are most likely residing under a rock. I am particularly delighted to hear Ashley’s thoughts on decision-making because by all rights, she seems to have one of the most perplexingly successful combinations of playfully savvy madcap hi-jinx and honest, gut-wrenching truth out there today. From the outside looking in she sometimes seems like she has no plan at all… selling her worldly goods to go live a fabulously exotic life [that I could totally have if only my sofa didn't have it's own gravitational pull] in Costa Rica. Other times, she’s sitting firmly at the helm of one of her wildly successful business courses – poised like a CEO – ready and able to rock the shit out of a power suit and some very expensive heels.

Brash, brilliant, and ALWAYS one-hundred percent Ashley…

I ask you, Ms. Middle Finger… how do YOU make decisions?

I make business decisions differently, based on whether they’re big picture decisions or in the heat of the moment decisions, but both with one end goal in mind:

Smart growth.

With big picture decisions, I’m the queen of scalability: If it’s not scalable now, or won’t have the opportunity to become scalable later, that’s on my back burner.

On the other hand, anything that has the potential to really be leveraged into more scalable revenue gets a front seat. It simply makes sense. In the age of the internet, with all of these sexy technological tools that allow for mad scalability, not holding this as a priority is just stupid. That’s why I’ve had so much fun developing programs such as my Clients + Cash program, which helps solopreneurs (think photographers, web designers, etc.) attract clientele to them, using the internet, rather than having to go knocking down their doors one by one. There’s a smarter way to do things, you know?

With heat of the moment decisions, however–like what projects need to take priority that day–I think more about which ones are going to have the most impact. For example, perhaps you’ve got three copywriting gigs on your desk, two from individuals, and one from a start-up company. I will always prioritize the start-up company’s copy, because I know that my ability to turn things around quickly and be spot fucking on is going to inevitably lead to more business. An individual, on the other hand, has a limited number of needs, so therefore, the urgency is less in terms of which project will impact my ultimate bottom line in the future. Not that any of them are less important, but when time is a factor, that’s how I prioritize.

Smart growth… I fucking LOVE that. I mean what a simple and elegant filter to run things through. Let’s look at what she really says here.

The Method: The Firm Filter

How she finds ‘the way forward’: Ashley has set up a solid set of rules for herself. She frames her decision-making in a way that is simple for her to follow, which limits the need for a lot of internal back and forth. This keeps her head-space free to be creative and solution-oriented, and it keeps her rebellious spirit from pushing back too hard against self-imposed boundaries. Her decision filter is built around two core questions:

1. Is it scalable?

2. Will it have the most impact?

Unique personality traits that point to Ashley’s method: Ashley is extremely self-reliant. She has talked openly on her blog about the fact that she doesn’t have a lot of family or other factors that root her to one place. She loves adventure, but seems to come at it from a place of just enjoying the ride. Travel seems like less of a goal or end-point for her, but rather just another opportunity to squeeze some more juice out of life. Freedom for her is less about something she works towards and more like something that happened to her as a result of having a fascinating, and at times tragic, life. It makes a lot of sense that her decision filter would be about building something, having impact, scaling up. She is incredibly strong and is creating a foundation to grow from, rather than just a business or a brand.

What this means to you: Creating a filter is a fabulous way to frame and shape your life and business, but to figure out what your questions are, you first have to figure out what YOU need and want. If you’re like Ashley, and feel a spark to build something big, then scalability is a logical high priority, but if you prioritize time with your family, or have aspirations to live abroad, etc…, you might value other factors like, “Will this opportunity build my global network?” Or, “Will this opportunity allow me to have more or less time with my kids/wife/husband/etc…?”

In my experience filters only work long-term if they grow from within you. No one can tell you what’s truly important to you but you. The best rules usually come from a lot of trial and error, and an awareness that if you find yourself breaking your own rules, you probably haven’t gotten 100% clear on your truest priority. More on that in the coming weeks.

This is a really juicy topic and I would love to hear some responses from readers on this one. I may even use comment quotes in a book project I’m working on… or might reach out to get more info from you. So… give it some thought and let Ashley and I know what your internal filters look like.

How do you set up your personal decision-making rules?

Related Posts:

• What to do when everything gets all fucked up and you wanna run away and hide.
• How to make a brilliant decision – With Chris Guillebeau
• Using launch powers for good {a sort-of case study}.

What I tell them is that it all comes down to decision-making. You have to have a system in place that helps you evaluate options and make reasoned judgments. The hard part is that we are bombarded by the opinions of others… often people whose priorities are completely different from our own. So, without your own individual internal method, it gets really easy to make decisions based on the priorities of others.

The question then becomes, how do you come up with your own set of rules?

How do you know who to listen to?

Some of the best advice I ever received was to start listening [and ONLY listen] to people who want the same things for themselves that you do.

For the past several years, I have been informally gathering wisdom on decision-making from all kinds of people, but particularly, from people who love what they do. I really want to dig in to what makes happy people tick, and what they do that other people don’t.

So, for the next few posts, I’ll be sharing the thoughts of some really fabulous people like Danny Brown, Fabeku Fatunmise, Corbett Barr, and more. I’ll also be breaking down my observations on how I see their decision-making process affecting their businesses and project development choices.

First up, Chris Guillebeau.

Let’s talk about Chris…

Business: The Art of Nonconformity

Basics: Chris is know as a leader in the, “I want to color outside the lines while still being a really good human being,” crowd. He is known for his big, awesome quest to visit every single country on the planet, and for being a wildly popular blogger and writer. Oh, and he also helms the coolest gathering of world-changers out there: The World Domination Summit.

Chris has also written several courses and guides for his super-popular Uncommon Guides series.

So, Chris Guillebeau, Mr. Nonconformity, how do YOU make decisions?

“It depends on the specific decision, but when evaluating projects and opportunities, I tend to go with my first reaction. Does this sound exciting or interesting? If so, I tend to go for it. I don’t really consider costs vs. benefits; I just focus on what sounds fun and then I try to ensure my life can accommodate the decision. When you do things that motivate you, you don’t get nearly as tired or flustered as when you do things out of obligation.”

Chris says a lot in that statement, so let’s break it down:

The Method: Internal Q & A

How he finds ‘the way forward’: Chris is an adventurer – to his core, so he looks for excitement, interest, uniqueness, fun. It makes a lot of sense that Chris would look inward for his decision compass; his travelling spirit and non-conformist nature create a leadership ethos based on internal drive [and a crap-load of good old-fashioned guts].

Unique personality traits that point to Chris’ method: Self-reliance, confidence, a desire to live life as far from a cubicle as possible.

What this means to you: If adventure and freedom are the top two things on your priority list, then modeling your decision-making on Chris’ Internal Q & A model – with a set list of filters (fun, excitement, energetic vibes, etc…) is a great place to start. Take a good look at how Chris has set up his business. He doesn’t do a lot [if any] one-on-one with clients. Instead, he opts for doing a lot more writing and creating. He depends on income from products, self-led courses, big events, and books to fun his lifestyle. This allows him to be totally free to pursue whatever he wants from wherever he wants to be. This is an important differentiating factor: If physical freedom is a big priority for you, make sure that you build that into your business structure by offering fewer services and more products. Products allow you to dictate schedule far more than actual clients do.

Check out what Chris is up to these days!

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I wore red jeans and an inappropriately [and unintentionally] low-cut shirt.

So, there were boobs.

I’ll get back to why that’s relevant in a sec.

So there I am. Red jeans-wearing girl in a room full of grey.  All 5′ 9″ of me. Martini in hand, wandering around trying to find someone interesting to make the awkwardness seem less awkward. In my wandering, I heard a lot of terms like ‘phase-shift’ and ‘continuing ed’ and ‘certification’ and ‘risk-averse’.

Juicy stuff.

“Really? Juicy?”

No. Not really. Not really at all. Boring and painfully dry actually.

EVERYONE’s opener was, “So where did you get your certification?”

And I’m all like, “I’m not certified,” – complete with sheepish apologetic tone, folded arms, and feigned confidence.

Their response was a universal chin up head nod and half-smile… as if to say, “Wow, that’s so quaint.”

Then they would go find another grey suit to talk to.

I lasted an hour.

And then I went home and immediately started researching certification programs and taking practice exams. All the while feeling this growing knot in my stomach about how I really didn’t have any desire to start studying and hoop-jumping again – especially not to validate what I already do well. And I decided that, for me, it was a steaming pile of crap. I don’t need to go back to school. I have an MBA and a thriving business. I need to just not go to networking events anymore, and I need to remind myself of that every time I get a, “I should really reach out to my peers more,” bug up my butt.

Problem solved.

But this got me thinking…

There are a hundred ways to approach a project [and to approach being a project manager]. As a PM you can be a partner with a visionary [what I do], you can be a slave driver, you can be hyper-organized, you can be a cheerleader, you can be an assistant, or the keeper of the rule-book, or the risk-limiter, or the stick in the mud, etc… Everyone has their own style, and every client has their own set of needs.

After this event, and my subsequent and brief insecurity melt-down, I started to really think about what it truly is that I do for my clients that seems to work really well. I’ve been doing it for so long that I never really thought of my work as having a system to it, but as I pondered the grey-suited mass vs. my red jeans-clad style, a really simple pattern emerged and I began to more clearly see that the reason that I didn’t fit was because I have a pretty well-developed approach to projects that has worked over and over.

Successful projects need a basic formula of four things:

Boobs.

Food.

Common Sense.

Love.

Boobs [at least virtual ones]: Every good project needs to have a center of attention. That thing that your people [both internal team and clients] can’t look away from. That thing that gets the gaze of everyone in the room. If your project doesn’t have boobs, someone important will ignore it along the way. Your project has to have it’s own gravitational pull. Apparently, I was the B in BYOB at my little event.

Food: Every project needs the right fuel in the tank. If the project is to serve a gourmet meal, you can’t use a microwave to cook the chicken. This means you need the right people doing the right part of the right job. At my event, I was the wrong person in the wrong place, and I drew attention from the outcome of the event for the other attendees. Instead of networking with their peers and getting what they usually get from an event like this, they were distracted by me… Ms. Un-certified Red Pants. The fly in the ointment, so to speak.

Common Sense: Treat people well and they love you. Respect the ideas and dreams of others and they are more willing to support yours. Drop your ego when you collaborate. Wear clothes that make you feel like a rock star whenever possible. When faced with multiple choices on how to proceed, successful decision makers choose not just the path of least resistance, but also the path that leads to equitable success. That means that if you work with people who really believe that a win-win is the only way to go, you can’t lose.

Love: Not everyone has to love the project, but for the best outcome, everyone has to love their contribution. That said, there has to be at least one person who LOVES the outcome more than the moving parts.

Boobs. Food. Common Sense. Love.

B.F.C.S.L.

I suck at acronyms.

I bet one of those grey suits could think of a better one.

Related Posts:

• What to do when everything gets all fucked up and you wanna run away and hide.
• How to make SMART growth decisions – With Ashley Ambirge
• Client Experience Quiz – Part 2: Top 3 Client Experience hiccups & patterns that MANY of you face.

This post is a visual representation of what solo entrepreneurs go through in their first year. One part education, one part inspiration, on part gift. Clicking on the infographic will open it full size in new window. Feel free to download and share. I just ask that you keep the Makeness bit at the bottom.

Enjoy!

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• Crap I Hate Doing: Goals. Goal-setting is lame.

I’m talking about that thing that arrives like six times a year on your doorstep – where it sits, unloved and alone until you finally get so sick of nudging it out of the way with your Nikes that you finally drag it out to the curb on trash day.

Yeah, THOSE Yellow Pages.

So, somewhere in Yellow Pages Corporate Land, some VP went to their marketing department and said,

“People are no longer using our ridiculously outdated and wasteful service because they have smartphones and the internet. Oh, and because our brand is antiquated and boring. Let’s see what we can do about that.” 

Marketing Genius’ response was,

“YEAH! I have an idea… instead of our stalwart harsh black and bright yellow, let’s soften up the visual approach with some pale yellow and white gradients.”

And VP was all like,

“Ooooooo! Tell me more!”

And Marketing Genius was like,

“And the best part is, we’ll change our domain name to YP.com! People will totally forget that we are the same company that sent them all those useless piles of outdated paper crap for all those years. It’s flawless!”

YP? Really? ALL the people that had to approve that campaign, and no one went, “WHY PEE? Really?!?”

The result?

Millions spent in new billboards and ads, and every time I drive by one, it feels like I just stuck my hand in warm water. I giggle like an eight-year-old, and then I have to find a gas station. I hate peeing at gas stations. So now, I hate YP.com because their ill-conceived marketing scheme is freaking everywhere and it makes me have to pee at gas stations.

You know what it doesn’t do? It doesn’t make me want to visit YP.com.

It doesn’t even make me a wee bit curious about what’s new or different.

It’s a common story: Old brand… late to the internet/social media party, watches market share steadily decline, then tries to suddenly change everything to be more relevant. Next step – beg people to join said brand’s uber-generic Facebook page, then hire someone to deliver the company line in scheduled updates that offer nothing of any social or emotional value to anyone.

Presto! You just bought yourself (for the low low price of millions and millions of dollars) like two years of shareholder placation while they watch and wait to see if anything comes of the great Urine Experiment of 2012.

You would have thought that they would have learned from GM’s ill-fated foray into pretend-environmentalism a la: “Live Green Go Yellow”. I guess yellow meant corn… which meant ethanol, but really, go yellow? Really?

SCREAMS environmentally-friendly, right?!?

….excuse me for a minute while I go yellow.

It sounds ridiculous, right? I mean YOU would never make such a costly oddity of a booboo, would you? Of course not!

Your marketing budget is like the size of a postage stamp in comparison, right? Oversights are not an option. You think about all the angles. You ponder the implications of your choices. You work hard to maximize every dollar you spend.

It’s the HUGE advantage that small businesses have over large ones. When your resources are teensy, you work a helluva lot harder to maximize your results.

Ever seen an up-an-coming life coach with a slogan like, “Delia Brown Consulting: Go number one! Go Brown!”? Yeah, you’re totally thinking about that right now.

You’re welcome.

The point is, it’s often really hard to see the forest for the trees when you’re small. It’s easy to wish you had a budget for bigger, splashier, yellower marketing.

Just remember, yellower is not always better.

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Here’s one more round of applause for those of you in the cheap seats… confronting the fact that you are leaving people cold is goddamn hard. And brave. And it takes a mountain of humility. Yay you!

Today… we are digging in to the nitty-gritty stuff. We’re going to talk about the rough edges that many of you bravely fessed up to. In reading through the hundreds of responses, a few really strong patterns emerged. Seems as if a lot of you are dealing with some of the same stuff.

***In Part 3, I will highlight in-depth solutions to ONE of the following. You get to vote on which one.

To vote, either email me, click reply [if you're reading this in your inbox] or leave you two cents in the comments.***

Based on your Client Experience Quiz results, the top three areas you are having issues with are:

#1: “I’m not always offering my clients a personalized experience.”

One of the really valuable things about brick and mortar business is that customers and clients get to look someone in the eye and feeeel the love. They KNOW that they are valued. They can chat with you about their kids. You can send them personal birthday cards and gifts. You can offer them special deals that meet their specific needs.

Personalization is one of the biggest challenges that online businesses face. In the brick and mortar world, when you lose a client there are phone calls and discussions and personal interaction. But, because of the detached nature of the internet, gaining and losing clients lacks emotional relevance.

Why is personalization important? Because we are people, not subscribers. We like to feel heard and understood, and every single one of us has a different set of circumstances that needs to be addressed.  One of the biggest mistakes that online entrepreneurs make is thinking that one size will fit all. ‘Cuz it won’t.

Want solutions on this? Vote in the comments for 1, 2 or 3.

#2: “I’m not always connecting clients with their best possible solutions.”

On of the questions on the quiz asks if you are willing to send clients to a competitor, if you know that they would be better served elsewhere. MANY of you said no. Many of you also revealed that you were not active in connecting your clients with one another, and that you didn’t really have a system in place for referring people out when your services didn’t meet their needs.

Let’s face it people. Your skills are not limitless. If you say yes to everything – with little regard for whether it’s a good fit, what is that doing to your reputation in the long run?

How much brand equity and trust could you be building by being the person who takes pride in helping people truly get the most bang for their buck… even when that buck doesn’t end up in your wallet?

#3: “I don’t have effective systems in place that help my clients feel valued and taken care of when I’m too busy to personally connect with them.”

When you’re buried in work, or life decides to just crap on your head… how do you make sure your clients don’t end up feeling like their heads got crapped on too? This is one of the most potent areas that I will be talking about a LOT in the coming months. We have all gotten icky, “I’m just so busy with all the OTHER people and projects that are important to me… and I get SO many requests for my time, that I just can’t always get back to people right away… blah blah blah…” emails. They make me want to barf.

Guarding your time and creative spirit is one thing, but making people feel unimportant? That makes me want to hit you with a two by four. What if you walked in to a boutique and the salesperson said, “Hi! Thanks for coming in. I’m so happy you did. But, I have to re-merchandise my store right now, so can you come back later… or just wait patiently for as long as I see fit, until I can be bother to help you?” Yeah, that would fly.

Want some cool tips on stuff you can do to both guard your time and energy AND make people feel all spiffy and valued? Vote in the comments for #3.

Vote NOW! My typing fingers are itchy. I want be writen’ solutions, people! One more time… for those of you that skimmed this:

Pick one of the three topics above that you want help with. Vote #1, #2, or #3 in the comments OR if you’re reading this in your inbox, you can just click REPLY with your vote.

Still haven’t taken the quiz? Inbox readers, click here… online readers, click here.

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So, I decided to help by making you some valentines – interwebs style.

Mrs Bader (my first grade teacher) would be so proud. 

To use them, just click the one you want. It will open in a new window. Right click the image and save it. Re-size to your heart’s content. Share it. Send it. Attach it to a few emails. Upload and tag a few of your favorite people on Facebook. Show your people how you feel today. I promise, no one will ever lose a client (or a friend) because they show some appreciation to the people that make it all possible.

Related Posts:

• How to make SMART growth decisions – With Ashley Ambirge
• What the first year of solo business REALLY looks like.
• What does the moment before THE moment feel like?

[If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you haven't missed out. The quiz is totally still available. If you're reading this on makeness.com and want access, click HERE. If you're reading this in your inbox, click HERE for access.]

Well kiddos, the results are in. Today marks part one of a short series based on the results and feedback I received from the first month of quiz responses.

Part two will talk about specific areas where patterns arose. I’ll discuss where some trends emerged… the stuff that many of you admitted to falling short on, and what you can do to improve.

Part three will unveil a spiffy new follow-up quiz (also free) that will help you figure out the whys and the hows behind improving your clients’ experience.

So…. drumroll please….

In the last thirty days, 971 people took the quiz.

How freaking cool is that?!?

Nearly a thousand of you stood up and said, “I CARE about my clients and I want to know how to make my business the best it can be from their perspective.”

Nearly a thousand of you said, “I want to be better. BE better. For YOU.”

Nearly a thousand of you sat down and were brutally honest with yourselves about your strengths and weaknesses.

Way to go. Together we are going to kick some ass.

And you know what? The results have surprised the hell out of me.

30% of you found out that you have everything pretty nailed down.

Your clients are happy and you are doing the best possible job of making sure that your clients get the very best of you no matter what. Well done. Pat yourselves on the back.

40% of you found out that you thought you had it all figured out, but that you might be leaving a few folks out in the cold.

Of those few, how many feel like you left them high and dry? How much has that cost you over the life of your business?

30% of you found out that you have WAAAAAAY too much on your plate to give each and every client a great experience.

Yikes! T-H-I-R-T-Y percent!?!?! Wowser. I’m dying to know how I can help you move the needle. [More on that in a bit.]

So what does it all mean?

By your own admission, it means that:

70% of you could probably do more to make your work unforgettably awesome.

70% of you are leaving money on the table.

70% of you are leaving your clients feeling less-than fulfilled.

70% of you are putting other priorities in your business ahead of what your clients really need.

Wow. That kinda blows for your clients, now, doesn’t it?!?

I mean, if your work isn’t for them, who IS it for?

So, if you were in the group that saw your results and were all like, “Holy crap, I need to get my act together,” I am offering you a special Experience-Booster Session fo’ FREE.

That’s right. Free. No strings attached. If you took the quiz and realized that you need help, I want to get on Skype with you for a half hour for a little come-to-Jesus meeting of the minds. You get some much-needed advice and I get to sleep better knowing that your clients will be happier.

Why? Because my one and only goal for Makeness is to make people happier. Better business means more happy people. Happy people come back again and again. Happy people make better choices for all. Happy people help each other. Happy people make the world a better place.

Why free?  Because if things aren’t clicking for you, you probably need help. Generally, I don’t really believe in lots of free-ness to get you on the hook. This is not that. This is you and me having a talk. You can take the advice I give or leave it. Up to you. It’s free because I know how hard it can be to see the light when you’re blinded by [pick all that apply: your own success, ego, rules for success, lack of knowledge, lack of resources, lack of support, lack of time, etc...]. Free kinda has a tendency to make people drop the bullshit excuses.

Why now? Because nearly seven hundred people out there admitted to me that they could do better.

If I can help, I would be an asshole if I didn’t.

The free Experience-Booster Sessions are available for a short time only. I only have so much time in each day, and my existing clients always have first dibs on my time and energy. To get in on a session, email me directly [illana [at] makeness.com – or just reply to this email, if you’re reading this in your inbox] with the following:

- Your name

- Your website

- Your Skype name

- Your timezone and any special needs on scheduling. **Note: I am in the Pacific timezone and will not be doing any sessions before noon Pacific.

- A quick story about where you’re at in your business and what you see as your major problem areas.

- Any specific questions you have about improving client experience.

Please be respectful of the fact that I am doing these personally and have limited time. Keep your stories and questions short and to the point. I can help you a lot more in a half hour if we stick to the heart of the issue.

In the comments, tell me either:

What your biggest pet-peaves are when you are on the client-end of a service experience.

-or-

What was the coolest thing that a company has done for you that made you feel like they valued you and your business?

Related Posts:

• Client Experience Quiz – Part 2: Top 3 Client Experience hiccups & patterns that MANY of you face.
• Humanity vs. Professionalism – Why it’s so easy to forget that there are real people behind all the blogging and tweeting and posting.
• What to do when everything gets all fucked up and you wanna run away and hide.