Fresh Focus On Productivity!™

Welcome back!

Well, it happened.

On January 21st, the hatchet fell and I was under it. I was laid off from a good paying job at a place that took me four years to get back into from my internship in 2004. Drats!

So I’ve kinda been in a funk lately. It seems (at least to me) that when you are without a job, that your mind goes into the mental funk. It thinks that it is the reason this happened, even if it didn’t, and you feel some sort of guilt and embarrassment that it occurred. At least that’s how it is for me. I feel embarrassed, like I had something to do with this, even though I did not.

Most of my Twitterpeeps have said that this is a sign for me to get my productivity and organization consulting really rolling. I’ve posted some advertisements for this locally and gotten responses, but haven’t booked any clients. I have had meetings and exchanged emails, but nothing has come to fruition. One person that I had a meeting with told me that he could only hire me if I cut my rates 66%! That was insulting to me. I know that the economy is rough (believe me, I know), but to ask someone to cut their rates by 66% is quite a bit. I had already discounted my rates by 33%, because I knew that this person really needed my assistance. I could not cut them even further. I have respect for myself and know what I can accomplish has value.

I’ve been exploring avenues on how to advertise myself and my services, and I know that word of mouth is a great way to go. So I’m putting this out to my readership. I’m asking for your help. There are two ways that you can help, and I’d be honored if you’d do one or both.

If this blog has helped you in any way, I would appreciate having a testimonial from you. Be it short or long, I’d like any testimonial that you can give. It can be anonymous, or you can use a pen name: whatever you prefer. But if you could provide me with a testimonial, I’d be grateful. I want to put together a testimonial page for my blog, so that future clients can see what I’ve done to assist others.

There is another way that you can assist, too. I’ve created a flyer to advertise my services. As I can work internationally via phone and Skype, I can assist anyone, anywhere. If you have the inclination to do so, please take this flyer and post it on your own site. Or better yet, print out a few copies and leave them in public places: your work (as long as this is acceptable), grocery store bulletin boards, community bulletin boards, or anywhere public that you feel it will get noticed. 

I really want to make a go of this, and the best way that I know of is through you, my readership. Please submit testimonials to blog@freshfocus.info and you can download the flyer below.

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You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


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MicroISV’s, It’s Time to Sell More Software!

Here’s the scenario: you’re a small, independent software developer
that against all the odds has created a commercial desktop app or web
service, working long, exhausting hours to create something you can
sell.

But you’re not a marketing person, a suit, or one of those people who somehow makes sales happen.

Guess what? Not a problem.

MicroISV Sites that Sell! was written to demystify one of the
strongest, fairest, and best marketing strategies that reputable
software companies can use to substantially increase their sales. It’s
a proven, deployable, debugged, and robust way of helping your
prospective customers comprehend the value of whatever it is you have
to sell.

How About A Taste? Check Out The Table Of Contents:

• Section I: Why microISVs fail to sell.
  -Mistake 1: Where’s your Hook?
  -Mistake 2: Ugly hurts.
  -Mistake 3: Too many words.
  -Mistake 4: Google AdSense on your site.
  -Mistake 5: The Invisible Man.
  -Mistake 6: Customer as Circus Animal.
  -Wrap up.
• Section II: The USP pattern.
  -The USP Pattern Components
  -The Hook.
  -Relevant Value.
  -Trust.
  -A Reason to Act Now.
  -The importance of momentum
  -Wrap up.
• Section III: Successful USP examples.
  -Oriador Staff Scheduling Software.
  -Bingo Card Creator.
  -UserScape Helpspot.
  -WP Text Ads.
  -InvoicePlace.
• Section IV: Creating your USP.
  -Exercise 1: Defining your Primary Customer.
  -Exercise 2: Defining your Relevant Value.
  -Exercise 3: Building credibility.
  -Exercise 4: Creating your Hook.
• Section V: USP Deployment Checklist.
  -The USP Web Site Deployment Checklist.
  -Conclusion: It’s time for action.

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You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


__________________________________________________________

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!