Because I am Worth It

The other day I headed to Target to pick up a few things. I had my kids with me and my oldest  daughter decided she had to have this art set she saw. You know, the big Crayola set with all of the paints and crayons and paper…she had to have it (good little designer’s daughter).

I was focused on my list and only getting what was on it but the baby was getting cranky and my eldest caught me in a moment of weakness and I just didn’t fight it. I put the art set in my cart with all the other items I had and went to the check out.

But when I got there I told the cashier that I didn’t want to pay the $30 for the art set. I said I could get it on Amazon for less so I offered them $20 for it.

Have I caught your attention?

Of course I didn’t do that, but it makes a really good point, doesn’t it?

Target sets their prices based on their profit margins. There’s a formula, people. They tag their merchandise and the price stays the same until they advertise a sale or mark something down for clearance. Target is a business. They aren’t running a full time tag sale over there.

You can’t negotiate prices in a brick and mortar store and you shouldn’t try it with a designer or other “virtual” or online professional.

Haggling prices with a professional is not only insulting but it’s a complete waste of everyone’s time. Telling me that you can get a designer for $10 less than my rate is fruitless, annoying and it isn’t going to make me lower my rate. I did not pull my prices out of thin air. A lot of thought and strategy went into setting my rates and putting together my packages. The prices are set based on my skills, level of expertise, and past experience of performing these tasks day in and day out. And honestly my rates are much lower than other designers that produce the same quality of work. How many designers do you know who actually post their rates on their website for the world to see anyway? Not many. Mine are there in plain sight so you know what to expect or can fit within your budget.

You should actually be wary of any “professional” who is willing to dicker their rates because it’s really not something that people who are worth their rate do and frankly, I’m worth it. That is not me being vain, in fact I don’t even possess that gene. And anyone who knows me will tell you the same thing.

Does this mean I can’t work within a budget or alter my packages for you? No, of course not if that budget is within reason and you’re not asking for the moon in return. I also advertise discounted ratess through my Signature Specials newsletter each month…hint, hint.

If you like my work but you don’t like my prices or policies then sorry if it sounds harsh but I really don’t care. You get what you pay for and if you want garage sale prices expect some dents and scratches. Although I don’t recommend it in the branding and marketing of your business. Your business image is a direct reflection of you and how others perceive you do business.

Networking, schmetworking

I came across an article the other day that still has me all riled up.

The first sentence of the article had me up on my feet in disbelief. It read, “Still think spending all that time updating your Facebook page and twittering is going to help your business? Have I got news for you!”

The author goes on in this piece called, “Why No Business Should Be Involved In Online Social Networking” to basically say that social networking should be reserved for teenagers and individuals, not businesses.

Um. What?

The writer believes that businesses are participating in social networking solely to push products. He claims there isn’t a social aspect, per se, for business owners and that it should be called social marketing for those of us participating instead of social networking.

The author says that regular joes are using social networking in the truest sense of the word because, “Their goals are nothing more than to belong, share, and socialize.”

Of course I’m participating in social media to broaden my horizons and put my business in front of more people, but that’s not the only reason I’m out there.

Like other Internet-based business owners, I crave the type of interaction that social networking brings me. But is it wrong that it’s also a great way to learn and help build my business?

I don’t think so.

I found myself in disagreement with what this article was saying throughout the entire thing, until the very end. After the author’s tips for business owners interested in getting started in social networking…er…”social marketing” he states that “Social marketing is less about what you can get and more about what you can give.”

I am one entrepreneur out of a gazillion hanging out in the world of social media and I’m telling you that not all of us are out there using social media purely to push products and sell. Look at this sharing of information, for example…what you’re reading.

This blog post will be up on my Facebook page and I’ll tweet about it and let me ask you. Do you think I posted this purely to get a sale?

No siree. I want to share my opinion about something I feel passionate about with people who may or may not agree with me and get a discussion going. Tomorrow I may be sharing some fabulous free icon sets that I found in the blogospere, or how to hack proof your blog before it’s too late.

By the way, that regular joe who tweets all his friends and followers that his car is for sale so he can get the word out to as many people as possible…is he still socializing or has he now crossed the line into marketing I wonder?

Social media, social networking, social marketing…I don’t care what you call it. I think they’re all under the same umbrella.

All I know is that whatever you call it, when done right it’s effective and serves its purpose.

The end.

Google Feeds Gone Wild, Part 2

First of all, I’m back! Did you miss me or didn’t you know I was gone? Either way, I’ve just returned from my short maternity leave after the birth of my second daughter. I’ll be sure to post a special announcement soon, but there is some business to discuss first.

If you subscribe to my blog feed, this may be the first update you have received in ages from In The Worx…that is of course if you solely rely on your RSS reader to keep up with your favorite blogs. Well if that is the case for you, let me apologize. Although I have been away for a few weeks taking care of my new baby, there has apparently been a problem with my feeds since JANUARY!

After having a major hiccup in early March when I was forced to move my FeedBurner feed to my Google account…you can read about that here…I thought this problem had been licked. Apparently not so much. It seems that there has been another issue with my feeds this entire time that I was unaware of until a few weeks ago. Anyone subscribed to my blog through their RSS reader hasn’t seen an update since January 25th. Well rest assured that I have in fact had many posts since then so please catch up as soon as you have a few minutes.

Of course I began researching the problem as soon as I found out.  I scoured the Internet for answers, searched through the FeedBurner knowledgebase and FAQs, and even posted my dilemma on the FeedBurner Google group hoping someone there would be able to help. Not only did I find that people were having similar problems, but they were also getting nowhere and couldn’t get any answers from Google. In fact I was unable to find any kind of support from Google directly.

Now, being the relentless researcher that I am when presented with a problem…seriously I will spend hours and hours if that is what it takes…alas, I finally figured it out! Honestly this was a total fluke that I even found it, but I am so glad that I did because I *pray* that it is the solution for someone else so they too can finally stop searching for answers. So here it is folks:

How To Fix Your FeedBurner Feeds After They Stopped Working

Just by accident, I came across this page on Creating your WordPress feed (self-hosted WordPress) in the FeedBurner Help knowledgebase. Seriously folks, technically this topic has nothing to do with my problem and I just happened upon it by accident. Nothing on this page would have been of value to me, but this one little side note happened to catch me eye. It reads:

Note: If you currently use the old, 2005-vintage version of the Ordered List FeedBurner plugin that generates a FeedBurner-specific URL (an example: www.yoursite.com/feedburner_838196/), that URL is no longer available or necessary. You will have to reset your FeedBurner feed’s Original Feed address to now use your standard blog feed address. Additionally, you should examine any .htaccess files that control access to your WordPress installation’s content and remove any existing references that forward or redirect your feeds, as these references will no longer be necessary.

Hmmm, interesting I thought. I figured what the heck and went to check my Original Feed in FeedBurner. This was such a long shot at best given the fact that I don’t even use the plugin that it is referring to. But guess what? My Original Feed address was exactly in that format. I wondered if changing this would further screw things up, but decided to give it a shot. In fact, at the top of your Feed Details, there is a warning message that reads:

“You should not change “Original Feed” unless you move your original feed to a new domain or a new location on your existing server…”

So first I copied the Original Feed address it was showing and pasted it in Notepad for safe keeping just in case. I retrieved my blog feed address, pasted it in the Original Feed field, and saved it. Then I used the Ping FeedBurner page to ping my site to make sure that it worked. The ping worked so that was a good sign so far.

feedburner-details

Now it was time for the ultimate test. I opened my blog in my browser, clicked on one of my RSS button links and voila! There they were…every post I’ve made since January 25th and prior to that date as well. It was a beautiful thing!

Now let the record show that I DID NOT change my Original Feed address at any time so it had to be changed by FeedBurner because I can’t think of any other explanation. So I’m not sure what Google did in January that would affect my Original Feed address, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only unsuspecting user. Maybe this was when they decided to change our Feed Address to include a ‘2′ (http://feeds2…), which caused millions of headaches, but nevertheless this whole conversion has been a debacle for me.

I hope this information helps solve someone else’s problem with their feeds. As for Google, I said it before…I’ve been a huge fan of many of their apps and offerings, but seriously, what the heck were y’all thinking? Or should I say NOT thinking?

Farting for Dollars?

Are you convinced that stupid doesn’t sell? Well you might think again after reading this post I came across today. It gave me a little chuckle because of the sheer stupidity and uselessness of this little application for your iPhone or iPod Touch. Michael Fitzgerald over at BNet says it perfectly: “Welcome to the Internet, where you can find all the suckers born every minute… there are a lot of stupid ideas that suddenly seem worth trying.”

Who would have thought something like this could generate so much money? Maybe I should revisit some of my seemingly idiotic ideas?