F2 | Fire Fly Manifesto: Remixed – It’s Alive

August 12, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · Comments Off 

On November 20, 2008, I released the original Fire Fly Manifesto as a catalyst to change the conversation from one of despair to one of hope. I was blown away by the worldwide reception.

In the 9 months since its release, though, both the economic climate and the mood throughout the world have changed in a fairly profound way.

And, again, I felt the need to revise and expand the Fire Fly Manifesto to address the questions that were being asked of me and the challenges that lie ahead. Things like, “should I really be thinking about starting my own adventure in this economy?” Or, “can I really go renegade if I’ve just lost my job?”

Click here to read the full post (173 words, 1 image 42 secs)

Don’t Make Me Pay to Hear You Pitch

August 11, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 6 Comments 

So, I recently asked the twittersphere for recommendations for a contact management app for professional offices and solopreneurs. A bunch of different options were repeated often enough for me to check them out. And, 37 Signals’ HighriseHQ and NetSuite CRM were among that group

The first thing I did was go to each website to learn more. And, without even diving into the details of the apps, I was taken aback by a very impactful difference in the marketing sequence that immediately said one vendor gets it and the other doesn’t.

Here’s what I saw when I clicked over to the HighriseHQ website:

Click here to read the full post (382 words, 2 images 1:32 mins)

What Does Google Think Your Website is About?

July 21, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 13 Comments 

One of the questions I’m often asked by small businesses, especially online businesses is:

Why don’t I get more traffic from google and other search engines?

The answer often has multiple layers, but one of the biggest is having poorly-written, low value content that’s not relevant to your business, product or service. At least, not relevant…”in google’s eyes.” This often leads to the next question, which is:

How do I know if google thinks my website is relevant?

Again, there are many factors to look at, but here are two fast and easy ways to see (a) what google thinks your website is really about, and (b) how relevant/valuable they think your content is.

Click here to read the full post (480 words, 2 images 1:55 mins)

Wanna Work Directly with Jonathan?

July 10, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 1 Comment 

So, you’ve read the book, you’ve daydreamed about how cool it would be to go renegade and earn a great living doing something that truly makes you come alive. But, for some odd reason…you’re not doing much beyond reading to make it happen.

It’s called the Big, Bad Implementation Gap…and it’s the biggest dream crusher on the planet. Thing is, I’m determined to help you…personally…get out of your head and, probably for the first time in your life, start taking the daily actions needed to launch or grow your renegade vision into a serious, family-worthy living.

Click here to read the full post (201 words, 1 image 48 secs)

Small Biz Twitter Smackdown: The Pizza Wars

July 6, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 10 Comments 

Small businesses all over the world are trying to figure out how to cash in on social media. Some are figuring it out, while others just don’t get it. Let’s look at two examples to how to do it right and how to do it really wrong.

The first is from New orleans’ Naked Pizza, a neighborhood pizza place that reported 20% of revenue coming directly from twitter with spikes as high as 69% on days where they hit twitter with a serious campaign. Here’s a sample from their tweet-stream…

Notice a few things:

Click here to read the full post (438 words, 4 images 1:45 mins)

Built to Whatever: The Great Company Myth

July 3, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 5 Comments 

Books, tomes, think tanks and labs have been built in the quest to determine and reveal the elements of great companies. The most famous odes to corporate dominance are non other than Collins’ Built to Last and Good to Great books.

Problem is, nearly every example of greatness in the world of business either uses a short window of assessment or reverse engineers the determination of greatness by curve-fitting a select number of high-achieving companies into a desired algorithm, then cherry-picking certain shared qualities and listing them as the essential elements of greatness.

Click here to read the full post (293 words 1:10 mins)

Are You Solving The Problems of a Hungry Market?

June 19, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 3 Comments 

Everyone’s got something they’d love to do for a living. Question is…

Do enough people want to buy what you’re looking to sell to call it a business?

For example, you may have a hidden passion for designing biodegradable hemp thimbles decorated with organic dyed cashews, but do enough other people want to buy those suckers to make it a business? This is actually one of the biggest missteps folks make in launching a small business—thinking you are your market.

Click here to read the full post (418 words, 1 image 1:40 mins)

Renegade Rant No. 1: Call Back

June 15, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 7 Comments 

Paying Not to Be First

May 26, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 32 Comments 

As many of you know by now, I had throat surgery last week…

Nothing too serious, but it’s a still a serious part of the body to be operating on (and, yes, I’m still weaning myself off the air-cast on my leg, it’s been a hell of a few months). So, I did my research and found the biggest, best, fanciest specialist in NYC. And, by the way, just like every other big, bad, best specialist in NYC, he doesn’t take insurance and my insurance doesn’t cover out of network. Translation, I ended up paying many thousands of dollars out of my own pocket for a 1-hour operation.

Click here to read the full post (454 words 1:49 mins)

Renegade Marketing: Prove It Or Lose It

May 4, 2009 by Jonathan Fields · 2 Comments 

A few years back, I became enamored with Chinese medicine. So much so that I even applied to a number of top acupuncture and Chinese medicine schools in New York. After being accepted, I requested a meeting with an admission advisor for each and asked a series of questions.

Most were easily answered, but one seemed to stump every one.

I had a family to support in NYC and that requires a substantial income. So, I asked:

Can you please provide me with the contact information for 3 to 5 graduates who have been able to earn a substantial/6-figure income?

Click here to read the full post (538 words 2:09 mins)

Next Page »

Copyright © 2010 · All rights reserved · Revolution theme by Brian Gardner · Log in