We’re cleaning up our business operations.

We’re making everything we do better, more congruent, quicker, shinier, and neater.

This might mean that we’ll be gone for a while while we serve our customers: we know, and we’re fine with that.

This site will be moved over and made live at http://flatratebiz.com shortly.  The only product we’re now selling is our website packages and website boosting packages.

And training.

But instead of making our changes incrementally, we’ve put the brakes on that for a week or so and we’ll be up and live and “in effect” shortly.

So stay tuned.

Your job is the same as my job.  Your job is to clearly communicate why it’s different over there.  Why your company is the best tax preparer, attorney, realtor, etc. on the planet.  Showing people what it means to be an expert and sharing expertise will help you to earn money.  You have to share how and that gets readers engaged and buying.

Realtors, mortgage people, lawyers and financial planners are to some degree fungible. There are are a lot of them, and there’s a sea of sameness surrounding them and to a potential customer, there’s no difference.

Each time you post to your blog, you’re really asking: why should they use you.  What are you offering that others don’t, won’t or can’t?   What is the experience that people are getting?  Describe it.  Show your internal stuff and be transparent to the customer. Don’t worry about corporate speak and polish.  Phil Hodgen does a good job with this at his international tax law blog. Share what’s wrong with your industry and talk about how things really are.

When the customer sees your process, they know what they are getting.  That takes fear away, and with fear, risk.  When they understand what it is that you offer, how you offer it and how you’re different, they will be more likely to convert to subscribers to your email news, they will be more likely to become customers, and they will be more likely to become your clients.

There’s a caveat: you can’t be mediocre.  Hint: if you yourself don’t have a really clear answer to “how you’re different,”  you need to go back to the drawing board and make one.  IF you yourself can’t tell a stranger why you’re different and better than the competition, then you’re not.  Step one is to become different, express it carefully, and  work from there.

We’ll be talking more about this as we define and express what makes us different at Flat Rate.

In the mean time, happy blogging.

Just so you know–for those of you liberty minded political junkies out there, we’ve created a libertarian and third party website design company.  It’s a sister company of Flat Rate Web Jobs.

PatriotConnect.Com does high end Thesis-Blogged Libertarian websites for $797 and up.

More to come as is always the case.

Small business owners are missing the boat and costing themselves money when they insist on massive automation.  A lot of owners–even ones not making a lot of money–are trying to create layers and funnels for their customers to go through.  They are defining social media success as something it’s not–getting customers to self select and leave me alone.   Stop bothering me and get my check ready.  That’s the testy attitude of all of too many small businesses moving to the Internet.

I myself don’t want my customers to ever leave me alone.  I don’t think that real businesses will, not the ones that will be growing in 2010 and beyond.  I want to use automation, but not to substitute for human touch.

Systems can never be perfect.  Autoresponders and pitch based marketing is never going to replace the human touch, the kindness, the pauses and the insight and the authority that the owner of a business has.   Human beings listen, respond, and care in a way that even professionally written marketing messages, no matter how well targeted can’t convey that they hear, and that they are listening to you.

When I meet someone on social media, I want to make a connection that matters, a connection that is here to help, and that will last.  I want to help them get what they want, whether it’s with my company, a “competitor’s” company or by saying, “hey, man up, don’t spend this money.”  Connection is my goal.

What’s your goal?

Planning posts that sell & sticking with it.

Wednesday, 1/27 @ 2pm EST you’ll learn:

• Why You NEED A Plan
• 4 ESSENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS While Planning
• Categories That CONVERT
• Planning for REAL LIFE & ADAPTABILITY

…for free

Just follow the link & tell your friends:

http://bit.ly/aHdc57

As always, this will not be a “salesinar” or “pitchfest”, and our tips don’t have strings attached.

• Planning your categories.
• Making sure that your plan remains adaptable.

Last year I made (low) 6 figures chasing people down I met on Twitter.

http://flatratewebjobs.com/phil-hodgen-tax-attorney-left-us-a-nice-testimonial/ if you need proof.

Anyway, I want to show you how ANY small business can do the same thing.

You’ll learn:

• Why I’m just fine only having 2500 followers (and I would be fine with even fewer)
• Why Automation is stupid.
• Why it’s OK to autoDM.
• The 6 toxic mistakes that the Twitterati use.

All of this will be at NOON eastern: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/700929371.

And all of it is, as always, free. 

So come join us for another 2010 Social Media Bootcamp

One of the really important reasons I make free videos is to see what music works as background music and what doesn’t.

This clearly doesn’t work at all as background music, it’s entirely too weird for my taste, it sounded ok in headphones.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In any case, enjoy!

Here’s where you sign up for your social media crash course. This is where you can get your 7 part video course that teaches you everything you need to know.

No credit card required!