This has been a crazy, explosive business month for me. I’ve closed more deals than ever in a single month.
It finally hit a breaking point. I needed some admin help in order to keep up my writing quality.
And I realized how much I had a hard time letting go of. Because I do. So. Much.
From admin and intake to design and strategy to email to accounting to literally every single piece of my business, which of course is mostly getting neglected because my job is to build other people’s businesses.
So I put up an ad on Craigslist. It was basic, casual, and made it clear that a culture fit was more important than a perfect skills fit. For the most part, I was astounded at the high quality of the submissions I received.
Seriously, mid-career professionals with business administration degrees applied. By the end, I had gotten 22 applicants. And two of them looked really promising – one because she was an ENFP who didn’t follow instructions (girl after my own heart right there) and another guy who was familiar with all of the software I use.
As I write this, I’m supposed to be meeting with that guy. Instead, I’m sitting here at my favorite cafe alone. Why?
Well, when I emailed him to ask if he was going to be late, he said, “Did you not receive my email earlier this morning? I was called into a work meeting today that won’t be out until 5PM. I didn’t have our chain of emails but responded to the same craigslist email (as your email is hidden). ”
…
Let’s talk for a minute about what would have been the right thing to do here.
For clarification, I used my full name in our emails. In my email signature, it says “Google Me” because no one who doesn’t know me ever believes my name is for real. And hey! I own that shit. Google loves me. My website is front and center.
And on my home page, there is an email button attached to my personal email.
If you Google me, my phone number pops up.
And on my website is a contact page. With several different ways to contact me.
…
Seriously, bruh?
If you can’t solve this basic problem, how can I expect you to handle my complicated client and business admin issues?
Anyone even remotely competent enough to be a VA would have run a Google search of some sort and figured out a way to ensure contact had been made so we could reschedule.
And not doing that? Frankly, it makes you look like an entitled college kid with too much on his plate.
Besides, I am a lady boss with two kids, several businesses, and boatload of clients, and ain’t nobody got time for no call/no show/no class.
(And in case you’re curious, the other gal is working out so far. Go fig. Instincts always win.)
Recent + Relevant Posts:
A big ask – and lots to give.
As some of you know, I’ve been staying at my mom’s since August. It’s helped me stabilize my finances some and keep up to date on all those lovely little pieces of debt I’ve been paying off while I was searching for a job. And if you’ve known me long, you know that staying there…
What happened. (Now leave me alone.)
Lately, I’ve been a little, um, emotional. Tapped out. Closer to fight or flight than I want to be. I kicked a foot-shaped dent into the side of some asshole’s Mini Cooper who tried to get me to get into his car. (I’m pro sex work/ers, but I’m real anti old white guys thinking everyone…
Fuck love and light.
Trigger warning: Woo woo bitches with no backbone taken to church below. I am very, very angry. I’ve been working online for the past 7+ years, and let me tell you, I never planned on being a marketer. Once upon a time, I just wrote. I shared the things I was learning in the hopes…
It took me 7 years to find sustainable success. How long will it take you?
I’ve been having a lot of great conversations with my colleagues about what it takes to be successful in business, especially around how long it takes. The common theme I’ve heard from people I respect and have watched grow alongside me is that it takes many of us 7 years. SEVEN YEARS?! I hear you…
Filed Under:
Dusti Arab, Fractional CMO
And the founder of the reinvention co, a marketing consultancy specializing in working with personality-driven companies with small teams.
Intense, fun, and relentlessly practical, Dusti understands the lives of small business owners are deeply intertwined with their businesses, and if their marketing is going to be sustainable, it can't get in the way of why they do what they do. (And honestly? It should be fun so they actually want to do it.)
She is the host of Referral Worthy, a podcast for small business owners ready to go from "best kept secret" to the go-to name in their niche.