As the year comes to a close, you’re going to get a lot of people reflecting on the last year. Lessons they learned, things they did, all neatly summarized into a cute blog post with a cute image, maybe of some ducks crossing the road.

They’re going to give you advice. It’s going to sound sage. And practical. And you’re going to think to yourself, “Holy crap, I’d better do that.”

And I’m here to tell you: it’s the same as it ever was.

The same as it ever was.

Every revolution around the sun, we try to make some meaning of the craziness. To ordain some life lesson from the heaping mess we traveled through. And, let’s face it – we’re still in a mess.

• 1 in 2 Americans is poor or low income (1 in 7 is hungry) even while Black Friday set records.
• Gays are still persecuted and don’t have the same rights as straight people.
• Transgendered teens are still required to use staff bathrooms, or face suspension.
• The Internet’s future is being debated by people who still probably use IE6.

It’s 2011. About to be 2012. Gay people being gay is still a thing other people get fussy about? We haven’t figured out how to reduce or eliminate poverty? One in seven American households goes hungry?

WTF people? You can take your year-end synopsis and shove it. Keep your silly advice and to-do lists and holiday cheer and photos of ducks. We’ve got some serious shit to do, here.

We’ve got Star Trek level-technology like iPads and iPhones and replicators without Star Trek-level ethics or Star Trek-level living standards to back it up. And don’t tell me that Star Trek is socialist. That’s bullshit, watch some Deep Space Nine and educate yourself, fool.

It’s time to start fixing things. Nobody in charge seems to have any idea what’s going on. Or what to do. Or how to fix these huge problems. And even if they do know what’s going on, or what to do, or how to fix it – they’re being held back by the idiots who like things just the way they are.

This year, I ran the Digital Gunslingers through enough classes to raise $500 for the Larimer County Food Bank, which is 2,000 meals for local families. It’s a start.

I’m going to do an experiment starting in January. Over the course of the year, I’m offering 12 businesses a simple WordPress website – one per month, with a simple store, up to 10 products, a year of hosting, and basic SEO. No crazy custom designs, just a simple, easy-to-use website. $500 is the cost – a lot less than what I usually charge.

The $500 will go directly to the Larimer County Food Bank. At the end of the year – that’s $6,000 or 24,000 meals for local families ($1 = 4 meals), or 12x better than I did this year.

So, I lied a little – this post does have some advice.

First: be a little nicer to everyone – you never know who needs a sandwich, a hug, or a closer bathroom.

Second: get off your butt and start fixing some problems. Doesn’t matter what you do. Just do what feels right.

(Unless it’s being a douchebag towards gay people or beating up hungry hobos – don’t do that.)

(Header photo: Duckies!)

Working for yourself, you sometimes realize that people are real jerks. I present to you the tale of two non-clients; tales of woe as relayed to me by two different Freelance friends. To protect the innocent idiots, I’ve redacted their names to be Jerkface A and Jerkface B and slightly altered my friends’ names.

Nate’s Story:
A friend requests my help for Jerkface A’s project. The project sounds fun and something I could rock for them, so I decide to help. Before I even get the chance to pitch a bid, Jerkface A asks for a demo that they can compare to another freelancer who is also working on this project. My friend had no idea about the other freelancer and thought it was a dumb move on Jerkface A’s part.

I really, really should have told them no at this point. I’ve read about this and it never once ends well. But, my friend was invested, and I wasn’t about to make him look bad.

Next time, I’m going to trust my instincts and bow out gracefully. Instead, I busted out a quick demo; probably quicker than I would have, if they hadn’t revealed that I was spending time on work that I might not get any dividends out of.

Note from Nick: in some places, they call this spec work and it’s met with blacklisting. The kind of blacklisting you’d get if you were a suspected communist in the 1950′s.

After busting out the demo, Jerkface A complained that their out-of-date software couldn’t render my work. I spent another 30 minutes creating a screen capture video for Jerkface A to see the work. After all that, they went with the other guy.

Jess’s Story:
Jerkface B requests my help while simultaneously getting some advice elsewhere. Somewhere around the first thirty minutes, I had this feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

Jerkface B then proceeds to ignore every one of my recommendations moving forward. Instead, they’ve got it in their heads this other person knows better than I do. A string of bad advice from this doofus leads them into catastrophic failure that I am requested to fix… along with a few other key things – all for the same project rate.

Weighing the two hours of meetings I’d put in so far against the hassle of fixing their bonehead move, I decided to refund their money and run like hell.

The Moral of the Story: when, in the course of being a freelancer, you encounter a client who gives you rocks in the pit of your stomach, run like hell before you regret it. The same is true for relationships, jobs, internships, volunteer work, group projects, whatever. They need you more than you need them and a client who realizes and appreciates that fact is just around the corner.

Love the clients who love you and trust your instincts – they’re finely-honed senses dedicated to protecting your ass from the tiger (or bad client) about to eat you.

(Header photo: Jerk by Gr8Matt)

Most business choices boil down to one fundamental question: is this savvy, is this smarmy, or is it both?

If a business choice is neither savvy nor smarmy, it probably won’t get made (unless you’re like Jimmy Wales and have an overarching social imperative). In general, they might not always work out as the best business decisions, but they make us feel good.

Savvy business decisions are the ones that make us go, “ooh” – like the Furby and Pet Rock.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, most smarmy decisions seem savvy at the time if you’re deluded. Smarmy decisions mostly make anyone involved feel like a jerk.

Smarmy, savvy business decisions make you money and win you exposure, but not for the right reasons. These are things like being close to the top of an MLM pyramid, showing up religiously at someone’s house to sell them something each week, using squeeze pages, and greenwashing.

You should always be weighing the potential smarm against the savviness of your business actions. If there’s not a 10:1 ratio of savvy to smarm, you probably shouldn’t do it. Of course, if you’re a “guru”, do whatever the hell you want, we know you will anyway.

Customers will only take so much smarm before calling you out or calling the business relationship quits.

For the people wanting to make a real difference, savvy social imperatives are where it’s at.

(Header photo: Smarmy by skunks)

The most important lesson is this: things cost what they cost.  The basic premise that drives this lesson is trust.  Trust between the buyer and the seller that the price is accurate and fair.  Without inherent honesty about accurate and fair pricing, someone’s getting screwed.  Without trust, it’s only natural to assume you are the one getting screwed, even if this isn’t the case.

Good business people will be blatantly honest about three things:

• What things cost;
• Why certain things cost more than others;
• How much higher or lower their price is, comparative to similar businesses

For more on this, check out Seth Godin’s The Dip and Waiter Rant by The Waiter – probably the two best non-business reads on fair pricing.