I’m not apologetic about the fact that I run a business called WTF Marketing.

Beyond making me giggle every time I get to introduce someone new to my business, I use it as a filter to screen for the types of people who will be receptive to the off-the-cuff marketing perspective I bring.

What kind of business has a swear in their name? Mine does. And I like it that way. It’s irreverent, not disrespectful. There’s a difference. I’ve generally accepted that I’ll lose about 25% of prospective clients because of this stance.

Does it bother me that I’ve lost potentially big clients? Not really. That’s their loss and I’m better off; I stick to my guns because my hair turns gray less quickly when those kinds of people opt-out. And being 25, I don’t want to start using my Just For Men coupons until I really have to.

The Fuck in my business name doesn’t diminish the awesome things I’ve done to market small businesses. It doesn’t stop me from running circles around my competition. It does make me more efficient by dealing with only the kinds of clients I want to serve.

There’s room for guile in business; I’m not talking about deceit with harm in mind – that’s wrong, plain and simple.

I’m talking about purple cows – a purple cow is still a cow, it just looks deceptively funky. Only the bravest of the brave will attempt to milk one. These are the businesses that I’m targeting; those brave individuals who understand that there’s inherent risk in doing things the new way, but that the reward is there for those willing to take the chance. And if you’re looking for a guide, you won’t find many better than someone willing to go to the very edge.

In the words of Q, “If you can’t take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It’s not safe out here. It’s wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires, both subtle and gross. But it’s not for the timid.”

It’s true in life and in business.

The question is, in your business story – how far are you willing to go to stick to your guns?

(Header photo: Stand Out by PDBreen)

What kind of story do you tell about your business? I know what mine is.

If there were ever any question about what I stand for – how I do business, how I think businesses should do business – just look toward my Ignite videos. There was one in particular that caught my eye yesterday.

(click here if you’re viewing this through the RSS feed)

I don’t take my cues from the prim and proper. I take my cues from people like Katrina Pfannkuch, Erika Napoletano, Naomi Dunford, Logan Zanelli, and other business bad-asses. (Katrina probably wouldn’t label herself a bad-ass, but she’s rockstar like Lisa Loeb. And even the burliest construction worker breaks down in tears to Stay.)

I Aim to Misbehave. It’s high time for a new kind of storytelling in business. I thought of myself for a long time as The Geek Superhero. The more I think about it, the more I realize I’m telling the stories of business superheroes every day. I’m going to dedicate my professional life to re-direct attention to the people and products that matter and away from the businesses that treat us poorly and waste our time. Color me a web marketing Robin Hood. All that’s left is to fight a pair of tights.

(Header Photo: Robin Hood, Men In Tights by Jameson42)

Today was the WTF Marketing Launch Party.

Pictures are coming soon, but I want to thank everyone for helping to make it a great success!  I’m very fortunate to know so many excellent people who were willing to give up a small portion of their afternoon and come to a park in the middle of nowhere.

The winners, best business introduction: Amanda from DolphinFeet – 6 free hours of web work/blog development/etc.  The best WTF talent: Also Amanda… with her “Nick: Year One” excerpt.

Special mention goes to Tim Cree – who actually shed blood to impress us all (and that he did!).  I’m going to stamp WTF!? on some gauze and send it his way.

Here’s a quick list of the attendees.  Please make sure to let me know if I forgot anybody!  I hope everybody got something useful out of the launch party!

• Tracey (Eeep! Productions) – @TrayPup
• Laurie (Blue Skies Marketing) – @LaurieMacomber
• Viveka (Linked In To Business) – @LinkedInExpert
• Ava (Diamond Success Group) – @FeistyWoman
• Ron (CodeGeek.net) – @ron_z
• Amanda (Dolphin Feet) – @DolphinFeet
• Brian (Cyborg Savvant) – @CyborgSavvant
• Leslie (Student) – @LEStinson
• Christina (Wedding Photography) – @ckrysteena
• Crystal (3 Elements Marketing) – @MadameTwit
• Craig (Memories in Motion) – No Twitter
• Lori – @femme_artiste
• Nick (Post Paradise)  – @PostParadise
• Lauren – @LgDuarte
• Kevin – @kevin_u
• Tim (Giant Gnome) – @SpleenTim
• Chris (Giant Gnome) – No Twitter

Seth Godin came out with a blog post about what you should do on your birthday.  I like the idea of turning an ordinarily “selfish” day into a day of giving back.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any money to organize anything.  And I don’t have much to share that doesn’t come from my mind.  But – when I think about it, the one thing that I would really want to share with everybody is Star Trek.

I talk a LOT about Star Trek.  I credit a lot of the way I am to Star Trek and the lessons it taught me.  So, if you want to help me celebrate my birthday – go find an episode of Star Trek (I don’t care which series, but The Next Generation is my favorite) and enjoy it!  If you don’t have access to a nerdy family member or a stockpile of Paramount’s ridiculously overpriced DVDs, you can watch random episodes for free on Justin.tv by searching for “Star Trek”.

Or, you know, if Star Trek is not your thing – you could always help me pay rent by signing up for one of my Facebook or Online Reputation Management classes, or the WTF!? Marketing launch party (free).

Before I was laid off, I had purchased a Flip Ultra with the plan of making a “Superhero” series of videos in the style of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog.  My superhero name – Nick The Four-Eyed.  My “costume”? The WiFi shirt from ThinkGeek.  The only thing standing in my way at the moment: scripting.  I don’t like making one-offs, so “Nick The Four-Eyed” is going to be a two-part series, at least.

I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll be singing.  If I do, it’ll probably sound something like William Shatner’s version of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (see the YouTube video at the end).

I created a topic for Ignite Fort Collins – and my topic, “Digital Frontiers – Psychotic Resumes and WTF Marketing” was voted on pretty heavily.

It’ll be a great topic if it’s chosen – how to turn yourself into a digital gunslinger and brave the “digital frontier” of social media and the internet.  Sounds like a goofy topic but I hope to make it really funny.  I’d really like to get a millennial presence at the event and anyway, public speaking has always been something I enjoy.

Dan Schawbel also graciously accepted my invitation for an interview for the Psychotic Resumes podcast.  We talked for about 15 minutes on his new book, Me 2.0, what personal branding is, and what graduating college students should focus on.  It ended up being a really good discussion, which I will put together in podcast form and publish for Wednesday.

I had the opportunity to meet with Amanda from DolphinFeet this week.  We had a great time talking about life, jobs, social media and general nerdery.  I’m looking forward to teaming up with her for some branding-based shenanigans!

Last night I went through all two hours of audio auditions for new Star Trek: Dimensions parts.  We’ve selected the players for the new parts and I’m very excited to have *real* voices to complement the ones I had in my head.  At least now the dialog sounds much less creepy. Ha!

Lots of fun projects to work on in my “spare time”… including my Twitter eBook, which I hope to finish by the 20th.