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How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

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Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#141

Post by icebraining »

larrys wrote: post #131
ahoyhere wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the ability to take advantage of people's generally trusting nature" --> Nothing like an ad hominem buried in the midst of a paragraph and then immediately denied as an ad hominem. Cite? What evidence do you have that bdunn is "taking advantage" of anyone… or that anything he has written is "BS."

"Nothing like an ad hominem" Well if that's an ad hominem then my example of what I've done myself wouldn't have been used, would it? And where are the words "taking advantage" which you quote appearing in anything that I have written?

where are the words "taking advantage" which you quote appearing in anything that I have written?

Are you serious? They're right there in the second paragraph!

Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#142

Post by nhangen »

kanamekun wrote: post #139
nhangen wrote: post #127

Brennan, We met at LessConf, and talked quite a bit. I think you're a great guy and you are obviously very talented and very smart. But...I got into this business because I got tired of the get rich blogging circle jerk I was part of in the past, and I'm very disappointed to see it coming into the tech world too. I don't take issue with what you are doing, but between the turn Andrew took at Mixergy (pumping out a bu…

I'm a Mixergy Premium member, and have actually found Andrew's courses to be really helpful. I love the Mixergy interviews, but at the end of the day where I've really gotten the value is the courses where the specific tactics the interviewees have used is laid out in real detail. I don't known Brennan at all personally, but I'm actually pretty amazed that you equated his post to a "get rich blogging circle jerk." Th…

I didn't equate his post to that, I'm saying that that's the path we're on with much of this.

I'd rather bootstrap revenues by iterating on my product.

Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#143

Post by Evbn »

reinhardt wrote: post #117
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. I could have raised my rate at any time, but I didn't until I read the book. If you haven't raised your rates for seven years , I'm guessing that you've thrown away six figures of lost income. I say this based on an assumption founded on the observation that something like 98% of freelance developers are undercharging for no reason at all. I was. You are. Even just taking inflation into account, you should be char…

We are having this discussion because this particular book happened to make it to the HN front page. Everything you write would be equally valid justifications to buy every self-help or get-rich-quick book out there. In fact, that's one of the standard marketing tricks such ebooks employ: comparing the modest price of the ebook with the potential (typically best case) reward. There must be a name for this common fall…

Your argument seems to apply to every book in existence, yet books sell. Why is that? Perhaps because the books are in fact worthwhile, but the particular book you buy is more a function of marketing than merit. And this applies to entertainment, groceries, etc. It is the "microphone effect".

Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#144

Post by Evbn »

patio11 wrote: post #138
bravoyankee wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long has freckle been around for? How many hundred blog posts have you written to promote it? How many interviews have you done over the years and plugged it? How many joint ventures and mailing lists has freckle been on? Yeah, if I hustled like you have with freckle, I'd be making at least $30,000 a month too. I'm just trying to insert some reality into the conversation. It's like watching professional athletes,…

Amy certainly has a bit of hustle to her, but it should't be an imposing amount of it. She'd tell you that she doesn't even work 40 hours a week, partly out of lack of desire to and partly for medical reasons. I'm amazed by the "work equals money ergo lots of money equals lots of work" mental script. Do I have any credibility on this topic? I've said this for six years: you can make substantial amounts of money on pr…

Your last two sentences got interesting. Amy may be a great programmer with a great product, but her income was predicated from writing copy and marketing for that product (and I further note that some people, like the Rich Dad guy, skip the product stuff and just write copy to sell fluff).

Maybe I could make a product like freckle, but as you famously constantly argue, I don't make money writing software, the money comes from selling it, and all "selling" entails.

Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#145

Post by Evbn »

patio11 wrote: post #138
bravoyankee wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long has freckle been around for? How many hundred blog posts have you written to promote it? How many interviews have you done over the years and plugged it? How many joint ventures and mailing lists has freckle been on? Yeah, if I hustled like you have with freckle, I'd be making at least $30,000 a month too. I'm just trying to insert some reality into the conversation. It's like watching professional athletes,…

Amy certainly has a bit of hustle to her, but it should't be an imposing amount of it. She'd tell you that she doesn't even work 40 hours a week, partly out of lack of desire to and partly for medical reasons. I'm amazed by the "work equals money ergo lots of money equals lots of work" mental script. Do I have any credibility on this topic? I've said this for six years: you can make substantial amounts of money on pr…

Your last two sentences got interesting. Amy may be a great programmer with a great product, but her income was predicated from writing copy and marketing for that product (and I further note that some people, like the Rich Dad guy, skip the product stuff and just write copy to sell fluff).

Maybe I could make a product like freckle, but as you famously constantly argue, I don't make money writing software, the money comes from selling it, and all "selling" entails.

Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#146

Post by Evbn »

ahoyhere wrote: post #98
mingmecca wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's depressing because to a typical cynical programmer (and we're prone to be cynics spending our time looking for bugs) selling anything has a coat of slime on it. Marketing is mostly about deception and half-truths, and promoting a product effectively means maximizing the positives and minimizing/omitting the negatives: "Look at this shiny car!" (engine leaks oil) "Buy our shiny lightweight computer!" (can't chang…

It's actually an extremely powerful marketing technique to tell people exactly who the product is wrong for. It's an extremely powerful marketing technique to shape the product from its very beginning to discourage certain types of customers. Honesty is a killer app in marketing, assuming you pick your customer base (audience) carefully. That's how I've made lots of money. How you are describing "marketing" is actual…

The technique you describe here is not the same as honesty. Example: "This product is not for uncreative people who think you have to work 60 he's a week at a desk to retire at 70." is a subtle appeal to snobbery/wishful thinking that makes them want to prove they are creative get-aheaders, and they can "prove" that buy joining your customer base.

Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#147

Post by Evbn »

antidaily wrote: post #38
johnrob wrote: post #34

The depressing truth about the software business is that most of the success stories take the form "and then I started spending all my time on marketing, and my business took off!". I say depressing because most software developers didn't choose their profession out of a burning desire to become a marketer.

It's like working out or writing. Do a little every day. And if you absolutely can't, delegate. Find someone who can.

I yearn for the day I can delegate my working out. Waiting for my Rosie robot!

Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#148

Post by Evbn »

abootstrapper wrote: post #86

I don't mean to pick on OP, but I'm always a little surprised at how some authors can make money, by writing about how to make money. When in fact, the way they made money was selling books about it, not necessarily by the advice found in their books. I personally don't feel qualified to write about how to build a successful business, because I feel my business isn't satisfactorily large or successful enough. Though…

Just write the book, changing the parts about losing money to making money, and start promoting it.

Re: How I’m Making Five-Figures A Month Off Bootstrapped Products

#149

Post by cableguy123 »

larrys wrote: post #131
ahoyhere wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the ability to take advantage of people's generally trusting nature" --> Nothing like an ad hominem buried in the midst of a paragraph and then immediately denied as an ad hominem. Cite? What evidence do you have that bdunn is "taking advantage" of anyone… or that anything he has written is "BS."

"Nothing like an ad hominem" Well if that's an ad hominem then my example of what I've done myself wouldn't have been used, would it? And where are the words "taking advantage" which you quote appearing in anything that I have written?

Really?

The rules state that we're not to make empty, negative comments. I respect the community that PG and friends are trying to build, but there are times when the idiocy on display really test that constraint.

You, sir, are a fool. And this is one of those times.

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