After reading all of that, I still don't know what he/you actually did.
This reminds me of when I was at WestPoint (US Military Academy). Everyone would talk about how once you graduated you were "set for life" (after your five year commitment). They would leave it at that, and not mention any numbers to back up the statement. I still remember I asked an officer what "big money" was. And he replied, "Oh, big money!! Like 65,000" Which is less than every single one of my friends and I made after quitting westpoint and getting jobs out of school.
Plus, it's quite easy to then get a military contracting job. That, with the secret clearance you'll have as an officer, pays pretty nicely.
I have a lot of friends who stayed at Westpoint, and served at least two tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. They would argue with you over the "not so hard" part of the argument.
They do a great service for our country; and honestly, can end up fairly well off if they manage to survive 20 years + land an additional job after retirement at 38+.
The two sites linked in the article prominently advertise self-made books:
Actually though, I was hoping to accomplish something different than "drop everything for your pie in sky, because it'll be great, trust me."
This is more:
1) Pay attention to the simple opportunities you have around you
2) Be prepared to work for quite a while before seeing any real return
3) Don't get stuck in the "I just need to pay the bills" trap. Get something--anything--out in the wild, and then iterate.
Those were my major roadblocks, and I thought they might be blocking someone else also, which is why I wrote this. That having been said it's an anchor piece for the writing I have outlined for the future, which will get much more specific.
Although, I'm not really interested in getting too deeply involved in the making money online blog niche with my personal site. I just think people like reading tangible case studies, so I'll oblige.
Peter, for some commenters here, there is the feeling that you have told this very motivational story that is also "lean" on content. I don't disagree, although I do appreciate your story.
I think it would be great if you shared more detail about your experiences, successes, failures, etc. in a way that people in the HN community would find more substantial. Patrick McKenzie (patio11) does a great job of this, and I think HN'ers owe him a great debt for the quality of what he shares. (And many others here do this as well.)
What is tangible? I read case studies every. single. day. to the point of nausea. You are sharing experience--which is left up to the reader to decide if it is true or not--rather than any "tangible case studies".
Side note: Your writing very clearly mimics Tim Ferriss and your whole basis may very well have been inspired by him. Just an observation and possibly the parallels are resonating with those who are commenting on here and have read him.
You may be disappointed that pmichael isn't showing you his bank balance. I'm not. He does tell you how he's making money...well, you have to have the background of knowing how money is made for these sorts of business activities, but most on HN seem clued in about ebooks and adsense. Its a good enough story as is.
But, what he is sharing is an experience, not a case study. That was the root of my comment which you replied to.
Most of us here know that mantra, but I guess you were too busy erm .. doing stuff.