That's all I'm doing. There's nothing that I'm doing that someone else can't.
On a slightly different note, there are SAAS products like SalesForce, Quickbooks and the lot that are going to get the market by the brute force of their marketing budget. On the other extreme are people like you and patio11 and 37signals who take the effort to nurture an audience and generally pro-bootstrap. I think both strategies should work if executed well.
Maybe most people don't, but many (maybe most) here on HN do. Just look at the comments here.
And even if you don't have the writing skills on day 1, you can improve via advice, feedback, various courses and books, and practice.
I always find this kind of statement interesting. Where do you think we got our "talent"? Writing our butts off. It's true -- for people willing to put in the effort to be good, being good pays dividends. If you're not willing to put in the work, you don't get the dividends. But nobody is a "born writer."
As bdunn said in my virtual earshot earlier today, "Compare my first blog and my latest." He provided a lesson for my class recently and I made him rewrite it 3 times before it was in acceptable shape for editing. I'm sure the process was kinda sucky for him on the one hand, on the other hand, he grew hugely as a teacher.
Yep, being willing to exercise a skill pays off.
I look back at things I wrote a year ago - sometimes as much as 6 years ago - and wonder if they were really written by me.
Writing every day and being willing to do it even if it's just for throwaway is the only way to develop the talent. You know, just like every other talent, ever.
What have you done and how long have you been doing it for to come along and offer advice which you are now selling to others?
Checking the registration dates of your three domains I find the following:
planscope.io - April 4, 2012
businessoffreelancing.com - Sept 19, 2012
doubleyourfreelancingrate.com - Aug 15, 2012
wearetitans.net (2008) (where you work?) doesn't have an about page so I can find out nothing about your past history or your role there.
This is your twitter:
https://twitter.com/brennandunn
Your HN profile shows very little and so does a search.
So tell me a little more about why your advice is so valuable.
I'm the owner of We Are Titans, my consultancy, and it's been around since 2008. Before that, I was just a freelancer.
Also, http://hamptonroads.com/2011/11/small-tech-we-are-titans-off...
Lastly, I'm not trying to say I'm some uber consultant extraordinaire. But I know what's worked for me, and have had a serious amount of positive reception (success stories) from my book. I think that's what matters most.
I've been observing business for a long long time. You will do great because you've got the proper degree of BS mixed together with things that you've learned in a short period of time and the ability to take advantage of people's generally trusting nature. Nothing wrong with that. When I started my first business (long time ago) I didn't have any employees and I had a big customer that wanted to visit (physical location - about 1500sf). So I brought in people to just stand around and look like I had employees. I got the contract and kept it for almost 5 or 6 years. I'm lucky that the person giving the contract wasn't me and wasn't able to see through it.
Added: "I'm the owner of We Are Titans, my consultancy" your HN profile doesn't say this, it should.
Cite? What evidence do you have that bdunn is "taking advantage" of anyone… or that anything he has written is "BS."
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?
Are you serious? They're right there in the second paragraph!
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.
I have a ton of testimonials from people thanking me for helping them raise their rates. If you email me, I'll send them to you.
I take a lot of offense that you think I have "the proper degree of BS mixed together with things I've learned in a short period of time" and that I'm "taking advantage of people."
I am delivering value in exchange for money. If people didn't think the value outweighed the cost, I'd be getting refund requests. By stating in your profile that you had a really expensive, old computer back in the day - I'm guessing you're older, and there's ageism at play against me? My customers don't care what degrees or credentials I have attached to my name, as long as I deliver on my promise - which I have.
Where in my comment did I say you were running a smoke and mirrors shop? Show me the words that implied that in my comment?
(Others have of course - I didn't say "yeah I agree" either.) I asked you a question and gave you an opportunity to detail "why your advice is so valuable" and I gave you my reasons (before asking that) why I was skeptical.
"I have a ton of testimonials from people thanking me for helping them raise their rates. If you email me, I'll send them to you."
If you have a ton of testimonials there are certainly ones (a percentage of the ton) that you could get the people who gave you the testimonials to allow you to post publicly, right? Isn't that basic marketing? (It is.) So why did you not post some? By the way the use of the word "testimonial" implies to me more than someone thanking you by email. I can understand why you wouldn't post a snip from an email that someone sent you. But you called them "testimonials" not an email thank you. Either way it would seem that if they are happy they would allow you to use the testimonial - even firstname, last initial and type of company (if not full info).
Sorry you take offense to the "BS". I gave an example of how I BS'd and got somewhere with it. Donald Trump and many successful business leaders have used "BS" to get ahead. So have politicians. BSing is not the same as lying. I understand that hackers have some issue with puffery. That is their choice. (By the way I've also observed over the years how lack of ability to BS holds you back in business.)
"I'd be getting refund requests." Why not post the percentage of people who request refund? Is it 2%, 10%, 0%. Seems that would be a good marketing angle if you were able to get up into the 90's, right?
"guessing you're older, and there's ageism at play against me"
I would do the same thing to someone who was older.
"what degrees or credentials"
I didn't raise any issue with degrees or credentials at all. If you had a degree from Harvard I wouldn't have accepted that as anything given what you were trying to sell. I merely wanted backup for what you were doing.
"as long as I deliver on my promise"
If you reread one of my replies to you will see that I said this:
"If I challenge you it's for discussion. Also to point out that others might be thinking the things that I think (at least some people) but not raise the issue. And you could loose business from them."
I have learned much about people's reaction to what I say on HN. I am pointing out to you (I think in a relatively nice way) the impression that I had and then asked some questions. You can take that info into consideration when you go and try to sell to the world of "older people" -or- people who don't spend time on HN. Because you will need it. I'm not selling anything to people who read HN so I will speak my mind as to what I think.
Here's the thing also to remember. Selling to people, a wide range of people is not the same as "getting a job" or "finding a girl/guy". You can be "slightly crazy" (as I was just called by someone) and still do fine if you only need 1 wife or 1 job. But if you are selling to many people you have to take into account how what you do might alter what they think.
You mention that he's "got the proper degree of BS mixed together with things that [he's] learned in a short period of time and the ability to take advantage of people's generally trusting nature", and then immediately following that you bring in a story about how when you first started you tricked a major client into thinking you were running a shop with several employees, with the implication that you were also able to "take advantage of people's generally trusting nature"
Larry - reading this along with your other snips at patio and bdunn, I feel compelled to point out that you're coming off as slightly crazy.
No offense. If that was challenging it was for the sake of discussion.