5 ms·

Brennan, serious question here. 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?

by larrys 14y ago

Brennan, serious question here. 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 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.

bdunn 14y ago
Before planscope it was projectorpm.com, cease-and-desist copyright issue. The book and podcast are relatively new. 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-offer-west-coast-values 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.
- larrys 14y ago
  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. They might look at your planscope page and note that there aren't bios on anyone. That may be important to them. Now if you're a 1 person company there could be a strategic reason for doing that ("better to be thought a fool then to open your mouth and remove all doubt"). But if you have a "crew" why not do more than just include a picture? 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.
  - ahoyhere 14y ago
    "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."
    - larrys 14y ago
      "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?
      - icebraining 14y ago
        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!
        ahoyhere 14y ago
        When a person argues from passion instead of reason, this is the kind of thing that results. A person who argues from passion isn't even fully aware of the words coming out of his mouth (keyboard), because it's a wave of sheer emotion. I'm glad this is in text, because it's much easier to spot.
        larrys 14y ago
        Sorry saying "taking advantage" and "take advantage of people's generally trusting nature" is not the same thing. Or at least that was not my intent when I stated that. If I do consulting in an area I am knowledgeable in I am "taking advantage of people's lack of experience in XYZ". Further example: "Taking advantage" used alone without a qualifier is like "taking advantage of a girl" (say at a vulnerable moment). Someone is vulnerable so you take advantage of them. "Taking advantage of a girl's tendency to want a well educated guy", used in that context is not the same "taking advantage". The first is a negative. The second realizes and fulfills people's innate makeup. What about "taking advantage of an airfare sale" or "taking advantage of a discount offered". So why is the use of "taking advantage" with a qualifier bad? "take advantage of people's generally trusting nature" does not in itself imply someone has done something wrong. Just like saying "take advantage of lax security and therefore brought extra liquids on board the aircraft" does not imply something bad has happened.

bdunn 14y ago

I'm just confused about why you think I'm running a smoke-and-mirrors shop. 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.

bravoyankee 14y ago
You and Patrick have done an exemplary job of leveraging the herd mentality, but some of us are getting tired of the pitch. How many times are you going to try and milk this cow?
- jbigelow76 14y ago
  As long as people keep buying I'd assume.
- aytekin 14y ago
  I received a lot of value from Patrick's lifecycle emails course. I hope he creates more courses/products like that.
  - thomaslangston 14y ago
    For me specifically it was being able to talk to our head finance guy intelligently about how cash flow, customer acquisition costs, and customer lifetime value relate. While I can't put a dollar amount on it yet, I can say I think our finance guy's opinion of me was raised a notch.
- ahoyhere 14y ago
  "Herd" "milk" "cow" --> classic poisoning the well, utterly (udderly?) without basis or merit. Factual arguments make us smarter. What you are writing makes the discourse dumber. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_the_well http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_the_well
- timf 14y ago
  Patrick was writing prolifically here and on his blog for years with no relevant product at all, just a lot of interesting insight into his bingo operation. The recent lifecycle email course is his first product directly relevant to us, your comment about being tired of the pitch is confusing.
  - larrys 14y ago
    "your comment about being tired of the pitch is confusing It actually makes sense in context though. The parent's profile states the their account was setup 12 days ago. Of course it could be another account for someone on HN for a longer time (a throwaway) that would know what you are saying but my guess (because of the comment) that's simply not the case. The parent has leveraged their lack of experience on HN to actually throw patio11 and the OP into the same category. I've seen this happen in other cases where someone has limited experience in a particular area and tends to "lever" any new thing they observe to greater importance than it should. (For example there are time periods on HN where certain articles are in vogue. If you joined during that period you would get the impression that that was always the case most likely.)
larrys 14y ago
"you think I'm running a smoke-and-mirrors shop" 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.