Comments on: Well-Intentioned Liars

By: scheng1

scheng1 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:58:20 +0000

I agree! Sometimes I dont even know to trust the earning figures of those money-making blogs or not. I rather trust those with painful experiences that I can learn from.

By: Paul Norwine

Paul Norwine — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:51:22 +0000

JD,

You've obviously hit on a hot button topic as is evident by the preceding comments. It's also a topic I've been wrestling with as well so I'm glad to see yours and everyone else's viewpoints. I think a certain amount of transparency is not only important but vital if you want to have a voice that is followed.

I feel like some of the "big dawgs" have become a bit complacent with their posts writing from a "just do this and you will succeed (or be happy, or rich, or whatever you want to put here)" frame of reference rather than a truly helpful / honest viewpoint. But there are a number of mid-range bloggers who are beginning to make names for themselves by being upfront and honest about where they are, where they want to get to, and what obstacles lie in their way (a few of these bloggers have actually left comments here).

When I started blogging I thought that you HAD to develop a perspective as a "fake it til you make it" type of writer to get anywhere. But I quickly realized (1) I wasn't comfortable with that approach and (2) people didn't want to connect with that type of shit anyway.

In the end, I think people truly resonate with stories and people that they can relate to. And transparency is the best way to form that connection. Great post...

Paul

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:59:16 +0000

Glad to be on the level J.D. I agree with Kristin. I don't think you've lied to me…and a lot of the content out there is repetitive. I love hearing about people's real experience and so a post like this is great. I try to have that pretty much be my entire site content…in fact it's probably a fault that I go into excruciating detail about my exact steps with too much detail on how I'm getting where I'm going. Exactly where I'm at is on my About page. I really love a call to authenticity, and real life experiences, otherwise where all just repeating the same thoughts with different jargon. Thanks dude, and well done on the web projects. My own two cents…you can live off craigslist relatively easily especially if you are a webworker (web design, graphic design, SEO, online marketing)…I did this for a full year attempting to jump start my own business. Living cheaply gets frustrating after about 10 months though…it's great don't get me wrong…but I didn't like to continually make the living cut backs that I did…I found I wasn't enjoying the things I wanted to…even though I was free.

@Johnny (thelifething) … I totally believe thats possible, but my flavor of life design does not include moving to a different country to succeed. It's probably one of the best ways to create focus through environment and live cheaper…it's just not a realistic setup for several of us.

By: Corbett Barr

Corbett Barr — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:34:16 +0000

You've definitely sparked something here, J.D. I've been having conversations with people all weekend about authenticity and transparency. It definitely has me thinking. I just wrote something about the whole "fake it 'till you make it" mentality today and I think the transparency topic will provide inspiration for many more posts coming up. Thanks again for the food for thought.

By: thelifething

thelifething — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:05:31 +0000

I promise you you don't need that much money. I have just posted a blog entitles "A day in the life of a traveling entrepreneur" where I took a camera out with me on a typical working day for me in Bangkok. Get out of america and start leveraging currency and I promise you can live an exceptional life right now on $1000 a month.