Apr
23
Johnny Hits The One Year Mark, Declares Naomi A Rock Star
I can probably stop with this idea of updating everyone on The Johnny Project at this point, if for no other reason than that a ton of you reading this had to click that link in order to know who I am or why I’m talking about my “project” here, on Naomi’s blog.
So if you weren’t reading IttyBiz a year ago, let me give you the brief version of what happened here circa April 2009:
- I said, “Hey, Naomi… I’ve never made a cent online, so why don’t I be your guinea pig to prove that it can be done by an average Joe?”
- Naomi smoked several cigarettes.
- Over the next few months, Naomi and her now-unavailable Online Business School course coached me through starting my own internet business.
- I did pretty well under said tutelage, thus proving that IttyBiz shit is so awesome that it should always wear David Lee Roth’s old spandex from the Van Halen days.
- Naomi smoked several cigarettes.
So every now and again, I’ll check in and let IttyBiz readers know how awesome IttyBiz shit is, and what I’ve learned from it that you might borrow from my experience and apply to your own.
And then I realize how long a year is in internet time, and realize that The Johnny Project probably isn’t as relevant as it used to be — at least as it pertains to Johnny B. Truant, who is perhaps a bit overexposed in some circles nowadays.
The point is, it’s been a year, and Naomi and her IttyBiz advice saved my ass from certain peril (my ass’s real estate investments were tanking, and the clients my ass used to work for all either went out of business or stopped using my ass), and so I’m here to say officially that this little experiment worked, and that A NEWBIE CAN APPARENTLY BUILD A BUSINESS ONLINE, AND THAT ITTYBIZ ADVICE IS THE SHIT.
Quid pro quo.
Which is a Latin term that doesn’t mean “thus it is proven,” but I’m far too lazy to look up the right expression and maybe you won’t notice anyway.
(A bunch of nerds just hopped down to the comment box to tell me the right expression. Betcha anything there were like twenty of them.)
So yeah. I figured it’d be cool to cap this experiment off with some of my most relevant lessons learned.
Lesson #1: Stupid amounts of stubborn persistence are key.
I wrote in Johnny Talks About Motivation that the reason I was able to build a successful internet business was because I was willing to just keep trying different approaches until something worked.
I also suggested that if this incarnation of my business hadn’t worked, I’d still be trying new things today… you know, until something finally did work.
And so, I think that the number one rule for success is this: Keep at it.
You may not know my history prior to forming this current business: My old, dead website business. My expired gig writing for a human resources magazine. My colossal failure as a real estate investor. Countless dead ends using AdSense and affiliate arbitrage schemes when starting online. To put it succinctly, I have many more business failures than business successes.
It may look like I tried something and it worked, but that’s only because you haven’t been watching while I was doing the dozens of things over the past decade that didn’t work.
So the message again is to always keep at it, until it works for you.
Lesson #2: Start now, and figure out what you’re doing later.
My friend Charlie Gilkey calls this “learning to fly the plane while it’s in the air.” My JV partner Lee Stranahan gives the punk analogy in the punk rock, DIY entrepreneurship course we’re launching very soon: Form the band first, and then learn to play instruments second.
I run into people all the time who want to get their website or their plan or their message or their voice just right before they do anything. But in my experience, you have to just start. You’ll find your writing voice as you write. You’ll hone your services as you do them for clients. You’ll find your correct price point as you work. You’ll discover your best niche as you go along.
Remember: This is the internet, where things are fluid. If you go in one direction and it sucks, just go in another.
Some people will see the switch and will say, “Isn’t she the person who used to… ” but anyone who finds you after the switch will simply know you as a person who does Y and not know or care that you ever did X.
If you raise a price from $50 to $100, some people will notice that the prices went up, but new people will simply see you as a $100 person, making the $50 price irrelevant.
Launch the website now. Start doing something now. Then, hone your approach as you go along.
Lesson #3: This takes balls.
Doing your own thing is fucking scary. It was easier for me because I had been self-employed even before starting my current business, but for most people, the biggest “skill” to cultivate, in my opinion, is guts.
Afraid to put yourself out there? Afraid to say, “I’m charging $X” and not lower your prices unless you have a very good reason? Afraid to be creative and risk criticism? Afraid to not knowing when your next paycheck may come, or where it may come from? Afraid of the many obstacles you think are in your path?
All of that is normal, and all understandable. You can be afraid sometimes, but if you’re to succeed, you have to have the balls to forge ahead anyway — no matter how scary it may get.
Lesson #4: This is really, really hard work.
There’s a widespread perception that starting your own business will mean increased leisure time. This is really far from the truth… at least at first.
I think this perception comes up because “starting your own business” = “doing your own thing,” and furthermore that “doing your own thing” = “doing what you enjoy,” and therefore that “doing what you enjoy” = “laying on the couch, watching Star Trek and eating bon-bons.”
I do my own thing, and I mostly enjoy what I’m doing. I do not, however, spend much time watching Star Trek or eating bon-bons. You can do that as an entrepreneur if you want to pioneer the field of being broke off your ass and getting kicked out of your apartment, but that aspiration seldom appears in mission statements.
During the first months, I put in 18 hour days. You may not have to work as a solopreneur… but if you don’t work, nobody is going to pay you.
Add to that the fact that you’re trying to build something, not just maintain it. Maybe right now, you can rustle up $500 per month in odd self-employement type jobs in your field — but you don’t want to make $6k per year; you want to make $60k. That means that you’ll do the $500 worth of work, but will also have to do a lot of shit that you won’t get paid for in the interest of generating new leads, opening new channels, building new products, etc.
Every month, I write 4-10 posts for my own blog, 6-8 posts for other blogs, answer a ton of chatty or question-laced emails, spend a ton of time on Twitter, hone existing product design and copy, have at least one new project in development, follow up with leads, and on and on and on. I get paid for none of that directly.
This past month, I’ve been working with Lee on that new course I mentioned. It’s around 8 hours of our own content, plus like a dozen guest interviews, plus copy to go with it, plus the sales letter, graphics, cart and mailing list admin, etc. The time input needed to do all of that has been ridiculous.
If the launch goes well, it’ll totally be worth it… but the fact remains that what any entrepreneur does is NOT easy. Enjoyable as it may sometimes be and as free as you may sometimes feel, this is hard work.
Lesson #5: Don’t be normal.
I’ve saved the best for last. If you’re reading this, you are not a normal person. Normal people do what the default path says they should. Normal people get jobs. Normal people have 2.5 kids and live in a house with a white picket fence.
You may have the kids and house and fence, or you may not. But if you read IttyBiz, you are either doing your own thing, or wish you could. And that’s not normal.
The problem is that if you’re not normal, the rules, judgments, and benchmarks of normal society don’t apply to you. So if you’re weird and aren’t truly embracing it, you’re going to be confused; you’re going to feel alone and like a total outsider; you’re going to wonder why people think your ideas are crazy, naive, or stupid.
You’re a rebel. You’re punk rock. I’ve come to believe this so firmly lately that it became the centerpiece of the Question the Rules course. Entrepreneurs defy convention, and need to learn how find some guidance while they’re all busy not following rules and guidance. We all need to find a way to stop thinking about societal plans and instead learn the tools needed to create our own plans.
That’s how you go from simply being “not normal” to what we might call “not normal with a purpose.” It’s how you go from being just “that weirdo” to “that weirdo who’s crazy all the way to the bank.” (Read: Naomi.)
So that’s it. That’s the story of Year One, and those are the most poignant lessons learned by the guy who had never made a cent online prior to Year One.
So rock on for yourself in general, and rock the lessons above if you dare. You fucking weirdo.
About the Author: Johnny B. Truant is one of the creators of Question the Rules: The Nonconformist’s Punk Rock, DIY, Nuts-And-Bolts Guide To Creating The Business And Life You Really Want, Starting With What You Already Have, a badass new course which will launch on April 28th.
Congrats on your success man. Hope to see you in Vegas this year and get you trashed so I can steal all of your secrets.
“Start now, and figure out what you’re doing later.”
That definitely sums up my last year.
You’ve got to suck it up and jump right in.
Oh, and I think an internet year is like 150 dog years.
You’d be nothing without me Truant and you damn well know it. In fact neither would Dunford, Stephen Hawking or the Pope, they all owe it to me.
And don’t ever, ever, mix up your QED’s with QPQ’s again or I’ll beat you within an inch of your life and then maybe an inch past it just for good measure.
Hey there Johnny,
Been reading your stuff for a long time – congrats on the success!
QUESTION (if you don’t mind): Is your goal to create many streams of automated income to create more free time? I know that you’re really focused on the comedy thing and I could see you eventually doing that full time. So my impression has always been that you’re creating the ultimate side-hustle so that you can focus on your passion for comedy without having to wait tables until you get your own sitcom (which again, I could see happening for you!).
Is this true, or is online business your central passion? I hope that I’m not putting you on the spot…
:)
–Doron
(a web developer who’d love to have more time for his passion for music production and composition)
Smart stuff.
I’m so wallowing around in #5 right now and still looking for that “so not a cupcake” version of what category I want to create.
Shit is hard.
Not easy.
If it was, everyone would have already done it.
The past “2″ years seems like the past 2 months really. It’s all moving faster than a fat kid gunning for the last twinky on the kitchen counter.
Matter O’ Fact, time to make the donuts and get back to work. I see the fat kid coming already.
ooh Johnny, this post may be the best thing of yours i have read. but i will confess i haven’t read everything, but now i am compelled to check out your other stuff and maybe even buy something (i know, it’s kinda gross).
I was here and reading ittybiz when you started, at that point i was a tiny bit jealous. now i am just kicking myself for not doing all the things i SAID i was going to do because i was busy being a big chicken. thanks for writing this and subtly pointing that out.
In one year you have accomplished a hell of a lot! congratulations! and i will join you on that side of the fence one day when i finally make up my mind to do it :)
(yes i ramble, whatever, maybe that’s my thing… )
You pretty much begged for people to jump on the QED thing and only got Tim so far. I’m probably as surprised as you are.
And by the way, since I haven’t mentioned it before, that has to the the stupidly-long-est subtitle for a course I’ve ever seen. But at least the acronym is easy to pronounce.
Love this post, Johnny – especially lesson 2! Thanks :)
I’m considering printing 1-5 and posting it everywhere around my office and home. You put things so succinctly and it all felt like a big slap upside the head. I’ve been struggling to just *start* for the last six months because I keep getting hung up on everything.
Thanks for the well-timed reminders.
*clapping from the stands while you dance in the end zone* …wishing you many happy seasons of game to come.
~GirlPie
Johnny, you had another advantage that most newbies don’t have, and that was exposure to Naomi’s base of fans and readers, and her endorsement. Most newbies have to build thier own fanbase from ground zero up. How much do you think this helped contribute to your initial success?
It’s every Coach and Consultant’s dream to get someone as motivated and who works as hard as you do! Congratulations on all you’ve achieved so far and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next. :-)
Meant to add (to my comment above) #4 is the one that really peeves me. Friends asking you out for coffee, or lunch, or shopping trip…
“Sorry, I’m working”
“But you work for yourself?”
“Yes, and when I take three hours during the day to go out for lunch I have to work three hours longer at night to get everything done”
They just don’t get it…..
I’ve been following you for some time now, most of your year, I think. Amazing progress, and wonderful motivation!
I’ve got a venture I want to try out, and think that I might have figured out a way to get it started. I’m getting off of here right now and contacting a possible mentor to help point me in the right direction. It only took getting fed up with various jobs and the work to start getting things in place…
How fortuitous the timing! I started a new gig this week, and especially appreciate the ‘keep at it’ message. No shit, no-thing in life is free…thanks for the fun post Johnny, and here’s hoping you have another great year!
I think this post has given me the inspiration to push ahead with my stupid ideas and find someone to pay me for them. Love the info Johnny, I will be following closely, 8 months behind you.
I *really* needed to hear number one right now – THANK YOU. I always seem to forget that other people have failed projects when I’m beating myself up for mine!
(Note to self: failed projects do not make you a failure.)
Couldn’t agree more on all points. Sometimes I look back on things I did and it seems like someone else did it. That’s either balls or just plain craziness. I have the feeling sometimes they’re more closely related than we’d like to admit.
This probably sounds random, but one of the first things I thought after reading this was, “How did I manage to quit smoking a few years ago?”
Dang that was good! In the past few weeks I have encountered a bunch of small biz owners who are waiting to get everything right OR who are just waiting for the right idea. I am huge on doing lots of things and seeing what works! Gonna quote you in a future post…:)
@Nathan – My secrets are on lockdown, dude. You’ll have to fight me for them. (Okay, fine… they involve booze.)
@Andy – I like the punk rock one better. It sums up the “fuck you” of the genre so well.
@Tim – I knew I’d get you, nerd. You bit even after I made it clear how funny it would be if you fell for my trap.
@Doron – I actually don’t do comedy. You aren’t thinking of Jordan Cooper, are you? I do all the “comedy” I need in my day-to-day life and interactions online. No, my goals are just to improve on what I do, in terms of integrating work and life in an ideal way. Not to plug (okay, to plug totally), but you should check out Question the Rules for this exact point. In my opinion, “work” isn’t something you find a way to get through so that you can then do what you want, like putting income on autopilot so that I can then pursue my passion. Instead, I try to make my passion part of my work. Life gets a lot easier when “work” and “play” are almost the same thing.
@Tony – Exactly. That’s why I hate “formula” thinking. The magic pill mentality says that this is easy, and then you can be living in Hawaii with servants. That’s why magic pills sell so well. I just don’t like to push bullshit, personally.
@Kate – Thanks. Action is the key ingredient. Nothing and nobody can “save you” or “make you” if you don’t do the work, and even stupid action can work if there’s enough of it, and if you don’t quit.
@Drew – Tim’s an easy target. And don’t deny that the tagline is descriptive if nothing else.
@Vickie – That’s punk rock, baby!
@Amy – Yep, you definitely have to start. I did a ton of stuff that didn’t work, but if you don’t try stuff, nothing ever will. Think of it like this: Do you want to formulate one 100% perfect solution in your head? Or do you want to have a 50% perfect solution that actually exists, and that you can improve upon as you go?
@GirlPie – Your faith has been fantastic! Thank you!
@Melinda – Going to come back to you…
@Matthew – Yes… get off your ass. And if the mentor thing doesn’t work, do it on your own. The most important thing is unafraid action. (Or non-over-the-top-reckless action in spite of fear.)
@Linda – No free lunch. The “turn this crank and be instantly rich” message is so annoying.
@Justin – Awesome, man… glad you liked it.
@Michelle – I think that’s overlooked often. The adage is something like, “It doesn’t matter how many times you fall down, as long as you keep getting back up.”
@Naomi – MOST of the successful people I’ve met this year are shit out of their minds, so I think they’re plenty related.
@Tara – It seems like it’s probably especially important online. The internet just changes too fast… if you wait until your idea is perfect before starting, you’re already behind. It’s similar to how you can’t merge with freeway traffic unless you’re already moving fast.
Melinda –
Here’s the thing: I DIDN’T have Naomi’s support, blog, or fan base. I had nothing.
Sure, I ended up having that platform and support, but how did I get it? Was it because I worked in an office with Naomi, and she was my drinking buddy, and she felt sorry for me and so decided to hold my hand and build everything for me – to put me on her blog regardless of merit?
Nope. I didn’t know her. AT ALL. I had to start doing something, and adjust, and try to be funny and/or interesting in my own way – to eventually catch they eye of people… one of whom ran a big blog.
And then I had to recognize that lead, cultivate it, and approach her at the right time, with the right offer… in a way that would benefit her more than it would benefit me.
Think of it this way: If I was a total fuckup, would Naomi have taken pity on me and put me on her blog? If I wasn’t offering her a return and benefit GREATER than I was expecting, would she have considered it?
I know this is surely coming across as me patting myself on the back, and that’s not the intention. Although… maybe it is a little. Maybe it has to be. Maybe that’s part of the trick.
See, I don’t believe in luck. I believe we make our own luck. “Luck” is preparedness and nuts meeting opportunity.
And I also believe that everyone has connections. EVERYONE. It’s actually a cornerstone of the “Question the Rules” course… everyone can find people who they can help, who can then help them in return. Everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone, and it’s a matter of finding the right offer to make, at the right time, in the right way.
I tell this story in Question the Rules: I got my first magazine writing gig because my dad knew a guy who knew a guy who was a magazine editor. It was a great gig at the time. I got $1200 to write a feature – great shakes for a kid who had barely been paid to write before.
I ended up writing over 60 articles for that magazine. And through it, I sort of wanted to not give myself credit. I thought, “Oh, it sure is lucky I knew Tom, because a lot of people don’t know Tom or someone like him… I got lucky on this one.”
But Tom (the friend) wouldn’t have referred me to Andy (the editor) if he hadn’t thought I’d do a good job.
And Andy wouldn’t have given me the assignment if he hadn’t checked me out and agreed that I’d do a good job.
And if I had turned in a shit article, Andy would have axed it and would have paid me only the kill fee, and then never hired me again.
And if I had been a shitty writer, shitty businessperson, shitty corespondent, shitty person, or shitty anything else, they wouldn’t have used me over 60 more times.
I wasn’t: I knew this guy who got me a job, and lucky for that.
It was: I had to be a good writer, a good businessperson, and so on. I had to have the right personal marketing ahead of time, so that these guys would know that. I had to deliver, be conscientious, and be solid. I had to be consistent. I had to be talented, and above everything, I had to WORK REALLY FUCKING HARD.
And then, I had to find a way to put all of that together… by finding and working with the right person to make that all into a career.
I had to fill the room with gas first on my own. Finding the connection was just like working out a way to light the match.
The Donald Trump Jr.s of the world may get things handed to them, but not the rest of us.
Finding connections isn’t the hard part. Being good and consistent is… and then you have to find a way to put it all together.
I hope this all doesn’t come off as defensive and jackassey, but I sometimes get pushback on this point, so it’s worth saying: I think Naomi will agree that while she definitely HELPED me, she didn’t MAKE me. And if I hadn’t ended up making that connection, I would have kept trying until I found another.
Anyway.
So yeah, I did have an advantage. But the real question is: How did I end up with that advantage?
@Johnny – Do you have a blog post about this already? Because if you don’t, you totally should. Um, cause it ROCKS.
Totally in agreement with you. I just screamed “high five!!” in my head. You can get connections, but you still won’t get far if you suck.
This was awesome, and super inspiring :) I like that you detailed exactly where you were before and didn’t shy away from stating that where you are now took TONS of work. That is how real entrepreneurs do it – not everyone (or rarely everyone) lives ‘the four hour workweek’ at least not for a long while.
Cheers & good job!!
Johnny,
I contacted the mentor last night, am just waiting for a reply. In the meantime, I’m doing research on my target market, putting together a pitch, trying to nail down my offerings.
If my mentor doesn’t work out, I’m giving you a call!
@Matthew – Yes… get off your ass. And if the mentor thing doesn’t work, do it on your own. The most important thing is unafraid action. (Or non-over-the-top-reckless action in spite of fear.)
Thanks for the great reply Johnny. I had thought that you had a connection with Naomi beforehand (not sure where I got that idea from). I didn’t realise that you had actively cultivated that connection in the process of getting going.
Just for the record, I was never suggesting that you didn’t have to come up with the goods. If you hadn’t been any good then Naomi wouldn’t have let you loose on her site. You had the platform, but it was up to you to make good on it. And you’ve certainly done that well.
Thanks for the dose of reality. Especially lesson #2 — it’s so easy to keep on planning & tweaking because of the fear of what MAY happen when you put yourself out there. It’s something I need to keep in front of me all the time!
@Naomi – Thanks. It actually got me thinking. I will probably write about it next week!
@Maren – Ironically, one of my issues is that I should start trying to do LESS but can’t quite let go. The “hungry” mentality is tough. I have non-essential stuff I could and should scale back on. I’m learning.
@Matthew – Haha, you’d better make me a stunningly beneficial offer.
@Melinda – As I mentioned in reply to Naomi (the other one), I actually may write a bit about this because it got me thinking. I didn’t have any connection… but it made me think of how people say “I blew my one shot at X.” This is the same thing – if an opportunity made for success, that wouldn’t be such a common thing to hear. I figure you find/make your shots, and then you have to work like hell to make it work. And I didn’t think you were messing with me… it was just something I wanted to say!
@Janet – Yes… do first, figure out later. I don’t think it’s possible to get it perfect without experience anyway.
Happy one JT. Glad we did some commerce before you were a really famous punk!
Thanks for the great past! I like all five points. The thing that resonates the most with me is the stubborn persistence and not being afraid to keep changing things up if people are not responding. And yes…it does take balls to do this!!
For a while i was caught up in the “story” that if I kept changing things up, then people would feel I was inconsistent…but the reality was that no-one was paying attention or going for some of the things I was offering,so they did not really give a shit if I changed them.
Biggest lesson: If people respond to something…offer more of that. If they don’t respond to something….shit can it and try something else.
Hey Johnny, thanks for being real about how much determination, persistence and WORK it takes to make it on your own. And that’s coming from a guy with as much talent and intelligence as you have. It’s great that you’re honest about the process and work involved. There’s too much B.S. out there already leading people astray and letting them think Star Trek and BonBons are in their near future.
Hi Johnny! Loved all points, but thanks especially for #2! I’m always waiting for everything to be perfect, but it’s never going to be, right? Great post!
Thank you for taking the time to respond to everyone’s post. I sometimes get more out of your responses than the articles themselves. Especially your responses here to Doran and Melinda. I was reading it thinking, “YES!!! Thank you!” with a big sigh of air because I often struggle with those same kinds of assumptions from people … the truth is eople who do it well (whatever ‘it’ is) make it look easy.
This was emailed to me and later I saw it in a book … I paraphrase it here:
A lady walked into a Paris Cafe and recognized Picasso sitting there. She said, “I love your artwork, would you draw something on my napkin. I’ll pay you whatever you want for it.”
He did and then he said, “That’ll be $10,000″
“What!?!” She exclaimed. “But it only took you 5 minutes.”
“Yes, but it’s taken me 25 years to get to this point where I can draw a masterpeice on a napkin in 5 minutes.”
That Picasso story is so awesome.
YES so much to this.
It’s a shame that course isn’t available any more, I kinda want to take it now, especially as I’m a new reader to this blog. Guesss I’ll just have to read the back posts. :)
Haha… um.. you could buy MY course… Question the Rules
HOLY …. I love your article! OMFG! I feel the same way!