Comments on: Johnny Asks: Are you selling solutions? Or are you selling some stupid-ass product?

By: Exciting new product will attract chicks or hot dudes, depending on what you’re into : Johnny B. Truant

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:06:21 +0000

[...] actually am going to be offering a new product soon. There’s a bit of info toward the end of my 6/15/09 post on IttyBiz. RELATED [...]

By: Johnny B. Truant

Johnny B. Truant — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:42:39 +0000

This might be a good time to tell everyone that my solution to your “you have a site on stupid-ass blogger.com” problem is $35 off until the end of the month. Look at me; I’m relationship marketing! (Carl definition.)

Nobody will get that.

So go here and buy shit: http://learntobeyourownva.com/blogger-to-wordpress-migration/

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:41:56 +0000

JBT, hello from Canada! Eh? :)
Reading this was, as Oprah would say, an ‘aha moment’ for me. THIS is why I ‘follow’ you!

By: Johnny B. Truant

Johnny B. Truant — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:44:38 +0000

@infonerd… I parked illegally and prayed! Luckily it was neither ticketed nor towed, so I made the right choice.

By: Lyn

Lyn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:03:32 +0000

Thought provoking!

I want to be on the Canadian island sipping a Mikes Hard Lemonade too!

By: infonerd

infonerd — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:44:43 +0000

Am I the only one wondering how Johnny and Austin made it on to the ferry?

By: Business News » Blog Archive » Johnny Asks: Are you selling solutions? Or are you selling some …

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:57:00 +0000

[...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]

By: Selling Solutions | Nick Thacker

Selling Solutions | Nick Thacker — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:13:15 +0000

[...] are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.I just read a ridiculously-awesomely-written post from Johnny over at IttyBiz about selling holes, not drill bits. Remember, people will pay almost anything for [...]

By: Johnny B. Truant

Johnny B. Truant — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:23:19 +0000

Coach –

I used to agree with you.

A few years ago, I got all interested in real estate. I started buying houses, putting them up for rent, fixing up junkers, all of that. I’d listen to CDs and go to seminars, and the foreclosure rescue people always struck me the wrong way. It felt like exploitation. Yes, they could stop foreclosure on people, but they did it by buying the house for the mortgage’s value in cases where the house was worth much more. They’d buy a $200k house for $120k just to stop the foreclosure. Great market because people were desperate, but felt sleazy.

Then, my own real estate venture started to turn very, very sour. If you want to read the story, it’s here: http://is.gd/12LRh … but suffice to say, I found myself in just as desperate a situation as the people being “exploited” by the foreclosure rescue people.

It’s eased up somewhat thanks to my various new ventures, but things in the real estate portfolio are still terribly, terribly ugly. I hate it. I fear it. I loathe it and don’t like to think about it at all. The words “mortgage” and “taxes” and “rent” throw me into a spin, and so does getting the mail, which is often filled with water or property tax bills.

Today, I would PAY someone to take my real estate for fire sale value. I would literally take out a $50k loan and give it all to someone who would take all of these properties off my hands.

Whoever took the properties would have managed as exploitative a deal as those foreclosure rescue guys I used to think were sleazy.

But I would thank them… and thank them profusely, forever… for solving a huge problem that gives me daily, horrible stress.

There are certainly lines that you shouldn’t cross, morally speaking. But I do think that in a whole lot of cases, the problem is so big that relieving it leaves much less room for exploitation than you may think. It’s hard to feel the magnitude of a problem when you’re not the one it’s affecting.

Just my opinion.

By: Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome

Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:54:28 +0000

I actually won’t take on any coaching clients that are desperate because they won’t be in the right state of mind to sensibly make changes and stick to the changes once they make them.

My ideal client is the baby bird in the nest – totally ready and eager to fly (he or she wants it with all their soul) but stays in the nest out of fear and comfort. I give them the nudge, shove or kick that sends them out into the air to start soaring and swooping in glee.

A desperate person will cling, cry and forget that he or she has wings, even though part of the crying is all about needing to fly.