A tech book won’t fix your cash flow
“Hey, you didn’t buy my thing. What’s up? Did I miss something?”
That’s the email you get if you say “Ooh, Swizec’s book looks cool,” but then you don’t buy it within a week or two. Sometimes you get the email even if you do buy the book. My system is easily thwarted.
Of the people who get that email, 1.4% unsubscribe from the mailing list. I never hear from them again. But, and this is key, 4.2% of people reply to that email.
Those replies are a gold mine. They’re a true look into the human condition. Or at least into the condition of people who like shiny objects but don’t get them.
Some say “Screw you, man. Leave me alone. You’re annoying as hell”. I get it. You already have too much email. We all do.
Many say “Eh, I like you, I like your stuff, but React+d3js ES6 just isn’t for me right now. I have other shit going on”. That’s totally fair. We all shop around until we find something we need. I get it.
And then there are those who say “Oh man. I’d love to buy your thing, but you got me in a really tight spot. I just can’t afford to spend this much money right now. My clients are late to pay, and I can’t find enough clients, and nobody who wants my skills wants to pay a decent chunk of dough.”
Whoa. Hold up there, you. My thing costs $19. If $19 is a lot of money, don’t buy my tech book. You don’t need it.
Hell, even if you want the fancier $79 package and that’s unaffordable … man, I appreciate it, you’re great. But please, don’t buy it.
Yes, React engineers are in high demand right now. Yes, they have crazy high salaries in some parts of the world. Yes, knowing the new hotness makes hunting for projects easier.
But don’t buy technical books until you need to. Got a client working with React and you need to level up fast? Buy. Get a new project at work and React’s a good fit? Boom. Perfect. Need something fun to hack on for the weekend? Do it.
A technical book won’t fix your cashflow.
Not today, not tomorrow, not this week. Maybe next week if you’re lucky. Next month perhaps.
But only if you have the business skills to match.
When your cashflow is low, you don’t need another tech book. You need some business skills.
Work on how you negotiate. Work on how you talk about value. Work on finding clients who need your services. Work on getting a better job.
Okay, yes, a lot of marketing (including mine) wags eyebrows suggestively and hints that “You know, if you buy this, you might make more money”. But it’s not instant. It takes time and effort and work and business skills.
You have to know how to sell yourself.
It doesn’t matter how good you are at React or at JavaScript or at anything if the people you talk to don’t already know what to do with that. And if the people you talk to about money spend too much time talking about technologies, you’re talking to the wrong people anyway.
That’s why I’m making a new rule: if money is tight, please don’t buy my book. Stick to the abundant free material. You have bigger fish to fry.
So here’s where it gets tricky: how do you learn business skills?
I’m working on it myself. These are the things that have been most helpful so far:
I’ve been sticking to the free material for the most part. I bought Amy Hoy’s 30x500 Academy, and that’s been great. I went to Brennan Dunn’s conference, and that was fun. I have a ticket for Ramit Sethi’s conference, which hasn’t happened yet.
So I’m taking my own advice. Stick to the free stuff until cash flow is good enough that the unfree stuff doesn’t break the bank. :)
Please don’t break the bank to buy my stuff. Stick to free.
PS: I write about being a better engineer and creative every week. You should subscribe by email.
