21 Comments
User's avatar
Dallas Payne's avatar

I should know better than to be hooked in with your hook, but I was. I was stoked you made that much overnight on a regular Tuesday and was about to advocate for some special treats for Butters - the kind he gets to pick out himself, as many as he wants 😂

Nick Quick's avatar

Butters thanks you.

He's been advocating for this internally for months.

You Are Safe and You Are Loved's avatar

L O L. bravo bravo this is so well done — and the sausage ref is chef’s kiss. (The term used facetiously.)

Nick Quick's avatar

Almost cut the sausage bit. Now I'm glad I trusted it. Thanks for showing up with this energy.

Sapna from BrainGrease Lab's avatar

My first thoughts when I read your opening - "Et tu Nick?" It didn't sound like the Nick I've been reading, but hey, on the internet, you never know. My next thought was - "well, now I want to know his secret. At least he's more likeable than all the other lifestyle business bros I see around..."

There must be a way to sell without sounding like a snake oil salesman.

Nick Quick's avatar

The snake oil disappears when you stop selling promises and start showing proof.

If the free stuff works, the paid stuff doesn't need a pitch. It needs a link.

Nat Sang's avatar

Wow amazing and thankfully I read past the opening hook. It’s scary how easy this is for people. I just lost my mega paying job and I do need to find a means of income. But I don’t have the conscience to do it the quick way. I don’t want to be chasing the next client my whole life, all the while burning bridges as I move forward. I am in the process of changing and resetting my own life, living it and writing about it.

Nick Quick's avatar

The conscience doesn't turn off just because the pressure turns up.

That's actually the hardest version of this decision... choosing the slow game when fast money is a real need, not just a hypothetical temptation.

The fact that you're writing through it instead of around it matters.

Nat Sang's avatar

Yes it’s hard, but I think if I felt that I was being unethical it would bring me a different type of unhappiness. I am very much choosing to believe in what I’m building and trusting that it will be sustainable in the long run. But you’re right it’s hard in the present. My biggest temptation is to go back to corporate . But twice I’ve lived the same outcome and I’m not willing to get burned a third time.

Nick Quick's avatar

Knowing what you're not willing to do again is underrated as a compass. Most people treat it as a limitation. It's actually a pretty reliable filter.

Nat Sang's avatar

Yes how I wish 32 year old me knew that, but at least 52 year old me does 🤣

Caitlin McColl 🇨🇦's avatar

I've literally read posts exactly like your intro here and it makes me ragey and even less likely to ever subscribe (and if I'm subscribed,,I'll be unsubscribing before i finish the article. No thanks! And actual moral compass and potatoes 3x a day is way better than 11k and feeling like a sack of shit human being (but maybe these people miraculously don't?!?! No cognitive dissonance?)

Nick Quick's avatar

The parody worked too well. I lost more subscribers on this post than any other. They saw the opening and assumed I'd gone full "hustle bro."

Honestly? Respect the vigilance.

Caitlin McColl 🇨🇦's avatar

that sucks that people unsubscribed because they read the parody intro and were like kthxbye . But at least that shows that people DON'T like the whole hustle bro thing! Maybe you should write another article re: 'anti-hustle bro' to get those lost subscribers back! 😄

Nick Quick's avatar

I might've done the same thing had I read something like this.

I probably should've clearly marked that the intro if parody.

Those who like what I'm doing but got thrown for a premature loop with that intro, will be back.

I'm just glad they, too, can't stand that garbage.

chris kalaboukis's avatar

Damn, son. I’m there as well. I just can’t make myself lie like that.

I know that I’m leaving money on the table, but I just can’t

Maybe I need an ethical bypass to succeed.

Nick Quick's avatar

The ethical bypass is available, well-documented, and comes with a thriving support community of people who are fine and not thinking about the implications at all. 🤷‍♂️😀

chris kalaboukis's avatar

Not only that, they seem so damn smug about it. Like they are mocking “what are you gonna do about it”

A Recovering Daydreamer's avatar

"I’m in Paraguay. I haven’t had steady income in almost a year. My diet is microwaved potatoes most days. Packet ramen on special occasions. I have a chihuahua named Butters who spends most of the day curled up next to me while I work. He doesn’t ask for much. Neither do I, lately." --this is healing to read.

I'm currently test-living a self-publishing project that is funded by other work. Don't know if it will turn into anything full-time, just know that the regret would eat me if I didn't even try.

And I want to build relationships with people as I build this, not just churn content day-in, day-out.

P.S. You got me good with the first part. I was already envious as F by the time the horizontal line appeared! 😁

Nick Quick's avatar

Appreciate this more than you know.

Fair warning: I may have played the parody too straight. My unsubscribe rate suggests some folks didn't make it past the coffee beans before deciding I'd actually become a hustle bro. Oops.

But comments like this make it worth it. "The regret would eat me" is the realest reason to build anything. Glad you're in it.

A Recovering Daydreamer's avatar

Hahaahha, dammit, that’s how you know you’re good at something & that not doing it is definitely only a matter of choice, not a lack of ability! (Which gives your choice not to do it extra weight for sure)

It’s easy to avoid doing something you’re not good at.

Thanks, I’m glad to be here. :)