The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau – Book Review

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wish I had read this book a few years ago as it would have been more valuable then but all the same I'm glad I read it and would recommend it. The author basically takes you through several examples of modern “micro-businesses” and shares patterns or lessons you can learn from many of them.

For anyone who is primarily familiar with traditional large businesses, venture capital, and writing business plans this should provide a valuable view into a new type of company.

Simple concepts like how to build a product and how to perform a good product launch are my favorite things in the book.

That said, I'm not giving the book 5 stars because it utterly failed to discuss TRAFFIC. Endless stories are given that provide the reader with the impression that you can just create a product, build a website for it and somehow magically the customers will find it and give you money.

Even in the product launch chapter, it assumes that the reader has a list or audience of potential or past customers they can message about the new product being launched.

The success of any online business is directly tied to getting web traffic via some means and generally, this means spending money on advertising or engaging in some sort of joint-venture or great PR.

If you want a more comprehensive book that will help you start and launch a simple “micro business” online I suggest you go read The 4-Hour Workweek instead of or in addition to this book.

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