I have been reading Louise’s blog 'Oh So Sensitive' (now defunct) for quite some time.
She just has a way with words … And of course, her main focus,
introverts and HSPs, is something that is very close to my heart.
So, early March, I received an email with an invitation to buy Louise’s first book
“Design your dream job”, and I decided to give it a go …
Louise is definitely an accomplished writer, but, I do have mixed feelings about her book.
Let’s start with the things I like :
- The target audience : introverts and HSPs that are having a hard time
in their 9 to 5 jobs, and are thinking about going into business for themselves.
- The content of the book is relevant and useful. There are 25 short chapters that help you
figure out practical things such as : what type of business your personality is most suited to,
who your target audience is and how can you reach them, what content you should
create for your website, why you need a mailing list, etc.
- The writing style : clear, logical, and easy to read.
- The calls to action : built-in moments to think about what was said in the chapter,
and to figure out how it is relevant to your own business idea.
- The tone is highly motivational; it leaves you all excited and ‘ready to go’.
These are some of the things that I don’t like :
- Sometimes the way Louise addresses her readers is a bit ‘over the top’. To me, that feels fake.
- The book seems to be more motivational than realistic in some places.
For instance, early on in the book Louise writes : “So you’ve been told all your
life that drawing isn’t a real job. It’s payback time ! Your lawyer/programmer/… friends
might be begging you to lend them money some time soon.”
And : “The more freedom you have, the richer you are, regardless of how much money you earn.”
(Um … what about money for rent, utility bills, food, … ? That’s also the main reason most people
stay in a job they don’t like. But these ‘annoying’ things are conveniently glanced over).
Later on in the book, Louise tells writers to set themselves a target of 5000 words a week,
so they have a novel (averages 80000 words) to sell every 5 months. I’m not a writer, but that seems
awfully fast to me …
Something that I do have experience with : turning a non-programmer into a junior web developer …
Louise says she studied for a month, created a website, applied for 4 jobs, and got 3 offers.
Sweden must be very different from Belgium …
And finally : Louise gives you the impression that going in business for yourself is
as easy as creating a website, setting up a mailing list, deciding on your target audience …
Et voila ! You’re done. Ready to make some money. It seems to me that having a quality product
(a book, art, e-courses, services, …) might also be important …
- The book feels overpriced to me.
I bought this book at a discounted price, but still, after I had it printed
in a xerox-shop, it cost me over 30 euros. The pdf has just over 200 pages, the epub has 164 pages.
Also, not all of the content in the book will be new to people that read the blog,
or are on the mailing list.
- Having read the book (twice) unfortunately makes me view her website in a different light.
It now feels more as a place to gather in prospective buyers, and not so much as a place
where like-minded people can find each other.
But, I’m the first to admit that I’m rather sensitive, so this probably isn’t
going to bother anybody else.
As I said : mixed feelings …
Not by any means a bad book, though! If you are a member of the target audience,
you will definitely find useful information in there.
