First off this book review will be a bit different in that to really examine the ideas of this book they should be tested out thoroughly. So, while this post may be an initial review of the material that is in the book the rest will show through by my actual implementation, or the attempt at an Implementation, of what this book represents.
Unfortunately many people have made fun of this book throughout the years. There are those in the internet marketing field that say they work 17 hour days in order to get to a four hour work week. That just may be the truth for those people. But, maybe they just have not implemented the ideas as they should? Not sure.
The content of the book is very well written, so clearly someone must have spent some time editing and reviewing this book so to give it’s polish. You don’t end up as a New York Times Bestseller by halfassing that aspect. There are many who try and publish a book on the Kindle Marketplace and don’t go through the rigorous editing and reworking that any book published by the reputable book publishers have to go through.
Since this book has been published I know for a fact that some of the ideas are next to impossible to implement. The rules regarding Google Adwords for instance are a lot more stringent and you simply cannot test some of your ideas as you may think using that system. While Google Adwords is a great tool to generate traffic to a website it can be a bit difficult to use and many times people will find that their account has been closed with no explanation.
However, that being said the ideas presented in this book are somewhat solid still and can be implemented. They may not be easy for someone who has zero business knowledge or at least someone who is not willing to go out and try and learn how to do it. Many times criticisms spring from people’s frustrations with their own inadequacies and their lack of wherewithal.
The opening story and premise of the book
The opening of the book is a realization by Tim of the number of hours he is working and how much money he is making. Clearly there is a bit of a disconnect here and the sad fact of the matter is that many people who start a business become slaves to their business. Without revealing this point of pain however you would not know the journey Tim went through in order to transform his life into something many people admire.
Clearly this opening story is also meant to cause you the reader to relate to this particular situation, after all the whole idea of the book is supposed to cause you to want to change your life. One might say that he is setting himself up similar to that of a the story of many “superheroes” and that may just be a valid point.
Now there are numerous success stories of people who have implemented Tim’s ideas in their own life, for them this has worked wonderfully. However, there is an untold amount of people who tried and for some reason could not get this system to work. You simply don’t hear about people’s failures because most of the time those that failed are just too embarrassed to admit it. Why am I saying this? Because the frank and honest truth is what is missing in many other’s reviews of The Four Hour Work Week.
The Concept of the New Rich
The premise of this book is that the “New Rich” today tries to design their lives so that they have a source of money, an income stream, that allows them to live a life they desire. With the advent of the Internet and globalization, this is entirely possible, but the emphasis on foreign workers is a bit much in my opinion.
Just because I could go out and hire someone for far less than someone here in America does not mean that they would do a far better job nor does it mean that this would not subject my company to various security threats. If you have ever tried to go through the task of hiring a VA from any of the countries mentioned in this book you know of the nightmare that this can be. Some Virtual Assistants are great, they do a fantastic job and are well worth the investment, but others are very poor to say the least.
For instance it is routine to generate a customized training manual to give to a potential VA for the work that you want to have done. However, since your potential VA could have already worked in that same field he or she may have some bad habits that he or she picked up along the way. It is not uncommon for a VA to completely ignore your detailed instructions and do whatever he or she damn well pleases. This would put your business in a bind if the VA happens to break the Terms of Service for the many accounts and websites you may have.
One of the biggest hurdles in becoming a member of the “New Rich” then is sourcing your VA’s and making sure that they follow your instructions to the letter. Overseeing your foreign employee’s is also a task that can take up a lot of time. If you happen to give your employee’s too much free reign then you are just asking for a nightmare.
Honestly the scope of this review will require a number of posts to cover everything. I don’t want to give everything away as well because that would not be right to those that bought the book. So please stay tuned for a continuation of this review, yes it is exhaustive.