“Some people succeed because they are destined to, some because they are determined to…”

the time is since long overdue for me to report on progress made at IT Arsenal, an online business built to slowly create financial freedom and enable more and more freedoms in life, be it learning new things, following passions, or simply taking much longer vacations and living the life i want to live. the status at this point is: generating excess income and creating openings for an easier life yet still tied to a busy work schedule. life’s good, and so is business.

i’ll go over major points of interest in the last 4 months or so, what’s working, what isn’t, and what you can take away and use for yourself.

Major Developments

new offerings (continuity programs are where it’s at)

wordpress maintenance, disaster recovery, and ongoing “everything” technical help are three new fully functional programs listed now on IT Arsenal. besides getting more and more familiar with building landing pages rapidly for these services, the continuity of an ongoing service is working out very well. using a paypal subscription, i’ve offered an “all you can eat” solution with some boundaries for technical help. those who have an established online business, meaning, it’s bringing in money, are finding it very valuable to offload their technical needs. it’s not a full on membership site where i add content, rather an all access pass for a monthly cost. more on how it’s implemented below.

although i like landing pages services like Unbounce, i’ve used my WordPress theme, Pagelines Platform Pro and stripped out everything but the top navigation and bottom logo, and used the regular WordPress page editor to create sales type pages.

service based offerings but streamlined with gravity forms

although the new offerings lean heavily toward a service orientation, meaning a person is required to deliver, with the help of gravity forms, and actually having a landing page for many more needs on my business website, a majority of interaction is now streamlined or automated.

i can’t tell you what a joy it is to field a question of interest with a link to a beautiful page, and a form that leads directly to checkout and captures all pertinent details, that not only stores the information in a database and e-mails me, but e-mails the user a custom checkout e-mail, and adds them to my newsletter. gravity forms is able to do that for my particular setup.

it’s always been a hurdle for me to make specific offerings for the multitude of requests and various names that “IT stuff” get’s called and categorized with, but gravity forms has helped me combat that greatly. i can more easily create a capture or salespage and put an already made form/buy button at the bottom of it. although i shouldn’t be stalled by this, and instead sell to the need, i feel more equipped to create the first funnel and just go now. the faster you can try things out the better. i continue learning over and over that to drive your business idea you should use as simple and quick means as possible to test if people will pay for it. go from there.

Gravity Forms

new graphics

the services page now greatly simplifies what’s offered via a snazzy iPad looking graphic with links that move the user down the page. i can actually use the page as a reference now, and i’ve received out the blue comments on how “easy” the site was to understand. user interface = so important. my online business colleague mars dorian helped with the graphic, i put together elements of it with Omnigraffle.

new referrals

likely my main source of business is referrals. i’m not exactly positive how, but i’m pretty sure i was a poster boy at a recent “Martha Beck” (women coaches) conference because i make sure to give nothing less but superb service to all clients. treat all users like your only users, always. make it easy for those you do business with to share who you are and you’ll see a natural outpouring of referrals, then it’s only a matter of turning that into sales.

i’m now a go to technical resource for adam baker and jonathan mead, high profile bloggers and online entrepreneurs.

new partnerships, co-launch or branding opportunities

previous clients that i’ve helped have noticed packages i offer as useful to their audiences and have asked to collaborate on something custom. nothing live yet, but these are open conversations. i’m finding it tricky to collaborate and be the driving force, but i want to be.

• ashley – the middle finger project – customized WordPress Trainer
• stella – crafting a message that makes your cash register sing – custom packages for boosting response or setting up a website
• stephen – my pocket band – “shortcuts for web entrepreneurs” mostly around what to do after you have an initial “ugly” site up

…and if i can figure out this i might be able enlist a lot more via an affiliate system not tied to a payment checkout system. WordPress Affiliate Platform Plugin – Simple Affiliate Program for WordPress Blog/Site

new 2012 business goals

• earn 32k
• $2000 in “passive” or front loaded income
• co-launch a product or service
• go to 6 events
• review 5 business books
• launch 2 services
• launch 2 products
• hit 1000 on my mailing list

…while holding a 9-5

volunteering

a meetup group called “tech volunteers” puts IT workers skills to good use, so far i’ve helped an organization called Depaul USA. i wish i wasn’t so busy when they end up having their live meetups!

Money

taxes

first year doing taxes married and with a sole proprietorship. we used HR block’s deluxe online package, and chose not to itemize everything to save time. i keep my usernames and passwords in a spreadsheet so the frustration was limited to a few hours and i felt confident everything went well.

credit card

legitimate business credit card uses abound, as tax laws on what can be a business expense are lenient. i opened a card to net 50k miles toward a planned trip to italy, and to more easily track business expenses throughout the year. the perks of a business card allow for some fun. the business opened up an aadvantage citicard visa and nabbed 50k miles using this trick (actually 150k with my wife’s cards) for free flights.

month average income right now – $2073

Side Projects

justanswer.com – i just can’t give it up!

buying old computers, cleaning them up and selling them

What’s Not Working

still preparing and not selling

i feel like my good friend regie, who seems to always be studying for a certification every time we talk about business, when i’m saying just go do it! … and yet here i do the same thing in my own way, always preparing an idea to sell, but never actually selling it, much less promoting it. i need to get in my head as soon as i’ve readied something to the point it sale, i need to have avenues to actually tell people about it, but that leads to my next problem.

overload
part of me is worried i’ll get too much business and not be able to handle it, but that’s super lame. i’m glad i’m writing it so i can see how lame that is.

still preparing, not writing (reports/reflection or newsletter)

i’ve come to learn reflection and reporting are so important. they don’t have to be public, but i just have been in survival mode and ignoring this.

too much service, not enough product

i’ve battled back and forth in the past 2 years to build solutions that are more autonomous, meaning self governed and run by themselves. IE. post up a self contained product and no other interaction is needed for purchase and delivery. some online entrepreneurs would argue this is the only way, but i am doing both, and as mentioned making sure if i build something that doesn’t scale, is streamlined as much as possible with systems. despite that, this year needs to show more results in stand alone solutions for a more passive income.

there’s so much more i could be doing

i’m holding fast to superior customer service and referrals, basically whoever walks “through my door” or my inbox is more like it and doing very little “seeker” work…blog posts, marketing campaigns to announce new things, constant social media posts now. although i should state i do post regularly but infrequently to facebook, twitter, linkedin, and i do make sure those that i work with, i write linkedin recommendations for or e-mail personal suggestions for their advancement.

a note I made to myself at the end of Feb

consistency, quality of work, referrals, and “being there” are working, interacting with media, pushing out content or asking for the sale, having/refreshing items on the shelf (instead of customized everything e-mail drudgery), are not working.

i’m relying on my past and need to dig in, stop taking new clients and focus on product dev, and then publishing about those new things in a way that increases my throughput and scalability.

the “does it work, will it sell” period is over, now iterate to be bigger. stop getting stuck in the cycle of  catching up instead of innovating.

Tactics that are Working (take these)

scheduled relationship/referral enhancers

i have a weekly calendar occasion to promote someone who has bought from me, touch base with someone in my niche, and answer questions on LinkedIn. this works wonders.

always go above and beyond, it’s your strength when you’re small

icon graphics for landing pages and visuals

a problem i’m always hearing about when actually putting together a website landing page, or a home or about page with some visuals is what to use for images without going to a graphic designer to craft something custom. i find it increasingly easy to search specifically for “icons” or “vectors” in a topic that i need to display, and arrange these in some logical order to my topic. designers give away icons packs much more readily than “stock” images. see the below example i use in my disaster recovery package.

landing page for everything, don’t give them 100 solutions per page, give them 1 on 100 pages

okay maybe not literally 100 pages but there are many ways to sell your product or offering. add “for entrepreneurs” or “for stay at home moms” and you are selling to two different crowds even though the offer is exactly the same. create many different “nets” to catch your audiences and explore them. i’ve been building more and more super specific pages with the same checkout options instead of a more general tech support blanket. it just plain sells better.

thinking about choice while making an offer

sheena lyengar does a TED talk about “choice” that will help you immensely if you’re overwhelmed with options or don’t know where to start when offering something to an audience.

Sheena Iyengar on the art of choosing 

Resources/Tools that are Working (use these)

i’ve mentioned several above, here they are listed again with a few others

• Quora – asking questions you can’t seem to get answered anywhere else
• Gravity Forms (with addons) – excellent wordpress forms with addons for newsletter and payment gateway integration. has a learning curve.
• Asana – task management web application
• Hype – html5 drag and drop builder. i’ve used this to create mini web applications for decision tree like visuals. click here to see what i made.
• H&R Block Deluxe taxes

Realizations

• the speed of business when it comes to service is much slower than products, waiting for responses drags everything out
• business i just part my life now, and i get out what i put in
• it’s not just me who struggles with doing work for current project vs. putting something on a website, selling and innovating

“Freedoms”

i’m not “financially free” yet, but excess income and plenty of perks are the result so far in combining lifestyle design and online business, and it get’s better and better if the last few years are indicators, here are recent freedoms.

• services and software paid for by business income
• a trip to italy later this year, paid for by business income
• paying off wife’s law school loans that much faster
• negotiating power in my career
• access to various training programs and groups for free

i end up saving most of the additional income for later, but it’s fun to think i could lease a sports car or get a massage every week or simply go to chipotle everyday if i wanted to. since i’d like the monthly income to eliminate all my expenses eventually, i keep working on that, and i also generally enjoy being cheap.

although, now that i think about it, i might start getting a massage every week, that sounds pretty good.

Reflection

ironically, although immersed with technology to fuel the business, my interactions are more traditional, based off existing relationships, referrals, and those who stumble on me. this is likely because i’m committed to spending limited time slowly building IT Arsenal when i can. this isn’t to say i shouldn’t be efficiently and quickly launching a marketing campaign, or regularly writing updates and posts for search traffic or shareable/sticky funnel content, or paying for advertising…because i should…i’m just not right now.

despite familiarity with the tech; webinars, daily blogging, and the slow drip launch to a limited space/limited time offer haven’t been appealing to me at this point. small series of test and sell, refer and sell, and e-mailing links are just fine, but i don’t think they will continue to be for much longer.

i suspect my aversion has something to do with not wanting to create hype, the multiple time sensitive communication blasts and coordinated actions that need to happen (and my limited time with a job), and the constant sense i need to get over that my core offerings aren’t ready. they are so close, closest they have ever been.

i curse myself for not being able to pick one problem, like “Hosting Migrations” and just do that and only that. painfully, and it serves me right, i’m learning to do that backwards, by creating a business with multiple services (then fighting to display them) and then working backwards until i end up with a big salespage that offers only one thing and marketing material or pitches for only that. as i learned from Jason Cohen http://blog.asmartbear.com/ , one way to get over this hump is to create multiple landing pages until what people actually want or what you should be focusing on is apparent. i seem to be on that path, and that’s working for me.

i’m in a space where i know exactly what i offer, and what i don’t, and where it all belongs or should belong in the shop. now completing and tweaking the items on the shelves will start to come into more focus, and not live in the outskirts of day to day work.

i’m right in the middle of those two places, and it’s fun. i have to balance giving my all to current and new users who are buying from me or being referred to me…and the internal building and testing…which can only happen after i finish with those awesome clients, break free from the 9-5 drudge, make an effort toward my fitness goals, and make sure i’m being an awesome husband!…but that’s life, and so far, those are all still deemed very worthwhile!

keep on keeping on

i made a template and basic instructions based off a free appsumo.com video (wish they would bring those back) and notes on a call i had with stella, a copywriter friend. see below, take and use.

AIDA Enhanced

have something to announce or sell, without that, your message is already bad
don’t overthink this. it could be about a product, an affiliate product, a new post on your blog, a new discovery your audience might find useful

list 10 attributes of the audience
make up a person “bob” who has all these attributes

speak personal, use I’s and you’s and common speak (know your audience)

use simple visual formatting (limit distraction, pictures, colors, etc.)

write within a 540 pixels wide box so you can see how it will look in most viewers

use arial 12 or a basic font – try georgia 12

use this writing structure (AIDA – described below)
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action (1 action, not many)

template

copy paste when writing

<—
possible subject line 1
possible subject line 2
possible subject line 3
possible subject line 4

Attention

Interest

Desire

Action
—>

Attention
headlines and subject lines – how to make good ones?

• trick 1 -  list things that if you overheard it would turn your heard and go WHAT?
• trick 2 – go to digg.com type in your topic, thing your selling or promoting. order the list by most dugg and use those headlines and swap in your topic or change things

Interest (if you sell a cheaper product, use short copy, expensive, longer copy)
educate, give something critical or valuable

• if it’s valuable you can write a lot
• interesting facts
• story about the product or offer
• i’ll tell you a secret…

Desire
“benefits” of what you are promoting

• more sales
• more reliable website
• bigger muscles, more hits

Action

• we’re running a promotion…
• get your’s now by clicking
• check it out now here at this link
• see the deal here.

make this bigger font, bold, different color

PS. make a claim here, like. after i used this bla bla bla or a guarantee…or, one of my users, jane, has this, and here’s her site…

bonus, how do you hire someone to do this?

make sure they understand the customer, test them on it.

…want to add more “flash” and “pizazz”… don’t!… or do only if it appeals to your audience. you are not your audience.

now if you want some help actually figuring how to put your crafted message into a newsletter service like aWeber, Mailchimp, or InfusionSoft, that’s more of a job for a business out to help you understand and use technology.

I’m a tool hoarder. I’m an app junkie….I can’t help myself when a new website, app, or service springs up promising me untold productivity, informational, or business riches. I sign up, I bookmark, and I try to make the best use of them as I can. I’ve found some great ones lately, but haven’t shared them with you, until now.

Some tools you just can’t live without, it’s not necessarily because they are the all around best, (sometimes it is) but often times it’s because they fit your workflow, your clients needs, or your specific needs.

I’m laying out some recent and awesome finds below, along with a one or two-liner on what I use or have used them for.

They fall into the categories of productivity, time management, life automation, information mining and expanding your capabilities. Most are online service applications, some are desktop download and install applications.

I truly hope you find some gems below, special thanks to Noah Kagan’s @appsumo for shedding so much light in this area, your service (and newsletter) is a gold mine.

• InboundWriter – live updating SEO analyzing of your writing. i think this will get huge, especially if you do a lot optimizing for keywords
• Gist – link up your networks, it pulls your contacts then scours the web for info on them. great datamining tool, and contact sync tool.
• 750 Words – a no rules, empty your mind by writing website. i’m finding it really really helpful. i’ve never been able to “journal” but this just go and type website has something to it that has me sticking to it.
• Evernote – ok so i’ve shared this before, it’s so great though, how are you not using it?
• Sparrow – switched from Apple Mail to Sparrow since my e-mail is Google Apps/iCloud based, i haven’t looked back. it’s faster, a smoother, and searches better.
• Focusbar – tiny Mac application that pleasantly annoys you with something you’ve told it you want to focus on. it’s actually bringing me back to my goals until i accomplish them when i sit down to do something that needs a chunk of time.
• Google Docs Spreadsheet Forms – use this for information capture everywhere.
• Buffer – find yourself spamming your twitter account then not using it for a while? use buffer to pace out your tweets really easily, more easily that Hootsuite
• ifttt – this is a powerful automation tool. it’s like if you had access to every website services API (the stuff they use to talk to other things) and can do basic functions with them. the website name stands for if this then that and it’s all about tasks and triggers. it’s saving me time.
• Hello Bar – easy call to action implementation, just reminded me i need to put this back on itarsenal.com
• Ge.tt – super low friction, no account needed, unlimited space boo they  moved to a pay model with only 2GB free file sharing. Use dropbox instead.
• ManageWP – i don’t want to tell anyone about this so i’ll be cryptic. if you manage more than one WP install, you don’t want to click this.
• ScheduleOnce – easy google calendar integration appointment scheduling. see in action here – http://itarsenal.com/scheduler/
• Join.Me – web-based, free, screen sharing. alternative – teamviewer.com
• LinkedIn Answers – a new forum for showcasing your expertise, and getting referrals, or new users from it.
• Facebook Groups – i created a group for feedback and invited a bunch of people, the involvement was rapid and bigger than i expected. try it for data mining.
• App Sumo – treasure trove of time sensitive deep discount deals for business oriented training and software
• Newsmap – i don’t keep up with news very well, this literally makes a size map of all the news going on. things with more articles on the entire web show as bigger, meaning it’s easy to see what’s happening very very quickly. tip: you can easily narrow it down to juse US, or just Tech, etc.

Cheers!

I finally had a minute to sit down and read the latest e-mail i received from the m6 method guys and what they are producing. i mean this in the nicest way, these guys are retarded.

i can’t believe the quality of the information they release, or how they are able to hit the nail on the head so well with their information. i read it, and seriously said, “wow, these guys are retarded”…while that is probably the most uneducated, improper, un-intelligent usage of the term…i never the less said it, out-loud, to which my fiance then asked “what?” and i then looked literally retarded as i explained.

i’ve been working on a post to explain all about their main product (m6 method), and actually go out and chill with these guys as they live near my home town, a few miles outside philadelphia. they are the real deal. while i still plan to do that, after reading this latest e-mail, i had to get something out there.

i’m not going to screw with you, below is almost a verbatim suggested e-mail swipe letter they sent out. it’s so good, i really have no reason to touch it. (take some notes, it’s well written)

their latest offering is over the should style video’s that show you how to create a digital product the RIGHT way. the first one focuses on taking expertise and turning it into product.

i know personally this is a lot of you, and it’s also myself right now. we all look inward at first when developing our first few products, what are we good at?, what can we explain and package up?, these videos breakdown how to take that and package it up well enough to sell it.

no more words from me, check it out.

Subject:

How to transform your expertise into a profitable product

Body:

Hey,

I’m going to share a link with today because frankly, you’re about
to see something I’d have killed for when I started online. (no joke)

My friends David & Derek over at M6 Method have started filming
over-the-shoulder style videos on creating online ‘information
products’. They call it ‘M6 Sessions’. (I can actually say this literally as I’ve hung out with David on more than one occasion, one time at aWeber’s headquarters for chris guillebeau’s book tour)

See Here for the Sessions.

In M6 Sessions David & Derek explain, all the things you should
be doing to create a product – the right way.

It’s like “reality TV” for product creation – except this will make
you smarter, not dumber, for watching it.

Learning “over the shoulder” style is one of the fastest, smartest
ways to replicate what works, and grasp ‘why’.

They’re giving you a way to watch and model their process (the m6 method, which i’ve mentioned a bunch and use myself), using real-world examples from inside their publishing company.

• The first session is titled: “Transforming Expertise Into Products”.
• This is going to help any of you who have specialized knowledge, dying to create your own information product around it.
• For those without valuable expertise, you’ll learn how you can work/partner with  an expert to create a product.

You can “publish” an expert. If you’re the expert, you’re just
“publishing yourself”. It’s the same process.

Registration is open for just a few days so go enroll for the first
one if you want to check it out:

See Here for the Sessions.

—

If nothing else, use the above as a good template for how to write a solid marketing e-mail.

Resources Mentioned: Matt Garland, Chris Guillebeau , Ramit Sethi, M6 Method, Blogcast FM

Today’s post is on the wisdom of others in the area’s of time management, monetizing your website, traffic, getting started, and being better. I’m passing on the gems I’ve found from the last week of reading, conversation, and online business building. These things stand out for effectiveness. Business updates very soon, lot’s to explain.

Time Management Boost

Want an effective time management tool?

Create a “Stop Doing Now” list, print it out and pin it up. Much more effecting than a todo list. Here’s mine.

• not getting 7 hours of sleep
• leaving e-mail open, just cause i can
• working on things that don’t impact sales or deliverables (for IT Arsenal)
• ignoring the necessity to just sit still and reflect on a regular basis
• having more than 3 windows/tabs open
• slouching (literally), it kills your back
• thinking too much, and acting too little
• being unexcited about everything

credit: Chris Guillebeau

Getting Started

• If blogging, try selling just a course, or ebook first to keep your mind focused on business output (Ramit Sethi)
• Be different, how? Voice, style, model. What’s your thing? (Ramit Sethi)
• Try to offer someone something in every interaction, the smallest thing to offer, something you wrote on topic, or a related link to help (Ramit Sethi)
• Start a newsletter right away, no questions asked. Even if you don’t have content for months down the line. Offer a specific download or promise (Ramit Sethi)
• Be genuine with people, but strategic (Matt Garland)
• Build alliances with people (Matt Garland)
• Don’t compare yourself, there’s no point (Matt Garland)
• Develop a backlog of content so pieces have continuity (Matt Garland)

Generating Traffic

• Tell the right people about your product and site, NOT everyone (Ramit Sethi)
• Early on, spend a majority of your time connecting, thats it (Ramit Sethi)
• People like series, or timed content (Ramit Sethi)
• Be aware of your content, don’t train audience not to buy. (IE, start a website on being frugal) (Ramit Sethi)

Monetization

• Consult first, then create a course of product (Matt Garland)
• Trigger: It’s time to create something if people are e-mailing you asking for more (Ramit Sethi)
• Tactic: “Don’t buy if….” for sales (Ramit Sethi)
• Price is more than price, it infers expectations. If you’re cheap, people think you’re product is cheap, and not in a good way (Ramit Sethi)
• Fill a need as low on Maslow’s Hierarchy as you can, base needs, social needs, psycholical (M6 Method)
• Passive income is fake, front loaded work hard and have it pay off repeatedly is the reality (Ramit Sethi)

Online business updates are coming soon. A lot of good changes have happened, including altering my model to finally address one very specific need (at a time), receiving three sales before anything was even publicly announced, and finally feeling the business presence that was missing. What changed, actions I’m taking now, and how it happened in the next report. Yeeha.

I’m interested, if you took a quick inventory now, what would be on your “Stop Doing Now” list?

Today’s post will analyze the psychology of why e-mails with all the right information get ignored, deleted, and un-answered and offer tips on how to avoid having this happen when e-mailing those A-listers who can help make your online efforts a success. Hint: It’s not just because they’re too long.

Why You Get Ignored

I’ve always been an incredibly detailed person. If you’ve read any other posts here, you know that. In technology, and most other areas of my life this seems to be an advantage, yet in my experience with CEO’s, business owners, and upper management, I have continually noticed that the less specific, less detailed, spelling error filled, bullet point style is not only how they respond, but how they prefer information.

Knowing this, and acting accordingly will grow your business.

I however ignored this, or explained it away for a long time, even discrediting how someone could get as far as they have with such horrible incomplete, un-specific, no-context, misspelled information. I may have known it, but I certainly didn’t act accordingly. The regular e-mails I exchange with successful company partners are 2 lines at most. Having an intimate look at several people’s e-mail, and their 500+ e-mail inbox, people don’t read past the first few lines. Yet, how this effects me never really sunk in.

I can’t ignore it any longer.

I’ve been ousted on Ramit Sethi’s blog in an e-mail I wrote to him years ago, and most recently in an e-mail conversation with Noah Kagan, (previously of Mint.com and Facebook, currently behind AppSumo.com). I was blatently confronted for a 2 page e-mail I wrote explaining all the details of where I’m at, and plans to improve, seeking guidance (he offered to help). I thought it was eloquent, specific and drew the whole picture. His response? Use less words, I can’t respond if you write like that.

For the first time it hit me square in the head, no one will ever e-mail me back anything useful if I give them a “64oz super size cup of me”, most especially in a first contact e-mail. But there’s more to it than that…everyone knows to keep e-mail short…

The Psychology

I wanted to know why it has to be like this, is every “important” person really so incredibly busy that they can’t put effort into an e-mail? How can I deal with technology, a very detailed oriented topic and move forward? I started to pick apart some of the people in leadership positions, either owning a business, or several businesses, or leading presentations, or in general making something happen…a certain personality type and set of characteristics presented themselves.

In the Myers Briggs personality breakdown it looked a lot like ENTJ, and because of my background with Insights, I know these to be very “Red Yellow”, but what does that mean?

I won’t bore you with the long details, you can look them up, but it basically means these people have an innate (or learned) preference to get to the point, then move on, and to be included when something is happening. They have an innate (or learned) disregard about the details, or emotional elements when they aren’t a necessity for action. Even if they are, they just want the gist from someone they trust. This makes for a great visionary, and provides action oriented behavior.

*The different “preferences” all have strengths and weaknesses but that’s not the point here.

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure HOW they get things done or to their status sometimes, as my preference leads me down all the details to which they ignore, but the fact remains, the heads of companies operate in this manner. There are of course exceptions, but this seems to be the standard. They find others to be detailed or hold morale, or move past it however possible. The key fact is that they are able to create action consistently.

I’ve experienced this closely at my 9-5 where I not only work with the founders and several high powered consultants, but during our large conventions working with panel speakers and leaders from some of the worlds top companies. Even more closely I’ve noticed this in the A-listers I’ve had the privilege to exchange e-mails with over the last year or so of online business exploration.

E-mail

This preference bleeds over into e-mail. It’s not that they can’t spell (although they’ll notice it if someone else can’t) or have very little attention span. They simply identify these things as unnecessary, more information is seen as useless or not action oriented and so they move on.

This is hard for me to swallow. I operate out of a systems oriented, the more details the smoother the whole operation will go, mindset. Always create as much context as possible, everywhere. Almost all the tech I work with requires high details. I’m baffled how people in certain positions operate in life when they don’t know how anything works.

Guess what, it’s not essential to be successful or happy, it may help, or it may even hurt, but it’s not essential. It takes more than just reading that to really understand it if you struggle with it like me.

I’ll admit, I get so enamored with the process, that sometimes by the end, the goal I wanted to accomplish has changed, and I have to start all over. What can I do?

Learning a New Preference

I will forever be detailed, it’s in my nature. I’ll be able to create context and cover all the tiny what if’s and’s or but’s. It’s my preference, but it doesn’t mean in any way, shape, or form that it’s the only way I can operate. Our characteristics can be molded, and adapted, our minds are quite capable of this. We need to master several ways of “being” to get where we want to be.

In order to get noticed, communicate and act with certain individuals (reaping their networking benefits and wisdom), you’re going to have to learn to cut out all the details, get to the point, still offer value, and leave it at that. If people want more details, they’ll ask for it. Salespages work similar to this. All people won’t be like this, you won’t write a pen pal like this, but for business and networking your way up it’s essential.

Hopefully hearing some of the psychology behind it, you’ll be able to shape your communication effectively, I know I’ve finally seen some light. I consider it a skill to master in interaction now. Here are some thoughts to help.

• Consider who you’re e-mailing before you start typing
• Use bullet points
• Try a service like Five Sentences which gives you a preset window with only 5 lines
• Attach “extra” details to a document, they can ignore it if they want. Leave essential information out
• Make it a game, how valuable can you make your words?
• Cut your e-mail into sections, a “short version” and “long version”

Do you identify with this? Or are you one of those 3 liner types? Did you have to adapt? Can you add any other tips?

photo credit: Robert S. Donovan

Today, I’d like to share the story of a website called BlogcastFM, but really a story about relationship fueling an invaluable resource for your personal and business growth from a friend named Srinivas (and his partner Sid). A resource so useful, it makes your business books and Amazon book wishlist a whole lot less important.

The Short Story

Srini and I met when he asked me for an interview probably around 200 or so days ago, before he had even launched his website BlogcastFM. We talked on building a 4 hour work week type lifestyle and some automation tactics I was playing with at the time. We’ve brainstormed here and there and stayed in touch ever since.

I’ve been reading a book called the The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, based on powerful business concepts around you guessed it, giving. As I was jotting down notes one day, going through the mental grind of trying to re-fresh my own online business efforts, a topic you know all too well, I frequently caught Srinivas online to reflect on business, and enjoying life.

BlogcastFM, an interview podcast website started in February 2010 as a byproduct of a weekly series on his personal blog called Interviews with up and Coming Bloggers. Midway through the interview series one of the bloggers he interviewed, Sid Savara, emailed Srini about starting a site where all we did was interview bloggers and have them share what has made them successful.

The concept was born from relationship and giving and they’ve captured amazing free content, a venerable treasure trove of information for your personal and business lifestyle.

I last talked to Srini about a recent speech he gave at Pepperdine University to MBA students, I noticed it wasn’t a paid talk, he was doing this to give back, to give. As we talked about a recent survey I launched, he offered to jump on Skype and talk through some suggestions. Wow, who has offered to do that with you lately?

The months carried on, I finished the book and Srini and BlogcastFM made a big announcement about their podcast website and a higher level service they’re rolling out called BlogcastFM Premium. I immediately thought, how can I help, how can I see more of this, and without mentioning a thing, Sid and Srini reached out and offered me a preview of what they are trying to do.

As honored as I was, I again saw giving exemplified in their business model, and it reflects in how successful they’re becoming, the valuable relationships they’ve developed and the quality production they’ve put on. I was reminded specifically how they’re using the 5 laws of stratospheric success from the Go Giver book.

So as I go on to recommend, no -strongly urge- learning more about their audio interviews with award winning entrepreneurs, renowned lifestyle designers, authors and bloggers, complete with action workflows for you to apply the content, I want to recognize these 5 laws of stratospheric success (or 5 laws of success) in their work.

The Law of Value

• Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.

The Law of Compensation

• Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

The Law of Influence

• Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.

The Law of Authenticity

• The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.

The Law of Receptivity

• The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

It’s because I see these laws in their actions that I stand behind gushing praise on them. We all know there are countless audio programs, podcasts, and multi-media content websites online. I myself struggle to listen to audio as it demands more attention then text but BlogcastFM stands out because it bleeds pure value, and it’s built on relationship.

The Incredible Resource

There’s no better way you can spend your website development (or productivity and life for that matter) time than listening the interviews Srini has recorded at BlogcastFM and the premium content with action oriented documents. They’ve yanked out the best, most actionable content from their huge library of interviews and placed it in your hands for you to use.

I wish I had this 500+ days ago. It is quite literally like having coaching from several experts a month that would cost hundreds of dollars per session if you went directly to their websites and asked for service.

See the value (and success) in their giving mindset, find them on twitter, they’ll respond instantly and check out their site to take your site to the next level.

CLICK TO VIEW

Feel free to ask me any questions about these guys or my favorite interviews, if you already listen, what are yours?

UPDATE: Srini has released one of their premium interviews for free, if you want a taste of the quality they bring, and the mindmaps…check it out here.

Today’s post is one part valuable inspiration data and one part un-cut real life commentary. It’s a little more on the raw side compared to my usual dissections but no less effective. I have for you a mix of survey data on inspiration and a real life e-mail which captures the exact mindset of moving forward in rejecting the status quo, loving life, and building freedom income.

Insightful Inspiration

I sent out a 2 question survey last month sometime asking respondents to name their biggest lifestyle design inspiration resources. I posted the survey to all, and the likes of Corbett Bar, Adam Baker, Chris Guillebeau, Carl Nelson, Colin Wright, and several of you responded! The results were valuable and insightful. Whatever you want to call “lifestyle design” …these answers tell me it’s not a fad, it’s just more easily capitalized on today. The answers you can see below are inspired by various events in life, history, backgrounds, and a solid measure of shared genius authorship. Check it out here, and if you’d like to add your own, (I’d appreciate it!) please do.

See Results | Launch Survey

Real Life

I had a reader who’s become a friend ask me, how’s the project going? I, as I sometimes do, shot into a completely unedited bevy of details on exactly how life is going with this…re-engineering, this “intelligent living”…this…life designing. After I hit send, I re-read it and knew it needed to be captured. Here’s my response, which I hope offers you both something to relate to, insight to use in your own experience, and a way to connect….you can in fact both live life and conquer it at the same time! …press on weary soldiers!

Things are busy!!

I was spread a little thin for a while but life’s always a balance. I’m plowing along at IT Arsenal, truly enjoying helping people with their IT problems and turning each case into a situation to gain fans, publicize the fix, and grow from it. I’m customizing the e-mails and experience of a “customer” right now…trying to see how to grow an audience and looking forward to reporting on that. My first product which I think is pretty sure to do dismally, a few sales perhaps, will be a great trial run for creating something for others to consume. I’ve learned so much already. I see now, in order to make good headway, it takes a good 3 hour chunk to get my brain into creating a product and then adding to it. This is valuable to know for others looking to create something on a moonlight schedule. I don’t envy writers. It still needs plenty of work, I have an outline and I have a visual mind map of the starting stages of how to identify what program you need to use…I’m trying to free chunks of time during the week to continue working on that…WHILE the suns gleaming at me to train for an upcoming triathlon and remembering to sleep 7-8 hours a night.

I’ve had trouble remembering that if I’m not well rested, it all crumbles apart. It’s that piece of simple living that’s easily ignored, but disastrous. Going from work, to something fitness oriented, to “freedom” work (not to mention some sort of “unwinding” action like a good drink, a book, video game, conversation, movie, ect. every so seldom, and only a taste as to not trip into the addiction so many of them are marketed to be)…is tough…but knowing that i’m working against the brain numbing cycle of corporate america fat couch zombie living makes it worth it….I swear if you don’t know how to live intelligently, just managing a typical semi-collegeish aged lifestyle (18-30) will put you into the ground today. So many things to blame but i wont.

I don’t wonder why everyone wants to drink the weekend away, lives for friday and then like a computer program re-enters the machine each monday to blindly eat whatever media, corporate e-mail, and cultural crap is put in front of them. It’s a crystal clear picture in my head why society is the way it is sometimes, and why free thinkers or people struggling against the status quo feel so liberated, and yet have a dynamically (varied and changing) tough road ahead of them. The tricky part is, you can’t really tell who is a robot of the machine, or looking to get out, or half way there, or who tripped and fell bass ackward out. At times the way out looks similiar to what others are doing, in appearance at least, but no one can read their freedom oriented mind, or well…just their mind. Sure they own a Macbook Pro and it may seem so trendy, but are they pouring their passion into it, being authentic with it, using it as a tool…or are they….well being trendy with it? More examples abound, are they building something, or are they marking crap? affiliating for nothing but quick benefits? ect. ect….

I’m slowing down the amount of lifestyle design content (RSS feeds from my resource list) that I’m consuming and the 3-10 hours a week I was spending writing articles. I need to focus more on the freedom business (since discovering lifestyle design) in order for me to have something of value to report back at the project. Thats the point of the project anyway and I’m not skimping out despite my brain taunting me to quit. That means my info graphics and timeline right now are on hold or slowly being built. I’m not one to NOT finish things so i’ll come back to them in due time. They are properly archived in active project folders on my computer and mirrored online, if you’d like to join me in launching one, lets do it up, my website is your website.

Lastly in the project realm I’m still heavily connecting with people, I keep myself open to reader comments and carried over conversations like these with you, and they rock. They are worth everything. I’m in heavy talks to collaborate with David Walsh (Source Control) in designing a membership site for process flows, harping on VA services and IT related tasks at first, but using a great model to grow big, we’ll see what happens.. Collectively we have enough reach and popularity right now that it might turn into something that could really catalyze me leaving work with enough clout (ie, income, contacts, momentum, fresh ideas, inspiration) to move forward with more products, solutions and traffic at IT Arsenal to live off the flow of acting on the potential ideas…true freedom living. Whew, that sentence is going to have a hard time making sense.

I love the sun shining, when I get good sleep, and batching the minutia out of life. I have time to enjoy my passions, connect with others, build out this side business, growing freedom thing in my life…and even make my 9-5 bearable.

Thanks for reading!

What do you think, how’s your “project” going? Leave a comment.

P.S. If you’d like to get automatic updates of new material here on The Life Design Project, you can simply subscribe to the RSS feed!

I know I know, a big massive list….”great” your thinking. I’ll cut the crap, I promise you’ll find value here. The list below is just about every resource I’ve tapped since starting this lifestyle design journey roughly 270 days ago.

Before you start scrolling, understand the context of this list. It’s been deconstructed from my bookmarks which I use for ruthlessly for productive workflow. It consists heavily of shortcuts, tools, inspirational resources, and research.

You can think of this as a peak into my brain. I manage my life, create fans, learn, sell products and connect with stunning people through this list. Use these resources to grow, learn, organize, connect and become a more fierce online force!

NOTE: I’ve greyed out common resources so experienced users can quickly pass over them. If you’d rather see these all via Delicious, see my user account here.

Page Jump Links

Core All Around Online Functions ↓

Tools & Development (Freedom Business, Blog, Productivity, Self) ↓

The New Marketing ↓

Market and Niche Research – Know Your Niche ↓

Niche (forums/groups/meetups) – Get Involved in your Niche ↓

SEO Research ↓

Reading ↓

Tutorials and Mental Training ↓

Outsourcing ↓

Legal ↓

Idea Specific ↓

Life Design Project Development (similar to above, just specific) ↓

People to contact, leverage and love ↓

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

Core “All Around” Online Functions

• Gmail – E-mail
• Gdocs – Online documents and publishing
• MediaWiki – Stand alone publishing platform – (possible alternative to Google Docs)
• Gvoice – Easy online text messaging (avoid using your phone at your desk), dyanmic voicemail
• Greader – Absorb RSS feeds easily
• Feedly – Greader alternative (not as fast to take in content)
• Gcal – Calendar (core productivity tool, I prefer iCal)
• Mobileme – Online suite from Apple, I use for file sync and screensharing. Several other tools can be strung together to accomplish the same end.
• Fbook – Obvious
• Fbook – fan pages – Use for online promotion
• Twitter – Use for promotion, networking
• Mint – Superior financial organizing tool
• Ebay – Use to gauge market, test products, and sell what’s in your basement
• Iusethis – Website to find and manage the software on my computer (It’s a big database of applications and how popular they are)
• Craigslist – All around selling, communication, marketing tool
• Heycraig – Auto searches for Craigslist
• Gwave – Collaboration tool (I’m not 100% sold on it)
• Evernote Web – The best “catch all” for your brain.

Tools & Development (Freedom Business, Blog, Productivity, Self)

Common

• ITA – Shortcut to IT Arsenal
• ITA admin – Shortcut to IT Arsenal’s WordPress Admin Panel
• ITA dev – Shorcut to formatted, online, text based task document
• Feedburner – Use for Blog Subscription Metrics, Monetization, Ect.
• Su.pr – Short Links, Use to combine a link shortener with metrics and StumbleUpon sharing integration
• Billingboss – Invoicing tool for the ocassional project/hourly client. Free.
• Google Adsense – Use to earn $ for high traffic blogs
• Google Adwords – Use for paid traffic
• Google Analytics – Use for website analytics
• Google Apps Standard – Sign up page for Google Apps, a must have to manage a freedom business’s E-mail/Calendar (the alternative is to use personal Google accounts, but they lack professional flair, and when configured properly, you can use Google Apps to create multiple e-mails and have them route where needed easily)
• Godaddy Control – Domain/Hosting Provider for websites (Easy to set up WordPress and connect domains to Google Apps)
• BuySellAds.com – Online Advertising, Use as alternative to Adsense
• RescueTime – Use for tracking where you spend your time
• WeFollow – Twitter Directory and Search, Find Twitter Followers
• E-junkie – Cheap Digital Product Host and Shopping Cart – Use for digital (or physical) product distribution
• E.gg Timer – Use for batch work timing
• Google Moderator – Use for audience interaction. Audience submits questions or votes on them.
• Fundable – Group Funding, Use for VC, project specific funding. Great concept, money is refunded if goal not met.
• SimplyNoise – Use for when your not in the best work environment. The best free white noise generator on the Internet.
• Charity: Water – Phenominal charity, great business model, give back!
• Invisible Children – Charity with a solvable cause
• Aviary Pheonix Online Image Creation – Use as Photoshop Alternative
• Slinkset – Stand alone audience response engine. Share to users, vote. Alternative to Google Moderator
• UserVoice – Geared more for small business, Use for easy stand alone website extension for polling users for business suggestions
• Brandstack – Use to buy a logo, or find inspiration for your own
• Google Website Optimizer – Use for website testing (moderate learning curve to understand impact)
• Royalty Free Instrumentals – Use for a video intro clip to increase professionalism
• Dummy Text Generator
• Adobe® BrowserLab – Use to test your website/product in multiple browsers online for free
• PostRank™ Analytics – NOT TESTED – Use for analytics attempting to rank your social impact
• Mail Chimp – Use for E-mail Marketing
• Apture.com – Use to enhance blog, retain readers when you have a lot of links because links don’t leave page. (Also notice the floating bar above, that’s them too)
• Wordmap – Sitemap Generator with built in keyword sharing to large network – Use to generate sitemap and increase traffic
• ClickHeat – Use to install free, easy to view click map over your website to see where users click
• Mindmeister – Online Mindmapping tool
• Issuu – PDF embedding/publishing – Use for free ebook publishing/hosting (wordpress friendly)
• Web Resizer – Use for optimizing photos on the web (I use Adobe Fireworks on the computer)
• Techcofounder – Meet Technical Cofounders for your Startup – Use to find coders for your software idea
• Scribe: SEO – NOT TESTED – Subscription cost based WordPress Plugin – Use for a live “score” on how SEO friendly your page/post content
• StumbleUpon Advertising – Use for paid traffic
• Google TV Ads – Use for cheap TV advertising
• Grasshopper Virtual PBX – Tollfree/Voicemail – Use for virtual phone network
• Amazon Business Solutions – Use to sell on Amazon

The New Marketing

Bookmarklets for the social services I commonly use.

• -> su.pr! (twit)
• -> facebook
• -> stumbleupon↑
• -> delicious
• -> digg
• -> ping this!
• Ping.fm – Use to blast out links and updates to several social networks (I find su.pr is adequate to begin with, for me)
• TubeMogul.com – Like Ping.fm but for video – Use for blasting out video to social video sites and track

Market and Niche Research – Know Your Niche

• Twitter Trends
• StumbleUpon
• Delicious
• eBay Pulse: Trending Searches, Use for dropship, re-sale, product idea fuel
• Yahoo! Answers – Popular Questions, Use for Niche Questioning, Trending Needs
• eBay Popular- Trending Products on eBay to read upcoming products
• Google News – Most Popular
• About Ask.com: IQ – Popular Questions and Searches
• Yahoo! Buzz
• Digg – All News, Videos, & Images
• Google Trends
• Reddit.com: what’s new online!
• Thirty Day Challenge – Group of guys that take you through a slow Niche development process
• GTrends Tool From Wordtracker – Mashes Wordtracker and Google trends, Use for keyword research
• Commission Junction – Affiliate Marketing Database, Use for seeing who is using your niche the best for product affiliation
• How I Do Niche Research – Keyword Research Strategy Video
• Monitter – Real Time Twitter Monitor – Use for keyword/niche research
• Ask500 – Superb polling tool

Niche (forums/groups/meetups) – Get Involved in your Niche

These are all specific to a particular niche, but you can get the picture of how I’ll dig into the tech support realm and find users/fans by examining these.

• Mac Forums – Mac News and Rumor Discussion
• Mac OS X Hints – A community-built collection of OS X hints
• MacFixIt – CNET Review
• Philly Startup Leaders » Starter Stories
• TrendCamp Philly – Eventbrite
• Barcamp Philly | November 14, 2009 @ The University of the Arts | Philadelphia, PA
• Macworld Forums
• PPUG Meets: 21 November 2009
• MacBUS – Macintosh Users Society of Philadelphia
• Apple – Support – Discussions – Forum Home
• Apple, Mac, iPod and iPhone News, Reviews, Help and Tips | Macworld
• Meetup.com – Account

SEO Research

Use to gather information and prompt task capture

• Searchmetrics Rapid – Use for automatic site SEO evaluation (good, but don’t put much stock in it)
• Website Grader – Use for automatic site SEO evaluation (best I’ve found)
• Majestic-SEO : Backlink Intelligence, Use for finding competator backlinks
• Site Explorer – Backlink Explorer, Use for SEO, to find what sites link to your competators
• Google Keyword Tool
• Seo Book Keyword Suggestion Tool
• Google Keyword Tool Box

Reading

Books and eBooks, these are best of show

• Make Your Words Sell!
• Amazon.com: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (9780307353139): Timothy Ferriss: Books
• Amazon.com: How to Win Friends & Influence People (9780671027032): Dale Carnegie: Books
• Amazon.com: Breakthrough Rapid Reading (9780735200197): Peter Kump: Books
• Amazon.com: The Richest Man in Babylon (9780451205360): George S. Clason: Books
• Amazon.com: Rich Dad, Poor Dad (9780751532715): Robert T. Kiyosaki: Books
• Get Leo Babauta’s FREE Report and Podcasts!
• Amazon.com: Letters from a Stoic
• Amazon.com: Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less
• Sourcecontrol: An outsourcing framework for the dangerously ambitious.
• Getting Real: The Book by 37signals
• Amazon.com: Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion (9780061914171): Gary Vaynerchuk: Books
• The Personal MBA Manifesto – The Personal MBA ™
• Amazon.com: Robert Granholm: Wish List
• Amazon.com: Google AdWords For Dummies
• Amazon.com: Start Over, Finish Rich: 10 Steps to Get You Back on Track in 2010
• PROJECT M-31: Simplifying Your Life in 31 Days | MinimalistPath
• eBooks The Smart Way, by Pat Flynn | The Smart Passive Income Blog
• Change This – The Bootstrapper’s Bible
• Saving the Day, the Virtual Way
• Amazon.com: Google AdWords For Dummies
• Recession-Proof Graduate
• The Art of Non-Conformity » 279 Days to Overnight Success
• The Zero Hour Workweek | Illuminated Mind

Tutorials and Mental Training

• Daily Things to Do as Entrepreneur
• 10 Steps to Starting a Small Business | Under30CEO
• SEO for your WordPress Blog (best article available)
• Speed Up Your WordPress Page Loading
• GateJumper (web building help)
• Under 30 Rock Star Business Series
• 17 Traffic Building Tips from Some of the World’s Most Popular Bloggers
• Thirteen Steps to Write and Publish a Free Ebook In Thirteen Hours
• How I Wrote a $30,000 eBook (And You Can Too)

Outsourcing

• PeoplePerHour – Outsourcing Database
• oDesk – Outsourcing Database
• Elance – Outsourcing Database
• Pepper Virtual Assistant – 5 Hours Free Trial – Use to test using a VA
• Distant Support Virtual Assistants – Test a Virtual Assistant
• EP Virtual Assistant – Test a Virtual Assistant

Legal

I have yet to concern myself with anything in the legal realm. I say wait until you are making $1000 a month.

• EIN Individual Request – Online Application
• Registration of Fictitious Biz Name in PA

Idea Specific

I keep a document and capture immediately all the ideas I think are worth money if developed

• Freedom Business Brainstorm – Shortcut

Life Design Project Development (similar to above, just specific)

People to contact, leverage and love

• Rcthink | Adventure | Personal Development | Travel
• The Professional Hobo
• Personal Development ~ PluginID
• Nomadic Neil » The road to authentic location independent living
• Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site | Life Untethered
• Nerdy Nomad
• The Journal Of An Entrepreneur Travelling Around Asia
• Muselife – Muse creation, personal outsourcing, ultramobility and the new rich lifestyle.
• Migrationology
• Rejecting the status quo & rebelling against mediocrity
• Man Vs. Debt — Sell your crap. Pay off your debt. Do what you love.
• Location180
• Live Uncomfortably
• thelifething.com
• Justin Wright | Adventurer, Blogger and Digital Nomad
• LifeExcursion
• JetSetCitizen.com: Celebrating Global Citizens in Pursuit of an Excellent Life!
• In Search Of Sanuk
• Live on Your Own Terms | Illuminated Mind
• From Whoa to Go
• Free Pursuits – In Search of The Good Life
• foXnoMad
• Explore Truth | Lifestyle Design & Non-Religious Spirituality
• Exile Lifestyle | Colin Wright
• Drop Of Change | Creating Sustainable, Curious and Mindful Living
• curiousliving
• Business Backpacker | A community for Location Independent Entrepreneurs & Digital Nomads
• AlmostFearless.com | Redesign your life. Travel the world.
• A Little Adrift…Traveling Around the World | RTW Backpacking Blog, Travel Stories, Budget & Advice
• A Life in Translation — running towards the things that matter, like boys & whiskey & stuff.
• Adventures of a Barefoot Geek by David Turnbull
• the 9 to 5 alternative
• 4HWW forums

What do you think? Where are you at? Did you like the video intro? Leave a comment.

P.S. If you’d like to get automatic updates of new material here on The Life Design Project, you can simply subscribe to the RSS feed!

It’s been a while since I’ve taken a snapshot of how things are going at The LDP project. There are some solid resources The LDP has been featured on lately and a few behind the scenes workings that I’d like to share about. In fact, as what usually happens, there’s more than a few things going on behind the scenes and a few directions we can focus on going into the future. I need your help with that. Check out what’s going on around the project and influence where we go from here in today’s post PLUS a time saving breakfast batch secret I just discovered AND a video in which I chug a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi Max. It’s like 3 posts in one! You’ve been warned.

Influence Me and Get What You Want

Obviously we’re moving ahead with creating income online, we’ve covered feasibility testing of an idea with a thorough stroke, next we’ll dig into how we actually bring about this idea to a reality. Along that path, I’m cooking up some content I think those interested in intelligent free living will want to know about. It would be a sincere help if you took a minute to pick what you’d like to see in the poll below. Extra detail on each topic is further down the page.

Previews and Details

The Life Design Timeline in collaboration with Alan Perlman, (9-5 Alternative)

A timeline that’s flooded with nothing but vital resources for the phases of lifestyle design. It’s a tool designed for those who need to gain footing when they’re lost, or gain a visual grasp of the core elements of breaking free from a molded lifestyle. Check out this picture for an example, it’s a timeline of the this blog.

Click to Enlarge

Lifestyle Design Infographics

A series of info graphics like the one below aimed at instant “aha” moments for creating breakthroughs in time management, productivity, and other core elements of living well, “allah” lifestyle design.

Click to Enlarge

Outsourcing Workflow Database

In collaboration with reader Jason Stephens (who I’ve been working with on outsourcing his business) I’d like to gauge interest for putting together a resource site dedicated to pre-made workflows for virtual assistants and common tasks both business and personal use. The materials would help bridge the gap in how to work with a virtual assistant and automate several common minutia type tasks of marketing, information research, maintenance and such.

Time Batching Omelets!

I’ve found one of the most interesting effects of reading the 4 Hour Work Week on my time has been batch cooking. Here’s a gem if you like protein healthy eggs in the morning.

Omelets in a Boiling Bag

You can set up a whole weeks worth of omelets, including the fixings in one fell swoop and cook them without using any messy dishes during the week. Try this out.

1. Crack a couple eggs, add cheese, pepper and your favorite additions to a zip-lock bag. Use the Ziplock brand name, as they’re sturdier.

2. Boil the ziplock bag in a large stovetop pot. (takes about 12 minutes)

3. Enjoy. The omelet slips out of the zip lock without a mess. Add to fajita wrap for breakfast burrito action.

I’ll probably pull a Tim Ferriss on this later and do a YouTube that will subsequently get 50 billion views….you never know. The cool thing about this breakfast hack is that you can make a weeks worth of omelets at a time and have minimal dishes to clean throughout the week, big time saver. If you’re particularly green, don’t complain, I’m assuming that I’m somehow absorbing like .01234 percent plastic into my diet. Let me know if there some awesome “green” alternative to zip-lock bags that might work.

The LDP around the Web

I’ve been chatting it up with some awesome people as I continue to empirically test out designing life on purpose. As you can surmise, I love talking actionable changes which almost always leads me to process design and automation conversations. Check out where this project has recently been featured below, some upcoming content, and thank you for being a part of it!

Gen-Y Rock Stars – Outsourcing for musicians guest post and audio conference (strategies, tools, and experiences)

BlogcastFM, process design and productivity chat. This site is a big up-and-coming interview style audio resource, includes some premium lifestyle designer names. Worth a look.

Chris Ducker of Virtual Business Lifestyle will be guest posting here soon!

Look for me possibly showing up at Free Pursuits in the near future!

The World Occurring Right Now

What’s life look like right now, after 8 months of lifestyle design testing? Here’s a very candid run on sentence kind of glimpse.

I still maintain a 9-5, although I’m ruthless about my attention both at work and out of work. Fridays are optional. Singular focus has become a vital practice in block working. I’ve gotten the hang of checking e-mail only a few times a day, I’m a heavy Gmail filter user now, gathering IT Arsenal e-mail, personal, and LDP e-mail all in one spot while parsing off automated bill pays and all account type e-mails. I’m fairly busy but not stressed. I maintain a pretty tight reign on my time through scheduling and calendaring. I use Evernote as a gathering pool of things that need to be scheduled or looked at, this list rarely goes above 10 items. I “hold” actual tasks to tackle either in a calendar or linked Google document in a calendar event. I spend about 2 hours a day after work alternating days between this blog and it’s projects (some mentioned above) and IT Arsenal, the freedom business born from this whole lifestyle design idea. I spend about an hour day while taking in some sort of entertainment responding to e-mails of readers or potentials clients, and I’ve loved these conversations. At times I put this off for current or new client hourly pay type interactions. I’ve been shifting focus to IT Arsenal recently, but doing a lot of similar work on both fronts, which has been networking. I now have a fairly solid “pitch” at IT Arsenal and plenty to talk about with the fun people and stuff I’m working on here to chat it up on social networks and others with similar projects…I can now offer something of value in the conversation. These conversations usually lead to some sort of “we should do something together” vibe that is free to act on, and furthers promotion and continued work on products or my mission on helping out entrepreneurs, small business owners et cetera. I constantly am looking for mentor support on the business front (how to appeal to users, how to launch products and service ideas, ect.), and feel I’m moving slowly in terms of any growth or actual income. I remind myself that consistent smaller amounts of effective work are much more valuable than burning myself out trying to work till 11pm every night. The gradual build of followers, mission, and value will be profitable when I have sellable propositions. I also get to continue do things I love with the pace I’m at, weekends, long hours, trips and steps toward dreams like learning JKD or running triathlons aren’t being sacrificed. I spend about 5 hours a week working on value driven posts and digital product creation. I’m constantly on the lookout for entrepreneur collaboration and lately spend my time in WordPress, Tweetdeck, Google Analytics, on the phone, and Evernote drumming up content.

It’s frustrating I don’t just have something I can sell except myself (in an hourly way) yet, and I think I would have put more hours in the beginning into something I could, or into learning affiliate selling of products I’ve used and can honestly promote if I could do it all over again. I’m sure I would have earned passive income by now. I blame it on coming from a freelancer’s perspective. On the flip side, I’ve gained some valuable new hourly/project gigs along the way.

I’ve tried to cut back on the scheduling as I find myself in my calendar too often (I’m too analytical and need to prompt action from myself more often), but I have a few big goals I’m digging for in terms of “business goals” this year. I’d like to speak at 4 engagements on how I think I can help entrepreneurs (which will build credibility to cite elsewhere), I’d like to launch 2 products, go to one big entrepreneur conference, get published in a physical publication, and work with one semi big name. On a personal note, I’m done with the snow here in Philly and looking forward to getting outside. I’m a runner and a triathlete and I’m getting sick of working out indoors, it doesn’t help weekend plans with my girlfriend either.

Finally a Request

I’ve entered a contest for my freedom business connected with this project, IT Arsenal. It’s a two minute video in which I describe IT Arsenal and chug a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi Max! Your view counts as a vote so you would be doing me a huge favor if you watched! Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcY7yxcg1X8

Tweet this and help a brother out! Check out the contest here.

Well, that was probably the post random post yet, hopefully beneficial/entertaining, what do you think? Leave a comment