Biggest Takeaway

I’m sure I’ve said it before but this nail needs to be driven home, if you aren’t as niched as your customers when starting out, you are going to flounder in making money. Unless your “thing” is inherently and instantly viral, you need to offer laser specific offerings or things just won’t stick. It’s all about “stupid simple” clear concise headers. It seems so easy, but it’s not and people don’t do it. The successful lifestyle businesses or online marketers aren’t just genuine they have specific obvious articulate names for their offerings. I think of people like Sarah J Bray (her website) or Jonathan Fields (his book). Think about the people you follow, what’s the first thing about them that comes to mind…you have to be like that.

Exposure Report

I’ve been employing the down and dirty methods explained in my previous post (How to Scratch a Niche & become a Medium Fish Thoughtleader) and have really enjoyed jumping into where I think potential customers, fans, and friends live.

I have my list of sites to stalk, commenters to scope out, and general places to take in the people and vibe. I’ve been offering my help, friending, and following galore and in the midst of revamping IT Arsenal for a specific message and impending product launch it’s made a big difference in my own commitment and in my exposure. If you want to see the action live, the best place is to stalk my Twitter @robgranholm

Takeaway – The best way to gain exposure is to promote others people content authentically.

The results have been great considering that my content has been stale, I have no product announced yet, and before my website revamp earlier this week, my services we’re rather bland and buried in my site. I’m up 100 plus twitter followers, most of which I would actually recognize and know what they do, I have the support of some stellar people for Backup Informer and in general feel connected to the game. There’s a big difference between knowing that @marsdorian breaks down simple productivity in an awesome way and just noticing his name. Traffic and interest are on the rise. Inquires for paid hourly support/work has increased (3 legit requests this month) as awareness of the services and support I provide are growing. In general, I’m excited.

Recent Fan

Product Release Report

Review copies sent and recommended changes made, cleaned up sales page from previous mock (with added video), created “launch” materials, and set up affiliate program to learn the process. I’m in the middle of creating “buzz” a step I’m admittedly timid at. I have a few interviews, reviews and several awesome people that are going to lend a hand on launch day, I’m psyched. I really did give @bobbysofamous $100 to keep myself accountable, and it’s on video somewhere.

If you’re at all interested in the backup product, which is an action guide to informing and guiding you through the best tools for backup for your exact situation, “Like” IT Arsenal on Facebook. I’m planning on offering it to fans early and with a discount code!

Takeaway – There are too many things to hold you back while trying to produce a digital product, take on a “just do it” mindset to get past the barricades…and call me for tech help.

Note on Affiliating

If you have never signed up for someone else’s affiliate program. Do it. Just to get the hang of it. I mean make sure you believe in it, but do it, save the link, have a system to get to the information. Start playing with the avenues you’d use for monetization, meaning, general affiliate links, adwords, commission junction, ejunkie affiliate programs. Keep the links and info in a text file somewhere, having the information at the ready means you’ll actually use it. Try it out with some of your affiliates or some here.

Real Life – I started a simple text document with all the links and swipe files for the various affiliates that I’ve come to admire, connect with, and so on. I didn’t blast the content in effort to make money, but shared it freely when thought valid. I’ll do these same at IT Arsenal. I’ve been doing this for roughly 6 months. I’ve shared the content on facebook, twitter, and blog posts. I’ve used the plugin Apture to link books mostly to Amazon, which through the Amazon affiliate program netted me even more passive income for products I believe in and can talk on. These baby steps now have me equipped and familiarized with the systems to create my own affiliate program and I hold the mindset that if I’m going to back something, I can earn from it. I didn’t think it would happen on this site but through Source Control, Amazon, and the other resources sprinkled throughout this site, I’m trickling in $50-100 in passive income. Nice lunch money or capital for hiring virtual assistants.

Legit Business Report

Business Name

This was annoying to figure out, but after calling a bank and just pretending like I wanted to sign up for a business account, I found out all that was required was for me to have a fictitious name registered by the department of state. One form ($75) and I had a good starting point to accept checks and separate money coming in for IT Arsenal. It’s not necessary as you can keep things coming in your name if you’d like, but I’m an organizational freak and for tracking and separation, decided it would be nice for people to write checks in my lifestyle businesses name and to more easily segregate business expenses once I have the income built up.  I haven’t found a business license, or business IEN or anything like that necessary at this point. Bank of America economy business account is free as long as you make one debit card purchase with the provided debit card. I needed an existing BoA account as well. I’m sure other banks provide something similar.

Closing Thought

Business is about the components and the energy to keep working.

So many elements need to be coordinated together in business. They aren’t really that difficult to figure out, but managing them and doing them is the hard part. It’s about finding your working system. Some systems have already been fleshed out for you to study and adapt, others needs to be custom to your character and built on sheer courage and “go at it” attitude. As usual, it’s only myself holding me back.

What do you think? 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!

ONLINE BUSINESS IS LIKE CHESS

This realization came to me while running yesterday (check out RunningSomewhere by David Damron for some running inspiration). Through the myriad of business development frustrations and stalling in the last three weeks I’ve started to see how much attempting an online business is like Chess (or relatable strategy game). The situations, the elements, the strategy, the mindset….they all mimic a game of Chess. In Chess there are good moves and bad moves, some slow the game, some speed it up. Avoid stalemate and be a grandmaster with these ones.

Maintain Strategy (create circumstances of a breakthrough)

Good Chess players think five moves ahead, they set the stage for the entire game. Creating a gameplan is important. Make sure to write something up identifying your target, and what you’re offering. It’ll hit these points; something you enjoy, something you’re good at, and something people will pay for. Sure this is basic, I did this initially but have you revisited it lately? I hadn’t and it stalled me from offering anything to anyone even through I have a decent looking site and product in the oven.

Strategy is about creating and controlling a situation. Reaching out, getting coached, building relationships, and being in the right places, both physically and digitally (comment on, share, write about) create the perfect storm for breakthroughs and business clarity (that thing you feel when you know exactly what to do next). Avoid confusion, stay confident and on track with relationships and documentation. This is constant, this is the pre-action work, this is on purpose. (See “What I’ve learned from Internet Coaches“) Next, start making moves.

I’ve recently been stuck on refining my niche target and unique selling position let alone launching any type of product or service initiative. After a coaching call with Corbett Barr I’ve finally found footing for my next moves and avenues to apply the site and product I’ve built so far. Thanks Corbett and Think Traffic. (for anyone following IT Arsenal, I’ve finally narrowed down my audience to “online entrepreneurs” and something to the tune of “the best tech practices, tools, and support for online business” I finally feel ready to launch my product and jump into the niche instead of twiddling my thumbs)

Manage Action (develop magnifying glass focus)

There are 16 pieces of varying importance to manage in a game of chess, there are probably 160 in an online business. Selling a service/product, being involved in and selling to your niche, and being unique all have about 50 sub categories and tasks.  The shear volume of it is enough to paralyze someone. It’s done so to me several times already. Prioritize.

Pawns

These are your tools, new marketing ideas, social media tools and small websites changes. I mis-use my pawns by agonizing over their placement, their death, their possibilities. Again, stalled. Test the waters with these, don’t get me wrong, pawns are important, but they should be used to gauge your situation, (opponent) they are exchangeable and recoverable. See the whole board.

Queens and Rooks

There are a few high value pieces in Chess you need to always be thinking about, just as there are in business. Product creation is one, networking and promotion are two more. I’m constantly getting hung up on the tools, strategy and the sustainability of it “all” when I should be testing more products and finding out how to get peoples attention. There’s no magic set of moves for your specific situation. Start simple, create mocks, build product and send out to potential customers, people you’ve networked with etc. Note to self: You haven’t been doing this, you agonize over your platform, tiny design elements, etc but haven’t had a dead set specific target or a product finished? No wonder you’re not living off your business income yet. Thanks to Adam Baker for making that blindingly apparent.

Great Moves

Create an on paper strategy (and go over it with one other person), go after the medium sized fishes (create relationships), identify competition, balance social media friending and adding value to relevant related websites; help and give of your expertise (powerful and necessary). Lock yourself in a room to finish something to market (a product or service offering package). Networking is the buzz word here. There a billion ways to do it, you’ll need to be outgoing, interested in what the other people are doing, and giving of yourself. It will come back 10 fold, and you’ll become the thought leader you want to be to make the moves you want to make. (See “Scratching the Niche” for how, including a stellar tip from Glen Allsopp)

My real life “situation placement” over the last month has involved coaching from Corbett Bar, future guest post and survey agreements with Under30CEO, conversations with David Damron, consulting with Adam Baker, and some interview talks with Greg Rollett. These are all moves to position myself on the board.

Avoid a Stalemate (how to stop stalling for good and instantly motivate yourself)

If you’ve ever played chess, you know that sometimes you can stare at the board for hours. This brings me to my next point and current achilles heal. While I may have positioned myself alright, know the tools, and have a plan, I’m staring at my freaking pieces!…half cooked product ideas, positioned propositions, but no action?

I’ve identified this as my problem before, so what the heck. Old habits die hard, help me people! Are there personal trainers for business? (I don’t want coaching, just someone to yell at me, that’s gotta be cheaper than $400 for 3 calls right?) Although I could give you legitimate excuses, I don’t want to, this blog is a motivator, and I need to place other such things in my life. People, events, triggers. (hmm outsourcing idea) I consider this the hardest to nail down because it could be life, or mental hiccups slowing things down. At every stage of the way I seem to have something I analyze from every point of view or subconsciously pre-occupy myself with to avoid progress. Most recently it’s being an expert at www.justanswer.com and “waiting” (read wasting time) on a new IT Arsenal logo from Zachary Kutz. (phenomenal designer who doesn’t know how good he is yet so he’s still cheap, get him while you can)

In order to stop stalling you need to be in a pressure situation. If someone had a gun to your head, I bet you’d be writing those posts and finding that developer instead of staring at your calendar. Here’s something a little less intense, but similarly effective I hope.

The $100 challenge

In a real game of chess there’s a time limit, in a friendly game your opponent will just nag you to death. I haven’t done well with timed goals so far in lifestyle design or business. I set the a date, then when it comes, I move it back. Who cares? Not me, or anyone else. There’s no consequence. That’s what needs to change. You (and I) need accountability, and here’s how to get it. Create a clear definable goal of sizable challenge. Go to the bank and get out a crisp $100 bill. Give it to a fellow entrepreneur with a signed piece of paper that he is to keep this unless you accomplish this goal by a specific date.

Hey BobbysoFamous (Rob), next time I see you, I’m giving you $100, and it’s yours to keep if I haven’t officially launched my backup guide and become a known player to an online entrepreneur website by the end of July. It’s public.

It’s messy, there will be casualties.

Lastly, there will be failures, you’ll lose pieces here and there, or whole games and need to start over. You’ll stare at your “board” for hours, days, weeks. Keep hustling friends. Grand masters aren’t born, they’re made. Onward.

What do you think? 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’ve been working on a few processes on generating website traffic and how to become a thoughtleader. Some for automation, other for self execution. There are countless guides, blogs, and websites on this, (I’m looking forward to David Walsh’s M6 Method process on it) but I find most of the information out there too heavy to absorb, so here’s my particular black book on how to scratch your niche and make an impression. It assumes you want quality readers and have good content (or are in the process of producing it).

Warning: Know your niche. Be able to identify who your target audience is in under 10 words. I tried to bypass this and leave it vague for my website. I recently realized you can’t do that. Choose something as specific as possible. Ask yourself, do I enjoy providing X for these people?, am I good at it?, and will they pay me for it? Have a mission, or your just wasting time surfing the web with the tactics below.

These processes build on each other.

Find Where Your Audience Hangs Out

Use Quantcast and type in a few websites you know your target audience goes to. Pick up on their “lifestyle” affinities and suggested other sites, some of these sites are low level enough (my educated guess would be something that gets less than 30k hits a month or around 5000 subscribers) that you can befriend their owners, guest post, or become a recognized guest commenter.

Use StumbleUpon, go to a site you’ve identified as in your targets niche, and use their “Stumble” bookmarklet (a link that submits the site to StumbleUpon) … if you have an account you’ll see a list of people who have also submitted this site to StumbleUpon…click them and see a list of their recently stumbled websites. Bookmark related sites to invest it for future relationship building.

Look at where YOU hang out. You are most likely affiliated or part of your demographic, put yourself in your audiences shoes.

After you have about 50 bookmarks, go through them, grade them, narrow it down to the 10-15 best. You can manage keeping up with 10 news feeds, commenting and adding, connecting and socializing.

Research Why the Sites Your Audience Hangs Out at are Popular

Now you know of some associated sites and potential competition, it’s time to find out how they got popular. There’s no cut and dry way to find this out, but there’s a sneaky web way; backlinks. Yahoo has a tool called Yahoo Site Explorer that allows you to plug in a website and see all the websites that link to it. Check it out here and make sure only to filter the list by selecting “Except this domain”. There are also a few

Read other people’s comments, take notes why they like or dislike that site.

Reverse Engineer Backlinks

As you’re scanning the backlinks, make some more bookmarks of which sites you can go comment on, add your site to or befriend in some way. At the very list, add them to your own backlink log.

Create your own Backlinks (or “traditional link building”)

This is where I have a growing workflow process I’d like to test and automate. I put all the “traditional” backlink methods here, like directory submission, or site and post submissions to news release sites and classifieds, or media submissions to YouTube and Flickr, basically all the heavily indexed places on the web that let you know put in a link. Great for search and “web presence” but becoming much less important for trusted influence.

View Workflow [UNFINISHED]

Make a Hundred Friends

After you’ve been at this a few times for a few hours at each go, you should be able to send out a enough “hello, I like what you’re doing’s” and click on enough “add and follow” buttons to rack up some 100 connections, and probably a good amount of people who will return the favor to your site.

Be Well Known at a Few Blogs (1 month)

If you’re a regular commenter, and you’ve taken a shine to a few of the sites you’ve now found yourself comfortable in, ask to send in a guest post. Pre-write it and send it in for approval. I won’t go over the process of getting a guest spot here, the web is littered with them, Google it.

Make a Core Ally (2 months)

Once you’ve played in this zone for a while and kept the “medium” sized fish on your radar (read RSS reader), start making a play at guest posting or forming a “success alliance” (call it that, they’ll love that) with someone. It’s a great way to cross promote, keep yourself accountable, and grow your base audience. Really connecting with one or two other sites is a powerful method of rapidly growing traffic. Viperchill (Glen Allsopp, AKA the man), a popular viral marketing website calls this tactic so under-used it may as well be a secret.

Survey Them

I recently read a great guide at Think Traffic on how to stir up traffic to your site involving several brother sites in your niche category and a survey. Once you’ve done all the above, you can combine and cross promote with all of them in one super post in the form of a survey. Get the guide here.

I Didn’t Mention Using Facebook or Twitter

The reality is of course you’re going to use social media to drive traffic to your site, but this depends on your existing sphere of influence, which unless you’ve already done the above repeatedly still consists of your friends on Facebook and those 12 people you know on Twitter. Don’t use this to “push” your site or content until you have a feeling that it will actually land as relevant to people, that’s the bottom line.

Oh Yeah, Produce Great Content

You knew that already though didn’t you?

Note: SEO and Ads

I’ve now realized there are waves of importance to keyword work in relation to SEO and advertising. Remember they are two different beasts. Search results are a refining process. Test and tweak. Your first wave (first couple months), just throw things on the wall for results and don’t sink more than a couple hours into it each week. I now have an idea of what to target with IT Arsenal, and part of that is knowing that friendship and partnering with other sites are going to fuel this business more than base keywords. Articles here and there will drive traffic, but I’m not pitching a specific product or service alone, so keyword only efforts are not useless, but their almost pointless at this point in the game. Spending money on ads just isn’t the play right here, this isn’t true for individual product only sites that can benefit from adwords more so then relationship traffic. The second wave should refine what type of person you’re looking to see at your site, what words draw them with, and shape whether you’re going to add hours and money into automatic online advertising (ala Adwords), or connecting with people.

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Sound like a lot of work? Yeah, maybe…depends on how you view networking. It’s not something you do in a weekend, all these tactics are part of a slow build process. Once you have a reputation, you can focus less on getting people to your site and more on what to do with them when they are there. That’s the plan anyway. Onward.

What do you think? 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!

Hello friends. It’s been a couple of busy weeks. I want to thank everyone who supported IT Arsenal in the Bizbreak Limitless VC contest. Although I didn’t pull out the win, being hundred and hundreds of votes ahead of third place really wowed me. I was humbled by everyones support, learned a lot and was encouraged even more so to break down living life on purpose. Thanks!

Okay. Online business. Seemingly easy, infinitely bewildering. Find a niche, test an idea, create something, market it…Tim Ferriss put it all into a single book, can’t be that hard. Hmm the actions themselves are not particularly difficult (part of the reason outsourcing is so popular), but as a whole, online business is very complex and takes a lot of work, and a lot of screw ups. Nothing new, but as this project entails, lets rip apart the real life problems, provide solutions, and as a bonus, exemplify people like you and me, beginners, newly initiated into creating income online, that are earning a sustainable income online with their growing projects.

Context:

I’m about four months into the income stage of lifestyle design. I have a handle on outsourcing, effective efficient time use, and the tools for creating business, but knowing the tools and using them are two different things and I struggle with that. I’ve built a site for my niche, mock tested and developed but not launched a digital product, and now battle to create a following and monetize. In four months of trying to build business here are my biggest problems.

Common Problems

1. Wanting to do everything
2. Procrastination, excuse making.
3. Can’t decide between creating a following or creating a product. Somehow I do neither or do one or the other half assed.
4. Don’t know where to find potential fans/followers, traffic.
5. Didn’t realize a large part of creating an ebook would be styling it.
6. Fear that my idea sucks, and won’t build to anything and I’ll have to buy yet another domain name for yet another idea, product, ect.
7. The same tired argument of not enough time, which only means I’m not doing enough of what I love.
8. I find myself more involved with lifestyle designers bantering than with anyone in the IT support world.

We might have different problems amongst ourselves but they all have the ability to paralyze us. Online business is complex, so the problems and possibilities for paralyzation are multiplied. Be on guard.

Solutions AKA Growth

*Each number corresponds to the problems above.

1. Develop tunnel vision. Enter a contest, do something that commits you to your cause. I recently entered an entrepreneur contest that got me excited, got awareness up, and got me clients. Hire people. I love and advocate outsourcing, but I know how to do almost everything required to succeed here. Should I?…no, and it breaks you down mentally to try. Hiring people helps keep you accountable to someone else and to spending money, a big motivator that beats your brains impulses to do the minimum.
2. Keep surrounding yourself with people who have the same values. They will keep you on track. Big thanks to @bobbysofamous and @zackshapiro. Implement systems that catalyze action. Although I struggled with Leo Babauta’s latest post about his one thing system, I agreed that you should focus on one thing at a time, so I adapted Leo’s advice. I fill out one of these once every day or two. It’s a slot loading focus exercise for that one thing you need to get done in a few different areas.
3. I’ve struggled with this one. I love helping people with technology, I’ve created a site where I can do that, but was that the right path for launching a product? Was it really necessary? People either market a product and sell it cold (squeeze pages, salespages, etc), or meld it with more of their lifestyle, create a following and monetize later through a similar means. So how do I reconcile this? I broke it down, compared them, and decided that it’s not important. I’m wasting my time. It’ll depend on the person some of the time, on the product some of the time. Overall, building a following is more akin to a lifestyle business, but takes more time than a pure cash machine. IE. Tim Ferriss’s book and blog take more time than his former muse, selling pills, but I think he enjoys it more.
4. How to find potential traffic? I know what to try, I just haven’t put the time into it. WTF Rob. I initially wanted the entire post to be about the details of bringing traffic to a site, but I haven’t put enough action in. I’m mad at myself for this. Corbett Barr’s ThinkTraffic.net does a great job of breaking it down, and so does Pat Flynn’s ebook on ebooks. Go where your traffic is, analyze them, create an ideal user, give him a name. Hustle required. It’s not hard to find people who need help, which is my target audience, I just haven’t been focused enough. Next post will focus on what works, and progress.
5. Here’s your insider secret if you haven’t made a digital product, it will take 2 plus hours-ish to stylize depending on how finicky you are. The key elements for big results are header, footer, front page and “bubble” box. If you take the time to stylize each one of those elements, it’ll be the difference between boring ugly text and a resource people will love to share. Note pictures below. Click to enlarge.
   
6. Filled with doubt? Get over it. Quote of the week: Creativity isn’t as much about talent as it is productivity. To find idea’s that work, you need to try a lot that don’t.
7. Slow down and enjoy something once a day. It’ll happen throughout every stage of your journey, you’ll get so caught up and frustrated about your “progress” that you’ll completely forget you are your own world dominator, everything is according to your schedule. Stop the world, enjoy it. Sounds weird, but I finally stopped myself and enjoyed about an hour and a half of making a most magnificent Cuban sandwich, that to me was taking time out that I could have spent networking or testing my ideas in exchange for well being. It’s a few days later, I’m still remembering that sandwich and it impacted my mental state. I’m more clear on my goals. Crazy? maybe, delicious, yes.
8. Not to insult the lifestyle design community, but what I’m taking away is that I need to focus less on Chris Guillbeau, Corbett Bar and other such lifestyle designers that I really admire for their breaking free advice, and actually break free. I need to go live in my niche’s world and find the Bakers, Rollett’s, etc of that world and partner with them, post with them, innovate next to them. I’ve only just started to and I’m immediately drawn back to commenting and interacting with great people who get me zero inches closer to creating fans or income in my niche. Wake up, that’s not going to work.

In the end, taking action, making big moves, regardless of what they are…still trumps all the special tools and strategies. Execute, execute, execute.

Examples

There’s no denying it. A new economy is rolling its way onward. The rapidity with which someone can voice a service, or passion, add some slight twist to a niche, captivate an audience, and monetize, is quickening…and encouraging for me as I continue to battle. You don’t have to “hit it big” either. Since jumping into this lifestyle design movement for lack of a better term, I’ve seen people with as little as 1000 readers, and a few hundred Facebook/Twitter followers earn 1k or more a month. According to what I see, when you hover around that point, you’re hungry and ripe for growth. If your skeptical, I’m not surprised, so here are a few people you might know, their business models and how they’re doing. Deeper conversations to come.

Minimalist Path | David Damron

Niche: Simple Living/Minimalism. Blogs, and writes ebooks. Maintained a website called LifeExcursion which he took a break from about 6 months ago when he started writing on minimalism. Hustled his way into creating a solid resource and being mentioned by a well known minimalist, Leo Babauta of Zen Minimalism. Earns more than enough to pay my rent each month through ebooks. Awesome guy. Check out his Project M31, on simplifying life. I loved it.

Man Vs. Debt | Adam Baker

Niche: Finance/Debt . Adam has been blogging about debt for about 14 months, along the path he became a contributor at GetRichSlowly.com which jumped his exposure and connections. He just launched a digital resource called Unautomate your Finances. Really powerful and useful resource to which I’m sure he’s bringing in the bacon with. Adam has a great story.

Muselife | David Walsh

Niche: Systems/Outsourcing. David’s name is no stranger to this website. He maintains a relatively small following (I’d venture under 1500 subscribers), doesn’t have massive followers, but takes big action steps. He wrote a book on outsourcing, friended up to several entrepreneurs who could use it (see it mentioned and advertised at untemplater.com), and before you know it we was mentioned at entrepreneur.com (because of his hustle)…now he’s in Thailand on his ebook’s dime looking to launch his next huge membership resource, M6, a seriously powerful deconstruction of what it takes to create income online. David has tenacity to rival my own.

These are regular guys that I dug into personally to know it’s not a bunch of flash and mirrors.

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The take away?… persevere, walk your path, don’t just stare at it. I’m speaking to myself, and you too…take action you idiot.

What do you think? 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!

Photo Credit: Conor Keller | fortysixtyphoto.com

As last week zoomed by and I continued to plod along creating an online business from scratch I thought about what to share this week in my experiences. How can I give you value? Blogs and resources abound on how to start building a business throughout the interwebs, but I wasn’t interested in simply regurgitating a list and sending you on your way. I did enough list making in my last post categorizing over 100 different resources I’ve used since starting this project. You deserve the story behind the list, the things that create context and something to act on…and you’re going to get it.

I’ll keep in tune with what this project is all about, real life. We’ve established the feasibility of an idea and now we’re going to monetize it. The platform is explained below, a specific niche product has been identified, and the science of execution is at hand. The long road of business growth lies ahead, and here’s what it looks like.

Income Stage Recap (so far)

Initial niche research (blog post), and rules of entrance defined. I noted the importance of continuity and building a presence like a blog or homebase of some sort that could be molded and used to create an audience along side a single stand alone niche product. You already see this at %90 of the blogs you look at, hellooooo. Feasibility testing went into effect, Results (blog post) : I’m building an information product on backing up. A base has been formed to create followers, do what I love, and launch future products from, it’s a blog not un-similar to this called IT Arsenal. The websites and development tools used were explained along the way (blog post | resource list), and I continued to reach out to fellow lifestyle designers for advice, guest posts and side projects. Now, It’s time to become a salesman. Get over it. Build products, users, affiliates, love it and succeed with it.

Reflections

The most difficult: Executing. Staying in a zone to build something that will directly effect my wallet instead of being lost in the sea of opportunity or other people’s opportunity (twitter feeds, blogs, “research”). The struggle isn’t what to do, or where to start, it’s making the sacrifices, streamlining life, and just getting to work. I’ve taken all too long to really be in the trenches of product creation.

The most invigorating: People are incredibly willing to help. Success wants company. Seek out critiques, mentors and business opportunities to try later, remember…relationships are fuel. Thank you Jon for copywriting, Bobby for being a sounding board, Greg for filling a mentor roll, David for sharing fierce determination, and so many more!

The most unexpected: Receiving residual checks….and I haven’t launched any sort of product yet, so receiving just about $1000 since starting the LDP and moving into the creating income stage has been enthralling. Earning your first couple dollars while asleep gets you hungry for more. If you are wondering, I’ve made that income through trying out great resources along my journey and then earnestly recommending them with affiliate links scattered throughout this blog. I haven’t intended to make income until about a month ago.

The most assuring: The growing confidence that this is all too possible and real. You can’t really tell who is just pushing words around out there and who is actually living it.

Under the Hood

These may not be surprising, they may be downright boring to some. The devil is in the details though.

Platforms in Use

Web Presence – A WordPress blog, a domain name, and webspace from GoDaddy. I used a modified free theme called Primepress, and plugins you can see a list of here. I’ve learned my way around these items but they are easily outsourced or self educated. You can drop me a line anytime for advice. The context of my freedom business site is a hybrid service and blog website to solve IT problems for a targeted niche group of freelancers, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and so on, which will be a perfect playground for a majority of my niche products in addition to it being my passion. Additionally, the mock salespage expands my web presence which is just a CSS templated HTML file, it wasn’t generated by a program. I want nothing more than good feedback and presence right now, I want fans, so doing everything to love every visitor to your site is key. I’m giving away my IT advice I’d typically charge consulting rates of $50+ an hour for. Slow growth now for big things later. I’m a day or two away from settling with the structure of the site and focusing on content.

Note: Developing the web presence platform along with a product has been a challenge, but it’s fulfilling as I’m creating something that’s visibly sustainable. According to the feedback of experienced digital salesmen, having an existing audience is a massive advantage to selling anything, duh.

Marketing/Social Outreach/Conversation (or fan building as it may as well be called in this new age) – Twitter, Facebook, business contests, contacting friends who have businesses and offering cross promotions. E-mail marketing platforms like Mailchimp for your salespages and web presence newsletter. Your avenues will vary depending on niche, find your ideal users, talk to them. It’s the lifeblood of products and building an audience. It feels weird at first to push out links going back to your content. It’s not wrong, or cheap, people won’t come to you if you don’t ask. I’ve done it here, and have started to do the same with my freedom business. It’s imperative to make this your living room, it’s the new backbone of one man businesses. You need to hunt down every forum, press release, website ect. where you can respectably find people who need what you have, and talk to them. Read Crush it by Gary Vaynerchuck to hammer this point home. We’ll cover this in detail going forward. I’ve composed a list of relevant competitors, forums and an offside traffic creation workflow that I need to start acting on for IT Arsenal. The workflow will be online in a future post when I have it down.

Sales – I’m not selling anything just yet except for hourly services, which I charge with BillingBoss. We’ve already brushed up on E-Junkie during feasibility testing so when the time comes we’ll be able to sell information products rapidly.

Product in Development

Creation – Microsoft Word or the much preferred Apple Pages does a great job here. I’m sure this will be expounded on as we hit other products, but for starters we’re dealing with an information based guide in the form of an ebook with accompanying online sources. Imagery has been created via an eLance designer, including logo work or swipe files for distribution when it’s ready to sell, a majority of this was already covered in feasibility tests also. The actual product creation is much easier than the other elements of creating a freedom business. Executing is the hard part. Backup Informer is roughly half way done. I’m finding the challenge is to sit down in blocks and get this done. Creating a product, or forming the outline of one is not something that can be done in 30 minute or even 60 minute intervals, you need to grapple with it for a few hours.

Research – I’m surveying friends, creating forms with Google Docs to shoot out on Twitter, and asking for reviews along the way. Ask for help, everyone great has great people behind them.

I’m going to say that the following ideas are really nothing I should be spending time on, I should finish my current product. Ok, having said that, I find find myself spending time on an amazing potential product for distributing workflows to the small business, freelance, and entrepreneur masses, a lifestyle design timeline, and a “scheme” of sorts involving buying lots of domain names.

Focus

We all struggle with it. It may be because you’re disorganized, or maybe too ambitious and have 10 projects you’re working on right now. Life might just be handing you lemons. Staying focused is a task in it of itself and lends to be being much more personal problem to tackle. I know for myself, I’ve been sabotaging my sleep and spreading myself too thin. We’ve covered how to tackle focus, reboot your brain and get on task!

The awesome thing about lifestyle design is the stages prior to trying to tackle creating income online dutifully expounds tactics on staying focused and being efficient and effective. As much as I get sidetracked, I have the mental tools to pull myself back in and try again.

Life Logistics if You’re Interested

Hours - I typically moonlight 2-4 hours about 3 days a week after work and keep up with communication and non-block needing tasks during the work day. I say I’m going to get in a few hours every night of the week, but it just doesn’t happen. I keep weekends off-limits right now, because the toll of the workweek unfortunately still inflicts the need for recovery time. What a sucky work system we have. Otherwise I do actually have good chucks of flex time as I’ve started batching almost all the menial tasks of life like cleaning, cooking, and laundry. The day to day nonsense just isn’t there. My finances are automated but analyzed every two weeks, and most goods I buy online.

Social Invasion – I talk about my experiences to my friends now, I’ve bridged the gap and made it public. I’m a weirdo. I want to run a business that liberates me from a 9-5, to which I explain how I leverage my current job for getting out of it eventually  (isn’t is bizarre to even think of “after work” at age 25?), I spend large chunks of time online interacting with people I’ve never seen so I can one day interact with a drink waitress in a foreign country as a regular excursion. I openly offer advice or talk about my niche ideas to people who are almost always interested but will never really get it or leave their traditional mindsets. I often embellish how possible it is and exaggerate the point that people are making thousands and thousands off the most simple concepts like selling information books, or reprogramming GPS units to have MR T’s voice. I don’t like that I do it, but it almost always comes out this way for some reason. People now come to me with every business idea they think will magically earn them a million dollars, all they want is %10.

Entertainment – Thank goodness for Hulu and the new mediums of downloading and ripping content. I don’t give myself much time to “waste”, so when I want to watch Community, Galactica, Lost, and Chuck, read books or blow something up on my Wii or PS3 I do it on my own schedule, which is unfortunately sparingly as I grew up a gamer. If anyone is interested in making a media center out of a computer hooked up to a tv, I have some deep knowledge.

Giving – Its in my core being to give. It fuels me, so I often incorporate this into my week with some physical representation (I’m giving blood tonight) or my freedom business itself as it’s based on a concept of giving. Sometimes this impacts the hours I put into creating real income, sometimes it doesn’t. I try to value giving more so than creating a business, it sounds cheesy, but giving has a sustaining trait to it that marketing and building a product simply doesn’t.

GO.

I can see a hand in front of my face, obscuring my vision, life is attempting to destroy my future of freedom. The pieces are visible, but they seem blurry. All I need to do is sit down and write out my master set of documents on backing up right? The literal task of creating a business isn’t impossible, it’s rather simple actually. I’m sure there’s a call for my product, a market, the ability for me to live off this idea or open doorways to success, it’s all just a bunch of processes isn’t it?…yet…life wants to destroy this reality. There will always be something…I need to find a new roomate, buy a car, watch the latest episode of Community, manage 1000 9-5 work breakdowns (which numbs my brain afterwork), I’m concerned about my fitness, distracted by the beautiful weather, etcetera….how do you just execute? SHUT THE F UP AND GET IT DONE Robert, that’s how.

You won’t make it unless you don’t hustle. It’s not sexy. It’s the sweat, the drive, the systems, that “something” that so many entrepreneurs talk about. It can be honed and developed, but you have to choose it.

The GO part is so challenging, and yet so simple. Your excuses are blocking a better future for yourself. I, just like anyone, struggle immensely with just doing, conjuring up passion everyday…executing. Keep on keeping on, continue to go. Famous words from Joe Dirt (a horrible yet funny movie), “You can’t have no in your heart.”

Rambling aside, I’m finally building business and let me tell you, it’s exciting and it’s exhausting. I’ve never wanted to accomplish more, or been torn in more directions. Project prioritizing is so important. Avoiding information suck and chasing opportunities like a dog to cars also comes to mind. I find myself well equipped though…why? because of the journey to this point, because of each of these blog posts and previous stages of lifestyle design. The growth experience often gets glossed over or skipped to focus on tools, or case studies of others who have already hustled their way into thousands of dollars a month from online endeavors. We typically see the end product that gets reverse explained instead of the original growth path. I’ve been caught there before. Don’t focus on others end products, focus on the journey.

What’s Next

Growth! We’ll breakdown how to create an audience and I’ll bring you through the product launch as it happens over at IT Arsenal. I imagine this is going to be a long long road. I assure you we’ll get more technical with WordPress plugins, product creation, social media tactics, and distribution. I promise not to get stale here as I know other sites cover similar topics, the posts will hopefully shrink in size, but grow in value. I may skip a week here and there while creating an actual freedom business. I’ll be as available as ever through e-mail and the good old contact page.

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!

photo credit: Dyanna

As the wheels continue to turn and burn in developing a digital product I’m releasing my personal notes on the ebook Make Your Words Sell. Whether we like it or not, we are selling or less suggestively, “communicating” everyday or our lives, so why not become a little better at it on paper (or a blog). I believe these bullet points will help do just that.

Out of all the copywriting resources I covered while testing idea feasibility and a mock sales page I was continually recommended to Make Your Words Sell by Joe Robson through both my extensive “Googling” and by three separate online marketers. Apparently it’s great for an online guide (and it’s free!). The thing is, it’s 250 pages long. It may be an easy read but it still took me a week to sit through, and it’s pretty much a massive list of useful bullet points, so I decided to pull out what I deemed essentials for easy use.

Call it my shorthand summary, or bullet point wisdom (with page references), but below is what I took away from MYWS to make the most out of persuasive online writing. Give it a gander and update your market writing tool bag as we continue with the creating income stage here at The LDP, amongst other things.

For extra exposure, check out stellar writer JC Hewitt at his blog Fail Often. He’s been “paying the bills since ’08″ only after a few years of looking into journalism. I’ve read up on his last three posts and have been compelled to get in touch with him after each one, that’s the type of writing I’d like to command!

Make Your Words Sell

• first, anyone can do it, it’s more effort based not skill based (19)
• know your product, industry, and competition (most important to know competition) (25)
• identify your customers wants (30)
• for every feature there are one more benefits (tell them about the benefit not the feature) (32)
• how to find benefits, present features and ask, so what? (36)
• use lots of subheadings, use even without other text
• start each paragraph with a “bang” (key or flashy word)
• paragraphs should not be more than four-five lines
• vary paragraph lengths
• it takes %20 longer to read a computer screen than paper (woah? is that true?) (49)
• saturate with benefits (51)
• techies do not prefer technical copy, don’t use jargon (57)
• don’t try to be funny, unless you’re really good at it (58)
• keep your message positive, not negative in anyway (60)
• we are all salesmen, every day of our lives (charles shwab) (62)
• use white space (62)
• use black text on a white or very pale background (dangerous to do otherwise) (66)
• don’t make bulleted lists too long whatever you do, 5 bullets max. (67)
• use a P.S. for a call to action, it works (68)
• use testimonials, feature them, (duh, page 70)
• use text based links instead of “banners” or “image” links, people are more likely to click them (70)
• “sell freebies” and sell their benefit on your salespage
• write with joints, a finishing line on a paragraph that intrigues the user to read on. example…how exactly can you double sales? (raise curiosity)
• describe your guarantees in detail
• ASK for the order (are you going to buy it? have we got a deal?, then shut up, don’t keep writing, ask for payment)
• tell them how to order, click here, fill this out
• pile on reassurance before and after the sale with guarantee, money back, restatement of benefits, a testimonial
• cut, slash and review your copy several times (83)
• write to suit your ideal audience, NOT everyone in common references and connotations
• summary of typical personality types and how to write to them (89)
• have a non english native speaker proof read your writing if you can
• make sure to present what you have as something special
• be different immediately (104) (opening headline, paragraph, something) be unique (112)
• step back and gain perspective after a few drafts
• create an extensive list of features, match your web design meta data
• need more and better benefits? ask what will that do for me, how will that improve my lifestyle, how will i benefit in the long term, how will it help my family? (107)
• continue to ask SO WHAT? (110)
• display your uniqueness, your unique selling position multiple times
• use headlines ruthlessly (115) but don’t copy others these are special on the web and target them to ideal customers (122)
• write distinct “hooks” or triggers with benefits (128)
• base outline full book instructions (129)
• make sure the text on your links have important words in them, they act as mini headlines (134)
• write headlines while you are excited about your product (137)
• read it outloud, as someone else to read it outloud, send to someone else for opinions (139)
• anticipate your readers thoughts by asking so what
• get in their head example (145)
• create a ideal customer document (analyze them, paint a picture, list out their characteristics) (148)
• the books mock process flow for creating a salespage (154) (good for modeling your own, but still long, they actually make a fake product)
• you MUST make your opening paragraph flow (188)
• prioritize benefits, best go at top (199)
• don’t let customer think too long, ask for sale (201)
• consider using a “special release price, or limited time only” to foster more sales (204)
• people fill out the form and then leave, reassure them all the way! make sales simple (205)
• finish strong with an “irresistible” offer, bonuses, discounts, limited time
• kick start guide (225) (they model the process in concept not an actual example here)
• the biggest obstacle is procrastination (228)
• ken’s 5 keys (co-author) become your customer, benefits first, keep it simple stupid, use the right tone (232)
• word magic (a huge list of “trigger” words that invoke response from anyone and everyone including “joint” words) (234) (great to have printed out or on hand when writing)

I wanted to test out this fancy new service (www.issuu.com) so here’s the first part of the “trigger” word section of the ebook in Issuu display below. I’m probably not supposed to display it, but given that it’s a free resource now and I’m pointing people to their website, I think Joe will probably be cool with it.

Hope you picked up a few new tips or brushed up on a few old ones. Add your own by leaving a comment.

PS/Real Life: After employing these techniques to my test product, the feedback I received from established digital download marketers like Glen Allsopp (www.viperchill.com – How I Wrote a $30000 eBook (And You Can Too) was really positive, which got me excited but most still commented that the best way to introduce an idea and test it’s profitability is to gauge an audience you are familiar with. Awesome writing is one thing, having eye balls is another. Considering on average I have very poor writing skills I’ve decided to build out the product anyway but concurrently build the fan base at IT Arsenal, the freedom business I’m developing as I record my efforts here. No doubt we’ll cover that amongst the efforts here going forward.

Seattle Municiple Archives

If you’ve just found us here at The Life Design Project we’re in the midst of determining the profitability of an idea or service that we’ve derived from a niche interest, before we actually create anything.

Testing if an idea or product (or even an affiliate’s) is likely to sell isn’t as cut and dry as I or I’m sure you would like it to be. In the end, after the several rounds of sales page adjustments, copy-write education, Adwords testing and requested reviews, I’m left only slightly more informed on deciding whether or not to create my product. Geez, that sucks.

Wait, there’s hope! I turned to experienced and outspoken experts and asked them point blank, “What are the three best ways to test feasibility”. (I wanted to find out if I had just wasted time building a mock sales page and learning everything that goes into it.) The answers I received we’re nothing short of gold. Check out the progression of a sales page, real Adwords results, and what the experts had to say below. Note: I qualify these “experts” by knowing and seeing their products and ideas propel their freedom and income. There are hundred of thousands of others claiming to have created income on the web, I actually know these people have.

We’re finally there, decision time, make your idea a real tangible product, or cut your losses and start over. I decide below.

Sales Page / Mock Up Progression

Rough layout and made up sales pitch to professionally reviewed and carefully preened sales page. The evolution is below in picture form.

The real things that impacted change during this mock was reading a free ebook on sales copy, asking popular bloggers with ebooks to review my sales page, (Never underestimate how easy it is to actually connect with people you think you can’t.) and taking the time to build a real e-mail capture campaign. I still have a list of things to update, but it went through enough for Adwords testing.

Adwords Results

At first I thought these were the only results I needed to get to a yes or no about creating my product. I was wrong. Adwords are a costly, powerful, guess and test platform that could leave you more confused about what to do than if you didn’t use them at all. Luckily my results actually pushed me to ask more experienced people what they thought both about my product and how they do testing. My numbers are sort of ambivalent, there’s potential for some income, but no way to really tell if its worth spending a month or three creating the product. All in all, I only spent $50 on Adwords, and that could have been my issue, who knows…guess and test right?

I'm also going to be spending another $50 on Facebook ads over the next few weeks, for experience and just for collecting more information. If you're interested in the nitty gritty Adwords details let me know and I'd be glad to divulge, there not incredibly applicable here.

What the Experts Said

I asked several popular and successful online entrepreneurs a simple question when I found my Adwords results rather lame, I was floored by the immediacy of their response, for which I’m thankful, but more so by the quality information! Here’s what I asked.

Question: What would you say are the three best ways to test the feasibility (as in, gauging whether it will make any money) of a product or service idea before creating it? Is it all Adwords? Did having a large readership help your confidence? Gut feeling?

Adam Baker: Man VS Debt, Untemplater (writer)

“Feasibility testing” is drastically different depending on how you view it.  On a macro level, for let’s say Apple.  I can see where traditional testing of a market is absolutely vital to their operations.  I get that, although I can hardly speak to something of that magnitude with no experience in it. However, I can speak a little to “feasibility testing” on a micro level… for the smallest of small business people.  In the situation of a consulting, offering services, or creating information products on an individual level, I strongly believe traditional testing is over-rated.  Instead of focusing on the sample size of XYZ split test to see what market youshould be in, let your passions and own interest determine your market. If you are truly passionate about the field you are working in, it should be relatively easy to brainstorm products that you want to see or have.  Do you love Fantasy Football?  You don’t need a campaign to figure out what people want.  If you are in it, if you are a fan of the industry… do what you already know is missing. Brainstorm what types of services you would pay for.  What types of product would be valuable enough to give you an edge?  For other perspective ask you close friends or network that also is passionate about the industry.  You don’t need 10,000 clicks.  Just ask 3-5 true fans and you’ll see the patterns that emerge. If you are lucky enough to already have a small audience (from a blog, an existing customer base, or similar situation), you can create a simple poll.  Put some real time into the questions.  Don’t imply answers in the question itself.  Give them as equally weighted options as possible and let the people that are passionate about you, guide your decision.

Glen Alsopp: Viperchill

If I’m promoting something on Clickbank, the grav and %refd gives me an idea
of whether something is selling well and whether a lot of affiliates are making sales. If you make something yourself, then you should generally know the niche so you wouldknow if there is an audience for that kind of product. My real ‘market testing’ comes in the form of keyword research. If you can get traffic, you will make money.

As for your site, excellent job. It looks very professional. One thing I would suggest is highlighting the word ‘can’t’ in the header – that confused me a little.

Cody McKibben: Thrilling Heroics, Untemplater, Business Backpacker

I’d say the most valuable resource is your readers. Once you have a decent-sized, established following, you cannot get any better feedback on your product ideas. You can also learn a lot by talking about your ideas with fellow entrepreneurs, who will critique, help improve, and shoot your ideas out of the sky when necessary. But, if you have a readership, it’s always great to interact with them on Twitter, through blog comments, putting out questions in your blog posts, and using surveys to gauge whether there is a market for what you’re thinking of putting together. The people who read you most are the most likely to buy from you, because you’ve already established that relationship with them and they like & trust you. I’d also recommend doing keyword research with a tool like Market Samurai (although there are a number of free options you can string together out there to do almost the same) to see how much search traffic there is for your niche, how competitive it is for advertising and search engine ranking, and the profitability of those keywords (or, how likely it is that people are in the right mindset to break open their wallets when they search for what you’re offering).

Chris Guillebeau: The Art of Nonconformity

I would start with the existing audience – survey them to understand their needs, and also pitch your ideas to see what resonates. The quality of the relationship with people is much more important than large numbers. I launched my first product with only about 3,000 readers. I know that Adwords is sometimes presented as a good way to evaluate ideas, but the challenge is you have no relationship with people who come to a site that way — so the data may not correlate with how your real audience will respond. The other thing that’s important is to make sure the value proposition is very clear. When people buy the product, exactly what do they receive and how will they be helped? The more well-defined this is, the better.

Andrew Warner: Mixergy

Having a large audience will help you learn what to build. Running a cheap, fake adwords campaign will cost a you a bit more, but it will be faster.

Ashley Morgan:

1. Existing demand for similar products – a saturated market is not a barrier to entry in an increasingly large marketplace like the internet.

2. Feedback from blog posts that have mentioned and hinted at the product prior to release. This is probably the most important consideration, especially if your blog readers are going to be your market (which is probably the case for most people).

3. The “have I been tempted to buy or have I bought similar products” question. If you would buy something similar, or even better if you have bought something similar, then you know that the product is something that someone would buy.

Greg Rollett: Rockstar Lifestyle Design

I created a lead magnet (100 Resources For DIY Musicians PDF). They had to enter their name and email to get it. On the download page I said something to the effect of, look below to download, BUT I wanted to show you something cool I was working on. It was an offer for the New Music Economy product. It is a 4 module course and I only created materials for the 1st module. If people bought it I would obviously make the rest. The course was delivered over email over 4 week, giving me a week in between to create each module. So, I drove leads into my funnel and then I converted that just over 2% for the test product. Now I am doing a launch for the product and its going really, really well.

Idea number 2 is to hold a teleseminar / webinar. Get people to signup and talk to them. So you not only collect leads, but they are going to tell you what they need at the end of the call if you ask for questions and you get an MP3 or video that you can use as part of the product. Hope that helps man. Talk soon.

J. D. Bentley: Wage Slave Rebel

I wouldn’t consider myself an expert because I don’t have any track record or experience to draw from. However, even in my ignorance I know that it’s usually a terrible idea to go on a gut feeling. I at least want to know that, generally speaking, there is an audience for what I want to create even if I’m not completely sure how to go about reaching them. For example, when I was in the planning stages of Simple Weight Loss for Men, it wasn’t a weight loss book for men. It was a weight loss book for anyone. Of course, you don’t have to worry about whether or not there will be an audience for a weight loss book. There will be. It’s one of those endless topics that can be written about again and again. But the problem is that since the topic is so wildly popular and incredibly broad, you’ll find yourself up against lots of competition. So, for me, it was about finding a way to differentiate. Whenever I research an idea I always go to the Google Keyword Tool to see what people are searching for. If people are searching for what you’re making, you know you’ve got an audience. I knew I had a weight loss book that I loved, but I had no idea what would set it apart. In the Keyword Tool I did a quick search for “How to weight loss” so that I’d get a list of “how to” and “weight loss” topics. One of those topics happened to be “Weight Loss for Men”. The keyword “weight loss” gets, on average, 16 million searches per month. Definitely too much to stand out. However, “weight loss for men” got about 22,000 searches. I knew I had found my audience. However, just because you have an audience who wants information that you’re selling doesn’t mean you have an audience willing to pay for the information you’re selling. A simple test is to search Google for your keyword and see if ads pop up and what kind. If there are ads on that keyword then it means someone is making a sale from it. That’s a good sign.

Real Life

My Thoughts on Their Thoughts

Crap. Seems like they aren’t that big on Adwords. Using the keyword tool maybe, gauging their audience, definitely. Now what. I need to focus on that “core” I’ve referenced before. The “core” puts out free content, offers top quality value and builds a group of followers, usually through a blog or service website of some sort. Give value. Your followers in the niche of web design, or animal wigs, or travel or whatever are the people who will tell you if your product is going to go anywhere when you hint at creating it. Give yourself away (maybe even your first product), do stuff for people even slightly interested in what you have to say, when it comes time, they’ll help you out. Growth will ensue. Otherwise or in addition, you can take your chances with the un-perfect science of online keyword research and advertising to launch your idea. Adwords won’t hurt and you never know, but seek balance. Sometimes I wish I had something to sell you guys, the readers here, hah! but that’s not my mission for The LDP, this is all about testing and meeting people, and I love you all for your engagement! If you ever want or need IT advice, want to collaborate or know what I’m working on, feel free to contact me, or head over to IT Arsenal and check me out there.

Was it all for Nothing Then?

Absolutely not. Reading up on copywriting, running Adwords tests and creating a sales page gave me a real feel for a product launch, allowed me to honestly figure out how e-mail campaigns work (from the technical side) and find meaning in Google Analytics. Along the way I consulted with several people to review the sales page and give me their opinion, the entire process shaped my final decision and constantly kept me involved in helping entrepreneurs, my core message at IT Arsenal. I’ve personally walked 4 readers from this blog through my backup advice and heard from several others interested in the product or where the “core” model of IT Arsenal is going. The takeaway for me is to build more of a homebase if I want assurity in testing profitability.

Am I going to create Backup Informer?

Yes, that’s the final say. I wish I had a much bigger crowd at IT Arsenal, one that I could call my “fan base” for gauging whether they will be interested in this product or not. I’ll certainly continue to grow that fan base, but based on the collective results of Adwords testing, expert/reader review here, and my gut feeling, I’m going to give it a try. One of the golden elements of creating a digital product is that I won’t be wasting any actual money as I create it. I’ll be risking my time and effort because I’m still unsure as to it’s profitability potential, but you know what, I’m a whole lot less unsure than I was when I started, and risk is part of the process anyway. It’s just a lot more calculated now. Onward to business growing, follower growing and digital product launching.

What are your thoughts? Leave a Comment.

Our lives are dynamic and so is designing them. There’s a definite flow to creating your freed lifestyle but there are also several constants to refresh and maintain along the journey. Keeping up certain conversations, continually reading books and blogs, and trying out new tools for productivity and growth are among those constants that keep us sharp and ready to succeed. It’s the journey that shapes us, not the goal itself.

In line with sharing my experiences for this project, here are 3 new tools I’ve picked up, 3 new blogs I’m scanning, 3 new ebooks I’m reading, and 3 types of conversations I’m now having in the thick of creating easily managed income with a digital product. Hopefully you can use them as fuel on your road.

These resources are one’s I’ve drawn on for moving through the beginnings of creating an easily managed income product and staying motivated while doing so.

3 Tools

RescueTime – A handy website and tracking tool for time gauging how long you spend at certain websites or using certain apps. I was surprised, I spent a considerable amount of time at my own sites writing. I learned I need to compress these down in writing blocks instead of constantly having them open. They boast an average of 3 hours and 54 minutes a week saved for those who use the tool! Mac/Windows.

BuySellAds – I haven’t used this service yet, but I’ve read up a considerable amount on this service site. A friend who’s using it now, and who I met through this blog recommended it. Whether you want to create your own ads or serve others, you have extreme customizability and hyper targeting. This testimonial puts it well, “BSA is like a shotgun sniper rifle. We spread our brand image in the right areas and can still target specific niches where customers who need web hosting hang out. Fantastic!”

Mailchimp – I’m realizing more and more that e-mail lists, newsletters, or “instant updates” are a staple of any business out there. The ins and outs of setting up a mailing list aren’t difficult but it’s a process to familiarize yourself with. Mailchimp lets you do that for free (for small lists) and their website is top notch. I know a lot users are partial to Aweber, I think that’s more because of their affiliate selling network and advanced features. Regardless, don’t just brush understanding a mailing list off, if you haven’t set one up, do so for kicks, because you will need to do it eventually. It’s the quintessential example of setting something up to be automated by solid forthought. The welcome e-mails, confirmation e-mails and the various nuances like using the users first name or branding the e-mails that go out to your users take more than 10 minutes to sort out, give yourself an hour or two to sit with it. Feel free as always to contact me for any help along the way.

Runner-Ups

WordPress Subscription Options Plugin – A very simple plugin but so important. This plugin displays those vital favicons for Twitter, Facebook, E-mail and RSS. Unless you build something custom, I found most of the plugins out there to be hoakey. This was plug and play. It’s easy to use your own images too.

Facebook Fan Page – I was never a huge Facebook fan, but it’s so easy to drum up followers and get a coherent page of fan based interaction with a Facebook Fan Page that I’ve been giving it more thought. You need a regular profile to have one, and receive a unique URL at 100 fans. It’s easy to automate and interact with via the various Facebook applications out there. Check out the IT Arsenal Fan page and feel free to add us if you could use free IT advice, links, and occasional support give aways.

Teleport – Mac tool for using multiple computers with one keyboard and mouse. I own a desktop and laptop so when I sit down at home, I can open up my laptop and instantly gain it’s screen and applications for quick use with my existing desktop keyboard and mouse. Vise versa works too for those rare occasions.

Omnigraffle – Mindmapping powertool with easy export to website setup or pdf, I’ll be using this extensively as I build out assistant workflows and wireframes for projects. Mac only.

3 Blogs

Mixergy – Andrew Warner interviews ambitious start ups. Really great flow to his interviews and more importantly I almost always walk away with something actionable. Consistently grabs “big little names”, like Tim Ferris or Gary Vaynerchuck or the guys who make WooThemes and really digs into how they are finding success. A lot of value here.

Virtual Business Lifestyle – A website by Chris C Ducker. I’m relatively new to following Chris but he’s got a great focus on outsourcing and also hits on passive income. He has a fresh very real style and is transparent with his finances. I appreciate that. He’s coming from the perspective of a CEO of an outsourcing company so I don’t know if you can’t get more direct for your outsourcing tips.

The Smart Passive Income Blog – The website sounds cheesy, but the author Pat Flynn has an awesome story. He turned a test he was having trouble passing into an online forum for group learning, then into ad space, and then grew multiple ideas for generating passive income online. He now shares his journey, what he learned and what he’s continuing to learn with others. He’s very accessible, transparent, and focused on creating income. He has a great attitude about it too. Perfect for the income stage of lifestyle design.

3 eBooks

Bootstrappers Bible – A Seth Godin original apparently. In my typical style, I sent Seth an e-mail one day, lasered down to what I’m working on and asked for advice. He responded and recommended this resource and to keep working hard. Typical heh, but a great resource on business starting with zero initial money. Direct free download.

eBooks The Smart Way – A really great overall guide to launching an eBook. There have been some substantial posts on this topic lately as well, but it’s really a topic that works well for a guidebook of sorts. I’m half way through and finding it quickly applicable. Sign up for his mailing list for free download.

Start Over Finish Rich – David Bach is an award winning author and started my financial journey with his book Automatic Millionaire when I was 17. He just finished this book and I’m probably reading it more because I know his content is stellar than anything else. He calls it the action plan to getting your money back on track in 2010. I’m not particularly struggling with management, but talking money in general keeps me interested in business so this is more of a personal find. Amazon 9.99.

3 Types of Conversation

I haven’t really plugged this blog or attempted to popularize it as I’ve seen some of my other brother sites have. Believe it or not, it’s been about 220ish days since this site launched. I feel like Free Pursuits and Thrilling Heroics were just finding their own back when I started. I still haven’t felt the urge to draw attention here as this site continues to be about the journey and recording it’s facts and pragmatic process. I’ve been overwhelmed with the response I have received despite that fact, which for the most part has been a small powerful collective of people who I keep up with constantly. I love that and am so very open to growth. Having said that, I’ve been learning more of the ins and outs of guest posts and media attention for IT Arsenal, the “core” freedom income producing endeavor of this project. I do on the other hand want to start marketing and getting eye balls on that site as it I attempt to bring in real passive income through its works. I’ve been linking up with people I’ve connected with through the life design space and several small business owners. I continue to “network” a vague term for shooting the breeze to feel out how two people can mutually benefit each other. It’s fun for the most part.

Building on my last point, as I continue to network with others for IT Arsenal, it’s caused me to think about what I’m really offering and the products I’m developing. A common question I get is “send me something showing me what you do”. It’s been a big shift from freelancer/lifestyle design blogger to IT Arsenal product and services entrepreneur. I didn’t expect it, but creating a mini powerpoint, video or outline is really beneficial in pitching some sort of collaboration between you and that other website, blogger, small business owner, or speaking venue. I know I want to do Apple IT support and I’m building a backup guidebook, but I didn’t realize that when speaking on it, that I’m really offering process design workflows and systems for productivity and outsourcing. The latter sounds more appealing to small business owners and online entrepreneurs, even though when it gets down to it, I’ll end up building guidebooks, documentation and optimizing their computers for using what I’ve found to the most effective software for whatever their end goal is, marketing, photoshop, backing up, ect. A new perspective, but the same work I love.

Business meet-ups and mutually beneficial projects. I’m looking to establishing myself as a credible speaker and creator, something highly recommended to sell a product by others who’ve done it and the 4 Hour Work Week as well. Along that path I’ve asked a local university if I could give a free talk on the technology for starting a small business online and I’ve started looking through meetup.com and barcamp.com for venues to talk to small business owners and give talks about anything to anyone who will listen. I’ve come across others with similar goals or those looking to create similar products which have led to potential collaboration. It’s great to have something in the pipeline. I already have a partner for my next product on workflows, am collaborating on a lifestyle designer support application, and linked up with a few people for potential cross sales.

I wonder….what are you finding useful lately and why? Leave a comment.

photo credit: laffy4k

Our from the ground up freedom business is just about ready for a soft launch and some real profitability results. It seems it has taken longer here in the blog world than it has in real world hours. The holidays, a cold, reflection posts and some 9-5 job chaos has chopped up the 10-20 hours it has actually taken to get all this off the ground. This post is to recap the last few weeks of actionable items for reflecting, automating, and improving. It’a also to shed truth on the real uses of Google Adword keywords in comparison to SEO keywords for our mock process. Bonus! Free workflow for your VA or yourself on finding valuable data on keywords.

Backup Informer, my aptly named freedom business is progressing well. The initial mock development has furthered into design touch ups, setting up e-mail capture (Mailchimp), traffic tracking in Google Analytics, and tutorial reading on writing good copy (MYWS!), keyword testing, and the infamous Google Adwords are launching now. Adwords research and testing is easily the most convoluted and frustrating process to the newcomer, there are some important distinctions to be made. You can see it evolve at http://backupinformer.itarsenal.com

In educational refreshment, I’ve bulleted tools and process below for getting your idea off the ground, from start to where we are currently.

The freedom business or “muse” has a few identifiable phases within the creating income stage, the whole point of which is to automate income. Product Idea, Mock Development, Soft Launch, Product Development, Hard Launch. Automate and repeat. Peep the strat below.

Idea Development

These sometimes come at you like lighting, other times you just have to dig. I’ve explained in earlier posts about sticking to your interests and working outward. I keep a working document of all the products/ideas I’d like to launch or try out. You’ll continue to hear about them here, and I’m always open to joint ventures!

Timeframe: Anytime.

Resources: Napkin, Google Docs, You name it.

Initial Efforts

Initial research (building momentum, get us commited)

Mock page structure and hosting (basic visuals)

Ballpark a few keywords for search

Copy (make it up right now)

Metrics (sign up for accounts, get familiar)

Timeframe: 2-5 hours

Resources: Google Analytics, Web Hosting (Godaddy is my choice), check out iWeb, hire me to design your mock page or google a sales page creator. I suggested checking out Google page Creator since their open to templates now, could be a great place to start looking.

Mock 2nd Pass

Clean up the mock visuals and layout loose ends

Implement Metrics tools (Google Analytics)

Implement E-mail Capture (Mailchimp)

Copy Writing Intelligence (reading on copy writing)

Timeframe: 2-5 hours

Resources: I used eCover Suite Elite to create a physical representation of my information product, you should too. It requires Adobe Photoshop. If thats out of your price range, contact me, or outsource. I tweaked graphics I pulled off the web or screen shots of my computer for further visuals. Screen shots are easy to do, check out Sumo Paint for free online image editing. I have no clue about copy writing so I’m reading a free ebook called Make Your Words Sell, a few times over at the recommendation of a friend. As mentioned before I used Mailchimp for the e-mail capture.

Here are the before and after pictures from the initial efforts to the 2nd pass.

Present Day State

Copy rewrite and soft launch. Then depending on results, tweak copy and adword keywords and retest, continue on to development, or scrap the idea. That’s where I lie now, in soft launching the product through advertising for a marketability gauge. But first…

The Truth about Search Engine Advertising (AKA Google Adwords)

In my research of setting up the correct tools for the mock I’ve come across some truth on Google Adwords or Search Engine Advertising in general and it’s time to share. I may be in my own world, but this is how I see it. Using Google Adwords to drive “paid traffic” to your product is the quickest and most measurable way to gauge the marketability and profitability of your product. It’s the best measuring stick we have for a mock run without a real product in hand. I think it’s a bit rough, and those who make money only through Adwords I’d liken to mercenaries. Here’s why I believe that.

• It’s not SEO  
  • The type of keywords you want are not always the same, they’re cheaper and don’t have the quality you want from SEO keywords you’d use to organically rank your page. You’re not driving interest to a product or website, you’re driving interest to an Ad.
• You can always be out-bought.
• If you had a real product, you’d want people to find you through natural search, affiliates can pay people to find you. Putting the cart before the horse should only be for testing.
• People don’t like ads in general, it’s a game.
• The results aren’t of high quality. Don’t trust them farther than you can throw them. Meaning, don’t expect conversation rates to be that telling of the quality of your product, but loosely gauge interest and simply if people are really going to click that buy now button.
• In general, these thoughts come from a background that traditional advertising is changing and going away with the continued rise and use of the internet.

How to get the most out of keywords semi quickly. There is a daunting silly amount of “how to’s” and paid products for developing profitable keywords and processes on driving buying traffic to your product. I did my homework and have a technical background of exactly how the “keyword” and ad process works. Although it’s not a difficult concept, everyone is hucking their own “best method” and it’s near impossible to get straight information. The info is also murkeyed with the fact that similar or identical keyword research and tools are used for SEO and organic ranking of websites, which is a completely different target from Ads and not what we are after right now. (We will be soon) Adwords are less complicated, or at least take less work than SEO.

Linked below is a workflow (easily given to a VA) of how I proceeded with finding data on my keywords and what I’ll be launching with for the Backup Informer. Special thanks to Alan Perlman and Greg Rollett who brainstormed with me.

• First, realize the keywords we are looking for should have little competition but high search volume. Google pagerank doesn’t matter because we’re looking to get on the ads, not the search listings for these words.
• Brainstorm keywords, be as long tail but popular (meaning high search volume) as you can. There seems to be a ton of mystery around finding these magic words, I just kept at it, “search and destroy” with words that you could imagine people would use to find your product. Yes being creative helps, but just as the hundred sales pitch pages out there will tell you, it’s not magic, it will take some hard thinking, trial and error…experience is more valuable than the right words right now. At least I’m telling myself that and just going forward.
• Muse/Niche Keyword Market Research <- make a big list of words, and then run it through this list for the information you’ll need to move forward

I’ll be soft launching this week, and reporting on results with numbers and screen shots in two weeks time. I’ll report on budget and all the over the top detail you typically see here. Let’s see if this thing can fly. More to come on how to use those ad systems too, but don’t expect too much, Google does a pretty good job of providing how to actually use it’s Adword program once you have keywords to use. Whew…feels good to be busy and taking on the world, I hope you are too.

Today’s post is a little more introspective as I’ve had a bit more time to reflect while traveling during some winter vacation. I figured now would be a good time to share more about who I am (and what I own!) as internet traffic dips and people are busy with their families and the holidays. The short and sweet of my thoughts here look at the measurable truth behind gaining more than just closet space by taking inventory of what you own and ditching the junk.

I’ve made a lot of changes in the last 7 months, mostly revolving around life efficiency/effectiveness, material possessions, and creating an easily managed business. These changes so far have come prominently in how I think, but cascade more and more into my everyday activities. Activities which have effected two things in my life, belongings and income. Since I’ve been focusing on creating income, I’m taking a look at what I own and how a practice to minimize what you own will buy you more time, earn you more money, and free your mind to think more clearly.

Income through Inventory

I am not a minamalist. It seems to be the latest craze these days but I haven’t joined. I think it’s because I’m in a relationship and I also love the idea of building a home base. I might be a mediumist? or perhaps a utilitarian. I don’t think it’s wrong to be a minimalist, but I don’t think it was suggested by lifestyle design either. I like the idea of having freedom that allows me to pick up and go at the drop of a dime, but living out of a book bag at all times is a no go for me.

I don’t think it has to be that way either, the distinction is having the power to travel (temporary  moves, or “mini retirements”) as to capitalize on the money you are already earning, not BECAUSE you need to earn dollars more cheaply (doing this will lock you in and inherently defeat your minimalist lifestyle because you’ll end up putting down roots). I advocate you should be earning income before you travel like this, it’s a core facet of lifestyle design that people often swap. To each his own, but I’m calling it how I see it.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH INCOME? Having less often lets you make more. I certainly don’t suggest hoarding up crap you never use and as mentioned in previous posts, I’ve taken to analyzing what I own monthly to question whether I really need it. The process has earned me both time and freedom (and a little money), the currency of any smart person. The whole point isn’t to trash stuff you don’t use, although that’s the core action, but to understand how much you gain by being aware of what is around you.

What we own ends up owning us.

Wise words. Our possessions take up a certain amount of mental RAM (always being present in our brain in some fashion) not to mention physical ROM (actual space in our lives). Our heads are overloaded as it is, it’s never a bad idea to break down what you own to free up valuable mental real estate and put some front money into your reserves for creating a freedom business. The problem is this process sucks away time we already don’t have.

The Streamlined No Time Minimizing Process

I took a cue from Colin Wright and snapped some pictures of just about everything I own one day. I don’t know if he intended it to be a practice, or merely a exemplary showing of how little he owns (72 things!) but I immediately thought how I could turn this into a quick and dirty, streamlined process for minimizing. I thought it would be interesting to see all my possessions in picture form and help my monthly ritual (stage 2: elimination) of minimizing my belongings so I wandered around my house one night taking snap shots of everything I own. The process took me about 5 minutes.

Seeing everything I own in picture form immediately set off some triggers for things I don’t use any longer and should trash or sell. I was also able to view those pictures throughout the day at work, on the train, whenever I had a few minutes.

Seeing my belongings in pictures gave me the detached view I needed of them, I was able to quickly drum up a list of things to trash.

Since I knew what to throw away, the process became almost instant. All of 15 minutes later and I had a pile to toss, or take individual snapshots of for posting on eBay or Craigslist. (hint: Use a VA to do this from stage 3: automation)

The Benefits are Many.

Sure your closet is a little cleaner but the other benefits are much more important.

Time saved from going through your clothes, scanning through your books, sitting down to work or any number of the other minutia tasks you perform throughout the day. You don’t realize that moving that empty box from the iron you bought every time you put the towels away sucks away time from your life.

Mental freedom from thinking through what you own, or what needs to be maintained or updated, or taken care of each time you travel, or take on a new job or explore a new idea or simply get dressed. This is the most elusive benefit because we simply can’t quantify the mental drain that ratty sweatshirt you refuse to get rid of has on us. Let me clearly tell you it’s weighing your down, it’s costing you seconds that count to minutes and hours each year you don’t take a long look at it, remember it’s memories and trash it.

Pocket money for a month of eJunkies online store, or for purchasing that domain name for your future business, or the next book you’re looking to buy.

Lifestyle Design effects what you own, and improves both your mental and real world income.

Who is Robert Granholm.

Below is my most recent inventory gallery, I’ve already cut the fat from several of these pictures.

What does your inventory look like? I don’t think you should jump on the minimalist train and sell everything, but start taking into account how what you own, is owning you and effecting your income.

More about Rob

I’m just a guy with a thirst for new experiences in search of a doorway that will allow me to have them. I’m just like you in many ways as we all share similarities. I have my dreams and I’ve discovered that finding them is a reality, I just have to plan and think about getting them. That’s the very first spark of lifestyle design, or bluntly said, thinking about life past the next paycheck. I don’t think my life is miserable, in fact I believe I’m blessed beyond belief, but challenged for pulling more out of my time on earth. It’s in my character to help others and persevere when met with a new challenge or skill. I think these things are common amongst lifestyle designers.

I’m 25, I know technology well as it’s my profession and have a wonderful girlfriend of almost 3 years. I’m blessed with saving grace. I grew up extroverted but find myself introverted more and more. I’ve set up a convenient work situation at a consulting firm until I can free myself financially. I’ve made it a life challenge to be in great physical shape and run triathlons yearly. I constantly find myself limited by money and time. I want to learn 100′s of new skills, I want to talk about them, I want to travel, I want to teach and I want to play. I have a hard time relaxing sometimes.

This post is a little raw and more rapidly written than most here. Okay so now we have an idea we’ve preliminarily qualified as worth some effort. What now? I’ve taken the steps outlined in the last post and had a few conversations with other bloggers and people in the space. I’ve qualified the backup guide as something to dig more into, now to see where it leads…but first a confession.

Honestly…

I’ve been slacking the last couple weeks. I don’t have much of an excuse other then life has been getting the best of me. I attempt to stay objective and not really personal here, but I’ve noticed that several of the great articles I read continually bring a personal note into their conversation. I don’t think you’ll see an outpour of subjective “this is how I feel” posts, but I’d like to attempt to bring my life progressively to this project. So, having said that….man have I struggled to find the motivation on making things happen this past week!

How to Bounce Back

Schedule other people: I called into a conference call from Greg Rollett’s business series for some inspiration, I also scheduled a call with Sam Carpenter author of Work the System to chat with him about what I’m doing. Inspiration to press on ensued.

Talk about it: Keep it in your conversation, and your future.

Take a break and mean it: Instead of constantly feeling you have to do more, purposely stop and enjoy your life. Remember, that’s the whole point of becoming financially free.

Reboot your brain (again).

Mock Testing (tools and process)

Ok, now on to progress. A majority of the testing to qualify actually creating our freedom business product deals with our mock page. I haven’t actually created the product yet (although I’ve started a rough outline) but I have created a pitch page (otherwise known as the sales page or squeeze page), and it’s purpose at this point in the game is to get some initial numerical feedback on whether people will be interested in buying my product. The goal is to quantify hits to the page and clicks on a buy now button, or an e-mail sign up to be notified about the product. Depending on results, I’ll tweak the pitch (which probably means tailoring the product and key terms a little differently), cancel the product idea because it sucks, or move to building out the idea. The process below can be done on various levels of ideas, products, services and so on. If you recall this is how Tim Ferriss coined the name for his book. He ran a few weeks of testing on various book titles, the “4 Hour Work Week” came back with the best results, and indeed it’s done him well. I’ll be mock testing and reviewing results after a 2 week period.

Set-Up

Out of order page and e-mail capture. Your exact set up may vary, but the point of our mock is to find out who is ready to lay down some money. Since the product isn’t finished, we’ll set up an “out of order” page when a buy now link is pressed. I don’t exactly love the idea of presenting someone a sales page and not being able to deliver so I plan to position the “out of order” page with a %10 off coupon and e-mail sign up. I really am not a master at this, but I imagine if the buyer is sincerely interested they’ll be glad about the %10 off, and you’ll capture an e-mail in the process for when you’re really ready to launch.

E-mail campaigns are not new. These services work by a snippet of code inserted into your website. I’m going to using MailChimp because they offer completely free campaigns for up to 500 address’s which because I’m cheap and because we are only testing, is perfect. Other popular ones include constant contact, icontact, and vertical response. I believe there is another winner several people use, but it escapes me.

How can I give them %10 off already!? Don’t fret about this yet, when we get to building a store, you’ll see that any modern store front we use will have an easy coupon code we can push out to everyone who gave us their e-mail.

Tracking

You’ll need to count how many people find your business and where they came from. Tracking is vital as it’s where most of our data comes from. Luckily the tool and method is clear cut, unlike some of the techniques in advertising and search engine optimization. Google Analytics is the “go to” and tutorials on how to use it are bountiful. You simply need a Google account, and to insert some code into the bottom of every page you’d like to track. Google Analytics will provide you easy to absorb stats and if and when you are ready, the platform to really dig into your website traffic. Right now, we just want to know how many people, and from where.

Bonus: Free heat maps. Check out Clickheat for another small snippet of code (needs to be uploaded to your FTP site also) you can throw onto your website for a visual heat map of where people click. I’m not positive on on how useful the data is yet, but more data is better than less. If you find everyone keeps clicking on your privacy policy or some image on your site, you’ll realize this is a trouble area that you would not have otherwise.

Getting Hits

Now that we have a page that we can track, lets try to get people there. We’re still in the testing phase need I remind you so we want to find traffic as cheaply and quickly as possible and stop there. I’d be interested in others initial efforts on this front, but here’s what I plan to do in my initial 2 week testing phase. I’d love to hear from those more experienced in the comments.

Naming. The name of your product can be a make or break decision on two levels, organic search and advertising. It sounds worse than it is. We’re testing right now so take the vibe you got from your preliminary Google searches and come up with a 4-5 keywords that hit on your audience. The name of the product should be related to those keywords but doesn’t always have to be. The goal here is to find keywords that people look for often, but are not already capitalized on by several other businesses. It also should have a nice ring to it. Finding that string of words is somewhat magical and so I’m purposely being vague here as this can be a process to agonize over. We don’t want to halt progress so don’t go crazy here, just keep it in the back of your mind as you tweak your mock up. I searched for “backup guide” found very little competition and simply came up with “Backup Informer” to test. We can change things in two weeks if anything proves horribly wrong.

SEO: Keyword theme your site so that two to three keywords are meaningfully sprinkled throughout your site, specifically in titles and headers. Take care to make sure your website loads quickly, google pays specific attention to this. Stop there. It takes time for sites to be picked up organically and so it’s not really our focus (yet), but we lay the base ground work for the future. I’m using keywords and strings of words that play off of the word backup, such as “easy backup, backup for everyone, backup guide, backup anyone can use.”

Advertising/Promotion (soft launch): The soft launch is very different than a hard launch sales campaign that I’ll cover in the future. Google Adwords, friendly reviews, and forums are all I can think to use here. It’s tricky to get personal in any shape or form when you don’t have an actual product. What I mean by this is it’s hard to send out e-mails, facebook messages, or anything similar for people to check out your product when you don’t have anything and just want to test if people will buy it. The fact I’ve come to is that for initial testing purposes you’re going to have to play the Adwords game. You’ll have to ask your friends what they think and throw some money at it to get hits. I don’t like this, but I’m going to try it and give my results over the next few weeks.

Writing

Another key element of the mock up is writing. There is simply a more appealing way to write. Words, their arrangement, and placement make a big impact on how likely someone is to buy or consider buying a product. I’m not magical with words, in fact, I think I’ve very mechanical with them, and long winded. I had this resource recommended to me from a friend who’s had success with his information product, 007 Lifestyle. The resource is called Make Your Words Sell. I’ve thumbed through it and plan to rework my existing text after I’ve educated myself on selling with my words.

—

Obviously the mock testing isn’t finished yet. I have to push through being stagnant and get to work on the details listed above. The holidays are hard to work around. It seems like a lot, but the time requirements really aren’t that heavy. An hour a day for a week should have me in place to run the soft launch. I’ll be continually keeping my eyes out for backup products, and working on my outline of the actual product during this time as well. It’s no surprise that the key to any product is not its actual content, which is still important, but how it’s marketed, what light it’s painted in. The mock testings most valuable data will tell us in what direction to go as a whole and shed light on what’s working or if our idea is shot. Once you know you have an idea you’re going to bring to reality, actions turn into two core efforts, creating a good product, and campaign launching it. The ability to know how to launch it, and to whom beforehand ensures a good idea on how it will sell. I’ll find that out soon, and perhaps join those who are already onto the next stages, managing the campaign, tying in community, and driving sales.

Here is where I’m most excited. I hope both to learn from readers and fellow entrepreneurs and teach by experience going forward. I’m looking at what I’ve found are the vital first steps in creating income on your own terms. I’ve already chosen my first run at what is going to be my “muse” or “freedom business” or “easily managed online business.” I’ll probably use the term “freedom business” from now on as my girlfriend thinks I’m talking about a woman whenever I say muse. In reality it’s just a specific type of business model.

Anyway, my first effort will be a guidebook on the single question I get asked most working with computers and information technology, “How do I backup?” It’s a generic question, one that actually leads to many questions in response, but I’m going to use that “problem” and create a solution of value to sell.

I’ll dig more into my actual business soon but I want to first define a few things so you can easily slip yourself into my position, after all, you’re not building a backup guidebook…you may not even know what I mean or how I want to approach creating income. I also want a record of how I see things, and what I did to start.

Definitions

Not allowed: Selling someone else’s product (affiliate marketing) without thorough evaluation, pyramid/multi level marketing (ever heard of Monavie?), Google Adwords only marketing (without a product/service you created or know thoroughly), product reviews, filling out surveys, doing trial offers for any type of kickback, playing online games for nickels…or anything of the like. These  ideas have no real meaning or value.

Allowed: Muse/Freedom Businesses: The requirements of a freedom business as I understand them; a business in where you take stock in, or create a product or service that takes initial effort to set up and produce but therein after takes a matter of hours (I’ll say 10 or less, that’s a goal) a week to maintain passive income or sales from. Examples: ebooks, membership sites, digital software or products, audio programs, video programs, books, dvds, information blogs/service oriented websites for advertising sales, etc. Or… selling or advertising a product that you use (affiliate marketing), or have a thourough understanding of and believe in. Example: Greg Rollett’s Business Series. I’ve taken the course, I’ve seen the changes and relationships I’ve built. I know he runs a quality show. Click his link on the right or check his blog out. These ideas create meaning and value.

If you recall from my last post, a freedom business could be the back part of a seemingly service oriented task, such as automating/outsourcing website design (difficult), or the recording of any type of presentation work, such as interviewing several experts and packaging their advice into a resource or book or selling CD’s of your band. Anything can be turned into product, I hope that is plain to see, but some ideas are orders of magnitude easier and more suited for the type of online and easy management we are looking for and I believe are implicitly implied by lifestyle design.

I’ve chosen my first freedom business idea because I’ve first spent some time and money researching if its a problem worth pitching another solution at. That is valued point number 1. We’re in an age where you can cheaply and quickly test AND build assurity as to whether your idea will actually be marketable or profitable. Don’t ever spend large amounts of time on a product that you don’t KNOW will have a good chance at selling.

The key elements of a freedom business after we know it’s worth it are how easily we can package, sell, and manage the idea. They make it a true freedom giving enterprise. Hence why information based products will be focused on and explored here (and %90 of other lifestyle design sites), at least initially.

Selecting/Finding your Future Passive Income Source

Know thyself, Niche thyself. Famous words from Guy Kawasaki (4 min you tube video worth watching). Here’s the easy part, don’t get caught up on it, as I said, anything can be a product. It’s best to take something you are familiar with and get specific. I can demonstrate best with how I’ve captured what will likely end up being my next three muse ideas…why? The sole reasons are that I’ve experienced them and have interest in them. The hard part is how to create a business idea from them, and package it up in a way that can be sold. “What” your freedom business could be, is not something to get paralyzed about.

I was an Intramural Director in college. I thought about what problems I had and discovered there are no online resources for certain aspects of championship prizes. If you know intramurals at all, you might realize what I mean, and considering all the universities there are in America and in the world, it’s a ripe place to test for profitability.

I work as IT support and have built a few websites. I’ve identified that supporting people with their technology is my passion, but how do I make passive income from such a service oriented field? I have several ideas to test here. Automation and outsourcing as covered in the last few weeks of posts, creating resources from my most common requests and issues like what I’m doing with my first freedom business, a backup guide built for the common untechnical man.

I lived in California and took an interest in Parkour. Parkour is freaking cool, but it also challenges the body and falls in line with the natural movement workouts I like. It’s a new form of sport or pastime and its early stars and communities need places to congregate online. If you know anything about web design and scope it out, they are using outdated and clumsy Joomla websites…most notably I can see forming a huge community site built on a Google Maps API, another fun idea ripe for testing, and interviewing and researching profitability.

These are kinda random, some have to do with IT, which is my passion, but making money DOES NOT require the topic to be something you love to do. Do not be confused. A recent friend and intelligent author Sam Carpenter says this.

I think the major roadblock is that most people think they need to “do what they love”, when really there is no connection whatsoever between what one does to earn money and being free.

You should have an interest and not loath the topic you’d like to pursue making money off of, but don’t kill a passion by turning it into a job, that’s not the point, be warned.

Still don’t think it’s that easy to find an idea?: Tim Ferriss’s speed reading freedom business, Pat Flynn, My Wife Quit Her Job, Chris Guillebeau’s Freedom Flying Guide, Darren Rouse of Digital Photography School, The iPhone or Dots glove, Howmuchisastamp.com…Corbett Bar’s Gate Jumper …all plausible freedom businesses. If you dig further they all have some cool stories as well. Check out Pat Flynn’s if you are interested.

Find Yours: make a list of every job or event you’ve ever been a part of, ask yourself what issues and problems came up, or would would have helped, list out all your interests. Now connect solutions or ideas that could enhance each issue or interest. Don’t be defeated before you begin. It’s okay to move quickly here, discovering if your idea has any dollar value is next and more important.

Is it worth it? Research.

KNOW THYSELF NICHE THYSELF, THEN RESEARCH

Research really comes down to figuring out if whatever problem/topic you’ve chosen is worth creating a solution for. As I said earlier, there is no reason you can’t do this in todays digital world for free or cheaply. If you are already attempting an online business or freedom business of any sort and have no clue why or if you are going to make sales or be used, now is the time to do some research. How to do this perfectly? Well that’s the science I’m picking apart here and I’m very open to feedback.

A solution could mean a whole new product, or a tired old product you’ve given new light (have you seen these snuggie things? THEY ARE BLANKETS WITH HOLES PEOPLE), or taking a solution someone else has found and enhancing it. (make it better in some way shape or form) How do we find out if our solution is worth putting effort into though? We use various questions and tools (covered in my next post) to measure various measurable metrics before spending $12,000 on….

What to Do First, Preliminary Speed Actions

Summarize: I wrote down the problem I was solving, and my proposed solution in 200 words or less.

Example: The Problem: People don’t back up their data, I get asked a lot how to do this. Solution: Create an easier to use than a door instructions on the best backup solutions for the most common situations.

Look Up: Google your idea, but don’t look to see if it’s already out there, it most likely is (it’s okay), you want to know how it’s displayed and to what audiences, gauge how saturated the idea is. How did they “pitch” the solution? It’s not that important if you mimic a product, it is important if you mimic how someone sells a product. You want to be different. You’re just getting a vibe on your idea here.

Example: Finding and presenting to a niche is important, I’m not just selling a backup guide, it will be a guide my mother can use, and the person who only uses e-mail and facebook can understand. It’s updated for the newest and easiest backup tools. I’m going to try and niche myself to the non-technical yet still online users. I don’t know if it’s a great idea yet (might be horrible, you’ll find out with me), that’s the point of the research. Measure whether an idea is worth digging further into. My simple test. I Googled “backup guide”. You get plenty of results. I Googled “backup guide anyone can use”. You get nothing relevant, could mean something, could mean nothing. I’ve been keeping my eye on general news sites (Google news, Time, WSJ) and technical news sites, (Ars Technica, Lifehacker, Mashable, Slashdot) for anything backup as well.

Mock Up: First, draw a simple mockup of your idea, website, product, ect. Look for issues. The idea should lend itself to selling online, and the next step is create an online mockup of your product. (if you aren’t equipped to develop a one page mock website, checkout google sites, buy iWeb or contact me) If it’s a digital product, (it should be) your mockup will turn into your sales page. You can create do this with service type product by creating a landing page mock. The point is to create something quickly and use a fake “buy now” button or calls to action so in the future we can capture either an e-mail address or the metric of how many times people press that button. It’s not important to actually set up the tools to capture this information yet, we just need something to look at.

Example: My mock up: http://backupinformer.itarsenal.com

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I’ll stop myself there and explain why I think those are the vital first moves. First, summarizing your goal is important because you need to be aware of what “pain” or problem you’re solving at all times…it’s easy to get distracted and lost in your idea and completely neglect what you are actually trying to solve. Pin it to your wall. Second, looking up your business idea is normal and the equivalent of polling your town to see if it needs a 23rd pizza shop, don’t kill a ton of time here, that’s for later…we just want to gauge whether this idea still seems reasonable. Third, creating a mockup will allow you to get a feel for what your idea looks like outside of your brain, and although it still needs some work before you can do some real testing, it gives the idea weight. You’re committed now and momentum has been created. I was inspired to rapidly approach a mockup stage by 37 signals book, Getting Real. Let’s recap.

Total dollars spent: $0, (maybe $100 max if you paid me to build you a quick and dirty mockup.)

Total time spent: If you’re slow as molasses and are working a 9-5, a week.

But, But….

Goal not accomplished! We don’t know if our idea is worth really investing in yet! True, kinda….but we have gained momentum and a reasonable idea of if we should move forward. Next post, we use the information we just gathered and the glorious tools of the interwebs to get real data on if our uncreated product, service, ect. is worth creating!

What do you think?

A major problem I see holding back my friends and fellow freelancers from progress is messy-ness. They’re lost in the frenzy of their new clients, new campaign, or shiny new twitter apps. I don’t want that, and neither do you. Since we’re finally hitting on income producing efforts I’ve decided to layout my custom system for managing the work “stream” that inevitably occurs when we decide to challenge the status quo and create our own income. I have a bevy of new things to start hacking at, and I’ll lay all those out in due time but I’ve realized launching sustainable business ideas takes more for-thought than in-thought (that should be a word). Note: Make sure you’ve defined your goals and have a strategic objective in place so you’re not plotting workflow that leads you in circles.

Article read time: 10 minutes. Bold only: 3 minutes.

We’ve already covered and even had a guest post on countless tactics of efficiency and how to save time, batching, 80/20, no meetings, singular focus, negative realization, automation…great right? But how do we process work? Where does it live? How do you receive and schedule it? What happens when an idea strikes, or it’s obvious you have hours of testing or writing to do? The aforementioned methods are amazingly effective, but only when you have clear definitive work “living” somewhere to be addressed. How can you look to automate, or batch if you haven’t managed what you’re doing? Could you tell me what you did at 3:45pm two, five, fifteen day ago? I can. There’s a bigger system to look at before you can start to use tactics on production, and it has to do with how you process giving, taking and returning to the work that’s in front of you.

It may seem basic, but nailing down a system for workflow will not only make automating and outsourcing easier, but transform any project in general into a prepared occasion instead of an emerging disaster of todo’s and tasks. Peace instead of chaos in your path to creating freedom and executing. After taking on a platform for developing “muses” or “freedom businesses” or as I’ve painfully typed out almost every time, “easily managed products or services”; having a workflow for work is going to be a necessity. I don’t want to hack my way through another idea, so I’ve created a method for unstoppable progress, and I’m giving it to you.

I know some readers, as I do at times, feel I’m being painstakingly slow in getting to the generating money topics, and…maybe I am, but I’d like to think that I’m doing it deliberately. Here’s my quick reasoning before I go into the long and valuable explanation of the Workflow of Work.

• No rush (where’s success going to go?, initial front work to save effort later)
• I’ve failed before (spent a year+ in CA grunting through business, it takes too many hours, it’s choppy and random and I wasn’t doing it intelligently, not again)
• Passive income is a slow build process anyway (shortcuts here are short lived, and you come off as a pushy affiliate wielding crap salesman, always vote value over nonsense)
• Real life implementation (I’m not shooting for non-american cost of living to equal success, real Philadelphia living costs and incomes are evaluated here)

The Workflow of Work.

Outsourcing and automation note: before you can set up pieces of your projects, muses, fledgling companies, or campaigns to be automated, or by extension of automation, outsourced, you need to actually figure out how to get at those pieces. The system below is perfect for that.

“I’m gladly giving away this methodology in the name of getting things done everywhere. It will be included in a future resource currently in development.

One man army, 5 person teams, or 70 person companies. This works.

The fact: Your projects and your life, whether with coworkers, a designer friend, team, or just by yourself require structure in today’s world. Stop ignoring that.

Benefits of the “workflow of work” system: Universal, scalable, upgradable and you can use each piece individually to best fit your circumstance and grow yourself/others into it. NOTE: You’ll only want to teach someone this if you’re with them for the long haul of a project, VA’s, or digital mercenaries (e-lance) can manager their own time with their own methods as long as they deliver, don’t try to bend them into this methodology.

The Tools

(project management, a billion dollar market)

Project management is a huge industry, but it’s left me nothing but heartache. I’ve tested basecamp, action method, xmind, opengoo, activecollab, and campfire with small teams. Some are phenominal at certain elements of workflow, but I’m ultimately frustrated with them without redemption. The truth is, we just can’t see everything, everywhere, all the time. The answer isn’t to try, it’s one level up from that, it’s to be trained in workflow. The glue of the Workflow of Work system is made up of three universal tools, one part capture tool, one part calendar, and one part “*document”.

Capture Tool

It can be anything, it just needs to capture new ideas, requests, and tasks as they come into your world. I use a literal notepad most of the time, its quick and available. The purpose of the capture tool is to be empty. It’s only a temporary holding place for the whatever comes into your work realm. Everything on the capture tool moves to the calendar and *document if necessary as soon as possible. The capture tool should never have something on it for more than 12 hours, it’s not a todo list. Todo lists don’t work.

Calendar

A calendar will give you a vision for what’s happening in your world. The calendar lists everything you are

doing at all times. It does not need a lot of detail, it is not a waste of time. It is shared with all users. It is crucial. I use iCal, but Google Calendar is a popular alternative. One vital thing about todays calendars is that they can remind us of something automatically via alarms. Less work for us.

Document*

Using an online trackable document is useful, but not a definitive answer for work management. I realize this. The “document” can be upgraded for your situation (collaboration software is rampant on the internet), but I make my argument below for an actual document.

At times, you’ll inevitably want to drill down on tasks, find resources, or make updates as things are accomplished. Any task that isn’t obvious by a calendar event title lives here.

The “document” in “the workflow of work” refers a top level business wide “grand central” view of tasks and projects. It is used in conjunction with a calendar. It links to resource files (dropbox, e-mails within gmail, websites, etc.). It needs to be easily edited and viewable by everyone involved with your business or project. Google docs are the “go to” right now for me. The “document” is a literal document in my case and acts as a reference for work progress and what I’m working on in IT Arsenal. It must be fiercely concise, accurate and lead to resource/detail files anytime more than a sentence or two is required for a task. Use formatting and colors, simple and timeless staples for differentiating meaning to the mind. It sounds too simple, but a single Google doc has been a seamless solution for working with small teams. Each team member gets a font, or color…something to differentiate there tasks. We aren’t talking 500 person companies (aren’t we avoiding those?), the projects we’re working on require automated systems to be tweaked and small teams to collaborate. In my experiences the Google doc rarely went beyond the size of this blog page. Very manageable, very accessible. A wiki might work well here as well.

*Caveat

The “grand central” data collection could exist in another application or form, sadly most others are simply not as agile or concise as formatted text and links. One thing I always get lost with in these project management applications is their focus on time. I understand wanting to stay within a specific project deadline, and chart your billable hours, but executing, using a calendar, and effective productivity (hello first stages of lifestyle design anyone?) will inherently zero out time issues. It’s something I just cut out altogether as a time waster, how’s that for ironic?

The Flow

(follow the rules, honor your calendar)

New Work (Receiving)

Client, new idea, partner, etc -> Capture device (phone, pad and paper, stickies, notpad, etc) -> task scheduled according to deadline and priority on calendar (in summary if placed on projects document) -> a projects “document” if task requires more than 6? words to describe and understand in entirety.

Existing Work

Calendar of scheduled tasks -> projects document -> open supporting resources -> do work -> schedule any remaining work according to deadline and priority on calendar -> follow up with person who requested work be done if applicable

Capture device should be empty each end of business day, the goal is to keep your capture device empty as soon as possible. It will force execution. No execution? NOTHING HAPPENS. Do not use e-mail for organizing work or requests. It doesn’t work.

Delegating Work

When it comes to work, giving it, or making a request is much easier than receiving it.

The critical point when delegating or giving out work is being complete. Be clear, be concise, include all necessary support materials and procedure documentation and give a due date. If there is no due date, make one up weeks later so it prompts completion. The medium for assigning work can vary. E-mails work best because of their clarity and reference. The point is to avoid the recipient from replying back to you that they need something more to move ahead. Avoid empowerment failure.

It is not important to micro-manage that you made a request, the person receiving manages this. You will inevitably manage the larger project you’ve delegated a task to, a comment denoting you are waiting on “Jon” for “X” is sufficient.

It is important that you be mindful of the task you are delegating, if it’s likely to be repeated, create a workflow or template, or e-mail draft for it so it’s exponentially easier or outsourced next time. It will be a key to automating a service based industry until you’ve created a passive income campaign.

Go Forth and Produce

Next up, tackling how to do commercial intent testing, how I’m building community, status updates on how much of my business is actually automated and how much effort I’m putting on creating ideas for passive income. Also, how I’ve captured ideas and plan to test them for profitability.

How do you process work? Was this useful in how you deal with the daily stream of tasks in your world?

I’ve recently finished time with two incredible resources. One that came by means of community and friendship and one by a search for “living life with a plan” on twitter. The sources in mind are “Work the System ” by Sam Carpenter and the Under 30 Rockstar Business Series which was led by Greg Rollett (Rock for Hunger Vice President)

I’m not one for nonsense and I’ve realized my wordyness throughout this blog so the details are below. The two resources combined equalled a tornado of productivity and creation in my life. The systems structure by “Source Control” reviewed in a previous post was thoroughly expanded on by Work the System and the Rockstar Business Series was the most solid foundation and reassurance I’ve had since I started taking my “freelancing” to a different level. One not stuck in traditional advertising or business ideas.

Work the System

Warning: If you’re not a structured person, this book will slap you in the back of the head (in a good way). On the other hand if you don’t mind a few documents (that you’ve created) giving you guidance in your life and you admit that having a few guidelines to live by could do you good you’ll take to this book like a fish to water, and you’ll be 10 times better for it.

The book is an easy read and seriously outlines a rock solid structure for doing business and living your life (don’t worry it’s the same system) The basic premise is held together by 3 documents, one in my opinion enveloping the other. The “strategic objective”, “operating principles” and “working procedures”. These documents are created and then used as a foundation for operating in life, but they are more than that. They are to be referenced often and used to refresh your mind when lost. They are to be leaned on. I breathed in this book like fresh air. The system Sam Carpenter presents is simple, yet something we overlook in our business life constantly. We clamor for a “wholistic” reasoning or aim in our business endeavors, and because of that, we don’t make much progress toward our vaguely defined future. I (we) are lifestyle designers, but what does that even mean, have we defined an objective for ourselves? What’s worse is when we get in deep, we become fire killers, instead of fire preventers to issues in the very “projects” we inevitably create. Work the System rectifies that and puts in place a solid system for getting things done and maintaining control. Documentation is our friend. From Sam Carpenter…

In Western culture, the word “control” has an undeserved bad rap. It conjures up the image of a type-A personality gone wild with power, who, headed down the road of personal self-destruction, cuts wide swaths of anxiety among all those encountered. “Control freak” is the term that often surfaces, and in order to avoid that label we’re anxious to “lighten up and go-with-the-flow.” But if hyper-control is a bad thing, do we want the opposite, to be out of control? (And, let’s say it here: As we search for a middle ground, let’s not forget this brutal reality: Each of us will someday lose control of all that we have. Life is ephemeral and survival is temporary. Sooner or later, for each of us, it’s over.)

So, as we “go with the flow,” we want to avoid navigating without reason, care, or attention to detail. Control, in fact, is a good thing. Truth is, control’s four horsemen of self-discipline, planning, efficiency, and consistency are mandatory for securing freedom, wealth and life-satisfaction. How can we lighten up if our world is confused?

I had a chance to chat with Sam after he stumbled on this blog and reached out. He really understands how the world works. The great perk for this community and myself has been how easy it is to apply the book to a “project structure” and managing virtual assistants…the “working procedures” especially will work not only for executing tasks yourself, but for any digital workers that come across your path. I bet that breaking out on your own, contemplating a non-traditional lifestyle and creating your own business agendas you already take part in some form of the methodology behind Work the System, but after reading about the results and experience of Sam and his company Centratel, I’m positive I wouldn’t have worked out as good a system. I highly recommend this book for gaining a document structured laboratory for success in the projects and growth your currently planning. Check it out on Amazon here.

Under 30 Rockstar Business Series

Greg Rollett is the man. I can’t thank him and his team (Jared O’Toole, Matt Wilson) enough for putting on the program that they did. These guys are all leaders and practitioners of the online marketing, social media, blogging and branding world. All those words I just mentioned get a ton of hype, but you absolutely need the basics and will invariably use some mix of them

for launching any sort of business idea or making any type of income on the web. That’s a fact. The program was a 4 week interactive video series. It was recorded and included accompanying materials for take away. Read here for full pitch. Although the program is over, I’m sure it will be run again and I can’t stress enough how useful the information was for confirming a lot of the social media information I already knew, but more importantly linking me up with other like minded individuals. It’s strange, but knowing others are using those 4 wordpress plugins you are and struggling with 100 ideas just like you, goes a long way. If you’re interested in the business minded aspects of lifestyle design and the one’s I’m hunting right now, get to know Jared and Matt at Under 30 CEO and Greg Rollett at Rockstar Lifestyle Design (his last post was awesome) they are feeding my fire for creating possibility.

Where am I?: You find me in the midst of transforming my life into one that is designed. Currently, I’m grappling with heavily automating and system optimizing my passions turned freelance business while I view life with an elevated perspective to generate useful, easily managed income producing products and services. All in hopes to live a life of dream fulfilling, unencumbered by the drug that can be a paycheck, one that has a tendency to fuel unnecessary materialistic living. Whew, in simpler terms…I want to live a good life on purpose.

Where are you?