Tag Archive for: automation

How to Find Your Niche & Create a Profitable Passive Income Business

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I was on a live mentorship call with several students last week and the subject of niche finding came up. Our program’s foundation starts with extensive coursework that delves into your behaviors, your priorities and mindset, and your resource allocation (of  your time and money) before narrowing in on ideal customers, their biggest profitable problems, solving their pain points, and business development.

Anyone who’s seeking to match (or supplement) their existing income from a job with online passive income is always worried about finding their niche.

One major problem is, most people are looking for the “magic bullet” — the one online niche that’s gonna be their gravy train to online riches! And another huge problem is that many courses and products online are promising these shortcuts to online riches!

Three short months to a complete lifestyle makeover! Earn your first cool million by next Tuesday!

In this lively interview, you will learn, as David Walsh says, the closest thing to a “magic bullet” in business is PROVEN. SYSTEMS.

I’ve known David for quite a while now, since his early days with his great site MuseLife. He attracted my attention in a major way with his first ebook on outsourcing, in which he broke down how to implement systems in your business.

David and partner Derek Johanson bring several solid years of experience to the table developing, designing, and launching information products and courses online, and their new framework for product creation is the evolution of everything they’ve learned.

These two teamed up to create their own online publishing company, Dangerous Publishing, and now what they’re basically doing is systematizing everything you need in order to start earning passive income with your own online information product empire!

David and Derek spent several months in Bangkok alongside me and other nomadpreneurs while they were working diligently developing this new “M6” framework, and they’re finally just starting to share their production methods more publicly.

It’s been ages since we were dodging bullets in Bangkok and civil protests tore us apart though, so I wanted to track them down to discuss finding a niche and creating info products.

If you’re an ambitious young upstart, motivated to start your own passive online business, then I guarantee you’ll find these 47 minutes very interesting. A few things mentioned in the video interview:

  • Derek & David’s travels (enabled by their passive online income)
  • how they’re changing the publishing industry
  • what they’ve learned in two years creating great information products
  • how David built himself out of a full-time job (the importance of systems)
  • one of the great M6 Method success stories: The Hollywood Physique
  • how to find a product niche & how to keep an eye open for opportunities
  • why you should test your product before you create it

If you don’t see the video above, click here to watch it on Vimeo.

David and Derek are truly two of the smartest guys I know when it comes to turning knowledge into marketable products, and turning digital products into low-maintenance, passive income streams.

Update: M6 Method has now been discontinued.

But if you want to start creating your own digital products or launch a solopreneur/coaching career, join our private HERO Foundry Accelerator network where you’ll join a trusted small circle of elite entrepreneurs developing and launching product-based online businesses.

Start building something!

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Get Out of Debt and In Control of Your Personal Finances with Adam Baker of Man Vs Debt

If you’re someone who’s tired of living from one paycheck to the next, want to build a solid safety net, curb impulse spending and increase your earning power, then Adam Baker at Man Vs. Debt is someone you should be listening to. He and his wife paid off about $18K in consumer debt, sold all their belongings, and were able to travel the world for over a year (with their 22-month-old daughter!). With a little hard work, they have been able to achieve some incredible things, and because he’s done it, Baker has become a huge authority in the online personal finance world who shares credible advice that will help you eliminate financial stress in your life.

I’ve known Baker since early on after he started his blog in 2009. Since then, he’s quickly amassed a loyal following, joined forces with some of the biggest forces on the social web (Leo Babauta at Zen Habits, J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly, and the team at WiseBread). He and I partnered together with a great team to start Untemplater, and finally got the chance to meet in person when he visited Thailand in January on his year-long location-independent world tour! I’ve been looking forward to doing a video interview with him for quite a while now, and this week we were finally able to sit down for a great conversation.

Baker just launched his first ebook guide, Unautomate Your Finances: A Simple, Passionate Approach to Money , which lays out his holistic approach to personal finance. I know from interacting with him on a weekly basis that he’s spent the last several months toiling away on this guide, he’s gotten a tremendous amount of positive feedback, and this is something that is sure to transform people’s relationship with money. Watch our video conversation below to see why you should un-automate your finances, how you can build a more conscious, simple, sustainable financial life, and get the scoop about his world travels since freeing himself from debt prison!

Click here for the full video interview.

  • 0:55 – Baker’s college experience, business background & financial history
  • 2:15 – White picket fences & opting out of the template life path
  • 4:54 – Unconventional approaches to eliminating debt
  • 6:45 – Deliberate, effective budgeting
  • 8:13 – How to plan for income fluctuations & irregular expenses when you’re a freelancer
  • 10:20 – Couchsurfing & backpacking through Australia, New Zealand & Thailand
  • 13:38 – Traveling the world with young children
  • 16:07 – More about Baker’s new ebook Unautomate Your Finances
  • 20:36 – Cultivating a conscious mindset about personal finance & money
  • 22:12 – South by Southwest Web Awards & where to find Baker

UPDATE: For more from Baker: check out his Sell Your Crap guide to learn how his family got rid of all their belongings before they went traveling around the world, and how you can sell all your stuff on eBay, Craigslist, and Amazon to make some extra cash. Also, if you want to add a guaranteed $12,000 to your online business over the next 12 months, you might want to grab a seat in his course with Corbett Barr, The Hustle Project. Corbett and Baker are both Faculty members at Digital Nomad Academy, regular recurring mentors for our students inside the Academy, so I can speak personally to the high quality of their coaching.

I’ll be honest: I’m someone who hates to sit down with spreadsheets and budget out my finances. I don’t even like to look at my bank statements every month! With student loans, a lot of random business stuff going on, and the fact that I’m a lazy excuse for a human, my finances are a damn mess, but Baker has developed a product that has fundamentally changed the way I think about money, and he and his wife Courtney are proof that you really can get conscious about how you spend, escape the debt “game” that the rest of the world is stuck in, and start to build the lifestyle you want now! Forget dreaming about retirement, if he and his family can eliminate their debt and go globetrotting, you can get control of your finances and do whatever you dream of doing too.

Here is what you get if you purchase a copy of Baker’s Unautomate Your Finances:

  • A comprehensive 83-page eBook. In “The Unautomation Theory” section, Baker relates his experience climbing out of the debt hole and the way that has transformed his family’s lives. He goes on to explain how to avoid financial burnout and unlock conscious financial awareness by un-automating. In “The Science of Unautomation” he’ll help you take a hard look at your priorities and figure out how to budget for what you really want in life. Lastly, in the “Applying Unautomation” section, he focuses on application, showing you how to actively manage your finances with a simple 2-page minimalist budgeting system and apply his “Debt Tsunami” tactic to rid yourself of debt.
  • A 27-minute video interview with Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net. Baker interviews Leo on how he applied the principles of simplicity and minimalism to dramatically turn around his financial life.  Powerful insights from a leader in simplicity, blogging, and productivity.
  • A 29-minute audio interview with J.D. Roth of GetRichSlowly.org, one of the top personal finance blogs on the web. J.D. joins Baker on a call to discuss his own financial recovery story and what it’s like now that he’s in the “third phase of personal finance“.
  • A 2-page, custom-designed PDF version (printable) of the minimalist budgeting system discussed in the main guide.
  • A simple Excel template for those who want to take the minimalist budgeting system digital.
  • Free Extended Updates! Get on the exclusive email list and over the next 6 months, Baker will be releasing sample case studies, FAQ’s, and exclusive interviews… for free!

At just $17, I honestly thought he was nuts for giving away so much hard work, but it just goes to show how dedicated he is to providing real value and helping those who need financial guidance. This is a truly impressive product that would typically go for at least $39 if you look around at other bloggers online, and it comes with Baker’s “as long as I have a pulse” money-back guarantee. So if you need to learn how to get the best of your personal finances, start an emergency fund, successfully get out of debt, and create a realistic budget that will let you achieve your financial and life goals, then Unautomate Your Finances is definitely something you need to check out.

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Ramit Sethi Illuminates the Path to Financial Success

personal finance wealth

Ramit Sethi was one of the earliest bloggers to inspire me when I first started writing my original site ‘Thrilling Heroics’ and building my professional network.

A Stanford alumni who studied technology and psychology, Ramit was one of the original co-founders of Silicon Valley startup PBworks, and runs the hugely successful I Will Teach You To Be Rich blog to help college students and young professionals take control of their personal finances and succeed with entrepreneurship.

I first met him in person in our hometown Sacramento, California, one chilly winter day in 2006 when he was home to visit his family, and I had the opportunity to interview him about his education, entrepreneurship experience, and his perspectives on new media.

One of the first bold moves Ramit made in his career was to call up Seth Godin and negotiate a job opportunity with him. He later consulted with Omidyar Network, the philanthropic social innovation firm started by Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar.

I Will Teach You to Be RichIn March 2006, Ramit published his definitive personal finance book, which immediately hit #1 on Amazon and made him a New York Times bestselling author. His educational background in social psychology translated well into a thorough guidebook that helps readers make real behavioral change:

At last, for a generation that’s materially ambitious yet financially clueless comes I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit Sethi’s 6-week personal finance program for 20-to-35-year-olds. A completely practical approach delivered with a nonjudgmental style that makes readers want to do what Sethi says, it is based around the four pillars of personal finance—banking, saving, budgeting, and investing—and the wealth-building ideas of personal entrepreneurship.

This week Ramit is adapting his bestseller into a six-week online bootcamp

After meeting recently with him in San Francisco, I’ve been wanting to bring him on for a video interview to share what has changed in the last three years. Here’s our fascinating discussion:

Check out the full video interview here for the following:

  • How Ramit turned his writing and personal expertise into a 6-week personal finance training program
  • The massive importance of TAKING ACTION
  • The value of FREE content versus INVESTING in your success
  • How to use a blog as a laboratory for launching your own business and life experiments
  • What defines a RICH life? (what Ramit values most)
  • How to leverage failures to reach SUCCESS
  • How Ramit made the leap from blogger to NYT best-selling author
  • Personal finance & entrepreneurship tips for travelers & expats

lifestyle design Ramit Sethi interview

To learn more about Ramit Sethi, social psychology, technology in business, scrappy startups, and x-man abilities, make sure you also read my 2006 interview with him.

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How to Build an Internet Business that Supports Your Purpose & Freedom with Clay Collins

This discussion has been months in the making. Clay Collins caught my attention long ago with his writing, and his vision for a world where every person can be their own boss and secure a healthy income while offering their greatest gift to the world. Today he’s dedicating his attention to teaching people how to build purpose-driven freedom businesses.

Clay is an expert marketer, with solid knowledge of market research, testing, keyword research and SEO. But he’s also someone who uses this stuff for good. Clay Collins is someone who has built his life and his business around helping others find their purpose.

His writing has always been really compelling, but I feel like I’ve watched him find his true passion over the last year or so and the quality of his message has become truly captivating. Finance Your Freedom evolved into Project Mojave, where Clay and a faculty of awesome folks like Jonathan Mead, Laura Roeder, Johnny Truant, Michael Martine, and Dave Navarro have helped tons of people turn their passion into profitable businesses that can take them out of the 9-to-5.

Update: You can now find Clay providing his incredible marketing strategies at LeadPages and with The Marketing Show podcast.

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