Tag Archive for: publishing

From Struggling Musician to Multi-Millionaire — with Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers, who I first met in Singapore in 2011, is a fascinating person who I really look up to — a hugely successful writer, entrepreneur, programmer, and ex-musician who founded CD Baby, and in 2008 sold it for $22 million.

Derek is hugely passionate about learning and teaching, he’s a frequent TED speaker, and writes extensively at Sivers.org. He’s also the author of Anything You Want and the Wood Egg startup guide series.

Below is my 2014 mentor call with him just for members, perhaps the best guest we’ve ever had! Watch to learn how Derek transitioned from overworked running a huge multimillion dollar business with 85 employees to resetting his operating system, how he then sold his $22 million dollar enterprise without paying anything in taxes, and his philosophies on how to have FUN doing business:

In this call, Derek joins us from his home in New Zealand and we discuss:

You can learn much more about Derek on his site, read his latest articles, and watch his great videos from the Anything You Want book and Uncommon Sense series.

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Vagabonding After 10 Years — with Rolf Potts

Rolf Potts VagabondingRolf is a high-profile proponent of independent travel and acclaimed author of the book Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel — one of the two books, alongside Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek, that inspired my nomadic lifestyle. He also authored Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Revelations from One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer and is an accomplished travel journalist who’s reported from over 60 countries and written for National Geographic Traveler, The New Yorker, Slate, Lonely Planet, Outside, The Guardian, the Travel Channel and much more, he’s an explorer who’s adventures have taken him across 6 continents.

You can learn much more about Rolf on his bio site and at Vagablogging, and get your hands on his exclusive bundle of free content from BitTorrent to celebrate the release of the new audiobook.

In this call, Rolf phoned in from his family farm in Kansas and we discuss:

  • Find out the one continent he hasn’t been to yet.
  • The similarities between a travel lifestyle and entrepreneurship…
  • Learn how living out of a van in 1994 helped give him the long-term travel itch.
  • The idea of “home” for a long-term perpetual traveler, and places we love to live.
  • Why it’s important to take control of your circumstances rather than being passive in life.
  • What it means to develop an “uncommon way of looking at life” and how you choose to use your time…
  • How travel has changed Rolf’s worldview and what he’s capable of…
  • How much time he recommends people take off for a RTW trip or a sabbatical…
  • The challenges of re-assimilating back into ordinary life.
  • Mentioned: Vagabonding resources and Rolf’s favorite travel quotes
  • What is a “Postmodern Travel Writer”? and we talk about some of the writers of the past who he admires most.
  • What value does travel have to the student of life as opposed to a traditional educational experience?
  • About working with Tim Ferriss to release the audiobook version of Vagabonding for the first time…
  • and much much more…

Find Rolf at rolfpotts.com and vagabonding.net and if you have questions for him, email [email protected]

Also be sure to listen to our past interview with Rolf Potts, in which we dig deep into the ins and outs of becoming a successful travel writer.

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The Art of Long-Term World Travel — with Rolf Potts, author of “Vagabonding”

Rolf Potts VagabondingRolf is one of the most accomplished travel journalists of our time, having reported from over 60 countries for major venues like National Geographic Traveler, The New Yorker, Outside, and the Travel Channel. He is a high-profile proponent of independent travel. His book Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel was one of only four “fundamental books” Tim Ferriss mentioned in The 4-Hour Workweek, and was one of the two main sources of inspiration behind my nomadic lifestyle. His second book, Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, details personal anecdotes from 10 years of traveling and travel writing. With his extensive experience traveling on a shoestring, Rolf shows how nearly anyone can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel.

You can learn much more about Rolf on his bio site and at Vagablogging.

In this call, Rolf phoned in from Philadelphia (where he’s currently a writer-in-residence at University of Pennsylvania) and we discuss:

  • Rolf’s past life prior to writing two acclaimed books
  • His 2 years spent teaching English in Korea
  • The impetus for writing Vagabonding and his philosophy behind the book
  • Mentioned: Walt Whitman, other favorite books and sources of inspiration: vagabonding.net/resources
  • How living out of a van, traveling around the US in 1994 helped give him the long-term travel itch
  • How Rolf went from first published article to his first book deal in less than 2 years, and his advice for those seeking to get a book deal and agent
  • Mentioned: Rick Steves, also Travel Writing 2.0 by Tim Leffel
  • Great places for generating online buzz: The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, and networking in the travel & lifestyle design blogging community. Make yourself very accessible on your blog…
  • “To become a good travel writer,  you need expertise.” Rolf recommends travel blogging, infusing your writing with personality, being as engaging as possible, and wise use of free content online to get your name out there. Listen in for much more…
  • How to avoid being a walking dollar sign when you travel in developing countries
  • Is there a rule-of-thumb for avoiding the typical tourist route and traveling to places that are not full of tourists, where you can find a more non-commercialized or unique experience?
  • All about Rolf’s workflow, how he finds the motivation to keep working even after becoming a stunning success (and being featured in interviews and media all over the internet and the world), and how to maintain discipline as a freelancer
  • About the sacrifice of traditional stability, home & family, and how to tell your family you’re going off to travel long term (note: it wouldn’t hurt to give them a copy of Vagabonding)
  • How Rolf started the No Baggage Challenge in 2010—traveling light to 12 countries on 5 continents
  • Mentioned: luggage-less traveler Jonathan Yevin
  • Lessons learned in hyper-minimalism: don’t weigh yourself down with things. And what items does Rolf now travel with and consider essential?
  • About the writing workshop Rolf runs in France every July at the Paris American Academy
  • Why he loves Bangkok and why revisiting Khao San Road feels like going back to kindergarten
  • and much much more…

This was a great one, so make sure you give it a listen! Find Rolf at rolfpotts.com and vagabonding.net and if you have questions for him, email [email protected]

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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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