Category: Sweet Shit Saturday

For a little while there I thought this whole Roller Coaster Tour was going to fall apart. Juuuuust kidding. I actually never thought that. I’ve been marinating this tour in my head for years and once the decision was made it was all systems go.

Buuuuuttttt …

I was on the verge of hardcore scrambling to find a reliable vehicle to drive for 13,000 miles in 3 months. Once the hearse idea fell out of play I really had no idea what I’d drive. An old VW bus? An ice cream truck? A  postal van? A regular car that would be comfortable for a 6’5″ dude driving 13k miles? An RV? A conversion van? A school bus? I went from being solely focused on one type of vehicle to having far too many options to make it easy.

I finally bought something on Thursday, and the trip begins exactly 7 days from today. Cutting it close! Still have some repairs to do. Checked it out Wednesday, AC worked. Bought it Thursday, AC worked. Drove it Friday, AC stopped working. Will be a ~$300 fix (already had a family friend who runs a shop check it out) and worth every penny considering it’ll be Summer. So what vehicle did I end up with? Well, you’ll just have to follow along, won’t you? ;)

Besides all that, you know what else came together this week?

Linksssssssssssss …

How Underdogs Can Win by Malcolm Gladwell

This is an article on the New Yorker from 2 years ago. I would have never read it if not for Clay Collins. Thanks Clay. It’s the best thing I’ve read in while.

Does Depression Help Us Think Better? by Jonah Lehrer

Considering some of the topics of Luxury of Less, I was drawn to this article when I saw the title.

Interesting quotes:

– “[Researchers] Thomson and Andrews imagined depression as a way of forcing the mind to focus on its problems.”

– “If depression didn’t exist — if we didn’t react to stress and trauma with endless ruminations — then we would be less likely to solve our predicaments.”

How Scott Sigler Gives Away His Books To Sell His Books by Scott Sigler

I’ve known about Scott Sigler for a couple years. He gives away serialized audiobook versions of his books, but also sells full downloads of the audio, special hardcover editions (limited to 1,000), paperback, and eBooks. And he makes a killing. This is a great overview of what he has done.

This article prompted me to pick up his short story collection on Kindle and the first two stories were enjoyable. I especially love the author commentary after each story. It reminds me of Rolf Potts’s Marco Polo Didn’t Go There in that regard. More authors should include commentary where it makes sense.

Meet The Man Who’s Walking Across America on Forbes.com

Congrats to Nate, who began his walking journey on March 1 and made it onto Forbes.com yesterday!

I love when stuff like this happens.

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Odds and Ends

I have been getting some of the best e-mails lately. Thank you for that.

Types of e-mails that are awesome: thanks, fun stories, crazy ideas, praise (haha!), “I’m going to ride coasters with you in [X] city!” and countless others.

Keep kicking ass …

Oh, I’ve been getting an incredible amount of tweets/e-mails asking about finding sponsors and since I just went through a grueling sponsorship search for the roller coaster tour I have an epic 2,000 word article ready for you. Coming Thursday.

Subscribe now so you don’t miss it.

I leave for Roller Coaster Tour in exactly 2 weeks. I’m not really prepared. I still don’t have my vehicle. :) But I’ll make it happen soon … I have no choice!

We’ve got more pressing matters to discuss today. Matters that directly affect our freedom. So I’m not going to ramble on here. In the words of Speech from Arrested Development (the 90s rap group, not the TV show), “I gotta get political. Political I gotta get.”

Hemp History Week Is Here by Julie Morris

Julie is a superfood chef. Hemp, in case you didn’t know, is a superfood. Besides that, it can be used for 1,349,256 other things (no joke, I counted). And while the hemp shirt I bought a while ago isn’t up to snuff for my travel needs (it takes too long to dry, although it’s better than cotton), I fully support re-legalizing this material in the USA. It’s sick and it’s sad that something as harmless as hemp (it is not marijuana) is illegal in the “land of the free.” I signed the legalize hemp petition. If you believe in freedom I hope you’ll sign it and spread the word as well. I’m not naive enough to believe that simply signing a petition will change anything. Which is why I’m also writing about the situation here. A little bit of me and a whole lot of you and we can make a difference.

Read This Tweet From Markus

If you don’t know Markus, get to know him. And read that tweet. And check out LivingOnImpulse.com. Markus is difficult to cross paths with because he’s on the move so much, but if you do it will be an experience you won’t soon forget.

From Corporate to Entrepreneurship or Why I Left My 6 Figure, Super-Easy, Work-From-Home 11 1/2 Year Career by Farnoosh Brock

Say that 3 times fast! Hell, say it one time fast and I’ll be impressed. Here Farnoosh goes deep and explains why chasing a high salary and climbing the corporate ladder isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.

The Art of Conversation: How To Avoid Conversational Narcissism by Brett and Kate McKay

This was a fascinating read that made me feel like crap because I sometimes suck at conversation, but also made me feel awesome because I don’t always suck at conversation.

The Last Post by Derek K. Miller

Don’t read this if you don’t want to tear up.

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That’s all this week. If you’re a Mother and you live in the US (or wherever they celebrate Mother’s Day tomorrow) Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow. :)

Oh, also, did you hear? I finally “get” country music.

See ya!

Oh wait … vote for my friend Nick to speak at AffiliateSummit East. I’m going to try to go, but I will probably not be in the US at the time. Nick has an incredible mind and you’d be silly not to hear what he has to say. If you’ll be at World Domination Summit in Portland next month (I’ll be there) I’ll introduce you. :)

Somehow, some way, I haven’t done a Sweet Shit Saturday since February 26! SXSW and then leaving commitments for 3 weeks got in the way. :)

There have been so many great things I’ve read in the recent past it’s tough to pick just a few. But like a mother bear protecting her young I will do what needs to be done. Wait, am I trying to say I’ll fight you? Whoa. You know what? This is coming out all wrong. But it doesn’t need to come out right because …

Links!

The Fear-Crushing Travel Guide by Farnoosh Brock

If you’ve met Farnoosh you know what an amazingly dynamic personality she is. I don’t meet many people who exude positivity from ever fiber of their being, but Farnoosh is definitely one of those people. I’m trying to think if I’ve ever seen her not smile. Anyway, a couple months back Farnoosh interviewed me for the Fear-Crushing Travel Guide. It’s a paid product and she put her heart and soul into it. (This is not an affiliate link. My payment is in the fact that I know it will inspire you to crush your fears, travel and otherwise.) Additional note: If you’ll be at BlogWorld East in May (I won’t be there) Farnoosh will be speaking about motivation.

An Insight into the Traffic on Pen.io by Anthony Feint

Anthony builds web apps. Beautifully simple web apps like Pen.io. In this short article he discusses the traffic levels of getting linked from TechCrunch and also presenting at a conference. If you’re fascinated by nerd stuff like me you’ll like it. :)

276,112 by Joe Konrath

I’m in the process of publishing on Kindle so I’ve been doing an insane amount of research on the topic. Joe Konrath has sold 276,112 self published eBooks and there’s a lot to be learned from someone who has done that. On a side note: I won’t be announcing what I’m doing on Kindle publicly, but if you’re in the Freedom Fighters you’ll hear about it soon enough.

Leveling Up – Building An Audience Is Kind of Like Playing a Video Game by Christopher Sharpe

Great insight into what it takes to build an audience for a video web series. Useful whether you want to do that or not. Bonus: I interviewed Christopher and Hilah from HilahCooking.com right here.

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I wrote some things about the upcoming Roller Coaster Tour in case you haven’t checked that out yet –> Logistics and Layer Cakes

Rock!

Here’s the deal. On Monday I’m going to post something I never post, a straight up promo for my friend Corbett’s Traffic School (go there today to get some sweet free content). He’s releasing it Tuesday to just 100 students and, being that I’ve had access to it for a while (you’ll learn why on Monday), I know it’s a necessary course for most people who want a framework on how/where to take their website (any kind of website) to a new level of traffic.

But there’s a macro reason why I’m posting a promo on Monday. Among other things, it’s a case study for something else I’m doing. Suffice it to say, whether you’re interested in the promo or not, you will learn from it. And that’s what this site is all about it.

Monday’s post will include, and is called, The Greatest Offer I’ve Ever Made. You’re going to think I’m crazy, in a good way. I promise you it is, indeed, the greatest offer I’ve ever made. That’s all I’ll say right now, but keep your eye out on Monday. (If you’re a Freedom Fighter you already got a hint about what’s going on! Check your e-mail.)

Links!

Productivity Advice From A Drug Addict Turned Self Made Millionaire by George

I don’t know George’s last name, and the advice he espouses isn’t new, but it doesn’t matter. Sometimes things don’t “hit” unless they come from a slightly different angle. Although you’ve heard me say many of the same things George writes here I’ve never been a high school drop out, drug addict, or millionaire. That’s a sufficiently different angle. Enjoy.

Blogging Is Dead Just Like The Web Is Dead by Matthew Ingram

In other words, it’s not dead, no matter what some people might try to tell you (in weak attempts at shock/awe and getting more traffic).

A-B Split Test Plugin by Randy Hunt

The beauty of Twitter –> Real Life Interaction. I met Randy (who writes the language blog Yearlyglot.com) last year in Austin and then again at the first Ridiculously Extraordinary meetup here in Chicago. A couple days later I asked on twitter if there was a way to split test the HelloBar. There wasn’t. Randy asked me what I wanted to do exactly and a day later he created this free WordPress plugin! It’s free for you and anybody else who wants it! If you’re using HelloBar you must split test or you’re crazy. :)

When To Buy Airline Tickets and More Travel Advice by FareCompare

If anybody has the research to back up claims on when to buy, it’s FareCompare.

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If you’ve read How To Live Anywhere you know I talk about a certain self-created tour that I dreamed of doing. It’s happening this Summer. If you know what it is please keep it quiet until I reveal it publicly, but know that it is now reality and it’s going to be really fun. ;)

Have a great weekend!

We had the first ever Ridiculously Extraordinary Meetup on Wednesday and it was great. I was honestly expecting maybe 4 or 5 people to show up, but about 15 passed through. I hung out from 7pm until about 1am. OK, that’s a lie, my bus was 10 minutes late so I got there at 7:05. :) I figured everybody would leave early since it was a weeknight, but many stayed until around Midnight! Woohoo! You all rock.

Special thanks to Brigitte and Lucus for bringing pizza and a vegan sandwich! :)

Also, thanks to @GrantKMartin, @RickRivera, @Jenny_Smythe, @IgniteAdventure, @Yearlyglot, @KaariB, @sigsegfalt, @RNast, and sorry to everybody who I don’t have twitter IDs for.

And thanks to Gold Star just because they rule. Maybe most people weren’t paying attention, but a lot of metal was coming through the jukebox. (Now you know why I call it the best jukebox in the world.)

–> Less than 2 weeks to submit your article to the Ridiculously Extraordinary Guest Post Not-Contest.

La la la la linkkkksssssss!

The Two Things I Did To Increase My Blog’s Traffic 68% In One Month by Corbett Barr

Read this now.

How To Gain 1,180 Additional E-mail Subscribers In 30 Days by Derek Halpern

Derek writes a great blog called SocialTriggers, but this is on the DiyThemes blog, also a fantastic blog.

Big Goal Hunting by Mike Roberts

Just a straight up cool site so I’m linking to the home page and you can explore at will. :)

How To Steal Someone’s Identity by Ev’yan

I write a little bit about this technique in How To Be More Confident, but Ev’yan went far deeper into it.

That’s it for this week. Lots of fun stuff coming up, including “The Greatest Offer I’ve Ever Made.” (That will be posted either February 28 or March 1.) Have a great weekend!

Sweet Shit Saturday turns 40 today! I don’t feel like she’s in a mid-life crisis at all though. Do women have mid-life crises? Or do women have mid-wife crises? Why is Sweet Shit Saturday a woman? How many questions can I pose before you delete me from your feedreader? How much do I love black beans?

Speaking of black beans. (I’m good at segues.) As I was eating some a few days ago I thought to myself “It would probably be a good idea to export a barrel of these to Poland for when you visit later this year since they’re so difficult to find and last time you craved nothing but black beans and then bought every single black bean in the city when you finally found them.” (Pretend that wasn’t a run-on sentence.) This is what happens when you leave me with my thoughts. Actually, that’s not true. Usually I think really smart, profound, and funny things. I just don’t like to brag … ;)

LINKS!!!

Is Your Low Social IQ Dooming Your Blog by Jennifer Gresham

I met Jennifer at BlogWorld last year. She rocks. As is proof by this article she wrote for CopyBlogger and all the wonderful words she writes at Everyday Bright.

The Other Eight Hours by Joel Runyon

This is a short article that will blow away any “I don’t have enough time” excuse you’ve ever had. BTW, if you’ll be at World Domination Summit in June, Joel is putting together a sky-diving adventure. I may or may not join in. (I’ve already jumped out of a plane.) I have my own adventure planned, tentatively titled “Eat at every vegan restaurant in Portland in 12 hours.” We’ll see how that works out.

The Importance of Experimentation Over Blind Faith by Benny Lewis

You probably already know that I think Benny is awesome. What you don’t know is that, of all the writing he has produced in the past, this is my favorite. Now you know. Nope, not gonna say “and knowing is half the battle.” What do you think? I grew up on GI Joe or something?

To The Partner of a Dreamer (A Short Story) by Kenny Eller

Simply put: I love this. Maybe I’m biased because I’ve known Kenny and his wife (before she was his wife) for about 5 years. But even with my bias, I love this. :)

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Luxury of Less is finally coming again Monday. Yay! The first time it was available 1,687 of you got your hands on it so you may have already read it. If not, it’s only $9.99. Thanks for your support. :)

Do something for me, OK? Kick ass this weekend. Then? Kick ass next week. Then? Keep kicking ass.

The weather people didn’t lie. We had some crazy weather here in Chicago this week. Good thing I have my robber mask. It made playing in the snow more fun. Everything seems to be pretty much in order now, but it was great being part of the 3rd largest snowfall in Chicago’s history. :) Now we go back to our regularly scheduled lives, except with much colder temperatures than normal. Cold weather isn’t as fun without snow. Oh well …

By popular demand I put up an Extraordinary Resources section that details (in over 1,700 words) what I use and recommend to run the business side of RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com as well as other resources useful to my life. Check it out, let me know what you think, and let me know if I’m missing something.

Chicago Meetup!

Note: I originally said it would be Wednesday Feb 9. Sorry, making it a week later.

Wednesday, February 16, 7-9pm (although I’m happy to hang out longer). I’m thinking Gold Star Bar in Wicker Park (best jukebox in the world) or if you want to meet up for drinks and food Pick Me Up Cafe (vegan and meat foods!) in Wrigleyville. Let me know your preference and if you’re in get in touch on Twitter.

Links!

Fabricating Lies Or Telling A Story by Greg Rollett

Greg makes some great points about social proof and making sales. I have the privilege (or maybe it’s a curse? hehe) to have been involved in Internet businesses for about 11 years now so I can spot the lies quickly. It happens more than you’d think.

The Awesome List by Lachlan Cotter

Straight up, this list is awesome. It answers the question “If you could do anything, what would it be?” many times over. Note to Lach: I’ve gone hang gliding and I think you’ll love it. It actually feels like flying whereas skydiving and bungee jumping feels more like a wind tunnel. :)

Exactly How I Made $46,305.86 In My First Full Year Online by Henri Junttila

This is why more people should listen to Henri. He’s very smart and he knows what he’s doing. Only about 10% of his income was from his blog, the rest from his niche websites. Proof you don’t have to be a blogger or sell your own infoproducts to make money online. You can sell other people’s products and direct advertising (among many other options) and still make a great living.

Some Insights On Affiliate Review Sites by Sugarrae

You may be wondering why this Saturday is so focused on money and affiliate marketing and business? Well, I get a lot of questions about that, but it’s not something I enjoy writing about too often. Instead, linking to smart people like Sugarrae is my preferred method of spreading the “start a business” love. This particular article is very important. Most people *do not* know the psychology behind reviews. Negatives aren’t conversion killers. People expect them. If you write a review (or have a review site) that is all positive reviews then you’re a straight up scam artist. If you want an example of how to write a review check out my Frequent Flyer Master Review. That single page pretty much pays for my food expenses every month (Depending on the country, it pays for my housing expenses as well!) and it’s about 90% positive / 10% negative.

Thanks for hanging out! Oh, Mind Control Method will be available for 24 hours this coming Tuesday starting at 10am EST. Have a good weekend!

Since my Monkey Bar Gym plans fell through I needed to come up with something to fill these days in Chicago. I’ve decided on a 30 day challenge that I will most likely not share publicly. And not simply because announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them. It’s more because the particular thing I’m doing is controversial (not illegal, mind you) and I don’t feel like defending it in the slightest. I will say this: I started on it a week ago and it has not been easy to continue on with the daily missions. (Also, I seem to have contracted swine flu in the middle there so I took some days off.) This particular challenge takes 1-2 hours per day. If I was in a more familiar city with more of a routine it would probably take less time and be a little easier, but that’s part of the fun.

You are free to guess what I am doing, but I will not respond with a yes/no. ;) I will consider sharing after the challenge is complete based on how I felt about it. Boom chicka bam! (Dangle carrot, take carrot away, dangle carrot, sorry about that!)

Linkssssss …

Dear Entrepreneur, Don’t Start A Blog by Dan Andrews

Dan is one of the smartest people doing shit online today. You don’t hear too much about him because he’s too busy doing shit to waste time tweeting. :)

Launch It Like Google by Seth Godin

Mr Godin probably hates that he’s being linked to on Sweet Shit Saturday, but this is too good not to link to. And realistically, he probably doesn’t care either way. :)

The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures by Christian Rudder

Why am I linking to a site that doesn’t want me? Because statistics fascinate me and these statistics are especially fascinating.

How To Cultivate Vulnerability by Tammy Strobel

I’ve stated it before, but one more time can’t hurt: I absolutely love what Tammy has been writing lately more than ever.

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I’m re-releasing Luxury of Less very soon. ;) If you already own it, want to be an affiliate? Please get in touch.

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Putting together a meetup here in Chicago. Thinking Wednesday, Feb 9. Let me know if you’re in.

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I’ve been joking that I had swine flu last week. In the thick of it, in an attempt to make myself feel better, I wrote/recorded a song about swine flu. It sounds serious, it’s not. Here’s a small snippet …

Leg To Stand On

Have a good weekend!

When I first started on twitter a few years ago I followed everybody who followed me. Then I turned off follow notifications because they cluttered up my inbox and I didn’t pay much attention to who followed me. Then I unfollowed almost everybody and started from scratch. Now, I follow 120 people (this changes regularly, but is generally in this vicinity). This makes it easy to actually pay attention to the stream. I refuse to use a desktop app to “better utilize” (i.e. waste more time on) twitter. I use the Web. Meaning I log in whenever the mood strikes.

I’m going to test something out. Some of my experiments seem to go haywire, but I like to try them anyway. I’m going to follow back anybody who follows me. Just send me an @KarolGajda message to let me know I’m not following a bot and I’ll click that Follow button. Or you can retweet this article with @KarolGajda somewhere in the tweet and I will follow you. Let’s see how this pans out. :)

Three things that will make twitter better:

1) Use your real name / photo.

2) Showcase some of yourself instead of just sharing other people’s stuff.

3) Keep tweets to a respectable number. If you’re tweeting in the double digits every day you are tweeting too much. Yes, I said it. :) (This doesn’t include @ replies, of course. I’m talking broadcast tweets.)

ze links:

How To Organize An International Adventure by Tyler Tervooren

Good golly Miss Molly is this an outstanding run down of how to plan an adventure. What more can I say? If you’re interested in any kind of travel check this out.

Tools of the Empire – 7 “Healthy” Foods That Actually Suck by Steve Kamb

So many people lie to themselves into “healthy eating” by eating all of this junk and getting fatter and lazier.

I Kicked Ass In 2010 … Watch Me Do It Again In 2011 by Adam Baker

If you want the full transparency of how to go from $200/month with your blog to an average of $6,000/month in one year read this.

Good Ideas Are Worthless by Mark Lawrence

I met up with Mark at Nada a few days ago. He’s working on a startup that sounds really exciting and I could feel his passion when he talked about it.

10,000 Random Acts of Greatness by Matt Gartland

I met Matt at BlogWorld and when he told me about his 10,000 Random Acts of Greatness project I had a feeling it would be really cool. I was right. Matt rocks.

Cool Discovery – Paper-Feet.com

This company upcycles billboards into sandals. They don’t have any in my size right now, but I will likely get a pair since they are so travel-friendly.

I’m planning on a few things in the coming week or two. 1) My updated updated light packing list. There isn’t a ton of change, but I believe an update is in order none-the-less. 2) Ridiculously Extraordinary Insights Volume 1, which was supposed to be completed last month. It’s about 7,000 words. Not sure if I should make this a blog post or a download. Download means design and that will take extra time.

Subscribe via rss, e-mail, or facebook (click Like) to get updates. Have a fantastic weekend!

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P.S. Did you hear I’m undate-able? ;)