Category: Sweet Shit Saturday

Sweet Soup Saturday #015 (Something I Forgot Edition)

In which I discuss a lot about the future!

Karol on the Slakkline (slack line)

Last week in my vegan travel article I neglected to mention one of my favorite breakfast foods: oatmeal! Plain oatmeal with whatever fruits I have handy. Usually sliced bananas, strawberries, or kiwis.

Filling, nutritious, available in some form everywhere I’ve been, and easy to prepare. Go oatmeal!

—

Last Sunday I spent all day on a Slakkline (aka slack line; pictured to your right) and it was incredibly fun, exhausting, tiring, and fun. I’m considering picking one up.

—

If you’re reading this on my Web site you’ll notice two new images in the sidebar. Since you’re probably not reading this on my Web site, but through e-mail/feed reader here is what they are.

First, MindControlMethod.org has a 125×125 image in anticipation of its release:

This is a very niche product and you might not be in the market for it, but it’s on a really powerful topic that’s close to my heart. I know it will help a lot of people.

And second, I’m working on a free “manifesto” called The American Dream Is Dead (Long Live The American Dream!) and I added an image for that in the sidebar as well. I began working on this manifesto early this year and then put it aside. It probably would’ve been good to release it on July 4th, huh? ;)

The release date on this is soon, but undetermined. I’ve written all the core content, but I’m still undecided on a few aspects of it. I expect it will be released within 3 weeks. (The design takes time.) :)

Sweet soupy links …

The Daily Brainstorm Blogazine

This is an interesting new aggregator of blog posts, of which this blog is a part. With so many blogs being a part of it, I don’t know how valuable it will be to each contributor, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

Boredom Is Public Enemy No. 1 by Jeffrey Tang

I fully agree. Boredom never results in anything good. I would venture to guess, based on my own experiences, that most cases of depression or drug addiction (alcohol, cigarettes, and harder drugs) are caused by boredom. (I’ve never been addicted to drugs, for the record!)

Veganism and Vegetarianism: Are They Healthy? by NYU Professor Marion Nestle

You know, I’m not a big fan of University, but as for social proof I know you’ll probably listen to a Professor more than little ole me. By the way, this video is hosted at BigThink.com. It’s an awesome site I learned about this week and I will be the first to admit that while I was sore and barely walking from the Slakkline I spent hours watching videos here. It’s like TED, but different.

Four High-Protein Vegetarian Alternatives To Soy by Matt Frazier

Because, for whatever reason, people still believe you can’t get protein without eating meat. I’m not sure if I told this story before so I’ll make it super short in case I have: last year in Franz Josef, New Zealand I went on a hike with 6 other people. All were meat eaters and all said eating vegan is no good, can’t possibly be good, you need meat for energy, etc, etc, myth, myth, BS. 2 hours later they all went home tired. I continued hiking for another 2 hours. Wusses. ;)

The Elements of Change by Leo Babauta

I’m really pissed at this article. Not because it’s bad, but because, dammit, I wish I wrote this part: “One last note, to anyone making changes: you will fail. I don’t say that to discourage you, but to release you from the fear of failure … because if you already know it will happen, then there’s no pressure to avoid it.”

That “release you from the fear of failure” part kills! If perfection in blogging was possible, that would be it.

Back in the days when me and my friends would hear an amazing guitar riff we’d joke: “That’s it, that is too good, I quit, take my guitar.” I feel the same about this. Leo, you’re damn good. But I won’t quit. ;)

Let’s Hang Out At BlogWorld!

As a last note, I will be at BlogWorld in Las Vegas October 14-16! BlogWorld is maybe the largest social networking conference in the … wait for it … world! If you’re a blogger or an aspiring blogger it will be a great place to network.

And what’s more important than hanging out with me? I’ll tell you what: nothing! ;)

If you decide to register let me know when I get to the USA so I can give you my cell number and we can hang. If enough RidiculouslyExtraordinary readers decide to go I will hold a special event … like dinner … or a Karaoke Party! The Weekend Pass (the one I bought) costs $395. If you want to save money on the hotel you can stay at one of the cheaper hotels on the strip. Or find a roommate to share the costs at Mandalay Bay (where BlogWorld is being held). Or CouchSurf!

That’s all for this week. I hope your July is going well!

Questions/comments/wanna walk on skinny pieces of fabric together? You know what to do …

Sweet Shit Saturday #014 (Extra! Extra! Confidence Edition)

On my struggles with the Polish language …

Hanging upside down 109m in the air. Confidence or stupidity?

Last week I posted on my Posterous (my unedited, whenever I feel like posting, random thoughts “diary”) about the 5 Levels of Fluency. As you already know if you pay attention to Benny (Happy Birthday Benny!), a lot of learning a new language is confidence and making mistakes in conversations with native speakers.

My lack of confidence in speaking Polish has always been due to the fact that I should know how to speak well (I was born here!) and I was embarrassed that, while I could easily get around in Poland, I stammered, stumbled, and misspoke. (I still stammer, stumble, and misspeak.) I wasn’t giving myself any slack for having no real practice with the language for a good 10 years. I mean, I speak with my Parents regularly, but that is not nearly enough.

And yes, I may have been born here, but my family left to Austria when I was 6 months old, and then the US when I was 1. Not much language practice there. ;)

I know quite a lot of people who have Parents who speak other languages but they don’t speak a word themselves. I should have given myself credit for at least being semi-fluent. The first 6-7 weeks were somewhat of a struggle none-the-less because I was too far into my head. That is all neither here nor there now. I’m really happy I decided to come back here and I am falling in love with this city. If it wasn’t for the fact that it has a Fall/Winter/Spring that are not up to my temperature requirements I would definitely stay longer.

More on confidence:

If you didn’t read Thursday’s article How To Be More Confident I highly suggest you read it as well as all the comments. Lots of good stuff in there. If you’re into that article, a tweet or a facebook share would rock my Saturday.

Links 2, 3, 4 … (I probably shouldn’t throw an old Rammstein reference into my article without making it known, so … made known!)

8 Ways To Be More Confident: Live The Life of Your Dreams by Lori Deschene

In keeping with the confidence theme here is some more great advice about confidence. Lori and I planned this. Kidding. I don’t know Lori. Hi Lori! I love TinyBuddha. Blog high five.

How To Stop Living For Others’ Approval by Tammy Strobel

Ja to kocham. ;)

The 20 Essential Habits of Highly Passionate People by Henri Juntilla

A great list here from Henri. I have nothing of consequence to add. :)

Start Before You’re Ready by Steven Pressfield

“By the time we’re ready, it’s too late.”

I’ve stated it before, but as far as Wednesday blog articles go, there is none better than Steven Pressfield’s. If I was only allowed to read one blog on Wednesdays it would be this one.

The Best Way To Deal With Loss by David Cain

David writes the blog Raptitude and I love it. He’s at a few thousand readers right now. In one year I suspect he’ll have exponentially more. :)

This is the story of his ruined laptop and how, in the grand scheme of things, life is amazing.

Vegan and Vegetarian: Questions and Answers by Niall Doherty

Although these are specifically Niall’s answers and mine would be different, I get enough questions on this topic to warrant sending you here to get Niall’s perspective.

On Monday I’m posting an article about Stress Free Vegan Travel. It’s an epic at ~2,500 words. It might piss you off if you’re vegan, and you probably won’t read it if you’re not. Sweet! ;)

That’s all for this week.

Questions/comments/this? You know what to do…

Sweet Shit Saturday #013 (Stats! Numbers! Wheee! Edition)

Last month was a big one for this blog. Here is some info about that plus “super mega” stuff you should check out …

I’m a big fan of tracking important stats (sales, ecourse subscribers, stuff that matters). I’ve mentioned before, but by tracking stats you find out where to focus your time because you know which of your efforts are paying off. When you can focus your efforts on only things that work guess what happens? You save time and work a little less. ;) With things like Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer tracking stats is not only easy, but free!

And with that …

June was a record month by every imaginable metric! It’s my first month of more than 100k pageviews (I don’t include StumbleUpon traffic in this number), which is more than double May’s pageviews. Much more importantly, the total RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com readership doubled as well. I put more focus on gaining Freedom Fighters than RSS, but each went up by 4 figures. Woohoo!

The reason for this massive increase is simple: I launched How To Live Anywhere and with it came lots of new traffic (hi!).

While I did orchestrate a small launch, it wasn’t that much work. I realized on the Saturday before launch that sending more e-mails to people who don’t know me would be a waste of time. Annoying people who do know me with launch e-mails would be a waste of time as well. I let things happen as they would and the results were fantastic.

Thank you for making the 12th month of this blog amazing. :)

Affiliates!

Affiliates did a fantastic job selling How To Live Anywhere last month.

Here are the top 5 (in terms of how much $ they made) for June:

  1. $1,514.40
  2. $1,488.65
  3. $511.45
  4. $379.50
  5. $379.50

All told there were 14 affiliates who made at least 1 sale and affiliate revenue was about 70% of total revenue.

Thank you if you linked to HTLA last month. You rock!

Super Mega Tangents

Everybody in Poland uses the words super and mega. e.g. “Mega zajebiste!”

Benny tells me it’s rooted in Latin. But I don’t know Latin. I know Polish and my English is at a 4th grade level according to my perfect marks in 4th grade English when I was in 4th grade. If you read it 4 times it makes sense.

(EDIT: My bad, I don’t listen well. Benny told me “super” was rooted in Latin, but “mega” is Greek. It’s all in the comments below if you care. ;) )

How about I take a tangent from the tangent so I can get to the links? Super mega idea Karol!

Tangent that has exactly nothing to do with the above but everything to do with my life: If you’re ever in Berlin go to Dolores Burrito on Rosa Luxemburg Str and get the Dolores Vegan. Holy wow, it may be the best burrito this side of Freebirds (Austin, TX).

Bonus tangent: If you’re ever in Berlin you probably don’t need to get the standard fare AB zone U / S-bahn tickets for 2.30 EUR. For just 1.30 EUR you can get a Short Trip ticket that allows up to 3 transfers on one trip within AB zone. I didn’t discover this until 12 hours before leaving Berlin. :)

Triple bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus tangent: Before heading to the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) in Berlin make sure you actually figure out how to get there first. Because, you know, that helps. And it saves you an expensive Taxi ride to make your train back to Poland. ;) (The Taxi cost almost as much as the train from Berlin > Wroclaw. haha!)

Now for some sweet link lurve:

How DJ Sean Gallagher Went From Broke To Surfing Mexico Thanks To His “How To DJ” Online Business by Yaro Starak

I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories. :) (This is a downloadable MP3.)

My 2 Bucks on Pricing by Chris Ashworth

This article could also be called “How To Make As Much In 3 Days As I Used To Make In 1 Month.” Love it. This is a must-read article if you ever plan on releasing a product of your own. And especially if you plan to make your prices low. The psychology behind pricing is fascinating and there are multiple reasons why I priced How To Live Anywhere at $110 as least one of which is touched upon in this article. :)

Small Volume High Price vs Large Volume Low Price by Brian Evans

If we’re going to talk about pricing, let’s talk about pricing! Brian provides really great insights into pricing. If you’re at all interested in marketing you really should be reading Brian’s blog.

Take Action by Kyle Durand

I’ve said it a million times, and I’ve linked to at least a few articles on this topic. I will keep linking to them. Taking focused action is important. So important that if you write an article about it I’ll probably link to you as well. :)

Validation Is Overrated by Seth Godin

Alright, I know it’s trendy to link to Seth Godin. But he is impossible not to link to. His work is good day in and day out. This article, in particular, stood out for me. Validation has gotten a lot of people into a lot of messes. Student loan debt. Banking debt. Credit card debt. And other debts. The root cause for all of them is seeking validation. Although Mr. Godin didn’t touch on any of those points, they’re still valid. ;) (Do I even need to point out what I did there? Wait, I just did. Dammit!)

I assume I’m below average by Derek Sivers

I don’t do this nearly often enough. It’s not that I think I’m great. I’m just a regular dude. It’s that I’m not afraid to give myself credit if I’m good at something. I like this approach to self improvement as long as it’s not taken from a negative stance. e.g. “I suck at this!” If we all took this advice the world would be a better place. :)

The Karol Gajda Weight Loss Method (Results Guaranteed) by Karol Gajda

This got a lot of @ replies on Twitter when I posted it a few days ago so I’m sharing it here with you as well. :)

That’s it for this week. Let’s hang soon, OK? How about Monday? Mega zajebiste, it’s a date!

Questions/comments/wanna have a zombie staring contest? You know what to do …

Sweet Shit Saturday #012 (Live From Germany Edition)

Live from Berlin! A little bit about the future of Ridiculously Extraordinary + lots of sweet links …

Greetings from Germany! Err, I mean … Guten tag! I’m in Berlin hanging with Benny!

As you know if you read Thursday’s article, I conducted a survey to figure out exactly what you want out of me. Some of the answers I was expecting, some I’m happily surprised with, and some I’m completely befuddled by. ;)

What I know for sure is that you want a guide to teach you how to get your first affiliate product sale and another guide to teach you how to get your first infoproduct sale. Message received and I’m getting the wheels in motion for a very small group of initial participants in Zero To First Affiliate Sale. That won’t be public on this blog, so don’t worry about being inundated with another launch right now. :)

And … I’m thrilled that so many of you want me to release a fleshed out version of Mind Control Method! Based on your response, and my own excitement about the product, you can expect it on October 28, 2010. (There is a reason it’s specifically that date. Can you guess what that is?)

I’ve had this product in mind since I wrote that Mind Control article and I know it will help a lot of people. But I didn’t actually think anybody else would be interested in it (woohoo! for that). To help me create an awesome Mind Control Method product go to www.MindControlMethod.org and register (you’ll also get early bird pricing, of course).

Since I’m hanging with Benny I feel like I should dedicate this Saturday to language learning. But I don’t read any language learning blogs except Benny’s so we’re gonna stick with non-language extraordinary link love …

Minimalism, Online Business, Nomadism, Men by Brook Delorme

Even though she kinda disses me (and others) in this article it brings up a good point. One that was raised with me in an e-mail conversation with someone else last week so obviously lots of us are thinking about it. Why are there not more women writing about minimalism, business, and travel? Not separately, but all 3 subjects.

If you are the female version of me or any of the other people Brook linked to please do us all a favor and get in touch. Even if you haven’t started blogging yet.

The Diddy Guide to Constant Creativity and Relentless Marketing by Greg Rollett

Diddy himself tweeted this article, it’s that good. :) This is Greg’s guest post on ThinkTraffic.net. Greg rules, Corbett from ThinkTraffic rules. Diddy rules (from a business standpoint). Check them out.

The Essential Qualities of a Traveling Companion by Ivan Campuzano

I have an article about Roadtripping In A Campervan in the pipeline and the most important part of a roadtrip is choosing the right companion(s). I much prefer solo travel, but when I do travel with others it’s usually a phenomenal experience because of the qualities Ivan lists here.

How I Gained 9,000 Subscribers In 9 Months by Glen Allsopp

Glen had a previous blog called PluginID that he grew to 6,500 subscribers before selling. His new blog surpassed that subscriber count in record time. Could you do the same thing? I don’t know. But this is worth a read if you’re a blogger.

How To Have High Value Relaxation by Laura Roeder

Just a day after I posted my How To Relax article Laura came at us with this awesome video! It was complete coincidence, but I guess a little more proof that we really do need to set aside time to relax.

That’s all for this week! I’m gonna go eat some awesome food and turn this town upside down.

Questions/comments/wanna eat at Yellow Sunshine with me? You know what to do …

Sweet Shit Saturday #011 (WTF Stop Popping Edition)

A Sweet Shit Saturday like none other. But you’ll have to actually read it to find out why …

I don’t know anything about bikes. I just know I like to ride and I never want to own a car again. I don’t care if it’s a tricycle, a mountain bike, or a motorbike. I like the open air and the speed. I like the feeling of childhood carefree freedom. I like doing bunny hops. I like jumping curbs. I like riding through mud puddles even though I only have one pair of pants and probably shouldn’t do that.

But back to the not knowing anything about bikes thing. I bought a bike at a swap meet a few weeks ago for 180 PLN (that’s like $55 USD). The front brake didn’t work and the gears didn’t shift well, but it was a solid piece of machinery.

Except pretty much every time I rode it for more than a couple hours I’d get a flat.

That was annoying.

I asked the guy at the closest bike shop (who also served as my tire tube replacement guy) if there was something wrong or if I needed a new tire. He said no, it looks good.

But I finally got fed up and asked my HTLA members (in passing) if they knew anything about bikes. I got a lot of awesome responses. Long story short: I took the bike to a different shop and the guy said the tire was jacked up and needed replacing. It was a 2.5km walk to this bike shop as opposed to the 0.5km walk to the bike shop I had been going to. Which one will I continue going to? Probably the one that fixed my bike. ;)

And before you get on my case for not changing my own tire tubes: it’s 20PLN (~$6USD) for a new tube and the labor. New tire and tube and labor? 50PLN. :)

Enough about bikes. Oh wait. Thinking about biking Route 66 next year. I’ll have to learn a little more about bikes before then.

OK, enough about bikes. Sweet linkage awaits!

After 15 Years of Practice by Derek Sivers

You know how I mentioned before that there is only one person I would ever work for? I lied. There are 2. Derek Sivers is my hero and I have done my best to devour every piece of content he has created over the past few years.

I was a CDBaby customer back in the day and I remember reading the bios and thinking “wow, this Derek guy is a genius.” Little did I know at the time how right I was. haha

Fuck it. I’m dedicating this week to Derek Sivers. Other sweet links will have to wait.

5 more must-read articles on Sivers.org:

Why I gave away my company to charity by Derek Sivers

By putting his company in a trust and selling it for $22 million Derek did something most of us could never imagine doing. Yes, he does get 5% of that paid to himself every year out of the trust, but if you dwell on that fact you’re missing the point.

Trust but verify by Derek Sivers

Lessons on delegation from a guy who has been living the world traveling laptop life since most of us were in diapers. OK, that’s not true. Derek’s not that old. But still. He’s been rocking that lifestyle for a long time.

You should feel pain when unclear by Derek Sivers

I love this article. And it’s one of the reasons I edit the articles on this blog so heavily. Wasted words = misconstrued message. That said, I know I’m not doing a good job in all aspects of my message. It’s a constant process.

Why you need your own company by Derek Sivers

Do I need to keep writing “by Derek Sivers”? Yes, I do. Your own company = a platform to test your ideas. Testing your ideas = happiness.

6 things I wish I knew the day I started Berklee by Derek Sivers

All of these are important, but #3 struck the biggest chord with me: Nobody will teach you anything. You have to teach yourself. It’s very Iron Mind-like. :)

That’s enough for today. What’s your favorite Derek Sivers article? Oh, don’t have one? Here are the archives: http://sivers.org/blog

Find one and let me know. ;)

Sweet Shit Saturday #010 (Giving Thanks Edition)

As promised, lots of people to thank for the How To Live Anywhere launch on Tuesday!

If you’re new here, every Saturday I write about awesome articles I’ve found around the Web. Usually it’s not focused on me. I am not that selfish or egotistical. :) But, this week was a little different, so I’m giving myself some leeway. ;)

The launch went exceedingly well. I didn’t sell out of the fast action bonus in one day like I had thought, but that’s OK. I know if I had used false scarcity I would have, but this course will be available forever! :)

Two affiliates had their best ever net income 24 hours online during the first 24 hours of launch. That is just awesome and I’m thrilled to have been a part of their success. I’m going to be sending affiliates a huge chunk of change next month and that feels great. (Currently, the affiliate program is only open to How To Live Anywhere members.)

If you didn’t already know, I believe in treating affiliates like the Kings and Queens they are. Most product owners have never been affiliates and don’t understand what it’s like. From 10:30am EST until Midnight EST on launch day I gave away pretty much all profits to affiliates. Meaning, commissions were set at 95%, so after Paypal fees and affiliate commissions I was making only $1-$2 per affiliate sale and loving every minute of it. :)

You may have seen a few articles/interviews/mentions around the Web, but if not, here they are …

Thank you. You rock for being here.

How To Live Anywhere Members

Obviously, thank you! I have been getting amazing feedback from you and it makes me even more thrilled that I actually released this course. :)

Guest Posts

I wrote two guest posts for launch day. Ideally, I would have liked to write more, but it just didn’t work out that way.

The Absolute Beginner’s Guide To Starting A Small Online Business on ZenHabits.net

How To Start A Revolution (or 3 Ways To Change The World) on TheMiddleFingerProject.org

Thank you Leo and Ash for allowing me to write for your awesome blogs!

Interviews

Sweet! I did a couple of text interviews for launch day …

How To Live Anywhere With Everett Bogue at FarBeyondTheStars.com

This is the second time Everett has interviewed me. I also interviewed him (in audio form) for HTLA. But you already know that if you bought it. :) Thanks Everett! (Everett is releasing his Minimalist Business guide on June 15. I’m sending the audio interview I did with him to my Freedom Fighters on that day. For nothing. No obligation to purchase. You get the audio interview as my thanks for being a Freedom Fighter, which is also free.)

How To Live Your Dreams, From Anywhere With Tammy Strobel at RowdyKittens.com

Tammy was nice enough to throw some awesome questions at me. :) We get into some detail about Limiting Beliefs. It’s an important conversation. Tammy also gave her Simply Car Free eBook and consulting time for everybody who purchased HTLA through her. Thanks Tammy!

Reviews / Mentions

Wooohooo! Quite a few reviews/mentions.

How To Live Anywhere – By WA Christopher J.

I’ve known Jim for ~10 years. We used to play basketball and rock together in good ole Sterling Heights, MI. He is currently on The Eternal Roadtrip in a car with 200,000 miles. He also writes literary masterpieces.

I’m Not Dead I’m Just Working On A Product (And Giving It Away Free For 24 Hours) by Corbett Barr

Corbett gave away his upcoming affiliate marketing course for free to anybody who purchased HTLA in the first 24 hours! Thanks Corbett!

Let’s Talk Freedom by Henri Junttila

Henri gave way both of his eBooks + an hour of consulting for everybody who bought HTLA through him. Awesome, thanks Henri!

How To Live Anywhere by David Damron

David gave away (I believe) every single one of his eBooks. In return, he had a great sales day. :) Thanks David!

A Minimalist Living Movie Vision Board by Charley Forness

Charley not only is giving away one of his upcoming products with HTLA purchase, but he also provided a video testimonial based on his success with HTLA. (I released Version 0.9 of HTLA on March 5, 2010 and he got it back then.)

How To Live Anywhere – A Review by Anthony Feint

Anthony actually reviewed the original Version 0.9 after he bought it back in March. Then he re-reviewed the new complete course. Thanks for that Anthony!

How To Live Anywhere and Enjoy Ridiculously Extraordinary Freedom by Ivan Campuzano

I’ve only recently connected with Ivan and he wrote a great review of HTLA. Thanks Ivan!

How To Live Anyfrigginwhere Like A Boss by Greg Rollett

Greg wasn’t able to write a review for launch day because he had his own product launch going, but then he wrote a review anyway! Greg’s launch is BandWPThemes.com, a way to get your band’s Web site online with a sweet looking wordpress site in ~12 minutes. (Yes, there is video proof.)

How to Live and Work Anywhere by Rosalind Gardner

I’ve known Rosalind for probably 8 years but lost touch with her (and lots of other people) about 5 years ago. Rosalind wrote  a great write up of our recent conversation (I won 2 hours of consulting time with her in an Affiliate Summit charity auction, my way of getting back in touch while helping a good cause, hehe) and a review of HTLA. Thank you Rosalind!

Live and Work from Anywhere by Rasheed Hooda

Rasheed was an early adopter and got Version 0.9 of HTLA back in March. He wrote this review and also picked up the upgraded Long Haul HTLA. Thanks Rasheed!

Free Love Friday by Melissa Gorzelanczyk

Melissa gave me a shout out on her weekly Friday link round-up! Thanks Melissa.

ManVsDebt.com linked on his site under Featured Products I Love.

Baker rules. Thanks Baker!

Mnmlstlife.com linked on the side bar.

Abhishek e-mailed me and asked if he could put a 125×125 button on his Web site for my course without the affiliate link. He simply likes what I’m doing and wanted to help out. Thanks Abhishek, that is so cool!

Thanks to John Reese for sending a shout out to his crew yesterday! (Also, there’s an epic 45 minute interview with John in HTLA Long Haul so thanks for that too John!)

If I somehow missed you then I am a buttface. But send me an e-mail and I’ll be sure to give you credit ASAP! I will probably also kiss the ground you walk on and throw rice at random newlyweds. Just because I can.

Other Thanks

Thanks to Benny Lewis, Jonathan Mead, Jim Cockrum, Grace Gardner (no Web site rock star!), Brian Evans, and Lisa Sonora Beam for allowing me to interview them for HTLA! And thanks again to Leo Babauta, John Reese, Everett Bogue, Henri Junttila who I already thanked above, but who also allowed me to interview them! :)

Thank you to Charlie at CharfishDesign.com for kicking ass on the 5 HTLA PDF guides, the 125×125 button (it’s in my sidebar to your right) and also for hooking up some things on the sales page at the last minute.

Thanks to my Mastermind Group, because without their accountability and insights I might not be getting as much done as I have been.

Twitter + Testing/Tracking Nerd Alert!

There were a ton of mentions on twitter! I’m not sure how to thank all of them although I did respond to every tweet (I think) so if you tweeted you got thanks that way. :)

Interestingly, lots of people linked directly to the course and Twitter traffic made 3 sales! (The math nerd in me loves tracking these things. It’s a good business quality as well.)

Minimalist Testing/Tracking

In Everett Bogue’s Minimalist Business guide (mentioned earlier, available June 15 and that’s not an affiliate link) I wrote an article about minimalist tracking. It’s actually very easy to set up for most sites. For WordPress it’s a little bit trickier, but still doable. If enough people are interested I will send Everett an update on how to set up tracking for WordPress. It takes ~15 minutes from start to finish if you’re using Thesis Theme. Just a tad bit longer (and just a bit of technical knowhow) if you’re using a free theme.

Lots of people don’t seem to realize the power in testing/tracking and how simple it is to set up. For example, I know that Google.com has so far sent me 9 HTLA Long Haul Version sales with a conversion rate of 3.08%. Should I focus more on Google rankings? Probably a great idea. That’s ~$950 in profit from completely free traffic! Thanks for the free plane ticket to almost anywhere Google. ;)

Whoa, tangent! If you’re new here know that I go on lots of those …

Talk soon.

And thank you!

Sweet Shit Saturday #009 (Business Building Edition)

Launch lessons learned, product road maps, how to get more tweets/comments, how to take action, and more! Plus sneak peak at How To Live Anywhere …

(That photo is supposed to be funny…or double entendre-esque. It’s a photo of a business building, but what I’m referring to in the title of this post is building a business. Why am I explaining myself? Did I just confuse you? I confused myself. Should I stop talking to myself via my own blog? Did I just enter a wormhole? Science, help me.)

We’re getting so close to launch for How To Live Anywhere! Next Tuesday, June 8, 10:30am EST! I am really happy about what I’ve created. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been as pleased with a work of my own art as this course. (note: the course is now available!)

I was talking with my mastermind group a few days ago and straight up said “I’m putting so much into this I have no idea what I’ll be able to create for my next product.” Which is fine by me. My goal is to wow everybody who looks at How To Live Anywhere, and I’m sure I’ve done it.

Even Charlie, the awesome designer who is creating the PDF guides for me, said “I love your affiliate guide. It is really really good. I read the whole thing and am reading it again tonight because it’s full of straightforward info. Dig it.” The affiliate guide he’s referring to is a 12 page guide called The Anatomy of a 4 Figure Affiliate Promotion that is part of the How To Live Anywhere course. Everybody who has seen this guide has had nothing but positive things to say. I’m loving this!

Here’s a sneak peak at the cover design Charlie created for the core How To Live Anywhere guide:

Charlie rules.

Let’s get into some links, shall we? Today we’re focusing on business building …

How To Live Anywhere Pre-Launch

I’ve shared some fun business lessons with you this week. The comments/tweets/e-mails you’ve made were all so awesome. Thank you!

Monday – How I Created My First 6-Figure Business For $119.40

Thursday – Why I Quit (or How To Go From $10k/month to $0/month Overnight)

This coming Monday – The Thrill of $10k In A Day (and Why Monetary Goals Are Worthless)

Business Lessons From Around The Blogosphere

Launch Lessons Learned: Q&A With Nathan Hangen of Beyond Blogging by Dave Navarro

Considering this is pre-launch week (like shark week … but without the sharks, and with more pre, whatever that is … Prefontaine?) this was a good article to read.  I don’t necessarily agree with the sentiment about launches being tiring though. Lots of stuff to do? Yes. Last minute tweaks and lots and lots and lots of e-mail conversations. Plus writing guest posts and answering interviews. I love it. It’s what Seth Godin might call a sprint. Not sustainable over the long haul, but definitely sustainable for a few days/weeks.

Frazzled? Overwhelmed? Try Creating a Product Roadmap by Erica Douglass

I’ve been following Erica’s blog for a long time. When she was 26 she sold a Web hosting company for $1.1 million and then started sharing her knowledge with the world. Rock! If you’ve been unsure or overwhelmed as far as product creation goes, this article will help. Erica is planning on releasing 10 products this year (whoa!) and this is her process.

How To Organize A Sales Page To Avoid Overwhelm by Mark Silver

Wow, perfect timing on this. I’m a good sales page copy writer (like anything, lots of practice helps), but I’ve never been good at the actual layout of pages. The collapsible elements WordPress plugin that Mark mentions looks like an awesome option for making the layout less overwhelming. I may try it for Tuesday, although I very well may not. We might both be surprised! :)

Buck Up and Make The Decision by Annie Sorensen

This is a video post and Annie states exactly what I’m a huge advocate of. Stop making excuses, start taking action. When it comes to starting a business, you just have to decide you want it, and stop making excuses about why you can’t make it happen.

Mass Engagement: How To Get Hundreds of Tweets & Comments On Your Blog Posts by Glen Allsopp

Glen really rocks it hard on a regular basis, and this article is no exception. If you’re wondering how he gets such a large amount of tweets and comments on his blog posts and how you can do the same, then check this out.

That’s all for this week. I hope you’re getting value out of this pre-launch. As you can see I’m not hard selling and even if you don’t plan to buy anything from me the articles are legitimate lessons, not disguised sales pitches. It’s basically like any other time on this blog, only the articles are all business focused.

Questions/comments/want to build empires (complete with real castles and moats!) together? You know what to do …

Sweet Shit Saturday #008 (Pre-Launch Edition)

Preeeeee la la la launch! This week is pre launch week and we’ll be talking about lots of business stuff!

Whoa, the official launch of How To Live Anywhere is coming up fast. June 8!

Next week, being that it’s pre-launch week, will be full of lots of nitty-gritty bad assery™. (Not really ™ I just wanted to be super cool and insert a symbol. Seriously, super cool.) In this particular case, I’m sticking to biz-related articles until launch. We’ll cover how I started my first profitable biz for less than $200 (and how you can too), why I once shut down (as opposed to selling for a large sum or continuing on with it) a biz that was pulling in over $10k/month profit, and what it feels like to make 5 figures in a day (multiple times) but why I still think money isn’t of utmost importance.

The next 10 days will also be spent mobilizing a group of affiliates to make the launch a success. While I don’t have the network to pull off a Chris Guillebeau launch of epic proportions right now, it will still be a fun time. The affiliate program is currently open to anybody who bought Version 0.9 and a select few other people. If you have a blog with a readership that trusts you and for some reason you don’t get an e-mail from me by Wednesday please get in touch. (Launch day commissions are going to be a massive 95%. I don’t mess around when it comes to treating affiliates well. Ba ba ba booya!)

How my eBook made $1,800 In 3 Days with 78 people on my list by Kelly Kingman

This is a great story and reinforces what I talked about in 7 Ways To Establish Trust In An Age Of Skepticism. I’ve had Kelly’s blog in my RSS reader for a while and she comes across as very genuine. In other words, trustworthy. As a result, her small list and a few key actions produced tremendous results.

How To Achieve Your Dreams by Tammy Strobel

The most important part of this article is tip #6: action. No article, book, course, or person will ever help you as much as you can help yourself by simply taking focused action right now. Thanks for reinforcing that Tammy. :)

The Importance of Being Unremarkable by Jonathan Mead

Jonathan (who I just interviewed for How To Live Anywhere) has an awesome take on doing unremarkable but important things. I especially like this line: “When we’re focusing too much on doing epic shit, we can lose sight of the truly epic things that aren’t outwardly or obviously epic.” I do a lot of unremarkable things that I really enjoy. Hand washing my clothes in a bag is one of them. Without fail, everybody who sees me do it makes a comment and thinks I’m weird, but I enjoy the process of hand washing my clothes … in a bag. ;) It’s unremarkable, but to me it’s epic.

How To Pursue Work That Matters by Everett Bogue

I agree with a lot of what Everett writes here (and a lot of what he writes in general, dude rocks!), but also disagree with some of it: “…answering every blog comment whether or not it’s relevant or even requires a response.” I seem to be in the minority with this thought (well, Pat and Glen seem to be gung-ho on the same page as me, although I won’t put words in their mouths), but I think answering all (or pretty much all) blog comments is pursuing work that matters. Yes, it takes time, but showing appreciation to fans who allow me to do what I do is time well invested. I liken it to an actor who wants to be famous, but when they get famous and have lots of attention from fans they ignore them. You can tell who not only deserves success, but appreciates who gave them that success. Without you, this blog is just a tree falling in the forest with nobody around to hear it. Thanks for hearing the tree fall and for telling your friends you liked the sound. ;)

Travel Hack: How To Take 40kg Of Luggage On Low Cost Carriers by Benny Lewis

Benny forgot the most important part of this situation in the headline: it’s free! Benny did this without paying extra baggage fees (well, beyond the regular check-in fee). This is simply awesome … and fun. I almost wish I had 50kg of stuff so I could attempt a new “record.” :)

Veganize Your Life by WA Christopher J.

I mentioned I had an article about veganism about 6 months ago and I’ve dropped the ball. Mostly because I haven’t looked at it in months, it’s a good 3-4,000 words, and it’s not done. I get a lot of e-mails about veganism and I really will post that tome some day. For now, my friend James wrote this awesome guide, but he includes a disclaimer: “This guide was written for those who have already made the choice to become vegan.” James is a great writer so it’s worth a read even if you haven’t made that choice yet. :)

The #1 Habit Of Highly Creative People by Leo Babauta

If you know me by now you know I highly recommend this habit myself. You’ll see exactly what it is when you read the article. Here’s a hint: I don’t own the domain HowToBeAlone.com for nothing. (A free Black Book will launch there in a few months.)

That’s all for this week. I hope even if you don’t ever plan on buying anything from me or if you already bought Version 0.9 of How To Live Anywhere you’ll stick around during (and after!) the June 8th launch. If not, it’s cool, we’re still best buds. ;)

Questions/comments/want me to cook you my famous gluten-free soy-free 4-bean veganized chili? You know what to do …

Sweet Shit Saturday #007 (Singing In The Rain Edition)

It has been a rainy time in Poland thus far, but it’s looking up! Lots of good stuff this week. Watching TV, creating raving fans, passionate living, relationships, creating high quality content, and more …

Minus the singing, plus lots of rain.

It has been rainy (and floody) and cold most of my time in Poland thus far. It’s warming up a bit now.

Hey, I have an idea –> instead of me babbling about the weather like some lame dude trying to pick up some hot chick (or a hot dude, whatever, it’s cool), let’s get right into the …

swt lnks:

Are You Living The Dream or Chasing It? by some dude with a girl’s name that he tells everybody is Karl

“Hey Karol, WTF are you doing linking to your own post here when I already read it on Monday?!”

Wait, wait, let me explain! :) There was a lot of resistance to the tests in this article. It kind of made me sad just how much resistance there was to the no TV watching thing. Originally I made the tests 30 day tests, but I removed the sentence mentioning that before posting. I think maybe that’s where all the resistance comes from. It’s difficult to think about quitting a TV addiction forever. 30 days? No problem. Forever? Youz a crazy mofo dude with the girl’s name!

The point of the article was to get back to basics. To be mindful of how we’re spending time and how we’re wasting time. To be mindful of what is going into our bodies and enjoy the process instead of scarfing something down as quickly as possible. To actively seek knowledge.

I do eat at restaurants, sometimes. I do watch TV. That’s mostly a lie because it’s a rare occurrence, but I can’t state that I absolutely never watch. And I don’t read books every single day. Also rare, but there are days when I don’t actually pick up a book.

You can officially consider the tests 30 day tests. But you will never, ever, not in this lifetime (what other lifetime is there?) convince me that TV is productive or useful. I had an interesting thought about that …

The people who create TV shows spend more time creating TV shows than watching TV shows. Why? Because they’re living their dreams, not chasing them. Thoughts?

How to use Personality to Build a Loyal Audience and Create Raving Fans — with Naomi Dunford by Corbett Barr

I paid for a consultation with Naomi last week. Naomi is not cheap. And I don’t mean that in the sleazy red light district way. Wait … I mean … hmmm … how do I dig myself out of this one? Got it –> You can get some of Naomi’s sweet sweet … info! … frrrreeeeeeee in this interview on ThinkTraffic.

ThatTravelSpark.com by Shannon Albert

Cool new travel tip blog (with video!) that Shannon just launched. She has already added lots of content and is adding more regularly. If you have a family I think this site will be especially useful because Shannon has a husband and 2 kids and has a lot of experience traveling with the whole crew. Shannon and I disagree about cheap ponchos. Does that mean anything to you? It shouldn’t. Probably just check out the site and have a look-see before I go off on more tangents.

Lack of Content is a Lazy Excuse by Pat Flynn

“You should never have nothing to write about.” If you have nothing to write about you’re probably forcing yourself into the “wrong” niche because you’re chasing money or fame or something of that sort. I have about 30,000 words of content in backlog for this blog and it just doesn’t stop pouring out of me. I refuse to post more than 3 times/week though. :)

Passionate Living Guide by Henri Junttila

I interviewed Henri about how he earns money while living anywhere for How To Live Anywhere (coming June 8!). Henri’s an awesome dude who has been known to watch a lot of Los Simpsons lately to practice his Spanish. Damn, I guess TV can be educational. I take back everything I said earlier. (No, I don’t. TV drools, avocado rules!) He just released this sweet guide for $9.95. If you enter coupon code ‘freedom’ you get 25% off for the next week. Booya! (Just doing my thing and hooking you up!) Who the guide is not for: if you’re already living a passionate life, then rock! You’re all good. Who the guide is for: if you’re stuckified this guide can help. You know, you’re just not quite on the path in life you wish you were on. That type of thing. It does not have all the answers. Nothing does, nothing ever will. It’s 92 pages and full of lots of content.

Tim Ferriss Scam! Practical Tactics For Dealing With Haters by Tim Ferriss

Man, I really wish Tim’s site worked in Chrome (also known as Better Than Your Browser Unless Your Browser Is Chrome). But then again, there are a lot of sites that don’t. Step up your games people! This commentary has nothing at all to do with this post by Tim, but I had to get it off my chest. As much flack (flak? flaq? flac? Aflac?) as Tim gets, he has inspired many people, including myself. And the dude deserves all the success and acclaim he has received.

Proof You Can Create High Quality Content With No Money by The Swellers

The link above is to a video called Fire Away by my friends and tour mates The Swellers. You’ll notice that the video looks like something that might be on MTV if MTV still played videos. I won’t tell you how much they spent on the video, but let’s just say you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. :)

The key for them was relationships. Over the years they built up a lot of relationships with people and were able to call in favors. Take away: relationships are how you build a business as well.

Language Hacking Guide by Benny Lewis

Benny rocks it. I linked to this on Monday, and I’m linking to it again. I’ve linked to Benny a bunch of times before and I’m sure I’ll link to him in the future. Dude rules. Yes, I get paid if you buy the Language Hacking Guide. If you don’t want me to get paid just go to www.languagehacking.com and buy it and give Benny all those sweet sweet duckets (cash, skrilla, bills, bread, dough, cabbage, you get the point). It don’t matter (how’s my grammar?). If you’ve tried and failed at learning languages before, follow Benny’s advice already. Or don’t. :)

Special shout out to @norcross (andrewnorcross.com) for fixing my Thesis theme (aff) when I upgraded it and it didn’t look quite right about 20 minutes ago. :)

Questions/comments/wanna bake jelly filled donut cupcakes and tell me your deepest darkest secrets? You know what to do …

Sweet Shit Saturday #006 (Into The Wild Edition)

Another wonderful Saturday full of Empire building, getting access to big shots, a bankruptcy thought exercise, one of my favorite authors, and more …

As you know if you read Thursday’s article I’ve been hanging out 50km outside of Wroclaw, Poland. To get more specific, I’m basically in the middle of nowhere. There are not many people here. Very few cars pass by the house. It’s quiet. It’s serene. I love it. But I’m a bigger city person and am back in Wroclaw as of about 37 minutes ago. :)

Let’s get right into the sweet, sweet, links!

Empire Building Kit by Chris Guillebeau

This was first launched last month and is being re-released for 24 hours Tuesday. During the first release last month I bought the middle option … I think it’s called Hail Caesar. :) I’ll be sending more insider info about building Empires to the Freedom Fighters on Tuesday. So if you’re thinking about buying this, wait for that e-mail to find out:

a) Whether you should or shouldn’t spend your hard earned dollars. (It’s not for everybody, and it may not be for you.)
b) What I like and don’t like.  (Nothing is perfect, and nothing has all the answers.)
c) How to build an empire without spending a lot of money. (Yes, it is possible.)
d) A bonus I’m not revealing publicly. (Sweet, sweet, bonus!)

If you’re not already a Freedom Fighter sign up below this article or to the right on the sidebar and look out for an e-mail on Tuesday with the subject: “[FF] – Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Letting Go of Attachment, from A To Zen by Lori Deschene

Lori usually writes on TinyBuddha.com, but here she hits us with a great article on ZenHabits.net. I’m a practitioner of detachment although that wasn’t always the case. My favorite part of this article is G, Go it alone sometimes. I know far too many people who don’t know how to hang out with themselves for 5 minutes, much less a longer period of time, and it’s important to grasp this concept.

6 Steps That Get Big Shots To Answer Your E-mail by Pace Smith

I’m a fan of big shots answering their e-mail. :) And you’ll see that Pace states many of the same things I stated in Fear of Competition Is Bullshit (or Why Competition Is Your Friend). Most importantly, keep it short and on point.

I’m Going Bankrupt by Jonathan Volk

Jonathan is not really going bankrupt. In fact, he has pulled in over $1,000,000 in revenue using just Facebook Ads in the past 10 months. No, this article is a thought exercise. “What would happen if I went bankrupt?” The most important point in this article is “focus.” I’ve been paying attention to Jonathan for a couple of years. He’s a smart dude. :)

The Difference: Living Well vs Doing Well by Rolf Potts

Before I state anything else you should know that I think Rolf Potts may just be the greatest author/writer/putter-of-words-to-paper of my generation. His book Vagabonding got my ass in gear to explore the world. His other book Marco Polo Didn’t Go There is a beautiful insight into the genius behind his writing. Actually, that’s all I’m going to write. Go read this article, and go read his books! ;) (I give out Vagabonding as a gift like it’s candy. Seriously, go to the library or Amazon or eBay or Paperbackswap and read it.)

That’s all for this week. This coming Monday’s article is about living your dreams vs chasing dreams. I wrote the first draft in Cairns, Australia 6 months ago, but never felt comfortable posting it. You’ll see why … or maybe it’s all just in my head! :) See you soon …