Post: #526

I've taken the plunge into persuing location independence.

The first step was revamping my home office. I wanted to jump straight into to idea generation and business development, but I figured my office needs to be as comfortable as possible if I am going to spending long hours in there. The biggest problem I had in the past was back pain after several hours sitting working on my computer. I decided to change everything around and upgrade to a standing desk.

All the standing desks I found were expensive ($500-$600 for motorized base models) or crap quality ($250-$300 IKEA specials) fixed height. i found some DIY lifehack style solutions where you basically just put a box of shelves in your current desk to raise the computer. I wasn't satisfied with any of those options.

I settled on just building my own. I built the base out of scrap steel my friend had. Then I took a couple pieces of pine boards I had laying around for the top. I made it rather large, 6 feet by 3.5 feet.

Initially I set it to a height where my arms would have about a 100* (10* down from 90*) bend in them to reach the keyboard. It was great at first, but after two days of 5-6 hours of work my wrists started to hurt. I assumed it was the angle of my arms causing my wrists to slightly flex upwards the entire time I was typing. I rose the desk 2 inches so my arms are now just about at a 90* angle when typing. No problems since.

Next I picked up a four monitor stand and mounted that at the back of the desk. I was a bit worried the stand wouldn't support the weight of four monitors (although it is specifically built to) or the wood boards flexing from the weight and causing the monitors to droop. So far no problems, all four monitors sit at eye level.

The last thing was a quality microphone setup. I purchased a microphone boom arm that is designed to be attached (via a clamp like system) to a desk. However i attached it the horizontal support bar on the monitor stand. It's rigged so I just reach up and pull it down to start recording audio, and when I'm done a quick push up to have to rest above the sight line of the monitors.

i worked for 8 hours the other day from my desk, stood up the whole time, zero back pain. The time flew by. The stand up desk was well worth the time + money investment.

As for as business ideas go, I am brainstorming "What value do I currently add to people's lives". I came up with a list of things and decided on one that can be offered remotely.

Next step: register domain name/email/social accounts.
Then: Design a landing page.

Post: #527

(05-05-2017 10:17 PM)abt Wrote:  I agree you should build your own platform.

Worst case, you can reuse the code to build quick affiliate sites.

You know what I have thought about it more lately and I agree with you. This website development thing is far more interesting to me than selling clothes on Ebay. I think I am going to forego developing a fashion brand and go 100% all in on web development.

Looks like I am going to have to continue doing things the way I want to do them.

Post: #528

(05-31-2017 05:28 AM)Atomic Wrote:  I've taken the plunge into persuing location independence.

The first step was revamping my home office. I wanted to jump straight into to idea generation and business development, but I figured my office needs to be as comfortable as possible if I am going to spending long hours in there. The biggest problem I had in the past was back pain after several hours sitting working on my computer. I decided to change everything around and upgrade to a standing desk.

All the standing desks I found were expensive ($500-$600 for motorized base models) or crap quality ($250-$300 IKEA specials) fixed height. i found some DIY lifehack style solutions where you basically just put a box of shelves in your current desk to raise the computer. I wasn't satisfied with any of those options.

I settled on just building my own. I built the base out of scrap steel my friend had. Then I took a couple pieces of pine boards I had laying around for the top. I made it rather large, 6 feet by 3.5 feet.

Initially I set it to a height where my arms would have about a 100* (10* down from 90*) bend in them to reach the keyboard. It was great at first, but after two days of 5-6 hours of work my wrists started to hurt. I assumed it was the angle of my arms causing my wrists to slightly flex upwards the entire time I was typing. I rose the desk 2 inches so my arms are now just about at a 90* angle when typing. No problems since.

Next I picked up a four monitor stand and mounted that at the back of the desk. I was a bit worried the stand wouldn't support the weight of four monitors (although it is specifically built to) or the wood boards flexing from the weight and causing the monitors to droop. So far no problems, all four monitors sit at eye level.

The last thing was a quality microphone setup. I purchased a microphone boom arm that is designed to be attached (via a clamp like system) to a desk. However i attached it the horizontal support bar on the monitor stand. It's rigged so I just reach up and pull it down to start recording audio, and when I'm done a quick push up to have to rest above the sight line of the monitors.

i worked for 8 hours the other day from my desk, stood up the whole time, zero back pain. The time flew by. The stand up desk was well worth the time + money investment.

As for as business ideas go, I am brainstorming "What value do I currently add to people's lives". I came up with a list of things and decided on one that can be offered remotely.

Next step: register domain name/email/social accounts.
Then: Design a landing page.

Outstanding. The makings of success.

Post: #529

I've been hustling recently.

Turning 31 was a big deal for me. No longer just out of my 20s, but rather on the road to 40. I know I don't want to be where I am now in 9 years.

Not all days are good days. Some days I just don't have the energy to engage in product development. But plenty of days I'm totally into it and I make steady progress every week.

Success is putting one foot in front of the other, over and over again.

I'm excited about all the progress I'm going to make in the next 12 months.

Post: #530

^ Do you log your time? I use a simple time logging app on my phone, "checking in" and "checking out" whenever I'm doing my work. Then you can check at the end of the week the total number of hours you invested in your project that week.

It gives you a good gauge/reminder/feedback and accountability of exactly how much you put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other that week.

Post: #531

(05-31-2017 06:52 PM)Phoenix Wrote:  ^ Do you log your time? I use a simple time logging app on my phone, "checking in" and "checking out" whenever I'm doing my work. Then you can check at the end of the week the total number of hours you invested in your project that week.

It gives you a good gauge/reminder/feedback and accountability of exactly how much you put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other that week.

I'm currently engaged in producing hundreds of alterations of the same product design. I've been tracking how many new alterations I produce each day/week.

It's satisfying seeing the numbers go up, but my goal isn't to push myself beyond what I can mentally handle.

I spend a lot of time in the classroom each week earning a living and have to be careful not to overdo it, so I let personal ambition and the correct mindset be my primary drivers for getting out of the house, hitting a coffee shop and putting another 3-4 hours into product development.

I struggled with being effective most of my life, but have made a lot of progress in the last two months by simply doing something anytime that I have the time and energy to do so and by successfully getting over my fear of failure.

Now that I have full confidence that I'm on the right path, I don't worry that I'm wasting my time. I take pleasure in what I do and it has become natural to put 15 hours of work into my progress on products each week.

Post: #532

(05-31-2017 07:12 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(05-31-2017 06:52 PM)Phoenix Wrote:  ^ Do you log your time? I use a simple time logging app on my phone, "checking in" and "checking out" whenever I'm doing my work. Then you can check at the end of the week the total number of hours you invested in your project that week.

It gives you a good gauge/reminder/feedback and accountability of exactly how much you put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other that week.

I'm currently engaged in producing hundreds of alterations of the same product design. I've been tracking how many new alterations I produce each day/week.

It's satisfying seeing the numbers go up, but my goal isn't to push myself beyond what I can mentally handle.

I spend a lot of time in the classroom each week earning a living and have to be careful not to overdo it, so I let personal ambition and the correct mindset be my primary drivers for getting out of the house, hitting a coffee shop and putting another 3-4 hours into product development.

I struggled with being effective most of my life, but have made a lot of progress in the last two months by simply doing something anytime that I have the time and energy to do so and by successfully getting over my fear of failure.

Now that I have full confidence that I'm on the right path, I don't worry that I'm wasting my time. I take pleasure in what I do and it has become natural to put 15 hours of work into my progress on products each week.

If I could recommend one blanket book for your situation... "Product Management for Dummies"

Post: #533

(05-31-2017 07:32 PM)crdr Wrote:  

(05-31-2017 07:12 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(05-31-2017 06:52 PM)Phoenix Wrote:  ^ Do you log your time? I use a simple time logging app on my phone, "checking in" and "checking out" whenever I'm doing my work. Then you can check at the end of the week the total number of hours you invested in your project that week.

It gives you a good gauge/reminder/feedback and accountability of exactly how much you put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other that week.

I'm currently engaged in producing hundreds of alterations of the same product design. I've been tracking how many new alterations I produce each day/week.

It's satisfying seeing the numbers go up, but my goal isn't to push myself beyond what I can mentally handle.

I spend a lot of time in the classroom each week earning a living and have to be careful not to overdo it, so I let personal ambition and the correct mindset be my primary drivers for getting out of the house, hitting a coffee shop and putting another 3-4 hours into product development.

I struggled with being effective most of my life, but have made a lot of progress in the last two months by simply doing something anytime that I have the time and energy to do so and by successfully getting over my fear of failure.

Now that I have full confidence that I'm on the right path, I don't worry that I'm wasting my time. I take pleasure in what I do and it has become natural to put 15 hours of work into my progress on products each week.

If I could recommend one blanket book for your situation... "Product Management for Dummies"

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think that research product development/management would be a distraction from my true purpose right now.

I have an excellent product testing system in place that allows me to cycle new prototypes through a series of end users, I'm very clear on which steps I need to be taking for the next year and I have an unbeatable marketing strategy to put into place when my first minimum viable product package is ready.

Any reading I do at this point is for pleasure to get away from work.

I used to waste a lot of time reading books that I thought would show me what to do, but then one day I realized that I just needed to get to work instead of trying to wish value into existence.

There's definitely a time and place to do research, but I'm well past that stage for now. I know exactly what I need to do for the foreseeable future.

Post: #534

(05-31-2017 07:42 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(05-31-2017 07:32 PM)crdr Wrote:  

(05-31-2017 07:12 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(05-31-2017 06:52 PM)Phoenix Wrote:  ^ Do you log your time? I use a simple time logging app on my phone, "checking in" and "checking out" whenever I'm doing my work. Then you can check at the end of the week the total number of hours you invested in your project that week.

It gives you a good gauge/reminder/feedback and accountability of exactly how much you put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other that week.

I'm currently engaged in producing hundreds of alterations of the same product design. I've been tracking how many new alterations I produce each day/week.

It's satisfying seeing the numbers go up, but my goal isn't to push myself beyond what I can mentally handle.

I spend a lot of time in the classroom each week earning a living and have to be careful not to overdo it, so I let personal ambition and the correct mindset be my primary drivers for getting out of the house, hitting a coffee shop and putting another 3-4 hours into product development.

I struggled with being effective most of my life, but have made a lot of progress in the last two months by simply doing something anytime that I have the time and energy to do so and by successfully getting over my fear of failure.

Now that I have full confidence that I'm on the right path, I don't worry that I'm wasting my time. I take pleasure in what I do and it has become natural to put 15 hours of work into my progress on products each week.

If I could recommend one blanket book for your situation... "Product Management for Dummies"

Thanks for the suggestion, but I think that research product development/management would be a distraction from my true purpose right now.

I have an excellent product testing system in place that allows me to cycle new prototypes through a series of end users, I'm very clear on which steps I need to be taking for the next year and I have an unbeatable marketing strategy to put into place when my first minimum viable product package is ready.

Any reading I do at this point is for pleasure to get away from work.

I used to waste a lot of time reading books that I thought would show me what to do, but then one day I realized that I just needed to get to work instead of trying to wish value into existence.

There's definitely a time and place to do research, but I'm well past that stage for now. I know exactly what I need to do for the foreseeable future.

Good luck with the dominance of your market.

Post: #535

I've taken my first steps to pseudo-location independence and am starting my own business. I say "pseudo" because my product (men's repro work clothing) is made in Japan and so the closer I am to there, the better. I continue mulling moving to Japan, but at 32 and with tourist-level Japanese it's actually easier said than done. Almost any professional-level job there, even working as an English editor, requires conversational Japanese. Plus, socially the country is broken and I'd likely save less money from a day job there than where I am now. Starting a business there would also entail more red tape and paying much more for an accountant.

It's been a pleasure to read all the nuggets of wisdom on here, hope I can contribute to them someday.

Post: #536

(06-01-2017 03:06 AM)Super_Fire Wrote:  I've taken my first steps to pseudo-location independence and am starting my own business. I say "pseudo" because my product (men's repro work clothing) is made in Japan and so the closer I am to there, the better. I continue mulling moving to Japan, but at 32 and with tourist-level Japanese it's actually easier said than done. Almost any professional-level job there, even working as an English editor, requires conversational Japanese. Plus, socially the country is broken and I'd likely save less money from a day job there than where I am now. Starting a business there would also entail more red tape and paying much more for an accountant.

Get your business rolling with the current product (line(s)) and then once you have a bit of a brand/returning customer base, expand into products that you can source closer to home in Taiwan.

Post: #537

(06-01-2017 03:14 AM)Suits Wrote:  

(06-01-2017 03:06 AM)Super_Fire Wrote:  I've taken my first steps to pseudo-location independence and am starting my own business. I say "pseudo" because my product (men's repro work clothing) is made in Japan and so the closer I am to there, the better. I continue mulling moving to Japan, but at 32 and with tourist-level Japanese it's actually easier said than done. Almost any professional-level job there, even working as an English editor, requires conversational Japanese. Plus, socially the country is broken and I'd likely save less money from a day job there than where I am now. Starting a business there would also entail more red tape and paying much more for an accountant.

Get your business rolling with the current product (line(s)) and then once you have a bit of a brand/returning customer base, expand into products that you can source closer to home in Taiwan.

That would make sense fiscally, but in this field it's all about "Made in Japan", and to a lesser extent "Made in USA." Losing the construction quality of the workers in Japanese factories isn't an option. That's why not many Made in Taiwan products in this field do well, because there's no cache to it, and the factories here are often produce very spotty work.

Kind of sad that the Japanese make our vintage-style clothing better than we do in the West, but that's a whole 'nother conversation.

Post: #538

Chiming in here... not much time to write, but here's what I have to share about my recent successes. I've booked some work recently, earning me a good amount of money. The keys as to how I accomplished this:

* Reduce distractions: not just with girls or tinder, but also marketing emails. I unsubscribed from everything. A quiet email inbox = huge jump in productivity.

* Outsource accounting and taxes: the less time you spend on administrative tasks, the more time you have to do the real work that actually makes you money.

* Set a consistent routine: not just stay in one place for at least two months at a time, but also work at the same location / coffee shop / co-working space daily.

* Play the long game with SEO: patience and grinding it out for months can pay dividends (and no cheating with black hat shit)... you don't have to spend so much time or money with outbound marketing if people are finding you. Inbound marketing = $$$$$

* Never charge an hourly rate: that's trading time for money. Charge by the project and work fast. People freak out at a $100/hour rate, but if I can do a $1000 project in three hours, no one is the wiser... if they're happy with the end result, and I'm taking money to the bank, it's a win-win situation.

* Find a hungry market: people are willing to pay lots of money if they see the value in what you're giving them. Stay away from saturated markets like travel blogging or dropshipping/FBA. These "hungry" markets are not ones you would expect to be.

More later, but feedback is welcome.

Post: #539

(06-01-2017 10:39 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Chiming in here... not much time to write, but here's what I have to share about my recent successes. I've booked some work recently, earning me a good amount of money. The keys as to how I accomplished this:

* Reduce distractions: not just with girls or tinder, but also marketing emails. I unsubscribed from everything. A quiet email inbox = huge jump in productivity.

* Outsource accounting and taxes: the less time you spend on administrative tasks, the more time you have to do the real work that actually makes you money.

* Set a consistent routine: not just stay in one place for at least two months at a time, but also work at the same location / coffee shop / co-working space daily.

* Play the long game with SEO: patience and grinding it out for months can pay dividends (and no cheating with black hat shit)... you don't have to spend so much time or money with outbound marketing if people are finding you. Inbound marketing = $$$$$

* Never charge an hourly rate: that's trading time for money. Charge by the project and work fast. People freak out at a $100/hour rate, but if I can do a $1000 project in three hours, no one is the wiser... if they're happy with the end result, and I'm taking money to the bank, it's a win-win situation.

* Find a hungry market: people are willing to pay lots of money if they see the value in what you're giving them. Stay away from saturated markets like travel blogging or dropshipping/FBA. These "hungry" markets are not ones you would expect to be.

More later, but feedback is welcome.

I choose to keep a iron grip over my accounting. Keep a Pocket Tax calculator with me everywhere I go. Taking care of my numbers and ledgers is a virtue. I learned this from John D Rockefeller. No accountant will care about your numbers more than you.

Post: #540

(06-01-2017 11:51 AM)crdr Wrote:  

(06-01-2017 10:39 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Chiming in here... not much time to write, but here's what I have to share about my recent successes. I've booked some work recently, earning me a good amount of money. The keys as to how I accomplished this:

* Reduce distractions: not just with girls or tinder, but also marketing emails. I unsubscribed from everything. A quiet email inbox = huge jump in productivity.

* Outsource accounting and taxes: the less time you spend on administrative tasks, the more time you have to do the real work that actually makes you money.

* Set a consistent routine: not just stay in one place for at least two months at a time, but also work at the same location / coffee shop / co-working space daily.

* Play the long game with SEO: patience and grinding it out for months can pay dividends (and no cheating with black hat shit)... you don't have to spend so much time or money with outbound marketing if people are finding you. Inbound marketing = $$$$$

* Never charge an hourly rate: that's trading time for money. Charge by the project and work fast. People freak out at a $100/hour rate, but if I can do a $1000 project in three hours, no one is the wiser... if they're happy with the end result, and I'm taking money to the bank, it's a win-win situation.

* Find a hungry market: people are willing to pay lots of money if they see the value in what you're giving them. Stay away from saturated markets like travel blogging or dropshipping/FBA. These "hungry" markets are not ones you would expect to be.

More later, but feedback is welcome.

I choose to keep a iron grip over my accounting. Keep a Pocket Tax calculator with me everywhere I go. Taking care of my numbers and ledgers is a virtue. I learned this from John D Rockefeller. No accountant will care about your numbers more than you.

Valid point. I actually use invoicing software, which takes care of my accounting. It's the taxes I'm dumping on my accountant because I trust my accountant to understand the tax laws better than I can.

I also meant to say that you could use a VA to do your menial but time consuming tasks so you could focus on your business. It depends on what you are willing to outsource or keep control over yourself, but the less you delegate, the more time you need to spend on those admin tasks. The key here is to find a balance in the delegate vs DIY equation you're comfortable with.

Post: #541

Personally, I don't find number crunching menial. But necessary. I hate surprises!

To be clear, I still use an accountant. But, I like saving my accountant time. Getting the news quicker. Plus, knowing that I'm dealing in After Tax Revenue in the real world gives me a much more realistic and pragmatic view of which marketing strategy to implement. This is by no means penny pinching. A lot of entrepreneurs are way too optimistic about their marketing efforts. With a strong Accounting background I find I can measure, manage and cut the losers of marketing much quicker than most overzealous entrepreneurs.

"A Fortune Saved is better than a Fortune made" - J.D. Rockefeller

Post: #542

Has anyone here been offer a Paypal working capital loan?

I just got an email today saying I am eligible for this.

Any feedback or experiences dealing with this? I am having issues with working capital and it is slowing down my business.

I make money on 95% of sales I but don't have enough inventory.

Post: #543

(06-01-2017 10:22 PM)kirdiesel Wrote:  Has anyone here been offer a Paypal working capital loan?

I just got an email today saying I am eligible for this.

Any feedback or experiences dealing with this? I am having issues with working capital and it is slowing down my business.

I make money on 95% of sales I but don't have enough inventory.

I'd get professional advice, but it's a good rule of thumb that ANY unsolicited loan will probably not be the best terms. That goes for credit card offers and many other things in life/business.

Post: #544

(06-01-2017 10:39 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  * Play the long game with SEO: patience and grinding it out for months can pay dividends (and no cheating with black hat shit)... you don't have to spend so much time or money with outbound marketing if people are finding you. Inbound marketing = $$$$$

I do something similar with my Udemy courses. Not SEO, though, but browsing Quora, giving valuable answers and, at the end of the answer, giving the links to my Youtube channel and my (so far only) course. Got 3 subscribers on my channel today. Not bad, I'd say.

Post: #545

Domain name is registered. Email is set up. I have about an hours worth of content recorded.

The plan is to provide free beginner level content that drives traffic to a website to upsell into premium advanced content. The biggest problem is there is a lot of free content out there, I need to find a way to differentiate myself.

Post: #546

This thread is overwhelming. I don't know where to start.

Post: #547

(06-05-2017 01:11 AM)PuppetMaster Wrote:  This thread is overwhelming. I don't know where to start.

It'll make more sense further down the road. What's your goal?

Post: #548

Delete.

Post: #549

(06-05-2017 01:27 AM)Malone Wrote:  

(06-05-2017 01:11 AM)PuppetMaster Wrote:  This thread is overwhelming. I don't know where to start.

It'll make more sense further down the road. What's your goal?

My goal is to move abroad to another country and spend some temporary time living there. I only need about $5,000 to $10,000. Anything between that is more than enough.

I currently do not have a job. For the moment, I need a way of generating income. I want to take the freelance route but not sure where to start. Writing is the target.

Post: #550

(06-01-2017 10:39 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Chiming in here... not much time to write, but here's what I have to share about my recent successes. I've booked some work recently, earning me a good amount of money. The keys as to how I accomplished this:

* Reduce distractions: not just with girls or tinder, but also marketing emails. I unsubscribed from everything. A quiet email inbox = huge jump in productivity.

* Outsource accounting and taxes: the less time you spend on administrative tasks, the more time you have to do the real work that actually makes you money.

* Set a consistent routine: not just stay in one place for at least two months at a time, but also work at the same location / coffee shop / co-working space daily.

* Play the long game with SEO: patience and grinding it out for months can pay dividends (and no cheating with black hat shit)... you don't have to spend so much time or money with outbound marketing if people are finding you. Inbound marketing = $$$$$

* Never charge an hourly rate: that's trading time for money. Charge by the project and work fast. People freak out at a $100/hour rate, but if I can do a $1000 project in three hours, no one is the wiser... if they're happy with the end result, and I'm taking money to the bank, it's a win-win situation.

* Find a hungry market: people are willing to pay lots of money if they see the value in what you're giving them. Stay away from saturated markets like travel blogging or dropshipping/FBA. These "hungry" markets are not ones you would expect to be.

More later, but feedback is welcome.

I can agree with all of these except re: hourly rate. I do project based work and with efficient planning I have a very high 'hourly' return on it. However I also offer consulting in 30 min or 1 hour increments. I've become an expert in my field (have lots of YT vids, a blog, updated website, cross-post new vids to FB and Twitter) so my consulting rate helps separate me from those who are more amateur and willing to spend lots of time on phone or email answering questions while there's no guarantee the prospect will purchase anything. I did that game for about 7 years before wising up.

A combination of project and hourly is powerful. Everyone has a different business model. Make sure your time is well-compensated may be a more universal take-away.