America, Land of The Free

Here are some videos from Pittsburgh, where martial law is in effect for the G20 meeting.   Good examples of the “land of the free” and Obama’s “change”:

Protester abducted by police and national guard:

Another arrest by guys who look like sci-fi stormtroopers from a movie:

Watch as they grab and beat a girl near the end of this video… “Hope” and “Change” indeed:

Clearly Obama’s “change” looks a whole lot like Bush’s America:  martial law, secret courts, killing Afghans and Iraqis, complete destruction of the constitution, massive cash giveaways to Wall Street (from the pockets of regular Americans through taxes and debt), renewal of the “patriot act”, military bases in Colombia, etc…  How people can be so blind to all of this is beyond me– but I suppose it has something to do with being TV drones.  The Brave New World is here

4 Results In Advance Strategies

In a previous post, I promised to discuss the vital topic of promotions re: your new micro web business.

This area is probably the most neglected aspect of most people’s micro web businesses.   A lot of people seem to think that just having a cool website is enough.  It’s not.

Hobopoet is the perfect example.  Why does Hobopoet get almost no traffic, but my English teaching site gets tons of traffic?  The main difference is promotion.  I promote my English site like crazy.  I have never done any kind of promotion for Hobopoet… and so it toils away in obscurity (sniff…   

So, once you have a simple blog website… and a product/service that ads real value and eases the pain or frustration of a group of people… how do you get people to your site and how do you get them to try your wonderful solution to their problem?

Here are some strategies:

1. Social Media

Advantages:  Free   Disadvantages:  Slow and Tricky

The cheapest way to promote your web business is through social media, especially Facebook.   I recommend a triangle of sites:  Your Blog/Site,  Facebook, and Twitter.

With Facebook, first signup for a personal account.  Then create a business Fan Page.  Fan Pages have no limit to the number of  friends (“fans”) they can have.

The tricky part of social media is how to use it.   Here’s a very important suggestion:  NEVER sell anything on your social media sites.   Perry Belcher gives great advice when he says, “Think of Facebook as a barbecue party, not a sales pitch”.   Facebook is basically an online scrapbook.  So…  add photos to your page (trickle them in one by one… only one a day).   Make little videos for your Facebook page in which you discuss your daily life.  Be friendly and fun, just as you would at a barbecue party at your home.   Facebook is about showing people that you are a real person, not some kind of business automaton.

As for Twitter, think of it as a cocktail party (another Perry Belcher suggestion).  Your goal at Twitter is to provide little charming, interesting, or useful nuggets… with links to something more in-depth.  Again, absolutely NO SELLING.   Just link to cool articles, or funny videos, or your Facebook photos.

So, how does all this help your micro web business?  Well….    sometimes you will write a really cool and useful article on your blog/site… and you will link to it from Facebook and Twitter.  Below this article, you will have an email signup form, so if people like the article they can signup to receive more great information from you     You can do the same thing with videos.

2. Results In Advance Videos

The central strategy in all my promotions is what Frank Kern calls “Results In Advance”.  To my mind, this is the most honest and open way to promote your website (and also the most powerful).

In a Results In Advance promotion, you do just what that suggests… you deliver some of your best content & solutions for free.  You give it away.  For example, on my Effortless English site, I constantly give away great audio and video lessons, and also motivational videos and articles.

You must have an abundance mentality to do this.

Why is this effective?  Well, you don’t need to do a lot of selling or BS.  You just say, here’s a great solution to your problem that I’m going to give you for free.  Enjoy it!  Later, you give them another great solution to their problem, for free.    Because you are doing something valuable, you gain people’s trust and gratitude– by being a great person who is helping them.

One easy way to do this is to make a series of FAQ videos.  In each video, you answer one of the frequently asked questions about their problem and you give a short and easy solution.

Then you offer your full and complete package with even more great solutions… and many people are happy to buy it because they already know you and trust you.

You didn’t trick them into trust… you earned it by giving them Results In Advance!

3. Adwords

Google adwords sucks… let me say that up front.  Google has complete and utter contempt for their advertisers… so you must be careful when starting an adwords campaign.

That said, this is also the fastest and easiest way to get traffic to your site.   Before you start a campaign, read lots of books about Adwords.

And then… VERY IMPORTANT… start with a TINY daily budget.  I recommend $1 a day.

Send people from your ad to a page where they can sign up for your free video or email course  (your Results In Advance course).

Then wait a while and see–  are you making more from sales than you are spending on adwords?  If yes, increase your daily budget to $2 a day.  If no,  adjust your ads, adjust your email signup page.

At $2 a day you wait again, until you are sure you are making more from sales than you are spending.  Then you increase your daily budget to $3 day.

You get the idea.   Increase your daily budget slowly and gradually…  and NEVER lose money on adwords.  If you start losing money, immediately pause all ads….  change your ads or email signup page or results in advance campaign… drop your budget low again… and start again.

4. Learn From The Masters

Keith Cunningham says, “Your business will never grow faster than your learning”.   If you want financial freedom, you must learn.  I recommend that you study the best. You can do this for free.  On Twitter, follow people like Frank Kern, John Reece, Brendon Burchard, Tony Robbins, and Perry Belcher.  Notice how they are using Twitter for their business.   Watch their Results In Advance videos.  Read their Results In Advance reports.  You’ll learn a lot just from their great free content (without ever buying anything from them).    Also, get on their email lists… and again notice how they promote their own businesses with Results In Advance campaigns.

By using these strategies, you can build a successful micro web business.  And when you combine that with a simple life with reduced expenses… you will very quickly attain financial freedom.

The above is the exact approach I will take with my good friend Todd’s web business.   By living in Thailand (especially small town Thailand), he has already massively reduced his living expenses (but still enjoying an amazing quality of life).

Next, he will start blogging and making videos to chronicle his progress as he builds his bungalows.  We’ll get him on Facebook and Twitter too… to start building an audience.

When I get to Thailand in December, he and I will then make a product that is valuable and which solves some kind of pain (related to Thai language, or traveling in Thailand,…).

Then we’ll follow the above strategies– and give away some of his best content.

Finally we’ll sell his full package of great solutions to very happy and eager people.

And through this process, Todd will gain financial freedom… and the ability to live and travel as he wants, whenever he wants.

He’ll do it by living his dream and by contributing to people and helping them with a painful or frustrating problem.

You can do this too!

Koh Phayam Awaits

Todd is flying to Thailand, and eventually Koh Phayam, tonight.  We said goodbye to him at the airport.  You can watch the little video we just made at the airport:  watch here.

What’s really cool about all of this is that we will document another Hobopoet success story in real time.  My old archives (http://hobopoet.blogspot.com) and this site already provide the fully documented process of my path to freedom and self-reliance  (from wage slave, to car and van living, to living abroad in Thailand, do scraping by in San Francisco, to micro-preneur, to successful and free entrepreneur).

Now we’re documenting Todd’s path to freedom…  starting now as he flies off to Thailand… and continuing as he builds his bungalows, builds his web presence, and fulfills his dream of living a free, simple, healthy, and happy life on tropical Koh Phayam island in Thailand.

The reason this blog excites me is that YOU can see what’s possible… not in theory but in reality.  You get to see the whole process… with all the bumps and warts and challenges…. and the victories.  I want you to see that freedom, self-reliance, simplicity, and happiness are possible… without following the mainstream programmed path.

So I hope you’ll follow Todd’s adventures in Thailand, both here at Hobopoet and on his new blog.

And I hope you’ll see that my essays and exhortations are not just grand ideas and theories…  but hard-nosed reality-based blueprints for anyone to follow.

Most of all, I hope you’ll find your own path to freedom and abundance!

Good luck to you too!

Great New Blog

Hi everyone1

My friend Katie has a great new blog called Trail Dreamer.  Check it out at:   http://www.traildreamer.blogspot.com/

Happily Busy In Bangkok

“Disciplined Hedonism” is one of my favorite phrases– one I first heard from my friend Chris.

In fact, I do think we need a healthy dose of both self-discipline AND hedonism in our life.

This month, the first month of the “Portable Empire” experiment in Bangkok, has mostly been about discipline.  I have been working steadily and successfully on the “empire” since arriving here.

In fact, as I noted previously, I’ve had an explosion of productivity since arriving.  The new environment has stimulated and energized me.  In the last two weeks, I’ve launched a new (and quite effective) marketing campaign for the business…  created several new videos for our upcoming video site…  wrote several articles and press releases… and have planned and scheduled our first seminar in Bangkok (Sunday, January 25th).

I have also kicked ass with running.  Despite the heat and pollution, I’m running like a fool.  My weekly long run is now up to 90 minutes (two days ago).  Each week, I add another 10 minutes to the long run.  My regular “maintainence runs” are also going very well– I’m doing them 3-4 times a week at 40 to 60 minutes each.

All in all, I’m feeling super-energized!

And I’ve been disciplined with singing too– practing (almost) every morning.  And today, I had my first singing lesson by phone– with my teacher in San Francisco.  Too cool!

All of this made possible by a laptop, the internet, and a cheap Thai cell phone!

This discipline phase will continue for another two weeks.   Next week, I’m off to Singapore for a few days.  I’ll be meeting one of our members there (hopefully)– and doing my 100 minute long run.  Should be nice to run in clean air for a change!

Then I’m back to Bangkok for our seminar– a 5 hour seminar to introduce more Thai people to my teaching system and English lessons.

After that,.. it’ll finally be time for some hedonism!  My wife Tomoe arrives on the 26th of January.  Then my friends Wat and Lewis arrive on the 28th.  We’ll be heading down to the south (Koh Payam Island) for a big party, followed by a few days of snorkeling, diving, running on the beach, etc…   Then Tomoe and I plan to visit Cambodia,…  then dive some more…  then Laos…  then Fiji…  etc…….

So the Portable Empire has thus far been ideal at fostering both self-Discipline and Hedonistic opportunities!

Running The Empire

The “Portable Empire” experiment is going very well.   In fact, I’ve been far more productive here in Thailand than I was in San Francisco!

Not sure why this is–  I think it’s probably a result of increased energy and inspiration as a result of a dramatic change of environment.   It’s so easy to get in a rut at home.  Mental and emotional ruts are the bane of the Hobopoet life.

Another factor is that I have much more time here.  This is also a strange phenomenon.   Why should I have more time in Thailand?  All I can say is that life just seems to move more slowly here.   In SF, I’m constantly bombarded by phone calls, appointments, and projects.

Moving to another continent has a way of weeding out all that’s non-essential.  Nobody is going to call me here unless it’s VERY important.   Also, because I must go to a coffee shop or internet cafe to do email…  I do it less often for less time.  In SF, I’ve got 24 hour access in my apartment and it’s just too damn easy to jump on the internet anytime I feel the least bit bored or restless.   Here in Thailand, I go for a walk, or get a massage, or sing, or go for a run.

And when I work, I do productive work-play rather than waste time surfing the web.   Today, for example, I wrote two articles, recorded two podcasts, recorded & edited two videos, and wrote a marketing email & published it.  All that in just a few hours.

Today I also went for a run, sang for an hour, played guitar, wrote in my journal, listened to music, and emailed friends.   And I’ve still got plenty of time on my hands and in no way feel rushed.

In fact, this is one of the most marvelous things about The Portable Empire experiment:  I’m “on vacation” in Thailand, yet I’m doing far more “work” (business and personal) than I ever did in SF–  for both my business and my personal projects I’m doing as much in one day as I did in one week back in the States.

On top of that, despite still paying rent on my SF apartment… I’m spending FAR less money while here in Thailand.  I’m “on vacation” and yet am saving a lot more money.

It’s hard to think of a cooler system!  Especially compared to the usual wage slavery way of making an income.  As a wage slave, I worked much harder, I had 2 paltry weeks of vacation a year, I was MUCH LESS productive (slaves aren’t usually very productive), and I almost never saved money (because I spent every available penny in a futile attempt to compensate for the boredom of work).

So The Portable Empire works from both the Hedonistic perspective, and the Productivity perspective…   a perfect system for both the slacker and the capitalist!   More time. More energy. More inspiration.  More fun. More created.  More accomplished.   All with less work, in less time, with less money.

The experiment, so far, is a remarkable success!

I Want You To Suffer

Why do I, at times, seem to gloat about my wonderfully free and happy life?

Why?

Because I want you to suffer.   I want you to read about my wonderful life and feel like shit.  I want you to feel absolutely miserable when you compare your horrible job, boring routine, and shitty compromises to my passionate, fun, exciting adventures.

There it is– naked and honest:  My Motivation.

And why do I want you to feel massive pain?  Because I want to goad you into an emotional crisis (see previous post)–  I want to push you, suddenly or slowly, past an emotional threshold.

I want you to become so angry, so sad, so upset… that you finally say, “Enough! No Fucking More! I Will Never Live Like This Again!”

Because I know if you are comfortable and numb, you’ll do nothing.  I know that if your life is “OK”, you’ll do nothing.   Lukewarm “OK” lives suck!   Because what they really are are bored, frustrated, failed lives.

Pain can be your ticket to the most extraordinary life you ever imagined–  if you focus on all of the pain caused by your failure to act, your failure to go for it, your fear of failing–  if you focus on that pain and amplify it and wallow in it, and hold on to it and strengthen it every day.

That is your ticket to the freedom you have always dreamed of.   Read my previous post… and then put yourself through the Dickens process everyday.   As a ritual, examine the part of your life you know you must change– to be passionate, alive, and totally fulfilled.    See and feel all the pain caused by not doing what you must do.  Feel it physically (I hunch my shoulders and tighten everything and create so much tension and misery in my body that I gag and almost vomit)– and link that physical pain to your current situation.

Feel the pain.   Suffer horribly.  Every day until you reach your limit and scream, “Enough!  No More!”

Then do what you must do.  Reclaim your life.

I’ll see you on the other side of that pain–  to celebrate your freedom!

Hobopoets On The Move

It’s an exciting time of year!

For most in the US, this is the Christmas season and with that comes vacation, commercialism, family, etc.

But for our Hobopoet tribe, this is a time of movement.

Most of my close friends are preparing for travels.  This week, for example, Tomoe and are frantically preparing for our four month trip to SE Asia.  I’m heading straight to Bangkok, while Tomoe is going to Osaka and will be joining me in Bangkok a month later.

I’ve decided to add another wrinkle to my trip… a bit more adventure.   I’m now planning to rent a motorcycle in Bangkok and then hit the road to Katchanaburi…  a solo easy rider trip.  My original plan was to do this in the north of Thailand, but my friend (and fellow biker) Wat recommended staying farther south as the northern mountains will be quite cold this time of year (and I’m going to Thailand to escape the cold!)

Meanwhile, my best friend Kristin… and her boyfriend Joe… are heading to East Africa.  They’re going to a music festival in Mali, then will explore the country more… and from there wing it– eventually ending up in Morocco.

The rest of my Hobopoet friends are coming to SE Asia a month after I am.

Wat, who is Thai, will be arriving in Bangkok at the end of January.  He’ll be coming with Todd and Lewis, two more good friends from San Francisco.   These three now own land on a small island in southern Thailand, called Koh Payam–  it now serves as our unofficial Hobopoet sanctuary.   We’ll all be there in February through the beginning of March.  Come join us at the South Star Bar, on Ao Yai beach, most any night!

In addition to this crew of good friends, other San Francisco Hobopoets will be joining us on Koh Payam during the same time, including Zac, Renny, and Gabby.

So, as you can imagine, things are buzzing with anticipation here in the city.  While others shop, we’re all busily preparing our backpacks, passports, and tickets.

Finally, I’m happy to add one more Hobopoet to our list of nomads.  My good friend Chris will be joining us from North Carolina.   I helped him start a website this year and he’s now working towards economic freedom.  He still has a way to go, and has encountered obstacles along the way….  but he’ll be traveling abroad for the first time since 1997 and is excited to join us for diving and hedonism in southern Thailand.. all made possible by his gutsy move towards economic freedom!

As you might guess, my motive for sharing this with you all is to entice you.

I want to entice you to the Hobopoet way.

And I hope that some day, you too will be joining us on our tropical island sanctuary in south Thailand!

Master your doubts, master your fears, claim your life, and declare your freedom.

See you soon on Koh Payam!

Crash Course

Want to understand the dramatic and unprecendented changes happening in our world today?

Watch the video slide shows at:

http://goldsilver.com/crash_course.php?video_id=29&cat_id=6

This video series is an excellent primer on the economics, energy, and ecological changes that are coming to a head.

Tribal Business

One of the secrets to the success of my business– one of the ways in which it is remarkable– is that I have consciously, from the beginning, made Community a vital part of it.

My goal has always been to connect people, to foster understanding and growth, to promote enthusiastic lifelong learning, and to forge a strong supportive international community.

That goal is coming to fruition.  We now have a core membership of extremely enthusiastic learners.  Our members are connecting, supporting each other, encouraging each other, and making friends with each other.

We aren’t just a business, we’re an international tribe dedicated to learning and growth.

When considering your own micro-business, be sure to consider this vital part of it:  How will you create meaning and connection as part of your business?  How will you add greater significance and inspiration to people’s lives?  How will you make people happier, stronger, and more connected?

Nobody gives a damn about “good” products or services.  Those are a dime a dozen… and you’ll never survive if that’s all you provide (unless you have very deep pockets).

As a micro-business owner, your number one “competitive advantage” is your humanity.  You can be what the big corporate monsters cannot– human, sincere, caring, meaningful, emotional, authentic.

As a micro-business entrepreneur, you should constantly be asking yourself, “how can I add more humanity to my business?”  I can think of no more important question.

That question will force you to go against normal, soulless business practices.

Your answers to that question will guarantee your success.  Because the big monster companies simply cannot compete with your humanity– its the one trait none of them have and none of them will ever have.

You want a guaranteed formula for micro-business success?  Here it is:

Love + Passion + Humanity (with a dash of Prudent Cast Flow Management) =  Success

Don’t “create a business”.  Instead, build tribes, build communities, and foster humanity….  that’s the Hobopoet way of doing business.

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