Archive - January, 2010

The Free Show That Will Help You Become a Better Entrepreneur

January 28, 2010 in Business, Entrepreneurship with 2 Comments

37 episodes later there’s a free online show/webcast/podcast (whatever you call it) that pleasantly surprises me week after week. That show is This Week In Startups – also known as “TWIST”

The show is the brainchild of Jason Calacanis. Jason is an entrepreneur with an amazing track record. He started and sold Weblogs, Inc. and more recently he’s the CEO of Mahalo.com. In October of 2009 Mahalo reached 12 million unique visitors and became the 155th largest site in the United States according to Quantcast (source: I got this from wikipedia)

Each week Jason interviews some of the top and most successful entrepreneurs in the biz. What I like most about the show is Jason’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Here’s a guy that’s been through it all and knows what it takes to create a massively successful business. If you’re working on a startup or looking for advice on how to make your online business a success, you can call in and have a chance to speak to Jason live and get your questions answered.

Sometimes the show runs a little long (2 hours) but you can learn a ton from this show and I highly recommend you check it out. Want another reason to watch? Each week Jason is giving away some pretty awesome prizes like Google Nexus One phones and other goodies….

Hopefully someday soon I’ll have something to call in and talk to Jason about. For now, I listen intently and enjoy learning from the host and guests.

iPad – Pros & Cons

January 28, 2010 in Technology with 2 Comments

Here’s my take on the iPad. I’ve read enough blogs and opinions this morning that I figured I’d throw mine into the mix. I’ve never done a post like this but what the heck.

As someone who’s in the market for an electronic book reader I’ve really been eying up the Kindle. My father got one for Christmas and I find it highly enjoyable to read on. I think it’s as close to a book experience as you can get.

Before the iPad was introduced I worried about the reading on the Apple Tablet because adding a back light makes it like reading on a laptop which I don’t like.

Here are my thoughts:

Pros

  • Starting price $499! They will sell a TON at this price (this is also a negative though, see below)
  • iPhone Apps work directly from the App store.
  • Big screen
  • Big battery
  • Music , Movies, Photos
  • iWork (can still get some work done)
  • Mail (even though this will tempt me to check more than twice a day)
  • iBook Store (still not convinced on the reading experience)

That’s it in a nutshell. I could easily see this device replacing my laptop. It can do all the things I really want to do on my laptop and more.

Think of it this way. This is a first revision and we’re going to find lots of negative things we don’t like about the iPad but it really is a game changer.

Imagine books where authors provide commentary or non-fiction books with photos and videos.

How about cooking books where the author walks you through the recipes step-by-step. You’re reading Gordon Ramsay’s new cookbook and he’s swearing up a storm telling you what a fool you are for adding so many onions!

It’s a game changer because it will develop into a new way for us to consume and enjoy content.

Cons

  • $499 model doesn’t have 3G. OK. Let’s me say this. I refuse to give a Canadian cellular provider any more money. This includes Rogers, Bell, Telus, Fido etc. We are constantly being screwed (for lack of a better word) by Canadian providers in the cell industry and I refuse to give more money than I already do to these companies. At the same time, I believe the 3G chip should be in all the models.
    Kindle provides “global wi-fi” without a monthly fee. You can literally purchase and download a book instantly. Without 3G and without paying a provider I’m only able to buy a book when I have an open wi-fi connection on the iPad. That or you can spend $629 for the base model with a 3G chip.
  • Screen and bezel is weird. It’s a square…. but movies can be displayed widescreen and a good chunk of the screen is lost to the gigantic black bezel. This will be one of the first things to disappear in later revisions.
  • No camera. I don’t mean a camera to take photos. I’m talking about a camera to have a  video chat with someone.
  • Stupid SD card accessories. One of the first questions I had was “how does someone without a mac or .me subscription get their photos to the iPad?”  Not a fan of the accessories for getting my photos into the iPad.
  • Back light for books – Again, I’m not sure how the reading experience will compare to a kindle. I know that I’ve tried to read books on my laptop and I hate it. My eyes usually stare at a bright computer screen all day and I’m not sure it would be any different on the iPad.
  • Hard Drive Space – 16GB is too small. Books will become more interactive and therefore require more space. Add a few GB’s of photos and some music and you’re full.

Conclusion: Well…..  Last night I discussed the iPad with my wife and told her that if Amazon dropped  the Kindle in price to $99-$149 I’d most likely buy one and continue to purchase books from them. This year I’m enjoying reading more than ever, but I don’t want 200 books lying around. Going digital for reading is inevitable in my eyes.

How-evvvvvvvv-ver……… being an apple nut and fanatic I’m pretty positive that I will end up buying the $499 model.  IF (and a big IF) amazon drops the price of the kindle am I really just wasting money on a device that I’ll end up replacing eventually?

What are your thoughts?

The Biggest Apple Fan I Knew

January 27, 2010 in Life, Misc with 12 Comments

With the Internet getting ready to explode due to Apple’s Tablet announcement today, I really got thinking about my Uncle Bob.

It was my Uncle who first introduced to the Macintosh and helped me purchase my first Mac: A Blue & White G3. The machine was like a gift from the gods. Moving from Windows to the G3 and the OS9 Operating System was an amazing day for me. I suddenly understood what computers could be. Since then, I’ve never gone back.

Bob and I used to hang out on the phone and discuss the Apple events in real time. I remember skipping out of University classes and looking for a stable internet connection. Bob and I would get on the phone and tune into Steve Jobs on stage. I remember our excitement with the launch of the iPod and then the G5. We had a blast discussing the future of Apple and what was to come.

I always get a little more excited on these days. Not only am I a true Apple nut, geek, fanboy, cult member as I’ve been using a mac for over 10 years now, but these days give me a chance to remember some amazing moments I had with Uncle Bob.

Bob passed away suddenly on July 27th, 2004 at the age of 51 of heart complications.

Bob’s favorite mac was the cube. He loved the simplicity of the cube’s design and hoped one day it would return. He never got to see the Mac Mini. I think that might have satisfied his hunger for something small and elegantly designed like the cube. He also used to frequently speak of the Newton Message Pad, Apple’s original “tablet.”

I can only imagine what he would have thought of the iPhone or today’s Tablet announcement! I’m sure I would have had at least three phone calls already this morning.

I searched the Internet Archive to look at Uncle Bob’s old website. I wanted to share something he wrote about typography and design before his passing.

We read the words on our pages without much thought as to how they got there. Only when these words are set correctly can they serve their purpose…to be read and to be read easily.

Such is the achievement of good typography–the arrangement of letters of various forms and words of various lengths. Serif or Sans Serif, leading, line length, kerning, tracking and overall colour are only some of the many considerations involved in typesetting.

Type can also be a strong graphical element in the world of design. We see a lot of the traditional methods of type design and its use being broken. It is therefore very useful “to know the rules before they can be broken”.

Trained in design on art boards, marker and mechanical pens, I’ve been using the Macintosh computer platform for design and production since 1989. Designing for corporations, associations and agencies for print and the internet provides me with a wide variety of interesting and challenging projects.

~ Bob Frier

How I Quit Email in 2010

January 26, 2010 in Business, Misc with 2 Comments

Here’s how I got off the drug known as “email” in January 2010.

Now of course I didn’t give up email totally, but I’ve freed up an insane amount of time by changing the way I use email.

I used to check email non-stop. It was usually the first thing I did in the morning and the last thing I did at night.

Upon waking up, I’d reach over to the night side table and grab my phone. If I awoke in the middle of the night and had to get up, I’d take my iPhone with me. I was constantly checking and handling whatever task, question or problem that came up at that moment. Didn’t matter when or where I was, my iPhone was an extension of me.

This was my way of “Getting Things Done.” By handling situations, questions or issues immediately as they came up. It works from the standpoint of constantly being on top of things and knowing what’s going on, but doesn’t work in terms of being productive and truly getting things done. It’s a time sucker and I got sucked in.

You all know how much time email can suck away from us. We find ourselves getting into email chats going back and forth with no end in sight.

I used to be like “that guy” at the restaurant who had his iPhone out and was texting away during dinner. I was proudly, however, never the guy with the funny Bluetooth earpiece.

After reading “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferriss again I decided that January was the time to kick my addiction.

Here’s how I did it:

First, I consolidated all my accounts on to my main computer at my office.

Before doing this, I used to be able to check any email account from my laptop, iPhone, home computer and the office.

If I was away or traveling, I was able to log in to a handful of catch-all Gmail accounts. I removed the ability to check  from every computer except my office computer. I also removed the catch-all Gmail accounts.

Next I set up an auto-responder using Tim’s template and made a few changes. If you want to see the template, send me an email at noahfleming2007 (@) gmail.com and you’ll instantly be hit with the auto-responder.

I’m proud to say that even though it has only been 26 days, I’m off the email crack. I now check my email twice per day. Once at 11:00 a.m and the second time at 4:00 p.m. After that, I don’t check for the rest of the day. Everything else has to wait till the next morning.

Support for any issues that may arise is handled by my tech support guys.

One thing you’ll notice about the email template (if you requested it) is that I provide a phone number and mention that if it’s an actual emergency they can call my cell phone. The number I provide in the email is a free Google Voice # which goes directly to voicemail.  This way I don’t give out my actual cell phone number to solicitors or anyone else who may be calling to disrupt me from getting some work done.

Those who genuinely need to reach me in an emergency situation already know how to do so. When someone leaves a voicemail I see it at either 11:00 a.m. or 4:00 p.m. as it shows up in my inbox. For everyone else, if there is an actual emergency or they need to reach me urgently, they can contact my personal cell phone (which I am assuming most have).

Giving up email in 2010 has been one of the most exciting things I’ve done this year.

Now, as with any drug, I have fallen off the wagon a few times. Each time though I’ve climbed right back on and it’s getting easier every day. There are also times when cheating is a must (you’ve registered for a site and need to confirm your email). That’s fine, just make sure you do just that. No checking or responding until your set times.

If you’re a junkie like I was, follow my footsteps here…It’s liberating.

Setting Goals in 2010

January 25, 2010 in Entrepreneurship, Life, Success with 5 Comments

Saying “I want to make a lot of money” isn’t good enough.

Here’s the thing, many people set broad goals in life and end up never accomplishing anything.

The biggest and most well-known examples of this are:

I want to make more money
I want to lose weight

The goal might be stated like this:

“My 2010 New Year’s Resolution is to make a lot of money.”

“I want to lose 20 pounds.”

“My goal is to read more books in 2010.”

In my opinion that’s too vague.

You need to have specific goals and hold yourself accountable if you truly want to achieve them.

Here’s a better way to state those goals.

  • “By March 15th, 2010 I’ll make an extra $2000 freelancing.”
  • “I’ll lose 20 pounds by June 15th.”
  • “My goal is to read at least 2 books per week in 2010.”

Go ahead and set big goals. The bigger your goals the better in my opinion! Shoot for the stars (within reason of course.) If you’re 58 and just now deciding that you want to be an astronaut, chances are this goal isn’t necessarily attainable.

And if you’re really  serious about the desired goal then you’ll also find a way to hold yourself accountable should you slip up and fall off the wagon.

By holding yourself accountable you’re even more likely to achieve your goals. Give yourself something to lose and you’ll work your hardest not to lose it.

Remember “swear jars?”
Many families had a swear jar and every time someone swore they had to put some money into the jar. (losing money is always a powerful motivator)

Think of when you were a kid and how you got an allowance for good behavior or when your mom and dad said they would give you $20 bucks for every “A” you got on your report card.

This looks a lot like bribery, but it really isn’t, this was a way of helping you reach your goals by holding you accountable. By getting all “A’s” the potential payoff was big, but by not getting a’s you had much more to lose.

By setting measurable and distinct goals and holding yourself accountable you’ll be far more likely to succeed.

What are your goals this year?

The Documentary of You – Be Careful what you say on Facebook.

January 21, 2010 in Life, Misc, Social Media with 1 Comment

I have to admit that I’m sometimes amazed at the things people say online.  Just this weekend I was surfing around bragbook, I mean Facebook, and I noticed an old friend of mine made an interesting status update.

The update read:  so-and-so ” is drunk on a Wednesday!”

No disrespect to my friend who may end up reading this, but it got me thinking. It’s certainly not a big deal to have a few drinks on a Wednesday, but it really made me reflect on a few things.

People have lost jobs because of Facebook status updates. They call and sick and then continue to post 200 pictures of themselves boozing it up when  they were supposed to be in bed with the flu. Next thing you know, someone at work informs your boss and you’re out of a job.

But there’s something far more important to consider than the stupidity of losing a job over Facebook. It’s the legacy you’re leaving for both your children and  grandchildren to see.

Make no mistake about it, everything you say and do online is leaving a permanent data trail of the history of your life. We’re essentially writing our own documentaries.

I’m not sure we can even fully comprehend what this means at such an early stage of Facebook and other lifestreaming activities.

I think about legacy a lot and to me this is the most exciting yet scary thing about it.
For most of us, we’re lucky to have a collection of old dusty photos and a mix mash of historical information passed down like a game of telephone. The stories change and often get better each time your grandfather tells them.

Our kids and grandkids will have our entire lives to dissect. There won’t be any possibility for the stories or truths to become muddled because we’ve written them ourselves.

Every picture
Every status update
Every tweet
Every vacation
Every party where you had too much to drink
Every YouTube video

All of it.

Think about it.

What about perceived value?

January 19, 2010 in Business with 4 Comments

Yesterday I was speaking with a client about pricing a new online service. The client kept referring to the “perceived value” of the service if he charged more than his competitors.

Let’s say we have two items and one is $69 bucks and the other is $99.
They are both almost identical yet many people would opt for the more expensive item simply because they perceive that the higher cost must mean it’s a better product.

Here’s my take on it when it comes to pricing your own stuff:

Don’t play the price game.

If your position is to beat your competitors based on being the “cheapest,”  I think you’re going to lose.  However, if you play the price game and believe that by charging more for your product and hoping to justify it based on  “perceived value,” then you’re also losing.

Play the game like this:

Develop an awesome product or provide amazing service and then you can charge whatever you want. Your customers won’t need to perceive anything except your product or service being a true bargain even as the highest priced option.  You can justify being the most expensive because you’re offering actual value as opposed to perceived value.

Speed Read like Rain Man – 75% Increased Reading Speed in 20 Minutes

January 14, 2010 in Books, Life Hacking, Time & Money with 12 Comments

One of my goals in 2010 is to read a lot more. I bought so many books in 2009 and I bet I only read about 20% of them.

If you have seen my last post, you’ll know that I recently read the expanded and updated version of “The 4-Hour Work Week.” by Tim Ferriss. One interesting section was a little exercise in Chapter 5 called “How to Read 200% Faster in 10 Minutes.” A quick Google search led me to a similar post on Tim’s blog only this time it was called “Scientific Speed Reading: How to Read 300% Faster in 20 Minutes”

I’m not going to talk about the exercises here because you can read it in much more detail over on Tim’s blog but I want to share with you my results and findings.

In the article, Tim provided a quick synopsis on how we read using a sequence of saccadic movements. Interesting. I never knew this and Tim provided us with a way to understand how it works: “To demonstrate this, close one eye, place a fingertip on top of that eyelid, and then slowly scan a straight horizontal line with your other eye-you will feel distinct and separate movements and periods of fixation.”

To make a long story short, in less than a week and a half, I’ve become a much faster reader. Here are my results from following Tim’s exercises.

Day 1

  • Initial Reading Speed: 305 words-per-minute (wpm) Average reading speed in the US is around 200-300 wpm and I’m guessing it’s somewhat similar in Canada. We’re maybe a bit faster here:-)
  • After Test Reading Speed: 505 wpm – Amazing! A 65% Increase in reading speed the first time I did the exercises. I will admit that my comprehension of what I was  reading was terrible at this speed.

My results were not exactly 200 or 300% higher as Tim suggested but they weren’t bad either.

Day 2 – The very next day I decided to complete the exercises again. Using the same formula, I began the test by assessing my initial reading speed.

  • Initial Reading Speed: 370 wpm. While I hadn’t retained a speed of 505 wpm, I did come out of the gate faster and my comprehension was back at my normal level.
  • After Test Reading Speed: 540 wpm. 35 wpm more than my best speed yesterday.

Day 3 – Here’s where things started to get interesting.

  • Initial Reading Speed: 468 wpm! Today I came out guns blazing! I tested in at 468 wpm and comprehension was there! I managed to soak up everything with no back skipping.
  • After Test Reading Speed: 612 wpm. Insane. And you know what? My comprehension level was way up – of course this is based on my own self-assessed comprehension level of what I could remember and recall about what I just read.

Just to be sure I wasn’t going berserk, I went home and went on a reading frenzy. Over the next 5 days, I read a ton of books, flying through them at a speed I’d never been able to even come close to before. Maybe that’s the reason I very rarely finished a book – I was reading too slow.

Over the next 5 days I read:

The Catcher In The Rye
The Four-Hour Work Week (again)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel
Bad Monkeys

I also limited myself to the following rules:

  1. An hour to an hour and a half of fiction reading per night before bed
  2. The non-fiction could be read whenever. I usually spent an hour or so reading after dinner while sipping a glass of red wine.

Day 4 – Five days later it was time to test myself again.

  • Initial Reading Speed: 416 wpm. Interesting results. In the time away from training and completing the exercises, I had slowed down but I had also read 5 books at a speed and comprehension level faster than I’d ever read in my life.
  • After Test Reading Speed: 624 wpm

The last test I did was three days ago. Since that time I’ve read a few other books and will continue to do so. My conclusion is that with daily training and practice anyone could easily double or perhaps triple their reading speed. I made a comment on Tim’s blog that I was having trouble finding any consistency in my results which you can see through my results. But I think it’s important to recognize that I’m getting faster, and with more practice and repetition I might find that consistent level.

Tim did mention that if your goal is to read at 900 wpm then you actually have to train at 1800 wpm, which is the equivalent of 10 seconds per page or 6 pages per minute. Could you imagine? 6 pages per minute!

If you decide to try the exercises, let me know your results and findings.

UPDATE

January 19th, 2009 update

I decided to re-test today as I felt I was slowing down with some books over the weekend but the tests said I was wrong.

  • Initial Reading Speed: Came in at 424 wpm with solid comprehension
  • After Test Testing Speed: 624 wpm – Funny exact same number I put up last time I did the test. I wonder if this is a max for me?

Creating Your Own 4-Hour Workweek in 2010

January 3, 2010 in Books, Business, Career & Work, Entrepreneurship, Internet Marketing, Success with 24 Comments

Hey everyone, Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday season, but now it’s time to get back at it. I apologize for any typos or grammatical errors in advance, but I’m tired and fat from too many delicious treats over Christmas.

I’ve spent the last 4-5 days driving my wife totally bonkers. Why? Because I’ve been reading the 4-Hour Workweek again by Tim Ferris. I read the book when it was first introduced, and I immediately implemented some of Tim’s recommendations. But now Tim is back with an Expanded & Updated version of the book which was just released last month.  I believe 2010 is the year to truly put Tim’s methods into action. 4hour

So first things first – I’ve found that when I mention The 4-Hour Workweek (4HWW) it can instantly turn some people off just based on the title. My wife being one of them… She can’t imagine why I would only want to work 4 hours per week or how it would financially feasible to do so….So  we better get something out-of-the-way, right away…The 4HWW isn’t really about working 4 hours per week. On a deeper level it’s about living and creating the ultimate life for yourself during this very short time we have here.

Many people hear the title and react as if you’re holding some sort of scam or get rich quick scheme. Maybe the title is a little off… Tim suggested he tested the title of the book and I believe with some it turns them off and with others it invokes some serious curiousness.

There’s a whole lot more going on here and I want to briefly explain to you some of what you’ll find.

I also want to mention that the 4HWW is currently my #1 reading recommendation for everyone looking for a plan in 2010. I’ll be implementing various aspects of the teaching and documenting them along the way.

The newly expanded and updated version has 4 sections or steps that give you a guideline for achieving the 4-hour workweek.

  • Step 1: D is for Definition
  • Step 2: E is for Elimination
  • Step 3: A is for automation
  • Step 4: L is for Liberation

The DEAL is the core of what makes up Tim’s step-by-step training plan to living the life of the New Rich (NR).

Tim constantly refers to the NR as those who realize that there is more to life than materialist possessions and retirement planning or as I would say, working to  “buy stuff.” We all have so much “stuff.”

Here’s how we classify the NR versus Old Rich (OR)

To be considered NR you value

  1. time
  2. income
  3. mobility.

I’d put an emphasis on time because with all the money in the world and no time, the money really means diddlysquat.

“The NR are those who abandon the deferred-life plan and create luxury lifestyles in the present using the currency of the New Rich: Time & Mobility” – TF

The OR spend a lifetime building wealth and buying things along the way with the hopes of living and experiencing only if and when enough money is acquired and they can finally retire (i.e. granting themselves time)

The NR understand that all three can be had right now. Just reading the above sentence and the OR sounds like such a backwards way of thinking.

Tim says “Retirement planning is worst-case scenario insurance.” Suggesting that we should view planning for retirement as the life insurance against the absolute worst-case scenario. Diligent savers and the OR will also scoff at such a suggestion.

But Tim isn’t suggesting not to save, (he’s maxing out his own retirement savings every year) rather he’s suggesting that a life of working with retirement as the end-goal is flawed and he gives three reasons why:

1)   It’s predicated on the assumption that you dislike what you are doing during the most physically capable years of your life.

2)   Most people won’t be able to maintain their current quality or standard of living.

3)   Most hardworking people get so bored one week into retirement they begin looking for a new job. Tim notes, “kinda defeats the purpose of waiting.”

Let’s break down each section of the book.

Step 1: D is for Definition

Definition is truly a great way to start the book. This chapter is about letting it all hang out. It’s about defining what your dream life looks like.

You’ll find similar aspects in various business books. Most goals in life will never come to fruition unless you can totally define exactly what it is you want in life.

Maybe it’s a Ferrari…

Maybe you want to spend 6 months of every year living in Patagonia fly fishing…

Maybe you want to learn new languages…or study the martial arts….or become a chef…

Whatever it is, this step is crucial for the NR. It’s about figuring out what it will cost to live your dream life. Tim does suggest a limit on material possessions when planning your dream life but it’s OK to include them if they are truly part of your dreams.

Tim wants you to nail it down, actually putting a dollar amount on it. He even suggests calculating it right down to the daily cost of living your dream life.

But aside from dreaming up your ultimate life, this chapter is also about defining your fears and nightmares or conquering pessimism in your life.

We’ve talked about fear of taking chances before. Tim wants you to define all your fears and challenges getting in the way of your dreamlining.

Step 2: E is for Elimination

This chapter is about time management. Many of Tim’s suggestions on just about everything in life are summed up using the Pareto Principle of 80/20.

The Pareto Principle states that 80% of effects come from 20% of the causes.

Tim asks us to consider the following

1)   Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?

2)   Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?

One of the things I really enjoyed about this chapter was Tim’s look at 9-5 work. I worked 9-5 in an office environment for a few months and I totally get it. Tim suggests that society has agreed to shuffle papers between 9-5 and much of that time is wasted (80/20). Yet society has deemed this the time when things get done and we do somehow manage to accomplish all the required tasks during this time even if we’re only working 20% of the day. Tim believes the concept of 9-5 is a totally arbitrary one and I tend to agree.

The ultimate goal of elimination is to find the  80% of distractions and eliminate them.

We then take the 20% of sources and use various techniques to even further optimize our output and eliminate time required.

Step 3: A is for automation

This is where things start to get interesting.

Outsourcing life and taking advantage of Geoarbitrage.

The NR take advantage of outsourcing.

“Becoming part of the NR isn’t just about working smarter by applying the 80/20 rule, it’s about building a system to totally replace yourself.” TF

Think about all those lingering tasks that we constantly put off and procrastinate. Imagine you no longer had to worry about them because your personal assistant in India was handling them.

This chapter seems to get most people’s blood boiling the quickest. “How appalling,” some might say to the thought  of hiring a personal assistant in India, paying them far less than you’d pay someone in North America and having them do work for you.

But it’s really quite the contrary. The biggest companies in the world have been outsourcing everything for years and the NR have realized they can do so as well.

For example, if you believe Microsoft has been manufacturing and boxing up xbox’s to ship out, you’re dead wrong. They outsource and the NR apply the same techniques to both our personal lives and businesses.

Many will say, “why would I hire someone to do that when I can do it cheaper?” Tim confirms this…. “You can always do them cheaper but just because you can it doesn’t mean you should”

The book is chalk full of examples of how the NR are using outsourcing to improve their daily lives. I wanted to include a few here for enjoyment.

For the record I use outsourcing from a tech support company in India that handles the support of all the web-hosting clients I deal with. The support is professional and extremely fast. It costs me about $120 per month but frees up and unprecedented # of worry-free hours for me.

Examples of ways the NR have used outsourcing:

1)   Finding a parking spot for your car in another city before you make the trip

2)   Personal Chef for less than $5 a meal

3)   House repairs while you’re out of the country

4)   Charting a diet plan and ordering the groceries for you

5)   Apologizing to your spouse and sending flowers when you screw up

6)   Automatically sending flowers to your mother and spouse on the important days

7)   Scheduling interviews

8)   Personal daily wake up calls

9)   Research

10) Creation of reports, legal documents, graphic design, marketing

11)  Web development, SEO

12)  Travel Arrangements

Just about anything you can think of can be automated.

Outsourcing isn’t just about going overseas either. Just because you can get it done cheaper overseas doesn’t make it the right decision. There are certain language barriers that might not be as problematic if working with a Virtual Assistant in the USA or Canada. Either way, the 4HWW provides a ton of tips and strategies for finding appropriate outsourcing.

The main and ultimate goal is freeing up your free time to pursue your dream and dream life.

Relative VS Absolute Income

The NR are interested in relative income over absolute income.

Absolute income refers to the “Old Rich way of thinking” in that that the dollars made is what defines being rich. Your wage per year determines if you’re rich or not….

The NR value relative income and understand both money, time and mobility. The money you make per year is an arbitrary concept much like 9-5.

Here’s the example Tim provides.

Jane makes 100k per year
John makes 50k per year

In absolute terms Jane is wealthier than John. But take a closer look:

Jane works 50 weeks per year and makes 2k per week. She’s a workaholic and ends up spending about 80 hours per week in the office. She eats and sleeps with her blackberry.

In reality she makes $25 per hour.

John works 50 weeks per year and makes 1k per week. John is a member of the NR and works only 10 hours per week to provide 50k. In relative income terms , John is 4 times wealthier than Jane. John also earns $75 more than Jane per hour. Go figure… Yet our society would say Jane is richer.

You must keep in mind, 50K is all John needs to live his dream life he defined earlier. Your dream life will be different.

The rest of this chapter deals with creating a business that can automate the task of making money. When I first read Tim’s book this section was a let down. Tim started a company that sold a supplement and he did extremely well. But he didn’t share much more beyond that and still doesn’t in the expanded and updated version. Tim includes some basics on Google Adwords and testing but otherwise I was a little let down by this chapter. I would have liked to see Tim really break down the process of his supplement company or at least expand on this section.

Many of you who I work with or that read my blog will be at skill levels far beyond what Tim is teaching and I’d consider that a huge advantage…. By implementing the rest of Tim’s training you’re already going to be way ahead. For those who’ve never developed a product to sell on the Internet, Tim’s training will provide a nice base and starting point for you.

Step 4: L is for Liberation

This chapter is really what it’s all about for me and probably the reason I drove my wife completely nuts over the past week or so.

This chapter is all about breaking away from the norms of traditional society and truly embracing the ideals of the NR.

This is about working from home or working anywhere else in the world for that matter. Tim suggests mini-retirements and experiencing the world rather than seeing sections of it in a short 1-2 week vacations. Tim wants us to remove the shackles of the expectations of Western life and develop the rules on our own terms.

For the employee it’s about escaping the office but maintaining your job.

You’ll find it extremely interesting to see the employees who’ve used Tim’s advice to arrange remote work arrangements. I find this chapter most fascinating for those who do actually love their jobs but are looking for more.

Finally, this chapter is about filling the void in your life after you eliminate work.

There is so much more in this chapter but I’ve really gone on long enough.

All in all, this is a really rough take on the 4HWW but I hope I’ve said enough to intrigue you to buy and read it. The book has been on the bestseller list for over 2 years so he must be doing something right.

2010  is a big year for me. I plan to implement many of the ideas in this book and hope to share my journey with you.

Over the past week I’ve been suggesting to my wife the following:

A summer in Tuscany in a rustic old apartment drinking wine (maybe some of which we’ll actually make)

Three months of skiing in the Swiss Alps

An apartment in Paris where we could fatten up on pastries and poutine

Sipping Vodka in Prague

A few months in wine country in Argentina where I could do some world-class fly fishing…

She isn’t convinced yet or sold on the idea but she’s starting to see the light…maybe…….

Once again, Happy New Year and I wish you all the best in the coming year.

Noah

P.S. Right now on Tim’s site he has 18 videos and case studies from people who’ve successfully implemented the techniques and strategies found within the 4HWW. I suggest watching them all.