When I found myself stuck in a dead-end office job five years ago, I quickly realized that trying to come up with the next Google or Facebook, in my spare time, was probably not going to happen. It looked as if I would continue working in the dead-end office job.

That’s when the idea of the speck came to me.

The idea was simple.

With close to a billion people using the Internet, I only needed to find 300 people, who shared my interests, were interested in what I had to offer, that would be willing to pay me $30 bucks a month, and I could find myself an office with a window.

My own office.

Only 300 people out of a billion. A teeny-tiny, yet extremely powerful, particle of dust. This is what I call the speck.

With a simple concept, like the speck, and a concrete goal on paper (300 x $30), I was off to the races.

I hit that target within a couple of weeks and left my job less than six months later. I haven’t been back to the windowless office in over five years.

Seth Godin talks about Tribes and the importance of finding your tribe. When I heard Seth speaking live last week in Chicago, he spoke about musicians and their ability to harness the power of the Internet to find their tribe and build a successful career at the same time.

The old model worked something like this: Write the music, take a loan out and record your demo, hope to be discovered by a record label, and keep hoping.

We could dive deeper into this old broken model, but your chances of being discovered and actually making money were next to none.

The new model: As Seth suggested, find 3000 fans who dig your music from that ever-growing pool of over a billion people. But find the 3000 who’d be willing to buy your new music for $30 bucks a year, and you’ve made it.

You’re done! Keep producing your art. Keep doing what you love, and earn a solid living at the same time.

$90,000 bucks a year is nothing to scoff at.

Some might argue that as the overall size of the group grows, it becomes harder and more complicated to find your speck.

3000 out of a billion.

300 out of a billion.

100 out of a billion.

In Tribes, Seth stressed that in many cases, the tribes have already been formed and they’re simply looking for a leader. “We need you to lead us”, the book’s tagline read.

I see it like this. You can find your speck faster than ever before. Your speck might even find you. There’s a good chance people on line are looking for you, or someone just like you. They’re ready to cling to you like dust mites on your Grandmother’s dining room table.

Finding 3000 people who like your music out of a billion may be easier then you think.

Finding 300 people to pay you $30 bucks a month for a service or product that you’ve poured your heart and soul into, and created just for them, is easier than you think.

Who knows, maybe your speck is even smaller. Maybe you only need a hundred people, or you may need more.

It doesn’t really matter. The whole point is this - in the big scheme of things, all you probably need to achieve success, beyond your wildest dreams, is nothing more than a tiny speck of people.

Back in 2005, I found a speck, organized them, and signed them up within two weeks. Done.

Five years later, the two weeks it took me to connect a speck of people can potentially happen a heck of a lot faster today. Maybe even overnight. All it takes is one good sneeze.

The speck is a small but insanely powerful concept for mapping your plan for success. As the size of the number of connected Internet users grows, your chances of actually finding your speck increases tremendously.

It worked for me, it can work for you.

People, who are down to their last few pennies in their bank accounts, taking out loans to buy the latest and greatest collection of DVD’s or Seminars that promise to take away all their financial burdens.

Clever marketers and salesmen selling products with the promise that they will teach you how to make money on the Internet quickly and instantly.

Usually the salesmen will use statements like:

“wealth in your underwear”

“income while you sleep”

“work from home”

“income autopilot”

“instant overnight riches”

Now, truth be told, I’ve made a lot of money selling advice,  and coaching & consulting people who are looking to make money in the online world.

In the past five years, I’ve worked with over 500 online marketers who were creating information based products, membership sites, and coaching services, to name a few examples, for direct sales on the Internet.

On numerous occasions, I’ve watched my own clients create great products and services and are so successful they do end up earning money while they’re sleeping!

Many of my customers and clients have gone on to make far more money than I have.

One example is a client and friend of mine who was a practicing lawyer for over 15 years. He made decent a living, but the lifestyle wasn’t for him. We’ve never met in person, but we’ve worked together online since 2005.

Over the years, he’s also become a successful options trader. Using my advice and training, he created a membership site (where people pay him a monthly fee) for his expertise, tips, and coaching on the options trading industry.

Needless to say, he’s no longer a practicing lawyer.

I’ve also made a lot of money selling my own information products in the online world. Some of the earliest income I ever made was from digitally based products I had created and sold on eBay.

During my University days, there were times when I was earning $80-$100 dollars per day while I was in class studying.

I’ve been earning income through my online and offline endeavours for almost 10 years now.

But during that time, I’ve also watched people squander away buckets of money on the promise of “getting rich quick.”

When people are desperate, the lure of a shortcut to riches is much more tempting.

Marketers know this. Of course the schemers and carrot-danglers also know this and they pounce when people are most vulnerable.

So it’s always worth repeating. There are no shortcuts or secrets to making money, especially online. There is knowledge available, that can help you earn more money, but there are no secrets to instant success.

The ex-lawyer I mentioned above spent months creating his product, tweaking, and testing it, to ensure he was offering an outstanding quality product. He makes a pretty substantial and stable income from his website.

If someone is trying to persuade you or if you are trying to decide if spending a few thousand dollars on a money-making scheme is worth it, read my information below.

And for the record, I’m not saying that all training and seminars are a rip-off.

I’m merely pointing out that the seminars, products, and training that promise “instant results, getting rich quick, and making money for nothing,” should be carefully looked at.

Here’s how it works:

It usually starts with a secret. The secret of wealth, happiness, cars, boats, mansions, and a worry-free life.

And the secret can be yours for usually somewhere between $$ or $$$$

Yes. That’s right! The secret is so big! So special! So powerful!

Yet, this person is willing to sell his/her newly found secret in exchange for your cash! (only to the first 500 buyers). Go figure.

So let’s clear it up once and for all.

I’m going to share the big secret with you.

The secret is, the guy selling the secret has another single super-duper big secret, he’s not actually sharing with you.

Ready for it?

There really is no secret.

There is a huge business in selling the facade of secrets. The market for this industry continues to grow bigger and bigger the worse the economy gets. It usually consists of poor, innocent, desperate, and hungry people willing to blindly throw a few remaining darts.

In conclusion, there is a small secret I can share with you.

The Internet is full of abundant opportunities. You can make a lot of money using the little box on your desktop, but it’s going to be hard, hard, hard work. It’s never as easy as it looks. Anyone that says it’s easy, and can be accomplished quickly, is trying to take your money.

Nuff said.

Here’s an example of the typical “get rich quick” promise.

As far as I know, there is nothing like turning your computer into an automatic cash printing machine. :-0

If a janitor could do it…….

This weekend I finished Switch by Dan & Chip Heath. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it.

On Saturday night I started a second book which is blowing me out of the water. I find myself mesmerized by every word, sentence & paragraph. My typical fast read has turned into a slow and methodical journey that still has me hanging on to the edge of my seat.

The book I’m reading is The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz

I’ve only read about 60% of the book, but I have no doubts this will be one of my favorite reads of the year. I’m hooked.

Jacqueline’s story is the quintessential case-study of a linchpin in action. It’s no surprise that Seth has been pushing  us to read it.

What’s really struck a chord with me about Jacqueline’s journey is that not once did she ever have a map or a manual telling her what the next step was. Everything she experienced and learned was the result of taking steps into the dark unknown. Sometimes the road was extremely bumpy, sometime it was an utter failure, but she kept on moving.

Just like Joy, who we met yesterday,  nobody instructed Jacqueline on how to do it. She just did it.

I’ll review the book in-depth at a later date…But….

Being someone who’s sold information products in the past and has been  involved in the Internet Marketing niche or more specifically, the “how to make money” niche, it’s sad to see people constantly falling for the deception of the quick fix. I  feel apologetic  for any of my own contributions towards the search for a “manual.” I feel guilty for even slightly perpetuating that such a manual might exist, or that I’ve promoted products created by others that promised the manual.

People will spend thousands of dollars, even when the bank account is already overdrawn, on the promise of overnight riches and fast money.

The manual doesn’t exist, quit looking for it. The promise of a step-by-step manual in exchange for your money is a farce. Anyone who tells you it does actually exist, is lying to take your money. There’s no such thing as instant work-at-home riches, or wealth in your underwear with a few clicks of the mouse. It doesn’t exist.

As soon as you can accept this, you can do two things:

1) Put your wallet away, and stop stressing about missing out on the next super hyped-up thing (promising a map).

2) Start plotting your own course by taking steps into the unknown.

Read this book. It will change you.

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.

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.

I couldn’t stop thinking of the Terminator films when I viewed the presentation hence the title of this post!

Tara writes:

“The presentation I gave at nextMEDIA in Toronto today. Basic premise, let’s put human stuff first when using the ‘new’ media (and in every case, in fact). Stuff like personality, quality, relationships and taking the time to invest in the people you follow/follow you is really important for being able to raise that crucial social capital that helps us achieve our goals at the end of the day (job, growing our business, changing the world, raising money, etc).”

I thought today was a good day to do this since yesterday Google introduced Google Profiles or more appropriately starting showing the results of “profiles” in search. I guess Google Profiles has been around for a while but sitting quite stagnant for the past year or so.

Basically what it means in a nutshell is this, if someone is searching for “Noah Fleming” through Google they  will see any references to Noah and things I’ve done or created. Now Google is going to be showing specific profiles of people named “Noah Fleming” and the information they want to share. This gives people a little more access to sharing information they want to share in the index.

So for me, this meant updating some bio information about myself. I’m happy with the result and therefore I’ve also updated the “About Me” section of my blog.

Check out my Google Profile here‘

Let me know if you’ve created one.

So far I haven’t seen any Profile results showing up in Google.ca but if you do a Noah Fleming search on “Google.com”, scroll down to the bottom and you’ll see my profile. You can also create your own if you’d like. Next thing I’d like to see Google do is move these results up to the top.