Creating a Location Independent Business
It’s time for the Sunday Store Update. I use this time every Sunday afternoon to tell you more about the small business I’m building to support the rest of the site.
I have a no-hype marketing policy, and I ask that you don’t buy anything from me unless you have a clear need for the product. All regular content is ad-free and freely available.
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Today I want to tell you about a great product that I had nothing to do with producing. There’s a funny story behind this, so even if you’re not interested in the product, you might like the story.
The story is that when I was trekking through Southeast Asia in January, I started outlining a business project that would compliment a lot of the free writing I do.
The Unconventional Guide series provides the bulk of my income now, but my highest-priced product is $68. Anyone in business knows that I’m missing out on a lot of income from readers who want more in-depth resources.
Of course, to create a higher-end product requires a much greater time investment. I knew it would take at least several months to complete, but everything starts with an outline.
On flights from Tokyo to Hong Kong, and then on to Bangkok the next day before I started the overland part of the journey, I began outlining a project that would provide a complete range of materials for people interested in starting a business they could operate everywhere.
It would be more than just a guide – it would be a full course, complete with audio presentations, screen capture videos, and follow-up materials.
But It Was Already There!
The funny part of this is that at some point during this time I connected with a reader from the U.K. (via Hong Kong, one of my favorite cities) named Lea Woodward. She started commenting on AONC, so I went to check out her site.
Side Note: Commenting on like-minded blogs can be a very effective way to get noticed and build up traffic over time. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to comment on someone’s site. Check back tomorrow for more on this.
When I went to Lea’s site, guess what I saw…
There was my project! There was the complete study course about creating a life of independence anywhere in the world.
Naturally, Lea didn’t steal the idea from me and I didn’t take it from her. My notes were only in my journal, and I hadn’t shared them with anyone. From different continents and slightly different approaches, Lea and I had been working on the same ideas.
My first thought was, “Wow – my work is already done! Yay.”
Well, not exactly —
This remarkable coincidence showed me three things:
1) I’m not the only one interested in this topic. Judging from all the emails I get from people wanting to escape a desk job, and how well Lea’s project has been selling on her site, she and I aren’t the only ones either.
2) Geography is somewhat irrelevant – I’m from the U.S., but I don’t think of my nationality as my primary identity. For the most part, I think of myself as a citizen of the world.
We haven’t talked about this, but I get the sense that Lea and her husband Jonathan are the same way. Over the past few years, they’ve lived in Panama, Buenos Aires, Grenada, Toronto, Hong Kong, Dubai, South Africa, and Thailand. After their first child is born (in two months!), they plan to get back out on the road before the end of the year.
3) There are different ways to approach the same issue, and each way is complimentary. Lea calls the study course Location Independent. The course is ideal for anybody who wants to build a real business for themselves which supports and enables the lifestyle of their choice – whether that’s a life of permanent travel, occasional travel, or simply being able to spend more time at home with family.
As I reviewed the substantial course materials, I noticed that Lea and I have a similar worldview but slightly different tactics. That’s why it’s possible to have more than one resource in this area, and why I’m going to offer Lea’s project as a joint venture.
No Competition
I’ve said before that there is no competition in this business. I am not harmed by other people’s success, and my success harms no one. In fact, my success helps people (and likewise), which is why I love what I do.
If you want to check out Lea and Jonathan’s work without any benefit to me, just go to LocationIndependent.com. They deserve all the sales they get, and I’m happy to endorse them. I’ve reviewed 80% of the course so far, and I can easily say that it offers a great value.
The Offer
However, I also want to contribute to the work that Lea and Jonathan have put together, help them succeed, and provide a more comprehensive resource while I’m busy doing other things.
That’s why Lea and I will do an additional, bonus module for all AONC readers who sign up for Location Independent through this offer. The bonus module will be done either online or by phone – whatever the group decides. We’ll give you a couple of choices and you can vote.
To get the additional module with Lea and me, and also to be part of my own study course, order her product from the links in this post.
Oh, and I’m still planning to develop my own big project at some point. It will be called Remote Lifestyle Kit and will be the most developed business project I’ve ever done. When the time gets closer, I’ll be recruiting a small group of advisers to help me create the project. Whenever that happens, I’ll send invitations to the people who are part of the joint AONC / Location Independent group first.
Helping people create location independent businesses is such an important goal that the more resources out there, the better. If you’re up for it, here’s the link to learn more.
Wrap-Up
Sorry to take so long with this – my theory is that it’s always better to provide more information than less.
I also want to be careful in explaining how it works. Despite many opportunities, I’ve never done any affiliate promotion here — this is the first one in 14 months, and I don’t have any others lined up. I promote my own stuff in a very limited way, and I promote other resources that I like without any benefit to me.
The reason I decided to do this now is because Lea’s awesome project is directly related to what a lot of people here want to do. I hear from people every single day who want to do what Lea and Jonathan (and I) do. If you’re one of those people, I feel very good about recommending this to you.
If it’s NOT for you, of course, that’s totally fine. As long as my work is helpful or inspiring in some way, feel free to keep reading without ever buying anything.
Also, if you like the idea but would rather wait for my own big project (Remote Lifestyle Kit), no problem. But to be honest, you’ll be waiting a long time. I have a book to write and a lot of countries to visit. At this point, I’m not certain when I’ll even be able to get started with it.
If you don’t want to wait, I recommend you check out LocationIndependent. I give it four stars out of four. If there were five stars, I’d give it five. You know what I mean – it’s not really about stars, it’s about creating a life of freedom that allows you to work anywhere. This will help.
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Image: Lea and Jonathan at the Cape of Good Hope
