Will takes in the views over the Spanish countryside

The top problem for most aspiring long-term travellers is how to earn enough income on the road. Travelling off of savings is great way to start, but what happens when you run out of money. If your travel bug is going to turn into a location independent lifestyle, you will need to start working on the road.

More often than not, that means doing some type of freelancing work. Many also try their hand at travel writing, for their own blogs or other sites. Will Peach does all of the above. In this interview, Will shares his experiences working for sites like Gap Daemon and Vagabundo Magazine, as well as SEO article writing and consulting. He shows that you don’t need to earn much money on abroad if you can keep your costs low.

Please tell us about your travel background?

Hi guys! First off let me envelop you all in a nice warm “Will Peach” hug and wish you all the best for the year ahead. Right, now that the sexual tension is out the way, let’s continue onward.

I started travelling as a wee nipper making my first trip abroad a few short years after having sprung from the womb. Growing up under the heavy influence of my travel-curious dad, I had the fortune of going on vacation to quite a few destinations during my childhood. Stand out trips include a month long tour of Australia at the age of 12, holidaying in Kenya at 14 and a tour of California in my awkward teenage years. I hardly saw much of my native England!
Needless to say this taste of travel spilled over into my adulthood. At university I was lucky enough to do a year abroad at the University of Miami and after graduating I upped sticks and went to live in Vietnam for a year and a half. I’m still not done yet!

Where are you now?

The past few months I’ve been living in a little city called Cáceres in Extremadura, Spain (quite close to the Portuguese border). I came to live in Spain primarily because I had the crazy ambition of becoming the first person in my family to become fluent in a language other than English (and, if I choose to believe my grandmother, Irish). Since moving here however I’ve found that Spain really floats my boat. Right now I’m back in London for the holidays but, depending on when you read this, I’ll be back out in Spain in a new location working on my goal. If you’re interested in reading about my experiences and checking out my progress check out my site My Spanish Adventure.

Will enjoying Caceres' old quarter

What are you living expenses in Spain?

A lot cheaper than when I was living in London! In Cáceres I was paying just 100 Euros a month in rent (for a room in a shared apartment). For food I was probably paying around another 180 Euros a month (eating out maybe a couple of times a week) and for entertainment (which there wasn’t a great deal of maybe 200 Euros). I spent most of my “entertainment” money on travelling around the area getting to see cool places like Seville and Mérida.

How do you earn an income now?

Ah this is the bit where I give away all my secrets isn’t it? Well the bulk of my money I earn from my role as an editor at Gap Daemon (that accounts for maybe 50% of my monthly income). Then I work with a few different clients in the SEO world and provide writing for them on a freelance basis. My earnings per month vary wildly (depending on how much freelance stuff gets sent my way) but have always been enough to cover my outgoings.
Recently I’ve been working on other projects designed to bring in some income further down the line. I’m trying to push my SEO writing work more into consultancy (willpeach.com is my base for this) and also running a few different travel sites in the hope of monetisation in the coming months. I’ve also taken an editorial role at Vagabundo Magazine, which I hope will help prop me up too.

My earnings are still very much a work in progress and I’ll be the first to admit I’m no expert in this area. Still I love being the master of my own fate and this way of living is certainly the one for me.

Please tell us more about Gap Daemon and Vagabundo

Gap Daemon is a gap year website for backpackers and young travellers that provides people with a network to help record and prepare their travels as well as meet other people while out on the road. I actually got involved with them over a year ago when I worked in a full time capacity as a site editor in their London offices. Deciding to go travelling myself I was fortunate enough to have them support me. Right now I’m helping to add to their ever-increasing information resource by writing articles and recording podcasts with travellers around the world. It’s pretty cool work!

Vagabundo Magazine is an online travel magazine run by Brendan Van Son, a pretty well known Canadian photographer and travel writer. I got involved with them after writing a few articles for the digital magazine and asking Brendan if there was anything more I could help out with. Right now Brendan and I are working together to bring Vagabundo Magazine to the masses by expanding our activity on social media (particularly Twitter) and continuing to provide great travel stories and inside destination guides from around the world. Be sure to check it out!

How did you find those job opportunities?

I found the opportunity at Gap Daemon after working in the trade press here in London for a while (I had a big portfolio of travel writing and blogs from my time in Vietnam to help support my application). Back then they were just starting out so I had the good fortune of joining them after only a few months of operation.

Vagabundo Magazine came off the back of me writing for it and contacting Brendan. If I had to give any advice to people looking for similar opportunities I’d say networking with bloggers or writers in the field (simply by shooting them emails and telling them you’re fans of their work) is definitely the way to go.

In one of the frustrating moments of learning Spanish abroad!

Is this work 100% remote?

The work is 100% remote with the only stipulation that I check-in via emails regularly and take the occasional Skype call.

Are there good opportunities for travel writers at companies like Gap Daemon and Vagabundo?

Both these publications have great opportunities for travel writers looking to make a break in the field. Unlike other sites of a similar nature, Vagabundo Magazine and Gap Daemon both pay for good content from decent travel writers. Granted you won’t make anything near as much as you would writing for national papers or magazines but it’s still a great way to start.
If you’re interested in writing for the Gap Daemon blog I’d suggest thinking carefully about what you can offer and then pitching to chief editor Nadia. You can get in contact with her via Twitter.

The process is similar with Vagabundo. Check out the site, familiarise yourself with the content then have a read of the contributors guidelines.

Why do you work for other companies rather than focusing on your own sites?

That’s a really good question but one that’s easily answered by saying that I’m still very much a beginner and new to this world. Working with people like Gap Daemon and Vagabundo gives me a very solid start (not to mention great contacts) and also two solid online brands behind that of my own name.
Working with these sites also reinforces just how great it is to be part of a team. That’s a feeling I often miss running my own independent project!

Please tell us about your search engine optimization services

SEO is new to me but something that I’m growing increasingly passionate about. I learned a lot from my time at Gap Daemon but have explored it more over the past few months, thanks largely to communities like Sean Ogle’s Location Rebel.

Right now I work primarily as a SEO writer, freelancing with SEO companies who outsource this type of work. For these firms I generally write on a whole host of topics, which can range from anything like telecommunications, to business agents to real estate dealings. Finding work in this field can be tricky (given the competition) but there are plenty of opportunities for people on sites like Elance.

I find most of my work based on referrals from previous clients or networking. More recently I’ve expressed an interest in moving away from the writing and more into consultancy.

SEO writing: Will's usual expression

Are there good opportunities to do SEO work for small businesses?

I’d say there’s a healthy amount. It’s all about taking action, contacting the types of business you want to work with and telling them what you can do for them. Chances are, if you’ve studied the subject, you’ll know more than most small business owners. The next thing you need to do is to convince them to pay you for it, even if that means doing some unpaid work first!

Can you give some advice for travellers looking to do SEO freelance work?

The first thing you want to do is find other people who are doing it and ask them about it – unfortunately I can’t relay all the details in an interview or it would go on forever! Ask those people if they wouldn’t mind Skyping or something and then take it from there.

I’d suggest starting out by simply reading about the subject and getting a feel for what it’s all about (the learning curve isn’t all that big!). From there I’d find SEO companies, web design firms or small businesses that you like the look or sound of and just start pitching to them.

It needn’t be too hard!

Do you have any advice for aspiring long-term travellers?

The only advice I’d feel qualified to give is make sure it’s your dream and don’t let anything hold you back. You don’t need massive savings, you don’t need specific skills and you don’t need to be that well prepared. All you need to be is a capable person and willing to take a few risks.
Oh and remember to give back by doing interviews such as these!

About Will Peach

Will is one of the site editors over at Gap Daemon, the gap year travel website for backpackers and young travellers. He also works as a freelance SEO writer as well as tackling the subject of what to see in Spain over on his travel site My Spanish Adventure. Follow will on Twitter.

Related posts:

1. Interview with Travel Writer/Consultant Extraordinaire, Andy Hayes
2. Interview with Travel Writer, Anja Mutic
3. Interview with Location Independent Freelance Writer Sharon Hurley Hall

Please tell us about your travels.

I first began traveling long-term in November 2010. Before I left for good, I took a “practice” trip in Mexico for 5 weeks to see if I’d like it, and to learn about any logistical problems that might pop up (mail, banking, internet, etc.). After that I flew into Guatemala and have been working my way South through Central America for the last 10 months.

What made you decide to begin a nomadic life?

There really wasn’t a single big reason, more like a combination of many. I was bored with my life. I moved around a lot, and it was something I actually looked forward to doing. I guess I just couldn’t stay in one place for too long before I started wondering what it would be like living somewhere else. I think I was just born with a nomadic gene.

Did you have a lot of savings when you started?

I dramatically cut down on unnecessary expenses to save for the trip, but I didn’t spend years saving up like some people do. I maybe saved for a year or so. The difference is I also spent 3 years building up a business in my spare time that could support me while I was traveling. I was aiming for a certain monthly income, not a certain savings amount.

You were living and working in Hawaii before, why did you leave?

I left Hawaii for the same reasons I left the beautiful mountains of Montana, and the amazing nightlife in Miami. I got sick of those places. I needed something new. It’s my nomadic gene working, I can’t control it. It’s one of the reasons I love constant travel so much. Every day is completely new and different.

Please tell us about your website?

My travel blog was created about 6 months prior to the start of my trip. I knew I wanted to record the many travel experiences I’d have for friends & family. I was hoping that others might find it interesting too, because I always loved reading other travel blogs. Eventually I’d like to turn my travel blog into another solid source of income, but my main goal with the site is to effectively share my experiences with others in the hopes that they’ll be inspired to take some risks and explore the world on their own.

Your videos are very high quality, do you think video is more effective than text on a blog?

At the moment I use 3 different cameras to record my adventures, and all of them record HD video. I wouldn’t consider them pro cameras, but all combined they aren’t cheap. Right now it’s about $5000 worth of camera gear. All the short films on the site are edited by me, but I have no formal training. I slowly taught myself (and still have a lot more to learn). I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to have video on a travel blog, but it certainly helps add a different dimension. My videos tend to focus on the visual experiences, I don’t talk much in them. Shooting & editing video is a TON of work, and if you don’t really enjoy it, it can be a nightmare. Luckily I enjoy it very much.

What did you do to build such a large online following?

At the moment I have over 13,000 followers on Twitter, and over 1400 fans on Facebook. One of my techniques for gathering new followers is to make it very easy for people to follow me. At the end of every blog post, I just ask people to follow if they enjoyed the story or photos. The process has to be easy & quick.

Do you make much money from your website?

I don’t make a ton of money from my travel blog yet. Maybe $300-$400 a month with some affiliate links & advertising. While I’d obviously like that to increase, I also don’t want my blog to become an ugly billboard that’s unpleasant to visit. I turn down advertisers all the time if I think their ads will degrade the experience for my readers.

How do you earn an income now?

The quick explanation is that I create membership websites. Customers pay for information or access to online courses about particular topics. The topics vary widely. I plan on writing a detailed blog post about this in the future. It’s taken me years to earn an income this way.

What are your approximate monthly living expenses?

I spend about $800-$1000 a month on living expenses while traveling. About 30% is for food, 30% for accommodation, 20% transportation, and 20% for entertainment. The breakdown can change depending where I am and what I’m doing though.

What do you dislike about always being on the road?

Generating meaningful friendships & relationships can be hard to when you’re always on the road. I plan on taking long breaks for a few months in one location every so often to help remedy that, but I’m not sure if it will work yet. I possibly see myself getting sick of the nomadic lifestyle sometime in the future. But for now, the benefits outweigh the costs.

Are you afraid of not being in the workforce for a long time?

I’m not a “career” kind of guy. I can always learn something new if I’m forced to, I think everyone can.

Have you had any serious problems on your travels?

Plenty of minor annoyances, like missed flights & buses, delayed baggage, broken cameras, cuts & sprains, etc. But so far no robberies, major accidents, illnesses, animal attacks, or things like that. I’ve had food poisoning only once in 10 months, and I drink local tap water most of the time.

How do you deal with administrative issues like banking, bills and health care?

I do my banking with Charles Schwab, a great bank for travel. They refund all your ATM fees no matter where you are. I have a catastrophic health insurance plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield in the United States that only covers major problems, and I use local doctors for other things. I also subscribe to a virtual mail-forwarding service called Earth Class Mail for cashing the occasional physical check and managing my mail.

Do you have any advice for people considering long-term traveling?

It may seem like there are too many obligations & obstacles stopping you from long-term travel, but I’ve learned that nothing is impossible. The only thing stopping you, is you. If you really want to travel, there’s always a way to make it happen. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy though.

To help conquer fears, I’d also like to recommend the following piece of advice from the philosopher Seneca:

“Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with course and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: Is this the condition that I feared?”

Links

ExpertVagabond.com
Follow Matthew  on Twitter
Matthew on Facebook

Related posts:

1. Interview with Digital Nomad, James Clark
2. Interview with Vagabond Johnny Ward
3. Interview with Successful Nomadic Entrepreneur, Dan Andrews

Please tell us about your travels.

My first trip abroad was a brief holiday to Hawaii which activated the travel bug. I took some annual leave holidays after that, but I found that even saving up 2 months of leave from work wasn’t enough time to explore in a time frame I wanted. My long term travels began in 1999 when I moved to London on a 2 year working holiday visa, where I used London as a home base for travels around Europe. So far my travels have taken me to over 40 countries across North America, Europe and Asia. I still have much of the world to see, but I am not in a hurry to tick off a list of countries.

What made you decide to begin a nomadic life?

I wouldn’t say that my nomadic lifestyle was a decision, rather it has been something that has evolved over time. My original goal was to become self employed doing a job I enjoy which I could do anywhere. At first I would travel for shorter trips, then the trips extended to the point where now I am traveling full time.

Do you have a home base somewhere that you return to?

At the moment I have no home base. When I first started out working for myself in 2003, I had a home base in Melbourne. I averaged around 6 months away and six months at home, while keeping the place I lived at. In 2010 I moved out of that house so I am now without a fixed address.

If you had to choose one country to live, what would it be?

Tough question! I think I will always call Australia home but lately I have been gravitating towards SE Asia whenever I want to stay put for a while. So out of that region I will nominate Thailand for its food, lifestyle, cost of living and good internet service.

How do you earn an income now?

I run a number of commercial travel websites which earn income from the following sources:

• Affiliate sales
• Google Adsense
• Direct Advertising

I have done web design and search engine optimization in the past for other sites, but currently I am working exclusively on my own sites.

Do you make much money from your website?

Without going into details, I make more money working for myself than when I was working for someone else, which is a satisfying feeling. I have had periods though where I wasn’t making much money at all. This is all part of the life of being self employed, a stress which is not for most people.

What is your approximate travel budget for a year?

I don’t really keep a travel budget as it is more of a living budget now. I am aware of my outgoings and I keep my expenses down by not paying for internet or staying in expensive accommodation. I recently kept track of my cost of living for a month for when I was living in Mexico as an example of how you can live well on a small budget. I spent $850 in one month while living in Playa del Carmen. This was a living budget, and not a travel budget, which has different considerations such as transportation and short term accommodation costs.

Are you getting tired of traveling?

I’m not tired of the traveling lifestyle, though I manage this by breaking up my travels with breaks in one place. As much as I love travel, I also love the work that I do as well, which is a good incentive to stay at a home base for a while rather than continuing on to the next destination.

Have you had any serious problems on your travels?

I have been denied entry to two countries in Europe for not having a visa (oops), been in a hotel fire and have had numerous flight delays and cancellations (I’m looking at you Eyjafjallajökull!) but nothing too serious (touch wood).

How do you deal with administrative issues like banking, bills and health care?

This is something that has evolved over time as well. Most of my banking is online now. I have opted out of paper statements and get e-statements instead. I have the occasional payment with cheques (yes some companies still use cheques!) so I have them sent to my parents who manage my banking as well as my quarterly business tax statements. I still maintain health care in Australia, and for travel insurance I am currently using World Nomads.

Do you have any advice for people considering long term traveling

Whether you are travelling as a working nomad or just taking a year off work to explore the world it is a good idea to start simplifying your life before you go. Get out of debt if possible and wind down any monthly standing payments like TV subscriptions. Get rid of unnecessary mail subscriptions and get anything that can be done online set up.

As for making a travel plan, I find you don’t really need one. Once you are on the road you will get into adventures that may take you destinations that weren’t on your original itinerary.

Links
Nomadic Notes - James Clark’s Blog
Follow James on Twitter
Nomadic Notes on Facebook

Related posts:

1. Chiang Mai – The Digital Nomad Capital of the World
2. Interview with Entrepreneur and Digital Nomad Corbett Barr
3. Interview with Digital Nomads from Never Ending Voyage

Please tell us about yourself

After studying philosophy in college, I sort of blindly jumped in to business because I assumed that business guys had a lot of freedom in terms of how they spent their time and where they can be located. I didn’t really have a plan, but in retrospect I think I was right about the business thing. Being an entrepreneur allows me a great deal of freedom in how I spend my time and I also get to be creative, which is really important to me.

It took me a little while to figure out how to get the kind of freedom I was looking for. I started my business in 2007, basically the day after I read the Four Hour Work Week. At the time I was working as the Vice President of Operations for a small manufacturing firm, and even though I was making good money, I wasn’t able to afford the kinds of adventure and freedom I wanted in my life.

At that job, I started hiring web developers and experimenting with outsourcing to improve our marketing. As I learned about things like SEO and web development it dawned on me that by becoming an expert in that stuff I could make a living from anywhere. After the business made its first few sales I quit my job and took off to travel.

I don’t want to portray it like one day I was just free and galavanting around the world. Although I can work from anywhere and do a lot of cool stuff, I still have tons of responsibilities (like payroll!) and its not all fun and games. For me, building a lifestyle business is a ton of work and freedom increases gradually and by degrees, it doesn’t just arrive overnight.

Where do you spend most of your time?

I’d describe my lifestyle as semi-nomadic. I travel a lot and generally spend about 3 months in a location. Since I quit my job in San Diego I’ve pretty much been drifting from condo to condo. I’ve spent time and done my work from San Diego, Pennsylvania, New York, Montreal, Saigon, Hanoi, Bangkok, Manila, Dumaguete, Puerto Galera, Phnom Penh, and Bali. I’ve set up offices and hired employees in Vietnam and the Philippines, and checked on our suppliers in China. This year I’ll be renting a space in Bali to meet and hang out with my TMBA interns.

Please introduce your main sites, Tropical MBA, OutsourcetothePhilippines and the LifestyleBusinessPodcast.

The TropicalMBA is basically my personal blog where I occasionally offer paid internships for aspiring digital nomads. I started the Lifestyle Business Podcast because I’m a radio nerd and wanted to have my own show, and OutsourcetothePhilippines.com started as a place where I could share my experiences setting up a business in that country.

You wrote that you had sales of more than $800,000 last year, exactly how do you earn an income?

We aren’t known for giving satisfying answers to this question. If my product were an information product I’d be showing everybody everything, but with hard goods its a zero sum market. There can be a downside to revealing how I make my money. For example: one of the products I sell is a particular kind of safe. If I start publishing on the web how much money I’m making there, and show the key terms, it really has the potential to damage my business.

In general, we basically do niche marketing but with manufactured products. My business partner @AnythingIan is a product designer. We got started in business by designing and manufacturing products for niches that we felt were under-served. We develop industrial products for hotels, restaurants, and we also have a line of consumer cat furniture.

We got two new interesting sources of revenue in 2011:
1) Contracting. We’ve started to do environmental design and contracting within the parking industry, which is really exciting because the deals can be quite large. We are currently working on securing new contracts and
2) Information products. This year I’ll be launching a private membership site for entrepreneurs, a guide to setting up a business in the Philippines, an expat living guide to Bali, and a product that helps people make money by flipping used cars.

I love the idea of the TropicalMBA, can you please tell us about that?

Starting the TropicalMBA really changed my life. Exploring the world while I work is really a dream come true for me and I’m so happy to get to help others make the same transition. I came up with the idea when I was in the Philippines looking to hire a PHP developer. I had a budget which was pretty decent. It occurred to me that when I was in a job hoping for things to change, I would have jumped at the chance to have that salary I had budgeted for a Filipino employee, provided I could earn it from anywhere and have a good learning experience out of it. So I bought the domain and put the offer up there. You can still see the first post on the site now.

The response was pretty overwhelming– I got some incredible applications for both semesters and ended up hiring two incredible guys who are now great friends of mine and still working for my business.

I’m really in love with the idea of the program, and if our business continues to do well I hope to provide many more internships in 2011.

Why did you go the podcasting route for the Lifestyle Business Podcast?

The podcast has been up until this point a 100% passion project. I’m a total radio and podcast nerd. I used to skip high school to listen to the Howard Stern show, and I still listen to tons of podcasts.

Podcasting is a lot of effort, but for me its so much fun. I feel I am learning to communicate better. I think the people who listen to our show have a more intimate and trusting relationship with us than if we were writing.

I’d say if I could do only one project for the next 5 years, it would be the podcast.

You wrote that you have more than 80 domains, can you give some advice on choosing profitable niches?

I think one thing about niche selection that isn’t talked about much is expertise, this is especially true in conversations surrounding affiliate marketing. The more you know about a niche the more likely you are going to be successful in it.

I’d also suggest that you chose niches that you love. Any way you slice it, being successful takes tons of work, so it sucks to slave away at niches you don’t care about and it’s difficult to keep up the energy for it. I’ve been successful in a few niches I don’t care about (safes?!) and I’ve handled it by hiring myself out of that role.

What country do you pay your taxes in?

We have a California S-Corp and we’ll be finalizing a corporation in the Philippines this year. We have an accounting firm, an office and warehouse in California, and we offer health insurance to our employees.

Have you had to set up a business or get any special visas or licenses to work in other countries?

Oh my! I could go on for days… Right now we’ve got people on the payroll in Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and the USA. Currently, all but our US employees are technically independent contractors. I’ve gone through all kinds of visa stuff to operate overseas, but in general, you can operate on tourist visas as long as your primary corporation is in the US and you aren’t making money in the country you are in.

Can you give some advice about outsourcing?

My favorite outsourcing site at this time is Odesk.com. My best advice about finding employees overseas is that you should treat them just like you would any other employee. I think a lot of internet marketers and online business people underestimate the time and commitment it takes to have an employee on board.

If you were new and starting today, what would you do differently?

I would find one small creative project that I could pour all of my energy in to. I have a zillion things going on right now, which is cool, but sometimes I’d like to have a little more focus. I also would not do hard goods again. It’s too tough to make a buck. I’d focus on information products and software. If I had to start form scratch, I’d just wake up every morning and do the Lifestyle Business Podcast.

Links
TropicalMBA
Lifestyle Business Podcast
Outsource to the Philippines
Follow The TropicalMBA on Twitter
Follow The Lifestyle Business Podcast on Twitter

Related posts:

1. Interview with Nomadic Day Trader, Marcello Arrambide
2. Interview with Entrepreneur and Digital Nomad Corbett Barr
3. Interview with Nomadic Entrepreneur, Chris Osborne

Please tell us about yourself.

Hi there! I was born in Amsterdam and lived in Europe for a few years (different cities). When I was 6 years old my family moved to Cape Town, South Africa where I still live 18 years later.

What is South Africa like?

South Africa is truly a beautiful country with incredible scenery and nature within an hours drive of where ever you stay. I see South Africa as having a lot of risk and crime in certain areas/neighborhoods but when you live here and you’re in the better areas you are hardly even aware that there is any danger. On television they often show only the negative, criminal and violent nature of the people in South Africa, but the majority of people here are very friendly and helpful. For example you can get fuel for your expensive $100 000 Mercedes and people working for $1 per hour will still give you a big smile and have a long conversation with you instead of showing envy and resentment to you being rich and them not.

I have noticed that crime is on the rise, but since I am not really in contact with people everyday in a school/work environment, I’m rather isolated from it. South Africa is a beautiful country and still a great place to live, but because of the crime I would not want my children to grow up here. I think that would be too much of a risk.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful country, very nice to live and safe if you’re careful and stay out of bad areas. I just feel like I want to head back to Europe, it’s where I’m from after all.

Please introduce your blog, UpgradeReality.

UpgradeReality is a blog I started over 2 years ago as my personal journal to document my growth in life. I was very much into personal development and self improvement, but wasn’t so aware of the online world and blogging community.

To cut a long story short, I took blogging more seriously and turned Upgradereality into a top self-improvement blog with thousands of readers and over 180 articles on various topics.

It’s really taken me until today to build up awareness of my blog, and it’s gaining more momentum with every article I post. It’s like that with everything, the bigger you are, the faster your grow, the bigger you get etc.

Tell us about your 3 month trip to Amsterdam.

At the beginning of 2010 I took 3 months to go to Amsterdam with one of my best friends. We’d planned it months beforehand and literally counted down every day until we arrived.

This was the first time that I ever traveled without family and was the best experience of my life. We rented a really posh apartment 5 minutes from the center of Amsterdam (It cost us 1400 Euros a month). Our daily schedule consisted of sleeping, blogging/online work, watching various TV series, going out for lunches and dinners and partying every single night. The clubs were literally 5 minutes walk from our place so it was a real blast.

I actually have mixed feelings about Amsterdam. It’s a really pretty city, I speak the language and it’s my home-town, but it’s so different to Cape Town where I’ve lived for 18 years of my life. I think it’s safe to say that Amsterdam is a serious option for me to at least have an apartment where I’d spend a few months a year.

How do you earn an income now?

At the beginning of Dec 2010 I made an announcement on my blog that I’d be taking the next 13 months to build an online business that would generate $5000 a month or more. The reason for this is that I was at a point in my life where I needed a new direction and I dreaded the idea of getting a normal job.

I have two years of experience with blogging and internet marketing part time, so I decided to take the leap and go for it. I’m lucky to be in the position that I have enough saved to live off for an entire year without working, so now it’s really a matter of sink or swim.

Can you give us an idea about how much income UpgradeReality.com brings in?

Currently UpgradeReality has 2800 subscribed readers and brings in about $500 a month.

I’m working on growing the subscriber numbers this year by doing a lot of guest posting and interviews. The plan is to create and release a product (ebook or video series) every 3 months or so, which should boost the income significantly.

How do you earn money on your blog?

I make money off UpgradeReality from sidebar ads, affiliate links and my ebooks that I sell to readers and visitors. I’m also in the process of adding consulting and I’m curious to see how that will add to the monthly income.

How many niche sites do you currently have?

I’ve actually stopped focusing on niche sites and focused my energy and time on creating products. I’ve never really understood niche sites and SEO enough to make it big. Although I made a few thousand dollars last year from mini-sites, it was with so much work and effort that I did not find it rewarding enough.

I enjoy making my own products, and once you have something valuable that can solve other peoples problems, you can go out and market it and build a big business around it which is what I’m working on.

Have you had any big breakout successes?

Nothing worth mentioning that would make you say WOW. Talk to me at the end of the year and I’ll be able to give you a better answer:)

Do you have any advice for bloggers or niche marketers?

I have some advice for bloggers:

1. 1. Build an email list. If you’re not doing this right now you’re losing money.
2. 2. Grow your audience through guest posting and interviews. The bigger your audience, the more likely you can make good money.
3. 3. Create your own products. Although affiliate marketing can be profitable on blogs, it’s more the exception than the norm.

Your friend Glen Allsopp is a huge success online, how has his friendship influenced your work?

Glen is a massive inspiration for me. He is really making a lot of money from his online projects and he has built blogs with audiences of thousands of subscribers.

He lives two minutes away from me and he shares most of his projects and ideas with me. It’s strange but I’ve never really asked him for much advice or mentoring. I kind of feel that would be abuse of our friendship but every now and then I do ask him to help me with the direction that I’m going in.

I have no doubt that Glen is only going to be more successful as time goes on, so keep your eye on him.

You have a couple of years of online experience now, if you were new and starting today, what would you do differently?

Pay for coaching. Seriously. I spent weeks and months trying to figure stuff out and trying methods that were old or outdated.

If I were to start totally new today I would spend the money to get coaching from the best of the best, build an email list, create my own products and market to the list. This seems like the best business model that I’ve come across.

Links
UpgradeReality
Follow UpgradeReality on Twitter

Related posts:

1. Interview with South African Native, Cath Duncan
2. Interview with Thailand Based Nomad, Cody McKibben
3. Interview with Entrepreneur and Digital Nomad Corbett Barr

Here is an interesting video via The Next Web about a couple of people making a lot of money from Google Adsense ads on their YouTube videos. Video is definitely the future, maybe now is the time to start shifting away from text?

For more information, check out the YouTube Partner Page to learn how to apply to begin earning money from your videos.

Do You Prefer Video or Text?

I personally would much rather read a blog post than watch someone talking to a camera. However, for many things video is far more effective. Chris Anderson from TED.com has a great presentation about “How Web Videos Power Global Innovation.” Anderson talks about how we are rapidly learning from each other through web video so that quality and skill levels keep advancing.

Video Rules for Education

For how to content, nothing compares to video. I have used CartoonSmart.com to learn Flash and illustration and a wide variety of video sites to learn guitar theory, licks and songs. It is so much more effective to be shown how to do something, rather than read about it. For any how to question, I find YouTube to be a better search engine than Google.

Is Video Difficult?

The problem is that decent video editing takes a long, long time. At least for me it does. Also, I am not so comfortable in front of a camera so it is definitely something I need more practice with.

Would you like to see more videos on JetSetCitizen or do you prefer to read text?

Related posts:

1. Interview with CartoonSmart Founder, Justin Dyke
2. Best Lifestyle Design, Personal Development and Travel Links
3. Interview with Traveling Videographer, Mark Shea of Overlander.TV

Fishing for Ideas to Improve your Life, Istanbul

Here are a few amazingly comprehensive resources that I have discovered that are important to anyone trying to build a blog or online business. All are completely free and will have a huge impact in your life and business.

Pat Flynn’s Niche Marketing Duel.

Pat is sharing, in incredible detail, exactly all the steps in finding a niche business idea and turning it into a profitable business. He already has a six figure passive income and is proving that his success is replicable.

Follow his progress right from choosing a topic. He shows how he got to the number one listing in Google in less than 3 months. His site made $151 from Google Adsense in November and $62 in October. This is after 4 months of part time effort.  Pat has plans to sell ebooks and other advertising that will definitely deliver much higher earnings. Start from the beginning and check out this series of posts. It really is amazing content that is completely free.

• Niche Site Duel: I’ve Been Challenged, and I Accept!
• Niche Site Duel 002 – Finding a Profitable Niche: My Process Revealed
• Oops. The Niche I Selected is Bad, and Here’s Why
• Niche Site Duel 003 – How to Setup a Niche Site: Before You Add Content
• Niche Site Duel 004: My Content Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 005: My Backlinking Boo Boo
• Niche Site Duel 006: My Backlink Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 007: Ranking and Traffic (and Earnings!) Update
• Niche Site Duel 008: My Monetization Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 009: I’m On The First Page of Google!
• Niche Site Duel 010: I’m Ranked Number One in Google!!
• Niche Site Duel 011: THE Backlinking Strategy That Works
• Niche Site Duel 01 2 – An Experiment and Income Update

SEO Advice: How to get to the Top 5 in Google within 40 Days

Joseph Archibald wrote a series of detail posts titled, “40 Day Challenge  “Top 5 in Google within 40 days!”” It is a little hard to follow because it is written in a discussion forum with other commentors contributing, however it is first rate SEO advice. (Pat Flynn references the 40 day challenge in the niche site duel.)

Both Pat Flynn’s and Joseph Archibald’s series of posts are generating huge traffic. There are some good lessons here about how to attract people to your site with quality content.

How to Build an Internet Business

Karol Gajda of RidiculouslyExtraordinary.com has a great email newsletter, The Freedom Fighters that walks you through the steps of finding a niche, affiliate marketing, writing an ebook, getting traffic to your blog and more. It is a concise and motivational series that I recommend to anyone trying to build a blogging based business.

If you read this post within two days of posting you might also want to check out Karol’s Only72.com deal. “23 Business Courses From 23 Successful Entrepreneurs, Normally $1,052, On Sale For $97.” It is only available for 72 hours. (Again, the idea of packaging many ebooks from different authors into one discounted offering is a fantastic idea that other bloggers can learn from.)

Ramit Sethi of Iwillteachyoutoberich.com also offers a great email newsletter of content that doesn’t get published on his blog. Some of the emails are incredibly in-depth offering case studies and practical advice to earning extra money online. There is a sales pitch for his training program which I haven’t purchased, but the free content is first rate. Pay close attention to how Ramit sells his program, even if you are not intereseted. He is definitely someone who knows what he is doing.

Interviews

If you read this blog you probably know that I am a big fan of interviews. I particularly like interviews that get into juicy details with practical lessons on how you can build your business or improve your life. Two great sites that I highly recommend are:

GreatWorkInterviews with Michael Bungay Stanier
There are many fantastic interviews with some huge names from all types of backgrounds like Seth Godin, Leo Babauta, Gretchen Rubin and Chris Guillebeau.

BlogcastFM
Srinivas Rao and Sid Savara interview several bloggers every week. This is a great source of ideas and inspiration for all of us struggling to grow a blogging audience.

If you know of any other resources that I have missed, please let me know in the comments.

Related posts:

1. Interview with IttyBiz founder and Small Business Guru, Naomi Dunford
2. Interview with Pat Flynn, $200,000 per year in 15 minutes a day!
3. How to Learn about Making Money Online

Benny Lewis of Fluentin3Months.com

I had an opportunity to meet up with and interview the charismatic Benny Lewis from Fluentin3Months.com in Budapest recently. Those of you following the location independent and travel blogger crowd will likely already be well acquainted with Benny. His blog and recent language hacking guides have been extremely popular. Currently fluent in 8 languages and proficient in many others, Benny definitely knows what he is talking about. What I admire most about him is the intense focus of his blog and language missions in different countries. Travel, lifestyle design and location independence are all very saturated topics, Benny managed to find an unique angle and he sticks with it. He is the Language Hacker Polyglot.

Here  is a very brief summary of the video.

00:20 Start off by introducing yourself.

(He studied electronic engineering. Has been travelling for 8 years. Started his blog 1.5 years ago with a language focus. Every three months or so travels to a new country to learn the language.)

1:45 Why three months?

(It is not a magic number. It depends on the person. Three months is good for him.)

2:01 What is your job?

(He has had over 40 jobs in the last 8 years. Three years ago he decided to get more direction in his career and combined language learning with engineering to start technical translation work. He wrote his language hacking guide in May and it is now enough to cover all of his expenses.)

4:28 What kind of advice do you give in your guide?

(You have to speak the language from day one. Waiting until you are ready is a feedback loop of never being ready. You are never going to be 100% ready.)

5:19 You are a very outgoing person. That must have a big influence on your ability to learn languages.

(He was very shy when he started travelling. He forced himself to become an extrovert. A language is a social means. It is a way to communicate with people. It is something anyone can learn.)

7:00 Is your language guide giving you a full-time income now?

(Yes, he is still selling 1 or 2 a day even after the initial burst.)

7:40 Can you give us an idea of your travel expenses?

(Less than 1,000 euros -$US1400. Speaking the local language and knowing some tricks of the trade can help you get very good rental rates.)

8:25 Is 1000 euros enough in more expensive countries like Spain or Italy?

(If you are living in a capital city in the center, you definitely can’t get by on 1,000 euros. If you stay for three months, are charming enough to get a good price and do it in the local language you can haggle the prices down much better.)

9:34 Can you give us some advice on how to be successful online?

(He likes to be as social as possible. He replies to every single comment on his blog. He writes separate status updates on Facebook. He engages with people; he likes it to be a two-way conversation.

11:28 How important is meeting people in person to being successful online?

(It has been very important this year. Meeting people face to face makes them much more likely to help you.)

12:18 Any plans to settle down?

(He is currently enjoying his lifestyle but probably won’t keep it up for the very long term but he is only planning for the next three months.)

13:19 If you had to choose one country to live, do you have a favorite now?

(Absolutely Brazil. The people are the friendliest in the world and they have genuine happiness and warmth.)

Links
Fluentin3Months.com
Fluentin3Months on Facebook
Follow Benny Lewis on Twitter

Related posts:

1. Interview with Location Independent Entrepreneur Brandon Pearce
2. Interview with Location Independent Freelance Writer Sharon Hurley Hall
3. Interview with Location Independent Entrepreneur, Michael Bodekaer

Interview Summary

01:11 Where are you now?

(Buenos Aires)

01:39 What is day trading?

(Essentially taking profits from the differences in moves in the stock market.)

02:04 What exactly are you trading?

(Indexed futures.)

04:50 Do you make money on every trade?

(No, losing is part of the game. It is all about probability. Make sure you win more than you lose.)

05:18 Do you have negative months or weeks?

(No, negative days. That is about it. When people get consistent enough it is rare to have losing days in a row.)

05:50 Do you have some algorithm or computer program that helps you determine when to buy and sell?

(It is a set of indicators. It is not a red light or green light that tells you when to get in. There is a set of rules you have to follow but within those rules there is some wiggle room for discretion in terms of profit targets… In the stock market it all works with probabilities. The same things happen over and over again.)

06:55 It sounds a little risky, on your about page it says you lost $25,000 when you started?

(It is the simplest hardest thing to do because it is simple to understand but hard to execute. It comes down to emotion and discipline and if you can follow the rules.)

07:39 How did you learn?

(I bought a few courses, did a lot of study, spent hours of back testing… I spent so much time to develop a strategy.)

08:20 And you are teaching others how to day trade now?

(Yes.)

08:23 What is more profitable, teaching how to day trade or actually day trading itself?

(They are about even.)

08:37 How long does it take for a novice to learn how to day trade?

(Depends on how much time they put in. Ballpark between a month and six or seven months.)

09:00 What would they learn? How to use a system? How to look for the right opportunity?

(It depends on the system you use. -He explains why he doesn’t like automated systems.- With a discretionary system… it takes practice to learn how the market moves and where to get in.)

10:00 You can’t just go on and trade, you have to wait for the right moment?

(Right, there may be a day when I don’t take a single set up… There is a split second to take advantage.)

10:40 Tell us a little about your travels?

(I’ve been travelling since I was little. I am from Venezuela. I lived part of my life in Venezuela. Part of my life in the United States. Then I moved to Italy. … Sicily, Malta, The Caribbean, Canada, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Iceland.)

11:22 Do you have a favorite country?

(No, it is favorite things from specific places.)

11:45 How about a least favorite?

(Venezuela because it is backwards there at the moment.)

12:11 What is the cheapest country you have been to so far?

(Paraguay)

12:36 Can you give us an idea of your travel expenses?

($1500 to $2000 per month.)

13:46 Any advice for aspiring day traders or nomadic travellers?

(Do your research. You don’t want to get burned. The best way to find an apartment is to go and stay at a hostel then look around the city. If you want to find places online, I recommend Craigslist. )

Links
WanderingTrader.com Marcello’s blog.
Follow Marcello Arrambide on Twitter

Related posts:

1. Interview with Successful Nomadic Entrepreneur, Dan Andrews
2. Interview with Entrepreneur and Digital Nomad Corbett Barr
3. Interview with Location Independent Irish Polyglot, Benny Lewis

Niche Marketing Interview with David Boyd

I have written recently that niche marketing is one of the best ways to make money online. It is no get rich quick scheme but it does have the potential to earn a solid consistent income while offering the freedom to work when and where you want. Most niche marketers are secretive about their niches to avoid a tsunami of competition, however David Boyd from CreditCardCompare.com.au was happy to share some information about the niche business he has built over the last few years. This is a great example of what to expect with niche marketing and if you happen to live in Australia you might want to check out his site to compare all the top credit cards.

Please tell us a little about yourself?

My name is David Boyd and I live with my wife a couple of hours north of Sydney, Australia. For the past couple of years I’ve been running an Australian credit card comparison website, CreditCardCompare.com.au which is free to use and impartial from the banks.

Is this your primary income source?

Yes, the vast majority of revenues come from affiliate marketing.

What related business or technical experience do you have?

I’ve been involved in ecommerce and online marketing by extension for over 10 years. Up until recently I worked at large marketing agency based in Sydney where I helped market various brands in Google. However, most of what I know about online and niche marketing was born out of my prior work experience with promoting ecommerce stores.

How many niches do you focus on?

Just the one vertical, finance.

Did you start working at it full-time or did you ease into it while keeping a job?

We wanted to minimise the financial risk so we have been building up our website steadily. It has been hard work but having a sound financial footing has been worth it.

How long have you been doing the credit card niche?

Since late 2007 when we launched CreditCardCompare.com.au.

Isn’t that a very competitive area to focus on?

Yes, it’s a very competitive niche with more people entering the market looking to take a slice every month.

What do you do different or better then your competition?

I think the main thing that sets us apart from others in the same niche is strategy and a laser focus. We’re not in this for a quick buck, we’re planning for the long haul. The main benefit of this is that while we work hard, we work also work smart according to a long term plan (which has worked well for us so far).

Why did you choose credit cards?

Initially I was going to develop a credit card comparison site targeting Americans, but because of the ‘crapiness’ of the domain that never happened. Instead I decided to stay closer to home and build a website to help Australians compare cards.

Do you have a system for researching and evaluating niches?

In short, no. That’s not to say we didn’t research the market before getting in to it. We worked out how big the market was, how many applications there were per year in Australia, what the average pay out was, whether it was a growing market or not. So after speaking to people in the affiliate industry and reading a lot, we made the plunge and started to build a site.

Do you care to share any details on how much you are earning?

It makes enough for a full time income.

Most niche marketers are very secretive of their niches, aren’t you afraid of getting a lot of competition?

Whilst this is a niche, it’s still very mainstream and it would be fair to say that most marketers worth their salt know there’s money in money!

How many guest posts have you written for the credit card niche?

It’s hard to say. More than 40 and less than 100. We haven’t done many in the last few months, but that’s all about to change. (John’s Note: David contacted me to do a guest post. I asked him to do an interview instead.)

Does writing guest posts affect your search engine rankings and site traffic significantly?

That’s hard to say because there are so many on and off page variables. Whilst it is a good tactic, we’re not solely focused on using it to build rankings either. Guest posting is a great way to build your brand and engage with real people.

How many websites do you own and maintain related to the credit card niche?

We have one main site, CreditCardCompare.com.au. Other than that we have a couple of other sites that are currently operating just under the radar.

How many sites are linking to your credit card site?

According to the soon to vanish Yahoo! Site Explorer we have approximately 2,600 links, but obviously you can’t count all these as relevant. (John’s Note: The site ranks number four on Google for “australia credit card comparison”)

How many hours of work do you think it takes to fully set up and market a typical niche website?

It depends. If you want to go beyond a thin affiliate website then you have to put in a lot of time and effort, especially if you’re entering a hyper-competitive niche. It’s hard to put a specific number of hours on it, but it has taken us hundreds of hours to get to where we are and we aren’t even remotely finished.

Once it is fully set up does it become passive so that you can focus on other niches?

In our case, not really. We’re in a competitive niche so you can’t afford to rest on your laurels for very long. If you were working in a less competitive niche, then a truly passive income is much easier to achieve.

How much money can an average site earn?

Again, that really depends on the niche you choose to enter. If you would like to earn a passive income then it would be better to build a site in a less competitive niche where it’s easier to be the big fish in a smaller pond.

How much technical and marketing skills do you need to succeed at niche marketing?

I don’t think you need to be technical (ie. able to write code) because you can outsource all that, but having an understanding of the language and terminology used is definitely going to be beneficial. Being a savvy and timely marketer will make you much more money than being able to write code.

Can a relative novice get the skills in a reasonable time frame?

Yes, there are so many blogs, forums and books that anyone with the drive and right idea can get into niche marketing in a relatively short time frame.

Are their still many opportunities or are most of the niches over-run with competition?

Something like finance is ultra competitive where you are competing against not only other highly motivated affiliates, but also extremely well funded banks. Finance isn’t the only competitive niche though, in fact there aren’t many niches that don’t already have dominant players already in place.

There are definitely still opportunities. New products are launched (like the iPad) where, if you’re fast enough, you can set up a new site to cater to new users eager to learn more, engage with other users and buy accessories. So while the traditional verticals are definitely crowded, new niches open up all the time.

Do you think it is better to go deep into one niche or try to diversify over many different areas?

There are benefits to both. You can be a lot more focussed if you are operating a single site in a niche and grow to become the dominant player, but you can also lose everything overnight if the organic or PPC algorithm changes and hits you hard. On the other hand, a marketer who has successfully diversified out into other niches is much more protected: the algorithm may hit one site, but your other websites (and therefore revenue streams) are not affected. Diversification does pose a lot of challenges though, especially in terms of project management.

Given the amount of time you have put into niche marketing and the returns you are getting, would you do it all over again if you were starting now?

Definitely! It has been a very rewarding experience, even if it has been sketchy at times.

Related posts:

1. Interview with World Traveler, Niche Marketer Karol Gajda
2. Interview with Superstar Marketer Nathan Hangen of Beyond Blogging
3. Interview with David Horn, Costa Rica Restaurateur