A big part of this blog from the beginning has been financial transparency. I’ve shifted from sharing the details of our daily spending (what we used to do), to sharing the details of the business side of the blog. It seems many of you are most interested in this one segment of our financial journey. :-)
June was another slow month here (at least on the surface), with only one content based post the entire month! Yikes!
The progress of the second guide, Sell Your Crap, has been extremely uphill. Like Unautomate Your Finances, the scope of the project just continues to grow and grow! It’s nearly 45+ days late in coming and I’ve even considered shelving it for a while and moving onto something else!
Thanks to some helpful consolations from trusted mentors, I’m staying the course and finishing the content as we speak. It’s better launching 30-45 days later than expected than to launch a crappy product (or to not launch at all)! I know when the time comes, I’ll be proud of what is certain my most ambition business undertaking to date. :-)
Despite sparse posting, here are the numbers for June:
I try not to do it too often, but I’m asking for your help!
I’m wrapping-up the creation of my second guide, Sell Your Crap. In order to decide which final pieces will be included (and which tips I’ll break down even further!), I’ve put together a quick, 5-min survey using Google Forms.
Your answers really do help a lot. The first survey I ran (several months ago) was a huge help. In order to show my thanks, I’ll be drawing one survey for every 100 submitted to give a FREE, advanced copy of Sell Your Crap to. So not only do you help me and the project, but you can win a free copy before anyone else has a chance to see it!
*Alternatively, you can also take the survey anonymously. Totally up to you!
Here’s the link one more time if you are interested in winning a free copy:
Just a couple questions about the content covered in the upcoming guide!
Have Clutter? I want to see it!
I’m calling on any/all Man Vs. Debt readers who have any shred of clutter (a whole garage, part of a room, or even a junk drawer) that they are wanting to destroy (or just organize/purge/etc…)
I want your pictures!
If you’d like to be a part of Sell Your Crap, I’m collecting genuine, reader pictures of their own trouble spots! Simply snap a quick photo of any clutter around your house, car, or work and send it to: Baker @ ManVsDebt . com
I have several ideas for the photos, including putting them together in a huge collage or slideshow. :-) If you decide to send a picture, I’ll assume you don’t mind me using it on the site or in the guide, etc… I could surf the internet for anonymous pictures, however I’d love to have real examples from the community!
But I never intend just to take without offering something in return! For every 20 people that submit a photo (whether I use it or not), I’ll raffle off another FREE, advanced copy of Sell Your Crap.
So that’s officially two ways you can help me and two ways to win free premium content! :-) Simply click the links above to take a short survey or get out your camera, take some pictures, and send them to: Baker @ ManVsDebt . Com !
It’ll be a couple weeks, at least, until launch, so in the meantime be prepared for some anti-consumerism, clutter-killing, and selling online material the next few weeks (hey, it’s on my mind)!
As you know, the interaction and feedback from the community is my favorite part of blogging. I appreciate your help!
It’s been a long, long time since I shared a list of the blogs that regularly influence my life and my business. It’s time I did so.
We’ve gained several new readers in the past couple of months, some interested in personal finance, some in the travel aspect. Others in entrepreneurship or ditching their clutter. With such a diverse community, I decided it would be best to share the leading blogs I follow for inspiration in several of these niches.
At one point, not so long ago, I followed over 100+ blogs. More recently, I simply don’t have the time to keep up with many of them, despite the information being incredibly valuable. So slowly, but surely, I’ve eliminated my RSS Reader down to just most of the sites below.
Keep in mind I have dozens and dozens of other blogs I regularly follow via Twitter and Facebook. This isn’t simply a list of my blogging friends (while some of them are good friends), it’s a compilation of what sources have been the greatest influence on me in several topics that I’m currently interested in.
I hope you enjoy what turned out to be a fairly beefy list. If you happen to find any new sources for inspiration amongst these rockstars, please help share the post by stumbling it below:
A big part of this blog from the beginning has been financial transparency. I’ve shifted from sharing the details of our daily spending (what we used to do), to sharing the details of the business side of the blog. It seems many of you are most interested in this one segment of our financial journey. :-)
May saw the lowest dip in income generated online, since the release of Unautomate Your Finances back in March. This was expected and anticipated, although I did nothing to help it. I had planned on guest posting and exposing new lists and audience to my first guide, as well as attempting to push forward the launch date of my forthcoming guide, Sell Your Crap.
Neither happened.
Instead, I posted only a few posts here, with absolutely no guest posts, no new exposure, no attempt at media mentions, and no additions, bonus, or specials on the first guide. Not exactly a great business plan! :-)
The only silver lining is that almost all of the income I received in May was very close to passive. A far majority (as high as 90%) of the sales were initiated from old “evergreen” posts and content.
Today, I’m sharing a video post about an important topic that applies to finances, lifestyle, and business. Actually, I believe it to be the most important element of making any change.
This may just be a personality thing, but I’m starting to hear from others that it’s universal (not just me). :-)
[2:08] – How “changing your environment” can be applied in your finances.
[3:25] – Why the same principle helped us sell 95% of our clutter (and why it’s fighting against us now). :-)
[4:38] – My fitness advice… ironic, yes I know. (Actually it’s environment-based fitness advice I recently read!)
[6:37] – Conclusion and questions for you guys!
[7:00] – I show off my cool new office swag (pictures of media mentions that Courtney framed).
I’m really interested to hear your thoughts on this issue. Specifically, whether you feel the benefit in the same way I do and how you take steps to accomplish “environment change”. It’s been a very interesting concept for me lately.
Today, Chris Guillebeau opens up another 24-hour window to his blockbuster “Empire Building Kit” guide.
The Empire Building Kit, Chris’ most ambitious and value-packed guide to date, focuses on building a “lifestyle business”, which Chris defines as “a business oriented around something you love, with less than three employees and net income of $50,000+ a year.”
Now that’s what I’m talking about! :-)
Last time Chris opened up a 24 hour window (his launch last month), his payment processor freaked out at the sudden surge of traffic and sales. Buzz dominated the interwebs for a day and it quickly became Chris’ most successful launch (that’s saying a lot). But after the 24 hours, as promised, Chris removed the product from the market.
This time around, Chris is opening the product up again for affiliates of his Unconventional Guides. As most of you know, Chris is one of the few people/products I proudly support on the “Products I Love” page here. His previous guides have changed my life, enhanced my travel, and revolutionized my business, so I knew Empire Building Kit would be great… I just didn’t realize how insanely deep Chris was going to take it!
In honor of the impact Empire Building Kit is having (with myself and several other people I know), I wanted to share 3 of the countless business lessons I’ve learned from Chris. These are the areas where he’s influence me the most, either through his writing or in our chats. Whenever I talk to someone who asks me for advice, these are almost always the first few concepts I share.
Today, I’m proud to share with you a rare guide I’ll be adding to the “Products I Love”. (The first of two this month)!
Danielle LaPorte unleashed her much anticipated “Fire Starter Sessions” today. Danielle, who blogs at White Hot Truth, has been someone I’ve looked up to since my first few months blogging. She’s directly influenced my levels of transparency and my quest to be as genuine as possible here.
I interviewed her on finding passion, building momentum, avoiding burnout, and the details of her product launch. Here’s the breakdown of the above video interview:
[00:40] – Who is Danielle LaPorte? (Danielle’s 30-sec elevator pitch)
[02:05] - Danielle’s tips for unearthing your business passions.
[03:10] - How Danielle defines a strength and a weakness. [<-- powerful]
[04:25] - Danielle gives ME advice on finding my specific strengths.
[05:55] - How to tap into the “real” reason certain people inspire you… and what resources/people inspired Danielle when she was getting into “go” mode.
[08:50] - How to maintain your motivation/drive without hitting “burnout”
[12:55] - Overcoming urges to conform and why being authentic will explode your business.
[17:40] - The “features” of Danielle’s new “Fire Starter Sessions“ (What people get)
[19:05] – The “benefits” of the “Fire Starter Sessions“. (What’s it going to do for me?)
This is a guest post by Matt Gartland. In his own words, Matt is a healthy lifestyle geek extraordinaire, blogger, world traveler, lifestyle entrepreneur, coffee fanatic, web techie, and more. He writes at Healthy Lifestyle Design (HLD), where he unleashes his passion for remarkable and unconventional living propelled by amazing health. Follow Matt on Twitter and join the HLD Tribe on Facebook.
Imagine eating yourself into an abyss of debt. It’s possible. And it’s not a pretty picture.
This tragedy befalls many unknowingly. How? Because many lack an adequate education about food and food products. Many don’t respect the profound lifelong impacts of their food choices. Many are short-sighted about the cost-relationship between food and money. And many believe there is no meaningful correlation between literal health and financial health.
So let’s get something straight - food is like money, in every way.
Food is a currency – actually, a collection of currencies. Different foods have different values (qualities) as currencies do. Thus, they have different exchange rates – some foods yield greater returns (lifestyle benefits) than others. And like smart investment decisions, smart food choices are wonderful long-term growth vehicles for your financial and literal health.
Hence, savvy food choices are way serious. So the need for dietary responsibility (like fiscal responsibility) is paramount. You have to make smart, conscious decisions to better your overall situation. If you don’t and instead allow yourself to make apathetic and nonchalant choices then you risk going way deep into debt.
Sadly, this allegory isn’t enough to assuage the danger. Many (perhaps you) will still fall victim to the veiled and pernicious sources of food-incited debt. So I think it’s high time that they be fully exposed and put into perspective.
[If you cannot see the video above, click here to watch the interview directly]
Episode 4 features Grant Peelle and Alan Ledford of The Ren Men Show.Grant and Alan have built a Real Estate portfolio of 80+ properties, run a vending machine business, own a video production company, and just recently started a used car lot. Their online video show, The Ren Men Show, is the best produced and edited show I’ve ever seen in the niche. They go in depth with different issues surrounding their businesses and passive income opportunities and always seem to have a blast in the process. I never miss a week!
Over the course of this blog, I’ve shared the details of our debt, our income, and our spending. Back in March, I took a big step in the business side of this site by releasing my first premium guide, Unautomate Your Finances.
As I continue to take steps to grow my business, I want it to remain open and transparent to the members of the community who help support it. Last month, I gave a breakdown of March’s sales and income, as well as results from the product launch.
Every month moving forward (launch or not) I want to continue this habit of reviewing/sharing the past month and forecasting out the current month. Here’s April’s numbers and my business plans for May…
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