In the previous post “How Much Does it Cost to Start an Online Business,” I detailed the benefits of starting an online business, specifically the low up-front costs most online ventures will require. In comparison to the majority of business start-ups, particularly the traditional brick-and-mortar setups, the capital needed up front is usually a fraction than what most people would expect. This is a huge motivating factor to get going on selling your new product or service and making your easy millions! However, it is not easy, as there are many other things to consider when deciding to start your online business; Particularly, the amount of time that is required. And, do you have that time and the resources readily available?
As any entrepreneur knows, starting your own business takes more than the initial investment capital. It takes determination, motivation, sacrifice, and countless hours doing the nitty-gritty things that form the base of your operation, but also hate doing. Sorry to say, but there is no way around enduring the long hours stuck on fine-tuning your product, tweaking your website, coding for months, and making sure you’ve produced something of overall superior value. This is not the glamorous part of the lifestyle, however satisfying owning your own business may sound. It takes a lot of work and responsibility. You are the maker or breaker of your business’s destiny, and, ultimately, your life.
The crew over at Marginal Boundaries is also not shy about revealing the truth behind starting up your very own full-time business. So much so, they’ve even created a book about it. The book is a guide full of useful tips, advice, and resources to help your own self-awareness, and to gauge whether the online lifestyle – specifically the full-time travel lifestyle – is right for you.
To view the original source and download the e-book they are offering, click here. This is a great resource to get you thinking, so if you feel like you’ve gained some new ideas, wisdom, and knowledge, feel free to “Name your own price” when deciding to pay, and let them know you appreciate what they are offering.
Via the Marginal Boundaries website…………………………….
The average travel blog is all about adventure-filled posts and videos, toes in the sand, mojitos in hand, good times and perfectly-lit photos all around. These are the professional end results of a well-oiled machine, a perfect outlet for the armchair readers of the world who live vicariously through the lives of the bloggers they follow.
Meanwhile, the nuts and bolts of blogging are completely behind the curtain; the sweaty 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. grind, the morning edits, emails, social media routines, article planning, drafting, editing, photo shoots, planning for video shoots, mosquitoes and sweaty jungle-crawling, blisters from riding a pack-mule through the mountains for three days, scheduling, proposals, press tours, press kits, meetings, presentations, negotiations, film shoots, editing film and photos, cutting and splicing, processing and uploading, sharing and networking, public relations and beyond…none of that is ever shown to the average reader.
The 9-to-5 of the professional travel blogger, right there in the open in all of its sweaty, grimy, gritty glory for those of you who are interested in going from hobby blogger to professional blogger in 2014 and learning what it really takes to produce the perfect photos, the videos, the blog posts and land those coveted sponsored travel gigs as well as clients who can keep you traveling while at the same time providing you enough income to make a living while you are at it.
This is not a book for armchair readers. This is a book for the take-charge-and-make-it-happen reader who has been reading and following blogs for years, maybe even running a hobby blog of their own for the past year or so, and is ready to take it to the next level. To become an actual, professional, money-making travel blogger who puts in 15 hours a day to live the life, talk the talk, walk the walk and actually personify the brand.
Between the book content and the video content you’ll find all the information you need to take your brand and your blog from zero to several thousand dollars of income per month (minimum) while at the same time earning sponsored travel. But bear in mind that it’s not going to happen at the snap-of-your-fingers, and there’s no such thing as a 4 hour work week for the professional blogger. Here, it’s about the daily commitment, the 1-2 years of building up before you reach critical mass, and then the ongoing maintenance of running a successful for-profit blog.
You’ll read about the 9-to-5, about proposals and press kits and pitching, about cultural awareness and the importance of language, about local freelancing and consulting gigs, about visas and long-term residency, about negotiation and the pitfalls that affect all of us after being on the road for a long period of time.
Not only is the book filled with all the nitty-gritty details of working as a travel blogger, but the chapters are also complete with YouTube overviews that go into more details on the content provided within each section. Take a look at the first 12 episodes (commissioned by International Travel Writers) below!
This project started off when International Travel Writers commissioned me to write the first 12 episodes in early 2014, and the base chapters + videos can be viewed at our YouTube channel plus her site absolutely for free.
But there is also tons of new content in the book that you won’t find anywhere else (over eight chapter’s worth!), content that is specifically unique and designed to enhance the content that was created as part of my work with ITL, as well as private videos that are only available to those who pick up a copy. On top of that, the existing content has been expanded upon and enhanced within the book version to take you from start to finish in your brand domination.
Plus, like all the other Marginal Boundaries products, the book is updated periodically with new content and anyone who has a copy of our books receives the updates 100% free of charge for the lifetime of the product. That means every subsequent update, even if it includes a price change of the product to reflect more comprehensive content, is included 100% free.
If you’ve ever wanted to actually live a life of travel and run a successful, for-profit blog that pays for your cost of living as well as serves as a platform to earn sponsored travel…this is what you’ve been looking for. There’s no fluff, no smoke screens, no vague references on “how to make money with your blog” in the form of a top 10 post. This is real, down-to-earth, nuts-and-bolts, fingers-in-the-mud, blisters-on-your-toes content on the nitty-gritty details of building and managing a successful blog.
If you are an armchair reader who is only interested in the flashy, high-definition, perfect photos and videos and blog posts that are the end result of 15 hour days, 365 days a year…then feel free to keep reading those blog posts that you live so vicariously through. But if you are someone who is ready to get into the game for real, take the gloves off and get down in the mud with the rest of us…now is your time to shine.
Interesting. Provided a good insight into the lives of online bloggers. I didn’t know about 90% of this stuff! As usual, an engaging and well-written article that really opened up my eyes. Thanks 🙂
Yea, I also didn’t know about 90% of this stuff when I first started. I’m stuck with it now 🙁 haha!
Great and interesting post Jon, not everyone knows what is behind the life an online blogger!
Kicking ass and taking names. Thanks for the mention 🙂