[Gringo]

32 days a year just isn't enough for me, being out the country for one month at a time isn't even close to being enough for me. I can't justify working hard all year for one single month off, not worth the trade off. Hence why I work 6 months, quit work, then travel for 6 months or there abouts. It's a nightmare when you're back at home and have to look for a job all over again but at least I'm living the dream for 6 months a year. What I want is a stream of steady income to supplement me whilst I travel so I can do it longer or go live abroad for a while. Not easy.

[whosyourdaddy]

(07-02-2011 08:55 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

Fo sho Pitt. The downside is the quality of life while working. There's nothing else to do but go to the gym. I usually come outta the chute swolled up. I get a "hero's" welcome upon returning to the U.S. Couple that with stories of exotic lands and the girls line up.

My next move is project management. I've talked to guys the trade that work 6 months out of the year. And they were working in fly places like Tokyo. I'm also looking into a consultancy gig that allows me to live anywhere.

What do you do for a living? Work on oil fields in Alaska? Sounds like you work in IT, but so mention that you're quality of life sucks while working.

[blurb]

Why you shouldn't get a job for your whole life:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/down...53267.html

Be your own boss. A man carves out his own destiny. The problem with jobs is that they pay you the least possible while the upper executives collect all the rewards. Furthermore, when they go down, so do you and you lose your job.


I thought this was sort of interesting:

Todd L.

Quote:

I have become more religious. I pray everyday, asking God for a job and a girlfriend....But I am still waiting for a miracle--a job and a girlfriend.

[pitt]

I really hate when people start saying that you shouldnt get a job and that working is not worth it.

I had the same mentality till recently that i would never work as long as i had enough money to feed myself. But since i have started working, i dont find working to be that bad, its actually ok specially if you are getting good money. But for us that also enjoy travelling, the best thing is to find a job that will suit our lifestyle, basically you get lots of free time and enough money to be travelling around the world, if you can combine both then you may find work a good thing.

I also wouldnt like to work 11 months per year and just get 4 weeks off work, that wouldnt be suitable for me, however working for only 6 months is perfect for me.

Blogging wont give you the amount of money that a high paying job will give you, only few people are making lots of money through blogging, so if you are still looking to make money through such ways than good luck (not saying that it cant happen, but you can´t rely on one source for the rest of your life).

Also if you are working and getting more than 50k per year it should be enough for you to have a business on the side, so in the long run you can give up working after you stack up enough money.

If you hold a uni degree and you are not making enough money, then you may want to get a real job, it should be worth it. Find a job as an expatriate and you will see double opportunities.

[thegmanifesto]

"I also wouldnt like to work 11 months per year and just get 4 weeks off work"

Ha.

Pitt, you are European right?

Because most Americans would kill for even that pathetic situation.

[Gringo]

I don't know how you cope with that, it's just not a solution for me. If I'm going to work 6 months I need another 6 months of free time afterwards.

[thegmanifesto]

Gringo -

Back in the day (and this is probably still the case) tons of my friends that were surfers did just that.

Construction work, and living cheap for 6 months then travel and surf for six months.

Why not try that?

[Gringo]

I do that already minus the construction work part, I work 6 months at home for the summer then travel for 5-6 months in the winter. Still not enough though, I want to be away longer and longer each time.

[DanDeLaCruz]

Your on the right path.... Thats the natural progression... I was doing the work vacation thing for a while too but now im planning on staying abroad years.... Keep doing research youll find something that fits you... From what ive found it will most likely be something that can be done through the internet... Because that is what makes you most mobile...

[Gringo]

I've got an online money earner now but with working full time I don't have the time to devote to it. I could in theory give up my job and make unlimited amount of cash from it but no doubt as soon as I quit my job the rug would be pulled out from under it. I began with the online earner not long before I started my current job, made about £800 from it in the first week and about another £800 ready to cash out, was planning on quitting my job the following week then things went tits up and that £800 never made it to my pocket. Have figured out a way to get round that problem and hoping that nothing will go wrong with it this time, it's not exactly a sure fire thing. If everything goes to plan I can make a lot of cash from it.

[txbeachbum]

(07-15-2011 04:04 AM)pitt Wrote:  

I really hate when people start saying that you shouldnt get a job and that working is not worth it.

I had the same mentality till recently that i would never work as long as i had enough money to feed myself. But since i have started working, i dont find working to be that bad, its actually ok specially if you are getting good money. But for us that also enjoy travelling, the best thing is to find a job that will suit our lifestyle, basically you get lots of free time and enough money to be travelling around the world, if you can combine both then you may find work a good thing.

I also wouldnt like to work 11 months per year and just get 4 weeks off work, that wouldnt be suitable for me, however working for only 6 months is perfect for me.

Blogging wont give you the amount of money that a high paying job will give you, only few people are making lots of money through blogging, so if you are still looking to make money through such ways than good luck (not saying that it cant happen, but you can´t rely on one source for the rest of your life).

Also if you are working and getting more than 50k per year it should be enough for you to have a business on the side, so in the long run you can give up working after you stack up enough money.

If you hold a uni degree and you are not making enough money, then you may want to get a real job, it should be worth it. Find a job as an expatriate and you will see double opportunities.

I really hate when people start saying that you SHOULD get a job and that working is worth it.

Usually repeated by people either in college, or fresh out of college.

Getting a job is a short term solution to a long term problem.

That is most people's default, I'm broke ...umm get a job! Job doesn't pay enough ....umm go back to school. Rinse and repeat.

[Jalouse]

I would say in the UK being an IT contractor is quite a good way to go for this lifestyle. I used to do it and could make up to £50 per hour so a six month contract would give you plenty to travel for six months.

[pitt]

(07-17-2011 06:15 AM)txbeachbum Wrote:  

(07-15-2011 04:04 AM)pitt Wrote:  

I really hate when people start saying that you shouldnt get a job and that working is not worth it.

I had the same mentality till recently that i would never work as long as i had enough money to feed myself. But since i have started working, i dont find working to be that bad, its actually ok specially if you are getting good money. But for us that also enjoy travelling, the best thing is to find a job that will suit our lifestyle, basically you get lots of free time and enough money to be travelling around the world, if you can combine both then you may find work a good thing.

I also wouldnt like to work 11 months per year and just get 4 weeks off work, that wouldnt be suitable for me, however working for only 6 months is perfect for me.

Blogging wont give you the amount of money that a high paying job will give you, only few people are making lots of money through blogging, so if you are still looking to make money through such ways than good luck (not saying that it cant happen, but you can´t rely on one source for the rest of your life).

Also if you are working and getting more than 50k per year it should be enough for you to have a business on the side, so in the long run you can give up working after you stack up enough money.

If you hold a uni degree and you are not making enough money, then you may want to get a real job, it should be worth it. Find a job as an expatriate and you will see double opportunities.

I really hate when people start saying that you SHOULD get a job and that working is worth it.

Usually repeated by people either in college, or fresh out of college.

Getting a job is a short term solution to a long term problem.

That is most people's default, I'm broke ...umm get a job! Job doesn't pay enough ....umm go back to school. Rinse and repeat.

So you dont recommend people to work? So how would they get money to invest in a business if they never worked? Plus, its been proven that 95% of business people fail in business. Imagine a situation where an individual who is 25 years old and decides to invest 20k in a business, after 6 months, he loses all his money and he doesnt have any cash left. He holds a university degree and he could get a job that would at least pay him 50k per year, what do you advise him to do? Not to get a job?

On your other topic, you criticised people that seek security calling them cowards. Well thanks to security human beings have been advancing, if we were not looking for security we wouldnt be so advanced, why do you think the world is so advanced today?

Individual with short sights and not focused in long term goals will have problems in the future. I strongly advise people to do both, working and investing, when investing starts to pay enough to the point where you dont need to work anymore, then you can give up working. Plus working is not that bad, do you think that someone who makes 150k per year hates to work?

[UrbanNerd]

I always believed that one should take anyone's viewpoint and/or advice with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, one needs to choose the path that is BEST for them. Also, anytime you have folks comparing their successes to others and offering advice (whether it is about game, income or just lifestyle), you will oftentimes end up with a risk-taker vs risk-assesser debate. To me, it doesn't matter if you are one or the other or in-between. All that matters is the bottom-line. I chose the 9-5 job route in life. I have good friends who live the location-independent lifestyle. Maybe that means that I can join them in a certain country for 4-5 days instead of the 30-45 days that they stay in a certain country but both of us are content with our paths.

Having said that....my path may change once I get my daughter in college...lol.

[3extra]

(07-03-2011 02:27 PM)Gringo Wrote:  

32 days a year just isn't enough for me, being out the country for one month at a time isn't even close to being enough for me. I can't justify working hard all year for one single month off, not worth the trade off. Hence why I work 6 months, quit work, then travel for 6 months or there abouts. It's a nightmare when you're back at home and have to look for a job all over again but at least I'm living the dream for 6 months a year. What I want is a stream of steady income to supplement me whilst I travel so I can do it longer or go live abroad for a while. Not easy.

I'm doing something similar. When you get home do you apply for work related to your degree? How long have you been doing it for - do you find it more and more difficult to get jobs when you do get home when they see that you generally leave after 6 months? Have you ever tried identifying a need of a business you've worked in and based your personal business idea around it? How long do you think the 6 month on/ 6 month off lifestyle is sustainable for?

[Gringo]

I tend to take whatever job (within reasons) that's available, current job is not degree related at all. I've only been doing it for about 4 years but I've been all over the world in that time. I so far haven't struggled to get work at all, been lucky in that respect probably. I can blag it as to why I haven't worked in a while, it had been much longer than 6 months this time round since I had a 'proper' job as before my last trip I was making money from online gambling rather than working. Easy enough to tell a few white lies about what I was doing during that time though. Told the company I started working for 3 months ago that I was travelling and working abroad for most of the past 12 months. Haven't tried to start up my own business as of yet. The lifestyle probably isn't sustainable forever as guaranteed to hit a dry patch and not be able to find work hence why I hope to find a way to stay abroad for longer and make it more sustainable whether that's from teaching english abroad, starting up an online company or finding a new profitable online venture that is long term. Currently got an online money spinner on the side which is quite profitable but it's not guaranteed and can potentially be stopped at any time, hence why Ican't quit my job tomorrow.

[TheWolfHowls]

From what i hear, an IT Contractor is def good for this life style. Suppose you got 4 years of experience in a certain trade. You only do the work for 6 months but get paid a full year's worth. The rest of the 6 months, you can do whatever you want to. The only down side is that you'll having to pay rent or mortgage while your traveling PLUS don't forget hotel and travel costs. If you don't have to worry about a full year lease or mortage...then its gold! Unless you made quite a bit to where the lease was def cheap in that regard.

[Jalouse]

I have a friend who must be making close to £1000 a day as an IT contractor that's around $1600. But because it's such a great contract he's just milking it as long as it lasts and he always calls me the lucky bastard because I get to travel a lot.

I found this to be quite a common sentiment amoung contractors that they don't want to take much time off because they think about all the money they're losing, it's amazing how few sick days people take when they don't get paid if they don't show up.

[no_mas]

I work in the trading/finance field and I thought along the same lines as one of the posters, I'll just daytrade, make a few hundred or thousand bucks a day, maybe work a few hours and call it. It IS a business that can be run almost anywhere in the world but unlikely from a laptop as you find out you will need multiple screens and many times ALL day to find a profitable trade. If your trading futures, you can find yourself up almost all day/night looking for opportunities. And then the plain statistics are not in your favor, a much higher failure rate then a small business as the market becomes more 'efficient'. It may have been possible a few years ago but these days the job is damn near impossible.

That's not to say no one does it, there are definitely the outliers but I think these are as likely as winning the lottery. An alternative is to find a lot of capital and bet BIG on something. High risk high reward, I would only recommend it if you can find OPM (other people's money) to do so.

Just random thought but most people who go into entrepreneurial trading are MARRIED to the screens and wish they had done something else instead. These are both profitable and unprofitable traders. Just my 2 bps.

[kbell]

How would you do something like this if your skills are in game art (3d character artist) and 3d animation? I make character models that can be in games. I read the 4 hour work week which had some good ideas but not really artist centered to me. It would be awesome to travel the world and be paid.I didn't think freelancing made that much and not sure how to do marketing.

[Aliblahba]

(07-13-2011 08:49 PM)whosyourdaddy Wrote:  

(07-02-2011 08:55 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

Fo sho Pitt. The downside is the quality of life while working. There's nothing else to do but go to the gym. I usually come outta the chute swolled up. I get a "hero's" welcome upon returning to the U.S. Couple that with stories of exotic lands and the girls line up.

My next move is project management. I've talked to guys the trade that work 6 months out of the year. And they were working in fly places like Tokyo. I'm also looking into a consultancy gig that allows me to live anywhere.

What do you do for a living? Work on oil fields in Alaska? Sounds like you work in IT, but so mention that you're quality of life sucks while working.

I work in a place that Malaria is an absolute imminent threat. Large metal objects randomly fall from the sky and explode upon impact. 12 hr days are the norm and trained killers come to me for more training. Plauge, Brucellosis, rabies, and my fav, leishmaniasis, are ever present. Six foot iguanas walk the streets, and cobras lurk the canals. Just this morning we were standing in a potential nest of hemorrhagic fever.

It's not location independent, but--- 1 month pay=1 year in the Phils. And it continues to make me a bad mofo, if I make it out alive.

[Mercenary]

One job you can do almost anywhere (at any time) is cooking and/or being a chef.

If you have this skill you can get a job anywhere worldwide both legally and illegally.

The number of places you can work is almost limitless. You can quit and start somewhere new relatively easy and this is a job you can do regardless of whether you speak much of the local language or not.

If you are really good at it, people will hunt you down and offer you all sorts of perks and benefits just to have you cooking for them.
Top chefs never have any problems getting visa and residence/working permits and usually get the high salaries they demand.

[monerap]

(06-30-2011 07:03 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

I personally have decided to go into higher end/high ticket items and become an affiliate for it whereby I don't need to sell 5000 units to make decent money. With a high end/high ticket item, I only need to sell a handful (literally 5 or 6) per month to be able to live the location independent lifestyle as I've had for over a year now. Also, with a higher margin profit, you can be more adventurous in the sense of trying more expensive advertising outlets such as running full page ads in magazines that costs 1-2k/month since with just 1 or 2 sales, you will break even and anything above that, is pure profit. I tried before the clickbank ebook route and it was a disaster. Not that it cannot be done, as there are guys out there killing it, making 6 figures PER day, but it requires a ton of patience, organisation not to mention a huge budget to run those kinds of figure to drive enough traffic to generate that kind of money. Also, with higher end product/membership, the type of people you deal with is higher as usually, the lower the cost of the product/item, the more time consuming it will be to sell it. I know it's ironic and counter productive to most "common" business "knowledge" but it's the truth.

With a high end product/high ticket item, not only you deal with less problematic people/clients, but also your profit margin are a lot bigger. Also, keep in mind that it takes the exact same amount of time, effort and money to advertise and therefore to sell a $20 ebook than it takes to sell a 3k membership. So knowing this crucial fact of doing business, it makes no sense IMO to focus on low end/low paying items. I'd much rather be promoting a product that pays me 1k/sale than an ebook that makes me 20 bucks or even worst, an Amazon link for a lousy 2-3 bucks LOL. Again, it takes the same amount of effort to build and create campaigns and the money required for these campaigns in both cases is the same. So if I'm to spend my money and most importantly, my most precious asset that is my time, I'd much rather be paid $1000 per sale than a few lousy bucks. As no brainer as it gets really. Once I figured out this crucial element of business, I never looked back and won't even look at an item that makes me at the very very least, 500/sale and even then, it has to be a pretty darm good product as my usual target is at least 1k/sale.

As a top producing affiliate/internet marketer, not only I'm always on the lookout and but also often approached by other marketers to push their products. Whenever I look at a product/service/membership to promote, I ask myself the following critical and crucial questions in the selection phase:

- how many units will I need to sell to make at least $5,000/month (as that's IMO the minimum required to have a good location independent lifestyle but also to make it worthwhile my time/effort)?
- is the product really offering a tremendous value that people cannot get or at least not for that price range elsewhere other than through this company/affiliate programme?
- is the product really good enough that I'd be proud to use it and own myself and offer it to my family and friends?

Since I went into the online marketing world, I've been promoting a few products/services/memberships over the years but nothing comes even close to the one I've been doing for over 3 years but seriously since last summer. I have been promoting a high end vacation membership that saves people on average 40 to 70% off retail and as much as 90% in over 5000 resorts worldwide. I'm a member as well since I love travelling and I have used my membership twice and in those 2 usages, I saved over $8,000. First time, back in Feb 2009 in Rio for Carnaval, where I got to stay at a top end hotel on Copacabana beach, on the 21st floor, in an ocean front suite that goes for $1,000/night or $6,0000 for the week of Carnaval that I got for only $650 for the entire week. A savings of $5,350 in just 1 week or 90% off the going rate. My second usage will be in a couple of weeks in Thailand, on Jomtien beach, at a 2 bedroom villa on the beach with a private swimming pool that goes for $528/night or $3700/week that I got for only $550 for the entire week. Again, a savings of $3,150 in just that one week or 86% off retail. Again, the average saving is anywhere from 40% to 70% and as high as 90% over Expedia, which is usually the cheapest "mainstream" option online. I get handsomely rewarded to the tune of $1,000 per sale for saving people a ton of money on their vacations for life. It's truly the best business i have been involved with - EVER!

To see more examples of the kind of deals I'm talking about, click on my signature link and you will see some current real life examples of the type of deals members get with this membership versus Expedia. While the company does provide me with corporate looking websites, this is the site I have been building myself as I'd want to control the content of my site and be able to add videos/texts as I want as opposed to going by what the company gives me. So while the site is still a work in progress, the content is what matters to give you an idea of the calibre of the deals this membership provides to its members.

All in all, affiliate marketing can be very lucrative specially if/when selecting a high end/high ticket item/sevice/membership as it has for me allowing me to escape the rat race and be J.O.B. free for over a year now. So choose your product carefully as that alone will be a major factor in your success or lack of thereof.

Thanks for this great post.

[Lagavulin]

(06-30-2011 07:03 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

I personally have decided to go into higher end/high ticket items and become an affiliate for it whereby I don't need to sell 5000 units to make decent money. With a high end/high ticket item, I only need to sell a handful (literally 5 or 6) per month to be able to live the location independent lifestyle as I've had for over a year now. Also, with a higher margin profit, you can be more adventurous in the sense of trying more expensive advertising outlets such as running full page ads in magazines that costs 1-2k/month since with just 1 or 2 sales, you will break even and anything above that, is pure profit. I tried before the clickbank ebook route and it was a disaster. Not that it cannot be done, as there are guys out there killing it, making 6 figures PER day, but it requires a ton of patience, organisation not to mention a huge budget to run those kinds of figure to drive enough traffic to generate that kind of money. Also, with higher end product/membership, the type of people you deal with is higher as usually, the lower the cost of the product/item, the more time consuming it will be to sell it. I know it's ironic and counter productive to most "common" business "knowledge" but it's the truth.

With a high end product/high ticket item, not only you deal with less problematic people/clients, but also your profit margin are a lot bigger. Also, keep in mind that it takes the exact same amount of time, effort and money to advertise and therefore to sell a $20 ebook than it takes to sell a 3k membership. So knowing this crucial fact of doing business, it makes no sense IMO to focus on low end/low paying items. I'd much rather be promoting a product that pays me 1k/sale than an ebook that makes me 20 bucks or even worst, an Amazon link for a lousy 2-3 bucks LOL. Again, it takes the same amount of effort to build and create campaigns and the money required for these campaigns in both cases is the same. So if I'm to spend my money and most importantly, my most precious asset that is my time, I'd much rather be paid $1000 per sale than a few lousy bucks. As no brainer as it gets really. Once I figured out this crucial element of business, I never looked back and won't even look at an item that makes me at the very very least, 500/sale and even then, it has to be a pretty darm good product as my usual target is at least 1k/sale.

As a top producing affiliate/internet marketer, not only I'm always on the lookout and but also often approached by other marketers to push their products. Whenever I look at a product/service/membership to promote, I ask myself the following critical and crucial questions in the selection phase:

- how many units will I need to sell to make at least $5,000/month (as that's IMO the minimum required to have a good location independent lifestyle but also to make it worthwhile my time/effort)?
- is the product really offering a tremendous value that people cannot get or at least not for that price range elsewhere other than through this company/affiliate programme?
- is the product really good enough that I'd be proud to use it and own myself and offer it to my family and friends?

Since I went into the online marketing world, I've been promoting a few products/services/memberships over the years but nothing comes even close to the one I've been doing for over 3 years but seriously since last summer. I have been promoting a high end vacation membership that saves people on average 40 to 70% off retail and as much as 90% in over 5000 resorts worldwide. I'm a member as well since I love travelling and I have used my membership twice and in those 2 usages, I saved over $8,000. First time, back in Feb 2009 in Rio for Carnaval, where I got to stay at a top end hotel on Copacabana beach, on the 21st floor, in an ocean front suite that goes for $1,000/night or $6,0000 for the week of Carnaval that I got for only $650 for the entire week. A savings of $5,350 in just 1 week or 90% off the going rate. My second usage will be in a couple of weeks in Thailand, on Jomtien beach, at a 2 bedroom villa on the beach with a private swimming pool that goes for $528/night or $3700/week that I got for only $550 for the entire week. Again, a savings of $3,150 in just that one week or 86% off retail. Again, the average saving is anywhere from 40% to 70% and as high as 90% over Expedia, which is usually the cheapest "mainstream" option online. I get handsomely rewarded to the tune of $1,000 per sale for saving people a ton of money on their vacations for life. It's truly the best business i have been involved with - EVER!

To see more examples of the kind of deals I'm talking about, click on my signature link and you will see some current real life examples of the type of deals members get with this membership versus Expedia. While the company does provide me with corporate looking websites, this is the site I have been building myself as I'd want to control the content of my site and be able to add videos/texts as I want as opposed to going by what the company gives me. So while the site is still a work in progress, the content is what matters to give you an idea of the calibre of the deals this membership provides to its members.

All in all, affiliate marketing can be very lucrative specially if/when selecting a high end/high ticket item/sevice/membership as it has for me allowing me to escape the rat race and be J.O.B. free for over a year now. So choose your product carefully as that alone will be a major factor in your success or lack of thereof.

Great post VP.

Does your advice hold true 5 years on?

I imagine that it's a tougher market as more and more tech savvy youngsters look to make a living online. I for one would be interested to hear how the way you make your living has evolved.