Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 103
February 3, 2014
Lessons on Freedom and Money from Six Creative Pros
Last week I mentioned a project that’s been in the works for more than six months: a comprehensive toolkit to help artists and designers of all kinds make more money and achieve creative freedom.
We started by looking at the story of Jen & Omar, the authors of the new resource. They’ve built a fantastic business (and as I said, the best part about it is that it’s replicable), but we also wanted to study the successes of other folks as well.
This post features six people who earn a good living t...
January 30, 2014
Mistakes on the Road to Creative Freedom
I’ve been self-employed for more than fifteen years, but it hasn’t always been easy.
I once had the bright idea of selling a golf membership service for $1. (It was actually a very bad idea—no one told me you can’t make money on $1 per customer.)
Another time I tried to launch four projects on the same day. (Another bad idea—none of the four projects did well because my attention was so divided.)
When I wasn’t burning down houses as a teenager or failing to ever learn algebra, I was fumbling al...
January 27, 2014
A Tale of Two Designers
In The $100 Startup I wrote about two young art school graduates from Columbus, Ohio who had built a successful design business.
Their business initially began by chance, when a map they’d made for themselves turned into a hugely popular online product, with orders coming in from all over the world. Very quickly, Jen Adrion and Omar Noory became self-employed. They quit their jobs and decided to see how far they could take their brand-new shop.
I told that story in the book two years ago, but...
January 23, 2014
The Cure for Boredom
“The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.” –Dorothy Parker
I strive to live in a sense of wonder, yet often I fail. Even on the road, where I feel most at home, I become acclimated to beauty and experiences. This champagne on my First Class flight is flat! … The taxi queue is taking forever!
Just as melancholy knows no bounds of social class and can strike at any time, so too can boredom.
You’re floating along, doing okay, but all of a sudden it hits you: you’re disenc...
January 20, 2014
A Night in Doha
Doha, the capital of Qatar, isn’t the kind of place you usually pop into without a task at hand. You might come on assignment for your company, or you could be transiting on Qatar Airways, or you might drop in because Qatar is a country and you’re on a mission to visit all of them. But I’ve accomplished that mission already, and now I’m back in town for no good reason.
There’s no way around the obvious: Doha is a strange place. The only Qataris I encounter are working the immigration counters...
January 16, 2014
8 Ways to Plan Amazing Travel Experiences in 2014
Greetings from the road! I’m in Johannesburg and preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha.
From there it’s Paris, Doha (again), London, New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas … in just over a week. What can I say—2014 is going to be a kick-ass year.
Once the calendar rolled over to January 1, I got straight to work on planning my travel for the first half of the year. The first big trip is a OneWorld Explorer Round-the-World ticket. I purchased the ticket last month from South Africa by ca...
January 12, 2014
Luck Appears When You Show Up: Notes from UA 250
Reentering the world of long-distance travel after a month’s absence, there’s a moment that comes when I realize what it’s all about.
It’s hard to predict the precise arrival of the moment, but I never miss it.
Sometimes the moment arrives in the taxi ride to the airport, but that’s usually too early. There’s still some uncertainty at this point. The baggage in my mind takes up more weight than the bag in the back of the taxi.
Did I forget something? Do I have enough money, the right passport,...
January 9, 2014
The Virtue of Insecurity
“When I wake up in the morning, I feel like any other insecure 24-year-old girl. Then I say, ‘Bitch, you get up and walk the walk today.’” ―Lady Gaga
One time I failed at something I’d worked at for a long time. I felt terrible and spent a week moping around, complaining about it. My friends tried to cheer me up, saying, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. You didn’t need that.”
But that’s not what it felt like to me. I viewed that kind of thinking as rationalization—the thing you do when your a...
January 7, 2014
Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing: Now Available!
Today is the launch of the Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing!
Fresh off the launch of last month’s Law & Order guide, I’m really excited to roll out another brand-new resource.
In yesterday’s post (not sent by email), I encouraged readers to make 2014 a year of writing. I got a bit sidetracked from my writing practice last year, and I want to make sure I make more time for it this year.
Conveniently, my practice is returning just as our crack team of Unconventional Guides superstars hav...
January 6, 2014
Make 2014 Your Year of Writing (Here’s How)
Happy 2014 to all! If you haven’t set goals or a theme for the year yet, it’s not too late.
Habits do not create themselves. If you get off track in a habit you’ve committed to, you have to make adjustments to ensure you course correct.
Over here I’m getting back to my writing routine, where every day (or at least almost every day) I focus on writing at least 1,000 words for publication.
If you like to write and want to do more of it, join me in upping your commitment this year. This post con...
