For the last couple of months I have been secretly working on something that I have spoken very little about – and only to a select few friends (online and off!). In a nutshell, it will be a ‘guide’ of sorts, a complete run-down of everything and anything that anyone needs to know, in regards to escaping the 9-5 grind to be able to create and embrace their own Virtual Business Lifestyle.
There will be lots of different angles that I am going to cover, which I’m not going to go into at any great length right now. However, the bottom line is that by the time you’re done with this (whatever it turns out to actually be!) you’ll be in the right mindset and ready to take on the world as a new age, location independent entrepreneur, out for success in a MASSIVE way!
I’m covering the whole nine yards, all focusing on the VBL Core4, and what they stand for:
- Entrepreneurship – Making the Leap from 9-5 to ‘Own Boss’ Status, Blogging, Branding, Start-Up, Business Growth, Entrepreneurial Productivity, Building Your Marketing List, Owning Your Niche, Management of Staff, etc.
- Passive Income - Affiliate Marketing, Getting Started Online, Niche Selection, Product / Muse Creation, Product Packaging and Marketing, Product Launches, Joint Ventures, etc.
- Outsourcing – Getting into the Outsourcing Mindset, Finding and Hiring Virtual Assistants, Utilizing both Home-Based and Service provided Outsourced Staff, Scalability Options, Training Virtual Staff, Smart Delegation, etc.
- Super Mobility - Moving to the Cloud, Online Collaboration, Travel Hotspots for Entrepreneurs, Tools and Tactics for Travel, Networking at Conferences, Empowering Yourself, Utilizing Technology, etc.
Obviously, there’s a lot more to ALL of these major core subjects, and I’m going as in-depth as possible on everything! However, the overall message is to focusing on one simple thing:
How to kickstart an online business, quit your day job, become your own boss and live your own Virtual Business Lifestyle!
Sound good? Excellent..! I’m glad you feel that way, because this is where you guys are going to come into play on this whole thing!
As I’ve said before, I have been astounded by the way this community has grown over the last year and a bit. It’s been incredibly humbling. The support you have shown to me and to each other has been, and continues to be awesome!!! And the feedback and kind words I continue to receive from everyone, is just unbelievable. Here are a few random tweets from the last couple weeks that I pulled from my iPhone:
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Now, I Need Your Help!
Depending on the amount of work involved in this project, I believe the price point of the ‘guide’ be anything between $40-$100. I would LOVE for you guys to help me put together a product that you would absolutely, without a doubt, BUY! Something that when you saw the sales page for it, you wouldn’t think twice about hitting the ‘Buy Now’ button.
Let me explain – this is NOT about me making a few bucks. Although I certainly intend to do so (duh!?!!). However, more importantly its about putting everything into ONE single downloadable package that will help, inspire, and hopefully shape many, many entrepreneurial lives in the years to come! I’m extremely excited about it!
So, I am humbly appealing to the awesome nature that you all have and asking a very simple, clear question:
What do you want to see from, and get out of, the first VBL product ever?
The answer can revolve around the medium / format of the ‘guide’ (written, video, audio, combo), it can even touch on what NOT to include, to make sure that my time is not wasted putting together stuff people dont want to see, least of all spend money on! What about price? Let me know what you’d pay for it… It can go into different sub-sections of the VBL Core4, and it can just plain solve your problems (one of my favorites!).
You guys can help me out on this in a number of ways. Either email me, tweet me, leave a message on the VBL Facebook page, or simply comment below (probably the best, as you can all interact with each other, as normal). Either way, I am super-excited about finalizing this project, and getting it out to you all in the near future. The fact that it is going to be tweaked and finalized to YOUR specs is going to make it one of the most awesome online products available for people wanting to create a lifestyle that they will truly love to live.
Thanks in advance, guys! I’m looking forward to hearing all your great feedback, as always!
Related Posts:
- 3 Awesome Steps to Virtual CEO Success
- Ways to Develop a Passive Stream of Awesome Income: Part 2 of 2
- Replace Yourself Like a Ninja: How I’ve Disappeared from Another Business!
- Tim Ferriss Muse Creation – Utilizing a VA to Help Create and Market Your Muse!
- Announcing the Launch of the All-New Virtual Business Lifestyle!
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Some of the things I’d love to read about:
* Tips and sure-fire strategies for picking up new readers
* How to turn your talents into a product that people want to buy
* Proper SEO and how to find keywords that matter
You could probably write a book on just those subjects!
Hey Nick
Looks that way, yes! Perhaps I will..!!!
Thanks for the feedback, bud.
C
I am really excited about this product! In particular the Super Mobility section. I am not mobile yet but I want to be prepared for when I am.
Personally I would love it to be available as audio. I love to listen to podcasts and audio books as I workout and as I walk home. Listening to something inspirational/informative for that hour or so is a great way to intake information and a really easy way to fit exercise into my day without feeling like I am wasting valuable time in my quest for location freedom. I don’t want anything to stand in my way but at the same time I want to stay fit and healthy and therefore ready for my perfect lifestyle
Having said that I love to read too and the quality of that is being able to go back a few lines and take it in again, but maybe slower. So I guess for me a combination would be perfect. (I love video too but have limited downloads at home so I try to limit video watching, which is a shame but just the way it is)
I just went back and re-read your list of the contents and I can’t think of anything missing – I am just excited in anticipation of reading it!
Hi Bridget
Great information and feedback, I will absolutely take this all into consideration.
Thanks for the nudges in the right direction.
C
I would love to see it as a mixture of video and text, but also I think a downloadable workbook or two would be good too. This is because it could help to keep track of your progress and it may help the individual themselves accountable when they are not following through, If you get what I mean.
I know the product will be great Chris looking forward to see what you come with!
Jason
Hi Jason
It will absolutely include Video AND audio, my man. The ‘workbook’ idea is also on the cards, too.
Thanks for the kind words, in advance.
C
Thanks for asking your question,
Currently I have several blogs that are related to the theme I write about in
a tiny little eBook that I sell online titled:
‘A VISION for a Happy Healthy & Rich Lifestyle’,
Since I am also not against YOUR prosperity, a product that I might possibly want to buy is for example a product that is the – Upsell Product – from a simply downloadable – free report – (without having to opt-in) that has information (or a service such as getting advertising space in a big Newsletter that has the potential for Targeted Treffic that has great Convertions, or something else like that) Something that I can easily use directly to instantly make my current Blogs a lot more money than now, Something that makes them make so much more extra money, more than enough to easily justify investing in buying your – Upsell Product – that will
make me even more successful
Since that because of having experienced your incredible free report and your – Upsell Product -
that made me so extra successful, I would be very enthousiastic to for example enter
your affiliate program for it, or I would enjoy creating continuing win/win-situations by
writing posts about your ‘Upsell Product’
All the Best,
To your Happy – Home Business Lifestyle – Inspiration,
HP
Thanks for the insights, HP.
Much appreciated. Nice ideas.
C
hi Chris, Sounds like a great product. For the higher price point i would be expecting good quality video tutorials with worksheets. I would also like to know how your product is going to be different to the many other products in the niche selection, seo, ebook creation area? Personaly i would like to know how to start my own Virtual Assistant business: getting clients, finding good VA’s, marketing, etc. Keep up the good work. Rob UK.
Hey Rob
Thanks, bud.
There is actually already a GREAT resource for starting your own VA Biz. Check out Michelle Dale’s VA Apprentice – it’s an excellent resource!
C
Chris, I find real world examples most helpful. When I see that a guy can simply design a stylish microfiber cloth for cleaning tablet PC’s and has sold 35,000 units at $15 each (See Inc.magazing March 2011) it gives me hope that I can do something on my own. It doesn’t take a home run to start making money, you can create some base hits, as you do so your mind will expand, bigger ideas will come as a by-product of simply getting a product or idea out there and working on it.
Hi Landon
Real world is ALWAYS good. And I do intend to include a few case studies, of course.
Appreciate the input, bud.
C
Well, this wont be a new concept to the market, but I do believe that it has a place. There are a multitude of similar products on the market, but the challenge has been seeing through the fog. There are many great podcasters, VBL, SPI, LBP, and others that have great ideas and suggestions, but Ive yet to encounter a WHOLE product that gets a novice from point A to Point Z. I understand that ideas and products change, as could a WHOLE resource package (Free upgrades or a one year subscription please).
Please, please, please, do NOT do a cheesy sales page. In my product creation, and the products that I seek do not have cheesy sales pages. They have their place, but you are attempting to sell to the very people that may want to create them. Who do you think has the most resistance to these pages? Your very audience for a product that you are suggesting. I have a very HIGH resistance to sales pages. Sure, you need to sell, but if several paragraphs on a short webpage cannot convince someone to make a purchase, then they arent the right customer for your product anyway. This is on the assumption that you have a genuine interest in helping your audience, which I know that you do Chris.
Finally, a podcast version of much of the content would be great. Yes, a lot needs to be on a webpage, but a good deal of discussion can be made via audio that customers can listen to several times while staring at windshields, or whatever.
Oh, and the last finally, Ive heard great things about IBM (not the computers, you know whom Im talking about), but the continuity program that they require is too steep for my blood at this point. Make money, dont make enough to buy a Ferrari off this one item. Rich rewards will prevail in the long run.
All the best, and please invest time to make it GREAT!
Hi William
All very, VERY good points.
I appreciate that this wont be the first of its kind online. However, it will be the first of its kind from ME. And hopefully my experiences, outlook and general persona when it comes to this niche will be enough to sell a few ‘units’..!!
Sales page = ZERO. Fair comment. There is a place for them, and you are probably right, this is no doubt not the right angle for something like what I am putting together.
You idea of the audio… You’re not alone, and I fully intend to include a full-blown audio version of everything I do…
Thanks, for the great feedback, my man.
C
Congrats Chris,
So this is the new products you where hinting about
Nice to see you are doing this the proper way, first to survey your readers and then creating the final product.
I would recommend a membership site with audio, video and eBook.
Best of luck with your new product, looking forward to it.
I would recommend going for $47.
Hi Eric
Not quite there yet, buddy – but, getting there!
Not too sure on the ‘membership site’ side of things, as I mentioned before in one of the earlier comments… not as ‘passive’ as I would like it to be. But, I never say never…!!!
Thanks for the price idea, too.
C
Hi Chris
1/ $49.99
)
2/ Action orientated worksheets i.e. do this then that
3/ Mind maps to backup the above.
4/ Real life examples that are validated. (some folk claim 6 figures then say opps i dont real
5/ Video is great to get across a lot of info quickly
6/ everything should be downloadable as some of dont have fast connection Yes even in the Uk in 2011 we still get sloooow connectiuons
The best of luck with this launch and ofcourse
9/ discount for loyal commentators
regards
Great points, Steve.
Hehehe… I’ll see what I can do in regards to a ‘loyal’ discount..!!!
Thanks for the input.
C
Chris,
To me the biggest barrier is the firewall between the lifestyle you want to live and the change in thinking (dependency, fear of what others think and fear of blowing it and looking foolish) that it takes to make it happen. What does it take to break through the firewall? If you can do that, I’d love to partner as an affiliate to help retired people change their lives. Price, $50 bucks seems accessible but maybe up to $100 if it can make people believe.
Great stuff, Ralph.
Thanks for the feedback. I like your take on the ‘fear of blowing it’ scope of things. I’m gonna use that, for sure.
Cheers,
C
Well I am excited about this! I think a combo product would be great, I would love to get more involved in monetising blogs and community building, I do okay, but next year I would like to start working on it a bit more and taking my blog more seriously. Not sure on price, depends what the final product is made up of. I also think that the technology side of things would be great, where to hook up to wi-fi spots abroad, satellite internet etc… options for people who don’t stay in one place for to long. I like it Chris, like a “Rough Guide” to the Virtual Business Lifestyle. I would read it for the entertainment factor, you are always so upbeat and funny
I also think that an iPad app of some kind would be good so we could all search your guide from apples greatest invention! (so far). I am brainstorming how I can translate my VA Apprentice Programme (thanks for the earlier mention Chris) onto an iPad app, it’s a challenge!
Hi Michelle
Great feedback, and I really like the iPad App version. But depending on price, it could push the price up a bit. Unless I looked at a potential upsell set-up for that version. What do you think..?
Will be interesting to see how it all comes together in the next month or so!
Cheers,
C
I think I would expect to purchase an iPad app as a product in it’s own right, so I am going to say upsell
For me Super mobility is the section I want expanded or should I say I want integrated.
I get constantly bombarded with resources that you mention so it will have to be Top shelf and well integrated…not just more tools that I can add to my tool bar or a list of things that I should be doing.
And please fix this comment box…. spell check doesn’t work and you can not edit…only option is to delete and re-type.
So your pack has to work for me better than your comment box.
No disrespect but the fine details are what helps me decide when to buy or not.
Hi Colin
Absolutely. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into this section myself, as it’s just as important as anything else related to the VBL, and not spoken about enough, if I was to be honest to myself.
I’ll keep you up to date, promise!
C
I would like to see info on training your workers in the Philippines. Ideally, I would like to be able to take someone who is reasonably intelligent, but not savvy at high level programming and make money with them within a few weeks. Then how to pyramid that into a team in the shortest time possible. If you had that, your product for me would be irresistable.
Of course the mobility also appeals. Would love to know where to go in major cities for the best connections and how to access the cloud most efficiently and cheaply.
Great stuff, Howard.
Actually, I have another product planned for later in the eat specifically aimed towards working with VAs.
It’s actually something that has been in the works for about FIVE years!!! but, will definitely come to fruition this year, for sure. Promise.
Thanks for the feedback.
C
1.) I think the $40 price point should be the target. 2.) Step by step directions and worksheets to follow with supporting documentation. 3.) I prefer audio files with corresponding transcripts, with worksheets and ebook maybe online tools to use. 4.) A complete product not something that is introductory with the lead of buy this next more in depth product to get the rest of the answers. 5.) I may be alone here but I am new to this whole concept and need from the very beginning. I would like your program to start including a section on how to build websites and not just the high level stuff and then outsource it to someone to do the work. I need the bare bones – this is how you do it, go here do this, here is a form you fill out to send to someone when outsourcing your design. Or point me to a recommended resource ( Actually, Templates for a lot of the things would be helpful. ) I have my product idea and have done some initial research on key words but I don’t know what I am doing and not sure where to turn for the info I need. I want to get something good up now and build and learn as I go. I will let my customers know that the product is Beta but that we are working out the bugs through each version. I want to get it up and going and this is where I am kind of stuck. 6.) Out souring – I want to know how to find good help and retain them. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on a learning curve that others have already been on. You clearly have the expertise on doing this and I think volume is going to be key for your product more is better. I think hours of audio and a book work of templates and worksheets are needed. Then I will be one of the first in line to buy. It would be cool if you gave some of your followers a discount off your first draft where we could use it and give feed back. You could follow us and then you would know where strengths and weaknesses of you program are.
I hope this is helpful to you. I wish success and good health to you and your family.
Great, great feedback, JR.
Thank you for putting in the effort on this comment. I’ll be sure to take everything into account when finalizing the product!
Cheers,
C
Hi Chris, you’ve got me excited with this project! Glad to see you’re doing this though, I’d happily buy it because I know it’s coming from someone who I can trust. And I’d rather buy something off a trusted person, than from a dishonest person, even if their product is better.
One thing I’ll point out, which I waould like to see included, is how to bridge yourself from the 9-5 to the entrepreneur. What first steps to take, what plans to make, etc. Although I’m sure you’ll cover that anyway
It does seem as if the guide is going to take a slight ‘beginners’ slant, following the comments here and the barrage of emails I’ve received since posting. Which is absolutely fine.
Although there are several aspects that I will be goof into plenty of detail on, too.
Thanks for the honest feedback, Stu.
C
Chris,
You want something that will rock?
Case studies rule the day. Pat Flynn’s niche competition is must see tv.
If there were some way to case study readers using the material as part of the material being offered, it would be huge.
For example, take 10 cats and fill them up with your audio, video and ebook material. Do case studies on them over say 3-6 months. Include the case studies in the material being offered. Most guys would be afraid to do something like this because you can’t guarantee the outcome. Perfect. Risky. And, oh so right.
This is precisely what makes guys like Pat stand out in the crowd. Thanks
Love this idea, Rob.
Thanks, buddy. Will certainly think of a way to incorporate something along these lines.
You’re right, Pat does a great job on that type of stuff.
C