A Lesson or Two for Mobile World Citizens…

For the last 2 days I have been in the process of getting Webeneur.com out of pre-beta and MobileWorldCitizen.com live…

The professional graphic layout design is done for Webeneur.com, but I am having a bit of a snag with the designers getting the code to me.  The design company is a boutique company and does great work. But, the owner of the company is in London on vacation and the general manager does not seem to be able to find code.

As for MobileWorldCitizen.com, there seems to be a problem with my hosting company publishing the files to the internet.  My files are being saved to the server, but they are not getting published…Aaargh!!!!

Hmm, perhaps there a lesson or two in this for the Mobile World Citizens of the world?

With systems in place it does not matter if the”boss” is gone.  In fact, this is one of the main concepts of mobile business; Systems replace decisions, actions and people. As for the publishing issues, all I can say is patience is a virtue.  I have built the pages. They are saved and I will work out the publishing details with the hosting company as I can.

What have been been your challenges with websites so far?  Let me know and I will reply to as many comments as I can.

Remember, the only mistake is inaction.

Bill

Friends and fun in town

This week two good friends of mine came here to San Francisco for a business conference. They are the owners of Keything Marketing and their showcase product is Videopaste.com I knew them when the business was just an idea talked about over dinner. In fact, I was mentoring them on another business when they started talking about online video and some ideas they had. Since we have become friends and it is great to see them take off so strongly.

Anyway…They showed up a day early for the conference. So I showed them around town. I met them at the Cal train station, then we ate at Momo’s. We hit the cable car up Powell, went to Fisherman’s Wharf where we could see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Then back around the Embarcadero to the Giants Stadium for a couple of innings of the night game. A nice little tour if you have an afternoon.

Some cool Bonuses: Don King came into Momo’s while we were eating (A fun celeb sighting). I rode the Cable car. I have lived here for over 2 years and never took it before.

Big Moves

Fear of making mistakes…I have come to see that inaction is the state of one continuous mistake. So if you are going to make a mistake do it while being in action. These mistakes while in action are not really mistakes. They are points of learning.

So I am committing to some big moves. These big moves are to get my website Webeneur.com out of pre-beta and take it to live beta. I will also put Mobile World Citizen online. I will add content to both and build the SEO along with online marketing to drive traffic. I am committing for this to be done by October 15^th.

The next step is to monetize these sites through affiliates, Adsense and advertising where appropriate.

My base freedom goal (the minimum amount of mobile income to be free to live and work where you want) is $2500 per month. Yep, that’s right. That is all it takes. I have higher goals of course, but this is the amount to get free and go! It seems almost unreal, but trust me it is real and you will see by my example.

Goals
My current fully mobile income is $500 per month. I am giving myself a full 6 months to reach the $2500 amount and be on the plane and going to live in Spain. This is more than plenty of time to prepare all arrangements while building my mobile income.

Do it NOW!

Bill

Challenges…

Some of the major changes I have gone through to prepare for being a mobile world citizen…

Stuff, getting rid of it. It was harder than I thought it would be. Moving 3 times over the last year has helped. Each time I downsized. Letting go is the hard part. Once it was gone…it has never been a problem. It’s weird how we are wired to posses.

I know if I have a bunch of stuff to store and take care of I cannot be truly mobile. This is my opinion for me. I have always been pretty much a minimalist. For others I am sure it will be more difficult. The last move I made I was able to fit everything in a rented Mustang convertible (with the top down). My current apartment is furnished with a futon bed, a desk and a bookshelf.

When I completely go mobile I foresee either getting down to what I can carry or ideally have the finances to have a base or two where I can keep my journals, books, photos, record player and records, and stuff like that. I am eager to see which way it goes!

Creating Roots without chaining myself. Wow, I could talk about this all day. We have all been taught to go to school, get a job, get married, buy a house and save. This is how the American society works. This system is based on geographic stability and security. The mobile lifestyle is based on freedom of movement and seeing many possibilities and scenarios. I do not want to dictate any one way to be a mobile world citizen. It will be many things to many people. In this blog I will talk about what it is to me.

People not “getting” me. Luckily, this is something I have dealt with before being an entrepreneur. Lots of people want to talk about being free, but when you are truly doing it most people have a hard time dealing with it. My experience has been that as I become truly more free to determine what I do and when more and more people tell me how I can’t. Like I said this started when I began my first business. I have lost several friends that I truly loved simply because we have had less and less in common. But the flip side is that I have made a handful of friends that not only get me, but support and encourage me. Find these people in your life, they exist and they are truly priceless.

Be you and do it now.

Day One– A One Year Update

Wow… where to start on a whole year update?

I think I had better start before that day in Madrid when I decided to work and travel as a mobile world citizen. So….

I have been an entrepreneur since my first part-time business in ‘95. I have been a full-time entrepreneur since ‘99 after I got fired from a bureaucratic job in the mental health field…but that is a whole-nother story for another day. In 2005 I got married, sold my business in Ohio and moved to San Francisco. To make a long confusing story very short, over the next year my wife decided she had had enough of the entrepreneur life, marriage and me. So she moved back to Ohio in September 2006 and we were divorced. In July, 2006 I took a trip to Spain to hang out with my good buddy Nacho so I could get my head on straight as my marriage was in a whirl-wind of turmoil. The trip consisted of one week in Madrid and one week sailing around the island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea.

One afternoon in Madrid while waiting for my buddy to get off of work I was in the Plaza de Toros de las Ventas working on business concepts. That is when I decided to become a mobile world citizen, someone who could travel and do business online or over the phone anywhere, anytime.

At the time I knew no one else that was doing this, but it seemed totally possible with the technology available. I was currently mentoring entrepreneurs over the phone and figured I only needed to expand it out to make it globally viable. The next step I saw was to add a passive business structure and of course, add an online aspect.

Once I got back to the states I dealt with my relationship and realized it was already over, at least in her mind. This last year I have been rebuilding my foundation financially and emotionally. I’ll be damned if it didn’t take me a whole lot more than I thought it would to do both. In fact, I am still working on both. I am not yet where I want to be, but I figure I am about 75% of the way there. Currently, I still reside in San Francisco while I build my business and financial base to travel the world. Follow this journal and follow my progress.

Through my research I have found others doing what I want to do. Two of the more notable are: Tim Ferriss author of “The 4 hour Work Week” and Anthony Page of “Working Nomad dot com”. Both are worthy of checking out. Buy their books and read them (disclaimer: as of publishing I do not have any affiliate relationship with either, but it is in my plan for becoming a mobile world citizen).

Here is what I want to accomplish with this journal. I will outline my progress financially, socially and emotionally as I grow. I will also talk about the tools I use and find along the way. I will talk about my plans, accomplishments and challenges. I will also be including pictures and videos of my experiences. And most importantly, I will be including my thoughts and feelings as I go.

Thank you for joining me in my journey. I am excited to have you along for the ride and to learn from my successes and failures!

Bill Ayers – Becoming a mobile world citizen