Last week I headed out for the Sunday morning long run, and my legs decided not to cooperate. After four miles, it was time to pack it in. Bummer—so I tried again a few days ago.

The same thing happened… almost. At mile four I was ready to quit. Through an act of God and the new Josh Ritter album, I managed to pull it out and keep going. At mile six I was feeling great, and as I headed home, I was glad I didn’t quit. Eleven miles for the win!

***

This post is for the entrepreneurs and business-minded ninjas of our community. It’s all about conducting your own business audit—which basically means “looking closely at stuff and making improvements.”

As I transition from active business development to book tour mode, I’ve been taking a close look at how the Unconventional Guides business operates on its own. I want to make sure the store continues to operate well, even without a bunch of big launches and promotions.

I should say first that I’m pretty bad at most optimization or efficiency efforts. I’m just not motivated to revisit things once they’re done. For better or worse, I almost never go back to something I’ve done before. I also believe that it’s better to focus on the future than the past—better to move on and do something new.

This philosophy works… most of the time. But it’s also true that a good business needs nurturing and continuous improvement. I do this for life in general towards the end of the year in the Annual Review series. Now I’m doing a smaller version for my business this summer.

An audit has a few different meanings. In this context, I think of it as: “a thorough review of information.” In my case, I’ve been looking at the following questions in some detail. You may want to answer these yourself, and—even better—take action to create the improvements you identify.

“Where do you make money?”

In any given business, it’s very easy to get trapped into all kinds of things that have nothing to do with making money. The solution to this is simple: focus on the money. True, money isn’t everything, but in a business, the money is pretty important.

In the audit, you’ll want to look at where the money comes from and determine what you can do to keep it coming. Sometimes new opportunities present themselves; sometimes there’s an easy fix you can make to turn on another tap.

Here’s a big hint: if you have a range of projects, products, or activities, it’s almost always better to devote your efforts to the strong performers than to try and pull up the weak ones. Most people do the opposite. If your goal is for everything to be average, that’s the best you’ll ever get.

“How good is your messaging?”

If you do any kind of online marketing, go back to where you started and read the copy (text) carefully. Review each page of the sales material slowly, and then read it out loud. Does it still present the message that you want?

When I started looking through all of my active sales pages and reference material, I found plenty of mistakes. Typos that were missed a year ago were still there on the page. A date I referenced six months ago is now four months in the past. Oh noes!

Then I checked out the multimedia. When I first started making videos, I was terrible at them. One time someone suggested I “do another take” to improve. Little did they know that the published one was Take #11! It really is an acquired skill. I just kept going and putting them out, which is the right approach, but now that I’m better at it, the old ones need to be replaced. I’ve fixed two of them and will redo another couple of them this weekend.

“Are your prices what they should be?”

When was the last time you raised your prices? You can have a sale or give out discount codes from time to time, but like all businesses, you should also plan on raising your prices on a regular basis as well.

The other day on Twitter someone suggested that prices should be “fair to everyone.” Sorry man, but trying to price for everyone is a business death trap. Don’t do it! I aim solidly for the middle of the market by design—no $10 ebooks, but no $2,000 courses either. It works well. Other businesses are set up to compete on either end of the range, and if it works for them, that’s great.

Since entrepreneurs live by the free market system, the way you answer the question of whether your pricing is fair or not is by asking another question: are people buying what you sell? If yes, you’re probably on the right track. If no, you probably have a problem.

“How are you marketing to existing customers?”

One of the best things you can do is reach out to existing customers and find a way to meet more of their needs. Yet despite the fact that most of my customers buy more than one product, I do very little active marketing to them after the sale. Bad move, Chris! I’m fixing it, with improved follow-up messages in my autoresponder campaign and a postcard mailing drive for a third of the customer list.

As part of this examination, you should also carefully check your post-purchase process. What happens after someone buys? Do they get sent to the right place; does everything arrive in their Inbox or physical mailbox as it should? If you sell consulting, do clients know exactly how to set up a time in your schedule? The easier you can make all of these things, the better.

“Are you tracking, monitoring, or testing enough?”

Until recently, I didn’t even have any analytics software installed on UnconventionalGuides.com. Oops—I’ve fixed that. I’m also starting to do some limited advertising, so the tracking will be critical in resolving the age-old advertiser’s dilemma: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Now I’ll know.

The thing about testing is that you just don’t know what’s going to happen until you do it. That’s why you test! A while back I installed an upsell offer where customers could get a $50 gift certificate for only $25 after making a purchase. I thought it was a killer offer, but my customers didn’t think so—it was accepted only one out of twenty times (5%). A good upsell can convert much better than that, so out went the gift certificates offer.

“Where are the big, missing opportunities?”

Earlier this year I recruited a number of affiliate partners for a major Empire Building launch. I remember looking at the sales figures afterward and seeing a few surprises. A couple of people did very well, even with smaller online profiles. When I noticed this, I thought, “It’s a good thing I recruited them!” But then in the ensuing weeks as I processed my daily mail, comments, and Twitter messages, I noticed a number of people that I hadn’t thought of before. If I had asked them to get involved, the launch could have been even better.

Just because you have a big opportunity doesn’t mean you should pursue it. I pass up a lot of things because they aren’t a good fit for my overall strategy. However, it’s good to know what you’re missing, even if you’re deliberately missing it. In my case, I made a list of opportunities I could pursue in my business. Here’s a short version of the list:

• Add a conference call or webinar series on a specific topic every month
• Create “side products” consisting of smaller versions of the main products
• Create an iTunes app with mini-versions of my products
• Schedule another $100 Business Forum with Pam Slim
• Arrange more joint ventures to promote the guides
• Recruit more “high-end” affiliates
• Create a physical version of the EBK
• Carefully introduce the regular sale of products on eBay
• Conduct a “Pay-what-you-will” event for one of the guides
• Conduct a Silent Auction (or a public auction)
• Improve the social media identity of the biz
• Hire a call center to take orders by phone
• Produce a TV commercial for $100 or less (here’s how)

***

As I said, this is a short version of the list. As to how I evaluate which ideas to pursue at any given time, well, that’s a whole other discussion. In general, though, I follow the “maximalist” approach of trying out a bunch of things all at once and seeing what works the best.

A friend of mine told me recently, “If you love something, you have to protect it.” You could say all kinds of things about that brilliant advice—but in this context, it means that I’ve spent a couple of years constructing a business that supports a good way of life, and I need to take the right steps to protect it. That’s why an audit like this helps.

The Unconventional Guides business won’t ever be huge, but it’s grown much more than I expected when I first sold the first “Discount Airfare Guide” two years ago. I regularly take steps like these to protect it, and to ensure it can thrive even as I travel overseas next week or visit all 50 states this fall. I still have a long way to go in making the project everything I’d like it to be, but I think I’m headed in the right direction.

How about you—will you conduct your own audit? What can you improve?

###

Image: Robert

Greetings, friends and readers. As promised, our final business project of the year is now ready to head out the door (and it’s only June!).

The Unconventional Guide to Freelancing helps service providers become solution providers. If you want to get serious about building a sustainable business model around the skillset you use to serve clients and customers, this might be a good fit for you.

–>Learn more or pick it up here.

What It Is

“You know how to do the craft… now learn how to run the business.”

In a 20,000+ word guide and numerous interviews, my co-conspirator Charlie Gilkey has created a “Freelancer’s 301″ resource to help service providers of all kinds get serious about their work. The idea is that we can’t help you do your specific craft better (you probably have other resources for that), but we can help you improve the business aspects of your work — so that you have more time to do what you do best.

Who It’s For

You are a service professional of some kind — a designer, a bookkeeper, an agent, a consultant, a coach, a something — who wants to take your business to the next level. You understand the fine line between employee and entrepreneur. Since you’re in your own category, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the business aspects of your work.

How can you grow the biz without killing yourself? How can you raise your rates? (And how do you know much to charge in the first place?) Should you worry about competition? These are the kinds of questions we look at in extended detail.

Who It’s Not For

This is a “Freelancer’s 301″ guide. It won’t tell you how to open a PayPal account or sharpen a pencil. If you’re interested in setting up a business but haven’t done anything about it yet, this also probably isn’t for you.

(See Working for Yourself if you want the quick-fix, or Empire Building Kit if you want to build something monumental over time. Charlie also has several coaching options if you need active hand-holding.)

Special Bonus!

To kick off this new guide in style, Charlie and I will do a special Q&A call for the first 150 people who pick up the guide today. The call will be recorded if you can’t make it, but if you’re on the live version you can ask us anything you want. I promise to sound reasonably coherent in my response, and then Charlie will give you an even better answer.

This call is in addition to three other coaching calls that Charlie will be doing for the “Bag o’ Chips” edition. You could say it’s Chris’s Retirement Special—after this guide is out in the world, I’m retiring from active business development for at least six months as I get ready to launch my print book. Whatever you call it, it won’t be here long.

Update: Bonus call is now closed — but the guide is still available!

***

Alright, that’s it! Have a great week wherever you are.

–>Here’s the link if you’re interested.

###

First of all, thanks so much to everyone who signed up to come out the Unconventional Book Tour this fall. My goal was to put this out there and see how people responded.

Well, respond you did! 450 people signed up in the first few hours, and hundreds more over the weekend.

All 63 cities across North America are now represented. NYC, San Fran, L.A., and Vancouver have been fighting it out for the most signups thus far, but people will be out in full force almost everywhere. If you use Twitter, you can search for hashtag #ubt and see some of the other readers who are coming to various cities.

My investment tip for the year is: buy stock in cupcake companies! Business will be good this fall.

A big debate about city choices also broke out in my Inbox, with numerous arguments about whether Oklahoma City is better than Tulsa, why I’m not also going to Canada’s three arctic territories (hint: I’m already going to every state and every province! one thing at a time), and so on.

Thanks as well for your online pre-orders, which helped take the AONC book to the Top 1k on Amazon two months in advance of release. We are also working with local bookstores all across both countries to ensure they know about the book as well, and I certainly encourage you to support your own if you have one. I’ll have much more to say about this whole four-month process later.

***

For now, let’s talk about solutions to problems. If you’re trying to figure out a good idea for a small business, start by looking at a problem that you can provide the solution to. I thought about this last week when I sat down with Charlie Gilkey, longtime friend, new Portland resident, and my business partner on the upcoming Unconventional Guide to Freelancing.

“What’s the number one thing you want people to know about freelancing?” I asked Charlie.

“It’s simple,” he said. “Whether through this guide or something else, the most important thing is that freelancers should view themselves as solution providers instead of just service providers.”

The difference is crucial. If you’re in business for yourself or want to be, you need to think about what kind of solution you’re offering. If you’re solving a problem or relieving a pain, that’s a good start. If you’re just “doing stuff,” you may need to adjust.

The Freelancing Project

If you’re new here, the first half of 2010 has been accelerated, even by my “why not do everything” standard. Last fall I said that 2010 would be the year of scale and reach, which has certainly held true. We’ve built out the business to a more sustainable level, with the flagship Empire Building Kit and upgraded affiliate program. Site readership has nearly doubled from December, along with almost all of the other metrics I track.

As promised several times, after this launch I’ll be retiring from active business development for the rest of the year. The store will still be open, and I’ll still post Sunday Store Updates at least a couple of times a month with news about existing products, but my focus will be on the book tour, Ethiopia project, and the writing I do every day.

Anyway, enough preamble. Here’s the deal: the Unconventional Guide to Freelancing is a one-stop, “Freelancer’s 301” guide to running a service-based business. Our ideal customer for this guide is someone who knows how to do their craft but struggles with running the business.

Important: Charlie and I don’t know how to tell someone to be a web designer, a bookkeeper, a consultant, an agent, or any number or other kinds of specific professions. There are plenty of resources in any one industry to cover that.

But we do know how to condense a wealth of knowledge into a package that freelancers of all kinds can benefit from. That’s what the guide is all about.

In April I went to a higher-price point for the Empire Building Kit because it made sense for that project. (An Empire Building project shouldn’t be super cheap.) For this guide, I’m returning to the lower price point that we’ve used for a few of the earlier guides. I’m happy to do this so the price won’t be an obstacle for anyone who fits the target market.

The launch will kick off on Wednesday morning at 9am PST / 12pm EST. This will be a long-lasting launch, meaning that the guide won’t go away after 24 hours or a week; it will continue to be available in the store on a long-term basis. However, to encourage early participation, Charlie talked me into doing a special Q&A call with the first 150 buyers who pick up the guide on Wednesday.

I make an average of one phone call a day and listen to my voicemail about once a month, so I’m not a big conference call guy. But I agree it will be important to help people who are especially excited about their freelancing biz, so I blocked off an afternoon next month for the call to respond to questions and share a few ideas from the many people we talked with while producing the guide.

(After the Q&A call fills up, we’ll remove notice of it from the launch post—that way, you can tell whether it’s still available or not.)

Thanks!

If the guide sounds like a good fit for you, I’ll look forward to serving you with it on Wednesday. If not, that’s totally fine and I appreciate your time and attention.

By the way… I still can’t believe that so many of you are coming out to visit during the Unconventional Book Tour this fall! It’s going to be epic.

###

Image: Llam

Two months ago, the Empire Building Kit launched out into the world. Thirty days later, we did it again, in one crazy launch with 30+ partners.

Today, it’s going out again — once and for all. As of today, the EBK will be permanently available on UnconventionalGuides.com. Empire building for everyone! Yay.

–>Read more or get started on your own empire here

***

What It’s About

The goal of the Empire Building Kit is to help a select group of people build a sustainable lifestyle business in one year by doing one thing every day. I received rave reviews from the first two groups of emperors in April and May, and if it’s a good fit for your needs, I’d love to bring you the same experience today.

This is a super-soft launch. I’m not even sending an email to our main list, because we’ve done this a couple of times before. I’m sending notice to people who signed up for the waiting list, and some of our affiliate partners will be doing mailings. Othewise, I’m keeping this on the down low and focusing on the other work I do.

BUT — Major Bonus!

To keep things fun, I’m including a couple of fun things for the final EBK launch period.

First, up: a free copy of “Backyard Biz Profits.” This is another 60+ page guide all about combining online marketing with local businesses. I’ve had it sitting around for a while, but haven’t got around to doing anything with it until now. It will sell for at least $47 whenever I can get it cleaned up and ready to go, but for now, it’s free to everyone who gets the EBK before Thursday at 9am PST / 12pm EST.

(FYI, everyone who picked up the EBK earlier will also be getting this additional bonus… just not anyone who gets it later.)

Next, a free recording and transcript of the “no-holds-barred” webinar I produced for the first group of emperors. During this webinar I answered every question they had about empire-building and the course itself.

Also… still no price increase. I reserve the right to raise the price later, as more content continues to be added to the Emperor Training Grounds for EBK owners almost every week. But for now, you can get it for the same price as the inaugural group.

Happy Empire-Building!

See you again tomorrow with regularly-scheduled programming.

###

Image: Leo

Greetings, friends and readers.

I made it back to America after the latest Round-the-World journey. People sometimes ask how jet lag affects me as I roam from continent to continent. Here’s the general rule, Twitter-style:

Jet lag day 1 = zzzz. Day 2 = worst day! Day 3 = don’t fall asleep! Day 4 = almost normal.

***

If you’re new here, this is the Sunday Store Update. I use this time to share some brief news about the business side of AONC.

As mentioned last week, we’re coming up on the final business launches of the year. I’ve got two big things in quick succession, then I head to retirement book launch and 63-city Unconventional Book Tour mode for the rest of 2010.

First up, the third and final launch for Empire Building Kit, my flagship product to help aspiring emperors build a business in one year by doing one thing every day. Because I’ve already launched it once to much fanfare and a second time with 30 partners, this launch is a soft one, with almost no fanfare at all.

This time it will go on sale at Wednesday, June 16th at 9am PST. Starting then, the EBK will be available over here. This one isn’t a 24-hour launch—you’ll be able to find the product in the store on an ongoing basis after Wednesday. However, I’m doing a couple of things to reward anyone who picks it up this week, including a FREE copy of a new guide that helps you apply online biz-building principles to your local city or neighborhood. (And of course, people who already own the EBK from one of the other launches will also receive this new bonus.)

Two weeks later—on June 29th, to be precise—is the launch (not as soft) of the Unconventional Guide to Freelancing, co-produced with Charlie Gilkey. This is shaping up to be a bonanza of resources, written and compiled primarily by Charlie, who is much more stable and much less ADD than me. I was pretty sure I made the right choice in partnering with him on this project, and as I’m looking through the rich materials he’s putting together, my suspicion is safely confirmed.

***

More on those things later. For now, thanks for reading. Wherever you are in the wide world, I hope you’re doing something amazing this week.

###

Image: Kaptain Kobold

Greetings from the home base in Portland, Oregon. I’ve got a big French press filled to the brim with Stumptown coffee, and I’m settling in for a long day in front of the MacBook.

And… the Empire Building Kit has now returned! (Insert your preferred trumpet blast here.)

–>Read more or order your own copy here.

***

The goal of the Empire Building Kit is to help a select group of people build a sustainable lifestyle business in one year by doing one thing every day. I received rave reviews from the inaugural group who picked it up last time, and if it’s a good fit for your needs, I’d love to bring you the same experience today.

As before, it’s 24 hours only. A small legion of partners are promoting this launch, so if you can’t access the site at some point, that’s probably why.

Some Good News

1. No Price Increase! The price is the same as the initial launch. You have a choice of three options to suit your preferred empire-building needs, from Emperor in Training to Alexander the Great.

2. Additional Bonus! There’s no live webinar this time (I promised to only do that for the inaugural group), but you can get the recording of the webinar with all their questions and my attempts at answers.

3. Extra Stuff! We’ve added some fun things to the Emperor Training Grounds. There are previously unpublished case studies, the ability to download videos directly for your iPod or iPad watching, and even a new EBK wallpaper for the truly hardcore. (Of course, all of these things are free to everyone in the inaugural group as well.)

–>Check it out here if you’re interested.

If you prefer, you can also support another blogger you read by buying through their affiliate link. Or you can ignore this and change the world in some other way, and that’s great too. Tomorrow morning it will all be over and I’ll get ready to fly to Central Africa and beyond.

Happy Empire Building Day! Thanks so much for your support.

###

Greetings, friends and readers. Thanks to everyone at the Seattle Consortium of Travel who welcomed me to their event on Thursday night.

I opened up the talk with a “Name That Airport Code” game with airline amenity kits as prizes. You know a talk is going to go well when people start getting excited about a bag that contains a toothbrush and comb.

***

This is the Sunday Store Update, where I post some brief news about the business side of AONC. This week the news is… the Empire is returning!

Yes, indeed. Five weeks ago I released my biggest and best business project ever, the Empire Building Kit.

It was mayhem in mobile World Domination HQ, as J.D. and I set up our own little Apple Store on board the Empire Builder train while traveling through North Dakota and Montana. By the time we reached Portland the next morning, the launch was over.

This time I’m doing it again, but a bit differently. First, there are no 44-hour train rides. No offense to Amtrak enthusiasts, but once was enough. Second, I’m not promoting the launch very much over here. People who signed up on the waiting list (now closed) will hear a few things about it, and I’ll have one post on Tuesday morning when it’s ready to go. That’s it.

Otherwise, a small legion of affiliate partners will be endorsing the EBK on their sites, so I’ll stand back, drink my coffee, and make sure they’re well supported.

Why Should You Care?

Well, you might not, and that’s fine. I’m thrilled that so many of you read the blog from all over the place. I say that I get paid first in nice emails, and then whatever else later. So if this project isn’t a good fit for you, ignore everything on Tuesday and I’ll be back as usual on Thursday.

But if you’re interested in building a lifestyle business—something I define as a business oriented around something you love, with less than three employees and net income of at least $50,000 a year—then you might want to consider picking this up before I close it out again on Wednesday morning.

I wrote more about what it’s about last month here, here, and here.

Oh, and the Reviews

I asked the inaugural EBK owners to share their thoughts on how they’ve been enjoying the project thus far, and they said some very kind things. On Tuesday morning you’ll be able to see exactly what they said, and there will also be a large number of other reviews posted throughout the Internets.

If you’re interested, it will go live on Tuesday morning at 9am PST / 12pm EST, again for 24 hours only before I head out the next day for a big trip.

And That’s It!

OK, that’s a wrap. Thanks for your support. After this one, I’m off to Central Africa and beyond for a few weeks, so there won’t be any other biz news for a while.

Whatever you’re up to, I wish you a fabulous week.

###

Image: AtomicJeep

Greetings, friends, readers, and small army. I went on vacation for a few days and am now ensconced back at home in the great city of PDX.

It’s always fun to go on vacation as a self-employed person, because a) you still have to work, and b) no one thinks you do any work to begin with. So then when you go on vacation, they say, oh, must be nice that you don’t have a job and can do that. Meanwhile on vacation I work six hours a day instead of ten. But it’s all good.

***

This is the Sunday Store Update. I use this time to write about the small business side of AONC.

Speaking of being self-employed, the next Unconventional Guide is all about freelancing—a resource for those who already do it successfully, and a field manual for those who want to do it but don’t know how to start. I’m creating this with a good friend, Charlie Gilkey. He’s taken the lead on it and is cranking out some great information all about changing the world through self-employment.

This guide will deal with things that none of my other resources touch on: taxes, insurance, managing clients, and so on. Boring, yes? Not really. These are the things that freelancers of all kinds have to deal with on a regular basis, but most of us have no clue how they actually work. When I got started working on my own, for example, I didn’t even know I had to pay taxes four times a year instead of once on April 15th like everyone else. Oops.

The guide will also look at increasing income, combining products with a service-based business, and a bunch of other fun stuff that I’ll tell you about closer to our mid-June launch. For now, I need some help from the current freelancers among us.

Survey for Self-Employed Peeps

For those among us who are currently self-employed or already working as some kind of freelancer, I’d love to get your input on a few things for this project. The survey will take three minutes or less, and hopefully they won’t be billable minutes. Do it for love, not money.

Click here to take the survey

(Please note: this survey is only for people who are self-employed or otherwise engaged in freelance work.)

***

I’ll see you again tomorrow, and then every Monday and Thursday until the end of the world. Lots of good things are on the way: more travel hacking, small biz ideas, another profile in non-conformity, daily ass-kickings on Twitter, etc.

Here’s wishing you an outstanding month of May!

###

A few notes on our very busy day here:

1. If you’re traveling on Amtrak at some point, I recommend the blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

2. Thanks for all the birthday congratulations. You guys are great.

2. A reader told me about the Bottomless Cup coffee shop in Havre, Montana. We have 25 minutes in Havre this afternoon and I’m going to try to make a mad latte dash. If I don’t make it back in time, J.D.’s in charge!

3. Oh, and the Empire Building Kit has been flying off the shelves! Holy cow.

–>If you haven’t seen it yet, here is the magic internet teleporter.

***

As of right now, I’ll continue selling the EBK for 14 more hours, until just before our mid-morning arrival at Portland’s Union Station on Thursday. Keep in mind that our internet access is quite limited here, so if it looks like I’ll have problems, I’ll end it sooner.

(And if you wrote me this morning, I probably haven’t written back with the usual lightning speed yet. Forgive me while I get this update done first.)

Questions & Answers

Q. I placed an order! What’s next?

A: Thank you! Next: make sure you visit the resources page and join the EBK mailing list. In this case, the EBK list is extremely important because we’ll be sending you 365 mini-lessons over the next year.

You’re supposed to be directed to both of those places (resources page + mailing list signup) right after purchase, but if something goes wrong, let us know and we’ll get you there manually.

Q: Is the webinar only for the higher-priced EBK versions?

A: No, the webinar is for everyone who purchases during this initial launch. No question left behind! (Thank you, Kelly.)

Q: Can I buy the Emperor-in-Training version and upgrade to Hail Caesar or Alexander the Great later?

A: Yes. We can do that for you.

Q: Will this help me become the next Bill Gates, etc.?

A: Probably not. The EBK contains everything I know about running a successful lifestyle business ($50k-150k a year with no employees), in addition to a ton of lessons from many other entrepreneurs. It is designed to be highly-actionable and very comprehensive.

However.

Empire Building is a serious undertaking. I am not interested in finding the easy way out, hiring someone in India to run my operation, or whatever.

I’m interested in working hard to create a meaningful business built on happiness (for customers) and freedom (for me). Relationship is a central component in this process. If that sounds like something you’re into, you might to consider picking up your own EBK. If not, any indecisiveness can now be easily cured: don’t buy it.

***

Alright – back to the rails. J.D. has been explaining how professional blogging works to some folks in the next car—I said I’ll let him handle that. I have, however, rechristened the Amtrak Sightseer Lounge as the “Bloggers’ Lounge,” where we’ve set up shop with a plethora of Apple gear, cameras, internet cards, and so on.

###

The big day has arrived!

Greetings from North Dakota, where I’m riding along the Empire Builder train en route to Montana, Washington, and eventually my home in Portland.

As promised, the Empire Building Kit is now live. This project will help a select group of people build a sustainable lifestyle business in one year by doing one thing every day.

Read more or order your own copy here.

This initial launch is strictly limited to 24 hours only.

***

Three Options. In an effort to serve people with different plans, desires, and budgets, I’ve created three versions of the kit. I think the middle one (Hail Caesar) will probably serve most people the best, but make your own decision. There is also an Alexander the Great version to help people who are already successful entrepreneurs achieve greater scale, and an Emperor-in-Training version for aspiring conquerors on a limited budget.

Free Webinar. In about three weeks, I’ll be hosting a private webinar for everyone in the inaugural group of EBK owners. During the webinar, the new emperors can ask any question they want… which is why I’m only taking orders for the next 24 hours. (This isn’t a gimmick, and I really will close the order page and stop taking money — watch and see.)

Next month we’ll relaunch the EBK with a number of affiliate partners, but on a smaller scale here at AONC. I won’t include the live webinar, and I also reserve the right to remove some of the materials or raise the price.

As I’ve said several times: if it’s not for you, that’s OK. But if it sounds like something that will help you, don’t wait, because it won’t be available very long.

Oh, and I’ve saved a couple of fun things for the launch today:

‘Empire Builder’ Bag Giveaway. One random buyer will win a free Empire Builder laptop bag courtesy of my friends at Tom Binh bags. We’ll draw from the buyer list at 5pm PST today – about eight hours from now.

Minnesota Video Adventures. Sometime around midnight, J.D. and I recorded a video of the setup we’re using to work from the train. Check it out here if you’d like.

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Amtrak Birthday Party

On a side note, it’s also my birthday today. I don’t expect the entire world to care about my birthday, but two facts are worth noting:

1) Turning the old age of 32 may or may not produce the mysterious quality of “maturity” (let’s hope not), but it does mean that I officially have only three years left to go in my quest to visit every country in the world. Three years, sixty-two countries, and most of them are fairly difficult to get to—but so far, so good.

2) For a long time I didn’t want people to know when my birthday was because of some bad things that happened around that time when I was a kid. Whenever the first week of April rolled around, I’d try to find anything I could do other than think about cake or parties. Mostly, I tried to keep it a secret because I didn’t want any attention.

I wouldn’t say I’m crazy about birthdays now, but you know, people can change in their old age. So here I am on my appointed day of April 7th, writing to fun people from all over the world who mean a lot to me. Thanks for reading and sharing part of your life with me.

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Alright, that’s all for now. It looks like our itinerary today will take us through Montana and on to Spokane, Washington late tonight. If you want the EBK, here is the info. If not, no worries.

Wishing you well from the rails,

P.S. Our internet access on the train is quite limited, but I’ll do my best to post your comments and monitor the shopping cart throughout the day.

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