Greetings from my home city of Seattle, Washington. For the first time in six months, the monthly update comes to you live from World Domination Headquarters, conveniently located in my home office in Wallingford.
Each month I look back at what’s happened with ChrisGuillebeau.com in the previous month. If you’ve missed some articles, you can catch up here.
Writing
LIFE – I wrote about The Care and Feeding of World-Changers and posted a video update called Whole-Wheat Bread and 8 Olympic Gold Medals.
WORK – I wrote about United Airlines and the Case for Value, Price and Value: A Marketing Lesson for Life, Art and Money, and Building a Command Center for Your World Takeover Plans.
TRAVEL – I wrote about Getting to Pakistan, Conversations in Karachi, Lost in Singapore, and The Ancient Hotel in the Ancient City of Valletta, and The Perfect City by Personal Standards.
Travel
Most of July and the first half of August combined to make the busiest travel month in my life so far. I was thoroughly worn-out upon returning home, and I don’t plan to break this record for a while… but it was also a fulfilling trip.
I wrote about the first part of the trip in last month’s update. On the second part of the trip I went to San Marino (a very small republic in northeast Italy), Pakistan, and Brunei. I also stopped off in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan.
The UGDA Launch
On August 13, I launched my first product on the AONC site, the Unconventional Guide to Discount Airfare. A lot of you bought it during the launch, and others have continued to purchase every day since then. Thanks! I am grateful… and I have a lot of work to do, since it seems there’s a real demand for more Unconventional Guides and related services.
In the future I will be creating an affiliate program that pays 51% commission for a few carefully-selected partners who wish to offer this (and the upcoming guides) for sale to their readers.
If you have a blog, other web site, or newsletter list and are interested in learning more, read this first and then contact me.
What’s Coming Next
Travel – My final trip of the year takes place this month, as I head out next week to go the Middle East and South Asia. I’ll be visiting Egypt, Qatar, and Sri Lanka, as well as making a quick stop in Central America before flying to Cairo. It should be fun, and you’ll get updates and trip reports on location as usual.
FAQ – I haven’t forgotten about the Frequently Asked Questions page I promised a while back. If there’s something you’d like to know, just let me know and I’ll add it to the list. The FAQ will probably debut along with the site redesign mentioned next.
AONC Redesign – Reese the Amazing Designer, who works on location from Michigan and Malaysia, is working on a redesign for the site. Stay tuned for updates and a preview where you can share your thoughts about the redesign – this should happen towards the end of September.
Essays - The thrice-weekly essays will continue to be posted each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This month I’ll write about the following topics, among others:
- The Devaluation of Discounting
- Swimming from Regrets
- A Small Business Round-Up
- Trip Reports from Sri Lanka and Switzerland
I hope you enjoy my writing, and I always welcome your feedback.
The Second Unconventional Guide
In late September or early October (probably early October, but you never know), I plan to launch my second commercial product to complement all of the writing I do for free. This guide will focus on the second of two questions that I hear almost every day: “How do you make a living?”
Usually what people want to know even more is, “How can I start some kind of online business, begin freelancing, or otherwise make money without working for someone else?”
Some people want to leave their real job and pursue something entirely different, but others just want to get some kind of supplemental income going so that they are not as dependent on the “real job.” I think both goals are good, and I plan to provide a great deal of practical information in support of those goals. The working title for the second guide is the Unconventional Guide to Earning Money Without a Job.
Note: a few people have said this title is too long. They’re probably right, but at the moment I don’t have a better one. Feel free to suggest your own title for the second guide, and if I use yours, you’ll get a free copy when it’s done.
Audience Participation
You can participate in the development of this project in several ways:
Leave a comment at the bottom of any essay. Feel free to add to the discussion at any time, and include a link back to your own site if you have one.
Join my newsletter announcement list or add me to your RSS reader.
Follow my real-time updates on Twitter.
Send other feedback. Use my contact form here to tell me what you think so far.
Tell your friends, or tell the world by submitting my essays to StumbleUpon, Digg, or other social networking sites.
I appreciate the time you spend here. Don’t forget to change the world the way you think it needs to be changed.
-CG
Catch up on Previous Updates Here:
July 2008 (Karachi)
June 2008 (Amsterdam)
May 2008 (Vancouver)
April 2008 (Syria)
March 2008 (Los Angeles)
February 2008 (Seattle)
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Image by Cordan
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