The 4 Hour Workweek

PRAISEFOR
The4-HourWorkweek
“It’sabouttimethisbookwaswritten.Itisalong-overdue
manifesto for the mobile lifestyle, and Tim Ferriss is the
idealambassador.Thiswillbehuge.”
—JACKCANFIELD,cocreatorofChickenSoupfortheSoul®,
100+millioncopiessold
“Stunning and amazing. From mini-retirements to
outsourcingyourlife,it’sallhere.Whetheryou’reawage
slave or a Fortune 500 CEO, this book will change your
life!”
—PHILTOWN,NewYorkTimesbestsellingauthorofRule#1
“The4-HourWorkweekisanewwayofsolvingaveryold
problem: just how can we work to live and prevent our
livesfrombeingallaboutwork?Aworldofinfiniteoptions
awaitsthosewhowouldreadthisbookandbeinspiredby
it!”
—MICHAELE.GERBER,founderandchairmanofE-Myth
Worldwideandtheworld’s#1smallbusinessguru
“Thisisawholenewballgame.Highlyrecommended.”
—DR.STEWARTD.FRIEDMAN,advisertoJackWelchand
formerVicePresidentAlGoreonwork/familyissuesand
directoroftheWork/LifeIntegrationProgramatthe
WhartonSchool,UniversityofPennsylvania
“Timothy has packed more lives into his 29 years than
SteveJobshasinhis51.”
—TOMFOREMSKI,journalistandpublisherof
SiliconValleyWatcher.com
“If you want to live life on your own terms, this is your
blueprint.”
—MIKEMAPLES,cofounderofMotiveCommunications(IPO
to$260Mmarketcap)andfoundingexecutiveofTivoli
(soldtoIBMfor$750M)
“Thanks to Tim Ferriss, I have more time in my life to
travel,spendtimewithfamily,andwritebookblurbs.This
isadazzlingandhighlyusefulwork.”
—A.J.JACOBS,editor-at-largeofEsquiremagazineand
authorofTheKnow-It-All
“TimisIndianaJonesforthedigitalage.I’vealreadyused
hisadvicetogospearfishingonremoteislandsandskithe
best hidden slopes of Argentina. Simply put, do what he
saysandyoucanlivelikeamillionaire.”
—ALBERTPOPE,derivativesspecialistatUBSWorld
Headquarters
“Reading this book is like putting a few zeros on your
income.Timbringslifestyletoanewlevel—listentohim!”
—MICHAELD.KERLIN,McKinsey&Companyconsultantto
Bush-ClintonKatrinaFundandaJ.WilliamFulbright
Scholar
“Partscientistandpartadventurehunter,TimFerrisshas
createdaroadmapforanentirelynewworld.Idevoured
thisbookinonesitting—Ihaveseennothinglikeit.”
—CHARLESL.BROCK,chairmanandCEOofBrockCapital
Group;formerCFO,COO,andgeneralcounselof
Scholastic,Inc.;andformerpresidentoftheHarvardLaw
SchoolAssociation
“OutsourcingisnolongerjustforFortune500companies.
Small and mid-sized firms, as well as busy professionals,
canoutsourcetheirworktoincreasetheirproductivityand
freetimeformoreimportantcommitments.It’stimeforthe
worldtotakeadvantageofthisrevolution.”
—VIVEKKULKARNI,CEOofBrickworkIndiaandformerIT
secretaryofBangalore;creditedasthe“techno-bureaucrat”
whohelpedmakeBangaloreanITdestinationinIndia
“Timisthemaster! I should know.I followed his ragsto
riches path and watched him transform himself from
competitive fighter to entrepreneur. He tears apart
conventionalassumptionsuntilhefindsabetterway.”
—DANPARTLAND,EmmyAward–winningproducerof
AmericanHighandWelcometotheDollhouse
“The 4-Hour Workweek is an absolute necessity for those
adventuroussoulswhowanttolivelifetoitsfullest.Buyit
andreaditbeforeyousacrificeanymore!”
—JOHNLUSK,groupproductmanageratMicrosoftWorld
Headquarters
“Ifyouwanttoliveyourdreamsnow,andnotin20or30
years,buythisbook!”
—LAURARODEN,chairmanoftheSiliconValleyAssociation
ofStartupEntrepreneursandalecturerinCorporate
FinanceatSanJoseStateUniversity
“With this kind of time management and focus on the
important things in life, people should be able to get 15
timesasmuchdoneinanormalworkweek.”
—TIMDRAPER,founderofDraperFisherJurvetson,
financierstoinnovatorsincludingHotmail,Skype,and
Overture.com
“Tim has done what most people only dream of doing. I
can’tbelieve he is going to let his secretsoutofthebag.
Thisbookisamustread!”
—STEPHENKEY,topinventorandteamdesignerofTeddy
RuxpinandLazerTagandaconsultanttothetelevision
showAmericanInventor
Formyparents,
DONALDANDFRANCESFERRISS,
whotaughtalittlehellionthatmarchingtoadifferentdrummer
wasagoodthing.Iloveyoubothandoweyoueverything.
SUPPORTYOURLOCALTEACHER—
10%ofallauthorroyaltiesaredonatedtoeducational
not-for-profits,includingDonorschoose.org.
CONTENTS
PrefacetotheExpandedandUpdatedEdition
FirstandForemost
FAQ—DoubtersReadThis
MyStoryandWhyYouNeedThisBook
ChronologyofaPathology
StepI:DisforDefinition
1CautionsandComparisons:HowtoBurn$1,000,000aNight
2RulesThatChangetheRules:EverythingPopularIsWrong
3DodgingBullets:Fear-SettingandEscapingParalysis
4SystemReset:BeingUnreasonableandUnambiguous
StepII:EisforElimination
5TheEndofTimeManagement:IllusionsandItalians
6TheLow-InformationDiet:CultivatingSelectiveIgnorance
7InterruptingInterruptionandtheArtofRefusal
StepIII:AisforAutomation
8OutsourcingLife:Off-loadingtheRestandaTasteofGeoarbitrage
9IncomeAutopilotI:FindingtheMuse
10IncomeAutopilotII:TestingtheMuse
11IncomeAutopilotIII:MBA—ManagementbyAbsence
StepIV:LisforLiberation
12DisappearingAct:HowtoEscapetheOffice
13BeyondRepair:KillingYourJob
14Mini-Retirements:EmbracingtheMobileLifestyle
15FillingtheVoid:AddingLifeAfterSubtractingWork
16TheTop13NewRichMistakes
TheLastChapter:AnE-mailYouNeedtoRead
LastbutNotLeast
THEBESTOFTHEBLOG
TheArtofLettingBadThingsHappen
ThingsI’veLovedandLearnedin2008
HowtoTraveltheWorldwith10PoundsorLess
TheChoice-MinimalLifestyle:6FormulasforMoreOutputandLess
Overwhelm
TheNot-to-DoList:9HabitstoStopNow
TheMarginManifesto:11TenetsforReaching(orDoubling)
Profitabilityin3Months
TheHolyGrail:HowtoOutsourcetheInboxandNeverCheckE-mail
Again
TimFerrissProcessingRules
ProposaltoWorkRemotelyonaContractBasis
LIVINGTHE4-HOURWORKWEEK:CASESTUDIES,
TIPS,ANDHACKS
ZenandtheArtofRockStarLiving
ArtLoversWanted
PhotoFinish
VirtualLaw
TakingFlightwithOrnithreads
Off-the-JobTraining
Doctor’sOrders
The4-HourFamilyandGlobalEducation
FinancialMusing
WhoSaysKidsHoldYouBack?
WorkingRemotely
KillingYourBlackBerry
StarWars,Anyone?
RESTRICTEDREADING:THEFEWTHATMATTER
BONUSMATERIAL
HowtoGet$250,000ofAdvertisingfor$10,000
HowtoLearnAnyLanguagein3Months
MuseMath:PredictingtheRevenueofAnyProduct
Licensing:FromTaeBotoTeddyRuxpin
RealLicensingAgreementwithRealDollars
OnlineRound-the-World(RTW)TripPlanner
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PREFACETOTHEEXPANDEDAND
UPDATEDEDITION
The4-HourWorkweekwasturneddownby26outof27publishers.
Afteritwassold,thepresidentofonepotentialmarketingpartner,a
largebookseller,e-mailedmehistoricalbestsellerstatisticstomakeit
clear—thiswouldn’tbeamainstreamsuccess.
So I did all I knew how to do. I wrote it with two of my closest
friends in mind, speaking directly to them and their problems—
problemsIlonghad—andIfocusedontheunusualoptionsthathad
workedformearoundtheworld.
Icertainlytriedtosetconditionsformakingasleeperhitpossible,
butIknewitwasn’tlikely.Ihopedforthebestandplannedforthe
worst.
May2,2007,Ireceiveacallonmycellphonefrommyeditor.
“Tim,youhitthelist.”
Itwasjustpast5P.M.inNewYorkCity,andIwasexhausted.The
bookhadlaunchedfivedaysbefore,andIhadjustfinishedaseriesof
morethantwentyradiointerviewsinsuccession,beginningat6A.M.
that morning. I never planned a book tour, preferring instead to
“batch”radiosatellitetoursinto48hours.
“Heather,Iloveyou,butpleasedon’t$#%*withme.”
“No, you really hit the list. Congratulations, Mr. New York Times
bestsellingauthor!”
I leaned against thewall andslid downuntil I was sitting onthe
floor.Iclosedmyeyes,smiled,andtookadeepbreath.Thingswere
T
abouttochange.
Everythingwasabouttochange.
LifestyleDesignfromDubaitoBerlin
he 4-Hour Workweek has now been sold into 35 languages. It’s
been on the bestseller lists for more than two years, and every
monthbringsanewstoryandanewdiscovery.
FromtheEconomisttothecoveroftheNewYorkTimesStylesection,
fromthestreetsofDubaitothecafesofBerlin,lifestyledesignhascut
acrossculturestobecomeaworldwidemovement.Theoriginalideas
of the book have been broken apart, improved, and tested in
environmentsandwaysInevercouldhaveimagined.
So why the new edition if things are working so well? Because I
knewitcouldbebetter,andtherewasamissingingredient:you.
Thisexpandedandupdatededitioncontainsmorethan100pagesof
new content, including the latest cutting-edge technologies, field-
tested resources, and—most important—real-world success stories
chosen from more than 400 pages of case studies submitted by
readers.
Familiesandstudents?CEOsandprofessionalvagabonds?Takeyour
pick.Thereshouldbesomeonewhoseresultsyoucanduplicate.Need
a template to negotiate remote work, a paid year in Argentina,
perhaps?Thistime,it’sinhere.
TheExperimentsinLifestyleDesignblog(www.fourhourblog.com)
was launched alongside the book, andwithin sixmonths, it became
oneofthetop1,000blogsintheworld,outofmorethan120million.
Thousandsofreadershavesharedtheirownamazingtoolsandtricks,
producingphenomenalandunexpectedresults.Theblogbecamethe
laboratoryI’dalwayswanted,andIencourageyoutojoinusthere.
The new “Best of the Blog” section includes several of the most
popularposts fromthe Experiments inLifestyle Designblog. Onthe
blog itself, you can also find recommendations from everyone from
WarrenBuffett(seriously,ItrackedhimdownandshowyouhowIdid
T
it)tochessprodigyJoshWaitzkin.It’sanexperimentalplaygroundfor
thosewhowantbetterresultsinlesstime.
Not“Revised”
his is not a “revised” edition in the sense that the original no
longerworks.Thetyposandsmallmistakeshavebeenfixedover
morethan40printingsintheU.S.Thisisthefirstmajoroverhaul,but
notforthereasonyou’dexpect.
Things have changed dramatically since April 2007. Banks are
failing, retirement and pension funds are evaporating, and jobs are
beinglostatrecordrates.Readersandskepticsalikehaveasked:Can
the principles and techniques in the book really still work in an
economicrecessionordepression?
Yesandyes.
Infact,questionsIposedduringpre-crashlectures,including“How
wouldyourprioritiesanddecisionschangeifyoucouldneverretire?”
arenolongerhypothetical.Millionsofpeoplehaveseentheirsavings
portfoliosfall40%ormoreinvalueandarenowlookingforoptionsC
and D. Can they redistribute retirement throughout life to make it
moreaffordable?Cantheyrelocateafewmonthsperyeartoaplace
like Costa Rica or Thailand to multiply the lifestyle output of their
decreasedsavings?SelltheirservicestocompaniesintheUKtoearn
inastrongercurrency?Theanswertoallofthemis,morethanever,
yes.
The concept of lifestyle design as a replacement for multi-staged
career planning is sound. It’s more flexible and allows you to test
differentlifestyleswithoutcommittingtoa10-or20-yearretirement
planthatcanfailduetomarketfluctuationsoutsideofyourcontrol.
People are open to exploring alternatives (and more forgiving of
others who do the same), as many of the other options—the once
“safe”options—havefailed.
Wheneverythingandeveryoneisfailing,whatisthecostofalittle
experimentation outside of the norm? Most often, nothing. Flash
forwardto2011;isa job interviewer asking aboutthat unusual gap
year?
“EveryonewasgettinglaidoffandIhadaonce-in-a-lifetimechance
totravelaroundtheworld.Itwasincredible.”
Ifanything,they’llaskyouhowtodothesame.Thescriptsinthis
bookstillwork.
Facebook and LinkedIn launched in the post-2000 dot-com
“depression.” Other recession-born babies include Monopoly, Apple,
CliffBar,Scrabble,KFC,Domino’sPizza,FedEx,andMicrosoft.Thisis
no coincidence, as economic downturns produce discounted
infrastructure, outstanding freelancers at bargain prices, and rock-
bottomadvertisingdeals—allimpossiblewheneveryoneisoptimistic.
Whetherayearlongsabbatical,anewbusinessidea,reengineering
yourlifewithinthecorporatebeast,ordreamsyou’vepostponedfor
“some day,” there has never been a better time for testing the
uncommon.
What’stheworstthatcouldhappen?
Iencourageyou to remember this often-neglectedquestionasyou
begintoseetheinfinitepossibilitiesoutsideofyourcurrentcomfort
zone.Thisperiodofcollectivepanicisyourbigchancetodabble.
It’sbeenanhonortosharethelasttwoyearswithincrediblereaders
aroundtheworld,andIhopeyouenjoythisneweditionasmuchasI
enjoyedputtingittogether.
Iam,andwillcontinuetobe,ahumblestudentofyouall.
Unabrazofuerte,
TIMFERRISS
SanFranciso,California
April21,2009
FirstandForemost
FAQ—DOUBTERSREADTHIS
Is lifestyle design for you? Chances are good that it is. Here are
someof the most commondoubtsandfearsthatpeoplehavebefore
takingtheleapandjoiningtheNewRich:
DoIhavetoquitorhatemyjob?DoIhavetobearisk-taker?
No on all three counts. From using Jedi mind tricks to disappear
from the office to designing businesses that finance your lifestyle,
there are paths for every comfort level. How does a Fortune 500
employee explore the hidden jewels of China for a month and use
technology to cover his tracks? How do you create a hands-off
businessthatgenerates$80Kpermonthwithnomanagement?It’sall
here.
DoIhavetobeasingletwenty-something?
Notatall.Thisbookisforanyonewhoissickofthedeferred-life
planandwantsto live lifelarge instead ofpostpone it. Casestudies
rangefromaLamborghini-driving21-year-oldtoasinglemotherwho
traveledtheworldforfivemonthswithhertwochildren.Ifyou’resick
of the standard menu of options and prepared to enter a world of
infiniteoptions,thisbookisforyou.
DoIhavetotravel?Ijustwantmoretime.
No.It’sjustoneoption.Theobjectiveistocreatefreedomoftime
andplaceandusebothhoweveryouwant.
DoIneedtobebornrich?
No. My parents have never made more than $50,000 per year
combined,andI’veworkedsinceage14.I’mnoRockefellerandyou
needn’tbeeither.
DoIneedtobeanIvyLeaguegraduate?
Nope.Mostoftherolemodelsinthisbookdidn’tgototheHarvards
of the world, and some are dropouts. Top academic institutions are
wonderful,butthereareunrecognizedbenefitstonotcomingout of
one.Gradsfrom top schoolsare funneledinto high-income 80-hour-
per-week jobs, and 15–30 years of soul-crushing work has been
acceptedasthedefaultpath.HowdoIknow?I’vebeenthereandseen
thedestruction.Thisbookreversesit.
MYSTORYANDWHYYOUNEEDTHISBOOK
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the
majority,itistimetopauseandreflect.
—MARKTWAIN
Anyonewholiveswithintheirmeanssuffersfroma
lackofimagination.
—OSCARWILDE,Irishdramatistandnovelist
Myhandsweresweatingagain.
Staringdownatthefloortoavoidtheblindingceilinglights,Iwas
supposedlyoneofthebestintheworld,butitjustdidn’tregister.My
partnerAliciashiftedfromfoottofootaswestoodinlinewithnine
other couples, all chosen from over 1,000 competitors from 29
countriesandfourcontinents.ItwasthelastdayoftheTangoWorld
Championship semifinals, and this was our final run in front of the
judges, television cameras, and cheering crowds. The other couples
hadanaverageof15yearstogether.Forus,itwastheculminationof
5monthsofnonstop6-hourpractices,andfinally,itwasshowtime.
“Howareyoudoing?”Alicia,aseasonedprofessionaldancer,asked
meinherdistinctlyArgentineSpanish.
“Fantastic.Awesome.Let’sjustenjoythemusic.Forgetthecrowd—
they’renotevenhere.”
That wasn’t entirely true. It was hard to even fathom 50,000
spectators and coordinators in La Rural, even if it was the biggest
exhibition hall in Buenos Aires. Through the thick haze of cigarette
smoke, youcould barely make out the huge undulatingmass in the
stands,andeverywheretherewasexposedfloor,exceptthesacred30′
x40′spaceinthemiddleofitall.Iadjustedmypin-stripedsuitand
fussedwithmybluesilkhandkerchiefuntilitwasobviousthatIwas
justfidgeting.
“Areyounervous?”
“I’mnotnervous.I’mexcited.I’mjustgoingtohavefunandletthe
restfollow.”
“Number152,you’reup.”Ourchaperonehaddonehisjob,andnow
itwasourturn.IwhisperedaninsidejoketoAliciaaswesteppedon
thehardwoodplatform:“Tranquilo”—Takeiteasy.Shelaughed,andat
just that moment, I thought to myself, “What on earth would I be
doingrightnow,ifIhadn’tleftmyjobandtheU.S.overayearago?”
The thought vanished as quickly as it had appeared when the
announcercameovertheloudspeakerandthecrowderuptedtomatch
him:“Parejanumero152,TimothyFerrissyAliciaMonti,Ciudadde
BuenosAires!!!”
Wewereon,andIwasbeaming.
THEMOSTFUNDAMENTALofAmericanquestionsishardformetoanswer
thesedays,andluckilyso.Ifitweren’t,youwouldn’tbeholdingthis
bookinyourhands.
“So,whatdoyoudo?”
Assuming you can find me (hard to do), and depending on when
youask me(I’d preferyou didn’t), Icould beracing motorcycles in
Europe,scubadivingoffaprivateislandinPanama,restingundera
palmtreebetweenkickboxingsessionsinThailand,ordancingtango
in Buenos Aires. The beauty is, I’m not a multimillionaire, nor do I
particularlycaretobe.
Ineverenjoyedansweringthiscocktailquestionbecauseitreflects
anepidemicIwaslongpartof:jobdescriptionsasself-descriptions.If
someoneasksmenowandisanythingbutabsolutelysincere,Iexplain
mylifestyleofmysteriousmeanssimply.
“I’madrugdealer.”
Prettymuchaconversationender.It’sonlyhalftrue,besides.The
wholetruthwouldtaketoolong.HowcanIpossiblyexplainthatwhat
IdowithmytimeandwhatIdoformoneyarecompletelydifferent
things?ThatIworklessthanfourhoursperweekandmakemoreper
monththanIusedtomakeinayear?
Forthefirsttime,I’mgoingtotellyoutherealstory.Itinvolvesa
quietsubcultureofpeoplecalledthe“NewRich.”
What does an igloo-dwelling millionaire do that a cubicle-dweller
doesn’t?Followanuncommonsetofrules.
Howdoesalifelongblue-chipemployeeescapetotraveltheworld
for a month without his boss even noticing? He uses technology to
hidethefact.
Goldisgettingold.TheNewRich(NR)arethosewhoabandonthe
deferred-lifeplanandcreateluxurylifestylesinthepresentusingthe
currency of the New Rich: time and mobility. This is an art and a
sciencewewillrefertoasLifestyleDesign(LD).
I’ve spent the last three years traveling among those who live in
worldscurrentlybeyondyourimagination.Ratherthanhatingreality,
I’llshowyouhowtobendittoyourwill.It’seasierthanitsounds.My
journey from grossly overworked and severely underpaid office
workertomemberoftheNRisatoncestrangerthanfictionand—now
thatI’vedecipheredthecode—simpletoduplicate.Thereisarecipe.
Lifedoesn’thavetobesodamnhard.Itreallydoesn’t.Mostpeople,
my past self included, have spent too much time convincing
themselvesthatlifehastobehard,aresignationto9-to-5drudgeryin
exchangefor(sometimes)relaxingweekendsandtheoccasionalkeep-
it-short-or-get-firedvacation.
The truth, at least the truth I live and will share in this book, is
quite different. From leveraging currency differences to outsourcing
your life and disappearing, I’ll show you how a small underground
useseconomicsleight-of-handtodowhatmostconsiderimpossible.
Ifyou’vepickedupthisbook,chancesarethatyoudon’twanttosit
behindadeskuntilyouare62.Whetheryourdreamisescapingthe
rat race, real-life fantasy travel, long-term wandering, setting world
records,orsimplyadramaticcareerchange,thisbookwillgiveyou
allthetoolsyouneedtomakeitarealityinthehere-and-nowinstead
ofintheoftenelusive“retirement.”Thereisawaytogettherewards
foralifeofhardworkwithoutwaitinguntiltheend.
How?It beginswith a simpledistinction mostpeople miss—one I
missedfor25years.
Peopledon’twanttobemillionaires—theywanttoexperiencewhat
they believe only millions can buy. Ski chalets, butlers, and exotic
traveloftenenterthepicture.Perhapsrubbingcocoabutteronyour
belly in a hammock while you listen to waves rhythmically lapping
againstthedeckofyourthatched-roofbungalow?Soundsnice.
$1,000,000inthebankisn’tthefantasy.Thefantasyisthelifestyle
ofcompletefreedomitsupposedlyallows.Thequestionisthen,How
canoneachievethemillionairelifestyleofcompletefreedomwithoutfirst
having$1,000,000?
Inthelastfiveyears,Ihaveansweredthisquestionformyself,and
thisbookwillansweritforyou.IwillshowyouexactlyhowIhave
separated income from time and created my ideal lifestyle in the
process,travelingtheworldandenjoyingthebestthisplanethasto
offer.HowonearthdidIgofrom14-hourdaysand$40,000peryear
to4-hourweeksand$40,000-pluspermonth?
Ithelpstoknowwhereitallstarted.Strangelyenough,itwasina
classofsoon-to-beinvestmentbankers.
In 2002, I was asked by Ed Zschau, übermentor and my former
professor of High-tech Entrepreneurship at Princeton University, to
comebackandspeaktothesameclassaboutmybusinessadventures
in the real world. I was stuck. There were already decamillionaires
speaking to the same class, and even though I had built a highly
profitable sports supplement company, I marched to a distinctly
differentdrummer.
Overtheensuingdays,however,Irealizedthateveryoneseemedto
be discussinghow to build largeand successful companies,sell out,
andlivethegoodlife.Fairenough.Thequestionnoonereallyseemed
tobeaskingoransweringwas,Whydoitallinthefirstplace?Whatis
thepotofgoldthatjustifiesspendingthebestyearsofyourlifehoping
forhappinessinthelast?
The lectures I ultimately developed, titled “Drug Dealing for Fun
and Profit,” began with a simple premise: Test the most basic
assumptionsofthework-lifeequation.
How do your decisions change if retirement
isn’tanoption?
What if you could use a mini-retirement to
sample your deferred-life plan reward before
working40yearsforit?
Isitreallynecessarytoworklikeaslavetolive
likeamillionaire?
LittledidIknowwherequestionslikethesewouldtakeme.
The uncommon conclusion? The commonsense rules of the “real
world” are a fragile collection of socially reinforced illusions. This
bookwillteachyouhowtoseeandseizetheoptionsothersdonot.
Whatmakesthisbookdifferent?
First,I’mnotgoingtospendmuchtimeontheproblem.I’mgoing
to assume you are suffering from time famine, creeping dread, or—
worst case—a tolerable and comfortable existence doing something
unfulfilling.Thelastismostcommonandmostinsidious.
Second,thisbookisnotaboutsavingandwillnotrecommendyou
abandon your daily glass of red wine for a million dollars 50 years
fromnow.I’dratherhavethewine.Iwon’taskyoutochoosebetween
enjoymenttodayormoneylater.Ibelieveyoucanhavebothnow.The
goalisfunandprofit.
Third,thisbookisnotaboutfindingyour“dreamjob.”Iwilltakeas
a given that, for most people, somewhere between six and seven
billionofthem,theperfectjobistheonethattakestheleasttime.The
vastmajorityofpeoplewillneverfindajobthatcanbeanunending
source of fulfillment, so that is not the goal here; to free time and
automateincomeis.
I OPEN EACH class with an explanation of the singular importance of
being a “dealmaker.” The manifesto of the dealmaker is simple:
Realityisnegotiable.Outsideofscienceandlaw,allrulescanbebent
orbroken,anditdoesn’trequirebeingunethical.
The DEAL of deal making is also an acronym for the process of
becomingamemberoftheNewRich.
The steps and strategies can be used with incredible results—
whether you are an employee or an entrepreneur. Can you do
everythingI’vedonewithaboss?No.Canyouusethesameprinciples
todoubleyourincome,cutyourhoursinhalf,oratleastdoublethe
usualvacationtime?Mostdefinitely.
Hereisthestep-by-stepprocessyou’llusetoreinventyourself:
DforDefinitionturnsmisguidedcommonsenseupsidedownand
introducestherulesandobjectivesofthenewgame.Itreplacesself-
defeatingassumptionsandexplainsconceptssuchasrelativewealth
andeustress.
1
WhoaretheNRandhowdotheyoperate?This
sectionexplainstheoveralllifestyledesignrecipe—the
fundamentals—beforeweaddthethreeingredients.
EforEliminationkillstheobsoletenotionoftimemanagementonce
andforall.ItshowsexactlyhowIusedthewordsofanoften-
forgottenItalianeconomisttoturn12-hourdaysintotwo-hourdays
…in48hours.Increaseyourper-hourresultstentimesormore
withcounterintuitiveNRtechniquesforcultivatingselective
ignorance,developingalow-informationdiet,andotherwise
ignoringtheunimportant.Thissectionprovidesthefirstofthethree
luxurylifestyledesigningredients:time.
AforAutomationputscashflowonautopilotusinggeographic
arbitrage,outsourcing,andrulesofnondecision.Frombracketingto
theroutinesofultrasuccessfulNR,it’sallhere.Thissectionprovides
thesecondingredientofluxurylifestyledesign:income.
LforLiberationisthemobilemanifestoforthegloballyinclined.
Theconceptofmini-retirementsisintroduced,asarethemeansfor
flawlessremotecontrolandescapingtheboss.Liberationisnot
aboutcheaptravel;itisaboutforeverbreakingthebondsthat
confineyoutoasinglelocation.Thissectiondeliversthethirdand
finalingredientforluxurylifestyledesign:mobility.
Ishouldnotethatmostbossesarelessthanpleasedifyouspendone
hourintheofficeeachday,andemployeesshouldthereforereadthe
stepsintheentrepreneuriallymindedDEALorderbutimplementthem
asDELA.Ifyoudecidetoremaininyourcurrentjob,itisnecessaryto
createfreedom of locationbefore youcutyour work hoursby80%.
Evenif you havenever consideredbecoming an entrepreneurin the
modernsense,theDEALprocesswillturnyouintoanentrepreneurin
thepurersenseasfirstcoinedbyFrencheconomistJ.B.Sayin1800—
onewhoshiftseconomicresourcesoutofanareaoflowerandintoan
areaofhigheryield.
Lastbutnotleast,muchofwhatIrecommendwillseemimpossible
andevenoffensivetobasiccommonsense—Iexpectthat.Resolvenow
to test the concepts as an exercise in lateral thinking. If you try it,
you’llseejusthowdeeptherabbitholegoes,andyouwon’tevergo
back.
Takeadeepbreathandletmeshowyoumyworld.Andremember
—tranquilo.It’stimetohavefunandlettherestfollow.
TIMFERRISS
Tokyo,Japan
September29,2006
1.Uncommontermsaredefinedthroughoutthisbookasconceptsare
introduced. If something is unclear or you need a quick reference,
please visit www.fourhourblog.com for an extensive glossary and
otherresources.
CHRONOLOGYOFAPATHOLOGY
Anexpertisapersonwhohasmadeallthemistakes
thatcanbemadeinaverynarrowfield.
—NIELSBOHR,DanishphysicistandNobelPrize
winner
Ordinarilyhewasinsane,buthehadlucidmoments
whenhewasmerelystupid.
—HEINRICHHEINE,Germancriticandpoet
This book will teach you the precise principles I have used to
becomethefollowing:
PrincetonUniversityguestlecturerinhigh-tech
entrepreneurship
First American in history to hold a Guinness
WorldRecordintango
Advisortomorethan30world-recordholders
inprofessionalandOlympicsports
Wired magazine’s “Greatest Self-Promoter of
2008”
NationalChinesekickboxingchampion
Horsebackarcher(yabusame)inNikko,Japan
Politicalasylumresearcherandactivist
MTVbreakdancerinTaiwan
HurlingcompetitorinIreland
ActoronhitTVseriesinmainlandChinaand
HongKong(HumanCargo)
HowIgottothispointisatadlessglamorous:
1977Born6weeksprematureandgivena10%chanceofliving.I
surviveinsteadandgrowsofatthatIcan’trollontomystomach.A
muscularimbalanceoftheeyesmakesmelookinoppositedirections,
and my mother refers to me affectionately as “tuna fish.” So far so
good.
1983NearlyfailkindergartenbecauseIrefusetolearnthealphabet.
MyteacherrefusestoexplainwhyIshouldlearnit,optinginsteadfor
“I’mtheteacher—that’s why.” I tellher that’sstupid and askher to
leavemealonesoIcanfocusondrawingsharks.Shesendsmetothe
“bad table” instead and makes me eat a bar of soap. Disdain for
authoritybegins.
1991Myfirstjob.Ah,thememories.I’mhiredforminimumwage
asthecleaneratanicecreamparlorandquicklyrealizethatthebig
boss’s methods duplicate effort. I do it my way, finish in one hour
instead of eight, and spend the rest of the time reading kung-fu
magazinesandpracticingkaratekicksoutside.Iamfiredinarecord
three days, left with the parting comment, “Maybe someday you’ll
understandthevalueofhardwork.”ItseemsIstilldon’t.
1993Ivolunteerforaone-yearexchangeprograminJapan,where
people work themselves to death—a phenomenon called karooshi—
andaresaidtowanttobeShintowhenborn,Christianwhenmarried,
and Buddhistwhen they die. I conclude that mostpeople are really
confusedaboutlife.Oneevening,intendingtoaskmyhostmotherto
wake me the next morning (okosu), I ask her to violently rape me
(okasu).Sheisveryconfused.
1996ImanagetoslipundetectedintoPrinceton,despiteSATscores
40%lowerthantheaverageandmyhighschooladmissionscounselor
telling me to be more “realistic.” I conclude I’m just not good at
reality.ImajorinneuroscienceandthenswitchtoEastAsianstudies
toavoidputtingprinterjacksoncatheads.
1997Millionairetime!IcreateanaudiobookcalledHowIBeatthe
IvyLeague,useallmymoneyfromthreesummerjobstomanufacture
500tapes,andproceedtosellexactlynone.Iwillallowmymotherto
throwthemoutonlyin2006,justnineyearsofdeniallater.Suchis
thejoyofbaselessoverconfidence.
1998Afterfourshot-putterskickafriend’sheadin,Iquitbouncing,
the highest-paying job on campus, and develop a speed-reading
seminar. I plaster campus with hundreds of god-awful neon green
flyers that read, “triple your reading speed in 3 hours!” and
prototypical Princeton students proceed to write“bullsh*t” onevery
singleone.Isell32spotsat$50eachforthe3-hourevent,and$533
per hour convinces me that finding a market before designing a
productis smarter thanthe reverse.Twomonths later, I’mboredto
tearsofspeed-readingandcloseupshop.Ihateservicesandneeda
producttoship.
Fall1998Ahugethesisdisputeandtheacutefearofbecomingan
investmentbanker drive me to commit academic suicide andinform
theregistrarthatIamquittingschooluntilfurthernotice.Mydadis
convinced thatI’ll never goback, and I’m convinced that my life is
over.Mymomthinksit’snobigdealandthatthereisnoneedtobea
dramaqueen.
Spring1999Inthreemonths,Iacceptandquitjobsasacurriculum
designer at Berlitz, the world’s largest publisher of foreign-language
materials,andasananalystatathree-personpoliticalasylumresearch
firm.Naturally,IthenflytoTaiwantocreateagymchainoutofthin
airandgetshutdownbyTriads,Chinesemafia.IreturntotheU.S.
defeated and decide to learn kickboxing, winning the national
championshipfourweekslaterwiththeugliestandmostunorthodox
styleeverwitnessed.
Fall 2000 Confidence restored and thesis completely undone, I
returntoPrinceton.Mylifedoesnotend,anditseemstheyearlong
delay has worked out in my favor. Twenty-somethings now have
David Koresh–like abilities. My friend sells a company for $450
million, and I decide to head west to sunny California to make my
billions.Despitethehottestjobmarketinthehistoryoftheworld,I
managetogojoblessuntilthreemonthsaftergraduation,whenIpull
outmytrumpcardandsendonestart-upCEO32consecutivee-mails.
Hefinallygivesinandputsmeinsales.
Spring2001TrueSANNetworkshasgonefroma15-personnobody
tothe“numberoneprivatelyhelddatastoragecompany”(howisthat
measured?) with 150 employees (what are they all doing?). I am
orderedbyanewlyappointedsalesdirectorto“startwithA”inthe
phone book and dial for dollars. I ask him in the most tactful way
possiblewhywearedoingitlikeretards.Hesays,“BecauseIsayso.”
Notagoodstart.
Fall 2001 After a year of 12-hour days, I find out that I’m the
second-lowest-paidpersoninthecompanyasidefromthereceptionist.
I resort to aggressively surfing the web full-time. One afternoon,
having run out of obscene video clips to forward, I investigate how
harditwouldbetostartasportsnutritioncompany.Turnsoutthat
youcanoutsourceeverythingfrommanufacturingtoaddesign.Two
weeksand$5,000ofcreditcarddebtlater,Ihavemyfirstbatchin
production and a live website. Good thing, too, as I’m fired exactly
oneweeklater.
2002–2003BrainQUICKENLLChastakenoff,andI’mnowmaking
more than $40K per month instead of $40K per year. The only
problemisthatIhatelifeandnowwork12-hour-plusdays7daysa
week. Kinda painted myself into a corner. I take a one-week
“vacation” to Florence, Italy, with my family and spend 10 hours a
day in an Internet café freaking out. Sh*t balls. I begin teaching
Princeton students how to build “successful” (i.e., profitable)
companies.
Winter 2004 The impossible happens and I’m approached by an
infomercial production company and an Israeli conglomerate (huh?)
interested in buying my baby BrainQUICKEN. I simplify, eliminate,
andotherwisecleanhousetomakemyselfexpendable.Miraculously,
BQdoesn’tfallapart,butbothdealsdo.BacktoGroundhogDay.Soon
thereafter,both companies attempt to replicate my product andlose
millionsofdollars.
June2004Idecidethat,evenifmycompanyimplodes,Ineedto
escapebeforeIgoHowardHughes.Iturneverythingupsidedownand
—backpackinhand—gotoJFKAirportinNewYorkCity,buyingthe
firstone-waytickettoEuropeIcanfind.IlandinLondonandintend
to continue on to Spain for four weeks of recharging my batteries
beforereturningtothesaltmines.Istartmyrelaxationbypromptly
havinganervousbreakdownthefirstmorning.
July 2004–2005 Four weeksturn intoeight, andI decide to stay
overseasindefinitelyforafinalexaminautomationandexperimental
living,limitinge-mailtoonehoureachMondaymorning.AssoonasI
removemyselfasabottleneck,profitsincrease40%.Whatonearthdo
youdowhenyounolongerhaveworkasanexcusetobehyperactive
andavoidthebigquestions?Beterrifiedandholdontoyourasswith
bothhands,apparently.
September2006IreturntotheU.S.inanodd,Zen-likestateafter
methodically destroying all of my assumptions about what can and
cannotbedone.“DrugDealingforFunandProfit”hasevolvedintoa
classonideallifestyledesign.Thenewmessageissimple:I’veseenthe
promisedland,andthereisgoodnews.Youcanhaveitall.
StepI:
DisforDefinition
Realityismerelyanillusion,
albeitaverypersistentone.
—ALBERTEINSTEIN
H
CautionsandComparisons
HOWTOBURN$1,000,000ANIGHT
Theseindividualshaverichesjustaswesaythatwe
“haveafever,”whenreallythefeverhasus.
—SENECA(4B.C.–A.D.65)
I also have in mind that seemingly wealthy, but
most terribly impoverished class of all, who have
accumulateddross, but know not how to use it, or
getridofit,andthushaveforgedtheirowngolden
orsilverfetters.
—HENRYDAVIDTHOREAU(1817–1862)
1:00A.M.CST/30,000FEETOVERLASVEGAS
isfriends,drunktothepointofspeakingintongues,wereasleep.
Itwasjustthetwoofusnowinfirst-class.Heextendedhishand
to introduce himself, and an enormous—Looney Tunes enormous—
diamondringappearedfromtheetherashisfingerscrossedundermy
readinglight.
Mark was a legitimate magnate. He had, at different times, run
practically all the gas stations, convenience stores, and gambling in
SouthCarolina.Heconfessedwithahalfsmilethat,inanaveragetrip
toSinCity,heandhisfellowweekendwarriorsmightloseanaverage
of$500,000to$1,000,000—each.Nice.
Hesatupinhisseatastheconversationdriftedtomytravels,butI
S
wasmoreinterestedinhisastoundingrecordofprintingmoney.
“So,ofallyourbusinesses,whichdidyoulikethemost?”
Theanswertooklessthanasecondofthought.
“Noneofthem.”
Heexplainedthathehadspentmorethan30yearswithpeoplehe
didn’tliketobuythingshedidn’tneed.Lifehadbecomeasuccession
oftrophywives—hewasonluckynumberthree—expensivecars,and
otheremptybraggingrights.Markwasoneofthelivingdead.
Thisisexactlywherewedon’twanttoendup.
ApplesandOranges:AComparison
o, what makes the difference? What separates the New Rich,
characterizedbyoptions,fromtheDeferrers(D),thosewhosaveit
allfortheendonlytofindthatlifehaspassedthemby?
Itbeginsatthebeginning.TheNewRichcanbeseparatedfromthe
crowdbasedontheirgoals,whichreflectverydistinctprioritiesand
lifephilosophies.
Note how subtle differences in wording completely change the
necessaryactionsforfulfillingwhatataglanceappeartobesimilar
goals.Thesearenotlimitedtobusinessowners.Eventhefirst,asIwill
showlater,appliestoemployees.
D: Toworkforyourself.
NR: Tohaveothersworkforyou.
D: Toworkwhenyouwantto.
NR:
Topreventworkforwork’ssake,andtodotheminimum
necessaryformaximumeffect(“minimumeffectiveload”).
D: Toretireearlyoryoung.
NR:
Todistributerecoveryperiodsandadventures(mini-retirements)
throughoutlifeonaregularbasisandrecognizethatinactivityis
notthegoal.Doingthatwhichexcitesyouis.
D: Tobuyallthethingsyouwanttohave.
NR:
Todoallthethingsyouwanttodo,andbeallthethingsyou
wanttobe.Ifthisincludessometoolsandgadgets,sobeit,but
theyareeithermeanstoanendorbonuses,notthefocus.
D: Tobethebossinsteadoftheemployee;tobeincharge.
NR:
Tobeneitherthebossnortheemployee,buttheowner.Toown
thetrainsandhavesomeoneelseensuretheyrunontime.
D: Tomakeatonofmoney.
NR:
Tomakeatonofmoneywithspecificreasonsanddefined
dreamstochase,timelinesandstepsincluded.Whatareyou
workingfor?
D: Tohavemore.
NR:
Tohavemorequalityandlessclutter.Tohavehugefinancial
reservesbutrecognizethatmostmaterialwantsarejustifications
forspendingtimeonthethingsthatdon’treallymatter,
includingbuyingthingsandpreparingtobuythings.Youspent
twoweeksnegotiatingyournewInfinitiwiththedealershipand
got$10,000off?That’sgreat.Doesyourlifehaveapurpose?Are
youcontributinganythingusefultothisworld,orjustshuffling
papers,bangingonakeyboard,andcominghometoadrunken
existenceontheweekends?
D:
Toreachthebigpay-off,whetherIPO,acquisition,retirement,or
otherpotofgold.
NR:
Tothinkbigbutensurepaydaycomeseveryday:cashflowfirst,
bigpaydaysecond.
D: Tohavefreedomfromdoingthatwhichyoudislike.
NR:
Tohavefreedomfromdoingthatwhichyoudislike,butalsothe
freedomandresolvetopursueyourdreamswithoutrevertingto
workforwork’ssake(W4W).Afteryearsofrepetitivework,you
willoftenneedtodighardtofindyourpassions,redefineyour
dreams,andrevivehobbiesthatyouletatrophytonear
extinction.Thegoalisnottosimplyeliminatethebad,which
doesnothingmorethanleaveyouwithavacuum,buttopursue
andexperiencethebestintheworld.
GettingOfftheWrongTrain
Thefirstprincipleisthatyoumustnotfoolyourself,
andyouaretheeasiestpersontofool.
—RICHARDP.FEYNMAN,NobelPrize–winningphysicist
nough is enough. Lemmings no more. The blind quest for cash is a
E
fool’serrand.
I’vecharteredprivateplanesovertheAndes,enjoyedmanyof
thebestwinesintheworldinbetweenworld-classskiruns,and
livedlikeaking,loungingbytheinfinitypoolofaprivatevilla.Here’s
thelittlesecretIrarelytell:ItallcostlessthanrentintheU.S.Ifyou
canfreeyourtimeandlocation,yourmoneyisautomaticallyworth3–
10timesasmuch.
This has nothing to do with currency rates. Being financially rich
andhavingtheabilitytolivelikeamillionairearefundamentallytwo
verydifferentthings.
Moneyismultipliedinpracticalvaluedependingonthenumberof
W’syoucontrolinyourlife:whatyoudo,whenyoudoit,whereyou
doit,andwithwhomyoudoit.Icallthisthe“freedommultiplier.”
Usingthisasourcriterion,the80-hour-per-week,$500,000-per-year
investment banker is less “powerful” than the employed NR who
works¼ the hoursfor$40,000,buthascompletefreedomof when,
where,andhowtolive.Theformer’s$500,000maybeworthlessthan
$40,000andthelatter’s$40,000worthmorethan$500,000whenwe
runthenumbersandlookatthelifestyleoutputoftheirmoney.
Options—theabilitytochoose—isrealpower.Thisbookisallabout
howtoseeandcreatethoseoptionswiththeleasteffortandcost.It
justsohappens,paradoxically,thatyoucanmakemoremoney—alot
moremoney—bydoinghalfofwhatyouaredoingnow.
So,WhoAretheNR?
Theemployeewhorearrangeshisscheduleand
negotiatesaremoteworkagreementtoachieve
90% of the results in one-tenth of the time,
whichfreeshimtopracticecross-countryskiing
and take road trips with his family two weeks
permonth.
The business owner who eliminates the least
profitablecustomersandprojects,outsourcesall
operations entirely, and travels the world
collecting rare documents, all while working
remotely on a website to showcase her own
illustrationwork.
The student who elects to risk it all—which is
nothing—to establish an online video rental
service that delivers $5,000 per month in
income from a small niche of Blu-ray
aficionados, a two-hour-per-week side project
thatallowshimtoworkfull-timeasananimal
rightslobbyist.
The options are limitless, but each path begins with the same first
step:replacingassumptions.
To join the movement, you will need to learn a new lexicon and
recalibrate direction using a compass for an unusual world. From
invertingresponsibilitytojettisoningtheentireconceptof“success,”
weneedtochangetherules.
NewPlayersforaNewGame:
GlobalandUnrestricted
TURIN,ITALY
Civilizationhadtoomanyrulesforme,soIdidmybesttorewrite
A
them.
—BILLCOSBY
sherotated360degreesthroughtheair,thedeafeningnoise
turned to silence. Dale Begg-Smith executed the backflip
perfectly—skis crossed in an X over his head—and landed in the
recordbooksasheslidacrossthefinish.
Itwas February 16,2006, andhewas now amogul-skiinggold
medalist at the Turin Winter Olympics. Unlike other full-time
athletes, he will never have to return to a dead-end job after his
momentofglory,norwillhelookbackatthisdayastheclimaxof
his only passion. After all, he was only 21 years old and drove a
blackLamborghini.
BornaCanadianandsomethingofalatebloomer,Dalefoundhis
calling,anInternet-basedITcompany,attheageof13.Fortunately,
hehadamore-experiencedmentorandpartnertoguidehim:his15-
year-old brother, Jason. Created to fund their dreams of standing
atop the Olympic podium,it would,only two years later, become
thethird-largestcompanyofitskindintheworld.
WhileDale’steammateswerehittingtheslopesforextrasessions,
hewasoftenbuyingsakeforclientsinTokyo.Inaworldof“work
harder, not smarter,” itcame topass that his coaches felt he was
spending too much time on his business and not enough time in
training,despitehisresults.
Ratherthanchoosebetweenhisbusinessorhisdream,Dalechose
tomovelaterallywithboth,fromeither/ortoboth/and.Hewasn’t
spending too much timeon hisbusiness; he and his brotherwere
spendingtoomuchtimewithCanucks.
In 2002, they moved to the ski capital of the world, Australia,
S
where the team was smaller, more flexible, and coached by a
legend.Threeshortyearslater,hereceivedcitizenship,wenthead-
to-headagainstformerteammates,andbecamethethird“Aussie”in
historytowinwintergold.
Inthelandofwallabiesandbigsurf,Dalehassincegonepostal.
Literally. Right next to the Elvis Presley commemorative edition,
youcanbuystampswithhisfaceonthem.
Famehasitsperks,asdoeslookingoutsidethechoicespresented
toyou.Therearealwayslateraloptions.
NEWCALEDOINA,SOUTHPACIFICOCEAN
Onceyousayyou’regoingtosettleforsecond,that’s
whathappenstoyouinlife.
—JOHNF.KENNEDY
omepeopleremainconvincedthatjustabitmoremoneywill
make things right. Their goals are arbitrary moving targets:
$300,000inthebank,$1,000,000intheportfolio,$100,000ayear
instead of $50,000, etc. Julie’s goal made intrinsic sense: come
backwiththesamenumberofchildrenshehadleftwith.
She reclined in her seat and glanced across the aisle past her
sleeping husband, Marc, counting as she had done thousands of
times—one,two,three.Sofarsogood.In12hours,theywouldall
bebackinParis,safeandsound.Thatwasassumingtheplanefrom
NewCaledoniaheldtogether,ofcourse.
NewCaledonia?
Nestled in the tropics of the Coral Sea, New Caledonia was a
FrenchterritoryandwhereJulieandMarchadjustsoldthesailboat
thattookthem15,000milesaroundtheworld.Ofcourse,recouping
theirinitialinvestmenthadbeenpartoftheplan.Allsaidanddone,
their 15-month exploration of the globe, from the gondola-rich
waterways of Venice to the tribal shores of Polynesia, had cost
between $18,000 and $19,000. Less than rent and baguettes in
Paris.
Most people would consider this impossible. Then again, most
peopledon’tknowthatmorethan300familiessetsailfromFrance
eachyeartodothesame.
Thetriphadbeenadreamforalmosttwodecades,relegatedto
thebackofthelinebehindanever-growinglistofresponsibilities.
Eachpassingmomentbroughtanewlistofreasonsforputtingitoff.
Oneday,Julierealizedthatifshedidn’tdoitnow,shewouldnever
doit.Therationalizations,legitimateornot,wouldjustcontinueto
add up and make it harder to convince herself that escape was
possible.
One year of preparation and one 30-day trial run with her
husbandlater,theysetsailonthetripofalifetime.Julierealized
almostassoonastheanchorliftedthat,farfrombeingareasonnot
totravelandseekadventure,childrenareperhapsthebestreasonof
alltodoboth.
Pre-trip,herthreelittleboyshadfoughtlikebansheesatthedrop
ofahat.Intheprocessoflearningtocoexistinafloatingbedroom,
theylearned patience,asmuchforthemselvesasforthesanityof
their parents. Pre-trip, books were about as appealing as eating
sand.Giventhealternativeofstaringatawallontheopensea,all
three learned to love books. Pulling them out of school for one
academicyearandexposingthemtonewenvironmentshadproven
tobethebestinvestmentintheireducationtodate.
Now sitting in the plane, Julie looked out at the clouds as the
wingcutpastthem,alreadythinkingoftheirnextplans:tofinda
placeinthemountainsandskiallyearlong,usingincomefroma
sail-riggingworkshoptofundtheslopesandmoretravel.
Nowthatshehaddoneitonce,shehadtheitch.
LIFESTYLEDESIGNINACTION
I was done with driving across town to collect my son from
child-careonlytoslideacrossicyhighwaystryingtogetbackto
work with him in tow to finish my work. My mini-retirement
broughtus both toliveatanalternativeboardingschool full of
creative lifestyle redesigning children and staff in a gorgeous
Floridaforestwithaspring-fedpondandplentyofsunshine.You
caneasilysearchforalternativeschoolsortraditionalschoolsthat
mightacceptyourchildrenduringyourstay.Alternativeschools
often see themselves as supportive communities and are
exceptionallywelcoming.Youmightevenfindanopportunityto
workataschoolwhereyoucouldexperienceanewenvironment
withyourchild.
—DEB
Tim,
Yourbookandbloghaveinspiredmetoquitmyjob,writetwo
e-books, sky dive, backpack through South America, sell all the
clutterinmylife,andhostanannualconventionoftheworld’s
top dating instructors (my primary business venture, third year
running).Thebestpart?Ican’tevenbuyadrinkyet.
Thankyousomuch,bro!
—ANTHONY
I
RulesThatChangetheRules
EVERYTHINGPOPULARISWRONG
Ican’tgiveyouasurefireformulaforsuccess,butI
can give you a formula for failure: try to please
everybodyallthetime.
—HERBERTBAYARDSWOPE,Americaneditorand
journalist;firstrecipientofthePulitzerPrize
Everythingpopulariswrong.
—OSCARWILDE,TheImportanceofBeingEarnest
BeatingtheGame,NotPlayingtheGame
n 1999, sometime after quitting my second unfulfilling job and
eatingpeanut-buttersandwichesforcomfort,Iwonthegoldmedal
attheChineseKickboxing(Sanshou)NationalChampionships.
Itwasn’tbecauseIwasgoodatpunchingandkicking.Godforbid.
Thatseemedabitdangerous,consideringIdiditonadareandhad
fourweeksofpreparation.Besides,Ihaveawatermelonhead—it’sa
bigtarget.
I won by reading the rules and looking for unexploited
opportunities,ofwhichthereweretwo:
1. Weigh-ins were the day prior to competition: Using
dehydrationtechniquescommonlypracticedbyelitepowerlifters
andOlympicwrestlers,Ilost28poundsin18hours,weighedin
at165pounds,andthenhyperhydratedbackto193pounds.
2
It’s
hardtofightsomeonefromthreeweightclassesaboveyou.Poor
littleguys.
2.Therewasatechnicalityinthefineprint:Ifonecombatant
fell off the elevated platform three times in a single round, his
opponentwonbydefault.Idecidedtousethistechnicalityasmy
principaltechniqueand push peopleoff. As youmight imagine,
thisdidnotmakethejudgesthehappiestChineseI’veeverseen.
Theresult?Iwonallofmymatchesbytechnicalknock-out(TKO)
andwenthomenationalchampion,something99%ofthosewith5–10
yearsofexperiencehadbeenunabletodo.
But,isn’tpushingpeopleoutoftheringpushingtheboundariesof
ethics?Notatall—it’snomorethandoingtheuncommonwithinthe
rules.Theimportantdistinctionisthatbetweenofficialrulesandself-
imposed rules. Consider the following example, from the official
websiteoftheOlympicmovement(www.olympic.org).
The1968MexicoCity Olympics markedthe international debut
ofDickFosburyandhiscelebrated“Fosburyflop,”whichwould
soon revolutionize high-jumping. At the time, jumpers… swung
theiroutsidefootupandoverthebar[calledthe“straddle,”much
likeahurdlejump,itallowedyoutolandonyourfeet].Fosbury’s
techniquebeganbyracinguptothebaratgreatspeedandtaking
offfromhisright(oroutside)foot.Thenhetwistedhisbodyso
that he went over the bar head-first with his back to the bar.
Whilethecoachesoftheworldshooktheirheadsindisbelief,the
MexicoCityaudiencewas absolutely captivated byFosbury and
shouted, “Olé!” as he cleared the bar. Fosbury cleared every
heightthrough2.22metreswithouta miss and then achieved a
personalrecordof2.24metrestowinthegoldmedal.
By1980,13ofthe16OlympicfinalistswereusingtheFosbury
flop.
Theweight-cuttingtechniquesandoff-platformthrowingIusedare
M
nowstandardfeaturesofSanshoucompetition.Ididn’tcauseit,Ijust
foresaw it as inevitable, as did others who tested this superior
approach.Nowit’sparforthecourse.
Sportsevolvewhensacredcowsarekilled,whenbasicassumptions
aretested.
Thesameistrueinlifeandinlifestyles.
ChallengingtheStatusQuovs.BeingStupid
ostpeoplewalkdownthestreetontheirlegs.DoesthatmeanI
walk downthe street on my hands? Do Iwear my underwear
outsideofmypantsinthenameofbeingdifferent?Notusually,no.
Thenagain,walkingonmylegsandkeepingmythongontheinside
haveworkedjustfinethusfar.Idon’tfixitifitisn’tbroken.
Differentisbetterwhenitismoreeffectiveormorefun.
If everyone is defining a problem or solving it one way and the
resultsaresubpar,thisisthetimetoask,WhatifIdidtheopposite?
Don’tfollowamodelthatdoesn’twork.Iftherecipesucks,itdoesn’t
matterhowgoodacookyouare.
When I was in data storage sales, my first gig out of college, I
realizedthatmostcoldcallsdidn’tgettotheintendedpersonforone
reason:gatekeepers.IfIsimplymadeallmycallsfrom8:00–8:30A.M.
and 6:00–6:30 P.M., for a total of one hour, I was able to avoid
secretariesandbookmorethantwiceasmanymeetingsasthesenior
salesexecutiveswhocalledfrom9–5.Inotherwords,Igottwicethe
resultsfor1/8thetime.
From Japan to Monaco, from globetrotting single mothers to
multimillionaireracecardrivers,thebasicrulesofsuccessful NR are
surprisinglyuniformandpredictablydivergentfromwhattherestof
theworldisdoing.
The following rules arethe fundamentaldifferentiators tokeep in
mindthroughoutthisbook.
1.RetirementIsWorst-Case-ScenarioInsurance.
Retirementplanningislikelifeinsurance.Itshouldbeviewedas
nothing more than a hedge against the absolute worst-case
scenario:inthiscase,becomingphysicallyincapableof working
andneedingareservoirofcapitaltosurvive.
Retirementasagoalorfinalredemptionisflawedforatleast
threesolidreasons:
a. Itispredicatedontheassumptionthatyoudislikewhatyou
are doing during the most physically capable years of your
life.Thisisanonstarter—nothingcanjustifythatsacrifice.
b. Mostpeoplewillneverbeabletoretireandmaintainevena
hotdogs-for-dinner standard of living. Even one million is
chumpchangeinaworldwheretraditionalretirementcould
span30yearsandinflationlowersyourpurchasingpower2–
4% per year. The math doesn’t work.
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The golden years
becomelower-middle-classliferevisited.That’sabittersweet
ending.
c. Ifthemathdoeswork,itmeansthatyouareoneambitious,
hardworking machine. If that’s the case, guess what? One
week into retirement, you’ll be so damn bored that you’ll
wanttostickbicyclespokesinyoureyes.You’llprobablyopt
tolookforanewjoborstartanothercompany.Kindadefeats
thepurposeofwaiting,doesn’tit?
I’mnotsayingdon’tplanfortheworstcase—Ihavemaxedout
401(k)s and IRAs I use primarily for tax purposes—but don’t
mistakeretirementforthegoal.
2.InterestandEnergyAreCyclical.
IfIofferedyou$10,000,000towork24hoursadayfor15years
andthenretire,wouldyoudoit?Ofcoursenot—youcouldn’t.It
isunsustainable,justaswhatmostdefineasacareer:doingthe
samethingfor8+hoursperdayuntilyoubreakdownorhave
enoughcashtopermanentlystop.
How else can my 30-year-old friends all look like a cross
between Donald Trump and Joan Rivers? It’s horrendous—
premature aging fueled by triple bypass frappuccinos and
impossibleworkloads.
Alternatingperiodsofactivityandrestisnecessarytosurvive,
letalonethrive.Capacity,interest,andmentalenduranceallwax
andwane.Planaccordingly.
The NR aims to distribute “mini-retirements” throughout life
insteadofhoardingtherecoveryandenjoymentforthefool’sgold
ofretirement.Byworkingonlywhenyouaremosteffective,lifeis
both more productive and more enjoyable. It’s the perfect
exampleofhavingyourcakeandeatingit,too.
Personally,Inowaimforonemonthofoverseasrelocationor
high-intensitylearning(tango,fighting,whatever)foreverytwo
monthsofworkprojects.
3.LessIsNotLaziness.
Doinglessmeaninglesswork,sothatyoucanfocusonthingsof
greater personal importance, is NOT laziness. This is hard for
most to accept, because our culture tends to reward personal
sacrificeinsteadofpersonalproductivity.
Few people choose to (or are able to) measure the results of
their actions and thus measure their contribution in time. More
timeequalsmoreself-worthandmorereinforcementfromthose
above and around them. The NR, despite fewer hours in the
office,producemoremeaningfulresultsthanthenextdozennon-
NRcombined.
Let’s define “laziness” anew—toendure anon-ideal existence,
to let circumstance or others decide life for you, or to amass a
fortunewhilepassingthroughlifelikeaspectatorfromanoffice
window.Thesizeofyourbankaccountdoesn’tchangethis,nor
doesthenumberofhoursyouloginhandlingunimportante-mail
orminutiae.
Focusonbeingproductiveinsteadofbusy.
4.TheTimingIsNeverRight.
I once asked my mom how she decided when to have her first
child,littleol’me.Theanswerwassimple:“Itwassomethingwe
wanted,andwedecidedtherewasnopointinputtingitoff.The
timingisneverrighttohaveababy.”Andsoitis.
Forallofthemostimportantthings,thetimingalwayssucks.
Waiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never
align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the
same time. The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it
doesn’tgooutofitswaytolineupallthepinseither.Conditions
are never perfect. “Someday” is a disease that will take your
dreamstothegravewithyou.Proandconlistsarejustasbad.If
it’simportanttoyouandyouwanttodoit“eventually,”justdoit
andcorrectcoursealongtheway.
5.AskforForgiveness,NotPermission.
If it isn’t going to devastate those around you, try it and then
justify it. People—whether parents, partners, or bosses—deny
thingsonanemotionalbasis that they canlearn to accept after
the fact. If the potential damage is moderate or in any way
reversible, don’t give people the chance to say no. Most people
arefasttostopyoubeforeyougetstartedbuthesitanttogetin
thewayifyou’removing.Getgoodatbeingatroublemakerand
sayingsorrywhenyoureallyscrewup.
6.EmphasizeStrengths,Don’tFixWeaknesses.
Mostpeoplearegoodatahandfulofthingsandutterlymiserable
atmost.Iamgreatatproductcreationandmarketingbutterrible
atmostofthethingsthatfollow.
Mybodyisdesignedtoliftheavyobjectsandthrowthem,and
that’s it. I ignored this for a long time. I tried swimming and
lookedlikeadrowningmonkey.Itriedbasketballandlookedlike
acaveman.ThenIbecameafighterandtookoff.
It is far more lucrative and fun to leverage your strengths
instead of attempting to fix all the chinks in your armor. The
choice is between multiplication of results using strengths or
incremental improvement fixing weaknesses that will, at best,
become mediocre. Focus on better use of your best weapons
insteadofconstantrepair.
7.ThingsinExcessBecomeTheirOpposite.
Itis possibletohavetoomuchofa goodthing.Inexcess,most
endeavors and possessions take on the characteristics of their
opposite.Thus:
Pacifistsbecomemilitants.
Freedomfightersbecometyrants.
Blessingsbecomecurses.
Helpbecomeshindrance.Morebecomesless.
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Too much, too many,and toooften of what you wantbecomes
whatyou don’t want.Thisistrueofpossessionsandeven time.
LifestyleDesignisthusnotinterestedincreatinganexcessofidle
time, which is poisonous, but the positive use of free time,
definedsimplyasdoingwhatyouwantasopposedtowhatyou
feelobligatedtodo.
8.MoneyAloneIsNottheSolution.
Thereismuchtobesaidforthepowerofmoneyascurrency(I’m
afanmyself),butaddingmoreofitjustisn’ttheanswerasoften
as we’d like to think. In part, it’s laziness. “If only I had more
money” is the easiest way to postpone the intense self-
examination and decision-making necessary to create a life of
enjoyment—nowandnotlater.Byusingmoneyasthescapegoat
and work as our all-consuming routine, we are able to
convenientlydisallowourselvesthetimetodootherwise:“John,
I’d love to talk about the gaping void I feel in my life, the
hopelessnessthathitsmelikeapunchintheeyeeverytimeIstart
mycomputerinthemorning,butIhavesomuchworktodo!I’ve
gotatleastthreehoursofunimportante-mailtoreplytobefore
callingtheprospectswhosaid‘no’yesterday.Gottarun!”
Busyyourselfwiththeroutineofthemoneywheel,pretendit’s
the fix-all, and you artfully create a constant distraction that
preventsyoufromseeingjusthowpointlessitis.Deepdown,you
know it’s all an illusion, but with everyone participating in the
samegameofmake-believe,it’seasytoforget.
Theproblemismorethanmoney.
9.RelativeIncomeIsMoreImportantThanAbsoluteIncome.
Amongdietitiansandnutritionists,thereissomedebateoverthe
valueofacalorie.Isacalorieacalorie,muchlikearoseisarose?
Isfatlossassimpleasexpendingmorecaloriesthanyouconsume,
oristhesourceofthosecaloriesimportant?Basedonworkwith
topathletes,Iknowtheanswertobethelatter.
Whataboutincome?Isadollarisadollarisadollar?TheNew
Richdon’tthinkso.
Let’s look at this like a fifth-grade math problem. Two
hardworkingchapsareheadedtowardeachother.ChapAmoving
at80hoursperweekandChapBmovingat10hoursperweek.
Theybothmake$50,000peryear.Whowillbericherwhenthey
pass in the middle of the night? If you said B, you would be
correct,andthisisthedifferencebetweenabsoluteandrelative
income.
Absolute income is measured using one holy and inalterable
variable:therawandalmightydollar.JaneDoemakes$100,000
per year and is thus twice as rich as John Doe, who makes
$50,000peryear.
Relativeincomeusestwovariables:thedollarandtime,usually
hours. The whole “per year” concept is arbitrary and makes it
easytotrickyourself.Let’slookattherealtrade.JaneDoemakes
$100,000 per year, $2,000 for each of 50 weeks per year, and
works 80 hours per week. Jane Doe thus makes $25 per hour.
JohnDoemakes$50,000peryear,$1,000foreachof50weeks
peryear,butworks10hoursperweekandhencemakes$100per
hour.Inrelativeincome,Johnisfourtimesricher.
Of course, relative income has to add up to the minimum
amountnecessarytoactualizeyourgoals.IfImake$100perhour
butonlyworkonehourperweek,it’sgoingtobehardformeto
run amuck like a superstar. Assuming that the total absolute
incomeiswhereitneedstobetolivemydreams(notanarbitrary
pointofcomparisonwiththeJoneses),relativeincomeisthereal
measurementofwealthfortheNewRich.
The top New Rich mavericks make at least $5,000 per hour.
Out of college, I started at about $5. I’ll get you closer to the
former.
10.DistressIsBad,EustressIsGood.
Unbeknownst to most fun-loving bipeds, not all stress is bad.
Indeed,theNewRichdon’taimtoeliminateallstress.Notinthe
least.Therearetwoseparatetypesofstress,eachasdifferentas
euphoriaanditsseldom-mentionedopposite,dysphoria.
Distress refers to harmful stimuli that make you weaker, less
confident,andlessable.Destructivecriticism,abusivebosses,and
smashing your face on a curb are examples of this. These are
thingswewanttoavoid.
Eustress, on the other hand, is a word most of you have
probablyneverheard.Eu-,aGreekprefixfor“healthy,”isusedin
thesamesenseintheword“euphoria.”Rolemodelswhopushus
to exceed our limits, physical training that removes our spare
tires,andrisksthatexpandoursphereofcomfortableactionare
allexamplesofeustress—stressthatishealthfulandthestimulus
forgrowth.
Peoplewhoavoidallcriticismfail.It’sdestructivecriticismwe
need to avoid, not criticism in all forms. Similarly, there is no
progresswithouteustress,andthemoreeustresswecancreateor
applytoourlives,thesoonerwecanactualizeourdreams.The
trickistellingthetwoapart.
TheNewRichareequallyaggressiveinremovingdistressand
findingeustress.
Q&A:QUESTIONSANDACTIONS
1. Howhasbeing“realistic”or“responsible”keptyoufromthelife
youwant?
2. Howhasdoingwhatyou“should”resultedinsubparexperiences
orregretfornothavingdonesomethingelse?
3. Look at what you’re currently doing and ask yourself, “What
would happen if I did the opposite of the people around me?
What will Isacrifice ifI continueon this trackfor 5,10, or20
years?”
2. Most people will assume this type of weight manipulation is
impossible, so I’ve provided sample photographs at
www.fourhourblog.com.DoNOT trythis athome.I did itallunder
medicalsupervision.
3.“LivingWell”(Barron’s,March20,2006,SuzanneMcGee).
4. Goldian VandenBroeck, ed. From Less Is More: An Anthology of
Ancient and Modern Voices Raised in Praise of Simplicity (Inner
Traditions,1996).
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DodgingBullets
FEAR-SETTINGANDESCAPINGPARALYSIS
Manyafalsestepwasmadebystandingstill.
—FORTUNECOOKIE
Namedmustyourfearbebeforebanishityoucan.
—YODA,fromStarWars:TheEmpireStrikesBack
RIODEJANEIRO,BRAZIL
wentyfeetandclosing.
“Run!Ruuuuuuuuuun!”Hansdidn’tspeakPortuguese,butthe
meaningwasclearenough—haulass.Hissneakersgrippedfirmlyon
thejaggedrock,andhedrovehischestforwardtoward3,000feetof
nothing.
Heheldhisbreathonthefinalstep,andthepanicdrovehimtonear
unconsciousness. His vision blurred at the edges, closing to a single
pinpointoflight,andthen…hefloated.Theall-consumingcelestial
blueofthehorizonhithisvisualfieldaninstantafterherealizedthat
thethermalupdrafthadcaughthimandthewingsoftheparaglider.
Fearwasbehindhimonthemountaintop,andthousandsoffeetabove
the resplendent green rain forest and pristine white beaches of
Copacabana,HansKeelinghadseenthelight.
ThatwasSunday.
On Monday, Hans returned to his law office in Century City, Los
Angeles’s posh corporate haven, and promptly handed in his three-
weeknotice.Fornearlyfiveyears,hehadfacedhisalarmclockwith
the same dread: I have to do this for another 40–45 years? He had
once slept under his desk at the office after a punishing half-done
project,only towake upand continue onit thenext morning. That
samemorning,hehadmadehimselfapromise:twomoretimesand
I’moutofhere.Strikenumberthreecamethedaybeforeheleftfor
hisBrazilianvacation.
We all make these promises to ourselves, and Hans had done it
before as well, but things were now somehow different. He was
different. He had realized something while arcing in slow circles
toward the earth—risks weren’t that scary once you took them. His
colleaguestoldhimwhatheexpectedtohear:Hewasthrowingitall
away.Hewasanattorneyonhiswaytothetop—whatthehelldidhe
want?
Hansdidn’tknowexactlywhathewanted,buthehadtastedit.On
the other hand, he did know what bored him to tears, and he was
done with it. No more passing days as the living dead, no more
dinnerswherehiscolleaguescomparedcars,ridingonthesugarhigh
of a new BMW purchase until someone bought a more expensive
Mercedes.Itwasover.
Immediately,astrangeshiftbegan—Hansfelt,forthefirsttimeina
long time, at peace with himself and what he was doing. He had
alwaysbeenterrifiedofplaneturbulence,asifhemightdiewiththe
best inside of him, but now he could fly through a violent storm
sleepinglikeababy.Strangeindeed.
More than a year later, he was still getting unsolicited job offers
fromlawfirms,butbythenhadstartedNexusSurf,
5
apremiersurf-
adventure company based in the tropical paradise of Florianopolis,
Brazil.Hehadmethisdreamgirl,aCariocawithcaramel-coloredskin
namedTatiana,andspentmostofhistimerelaxingunderpalmtrees
ortreatingclientstothebesttimesoftheirlives.
Isthiswhathehadbeensoafraidof?
These days, he often sees his former self in the underjoyed and
overworkedprofessionalshetakesoutonthewaves.Waitingforthe
swell,thetrueemotionscomeout:“God,IwishIcoulddowhatyou
do.”Hisreplyisalwaysthesame:“Youcan.”
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Thesettingsunreflectsoffthesurfaceofthewater,providingaZen-
likesettingforamessageheknowsistrue:It’snotgivinguptoput
yourcurrentpathonindefinitepause.Hecouldpickuphislawcareer
exactlywhereheleftoffifhewantedto,butthatisthefurthestthing
fromhismind.
Astheypaddlebacktoshoreafteranawesomesession,hisclients
getaholdofthemselvesandregaintheircomposure.Theysetfooton
shore,andrealitysinksitsfangsin:“Iwould,butIcan’treallythrow
itallaway.”
Hehastolaugh.
ThePowerofPessimism:Definingthe
Nightmare
Actionmaynotalwaysbringhappiness,butthereis
nohappinesswithoutaction.
—BENJAMINDISRAELI,formerBritishPrimeMinister
odoornottodo?Totryornottotry?Mostpeoplewillvoteno,
whethertheyconsiderthemselves brave ornot. Uncertainty and
theprospectoffailurecanbeveryscarynoisesintheshadows.Most
people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty. For years, I set
goals, made resolutions to change direction, and nothing came of
either.Iwasjustasinsecureandscaredastherestoftheworld.
Thesimplesolutioncametomeaccidentallyfouryearsago.Atthat
time,IhadmoremoneythanIknewwhattodowith—Iwasmaking
$70Korsopermonth—andIwascompletelymiserable,worse than
ever.Ihadnotimeandwasworkingmyselftodeath.Ihadstartedmy
own company, only to realize it would be nearly impossible to
sell.
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Oops.Ifelttrappedandstupidatthesametime.Ishouldbeable
to figure this out, I thought. Why am I such an idiot? Why can’t I
makethiswork?!Buckleupandstopbeingsucha(insertexpletive)!
What’swrongwithme?Thetruthwas,nothingwaswrongwithme.I
hadn’treachedmylimit;I’dreachedthelimitofmybusinessmodelat
thetime.Itwasn’tthedriver,itwasthevehicle.
Critical mistakesin its infancy would never let me sell it. Icould
hiremagicelvesandconnectmybraintoasupercomputer—itdidn’t
matter. My little baby had some serious birth defects. The question
then became, How do I free myself from this Frankenstein while
makingitself-sustaining?HowdoIprymyselffromthetentaclesof
workaholismandthefearthatitwouldfalltopieceswithoutmy15-
hourdays?HowdoIescapethisself-madeprison?Atrip,Idecided.A
sabbaticalyeararoundtheworld.
SoItookthetrip,right?Well,I’llgettothat.First,Ifeltitprudent
to dance around with my shame, embarrassment, and anger for six
months,allthewhileplayinganendlessloopofreasonswhymycop-
outfantasytripcouldneverwork.Oneofmymoreproductiveperiods,
forsure.
Then, one day, in my bliss of envisioning how bad my future
suffering would be, I hit upon a gem of an idea. It was surely a
highlight of my “don’t happy, be worry” phase: Why don’t I decide
exactly what my nightmare would be—the worst thing that could
possiblyhappenasaresultofmytrip?
Well,mybusinesscouldfailwhileI’moverseas,forsure.Probably
would. A legal warning letter would accidentally not get forwarded
andIwouldgetsued.Mybusinesswouldbeshutdown,andinventory
wouldspoilontheshelveswhileI’mpickingmytoesinsolitarymisery
onsomecoldshoreinIreland.Cryingintherain,Iimagine.Mybank
accountwouldcraterby80%andcertainlymycarandmotorcyclein
storage would be stolen.I supposesomeone wouldprobably spiton
myheadfromahigh-risebalconywhileI’mfeedingfoodscrapstoa
straydog,whichwouldthenspookandbitemesquarelyontheface.
God,lifeisacruel,hardbitch.
ConqueringFear=DefiningFear
Set aside a certain number of days, during which
youshallbecontentwiththescantiestandcheapest
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fare,withcourseandroughdress,sayingtoyourself
thewhile:“IsthistheconditionthatIfeared?”
—SENECA
henafunnythinghappened.Inmyundyingquesttomakemyself
miserable, I accidentally began to backpedal. As soon as I cut
through the vague unease and ambiguous anxiety by defining my
nightmare,theworst-casescenario,Iwasn’tasworriedabouttakinga
trip. Suddenly, I started thinking of simple steps I could take to
salvagemyremainingresourcesandgetbackontrackifallhellstruck
at once. I could always take a temporary bartendingjob to pay the
rentifIhadto.Icouldsellsomefurnitureandcutbackoneatingout.
Icouldsteallunchmoneyfromthekindergartenerswhopassedbymy
apartment every morning. The options were many. I realized it
wouldn’tbethathardtogetbackto whereIwas,letalonesurvive.
None of these things would be fatal—not even close. Mere panty
pinchesonthejourneyoflife.
I realized that on a scale of 1–10, 1 being nothing and 10 being
permanently life-changing, my so-called worst-case scenario might
haveatemporaryimpactof3or4.Ibelievethisistrueofmostpeople
andmostwould-be“holysh*t,mylifeisover”disasters.Keepinmind
thatthisistheone-in-a-milliondisasternightmare.Ontheotherhand,
ifIrealizedmybest-casescenario,orevenaprobable-casescenario,it
wouldeasilyhaveapermanent9or10positivelife-changingeffect.
Inotherwords,Iwasriskinganunlikelyandtemporary3or4fora
probable and permanent 9 or 10, and I could easily recover my
baselineworkaholicprisonwithabitofextraworkifIwantedto.This
allequatedtoasignificantrealization:Therewaspracticallynorisk,
only huge life-changing upside potential, and I could resume my
previous course without any more effort than I was already putting
forth.
ThatiswhenImadethedecisiontotakethetripandboughtaone-
way ticket to Europe. I started planning my adventures and
eliminating my physical and psychological baggage. None of my
disasterscame to pass,andmy lifehasbeen anear fairytale since.
Thebusinessdidbetterthanever,andIpracticallyforgotaboutitasit
F
financedmytravelsaroundtheworldinstylefor15months.
UncoveringFearDisguisedasOptimism
There’snodifferencebetweenapessimistwhosays,
“Oh,it’shopeless,sodon’tbotherdoinganything,”
and an optimist who says, “Don’t bother doing
anything,it’sgoingtoturnoutfineanyway.”Either
way,nothinghappens.
—YVONCHOUINARD,
7
founderofPatagonia
earcomesinmanyforms,andweusuallydon’tcallitbyitsfour-
letter name. Fear itself is quite fear-inducing. Most intelligent
peoplein theworld dressit up as somethingelse: optimisticdenial.
Most who avoid quitting their jobs entertain the thought that their
coursewillimprovewithtimeorincreasesinincome.Thisseemsvalid
and isa tempting hallucination when a job isboring or uninspiring
insteadofpurehell.Purehellforcesaction,butanythinglesscanbe
enduredwithenoughcleverrationalization.
Doyoureallythinkitwillimproveorisitwishfulthinkingandan
excuseforinaction?Ifyouwereconfidentinimprovement,wouldyou
really be questioning things so? Generally not. This is fear of the
unknowndisguisedasoptimism.
Areyoubetteroffthanyouwereoneyearago,onemonthago,or
oneweekago?
If not, things will not improve by themselves. If you are kidding
yourself, it is time to stop and plan for a jump. Barring any James
Dean ending, your life is going to be LONG. Nine to five for your
workinglifetimeof40–50yearsisalong-asstimeiftherescuedoesn’t
come.About500monthsofsolidwork.
Howmanydoyouhavetogo?It’sprobablytimetocutyourlosses.
S
SomeoneCalltheMaîtreD’
Youhavecomfort.Youdon’thaveluxury.Anddon’t
tell me that money plays a part. The luxury I
advocatehasnothingtodowithmoney.Itcannotbe
bought.Itistherewardofthosewhohavenofearof
discomfort.
—JEANCOCTEAU,Frenchpoet,novelist,boxing
manager,andfilmmaker,whosecollaborationswere
theinspirationfortheterm“surrealism”
ometimestimingisperfect.Therearehundredsofcarscircling
aparkinglot,andsomeonepullsoutofaspot10feetfromthe
entrance justas you reach his or her bumper. Another Christmas
miracle!
Othertimes,thetimingcouldbebetter.Thephoneringsduring
sex andseems to ringfor a half hour. The UPS guy shows up 10
minuteslater.Badtimingcanspoilthefun.
Jean-MarcHacheylandedinWestAfricaasavolunteer,withhigh
hopesoflendingahelpinghand.Inthatsense,histimingwasgreat.
He arrived in Ghana in the early 1980s, in the middle of a coup
d’état,atthepeakofhyperinflation,andjustintimefortheworst
drought in a decade. For these same reasons, some people would
consider his timing quite poor from a more selfish survival
standpoint.
Hehadalsomissedthememo.Thenationalmenuhadchanged,
andtheywereoutofluxurieslikebreadandcleanwater.Hewould
besurvivingforfourmonthsonaslushlikeconcoctionofcornmeal
andspinach.Notwhatmostofuswouldorderatthemovietheater.
J
I
“WOW,ICANSURVIVE.”
ean-Marc had passed the point ofno return,but it didn’t matter.
Aftertwoweeksofadjustingtothebreakfast,lunch,anddinner
(MushàlaGhana),hehadnodesiretoescape.Themostbasic
offoodsandgoodfriendsprovedtobetheonlyrealnecessities,
andwhatwouldseemlikeadisasterfromtheoutsidewasthemost
life-affirming epiphany he’d ever experienced: The worst really
wasn’tthatbad.Toenjoylife,youdon’tneedfancynonsense,but
youdoneedtocontrolyourtimeandrealizethatmostthingsjust
aren’tasseriousasyoumakethemouttobe.
Now48,Jean-MarclivesinanicehomeinOntario,butcouldlive
withoutit.Hehascash,butcouldfallintopovertytomorrowandit
wouldn’tmatter.Someofhisfondestmemoriesstillincludenothing
butfriendsandgruel.Heisdedicatedtocreatingspecialmoments
for himself and his family and is utterly unconcerned with
retirement. He’s already lived 20 years of partial retirement in
perfecthealth.
Don’tsaveitallfortheend.Thereiseveryreasonnotto.
Q&A:QUESTIONSANDACTIONS
I am an old man and have known a great many
troubles,butmostofthemneverhappened.
—MARKTWAIN
fyouarenervousabout making the jump or simply putting it off
outoffearoftheunknown,hereisyourantidote.Writedownyour
answers,andkeepinmindthatthinkingalotwillnotproveasfruitful
orasprolificassimplybrainvomitingonthepage.Writeanddonot
edit—aimforvolume.Spendafewminutesoneachanswer.
1. Defineyournightmare,theabsoluteworstthatcouldhappen
if you did what you are considering. What doubt, fears, and
“what-ifs” pop up as you consider the big changes you can—or
need—tomake?Envisiontheminpainstakingdetail.Woulditbe
theendofyourlife?Whatwouldbethepermanentimpact,ifany,
onascaleof1–10?Arethesethingsreallypermanent?Howlikely
doyouthinkitisthattheywouldactuallyhappen?
2. Whatstepscouldyoutaketorepairthedamageorgetthings
back on the upswing, even if temporarily? Chances are, it’s
easier than you imagine. How could you get things back under
control?
3. What are the outcomes or benefits, both temporary and
permanent, of more probable scenarios? Now that you’ve
defined the nightmare, what are the more probable or definite
positiveoutcomes,whetherinternal(confidence,self-esteem,etc.)
or external? What would the impact of these more-likely
outcomesbeonascaleof1–10?Howlikelyisitthatyoucould
produceatleastamoderatelygoodoutcome?Havelessintelligent
peopledonethisbeforeandpulleditoff?
4. Ifyouwerefiredfromyourjobtoday,whatwouldyoudoto
get things under financialcontrol? Imagine this scenario and
run through questions 1–3 above. If you quit your job to test
otheroptions, how couldyoulatergetbackonthesamecareer
trackifyouabsolutelyhadto?
5. What are youputting off outof fear? Usually, what we most
fear doing is what we most need to do. That phone call, that
conversation,whatevertheactionmightbe—itisfearofunknown
outcomesthatpreventsusfromdoingwhatweneedtodo.Define
the worst case, accept it, and do it. I’ll repeat something you
might consider tattooing on your forehead: What we fear doing
most is usuallywhat we most need todo. AsI have heard said, a
person’ssuccessinlifecanusuallybemeasuredbythenumberof
uncomfortableconversationsheorsheiswillingtohave.Resolve
todoonethingeverydaythatyoufear.Igotintothishabitby
attempting to contact celebrities and famous businesspeople for
advice.
6. What is it costing you—financially, emotionally, and
physically—to postpone action? Don’t only evaluate the
potentialdownside of action. It is equally important to measure
the atrocious cost of inaction. If you don’t pursue those things
thatexciteyou,wherewillyoubeinoneyear,fiveyears,andten
years?Howwillyoufeelhavingallowedcircumstancetoimpose
itselfuponyouandhavingallowedtenmoreyearsofyourfinite
life to pass doing what you know will not fulfill you? If you
telescopeout10yearsandknowwith100%certaintythatitisa
pathofdisappointmentandregret,andifwedefineriskas“the
likelihood of an irreversible negative outcome,” inaction is the
greatestriskofall.
7. What are you waiting for? If you cannot answer this without
resorting to the previously rejected concept of good timing, the
answer is simple: You’re afraid, just like the rest of the world.
Measure the cost of inaction, realize the unlikelihood and re-
pairability of most missteps, and develop the most important
habitofthosewhoexcelandenjoydoingso:action.
5.www.nexussurf.com
6.Thisturnedouttobeyetanotherself-imposedlimitationandfalse
construct. BrainQUICKEN was acquired by a private equity firm in
2009.Theprocessisdescribedonwww.fourhourblog.com.
7. http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?
content_item_id=5307&folder_id=1545.
I
SystemReset
BEINGUNREASONABLEANDUNAMBIGUOUS
“Wouldyoutellme,please,whichwayIoughttogo
fromhere?”
“Thatdependsagooddealonwhereyouwantto
getto,”saidtheCat.
“Idon’tmuchcarewhere…”saidAlice.
“Thenitdoesn’tmatterwhichwayyougo,”said
theCat.
—LEWISCARROLL,AliceinWonderland
Thereasonablemanadaptshimselftotheworld;the
unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the
worldtohimself.Thereforeallprogressdependson
theunreasonableman.
—GEORGEBERNARDSHAW,MaximsforRevolutionists
SPRING2005/PRINCETON,NEWJERSEY
hadtobribethem.WhatotherchoicedidIhave?
Theyformedacirclearoundme,and,whilethenamesdiffered,
thequestionwasoneandthesame:“What’sthechallenge?”Alleyes
wereonme.
MylectureatPrincetonUniversityhadjustendedwithexcitement
andenthusiasm.Atthesametime,Iknewthatmoststudentswouldgo
outandpromptlydothe oppositeofwhatIpreached.Mostofthem
wouldbeputtingin80-hourweeksashigh-paidcoffeefetchersunless
Ishowedthattheprinciplesfromclasscouldactuallybeapplied.
Hencethechallenge.
Iwasofferingaround-tripticketanywhereintheworldtoanyone
whocouldcompleteanundefined“challenge”inthemostimpressive
fashionpossible.Resultsplusstyle.Itoldthemtomeetmeafterclass
ifinterested,andheretheywere,nearly20outof60students.
The task was designed to test their comfort zones while forcing
themtousesomeofthetacticsIteach.Itwassimplicityitself:Contact
three seemingly impossible-to-reach people—J.Lo, Bill Clinton, J. D.
Salinger,Idon’tcare—andgetatleastonetoreplytothreequestions.
Of20students,allfrothingatthemouthtowinafreespinacross
theglobe,howmanycompletedthechallenge?
Exactly…none.Notaone.
Thereweremanyexcuses:“It’snotthateasytogetsomeoneto…”
“Ihaveabigpaperdue,and…”“Iwouldloveto,butthere’snowayI
can….” There was but one real reason, however, repeated over and
over again in different words: It was a difficult challenge, perhaps
impossible, and the other students would outdo them. Since all of
themoverestimatedthecompetition,nooneevenshowedup.
AccordingtotherulesIhadset,ifsomeonehadsentmenomore
thananillegibleone-paragraphresponse,Iwouldhavebeenobligated
togivethemtheprize.Thisresultbothfascinatedanddepressedme.
Thefollowingyear,theoutcomewasquitedifferent.
I told the above cautionary tale and 6 out of 17 finished the
challengeinlessthan48 hours.Wasthesecondclassbetter?No.In
fact,thereweremorecapablestudentsinthefirstclass,buttheydid
nothing.Firepowerupthewazooandnotriggerfinger.
The second group just embraced what I told them before they
started,whichwas…
DoingtheUnrealisticIsEasierThanDoingthe
F
Realistic
romcontactingbillionairestorubbingelbowswithcelebrities—the
secondgroupofstudentsdidboth—it’saseasyasbelievingitcan
bedone.
It’slonelyatthetop.Ninety-ninepercentofpeopleintheworldare
convincedtheyareincapableofachievinggreatthings,sotheyaimfor
themediocre. The levelof competitionis thusfiercest for“realistic”
goals, paradoxically making them the most time-and energy-
consuming.It is easiertoraise $1,000,000than itis $100,000.Itis
easiertopickuptheoneperfect10inthebarthanthefive8s.
Ifyouareinsecure,guesswhat?Therestoftheworldis,too.Donot
overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are
betterthanyouthink.
Unreasonable and unrealistic goals are easier to achieve for yet
anotherreason.
Having an unusually large goal is an adrenaline infusion that
provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and
tribulations that go along with any goal. Realistic goals, goals
restrictedtotheaverageambitionlevel,areuninspiringandwillonly
fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you
throwinthetowel.Ifthepotentialpayoffismediocreoraverage,sois
youreffort.I’llrunthroughwallstogetacatamarantripthroughthe
Greek islands, but I might not change my brand of cereal for a
weekendtripthroughColumbus,Ohio.IfIchoosethelatterbecauseit
is“realistic,”Iwon’thavetheenthusiasmtojumpeventhesmallest
hurdletoaccomplishit.Withbeautiful,crystal-clearGreekwatersand
deliciouswineonthebrain,I’mpreparedtodobattleforadreamthat
isworthdreaming.Eventhoughtheirdifficultyofachievementona
scale of 1–10 appears to be a 10 and a 2 respectively, Columbus is
morelikelytofallthrough.
Thefishingisbestwherethefewestgo,andthecollectiveinsecurity
oftheworldmakesiteasyforpeopletohithomerunswhileeveryone
elseisaiming for base hits.There isjust less competitionfor bigger
goals.
M
Doingbigthingsbeginswithaskingforthemproperly.
WhatDoYouWant?ABetterQuestion,Firstof
All
ostpeoplewillneverknowwhattheywant.Idon’tknowwhatI
want.IfyouaskmewhatIwanttodointhenextfivemonths
forlanguagelearning,ontheotherhand,Idoknow.It’samatterof
specificity. “What do you want?” is too imprecise to produce a
meaningfulandactionableanswer.Forgetaboutit.
“What are your goals?” is similarly fated for confusion and
guesswork.Torephrasethequestion,weneedtotakeastepbackand
lookatthebiggerpicture.
Let’sassume we have10goalsandweachievethem—whatisthe
desired outcome that makes all the effort worthwhile? The most
commonresponseiswhatIalsowouldhavesuggestedfiveyearsago:
happiness.Inolongerbelievethisisagoodanswer.Happinesscanbe
bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through
overuse.ThereisamoreprecisealternativethatreflectswhatIbelieve
theactualobjectiveis.
Bearwithme.Whatistheoppositeofhappiness?Sadness?No.Just
asloveandhatearetwosidesofthesamecoin,soarehappinessand
sadness.Cryingoutofhappinessis a perfect illustrationof this. The
opposite of love is indifference, and the opposite of happiness is—
here’stheclincher—boredom.
Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is
preciselywhatyoushouldstrivetochase.Itisthecure-all.Whenpeople
suggestyoufollowyour“passion”oryour“bliss,”Iproposethatthey
are,infact,referringtothesamesingularconcept:excitement.
Thisbringsusfullcircle. The question youshouldbe asking isn’t,
“WhatdoIwant?”or“Whataremygoals?”but“Whatwouldexcite
me?”
S
Adult-OnsetADD:AdventureDeficitDisorder
omewhere between college graduation and your second job, a
chorus enters your internal dialogue: Be realistic and stop
pretending.Lifeisn’tlikethemovies.
Ifyou’refiveyearsoldandsayyouwanttobeanastronaut,your
parents tell you that you can be anything you want to be. It’s
harmless,liketellingachildthatSantaClausexists.Ifyou’re25and
announceyouwanttostartanewcircus,theresponseisdifferent:Be
realistic;becomealawyeroranaccountantoradoctor,havebabies,
andraisethemtorepeatthecycle.
If you do manage to ignore the doubters and start your own
business,forexample,ADDdoesn’tdisappear.Itjusttakesadifferent
form.
WhenIstartedBrainQUICKENLLCin2001,itwaswithacleargoal
inmind:Make$1,000perdaywhetherIwasbangingmyheadona
laptoporcuttingmytoenailsonthebeach.Itwastobeanautomated
sourceofcashflow.Ifyoulookatmychronology,itisobviousthat
this didn’t happen until a meltdown forced it, despite the requisite
income. Why? The goal wasn’t specific enough. I hadn’t defined
alternateactivitiesthatwouldreplacetheinitialworkload.Therefore,I
just continued working, even though there was no financial need. I
neededtofeelproductiveandhadnoothervehicles.
Thisishowmostpeopleworkuntildeath:“I’lljustworkuntilIhave
Xdollars andthendowhatIwant.”Ifyoudon’tdefinethe“whatI
want” alternate activities, the X figure will increase indefinitely to
avoidthefear-inducinguncertaintyofthisvoid.
Thisiswhenbothemployeesandentrepreneursbecomefatmenin
redBMWs.
TheFatManintheRedBMWConvertible
herehavebeenseveralpointsinmylife—amongthem,justbeforeI
wasfired fromTrueSAN andjust before Iescaped theU.S. to avoid
T
T
takinganUziintoMcDonald’s—atwhichIsawmyfutureasanother
fat man in a midlife-crisis BMW. I simply looked at those who
were 15–20 years ahead of me on the same track, whether a
directorofsalesoranentrepreneurinthesameindustry,anditscared
thehelloutofme.
Itwas such anacutephobia, andsuch aperfectmetaphor forthe
sumofallfears,thatitbecameapatterninterruptbetweenmyselfand
fellowlifestyle designer and entrepreneurDouglasPrice.DougandI
traveledparallelpathsfornearlyfiveyears,facingthesamechallenges
and self-doubt and thus keeping a close psychological eye on each
other.Ourdownperiodsseemtoalternate,makingusagoodteam.
Whenever one of us began to set our sights lower, lose faith, or
“acceptreality,”theotherwouldchimeinviaphoneore-maillikean
AAsponsor:“Dude,areyouturningintothebaldfatmaninthered
BMW convertible?” The prospect was terrifying enough that we
always got our asses and priorities back on track immediately. The
worstthatcouldhappenwasn’tcrashingandburning,itwasaccepting
terminalboredomasatolerablestatusquo.
Remember—boredomistheenemy,notsomeabstract“failure.”
CorrectingCourse:GetUnrealistic
hereisaprocessthatIhaveused,andstilluse,toreignitelifeor
correctcoursewhentheFatManintheBMWrearshisuglyhead.
In some form or another, it is the same process used by the most
impressiveNRIhavemetaroundtheworld:dreamlining.Dreamlining
issonamedbecauseitappliestimelinestowhatmostwouldconsider
dreams.
It is much like goal-setting but differs in several fundamental
respects:
1. Thegoalsshiftfromambiguouswantstodefinedsteps.
2. Thegoalshavetobeunrealistictobeeffective.
3. It focuses on activities that will fill the vacuum created when
work is removed. Living like a millionaire requires doing
interestingthingsandnotjustowningenviablethings.
Nowit’syourturntothinkbig.
HowtoGetGeorgeBushSr.orthe
CEOofGoogleonthePhone
Thearticlebelow,titled“FailBetter”andwrittenbyAdamGottesfeld,
explores how I teach Princeton students to connect with luminary-
levelbusinessmentorsandcelebritiesofvarioustypes.I’veeditedit
forlengthinafewplaces.
Peoplearefondofusingthe“it’snotwhatyouknow,it’swhoyou
know”adageasanexcuseforinaction,asifallsuccessfulpeopleare
bornwithpowerfulfriends.
Nonsense.
Here’shownormalpeoplebuildsupernormalnetworks.
FailBetter
BYADAMGOTTESFELD
MOST PRINCETON students love to procrastinate in writing their dean’s
date [term] papers. Ryan Marrinan ’07, from Los Angeles, was no
exception.Butwhilethemajorityofundergraduatesfilltheirtimeby
updating their Facebook profiles or watching videos on YouTube,
Marrinan was discussing Soto Zen Buddhism via e-mail with Randy
Komisar,apartnerattheventurecapitalfirmKleinerPerkinsCaufield
andByers, andaskingGoogleCEOEricSchmidtvia e-mail whenhe
hadbeenhappiestinhislife.(Schmidt’sanswer:“Tomorrow.”)
Priortohise-mail,MarrinanhadnevercontactedKomisar.Hehad
met Schmidt, a Princeton University trustee, only briefly at an
academicaffairsmeetingofthetrusteesinNovember.Aself-described
“naturally shy kid,” Marrinan said he would never have dared to
randomlye-mailtwoofthemostpowerfulmeninSiliconValleyifit
weren’t for Tim Ferriss, who offered a guest lecture in Professor Ed
Zschau’s “High-Tech Entrepreneurship” class. Ferriss challenged
Marrinanandhisfellowseniorstocontacthigh-profilecelebritiesand
CEOsandgettheiranswerstoquestionstheyhavealwayswantedto
ask.
Forextraincentive,Ferrisspromisedthestudentwhocouldcontact
themosthard-to-reachnameandaskthemostintriguingquestiona
round-tripplaneticketanywhereintheworld.
“I believe that success can be measured in the number of
uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have. I felt that if I
could help students overcome the fear of rejection with cold-calling
andcolde-mail,itwouldservethemforever,”Ferrisssaid.“It’seasyto
sellyourselfshort,butwhenyouseeclassmatesgettingresponsesfrom
people like [former president] George Bush, the CEOs of Disney,
Comcast, Google, and HP, and dozens of other impossible-to-reach
people,itforcesyoutoreconsideryourself-setlimitations.”…Ferriss
lectures to the students of “High-Tech Entrepreneurship” each
semesteraboutcreatingastartupanddesigningtheideallifestyle.
“Iparticipateinthis contest everyday,” said Ferriss.“I do whatI
alwaysdo:findapersonale-mailifpossible,oftenthroughtheirlittle-
known personal blogs, send a two- to three-paragraph e-mail which
explains that I am familiar with their work, and ask one simple-to-
answerbutthought-provokingquestioninthate-mailrelatedtotheir
workorlifephilosophies.Thegoalistostartadialoguesotheytake
thetimetoanswerfuturee-mails—nottoaskforhelp.Thatcanonly
comeafteratleastthreeorfourgenuinee-mailexchanges.”
With“textbookexecutionoftheTimFerrissTechnique,”asheput
it,MarrinanwasabletostrikeupabondwithKomisar.Inhisinitiale-
mail,hetalkedaboutreadingoneofKomisar’sHarvardBusinessReview
articlesandfeelinginspiredtoaskhim,“Whenwereyouhappiestin
yourlife?”AfterKomisarrepliedwithreferencestoTibetanBuddhism,
Marrinan responded, “Just as words are inadequate to explain true
happiness,sotooarewordsinadequatetoexpressmythanks.”Hise-
mail included his personal translation of a French poem by Taisen
Deshimaru, the former European head of Soto Zen. An e-mail
relationshipwasformed,andKomisarevene-mailedMarrinanafew
dayslaterwithalinktoaNewYorkTimesarticleonhappiness.
Contacting Schmidt proved more challenging. For Marrinan, the
toughest part was getting Schmidt’s personal e-mail address. He e-
mailedaPrincetondeanaskingforit.Noresponse.Twoweekslater,
hee-mailedthesamedeanagain,defendinghisrequestbyreminding
her that he had previously met Schmidt. The dean said no, but
Marrinanrefusedtogiveup.Hee-mailedherathirdtime.“Haveyou
evermadeanexception?”heasked.Thedeanfinallygavein,hesaid,
andprovidedhimwithSchmidt’se-mail.
“Iknowsomeofmyclassmatespursuedthealternativescattershot
techniquewithsomesuccess,butthat’snotmybag,”Marrinansaid,
explaininghis perseverance.“I dealwith rejectionbypersisting, not
by taking my business elsewhere. My maxim comes from Samuel
Beckett,apersonalheroofmine:‘Evertried.Everfailed.Nomatter.
Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ You won’t believe what you can
accomplish by attempting the impossible with the courage to
repeatedlyfailbetter.”
NathanKaplan,anotherparticipantinthecontest,wasmostproud
ofthewaythathewasabletocontactformerNewarkmayorSharpe
James. Because James had made a campaign contribution to Al
Sharpton,thewebsitewww.fundrace.orglistedJames’shomeaddress.
Kaplan then input James’s address into an online serach-by-address
phonedirectory,throughwhichhereceivedtheformermayor’sphone
number.KaplanleftamessageforJames,andafewdayslaterfinally
gottoaskhimaboutchildhoodeducation.
Ferriss is proud of the effort students have put into his contest.
“Most people can do absolutely awe-inspiring things,” he said.
“Sometimestheyjustneedalittlenudge.”
Q&A:QUESTIONSANDACTIONS
Theexistentialvacuummanifestsitselfmainlyin a
stateofboredom.
—VIKTORFRANKL,Auschwitzsurvivorandfounderof
Logotherapy,Man’sSearchforMeaning
Lifeistooshorttobesmall.
D
—BENJAMINDISRAELI
reamliningwillbefun,anditwillbehard.Theharderitis,the
moreyouneedit.Tosavetime,Irecommendusingtheautomatic
calculatorsandformsat www.fourhourblog.com. Refer to themodel
worksheetasyoucompletethefollowingsteps:
1.Whatwouldyoudoiftherewerenowayyoucouldfail?Ifyou
were10timessmarterthantherestoftheworld?
Createtwotimelines—6monthsand12months—andlistuptofive
thingsyoudreamofhaving(including,butnotlimitedto,material
wants:house,car,clothing,etc.),being(beagreatcook,befluentin
Chinese,etc.),anddoing(visitingThailand,tracingyourroots
overseas,racingostriches,etc.)inthatorder.Ifyouhavedifficulty
identifyingwhatyouwantinsomecategories,asmostwill,consider
whatyouhateorfearineachandwritedowntheopposite.Donot
limityourself,anddonotconcernyourselfwithhowthesethings
willbeaccomplished.Fornow,it’sunimportant.Thisisanexercise
inreversingrepression.
Besurenottojudgeorfoolyourself.IfyoureallywantaFerrari,
don’tputdownsolvingworldhungeroutofguilt.Forsome,the
dreamwillbefame,forothersfortuneorprestige.Allpeoplehave
theirvicesandinsecurities.Ifsomethingwillimproveyourfeeling
ofself-worth,putitdown.Ihavearacingmotorcycle,andquite
apartfromthefactthatIlovespeed,itjustmakesmefeellikea
cooldude.Thereisnothingwrongwiththat.Putitalldown.
2.Drawingablank?
Foralltheirbitchingaboutwhat’sholdingthemback,mostpeople
havealotoftroublecomingupwiththedefineddreamsthey’re
beingheldfrom.Thisisparticularlytruewiththe“doing”category.
Inthatcase,considerthesequestions:
a. Whatwouldyoudo,daytoday,ifyouhad$100millioninthe
bank?
b. Whatwouldmakeyoumostexcitedtowakeupinthemorningto
anotherday?
Don’trush—thinkaboutitforafewminutes.Ifstillblocked,fill
inthefive“doing”spotswiththefollowing:
oneplacetovisit
onethingtodobeforeyoudie(amemoryofalifetime)
onethingtododaily
onethingtodoweekly
onethingyou’vealwayswantedtolearn
3.Whatdoes“being”entaildoing?
Converteach“being”intoa“doing”tomakeitactionable.Identify
anactionthatwouldcharacterizethisstateofbeingorataskthat
wouldmeanyouhadachievedit.Peoplefinditeasiertobrainstorm
“being”first,butthiscolumnisjustatemporaryholdingspotfor
“doing”actions.Hereareafewexamples:
Greatcook makeChristmasdinnerwithouthelp
FluentinChinese haveafive-minuteconversation
withaChineseco-worker
4.Whatarethefourdreamsthatwouldchangeitall?
Usingthe6-monthtimeline,starorotherwisehighlightthefour
mostexcitingand/orimportantdreamsfromallcolumns.Repeat
theprocesswiththe12-monthtimelineifdesired.
5.DeterminethecostofthesedreamsandcalculateyourTarget
MonthlyIncome(TMI)forbothtimelines.
Iffinanceable,whatisthecostpermonthforeachofthefour
dreams(rent,mortgage,paymentplaninstallments,etc.)?Start
thinkingofincomeandexpenseintermsofmonthlycashflow—
dollarsinanddollarsout—insteadofgrandtotals.Thingsoftencost
much,muchlessthanexpected.Forexample,aLamborghini
GallardoSpyder,freshofftheshowroomfloorat$260,000,canbe
hadfor$2,897.80permonth.Ifoundmypersonalfavorite,an
AstonMartinDB9with1,000milesonit,througheBayfor
$136,000—$2,003.10permonth.HowaboutaRound-the-World
trip(LosAngeles Tokyo Singapore Bangkok Delhior
Bombay London Frankfurt LosAngeles)for$1,399?
Forsomeofthesecosts,theToolsandTricksattheendofChapter
14willhelp.
Last,calculateyourTargetMonthlyIncome(TMI)forrealizing
thesedreamlines.Thisishowtodoit:First,totaleachofthe
columnsA,B,andC,countingonlythefourselecteddreams.Some
ofthesecolumntotalscouldbezero,whichisfine.Next,addyour
totalmonthlyexpensesx1.3(the1.3representsyourexpensesplus
a30%bufferforsafetyorsavings).ThisgrandtotalisyourTMIand
thetargettokeepinmindfortherestofthebook.Iliketofurther
dividethisTMIby30togetmyTDI—TargetDailyIncome.Ifindit
easiertoworkwithadailygoal.Onlinecalculatorsonour
companionsitedoalltheworkforyouandmakethisstepacinch.
Chancesarethatthefigureislowerthanexpected,anditoften
decreasesovertimeasyoutrademoreandmore“having”foronce-
in-a-lifetime“doing.”Mobilityencouragesthistrend.Evenifthe
totalisintimidating,don’tfretintheleast.Ihavehelpedstudents
gettomorethan$10,000permonthinextraincomewithinthree
months.
SampleDreamline
Dreamline
(Gotowww.fourhourblog.comforlargerprintableworksheetsand
onlinecalculators.)
T
DreamlineMath—AnotherGoodOption
here could be a different way of handling monthly and one-
timegoals.I’lluseyourexampleofanAstonMartin’smonthly
payment,apersonalassistant’smonthlypayment,andatriptothe
Croatiancoast.Whilethefirsttwoshouldcertainlybetotaledand
includedinyourtargetmonthlyincome,thetripissomethingthat
shouldbedividedbythenumberofmonthsbetweennowandthe
dreamline’stotaltime.
Thusifyouhadasix-monthdreamline:
AstonMartin=2,003permonth
Personalassistant=400permonth
Croatiantrip=934total,andthus934/6permonth
Rightnowinthebookandinthespreadsheetwehave(2003+
400+934)x1.3monthlyexpenses=TargetMonthlyIncome(or
TMI).
But I think it should be (2003 + 400 + 934/6 x 1.3monthly
expenses=TMI.
Or,moregenerally: [Monthly Goals+ (One-TimeGoals / Total
Months)]x1.3monthlyexpenses=TMI.
—JARED,president,SETConsulting
6.Determinethreestepsforeachofthefourdreamsinjustthe6-
monthtimelineandtakethefirststepnow.
I’mnotabigbelieverinlong-termplanningandfar-offgoals.In
fact,Igenerallyset3-monthand6-monthdreamlines.Thevariables
changetoomuchandin-the-futuredistancebecomesanexcusefor
postponingaction.Theobjectiveofthisexerciseisn’t,therefore,to
T
outlineeverystepfromstarttofinish,buttodefinetheendgoal,
therequiredvehicletoachievethem(TMI,TDI),andbuild
momentumwithcriticalfirststeps.Fromthatpoint,it’samatterof
freeingtimeandgeneratingtheTMI,whichthefollowingchapters
cover.
First,let’sfocusonthosecriticalfirststeps.Definethreestepsfor
eachdreamthatwillgetyouclosertoitsactualization.Setactions—
simple,well-definedactions—fornow,tomorrow(completebefore
11A.M.)andthedayafter(againcompletedbefore11A.M.).
Onceyouhavethreestepsforeachofthefourgoals,completethe
threeactionsinthe“now”column.Doitnow.Eachshouldbe
simpleenoughtodoinfiveminutesorless.Ifnot,rachetitdown.If
it’sthemiddleofthenightandyoucan’tcallsomeone,do
somethingelsenow,suchassendane-mail,andsetthecallforfirst
thingtomorrow.
Ifthenextstageissomeformofresearch,getintouchwith
someonewhoknowstheanswerinsteadofspendingtoomuchtime
inbooksoronline,whichcanturnintoparalysisbyanalysis.The
bestfirststep,theoneIrecommend,isfindingsomeonewho’sdone
itandaskforadviceonhowtodothesame.It’snothard.
Otheroptionsincludesettingameetingorphonecallwitha
trainer,mentor,orsalespersontobuildmomentum.Canyou
scheduleaprivateclassoracommitmentthatyou’llfeelbadabout
canceling?Useguilttoyouradvantage.
Tomorrowbecomesnever.Nomatterhowsmallthetask,takethe
firststepnow!
COMFORTCHALLENGE
hemostimportantactionsarenevercomfortable.
Fortunately, it is possible to condition yourself to discomfort
and overcome it. I’ve trained myself to propose solutions instead of
ask for them, to elicit desired responses instead of react, and to be
assertive without burning bridges. To have an uncommon lifestyle,
you need to develop the uncommon habit of making decisions, both for
yourselfandforothers.
Fromthischapterforward,I’lltakeyouthroughprogressivelymore
uncomfortableexercises,simpleandsmall.Someoftheexerciseswill
appear deceptively easy and even irrelevant(such asthe next)until
you try them.Look atit asa game andexpect somebutterflies and
sweat—that’s the whole point. For most of these exercises, the
durationistwodays.Marktheexerciseofthedayonyourcalendarso
youdon’tforget,anddon’tattemptmorethanoneComfortChallenge
atatime.
Remember: There is a direct correlation between an increased
sphereofcomfortandgettingwhatyouwant.
Herewego.
LearntoEyeGaze(2days)
MyfriendMichaelEllsberginventedasingleseventcalledEyeGazing.
Itissimilartospeeddatingbutdifferentinonefundamentalrespect—
no speaking is permitted. It involves gazing into the eyes of each
partner for three minutes at a time. If you go to such an event, it
becomesclearhowuncomfortablemostpeoplearedoingthis.Forthe
nexttwodays,practicegazingintotheeyesofothers—whetherpeople
you pass on the street or conversational partners—until they break
contact.Hints:
1. Focusononeeyeandbesuretoblinkoccasionallysoyoudon’t
looklikeapsychopathorgetyourasskicked.
2. Inconversation,maintaineyecontactwhenyouarespeaking.It’s
easytodowhilelistening.
3. Practicewithpeoplebiggerormoreconfidentthanyourself.Ifa
passerbyasksyouwhatthehellyou’restaringat,justsmileand
respond,“Sorryaboutthat.Ithought you wereanold friend of
mine.”
StepII:
EisforElimination
Onedoesnotaccumulatebuteliminate.
Itisnotdailyincreasebutdaily
decrease.Theheightofcultivation
alwaysrunstosimplicity.
—BRUCELEE
TheEndofTimeManagement
ILLUSIONSANDITALIANS
Perfectionisnotwhenthereisnomoretoadd,but
nomoretotakeaway.
—ANTOINEDESAINT-EXUPÉRY,pioneerofinternational
postalflightandauthorofLePetitPrince(TheLittle
Prince)
It is vain to do with more what can be done with
less.
—WILLIAMOFOCCAM(1300–1350),originatorof
“Occam’sRazor”
Justafewwordsontimemanagement:Forgetallaboutit.
In the strictest sense, you shouldn’t be trying to do more in each
day,tryingtofilleverysecondwithaworkfidgetofsometype.Ittook
mealongtimetofigurethisout.Iusedtobeveryfondoftheresults-
by-volumeapproach.
Being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few
criticallyimportantbutuncomfortableactions.Theoptionsarealmost
limitless for creating “busyness”: You could call a few hundred
unqualifiedsalesleads,reorganizeyourOutlookcontacts,walkacross
the office to request documents you don’t really need, or fuss with
yourBlackBerryforafewhourswhenyoushouldbeprioritizing.
In fact, if you want to move up the ladder in most of corporate
America, and assuming they don’t really check what you are doing
N
(let’s be honest), just run around the office holding a cell phone to
yourheadandcarryingpapers.Now,thatisonebusyemployee!Give
thema raise.Unfortunately forthe NR,thisbehavior won’t getyou
out of the office or put you on an airplane to Brazil. Bad dog. Hit
yourselfwithanewspaperandcutitout.
Afterall,thereisafarbetteroption,anditwilldomorethansimply
increaseyourresults—itwillmultiplythem.Believeitornot,itisnot
onlypossibletoaccomplishmorebydoingless,itismandatory.
Entertheworldofelimination.
HowYouWillUseProductivity
owthatyouhavedefinedwhatyouwanttodowithyourtime,
youhavetofreethattime.Thetrick,ofcourse,istodosowhile
maintainingorincreasingyourincome.
Theintentionofthischapter,andwhatyouwillexperienceifyou
followtheinstructions,isanincreaseinpersonalproductivitybetween
100 and 500%. The principles are the same for both employees and
entrepreneurs, but the purpose of this increased productivity is
completelydifferent.
First, the employee. The employee is increasing productivity to
increase negotiating leverage for two simultaneous objectives: pay
raisesandaremoteworkingarrangement.
Recallthat,asindicatedinthefirstchapterofthisbook,thegeneral
process of joining the New Rich is D-E-A-L, in that order, but that
employeesintentonremainingemployeesfornowneedtoimplement
theprocessasD-E-L-A.Thereasonrelatestoenvironment.Theyneed
to Liberate themselves fromthe officeenvironment beforethey can
worktenhoursaweek,forexample,becausetheexpectationinthat
environmentisthatyouwillbeinconstantmotionfrom9–5.Evenif
youproducetwicetheresultsyouhadinthepast,ifyou’reworkinga
quarter of the hours of your colleagues, there is a good chance of
receivingapinkslip.Evenifyouwork10hoursaweekandproduce
twicetheresultsofpeopleworking40,thecollectiverequestwillbe,
E
“Work40hoursaweekandproduce8timestheresults.”Thisisan
endless game and one you want to avoid. Hence the need for
Liberationfirst.
If you’re an employee, this chapter will increase your value and
makeitmorepainfulforthecompanytofireyouthantograntraises
andaremoteworkingagreement.Thatisyourgoal.Oncethelatteris
accomplished, you can drop hours without bureaucratic interference
andusetheresultantfreetimetofulfilldreamlines.
Theentrepreneur’sgoalsarelesscomplex,asheorsheisgenerally
thedirectbeneficiaryofincreasedprofit.Thegoalistodecreasethe
amountofworkyouperformwhile increasingrevenue.Thiswillset
the stage for replacing yourself with Automation, which in turn
permitsLiberation.
Forbothtracks,somedefinitionsareinorder.
BeingEffectivevs.BeingEfficient
ffectivenessisdoingthethingsthatgetyouclosertoyourgoals.
Efficiencyisperformingagiventask(whetherimportantornot)
in the most economical manner possible. Being efficient without
regardtoeffectivenessisthedefaultmodeoftheuniverse.
Iwouldconsiderthebestdoor-to-doorsalespersonefficient—thatis,
refined and excellent at selling door-to-doorwithout wasting time—
but utterly ineffective. He or she would sell more using a better
vehiclesuchase-mailordirectmail.
Thisisalsotrueforthepersonwhocheckse-mail30timesperday
and develops an elaborate system of folder rules and sophisticated
techniques for ensuring that each of those 30 brain farts moves as
quickly as possible. I was a specialist at such professional wheel-
spinning.Itisefficientonsomeperverselevel,butfarfromeffective.
Herearetwotruismstokeepinmind:
1. Doingsomethingunimportantwelldoesnotmakeitimportant.
2. Requiringalotoftimedoesnotmakeataskimportant.
F
Fromthismomentforward,rememberthis:Whatyoudoisinfinitely
moreimportantthanhowyoudoit.Efficiencyisstillimportant,butit
isuselessunlessappliedtotherightthings.
Tofindtherightthings,we’llneedtogotothegarden.
ParetoandHisGarden:80/20and
FreedomfromFutility
Whatgetsmeasuredgetsmanaged.
—PETERDRUCKER,managementtheorist,authorof31
books,recipientofPresidentialMedalofFreedom
ouryearsago,aneconomistchangedmylifeforever.It’sashameI
never had a chance to buy him a drink. My dear Vilfredo died
almost100yearsago.
Vilfredo Pareto was a wily and controversial economist-cum-
sociologistwholivedfrom1848to1923.Anengineerbytraining,he
started his varied career managing coal mines and later succeeded
Léon Walras as the chair of political economy at the University of
LausanneinSwitzerland.Hisseminalwork,Coursd’economiepolitique,
includedathenlittle-explored“law”ofincomedistributionthatwould
laterbearhisname:“Pareto’sLaw”orthe“ParetoDistribution,”inthe
lastdecadealsopopularlycalledthe“80/20Principle.”
Themathematicalformulaheusedtodemonstrateagrosslyuneven
butpredictable distribution of wealth in society—80%of the wealth
andincomewasproducedandpossessedby20%ofthepopulation—
also applied outside of economics. Indeed, it could be found almost
everywhere.EightypercentofPareto’sgardenpeaswereproducedby
20%ofthepeapodshehadplanted,forexample.
Pareto’s Law can be summarized as follows: 80% of the outputs
result from 20% of the inputs. Alternative ways to phrase this,
dependingonthecontext,include:
80%oftheconsequencesflowfrom20%ofthecauses.
80%oftheresultscomefrom20%oftheeffortandtime.
80% of company profits come from 20% of the products and
customers.
80%ofallstockmarketgainsarerealizedby20%oftheinvestors
and20%ofanindividualportfolio.
The list is infinitely long and diverse, and the ratio is oftenskewed
even more severely: 90/10,95/5, and99/1 arenot uncommon,but
theminimumratiotoseekis80/20.
When I came across Pareto’s work one late evening, I had been
slaving away with 15-hour days seven days per week, feeling
completely overwhelmed and generally helpless. I would wake up
before dawn to make calls to the United Kingdom, handle the U.S.
duringthenormal9–5day,andthenworkuntilnearmidnightmaking
calls to Japan and New Zealand. I was stuck on a runaway freight
train with no brakes, shoveling coal into the furnace for lack of a
better option. Faced with certain burnout or giving Pareto’s ideas a
trialrun,Ioptedforthelatter.Thenextmorning,Ibeganadissection
ofmybusinessandpersonallifethroughthelensesoftwoquestions:
1. Which20%ofsourcesarecausing80%ofmyproblemsand
unhappiness?
2. Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired
outcomesandhappiness?
Fortheentireday,Iputasideeverythingseeminglyurgentanddid
the most intense truth-baring analysis possible, applying these
questionstoeverythingfrommyfriendstocustomersandadvertising
to relaxation activities. Don’t expect tofind you’redoing everything
right—thetruthoftenhurts.Thegoalistofindyourinefficienciesin
ordertoeliminatethemandtofindyourstrengthssoyoucanmultiply
them. In the 24 hours that followed, I made several simple but
emotionally difficult decisions that literally changed my life forever
andenabledthelifestyleInowenjoy.
ThefirstdecisionImadeisanexcellentexampleofhowdramatic
and fast the ROI of this analytical fat-cutting can be: I stopped
contacting95% ofmy customers andfired 2%,leavingme withthe
top3%ofproducerstoprofileandduplicate.
Outofmorethan120wholesalecustomers,amere5werebringing
in95%of the revenue.I wasspending 98% ofmy time chasingthe
remainder, as the aforementioned 5 ordered regularly without any
follow-upcalls,persuasion,orcajoling.Inotherwords,Iwasworking
becauseIfeltasthoughIshouldbedoingsomethingfrom9–5.Ididn’t
realizethatworkingeveryhourfrom9–5isn’tthegoal;it’ssimplythe
structuremostpeopleuse,whetherit’snecessaryornot.Ihadasevere
case of work-for-work (W4W), the most-hated acronym in the NR
vocabulary.
All,andImean100%,ofmyproblemsandcomplaintscamefrom
thisunproductivemajority,withtheexceptionoftwolargecustomers
whoweresimplyworld-classexpertsofthe“hereisthefireIstarted,
now you put it out” approach to business. I put all of these
unproductivecustomersonpassivemode: If theyordered, great—let
them fax in the order. If not, I would do absolutely no chasing: no
phonecalls,noe-mail,nothing.Thatleftthetwolargercustomersto
dealwith,whowereprofessionalballbreakersbutcontributedabout
10%tothebottomlineatthetime.
You’llalwayshaveafewofthese,anditisaquandarythatcauses
all sorts of problems, not the least of which are self-hatred and
depression. Upto that point, I had taken their browbeating, insults,
time-consumingarguments,andtiradesasacostofdoingbusiness.I
realized during the 80/20 analysis that these two people were the
source of nearly all my unhappiness and anger throughout the day,
andit usually spilledoverinto mypersonal time,keepingme up at
nightwiththeusual“IshouldhavesaidX,Y,andZtothatpenis”self-
flagellation. I finally concluded the obvious: The effect on my self-
esteemandstateofmindjustwasn’tworththefinancialgain.Ididn’t
needthemoneyforanyprecisereason,andIhadassumedIneededto
take it. The customers are always right, aren’t they? Part of doing
business,right?Hell,no.NotfortheNR,anyway.Ifiredtheirasses
andenjoyedeverysecondofit.Thefirstconversationwentlikethis:
Customer:Whatthe&#@$?Iorderedtwocasesandtheyarrivedtwo
dayslate.[Note:Hehadsenttheordertothewrongpersonviathe
wrongmedium,despiterepeatedreminders.]Youguysarethemost
disorganizedbunchofidiotsI’veeverworkedwith.Ihave20years
ofexperienceinthisindustry,andthisistheworst.
AnyNR—inthiscase,me:Iwillkillyou.Beafraid,beveryafraid.
Iwish.Ididrehearsethatamilliontimesinmymentaltheater,butit
actuallywentsomethingmorelikethis:
I’msorrytohearthat.Youknow,I’vebeentakingyourinsultsfor
awhilenow,andit’sunfortunatethatitseemswewon’tbeable
todobusinessanymore.I’drecommendyoutakeagoodlookat
wherethisunhappinessandangerisactuallycomingfrom.Inany
case,Iwishyouwell.Ifyouwouldliketoorderproduct,we’llbe
happytosupplyit,butonlyifyoucanconductyourselfwithout
profanityandunnecessaryinsults.Youhaveourfaxnumber.All
thebestandhaveaniceday.[Click.]
I did this once via phone and once through e-mail. So what
happened? I lost one customer, but the other corrected course and
simply faxed orders, again and again and again. Problem solved,
minimumrevenuelost.Iwasimmediately10timeshappier.
I then identified the common characteristics of my top-five
customers and secured three or so similarly profiled buyers in the
followingweek.Remember,morecustomersisnotautomaticallymore
income.Morecustomersisnotthegoalandoftentranslatesinto90%
more housekeeping and apaltry 1–3%increase inincome. Make no
mistake, maximum income from minimal necessary effort (including
minimumnumberofcustomers)istheprimarygoal.Iduplicatedmy
strengths,inthiscasemytopproducers,andfocusedonincreasingthe
sizeandfrequencyoftheirorders.
Theendresult?Iwentfromchasingandappeasing120customersto
simply receiving large orders from 8, with absolutely no pleading
phonecallsore-mailharanguing.Mymonthlyincomeincreasedfrom
$30K to $60K in four weeks and my weekly hours immediately
dropped from over 80 to approximately 15. Most important, I was
happywithmyselfandfeltbothoptimisticandliberatedforthefirst
timeinovertwoyears.
In the ensuing weeks, I applied the 80/20 Principle to dozens of
areas,includingthefollowing:
1.Advertising
Iidentified theadvertising that wasgenerating 80% ormore of
revenue, identified the commonalities among them, and
multiplied them, eliminating all the rest at the same time. My
advertisingcosts droppedover 70%and my directsales income
nearly doubled from a monthly $15K to $25K in 8 weeks. It
would have doubled immediately had I been using radio,
newspapers, or television instead of magazines with long lead
times.
2.OnlineAffiliatesandPartners
I fired more than 250 low-yield online affiliates orput them in
holdingpatternstofocusinsteadonthe twoaffiliateswho were
generating 90% of the income. My management time decreased
from5–10 hours perweekto1hourpermonth.Onlinepartner
incomeincreasedmorethan50%inthatsamemonth.
Slowdownandrememberthis:Mostthingsmakenodifference.Being
busyisaformoflaziness—lazythinkingandindiscriminateaction.
Beingoverwhelmedisoftenasunproductiveasdoingnothing,and
isfarmoreunpleasant.Beingselective—doingless—isthepathofthe
productive.Focusontheimportantfewandignoretherest.
Of course, before you can separate the wheat from the chaff and
eliminateactivitiesinanew environment (whether a newjob or an
entrepreneurialventure), youwill need totry alot to identifywhat
pullsthemostweight.Throwitalluponthewallandseewhatsticks.
That’spartoftheprocess,butitshouldnottakemorethanamonthor
I
two.
It’s easy to get caught in a flood of minutiae, and the key to not
feeling rushed is remembering that lack of time is actually lack of
priorities.Taketimetostopandsmelltheroses,or—in this case—to
countthepeapods.
The9–5IllusionandParkinson’sLaw
I saw a bank that said “24-Hour Banking,” but I
don’thavethatmuchtime.
—STEVENWRIGHT,comedian
fyou’reanemployee,spendingtimeonnonsenseis,tosomeextent,
notyourfault.Thereisoftennoincentivetousetimewellunless
youarepaidoncommission.Theworldhasagreedtoshufflepapers
between9:00A.M.and5:00P.M.,andsinceyou’retrappedintheoffice
forthatperiodofservitude,youarecompelledtocreateactivitiesto
fillthattime.Timeiswastedbecausethereissomuchtimeavailable.
It’sunderstandable.Nowthatyouhavethenewgoalofnegotiatinga
remote work arrangement instead of just collecting a paycheck, it’s
time to revisit the status quo and become effective. The best
employeeshavethemostleverage.
For the entrepreneur, the wasteful use of time is a matter of bad
habitandimitation.Iamnoexception.Mostentrepreneurswereonce
employeesandcomefromthe9–5culture.Thustheyadoptthesame
schedule,whetherornottheyfunctionat9:00A.M.orneed8hoursto
generate their target income. This schedule is a collective social
agreementand adinosaur legacyof the results-by-volumeapproach.
Howisitpossiblethatallthepeopleintheworldneedexactly8hours
toaccomplishtheirwork?Itisn’t.9–5isarbitrary.
Youdon’tneed8hoursperdaytobecomealegitimatemillionaire—
letalonehavethemeanstolivelikeone.Eighthoursperweekisoften
excessive,butIdon’texpectallofyoutobelievemejustyet.Iknow
you probably feelas Idid for a long time:There justaren’t enough
hoursintheday.
Butlet’sconsiderafewthingswecanprobablyagreeon.
Since we have 8 hours to fill, we fill 8 hours. If we had 15, we
wouldfill 15.If wehave an emergencyand needto suddenly leave
work in 2 hours but have pending deadlines, we miraculously
completethoseassignmentsin2hours.
ItisallrelatedtoalawthatwasintroducedtomebyEdZschauin
thespringof2000.
Ihadarrivedtoclassnervousandunabletoconcentrate.Thefinal
paper,worthafull25%ofthesemester’sgrade,wasduein24hours.
Oneoftheoptions,andthatwhichIhadchosen,wastointerviewthe
topexecutivesofastart-upandprovideanin-depthanalysisoftheir
businessmodel.Thecorporatepowersthatbehaddecidedlastminute
thatIcouldn’tinterviewtwokeyfiguresorusetheirinformationdue
toconfidentialityissuesandpre-IPOprecautions.Gameover.
IapproachedEdafterclasstodeliverthebadnews.
“Ed, I think I’m going to need an extension on the paper.” I
explained the situation, and Ed smiled before he replied without so
muchasahintofconcern.
“I think you’ll be OK. Entrepreneurs are those who make things
happen,right?”
Twenty-fourhourslaterandoneminutebeforethedeadline,ashis
assistantwaslockingtheoffice,Ihandedina30-pagefinalpaper.It
was based on a different company I had found, interviewed, and
dissected with an intense all-nighter and enough caffeine to get an
entireOlympictrackteamdisqualified.Itendedupbeingoneofthe
bestpapersI’dwritteninfouryears,andIreceivedanA.
BeforeIlefttheclassroomthepreviousday,Edhadgivenmesome
partingadvice:Parkinson’sLaw.
Parkinson’s Law dictates that a task will swell in (perceived)
importance and complexity in relation to the time allotted for its
completion.Itisthemagicoftheimminentdeadline.IfIgiveyou24
hourstocompleteaproject,thetimepressureforcesyoutofocuson
execution,andyouhavenochoicebuttodoonlythebareessentials.
IfIgiveyouaweektocompletethesametask,it’ssixdaysofmaking
amountainoutofamolehill.IfIgiveyoutwomonths,Godforbid,it
becomesamentalmonster.Theendproductoftheshorterdeadlineis
almostinevitablyofequalorhigherqualityduetogreaterfocus.
Thispresentsaverycuriousphenomenon.Therearetwosynergistic
approaches for increasing productivity that are inversions of each
other:
1. Limittaskstotheimportanttoshortenworktime(80/20).
2. Shorten work time to limit tasks to the important (Parkinson’s
Law).
The best solution is to useboth together: Identifythe few critical
tasks that contribute most to income and schedule them with very
shortandcleardeadlines.
Ifyouhaven’tidentifiedthemission-criticaltasksandsetaggressive
startandendtimesfortheircompletion,theunimportantbecomesthe
important. Even if you know what’s critical, without deadlines that
createfocus,theminortasksforceduponyou(orinvented,inthecase
of the entrepreneur)will swell to consume timeuntil anotherbit of
minutiaejumpsintoreplaceit,leavingyouattheendofthedaywith
nothingaccomplished.HowelsecoulddroppingoffapackageatUPS,
settingafewappointments,andcheckinge-mailconsumeanentire9–
5day?Don’tfeelbad.Ispentmonthsjumpingfromoneinterruption
to the next, feeling run by my business instead of the other way
around.
THE 80/20 PRINCIPLE and Parkinson’s Law are the two cornerstone
conceptsthatwillberevisitedindifferentformsthroughoutthisentire
section. Most inputs areuseless andtime is wasted in proportion to
theamountthatisavailable.
Fat-freeperformanceandtimefreedombeginswithlimitingintake
overload.Inthenext chapter, we’llput you onthe real breakfastof
champions:theLow-InformationDiet.
“S
ADozenCupcakesandOneQuestion
Loveofbustleisnotindustry.
—SENECA
MOUNTAINVIEW,CALIFORNIA.
aturdaysaremydaysoff,”Iofferedtothecrowdofstrangers
staringat me,friends ofa friend. Itwas true.Can you eat
All-Branandchickensevendaysaweek?Meneither.Don’tbeso
judgmental.
Betweenmytenthandtwelfthcupcakes,Iploppeddownonthe
couchtorevelinthesugarhighuntiltheclockstruckmidnightand
sent me back to my adultsville Sunday–Friday diet. There was
anotherpartyguestseatednexttomeonachair,nursingaglassof
wine,nothistwelfthbutcertainlynothisfirst,andwestruckupa
conversation. As usual, I had tostruggle toanswer “What do you
do?” and,as usual, my answer left someone to wonder whether I
wasapathologicalliaroracriminal.
Howwasitpossibletospendsolittletimeonincomegeneration?
It’sagoodquestion.It’sTHEquestion.
Inalmostallrespects,Charneyhaditall.Hewashappilymarried
withatwo-year-oldsonandanotherduetoarriveinthreemonths.
Hewasasuccessfultechnologysalesman,andthoughhewantedto
earn$500,000moreperyearasalldo,hisfinancesweresolid.
He also asked good questions. I had just returnedfrom another
tripoverseasandwasplanninganewadventuretoJapan.Hedrilled
mefortwohourswitharefrain:Howisitpossibletospendsolittle
timeonincomegeneration?
“Ifyou’reinterested,wecanmakeyouacasestudyandI’llshow
youhow,”Ioffered.
Charneywasin.Theonethinghedidn’thavewastime.
One e-mail and five weeks of practice later, Charney had good
news:He hadaccomplishedmoreinthelastweekthanhehadin
the previous four combined. He did so while taking Monday and
Friday off and spending at least 2 more hours per day with his
family.From40hoursperweek,hewasdownto18andproducing
fourtimestheresults.
Was it from mountaintop retreats and secret kung fu training?
Nope.WasitanewJapanesemanagementsecretorbettersoftware?
Nein.Ijustaskedhimtodoonesimplethingconsistentlywithout
fail.
At least three times per day at scheduled times, he had to ask
himselfthefollowingquestion:
AmIbeingproductiveorjustactive?
Charneycapturedtheessenceofthiswithless-abstractwording:
AmIinventingthingstodotoavoidtheimportant?
Heeliminatedalloftheactivitiesheusedascrutchesandbeganto
focus on demonstrating results instead of showing dedication.
Dedicationis oftenjustmeaningless workin disguise. Beruthless
andcutthefat.
Itispossibletohaveyourcupcakeandeatit,too.
Q&A:QUESTIONSANDACTIONS
Wecreatestressforourselvesbecauseyoufeellike
T
you have to do it. You have to. I don’t feel that
anymore.
—OPRAHWINFREY,actressandtalk-showhost,The
OprahWinfreyShow
hekeytohavingmoretimeisdoingless,andtherearetwopaths
togettingthere,bothofwhichshouldbeusedtogether:(1)Define
ato-dolistand(2)defineanot-to-dolist.Ingeneralterms,thereare
buttwoquestions:
What 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and
unhappiness?
What20%ofsourcesareresultingin80%ofmydesiredoutcome
andhappiness?
Hypotheticalcaseshelptogetusstarted:
1.Ifyouhadaheartattackandhadtoworktwohoursperday,
whatwouldyoudo?
Notfivehours,notfourhours,notthree—twohours.It’snotwhere
Iwantyoutoultimatelybe,butit’sastart.Besides,Icanhearyour
brainbubblingalready:That’sridiculous.Impossible!Iknow,I
know.IfItoldyouthatyoucouldsurviveformonths,functioning
quitewell,onfourhoursofsleeppernight,wouldyoubelieveme?
Probablynot.Notwithstanding,millionsofnewmothersdoitallthe
time.Thisexerciseisnotoptional.Thedoctorhaswarnedyou,after
triple-bypasssurgery,thatifyoudon’tcutdownyourworktotwo
hoursperdayforthefirstthreemonthspost-op,youwilldie.How
wouldyoudoit?
2.Ifyouhadasecondheartattackandhadtoworktwohours
perweek,whatwouldyoudo?
3.Ifyouhadaguntoyourheadandhadtostopdoing4/5of
differenttime-consumingactivities,whatwouldyouremove?
Simplicityrequiresruthlessness.Ifyouhadtostop⅘oftime-
consumingactivities—e-mail,phonecalls,conversations,
paperwork,meetings,advertising,customers,suppliers,products,
services,etc.—whatwouldyoueliminatetokeepthenegativeeffect
onincometoaminimum?Usedevenoncepermonth,thisquestion
alonecankeepyousaneandontrack.
4.Whatarethetop-threeactivitiesthatIusetofilltimetofeelas
thoughI’vebeenproductive?
Theseareusuallyusedtopostponemoreimportantactions(often
uncomfortablebecausethereisachanceoffailureorrejection).Be
honestwithyourself,aswealldothisonoccasion.Whatareyour
crutchactivities?
5.Whoarethe20%ofpeoplewhoproduce80%ofyour
enjoymentandpropelyouforward,andwhich20%cause80%
ofyourdepression,anger,andsecond-guessing?
Identify:
Positivefriendsversustime-consumingfriends:
Who is helping versus hurting you, and how
do you increase your time with the former
whiledecreasingoreliminatingyourtimewith
thelatter?
Who is causing me stress disproportionate to
thetimeIspendwiththem?Whatwillhappen
ifIsimplystopinteractingwiththesepeople?
Fear-settinghelpshere.
When do I feel starved for time? What
commitments, thoughts, and people can I
eliminatetofixthisproblem?
Exact numbers aren’t needed to realize that we spend too much
time with those who poison us with pessimism, sloth, and low
expectationsofthemselvesandtheworld.Itisoftenthecasethat
you have to fire certain friends or retire from particular social
circlestohavethelifeyouwant.Thisisn’tbeingmean;itisbeing
practical. Poisonous people do not deserve your time. To think
otherwiseismasochistic.
Thebestwaytoapproachapotentialbreakissimple:Confidein
themhonestlybuttactfullyandexplainyourconcerns.Iftheybite
back,yourconclusionshavebeenconfirmed.Dropthemlikeany
otherbadhabit.Iftheypromisetochange,firstspendatleasttwo
weeksaparttodevelopotherpositiveinfluencesinyourlifeand
diminishpsychologicaldependency.Thenexttrialperiodshould
haveasetdurationandconsistofpass-or-failcriteria.
Ifthisapproachistooconfrontationalforyou,justpolitelyrefuse
tointeractwiththem.Beinthemiddleofsomethingwhenthecall
comes,andhaveapriorcommitmentwhentheinvitationtohang
outcomes.Onceyouseethebenefitsofdecreasedtimewiththese
people,itwillbeeasiertostopcommunicationaltogether.
I’mnotgoingtolie:Itsucks.Ithurtslikepullingoutasplinter.
Butyouaretheaverageofthefivepeopleyouassociatewithmost,
sodonotunderestimatetheeffectsofyourpessimistic,unambitious,
ordisorganizedfriends.Ifsomeoneisn’tmakingyoustronger,
they’remakingyouweaker.
Removethesplintersandyou’llthankyourselfforit.
6.Learntoask,“IfthisistheonlythingIaccomplishtoday,willI
besatisfiedwithmyday?”
Don’teverarriveattheofficeorinfrontofyourcomputerwithouta
clearlistofpriorities.You’lljustreadunassociatede-mailand
scrambleyourbrainfortheday.Compileyourto-dolistfor
tomorrownolaterthanthisevening.Idon’trecommendusing
Outlookorcomputerizedto-dolists,becauseitispossibletoaddan
infinitenumberofitems.Iuseastandardpieceofpaperfoldedin
halfthreetimes,whichfitsperfectlyinthepocketandlimitsyouto
notingonlyafewitems.
Thereshouldneverbemorethantwomission-criticalitemsto
completeeachday.Never.Itjustisn’tnecessaryifthey’reactually
high-impact.Ifyouarestucktryingtodecidebetweenmultiple
itemsthatallseemcrucial,ashappenstoallofus,lookateachin
turnandaskyourself,IfthisistheonlythingIaccomplishtoday,willI
besatisfiedwithmyday?
Tocountertheseeminglyurgent,askyourself:Whatwillhappen
ifIdon’tdothis,andisitworthputtingofftheimportanttodoit?If
youhaven’talreadyaccomplishedatleastoneimportanttaskinthe
day,don’tspendthelastbusinesshourreturningaDVDtoavoida
$5latecharge.Gettheimportanttaskdoneandpaythe$5fine.
7.PutaPost-itonyourcomputerscreenorsetanOutlook
remindertoalertyouatleastthreetimesdailywiththe
question:Areyouinventingthingstodotoavoidthe
important?
Ialsousefreetime-trackingsoftwarecalledRescueTime
(www.rescuetime.com)toalertmewhenIspendmorethanan
allottedtimeoncertainwebsitesorprogramsoftenusedtoavoid
theimportant(Gmail,Facebook,Outlook,etc.).Italsosummarizes
yourtimeuseeachweekandcomparesyourperformancetopeers.
8.Donotmultitask.
I’mgoingtotellyouwhatyoualreadyknow.Tryingtobrushyour
teeth,talkonthephone,andanswere-mailatthesametimejust
doesn’twork.Eatingwhiledoingonlineresearchandinstant
messaging?Ditto.
Ifyouprioritizeproperly,thereisnoneedtomultitask.Itisa
symptomof“taskcreep”—doingmoretofeelproductivewhile
actuallyaccomplishingless.Asstated,youshouldhave,atmost,
twoprimarygoalsortasksperday.Dothemseparatelyfromstartto
finishwithoutdistraction.Dividedattentionwillresultinmore
frequentinterruptions,lapsesinconcentration,poorernetresults,
andlessgratification.
9.UseParkinson’sLawonaMacroandMicroLevel.
UseParkinson’sLawtoaccomplishmoreinlesstime.Shorten
schedulesanddeadlinestonecessitatefocusedactioninsteadof
deliberationandprocrastination.
Onaweeklyanddailymacrolevel,attempttotakeMonday
and/orFridayoff,aswellasleaveworkat4P.M.Thiswillfocusyou
toprioritizemoreeffectivelyandquitepossiblydevelopasociallife.
Ifyou’reunderthehawklikewatchofaboss,we’lldiscussthenuts
andboltsofhowtoescapeinlaterchapters.
Onamicrotasklevel,limitthenumberofitemsonyourto-dolist
anduseimpossiblyshortdeadlinestoforceimmediateactionwhile
ignoringminutiae.
Ifdoingworkonlineornearanonlinecomputer,
http://e.ggtimer.com/isaconvenientcountdowntimer.Justtype
thedesiredtimelimitdirectlyintotheURLfieldandhitenter.The
http://canoftenbeomitted.Forexample:
http://e.ggtimer.com/5minutes (or just
“e.ggtimer.com/5min”insomebrowsers)
http://e.ggtimer.com/1hour30minutes30seconds
http://e.ggtimer.com/30(ifyoujustputinanumber,itassumes
seconds)
COMFORTCHALLENGE
LearntoPropose(2Days)
Stopaskingforopinionsandstartproposingsolutions.Beginwiththe
smallthings. Ifsomeone isgoing to ask,or asks,“Where should we
eat?”“Whatmovieshouldwewatch?”“Whatshouldwedotonight?”
oranythingsimilar,doNOTreflectitbackwith,“Well,whatdoyou
want to … ?” Offer a solution. Stop the back-and-forth and make a
decision.Practicethisinbothpersonalandprofessionalenvironments.
Hereareafewlinesthathelp(myfavoritesarethefirstandlast):
“CanImakeasuggestion?”
“Ipropose…”
“I’dliketopropose…”
“Isuggestthat…Whatdoyouthink?”
“Let’stry…andthentrysomethingelseifthatdoesn’twork.”
LIFESTYLEDESIGNINACTION
I’mamusicianwhogotyourbookbecauseDerekSiversatCD
Babyrecommendedit.CheckingPareto’sLawIrealizedthat78%
ofmydownloadscamefromjustoneofmyCDsandthat55%of
mytotaldownloadincomecamefromonlyfivesongs!Itshowed
me what my fans are looking for and allowed me to showcase
thoseonmywebsite.Downloadsarethewaytogo.iTunessells
the song and CD Baby direct deposits it to my account. Fully
automatedoncetherecordingisdone.TherearesomemonthsI
can live off download income. Once I finish paying off debt, it
shouldbenoproblemtotravelasanartistandcreatenewfansall
overtheworldandhaveacyberincomestream.
—VICTORJOHNSON
Asfor“outsourcing”yourbanking,anycompanythatneedsto
take checks (cheques) should consider a lock box solution. Just
aboutanybankthatdoesbusinessbankingoffersit.Allchecksgo
to a PO box at the bank, the bank processes the checks and
depositsthem,andaccordingtoyourinstructionscansendyoua
fileofallthechecksthataredeposited.Normallythiscanbedone
ineitheraflat,Excelorotherfiletypethatcaninterfacewithany
accounting systems from Excel, to Quicken to SAP. Quite cost
effective.
—ANONYMOUS
TheLow-InformationDiet
CULTIVATINGSELECTIVEIGNORANCE
What information consumes is rather obvious: it
consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a
wealthofinformationcreatesapovertyofattention
and a need to allocate that attention efficiently
among the overabundance of information sources
thatmightconsumeit.
—HERBERTSIMON,recipientofNobelMemorialPrize
inEconomics
8
andtheA.M.TuringAward,the
“NobelPrizeofComputerScience”
Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too
muchfromitscreativepursuits.Anymanwhoreads
toomuchanduseshisownbraintoolittlefallsinto
lazyhabitsofthinking.
—ALBERTEINSTEIN
Ihopeyou’resittingdown.Takethatsandwichoutofyourmouth
so you don’t choke. Cover the baby’s ears. I’m going to tell you
somethingthatupsetsalotofpeople.
Ineverwatchthenews and have boughtone single newspaper in
thelastfiveyears,inStanstedAirportinLondon,andonlybecauseit
gavemeadiscountonaDietPepsi.
IwouldclaimtobeAmish,butlasttimeIchecked,Pepsiwasn’ton
themenu.
F
How obscene! I call myself an informed and responsible citizen?
HowdoIstayup-to-datewithcurrentaffairs?I’llanswerallofthat,
butwait—itgetsbetter.Iusuallycheckbusinesse-mailforaboutan
houreachMonday,andInevercheckvoicemailwhenabroad.Never
ever.
But what if someone has an emergency? It doesn’t happen. My
contacts now know that I don’t respond to emergencies, so the
emergenciessomehowdon’texistordon’tcometome.Problems,asa
rule, solve themselves or disappear if you remove yourself as an
informationbottleneckandempowerothers.
CultivatingSelectiveIgnorance
Thereare many things of which awisemanmight
wishtobeignorant.
—RALPHWALDOEMERSON(1803–1882)
romthispointforward,I’mgoingtoproposethatyoudevelopan
uncannyabilitytobeselectivelyignorant.Ignorancemaybebliss,
but it is also practical. It is imperative that you learn to ignore or
redirect all information and interruptions that are irrelevant,
unimportant,orunactionable.Mostareallthree.
The first step is to develop and maintain a low-information diet.
Justasmodernmanconsumesbothtoomanycaloriesandcaloriesof
nonutritionalvalue,informationworkerseatdatabothinexcessand
fromthewrongsources.
Lifestyle design is based on massive action—output. Increased
output necessitates decreased input. Most information is time-
consuming, negative, irrelevant to your goals, and outside of your
influence. Ichallenge you to look at whatever youread or watched
todayandtellmethatitwasn’tatleasttwoofthefour.
Ireadthefront-pageheadlinesthroughthenewspapermachinesasI
walktoluncheachdayandnothingmore.Infiveyears,Ihaven’thad
a single problem due to this selective ignorance. It gives you
somethingnewtoasktherestofthepopulationinlieuofsmalltalk:
“Tellme,what’snewintheworld?”And,ifit’sthatimportant,you’ll
hearpeopletalkingaboutit.Usingmycribnotesapproachtoworld
affairs,Ialsoretainmorethansomeonewholosestheforestforthe
treesinaseaofextraneousdetails.
Fromanactionableinformationstandpoint,Iconsumeamaximum
of one-third of one industry magazine (Response magazine) and one
businessmagazine(Inc.)permonth,foragrandtotalofapproximately
four hours. That’s it for results-oriented reading. I read an hour of
fictionpriortobedforrelaxation.
HowonearthdoIactresponsibly?LetmegiveanexampleofhowI
andotherNRbothconsiderandobtaininformation.Ivotedinthelast
presidential election,
9
despite having been in Berlin. I made my
decisioninamatterofhours.First,Isente-mailstoeducatedfriends
intheU.S.whosharemyvaluesandaskedthemwhotheywerevoting
forandwhy.Second,Ijudgepeoplebasedonactionsandnotwords;
thus,Iaskedfriendsin Berlin, who hadmore perspective outside of
U.S. media propaganda, how they judged the candidates based on
theirhistoricalbehavior.Last,Iwatchedthepresidentialdebates.That
wasit.Iletotherdependablepeoplesynthesizehundredsofhoursand
thousands of pages of media for me. It was like having dozens of
personalinformationassistants,andIdidn’thavetopaythemasingle
cent.
That’sasimpleexample,yousay,butwhatifyouneedtolearnto
dosomethingyourfriendshaven’tdone?Like,say,sellabooktothe
world’slargestpublisherasafirst-timeauthor?Funnyyoushouldask.
TherearetwoapproachesIused:
1.Ipickedonebookoutofdozensbasedonreaderreviewsand
thefactthattheauthorshadactuallydonewhatIwantedtodo.If
thetaskishow-toinnature,Ionlyreadaccountsthatare“howI
did it” and autobiographical. No speculators or wannabes are
worththetime.
2.Usingthebooktogenerateintelligentandspecificquestions,I
contacted10ofthetopauthorsandagentsintheworldviae-mail
andphone,witharesponserateof80%.
T
Ionlyreadthesectionsofthebookthatwererelevanttoimmediate
nextsteps,whichtooklessthantwohours.Todevelopatemplatee-
mailandcallscripttookapproximatelyfourhours,andtheactuale-
mails and phone calls took less than an hour. This personal contact
approachisnot onlymore effectiveand moreefficient thanall-you-
can-eat info buffets, it also provided me with the major league
alliances and mentors necessary to sell this book. Rediscover the
poweroftheforgottenskillcalled“talking.”Itworks.
Onceagain,lessismore.
HowtoRead200%Fasterin10Minutes
herewillbetimeswhen,it’strue,youwillhavetoread.Here
arefour simpletips that willlessen thedamage and increase
your speed at least 200% in 10 minutes with no comprehension
loss:
1.TwoMinutes:Useapenorfingertotraceundereach
lineasyoureadasfastaspossible.Readingisaseriesof
jumping snapshots (called saccades), and using a visual
guidepreventsregression.
2. Three Minutes: Begin each line focusing on the third
wordinfromthefirstword,andendeachlinefocusing
onthethirdwordinfromthelastword.Thismakesuse
ofperipheralvisionthatisotherwisewastedonmargins.For
example,evenwhenthehighlightedwordsinthenextline
are your beginning and ending focal points, the entire
sentenceis“read,”justwithlesseyemovement:
“Onceuponatime,aninformationaddictdecidedtodetox.”
Moveinfrombothsidesfurtherandfurtherasitgetseasier.
3. Two Minutes: Once comfortable indenting three or
four words from both sides, attempt to take only two
snapshots—alsoknownasfixations—perlineonthefirst
andlastindentedwords.
4. Three Minutes: Practice reading too fast for
comprehension but with good technique (the above
three techniques) for five pages prior to reading at a
comfortablespeed.Thiswillheightenperceptionandreset
yourspeedlimit,muchlikehow50mphnormallyfeelsfast
butseemslikeslowmotionifyoudropdownfrom70mph
onthefreeway.
Tocalculatereadingspeedinwordsperminute(wpm)—andthus
progress—inagivenbook,addupthenumberofwordsintenlines
anddividebytentogettheaveragewordsperline.Multiplythisby
thenumberoflinesperpageandyouhavetheaveragewordsper
page.Nowit’ssimple.Ifyouinitiallyread1.25pagesinoneminute
at 330average words per page, that’s 412.5 words per minute. If
youthenread3.5pagesaftertraining,it’s1,155wordsperminute
andyou’reinthetop1%oftheworld’sfastestreaders.
Q&A:QUESTIONSANDACTIONS
Learningtoignorethingsisoneofthegreatpathsto
innerpeace.
—ROBERTJ.SAWYER,CalculatingGod
1.Goonanimmediateone-weekmediafast.
The world doesn’t even hiccup, much less end, when you cut the
informationumbilicalcord.Torealizethis,it’sbesttousetheBand-
Aidapproachanddoitquickly:aone-weekmediafast.Informationis
toomuchlikeicecreamtodootherwise.“Oh,I’lljusthaveahalfa
spoonful” is about as realistic as “I just want to jump online for a
minute.”Gocoldturkey.
Ifyouwanttogobacktothe15,000-caloriepotatochipinformation
dietafterward,fine,butbeginningtomorrowandforatleastfivefull
days,herearetherules:
Nonewspapers,magazines,audiobooks,ornonmusicradio.Music
ispermittedatalltimes.
No news websites whatsoever (cnn.com, drudgereport.com,
msn.com,
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etc.).
Notelevisionatall,exceptforonehourofpleasureviewingeach
evening.
Noreadingbooks,exceptforthisbookandonehouroffiction
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pleasurereadingpriortobed.
No web surfingat thedesk unless itis necessaryto complete a
work task for that day. Necessary means necessary, not nice to
have.
Unnecessary reading is public enemy number one during this one-
weekfast.
Whatdoyoudowithalltheextratime?Replacethenewspaperat
breakfastwithspeakingtoyourspouse,bondingwithyourchildren,
or learningthe principles in this book.Between 9–5, complete your
topprioritiesasperthelastchapter.Ifyoucompletethemwithtime
tospare,dotheexercisesinthisbook.Recommendingthisbookmight
seemhypocritical,butit’snot:Theinformationinthesepagesisboth
importantandtobeappliednow,nottomorroworthedayafter.
Eachdayatlunchbreak,andnoearlier,getyourfive-minutenews
fix. Ask a well-informedcolleague ora restaurantwaiter, “Anything
important happening in the world today? I couldn’t get the paper
today.”Stopthisassoonasyourealizethattheanswerdoesn’taffect
youractionsatall.Mostpeoplewon’tevenrememberwhattheyspent
onetotwohoursabsorbingthatmorning.
Bestrictwithyourself.Icanprescribethemedicine,butyouneedto
takeit.
Download the Firefox web browser (www.firefox.com) and use
LeechBlocktoblockcertainsitesentirelyforsetperiods.Fromtheir
site(http://www.proginosko.com/leechblock.html):
You can specify up to six sets of sites to block, with different
timesanddaysforeachset.Youcanblocksiteswithinfixedtime
periods(e.g.,between9amand5pm),afteratimelimit(e.g.,10
minutesineveryhour),orwithacombinationoftimeperiodsand
timelimit(e.g.,10minutesineveryhourbetween9amand5pm).
Youcanalsosetapasswordforaccesstotheextensionoptions,
justtoslowyoudowninmomentsofweakness!
2.Developthehabitofaskingyourself,“WillIdefinitelyusethis
informationforsomethingimmediateandimportant?”
It’snotenoughtouseinformationfor“something”—itneedstobe
immediateandimportant.If“no”oneithercount,don’tconsumeit.
Informationisuselessifitisnotappliedtosomethingimportantor
ifyouwillforgetitbeforeyouhaveachancetoapplyit.
Iusedtohavethehabitofreadingabookorsitetoprepareforan
eventweeksormonthsinthefuture,andIwouldthenneedto
rereadthesamematerialwhenthedeadlineforactionwascloser.
Thisisstupidandredundant.Followyourto-doshortlistandfillin
theinformationgapsasyougo.
FocusonwhatdigeratiKathySierracalls“just-in-time”
informationinsteadof“just-in-case”information.
3.Practicetheartofnonfinishing.
Thisisanotheronethattookmealongtimetolearn.Starting
somethingdoesn’tautomaticallyjustifyfinishingit.
Ifyouarereadinganarticlethatsucks,putitdownanddon’tpick
itbackup.Ifyougotoamovieandit’sworsethanMatrixIII,get
thehelloutoftherebeforemoreneuronsdie.Ifyou’refullafterhalf
aplateofribs,putthedamnforkdownanddon’torderdessert.
Moreisnotbetter,andstoppingsomethingisoften10times
betterthanfinishingit.Developthehabitofnonfinishingthatwhich
isboringorunproductiveifabossisn’tdemandingit.
COMFORTCHALLENGE
GetPhoneNumbers(2Days)
Beingsuretomaintaineyecontact,askforthephonenumbersofat
leasttwo(themoreyouattempt,thelessstressfulitwillbe)attractive
membersoftheoppositesexoneachday.Girls,thismeansyou’rein
thegameaswell,anditdoesn’tmatterifyou’re50+.Rememberthat
therealgoalisnottogetnumbers,buttogetoverthefearofasking,
sotheoutcomeisunimportant.Ifyou’reinarelationship,signupto
(or pretend to) gather information for Greenpeace. Just toss the
numbersifyougetthem.
Go to a mall if you want to get some rapid-fire practice—my
preference for getting over the discomfort quickly—and aim to ask
three people in a row within five minutes. Feel free to use some
variationofthefollowingscript:
“Excuseme.Iknowthisisgoingtosoundstrange,butifIdon’task
younow,I’llbekickingmyselffortherestoftheday.I’mrunningto
meetafriend[i.e.,Ihavefriendsandamnotastalker],butIthink
you’re really [extremely, drop-dead] cute [gorgeous, hot]. Could I
haveyourphonenumber?I’mnotapsycho—Ipromise.Youcangive
meafakeoneifyou’renotinterested.”
8. Simon received the Nobel Prize in 1978 for his contribution to
organizational decision making: It is impossible to have perfect and
completeinformationatanygiventimetomakeadecision.
9.2004atthetimethiswaswritten.
10.LOL.
11.Assomeonewhoreadexclusivelynonfictionfornearly15years,I
can tell you two things: It’s not productive to read two fact-based
booksatthesametime(thisisone),andfictionisbetterthansleeping
pillsforputtingthehappeningsofthedaybehindyou.
InterruptingInterruptionandthe
ArtofRefusal
Do your ownthinking independently. Be the chess
player,notthechesspiece.
—RALPHCHARELL
Meetings are an addictive, highly self-indulgent
activity that corporations and other organizations
habitually engage in only because they cannot
actuallymasturbate.
—DAVEBARRY,PulitzerPrize–winningAmerican
humorist
SPRING2000,PRINCETON,NEWJERSEY
1:35P.M.
“I think Iunderstand. Moving on.In thenext paragraph, itexplains
that…”Ihaddetailednotesanddidn’twanttomissasinglepoint.
3:45P.M.
“OK.Thatmakessense,butifwelookatthefollowingexample…”I
paused for a momentmid-sentence. Theteaching assistanthad both
handsonhisface.
“Tim, let’s end here for now. I’ll be sure to keep these points in
mind.”Hehadhadenough.Metoo,butIknewI’donlyhavetodoit
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once.
orallfouryearsofschool,Ihadapolicy.IfIreceivedanythingless
thananAonthefirstpaperornon-multiple-choicetestinagiven
class,Iwouldbring2–3hoursofquestionstothegrader’soffice
hoursandnotleaveuntiltheotherhadansweredthemallorstopped
outofexhaustion.
Thisservedtwoimportantpurposes:
1. Ilearnedexactlyhowthegraderevaluatedwork,includinghisor
herprejudicesandpetpeeves.
2. Thegraderwouldthinklongandhardaboutevergivingmeless
thananA.Heorshewouldneverconsidergivingmeabadgrade
withoutexceptional reasons fordoing so,as heorshe knewI’d
comea’knockingforanotherthree-hourvisit.
Learnto be difficultwhen it counts.Inschool asin life,having a
reputation for being assertive will help you receive preferential
treatmentwithouthavingtobegorfightforiteverytime.
Thinkbacktoyourdaysontheplayground.Therewasalwaysabig
bullyandcountlessvictims,buttherewasalsothatonesmallkidwho
fought like hell, thrashing and swinging for the fences. He or she
mightnothavewon,butafteroneortwoexhaustingexchanges,the
bullychose notto botherhim or her.Itwas easierto findsomeone
else.
Bethatkid.
Doing the important and ignoring the trivial is hard because so
much of the world seems to conspire to force crap upon you.
Fortunately,afewsimpleroutinechangesmakebotheringyoumuch
morepainfulthanleavingyouinpeace.
It’stimetostoptakinginformationabuse.
NotAllEvilsAreCreatedEqual
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orourpurposes,aninterruptionisanythingthatpreventsthestart-to-
finishcompletionofacriticaltask,andtherearethreeprincipal
offenders:
1. Timewasters:thosethingsthatcanbeignoredwithlittleorno
consequence. Common time wasters include meetings,
discussions, phone calls, web surfing, and e-mail that are
unimportant.
2. Time consumers: repetitive tasks or requests that need to be
completedbutofteninterrupthigh-levelwork.Hereareafewyou
mightknowintimately:readingandrespondingtoe-mail,making
andreturningphonecalls,customerservice(orderstatus,product
assistance,etc.),financialorsalesreporting,personalerrands,all
necessaryrepeatedactionsandtasks.
3. Empowerment failures: instances where someone needs
approvaltomake somethingsmall happen.Here arejust afew:
fixing customer problems (lost shipments, damaged shipments,
malfunctions, etc.), customer contact, cash expenditures of all
types.
Let’slookattheprescriptionsforallthreeinturn.
TimeWasters:BecomeanIgnoramus
Thebestdefenseisagoodoffense.
—DANGABLE,Olympicgoldmedalistinwrestlingand
themostsuccessfulcoachinhistory;personal
record:299–6–3,with182pins
imewastersaretheeasiesttoeliminateanddeflect.Itisamatter
of limiting access and funneling all communication toward
immediateaction.
First,limite-mailconsumptionandproduction.Thisisthegreatest
singleinterruptioninthemodernworld.
1. Turn off the audible alert if you have one on Outlook or a
similar program and turn off automatic send/receive, which
deliverse-mailtoyourinboxassoonassomeonesendsthem.
2. Checke-mailtwiceperday,onceat12:00noonorjustpriorto
lunch,andagain at 4:00P.M.12:00P.M. and 4:00P.M. aretimes
thatensureyouwillhavethemostresponsesfrompreviouslysent
e-mail. Never check e-mail first thing in the morning.
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Instead,
complete your most important task before 11:00 A.M. to avoid
usinglunchorreadinge-mailasapostponementexcuse.
LIGHT GRAY INDICATES TIME AVAILABLE FOR HIGH-PRIORITY TASKS. Courtesy of
SANDIA
Beforeimplementingthetwice-dailyroutine,youmustcreateane-
mailautoresponsethatwilltrainyourboss,co-workers,suppliers,and
clientstobemoreeffective.Iwouldrecommendthatyoudonotaskto
implement this. Remember one of our ten commandments: Beg for
forgiveness;don’taskforpermission.
If this gives you heart palpitations, speak with your immediate
supervisor and propose to trial the approach for one to three days.
Cite pending projects and frustration with constant interruptions as
thereasons.Feelfreetoblameitonspamorsomeoneoutsideofthe
office.
Hereisasimplee-mailtemplatethatcanbeused:
Greetings,Friends[orEsteemedColleagues],
Due to high workload, I am currently checking and
respondingtoe-mailtwicedailyat12:00p.m.ET[oryourtime
zone]and4:00p.m.ET.
If you require urgent assistance (please ensure it is urgent)
that cannot wait until either 12:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m., please
contactmeviaphoneat555–555–5555.
Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency
and effectiveness. It helps me accomplish more to serve you
better.
Sincerely,
TimFerriss
MOVE TO ONCE-PER-DAY as quickly as possible. Emergenciesare seldom
that.Peoplearepoorjudgesofimportanceandinflateminutiaetofill
time and feel important. This autoresponse is a tool that, far from
decreasing collective effectiveness, forces people to re-evaluate their
reasonforinterruptingyouandhelpsthemdecreasemeaninglessand
time-consumingcontact.
I was initially terrified of missing important requests and inviting
disaster, just as you might be upon reading this recommendation.
Nothing happened.Give it a shot and work out the small bumpsas
youprogress.
Foranextremeexampleofapersonalautoresponderthathasnever
promptedacomplaintandallowedmetochecke-mailonceperweek,
send an e-mail to template@fourhourworkweek.com. It has been
revisedoverthreeyearsandworkslikeacharm.
The second step is to screen incoming and limit outgoing phone
calls.
1. Use two telephone numbers if possible—one office line (non
urgent) and one cellular (urgent). This could also be two cell
phones,orthenon-urgentlinecouldbeanInternetphonenumber
that routes calls to online voicemail (www.skype.com, for
example).
Usethecellnumberinthee-mailautoresponseandansweritat
alltimesunlessitis an unknown caller or itis a call youdon’t
wanttoanswer.Ifindoubt,allowthecalltogotovoicemailand
listen to the voicemail immediately afterward to gauge
importance.Ifitcanwait,letitwait.Theoffendingpartieshave
tolearntowait.
Theofficephoneshouldbeputonsilentmodeandallowedto
go to voicemail at all times. The voicemail recording should
soundfamiliar:
You’vereachedthedeskofTimFerriss.
Iamcurrentlycheckingandrespondingtovoicemailtwice
dailyat12:00p.m.ET[oryourtimezone]and4:00p.m.ET.
If you require assistance with a truly urgent matter that
cannot wait until either 12:00 p.m. or 4:00 p.m., please
contact me on my cell at 555–555–5555.Otherwise, please
leaveamessageandIwillreturnitatthenextofthosetwo
times.Besuretoleaveyoure-mailaddress,asIamoftenable
torespondfasterthatway.
Thankyouforunderstandingthismovetomoreefficiency
andeffectiveness.Ithelpsmeaccomplishmoretoserveyou
better.
Haveawonderfulday.
2.Ifsomeonedoescallyourcellphone,itispresumablyurgent
and should be treated as such. Do not allow them to consume
timeotherwise.It’sallinthegreeting.Comparethefollowing:
Jane(receiver):Hello?
John(caller):Hi,isthisJane?
Jane:ThisisJane.
John:Hi,Jane,it’sJohn.
Jane:Oh,hi,John.Howareyou?(or)Oh,hi,John.What’s
goingon?
John will now digress and lead you into a conversation about
nothing,fromwhichyouwill have torecoverand then fish out
theultimatepurposeofthecall.Thereisabetterapproach:
Jane:ThisisJanespeaking.
John:Hi,it’sJohn.
Jane: Hi, John. I’m right inthe middle of something. How
canIhelpyouout?
Potentialcontinuation:
John:Oh,Icancallback.
Jane:No,Ihaveaminute.WhatcanIdoforyou?
Don’t encouragepeople to chitchat anddon’t let them chitchat.
Get them to the point immediately. If they meander or try to
postponeforalaterundefinedcall,reeltheminandgetthemto
cometothepoint.Iftheygointoalongdescriptionofaproblem,
cutinwith,“[Name],sorrytointerrupt,butIhaveacallinfive
minutes. What can I do to help out?” You might instead say,
“[Name],sorrytointerrupt,butIhaveacallinfiveminutes.Can
yousendmeane-mail?”
Thethirdstepistomastertheartofrefusalandavoidingmeetings.
THEFIRSTDAYournewSalesVParrivedatTrueSANin2001,hecame
into the all-company meeting and made an announcement in just
aboutthismanywords:“Iamnotheretomakefriends.Ihavebeen
hiredtobuildasalesteamandsellproduct,andthat’swhatIintend
todo.Thanks.”Somuchforsmalltalk.
He proceeded to deliver on his promise. The office socializers
disliked him for his no-nonsense approach to communication, but
everyone respectedhis time. He wasn’trude without reason,but he
was direct and kept the people around him focused. Some didn’t
consider him charismatic, but no one considered him anything less
thanspectacularlyeffective.
I remember sitting down in his office for our first one-on-one
meeting. Fresh off four years of rigorous academic training, I
immediately jumped into explaining the prospect profiles, elaborate
planning I’d developed, responses to date, and soforth andso on. I
hadspentatleasttwohourspreparingtomakethisfirstimpressiona
goodone.Helistenedwithasmileonhisfacefornomorethantwo
minutes andthen held up a hand. I stopped. He laughed in a kind-
hearted mannerand said, “Tim,I don’t want the story. Just tell me
whatweneedtodo.”
Overthe followingweeks,hetrainedmetorecognizewhenI was
unfocusedorfocusedonthewrongthings,whichmeantanythingthat
didn’tmovethetoptwoorthreeclientsonestepclosertosigninga
purchase order. Our meetings were now no more than five minutes
long.
From this moment forward, resolve to keep those around you
focusedandavoidallmeetings,whetherinpersonorremote,thatdo
nothaveclearobjectives.Itispossibletodothistactfully,butexpect
that some time wasters will be offended the first few times their
advancesarerejected.Onceitisclearthatremainingontaskisyour
policyandnotsubjecttochange,theywillacceptitandmoveonwith
life.Hardfeelingspass.Don’tsufferfoolsoryou’llbecomeone.
Itisyourjobtotrainthosearoundyoutobeeffectiveandefficient.No
oneelsewilldoitforyou.Hereareafewrecommendations:
1. Decide that, given the non-urgent nature of most issues, you
willsteerpeopletowardthefollowingmeansofcommunication,
inorderofpreference:e-mail,phone,andin-personmeetings.If
someoneproposesameeting,requestane-mailinsteadandthen
use the phone as your fallback offer if need be. Cite other
immediatelypendingworktasksasthereason.
2.Respondtovoicemailviae-mailwheneverpossible.Thistrains
peopletobeconcise.Helpthemdevelopthehabit.
Similar to our opening greeting on the phone, e-mail
communication should be streamlinedto preventneedless back-
and-forth. Thus, an e-mail with “Can you meet at 4:00 P.M.?”
would become “Can you meet at 4:00 P.M.? If so If not, please
advisethreeothertimesthatworkforyou.”
This “if … then” structure becomes more important as you
checke-maillessoften.SinceIonlychecke-mailonceaweek,it
is critical that no one needs a “what if?” answered or other
informationwithinsevendaysofagivene-mailIsend.IfIsuspect
thatamanufacturingorderhasn’tarrivedattheshippingfacility,
forexample,I’llsendane-mail tomyshippingfacilitymanager
along these lines: “Dear Susan … Has the new manufacturing
shipment arrived? If so, please advise me on … If not, please
contactJohnDoeat555–5555orviae-mailatjohn@doe.com(he
is also CC’d) and advise on delivery date and tracking. John, if
there are any issues with the shipment, please coordinate with
Susan, reachable at 555–4444, who has the authority to make
decisionsupto$500onmybehalf.Incaseofemergency,callme
on my cell phone, but I trust you two. Thanks.” This prevents
most follow-up questions, avoids two separate dialogues, and
takesmeoutoftheproblem-solvingequation.
Getintothehabitofconsideringwhat“if…then”actionscan
beproposedinanye-mailwhereyouaskaquestion.
3. Meetings should only be held to make decisions about a
predefined situation, not to define the problem. If someone
proposesthatyou meet withthem or“set atime totalk on the
phone,”askthatpersontosendyouane-mailwithanagendato
definethepurpose:
That sounds doable. So I can best prepare, can you please
send mean e-mail with anagenda? That is,the topics and
questionswe’llneedtoaddress?Thatwouldbegreat.Thanks
inadvance.
Don’tgivethemachancetobailout.The“thanksinadvance”
beforearetortincreasesyourchancesofgettingthee-mail.
Thee-mailmediumforcespeopletodefinethedesiredoutcome
of a meeting or call. Nine times out of ten, a meeting is
unnecessaryandyoucananswerthequestions,oncedefined,via
e-mail. Impose this habit on others. I haven’t had an in-person
meeting for my business in more than five years and have had
fewer than a dozen conference calls, all lasting less than 30
minutes.
4. Speaking of 30 minutes, if you absolutely cannot stop a
meetingorcallfromhappening,definetheendtime.Donotleave
thesediscussionsopen-ended,andkeepthemshort.Ifthingsare
well-defined, decisions should not take more than 30 minutes.
Cite other commitments at odd times to make them more
believable(e.g.,3:20vs.3:30)andforcepeopletofocusinsteadof
socializing, commiserating, and digressing. If you must join a
meeting that is scheduled to last a long time or that is open-
ended, inform the organizer that you would like permission to
coveryourportionfirst,asyouhaveacommitmentin15minutes.
If you have to, feign an urgent phone call. Get the hell out of
thereandhavesomeoneelseupdateyoulater.Theotheroptionis
to be completely transparent and voice your opinion of how
unnecessarythemeetingis.Ifyouchoosethisroute,beprepared
tofacefireandofferalternatives.
5.Thecubicleisyourtemple—don’tpermitcasualvisitors.Some
suggest using a clear “do not disturb” sign of some type, but I
have found that this is ignored unless you have an office. My
approachwastoputheadphoneson,evenifIwasn’tlisteningto
anything.Ifsomeoneapproachedmedespitethisdiscouragement,
Iwouldpretendtobeonthephone.I’dputafingertomylips,
saysomethinglike,“Ihearyou,”andthensayintothemic,“Can
youholdonasecond?”Next,I’dturntotheinvaderandsay,“Hi.
WhatcanIdoforyou?”Iwouldn’tletthem“getbacktome”but
rather force the person to give me a five-second summary and
thensendmeane-mailifnecessary.
Ifheadphonegamesaren’tyourthing,thereflexiveresponseto
aninvadershouldbethesameaswhenansweringthecellphone:
“Hi,invader.I’mrightinthemiddleofsomething.HowcanIbe
ofhelp?”Ifit’snotclearwithin30seconds,askthepersontosend
youane-mailaboutthechosenissue;donotoffertosendthem
ane-mailfirst:“I’llbehappytohelp,butIhavetofinishthisfirst.
Canyousendmeaquicke-mailtoremindme?”Ifyoustillcannot
deflect an invader, give the person a time limit on your
availability,whichcanalsobeusedforphoneconversations:“OK,
Ionlyhavetwominutesbeforeacall,butwhat’sthesituationand
whatcanIdotohelp?”
6. Use the Puppy Dog Close to help your superiors and others
developtheno-meetinghabit.ThePuppyDogCloseinsalesisso
named because it is based on the pet store sales approach: If
someone likes a puppy but is hesitant to make the life-altering
purchase,just offerto letthem take thepup homeand bringit
back if they change their minds. Of course, the return seldom
happens.
The Puppy Dog Close is invaluable whenever you face
resistancetopermanentchanges.Getyourfootinthedoorwitha
“let’sjusttryitonce”reversibletrial.
Comparethefollowing:
“I think you’d love this puppy. It will forever add to your
responsibilities until he dies 10 years from now. No more
care-freevacations,andyou’llfinallygettopickuppoopall
overthecity—whatdoyouthink?”
vs.
I
Now imagine walking up to your boss in the hallway and
clappingahandonhershoulder:
“I’dliketogotothemeeting,butIhaveabetteridea.Let’s
neverhaveanotherone,sinceallwedoiswastetimeandnot
decideanythinguseful.”
vs.
Thesecondsetofalternativesseemlesspermanent,andthey’re
intended to appear so. Repeat this routine and ensure that you
achievemoreoutsideofthemeetingthantheattendeesdowithin
it; repeat the disappearing act as often as possible and cite
improved productivity to convert this slowly into a permanent
routinechange.
Learn to imitate any good child: “Just this once! Please!!! I
promiseI’lldoX!”Parentsfallforitbecausekidshelpadultsto
fool themselves. It works with bosses, suppliers, customers, and
therestoftheworld,too.
Useit,butdon’tfallforit.Ifabossasksforovertime“justthis
once,”heorshewillexpectitinthefuture.
TimeConsumers:BatchandDoNotFalter
Ascheduledefendsfromchaosandwhim.
—ANNIEDILLARD,winnerofPulitzerPrizein
nonfiction,1975
fyouhaveneverusedacommercialprinterbefore,thepricingand
leadtimescouldsurpriseyou.
Let’s assume it costs $310 and takes one week to print 20
customizedT-shirtswith4-colorlogos.Howmuchandhowlongdoes
ittaketoprint3ofthesameT-shirt?
$310andoneweek.
How is that possible? Simple—the setup charges don’t change. It
coststheprinterthesameamountinmaterialsfor plate preparation
($150)andthesameinlabortomanthepressitself($100).Thesetup
is the real time-consumer, and thus the job, despite its small size,
needstobescheduledjustliketheother,resultinginthesameone-
weekdeliverydate.Thelowereconomyofscalepicksuptherest:The
costfor3shirtsis$20pershirtx3shirtsinsteadof$3pershirtx20
shirts.
Thecost-andtime-effectivesolution,therefore,istowaituntilyou
have a larger order,an approachcalled “batching.”Batching isalso
thesolutiontoourdistractingbutnecessarytime consumers, those
repetitivetasksthatinterruptthemostimportant.
If you check mail and make bill payments five times a week, it
mighttake30minutesperinstanceandyourespondtoatotalof20
lettersintwoandahalfhours.Ifyoudothisonceperweekinstead,it
might take 60 minutes total and you still respond to a total of 20
letters.People dothe formerout of fear ofemergencies. First, there
are seldom real emergencies. Second, of the urgent communication
youwillreceive,missingadeadlineisusuallyreversibleandotherwise
costsaminimumtocorrect.
Thereisaninescapablesetuptimeforalltasks,largeorminuscule
inscale.Itisoftenthesameforoneasitisforahundred.Thereisa
psychologicalswitchingofgearsthatcanrequireupto45minutesto
resumeamajortaskthathasbeeninterrupted.Morethanaquarterof
each9–5period(28%)isconsumedbysuchinterruptions.
13
This is true of all recurring tasks and is precisely why we have
already decided to check e-mail and phone calls twice per day at
specificpredeterminedtimes(betweenwhichweletthemaccumulate).
Frommid-2004to2007,Icheckedmailnomorethanonceaweek,
oftennotforuptofourweeksatatime.Nothingwasirreparable,and
nothing cost more than $300 to fix. This batching has saved me
hundredsofhoursofredundantwork.Howmuchisyourtimeworth?
Let’suseahypotheticalexample:
1. $20 per houris howmuch you are paid orvalue yourtime.
Thiswouldbethecase,forexample,ifyouarepaid$40,000per
yearandgettwoweeksofvacationperyear($40,000dividedby
[40hoursperweekx50=2,000]=$20/hour).Estimateyour
hourlyincomebycuttingthelastthreezeroesoffofyourannual
incomeandhalvingtheremainingnumber(e.g.,$50,000/yearp
$25/hour.
2.Estimatetheamountoftimeyouwillsavebygroupingsimilar
tasks together and batching them, andcalculate how much you
have earned by multiplying this hour number by your per-hour
rate($20here):
3.Testeachoftheabovebatchingfrequenciesanddeterminehow
muchproblemscosttofixineachperiod.Ifthecostislessthan
theabovedollaramounts,batchevenfurtherapart.
Forexample,usingourabovemath,ifIchecke-mailonceper
weekand that resultsinan averageloss oftwosales per week,
totaling$80inlostprofit,Iwillcontinuecheckingonceperweek
because $200 (10 hours of time) minus $80 is still a $120 net
gain,not tomention the enormousbenefits of completingother
main tasks in those10 hours.If you calculate the financialand
emotional benefit of completing just one main task (such as
landing a major client or completing a life-changing trip), the
valueofbatchingismuchmorethantheper-hoursavings.
Iftheproblemscostmorethanhourssaved,scalebacktothe
next-less-frequentbatchschedule.Inthiscase,Iwoulddropfrom
onceperweektotwiceperweek(notdaily)andattempttofixthe
systemsothatIcanreturntoonceperweek.Donotworkharder
when the solution is working smarter. I have batched both
personal and business tasks further and further apart as I’ve
realized just how few real problems come up. Some of my
scheduled batches in 2007 were e-mail (Mondays 10:00 A.M.),
phone (completely eliminated), laundry (every other Sunday at
10:00P.M.),creditcardsandbills(mostareonautomaticpayment,
E
butIcheckbalanceseverysecondMondayaftere-mail),strength
training(every4thdayfor30minutes),etc.
EmpowermentFailure:Rulesand
Readjustment
The vision is really about empowering workers,
givingthemalltheinformationaboutwhat’sgoing
onso they candoalotmorethanthey’vedonein
thepast.
—BILLGATES,cofounderofMicrosoft,richestmanin
theworld
mpowermentfailure referstobeing unableto accomplish atask
withoutfirstobtainingpermissionorinformation.Itisoftenacase
of being micromanaged or micromanaging someone else, both of
whichconsumeyourtime.
For the employee, the goal is to have full access to necessary
information and as much independent decision-making ability as
possible. For the entrepreneur, the goal is to grant as much
informationandindependentdecision-makingabilitytoemployeesor
contractorsaspossible.
Customerserviceisoftentheepitomeofempowermentfailure,and
a personal example from BrainQUICKEN illustrates just how serious
buteasilysolvedtheproblemcanbe.
In2002,Ihadoutsourcedcustomerserviceforordertrackingand
returnsbutstillhandledproduct-relatedquestionsmyself.Theresult?
Ireceivedmorethan200e-mailperday,spendingallhoursbetween
9–5 responding to them, and the volume was growing at a rate of
more than 10% per week! I had to cancel advertising and limit
shipments,as additional customer servicewouldhavebeenthefinal
nailinthecoffin.Itwasn’tascalablemodel.Rememberthisword,asit
will be important later. It wasn’t scalable because there was an
informationanddecisionbottleneck:me.
Theclincher?Thebulkofthee-mailthatlandedinmyinboxwas
notproduct-relatedatallbutrequestsfromtheoutsourcedcustomer
servicerepsseekingpermissionfordifferentactions:
Thecustomerclaimshedidn’treceivetheshipment.Whatshould
wedo?
The customerhad a bottle held at customs. Can we reship toa
U.S.address?
The customer needs the product for a competition in two days.
Canweshipovernight,andifso,howmuchshouldwecharge?
Itwasendless.Hundredsuponhundredsofdifferentsituationsmadeit
impractical to write a manual, and I didn’t have the time or
experiencetodosoregardless.
Fortunately,someonedidhavetheexperience:theoutsourcedreps
themselves. I sent one single e-mail to all the supervisors that
immediatelyturned200e-mailperdayintofewerthan20e-mailper
week:
HiAll,
I would like to establish a new policy for my
accountthatoverridesallothers.
Keepthecustomer happy. Ifit isa problemthat
takeslessthan$100tofix,useyourjudgmentand
fixityourself.
Thisisofficialwrittenpermissionandarequestto
fix all problems that cost under $100 without
contacting me. I am no longer your customer; my
customers are your customer. Don’t ask me for
permission. Do what you think is right, and we’ll
makeadjustmentsaswegoalong.
Thankyou,
Tim
Upon close analysis, it became clear that more than 90% of the
issues that prompted e-mail could be resolved for less than $20. I
reviewedthefinancialresultsoftheirindependentdecision-makingon
a weekly basis forfour weeks,then a monthly basis, and then ona
quarterlybasis.
It’samazinghowsomeone’sIQseemstodoubleassoonasyougive
themresponsibilityandindicatethatyoutrustthem.Thefirstmonth
cost perhaps $200 more than if I had been micromanaging. In the
meantime,Isavedmorethan100hoursofmyowntimepermonth,
customersreceivedfasterservice,returnsdroppedtolessthan3%(the
industryaverage is 10–15%),andoutsourcersspentlesstimeon my
account,allofwhichresultedinrapidgrowth,higherprofitmargins,
andhappierpeopleonallsides.
People are smarter than you think. Give them a chance to prove
themselves.
If you are a micromanaged employee, have a heart-to-heart with
your boss and explain that you want to be more productive and
interrupthimorherless.“IhatethatIhavetointerruptyousomuch
andpullyouawayfrom moreimportantthingsI knowyouhaveon
yourplate.IwasdoingsomereadingandhadsomethoughtsonhowI
mightbemoreproductive.Doyouhaveasecond?”
Before this conversation, develop a number of “rules” like the
previousexamplethatwouldallowyoutoworkmoreautonomously
withlessapproval-seeking.Thebosscanreviewtheoutcomeofyour
decisions on a daily or weekly basis in the initial stages. Suggest a
one-weektrial andend with“I’d like totry it.Does thatsound like
somethingwecouldtryforaweek?”ormypersonalfavorite,“Isthat
reasonable?”It’shardforpeopletolabelthingsunreasonable.
Realize that bosses are supervisors, not slave masters. Establish
yourselfasaconsistentchallengerofthestatusquoandmostpeople
willlearntoavoidchallengingyou,particularlyifitisintheinterest
ofhigherper-hourproductivity.
Ifyou are amicromanaging entrepreneur,realize that evenif you
cando somethingbetter thanthe rest ofthe world,it doesn’tmean
that’swhatyoushouldbedoingifit’spartoftheminutiae.Empower
B
otherstoactwithoutinterruptingyou.
SETTHERULESinyourfavor:Limitaccesstoyourtime,forcepeopleto
define their requests before spending time with them, and batch
routine menial tasks to prevent postponement of more important
projects.Donotletpeopleinterruptyou.Findyourfocus andyou’ll
findyourlifestyle.
Thebottomlineisthatyouonlyhavetherightsyoufightfor.
Inthenextsection,Automation,we’llseehowtheNewRichcreate
management-freemoneyandeliminatethelargestremainingobstacle
ofall:themselves.
Q&A:QUESTIONSANDACTIONS
Peoplethinkitmustbefuntobeasupergenius,but
theydon’trealizehowharditistoputupwithall
theidiotsintheworld.
—CALVIN,fromCalvinandHobbes
lamingidiotsforinterruptionsislikeblamingclownsforscaring
children—they can’t help it. It’s their nature. Then again, I had
(who am I kidding—and have), on occasion, been known to create
interruptionsoutofthinair.Ifyou’reanythinglikeme,thatmakesus
both occasional idiots. Learn to recognizeand fight the interruption
impulse.
Thisisinfinitelyeasierwhenyouhaveasetofrules,responses,and
routinestofollow.Itisyourjobtopreventyourselfandothersfrom
letting the unnecessary and unimportant prevent the start-to-finish
completionoftheimportant.
Thischapterdiffersfromthepreviousinthatthenecessaryactions,
duetotheinclusionofexamplesandtemplates,havebeenpresented
throughoutfromstart to finish.This Q& A willthus bea summary
ratherthanarepetition.Thedevilisinthedetails,sobesuretoreread
thischapterforthespecifics.
The50,000-footreviewisasfollows:
1.Createsystemstolimityouravailabilityviae-mailandphone
anddeflectinappropriatecontact.
Gettheautoresponseandvoicemailscriptinplacenow,andmaster
thevariousmethodsofevasion.Replacethehabitof“Howare
you?”with“HowcanIhelpyou?”Getspecificandremember—no
stories.Focusonimmediateactions.Setandpracticeinterruption-
killingpolicies.
Avoidmeetingswheneverpossible:
Use e-mail instead of face-to-face meetings to
solveproblems.
Beg-off going (this can be accomplished
throughthePuppyDogClose).
Ifmeetingsareunavoidable,keepthefollowinginmind:
Goinwithaclearsetofobjectives.
Setanendtimeorleaveearly.
2.Batchactivitiestolimitsetupcostandprovidemoretimefor
dreamlinemilestones.
WhatcanIroutinizebybatching?Thatis,whattasks(whether
laundry,groceries,mail,payments,orsalesreporting,forexample)
canIallottoaspecifictimeeachday,week,month,quarter,oryear
sothatIdon’tsquandertimerepeatingthemmoreoftenthanis
absolutelynecessary?
3.Setorrequestautonomousrulesandguidelineswith
occasionalreviewofresults.
Eliminatethedecisionbottleneckforallthingsthatarenonfatalif
misperformed.Ifanemployee,believeinyourselfenoughtoaskfor
moreindependenceonatrialbasis.Havepractical“rules”prepared
andaskthebossforthesaleaftersurprisinghimorherwithan
impromptupresentation.RememberthePuppyDogClose—makeit
aone-timetrialandreversible.
Fortheentrepreneurormanager,giveothersthechancetoprove
themselves.Thelikelihoodofirreversibleorexpensiveproblemsis
minimalandthetimesavingsareguaranteed.Remember,profitis
onlyprofitabletotheextentthatyoucanuseit.Forthatyouneed
time.
TOOLSANDTRICKS
EliminatingPaperDistractions,CapturingEverything
Evernote(www.evernote.com)
This is perhapsthe mostimpressive tool I’vefound inthe lastyear,
introducedtomebysomeofthemostproductivetechnologistsinthe
world.Evernotehaseliminatedmorethan90%ofthepaperinmylife
andeliminatednearlyallofthemultipletabsIusedtoleaveopenin
webbrowsers,bothofwhichdistractedmetonoend.Itcanclearout
yourentireofficeclutterinonetothreehours.
Evernote allows you to easily capture information from anywhere
using whatever device is at hand,and everythingis then searchable
(read:findable)fromanywhere.Iuseitto:
Take photographs of everything I might want
to remember or find later—business cards,
handwritten notes, wine labels, receipts,
whiteboard sessions, and more. Evernote
identifies the text in all of these pictures
automatically,soit’sallsearchable(!),whether
fromaniPhone,yourlaptop,ortheweb.Just
as one example, I can store and find the
contactinformationfromanybusinesscardin
seconds(oftenusingthebuiltiniSightcamera
on Mac to capture it), rather than spending
hoursinputtingitallintocontactsorsearching
throughe-mailforthatlostphonenumber.It’s
mind-numbinghowmuchtimethissaves.
Scan all agreements, paper articles, etc., that
would otherwise sit in file folders or on my
desk. I use the Mac Fujitsu ScanSnap
miniscanner (http://bit.ly/scansnapmac), the
bestI’vefound,whichscansallofitdirectlyto
Evernoteinsecondswithonebutton.
Take snapshots of websites, capturing all text
andlinks,sothatIcanreadthemofflinewhen
travelingordoinglaterresearch.Getridofall
thosescatteredbookmarks,favorites,andopen
tabs.
ScreeningandAvoidingUnwantedCalls
GrandCentral (www.grandcentral.com) and YouMail
(www.youmail.com)
Inaworldwhereyourphysicaladdresswillchangemoreoftenthan
your cell phone number (and e-mail), it can be disastrous if your
number becomes public or gets in the wrong hands. Enter
GrandCentral, which will give you a number with the area code of
yourchoosingthatthenforwardstoyourownphone(s).Inowgivea
GrandCentral number to anyone besides family and close friends.
Someofthebenefits:
Identify any incoming number as unwanted,
andthatcallerwillthenheara“numbernotin
service”messagewhenattemptingtocallyou.
Customize your voicemail message to
individual callers (spouse, boss, colleague,
client, etc.) and listen in on messages as
they’rebeingleft,soyoucan“pickup”ifthe
message is worth the interruption. Call
recordingisalsoanoption.
Useanareacodeoutsideofyourhometownto
prevent people and companies from finding
and misusing addresses you’d prefer to keep
private.
Establish do-not-disturb hours, when calls are
routeddirectlytovoicemailwithnoring.
HavevoicemailsenttoyourcellphoneasSMS
(textmessages).
YouMail, another option, can also transcribe voicemails and send
them toyour phoneas textmessages. Gettingcalls while stuck in a
time-wasting meeting? No problem: Respond to voicemails via SMS
duringthemeetingsoyou’renotstuckreturningcallsafterward.
OneShot,OneKillSchedulingWithoutE-mailBack-and-Forth
Fewthingsareastime-consumingasschedulingviae-mail.PersonA:
“HowaboutTues.at3P.M.?”PersonB:“Icanmakeit.”PersonC:“I
have a meeting. How about Thurs.?” Person D: “I’m on a con-call.
Howabout10A.M.onFri.?”Usethesetoolstomakeschedulingsimple
andfastinsteadofanotherpart-timejob.
Doodle(www.doodle.com)
The best free tool I’ve found for herding cats (multiple people) for
scheduling without excessive e-mail. Create and poll in 30 seconds
with the proposed options and forward a link to everyone invited.
Check back a few hours later and you’ll have the best time for the
mostpeople.
TimeDriver(www.timedriver.com)
Let colleagues and clients self-schedule with you based on your
availability, which is determined by integration with Outlook or
GoogleCalendar.Embeda“schedulenow”buttonine-mailmessages
and you’ll never have to tell people when you can make a call or
meeting.Letthemseewhat’sopenandchoose.
ChoosingtheBestE-mailBatchingTimes
Xobni(www.xobni.com/special)
Xobni—inbox spelled backwards—is a free program for putting
Outlookonsteroids.Itoffersmanyfeatures,butthemostrelevantto
this chapter is its ability to identify “hotspots,” or periods of time
when you receive the bulk of e-mail from your most important
contacts.These“hotspots”arebatchingtimesthatwillenableyouto
keep critical contacts (clients, bosses, etc.) smiling even while you
reducecheckinge-mailto1–3timesperday.Itwillalsopopulateyour
contacts automatically by pulling phone numbers, addresses, etc.,
fromseparatee-mailburiedintheinbox.
E-mailingWithoutEnteringtheBlackHoleoftheInbox
Don’tentertheblackholeoftheinboxoffhoursbecauseyou’reafraid
you’ll forget something. Use these services instead to keep focused,
whether on completing a critical project or simply enjoying the
weekend.
Jott(www.jott.com)
Capturethoughts,createto-do’s,andsetreminderswithasimpletoll-
freephonecall.Theservicetranscribesyourmessage(15–30seconds)
ande-mailsittowhomeveryouwant,includingyourself,ortoyour
Google calendar for automatic scheduling. Jott also enables you to
post voice message links to Twitter (www.twitter.com), Facebook
(www.facebook.com),andotherservicesthattendtoconsumehoursif
youvisitthesitesthemselves.
Copytalk(www.copytalk.com)
Dictateanymessageuptofourminutesandhavethetranscriptione-
mailed to you within hours. Excellent for brainstorming, and the
accuracyisastounding.
PreventingWebBrowsingCompletely
Freedom(http://www.ibiblio.org/fred/freedom/)
Freedom is a free application that disables networking on an Apple
computerfor 1–480 mintues(up toeighthours) at atime.Freedom
will free you fromthe distractionsof the Internet, allowing you the
focustogetrealworkdone.
Freedomenforcesfreedom;arebootistheonlymethodforturning
Freedomoffbeforethetimelimityou’vesetforyourself.Thehassleof
rebooting means you’re less likely to cheat, and you’ll be more
productive.Experimentwiththesoftwareforshortperiodsoftimeat
first(30–60minutes.)
COMFORTCHALLENGE
RevisittheTerribleTwos(2Days)
Forthenexttwodays,doasallgoodtwo-year-oldsdoandsay“no”to
allrequests.Don’tbeselective.Refusetodoallthingsthatwon’tget
you immediately fired. Be selfish. As with the last exercise, the
objectiveisn’tanoutcome—inthiscase,eliminatingjustthosethings
that waste time—but the process: getting comfortable with saying
“no.”Potentialquestionstodeclineincludethefollowing:
Doyouhaveaminute?
Wanttoseeamovietonight/tomorrow?
CanyouhelpmewithX?
“No”shouldbeyourdefaultanswertoallrequests.Don’tmakeup
elaborateliesoryou’llgetcalledonthem.Asimple“Ireallycan’t—
sorry;I’vegottoomuchonmyplaterightnow”willdoasacatch-all
response.
LIFESTYLEDESIGNINACTION
Batchingtool—POBox:Thismightbestatingtheobvious,but
oneeasywaytoencouragebatchingofyourmailistouseaPO
Boxversusgettingmaildeliveredtoyourhouse.WegotourPO
Box to limit access to our physical address online, but it also
encouragesyoutogetthemaillessanddealwithitinbatch.Our
postofficehasrecyclingbins,soatleast60%ofthemaildoesn’t
even come home with us. For a while I was only getting and
managingthemailonceaweek,andIfoundnotonlydidittake
lesstimeoverall,Ididabetterjobmanagingitandgettingitout
of the way versus looking at it and setting it aside for future
followup.
—LAURATURNER
Forfamilies,thefour-hourworkweekdoesn’thavetomeanfour
monthsonasailboatintheCaribbeanunlessthat’stheirdream,
but even the simple ideal of having time to take a walk in the
parkeveryeveningorspendingweekendstogether,makestaking
actionstoimplementthisprogramworthwhile.
[There are many different approaches for making this work]:
Kidshave topromise they won’tbother Mommyin the evening
whilesheworksonthecomputer,thehusbandwatchesthekids
in the evening, both parents make plans once a week to have
someone take care of the kids, etc. Then close with the huge
payoff for the family of having more time to spend with each
other.
—ADRIENNEJENKINS
Whynotcombineamini-retirementwithdentistry(ormedical)
geoarbitrage and finance your trip with the savings? I lived in
Thailand for four months and got root canal treatment and a
crownfor⅓ofthepricethatitcostsinAustralia.Therearemany
upmarket clinics set up for “expats” and health travelers in
Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Goa, etc., with English-speaking
dentists.AndinEuropemanypeoplegotoPolandorHungary.To
research,justGoogle“dentist”andthecountryandyouwillcome
across practices advertising to foreigners. Talk to expats when
you’re in the country or on online chat forums for
recommendations.NowI’minAustraliaIstillcombinemytravels
withannualdentistcheckups—andthesavingsoftenfinancemy
airfare. Even between developed countries there are significant
costdifferences. Forexample France isfar cheaperthan theUK
and Australia is cheaper than the U.S. [Note from Tim: Learn
more about the incredible world of medical tourism and
geoarbitrage at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_tourism.
Even large insurers like AETNA often cover overseas treatments
andsurgeries.]
—ANONYMOUS
12.Thishabitalonecanchangeyourlife.Itseemssmallbuthasan
enormouseffect.
13.JonathanB.SpiraandJoshuaB.Feintuch,TheCostofNotPaying
Attention: How Interruptions Impact Knowledge Worker Productivity
(Basex,2005).
StepIII:
AisforAutomation
SCOTTY:She’sallyours,sir.Allsystems
automatedandready.Achimpanzee
andtwotraineescouldrunher!
CAPTAINKIRK:Thankyou,Mr.Scott.I’ll
trynottotakethatpersonally.
—STARTREK
OutsourcingLife
OFF-LOADINGTHERESTANDATASTEOFGEOARBITRAGE
14
Amanisrichinproportiontothenumberofthings
hecanaffordtoletalone.
—HENRYDAVIDTHOREAU,naturalist
IfItoldyouthisstory,youwouldn’tbelieveme,soI’llletAJtellit.
It will set the stage for even more incredible things to come, all of
whichyouwilldoyourself.
MyOutsourcedLife
AtrueaccountbyAJJacobs,editor-at-largeatEsquiremagazine
(ellipsesrepresentpassageoftimebetweenentries)
ITBEGANamonthago.IwasmidwaythroughTheWorldIsFlat,the
bestseller by Tom Friedman. I like Friedman, despite his puzzling
decisiontowearamustache.Hisbookisallabouthowoutsourcingto
India and China is not just for tech support and carmakers but is
poisedtotransformeveryindustryinAmerica,fromlawtobankingto
accounting.
Idon’thaveacorporation;Idon’tevenhaveanup-to-datebusiness
card.I’mawriterandeditorworkingfromhome,usuallyinmyboxer
shortsor,ifI’mfeelingformal,mypenguin-themedpajamabottoms.
Thenagain,Ithink,whyshouldFortune500firmshaveallthefun?
Whycan’tIjoininonthebiggestbusinesstrendofthenewcentury?
Why can’t I outsourcemy low-endtasks? Whycan’t I outsource my
life?
The next day I e-mail Brickwork, one of the companies Friedman
mentions in his book. Brickwork—based in Bangalore, India—offers
“remoteexecutiveassistants,”mostlytofinancialfirmsandhealthcare
companies that want data processed. I explain that I’d like to hire
someonetohelpwithEsquire-relatedtasks—doingresearch,formatting
memos,like that.The company’s CEO,Vivek Kulkarni, responds,“It
wouldbeagreatpleasuretobetalkingtoapersonofyourstature.”
Already I’m liking this. I’ve never had stature before. In America, I
barely commandrespect from a Bennigan’s maître d’, so it’s nice to
knowthatinIndiaIhavestature.
A couple of days later, I get an e-mail from my new “remote
executiveassistant.”
DearJacobs,
MynameisHoneyK.Balani.Iwouldbeassistingyouinyour
editorialandpersonaljob….Iwouldtrytoadaptmyselfasper
yourrequirementsthatwouldleadtodesiredsatisfaction.
Desiredsatisfaction.Thisisgreat.BackwhenIworkedatanoffice,I
hadassistants,buttherewasneveranytalkofdesiredsatisfaction. In
fact,ifanyoneeverusedthephrase“desiredsatisfaction,”we’dallend
upinasolemnmeetingwithHR.
I GO OUT to dinner with my friend Misha, who grew up in India,
foundedasoftwarefirm,andsubsequentlybecamenauseatinglyrich.I
tell him about Operation Outsource. “You should call Your Man in
India,” he says. Misha explains that this is a company for Indian
businessmen who have moved overseas but who still have parents
backinNewDelhiorMumbai.YMIIistheiroverseasconciergeservice
—it buys movie tickets and cell phones and other sundries for
abandonedmoms.
Perfect. This could kick my outsourcing up to a new level. I can
have a nice, clean division of labor: Honey will take care of my
business affairs, and YMII can attend to my personal life—pay my
bills,makevacationreservations,buystuffonline.Happily,YMIIlikes
the idea, and just like that the support team at Jacobs Inc. has
doubled.
HONEYHAScompletedherfirstprojectforme:researchontheperson
EsquirehaschosenastheSexiestWomanAlive.I’vebeenassignedto
writeaprofileofthiswoman,andIreallydon’twanttohavetoslog
throughalltheheavy-breathingfanwebsitesabouther.WhenIopen
Honey’sfile,Ihavethisreaction:Americaisf*cked.Therearecharts.
Therearesectionheaders.Thereisawell-organizedbreakdownofher
pets, measurements, and favorite foods (e.g., swordfish). If all
Bangalorians are like Honey, I pity Americans about to graduate
college. They’re up against a hungry, polite, Excel-proficient Indian
army.
IN FACT, in the next few days, I outsource a whole mess of online
errands to Asha (from the personal service YMII): paying my bills,
getting stuff from drugstore.com, finding my son a Tickle Me Elmo.
(Actually, the store was out of Tickle Me Elmos, so Asha bought a
ChickenDanceElmo—good decision.) Ihad hercallCingularto ask
about my cell-phone plan. I’m just guessing, but I bet her call was
routed from Bangalore to New Jersey and then back to a Cingular
employeeinBangalore,whichmakesmehappyforsomereason.
IT’STHEfourthmorningofmynew,farmed-outlife,andwhenIflip
onmycomputer,mye-mailinboxisalreadyfilledwithupdatesfrom
myoverseasaides.It’sastrangefeelinghavingpeopleworkforyou
whileyousleep.Strange,butgreat.I’mnotwastingtimewhileIdrool
onmypillow;thingsaregettingdone.
HONEYISmyprotector.Considerthis:Forsomereason,theColorado
TourismBoarde-mailsmeallthetime.(Mostrecently,theyinformed
me about a festival in Colorado Springs featuring the world’s most
famousharlequin.)IrequestthatHoneygentlyaskthemtostopwith
thepressreleases.Here’swhatshesent:
DearAll,
Jacobs often receives mails from Colorado news, too often.
Theyaredefinitelyinterestingtopics.However,thesetopicsare
notsuitablefor“Esquire.”
Further, we do understand that you have taken a lot of
initiatives working on these articles and sending it to us. We
understand.Unfortunately,thesearticlesandmailsaretootime
consumingtoberead.
Currently,thesemailsarenotservingrightpurposeforboth
ofus.Thus,werequesttostopsendingthesemails.
Wedonotmeantodemeanyourresearchworkbythis.
Wehopeyouunderstandtoo.
Thankingyou,
HoneyKB
That is the best rejection notice in journalism history. It’s
exceedingly polite, but there’s a little undercurrent of indignation.
HoneyseemsalmostoutragedthatColoradowouldwastethevaluable
timeofJacobs.
I DECIDE to test the next logical relationship: my marriage. These
arguments with my wife are killing me—partly because Julie is a
muchbetterdebaterthanIam.MaybeAshacandobetter:
HelloAsha,
MywifegotannoyedatmebecauseIforgottogetcashatthe
automaticbankmachine…IwonderifyoucouldtellherthatI
loveher,butgentlyremindherthatshetooforgetsthings—she
haslostherwallettwiceinthelastmonth.Andsheforgotto
buynailclippersforJasper.
AJ
Ican’ttellyouwhatathrillIgotfromsendingthatnote.It’spretty
hard to get much more passive-aggressive than bickering with your
wifeviaane-mailfromasubcontinenthalfwayaroundtheworld.
Thenextmorning,AshaCC’dmeonthee-mailshesenttoJulie.
Julie,
DounderstandyourangerthatIforgottopickupthecashat
the automatic machine. I have been forgetful and I am sorry
aboutthat.
But I guess that doesn’t change the fact that I love you so
much….
Love
AJ
P.S.ThisisAshamailingonbehalfofMr.Jacobs.
Asifthatweren’tenough,shealsosentJulieane-card.Iclickonit:
twoteddybearsembracing,withthewords,“Anytimeyouneedahug,
I’vegotoneforyou….I’msorry.”
Damn!Myoutsourcersaretoofriggin’nice!Theykepttheapology
part but took out my little jabs. They are trying to save me from
myself.Theyaresuperegoingmyid.Ifeelcastrated.
Julie,ontheotherhand,seemsquitepleased:“That’snice,sweetie.
Iforgiveyou.”
DESPITE THREE weeks with my support team, I’m still stressed.
Perhapsit’sthefaultofChickenDanceElmo,whommysonlovesto
the point of dry humping, but who is driving me slowly insane.
Whatever the reason, I figure it’s time to conquer another frontier:
outsourcingmyinnerlife.
H
First,Itrytodelegatemytherapy.MyplanistogiveAshaalistof
my neuroses and achildhood anecdoteor two,have her talk to my
shrinkfor50minutes,thenrelaytheadvice.Smart,right?Myshrink
refused. Ethics or something. Fine. Instead, I have Asha send me a
meticulously researched memo on stress relief. It had a nice Indian
flavortoit,withacoupleofyogicposturesandsomevisualization.
Thiswasokay,butitdidn’tseemquiteenough.IdecidedIneeded
tooutsourcemyworry.For thelastfewweeksI’vebeentearingmy
hairoutbecauseabusinessdealistakingfartoolongtoclose.Iasked
Honeyifshewouldbeinterestedintearingherhairoutinmystead.
Justforafewminutesaday.Shethoughtitwasawonderfulidea.“I
willworryaboutthiseveryday,”shewrote.“Donotworry.”
The outsourcing of my neuroses was one of the most successful
experimentsofthemonth.EverytimeIstartedtoruminate,I’dremind
myselfthatHoneywasalreadyonthecase,andI’drelax.Nojoke—
thisalonewasworthit.
AtaGlance:WhereYouWillBe
The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed
yet.
—WILLIAMGIBSON,authorofNeuromancer;coined
term“cyberspace”in1984
ereisasneakpreviewoffullautomation.
Iwokeupthismorning,andgiventhatit’sMonday,Ichecked
mye-mailforonehourafteranexquisiteBuenosAiresbreakfast.
SowmyafromIndiahadfoundalong-losthighschoolclassmateof
mine,andAnakoolfromYMIIhadputtogetherExcelresearchreports
forretireehappinessandtheaverageannualhoursworkedindifferent
fields.InterviewsforthisweekhadbeensetbyathirdIndianvirtual
assistant,whohadalsofoundcontactinformationforthebestKendo
schoolsinJapanandthetopsalsateachersinCuba.Inthenexte-mail
folder, I was pleased to see that my fulfillment account manager in
G
Tennessee,Beth,hadresolvednearlytwodozenproblemsinthelast
week—keepingourlargestclientsinChinaandSouthAfricasmiling—
and had also coordinated California sales tax filing with my
accountantsinMichigan.Thetaxeshadbeenpaidviamycreditcard
onfile,andaquickglanceatmybankaccountsconfirmedthatShane
andtherestoftheteamatmycreditcardprocessorweredepositing
morecashthanlastmonth.Allwasrightintheworldofautomation.
Itwasabeautifulsunnyday,andIclosedmylaptopwithasmile.
Foranall-you-can-eatbuffetbreakfastwithcoffeeandorangejuice,I
paid$4U.S.TheIndianoutsourcerscostbetween$4–10U.S.perhour.
My domestic outsourcers are paid on performance or when product
ships.Thiscreatesacuriousbusinessphenomenon:Negativecashflow
isimpossible.
Fun things happen when you earn dollars, live on pesos, and
compensateinrupees,butthat’sjustthebeginning.
ButI’manEmployee!HowDoesThisHelpMe?
Nobodycangiveyoufreedom.Nobodycangiveyou
equalityorjusticeoranything.Ifyou’reaman,you
takeit.
—MALCOLMX,MalcolmXSpeaks
ettingaremotepersonalassistantisahugedeparturepointand
marks the moment that you learn how to give orders and be
commander instead of the commanded. It is small-scale training
wheels for the most critical of NR skills: remote management and
communication.
Itistimetolearnhowtobetheboss.Itisn’ttime-consuming.It’s
low-costandit’slow-risk.Whetherornotyou“need”someoneatthis
pointisimmaterial.Itisanexercise.
Itisalsoalitmustestforentrepreneurship:Canyoumanage(direct
andchastise)otherpeople?Giventheproperinstructionandpractice,
Ibelieveso.Mostentrepreneursfailbecausetheyjumpintothedeep
endofthepoolwithoutlearningtoswimfirst.Usingavirtualassistant
(VA)asasimpleexercisewithnodownside,thebasicsofmanagement
arecoveredina2–4-weektestcostingbetween$100–400.Thisisan
investment, not an expense, and the ROI is astounding. It will be
repaidinamaximumof10–14days,afterwhichitispuretimesaving
profit.
BecomingamemberoftheNRis notjust aboutworkingsmarter.
It’saboutbuildingasystemtoreplaceyourself.
Thisisthefirstexercise.
Evenifyouhavenointentionofbecominganentrepreneur,thisis
the ultimate continuation of our 80/20 and elimination process:
Preparing someone to replace you (even if it never happens) will
produce an ultrarefined set of rules that will cut remaining fat and
redundancy from your schedule. Lingering unimportant tasks will
disappearassoonassomeoneelseisbeingpaidtodothem.
Butwhataboutthecost?
Thisisahurdlethatishardformost.IfIcandoitbetterthanan
assistant,whyshouldIpaythematall?Becausethegoalistofreeyour
timetofocusonbiggerandbetterthings.
This chapter is a low-cost exercise to get you past this lifestyle
limiter.Itisabsolutelynecessarythatyourealizethatyoucanalways
dosomethingmorecheaplyyourself.Thisdoesn’tmeanyouwantto
spendyourtimedoingit.Ifyouspendyourtime,worth$20–25per
hour,doingsomethingthatsomeoneelsewilldofor$10perhour,it’s
simply a poor use of resources. It is important to take baby steps
towardpayingotherstodoworkforyou.Fewdoit,whichisanother
reasonsofewpeoplehavetheirideallifestyles.
Even ifthe cost is occasionallymore per hourthan you currently
earn,thetradeisoftenworthit.Let’sassumeyoumake$50,000and
thus$25perhour(workingfrom9–5,MondaythroughFriday,for50
weeksperyear).Ifyoupayatop-notchassistant$30perhourandhe
orshesavesyouonefull8-hourshiftperweek,yourcost(subtracting
whatyou’rebeingpaid)is$40tofreeanextraday.Wouldyoupay
$40perweektoworkMondaytoThursday?Iwould,andIdo.Keep
inmindthatthisisaworst-casecostscenario.
H
Butwhatifyourbossfreaksout?
It’slargelyanon-issue,andpreventionisbetterthancure.Thereis
no ethical or legal reason for the boss to know if you choose non-
sensitive tasks. The first option is to assign personal items. Time is
time,andifyou’respendingtimeonchoresanderrandsthatcouldbe
spent betterelsewhere, a VA willimprove life and the management
learningcurveissimilar.Second,youcandelegatebusinesstasksthat
don’tincludefinancialinformationoridentifyyourcompany.
Readytobuildanarmyofassistants?Let’sfirstlookatthedarkside
of delegation. A review is in order to prevent abuses of power and
wastefulbehavior.
DelegationDangers:BeforeGettingStarted
Thefirstruleofanytechnologyusedinabusinessis
that automation applied to an efficient operation
will magnify the efficiency. The second is that
automation applied to an inefficient operation will
magnifytheinefficiency.
—BILLGATES
ave you ever been given illogical assignments, handed
unimportantwork,orcommandedtodosomethinginthemost
inefficientfashionpossible?Notfunandnotproductive.
Nowit’syourturntoshowthatyouknowbetter.Delegationistobe
usedasa further stepin reduction,not as anexcuse to createmore
movementandaddtheunimportant.Remember—unlesssomethingis
well-definedandimportant,nooneshoulddoit.
Eliminatebeforeyoudelegate.
Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never
delegatesomethingthatcanbeautomatedorstreamlined.Otherwise,
youwastesomeoneelse’stimeinsteadofyourown,whichnowwastes
your hard-earned cash. How’s that for incentive to be effective and
efficient?Nowyou’replayingwithyourowndough.It’ssomethingI
T
wantyoutogetcomfortablewith,andthisbabystepissmallstakes.
DidImentiontoeliminatebeforeyoudelegate?
Forexample,itispopularamongexecutivestohaveassistantsread
e-mail.Insomecasesthisisvaluable.Inmycase,Iusespamfilters,
autoresponders with FAQs, and automatic forwarding to outsourcers
tolimitmye-mailobligationto10–20e-mailresponsesperweek.It
takes me 30 minutes per week because I used systems—elimination
andautomation—tomakeitso.
Nor do I use an assistant to set meetings and conference calls
becauseIhaveeliminatedmeetings.IfIneedtosettheodd20-minute
callforagivenmonth,I’llsendonetwo-sentencee-mailandbedone
withit.
Principlenumberoneistorefinerulesandprocessesbeforeadding
people. Using people to leverage a refined process multiplies
production; using people as a solution to a poor process multiplies
problems.
TheMenu:AWorldofPossibilities
I am not interested in picking up crumbs of
compassionthrownfromthetableofsomeonewho
considershimselfmymaster.Iwantthefullmenuof
rights.
—BISHOPDESMONDTUTU,SouthAfricanclericand
activist
henextquestionthenbecomes,“Whatshouldyoudelegate?”It’sa
good question, but I don’t want to answer it. I want to watch
FamilyGuy.
The truth be told, it is a hell of a lot of work writing about not
working. Ritika of Brickwork and Venky of YMII are more than
capableofwritingthissection,soI’lljustmentiontwoguidelinesand
leavethementalherniaofdetailworktothem.
Golden Rule #1: Each delegated task must be both time-
consuming and well-defined. If you’re running around like a
chickenwithitsheadcutoffandassignyourVAtodothat
foryou,itdoesn’timprovetheorderoftheuniverse.
Golden Rule #2: On a lighter note, have some fun with it.
Have someone in Bangalore or Shanghai send e-mails to
friends as your personal concierge to set lunch dates or
similar basics. Harass your boss with odd phone calls in
strong accents from unknown numbers. Being effective
doesn’t mean being serious all the time. It’s fun being in
controlforachange.Getabitofrepressionoffyourchestso
itdoesn’tturnintoacomplexlater.
GettingPersonalandGoingHowardHughes
Howard Hughes, the ultrarich filmmaker and eccentric from The
Aviator,wasnotoriousforassigningoddtaskstohisassistants.Here
are a few from Donald Bartlett’s Howard Hughes: His Life and
Madnessyoumightwanttoconsider.
1.Afterhisfirstplanecrash,Hughesconfidedinafriendthat
hebelievedhisrecoverywasduetohisconsumptionoforange
juiceand its healing properties. He believed that exposure to
theairdilutedthejuice’spotency,sohedemandedthatfresh
orangesbeslicedandjuicedinfrontofhim.
2.When Hugheswas partaking ofthe nightlifein Las Vegas,
his aideswere chargedwith approachingany girlshe took a
liking to. If a girl was invited to join the Hughes table and
agreed,anaidewouldpulloutawaiverandagreementforher
tosign.
3.Hugheshadabarberoncall24/7buthadhishairandnails
W
trimmedaboutonceayear.
4. In his hotel-bound years, Hughes was rumored to have
instructedassistantstoplaceasinglecheeseburgerinaspecific
tree outside his penthouse room at a 4:00 P.M. each day,
whetherhewasthereornot.
Such a world of possibilities! Just as the Model-T brought
transportation to the masses, virtual assistants bring eccentric
billionaire behavior within reachof eachman, woman,and child.
Now,that’sprogress.
ithoutfurtherado,letmepassthemic.NotethatYMIIperforms
both personal and business tasks, whereas Brickwork focuses
solelyonbusinessprojects.Let’sstartwiththeimportantbutdullstuff
andmovequicklyfromthesublimetotheridiculous.Togiveatrue
taste of what to expect, I have not corrected non-native-sounding
English.
Venky:Don’tlimityourself.Justaskusifsomethingispossible.We’ve
arrangedparties,organizedcaterers,researchedsummercourses,
cleanedupaccountingbooks,created3Ddraftsbasedonblueprints.
Justaskus.Wecouldfindtheclosestkid-friendlyrestauranttoyour
houseforyourson’sbirthday,findingoutcostsandorganizingthe
birthdayparty.Thisfreesupyourtimetoworkorhangoutwith
yourson.
Whatcanwenotdo?Wecan’tdoanythingthatwouldrequireour
physicalpresence.Butyouwouldbesurprisedastohowsmallaset
oftasksthatisinthisdayandage.
Herearethemostcommontaskswehandle:
schedulinginterviewsandmeetings web-research following
up on appointments, errands, and tasks online purchases
creationoflegaldocuments websitemaintenance(webdesign,
publishing, uploading files) that doesn’t require a professional
designer monitoring, editing, and publishing comments for
onlinediscussions postingjobvacanciesontheweb document
creation proofreading and editing documents for spelling and
formatting online research for updating blogs updating the
database for Customer Relationship Management Software
managing recruitment processes updating invoices and
receivingpayments voicemailtranscription
RitikaatBrickworkaddedthefollowing:
marketresearch financialresearch businessplans industry
analysis marketassessmentreports preparingpresentations
reports and newsletters legal research analytics website
development search engine optimization maintaining and
updating databases credit scoring managing procurement
processes
Venky:Wehaveaforgetfulclientwhohasuscallhimallthetime
withvariousreminders.Oneofourclientsonacustomplanhasus
wakehimupeverymorning.We’vedonethelegworkandfound
peoplewhofelloutofcontactafterKatrina.Foundjobsforclients!
Myfavoritesofar:Oneofourclientshasapairoftrousersthathe
reallylikesthataren’tinproductionanymore.He’ssendingthemto
Bangalore(fromLondon)tohavecreatedexactreplicasatatiny
fractionoftheprice.
HereareafewotherYMIIcustomrequests:
Reminding an overzealous client to pay his
currentparkingfines,aswellasnotspeedand
collectparkingfines.
Apologizing and sendingflowers andcardsto
spousesofclients.
Charting a diet plan, reminding client on it
regularly, ordering groceries based on the
specificdietplan.
Gettingajobforapersonwholosthisjobdue
to outsourcing a year back. We did the job
search, did the cover letters, did the resume
tuning,andgottheclientajobin30days.
Fixing a broken windowpane of a house in
Geneva,Switzerland.
Collecting homework information from
teacher’s voicemail and e-mailing it to the
client(parentsofthekid).
Researchonhowtotieashoelacemeantfora
kid(client’sson).
Findaparkingslotforyourcarinsomeother
cityevenbeforeyoumakethetrip.
Orderedgarbagebinsforhome.
Get an authenticated weather forecast and
weather report for a particular time in a
particularplaceonaparticularday,fiveyears
ago. This was to be used as supportive
evidenceforalawsuit.
Talkingtoparentsinourclient’sstead.
Here’s another real example of personal outsourcing from reader
David Cross, who got a personal chef at home for less than $5 per
meal. Just thinking of the possibilities is enough to make you start
drooling.Heexplains:
I wanted to findsomeone toprepare foodI love. I trained asa
chefbutIamoftensobusyandasIamtheonlyoneinthehouse
whoreallycooks,Ioftendon’thavetimetopreparethefoodthat
makes me feel the healthiest so I wrote the attached ad and
droppeditonCraigslist.
This was a very tight focus—ultraspecific—I had just two
applicants in two months—one who was a 2/10 match but the
guy we just OK’d was a Hare Krishna follower for many years,
lived in India, and his sample menu proved he knew what he’s
doingsowejuststartedhim.
Thefoodisabsolutelyawesome.Thehourlyrateis*extremely
reasonable,* he’s a five-minute detour when either of us are in
towntocollectfoodandInowhavedeliciousIndianfoodforless
than $5 a meal and it’s as good as anything I’ve ever eaten
anywhere.
I’m going to progress to other cuisines now… Thai, Italian,
Chinese,etc.,anditmeanswhenIdohavetimetocookI’llenjoy
doingitthatmuchmoreasIamnottheonlyonecooking!
Indian/AsianVegetarianCookNeeded
Date:2007–06–07,12:25PMPDT
Hello.
Wearealocal,internationalfamilywholoveIndianandAsian
vegetarianfood.Wearelookingforacookexperiencedinthis
wonderfulcuisinetopreparedelicious,fresh,healthy,authentic
T
Indian/Asianvegetarianmealsforus.
If you’ve cooked a curry once or twice or need to follow
recipes,thispositionisprobablynotforyou,butifyouknow
Indianvegetariancookingindepthandcanpreparedelicious,
healthy,fresh,authenticIndianvegetarianfoodthenwe’dlike
tohearfromyou.Thiscouldbeanidealopportunityifyouare
Indian,Pakistani,Punjabi,etc.,andarelookingforagreatway
to apply your experience and love of Indian vegetarian food,
cooking and culture. Knowledge of Ayurved and how this
relatestofoodanddietisaplusthoughnotessential.
Please reply with details of your experience and some dishes
you could prepare. If we like what you have to offer, we’ll
arrangefor you tocooka samplemeal ortwowhich wewill
payyouforandthenwe’llseewhatworksoutforusall.
This is a part-time position. You will be self-employed and
responsible for your own taxes, etc. We’ll pay you an hourly
ratewewillagreewithyouplusgrocerybillsforthefoodyou
prepare.Youcanpreparefoodinyourownplaceandwecan
arrangetocollectitfromyou,possiblyforustofreezeforlater
eating. We will work with you to come up with menus and
schedulesthatworkoutforyouandus.
Thankyouforyourinterest.
BasicChoices:NewDelhiorNewYork?
herearetensofthousandsofVAs—howonearthdoyoufindthe
rightone?Theresourcesattheendofthischapterwillshowyou
wheretolook,butitisoverwhelmingandconfusingunlessyouhavea
fewcriteriadeterminedinadvance.
Itoftenhelpstobeginwiththequestion“WhereonEarth?”
RemoteorLocal?
“Made in the USA” doesn’t have the ring it used to. The pros of
jumping time zones and visiting third-world currency are twofold:
Peopleworkwhileyousleep,andtheper-hourexpenseisless.Time
savingsandcostsavings.Ritikaexplainstheformerwithanexample.
One can give the remote personal assistant in India their
assignmentwhentheyareleavingworkattheendofthedayin
NewYorkCity,andtheywillhavethepresentationreadythenext
morning.BecauseofthetimedifferencewithIndia,assistantscan
work on it while they are asleep and have it back in their
morning. When they wake up, they will find the completed
summaryintheirinbox.Theseassistantscanalsohelpthemkeep
pacewithwhattheywanttoread,forexample.
Indian and Chinese VAs, as well as most from other developing
countries, will run $4–15 per hour, the lower end being limited to
simpletasksandthehigherendincludingtheequivalentofHarvardor
StanfordM.B.A.sand Ph.D.s. Needa businessplan toraise funding?
Brickwork can provide it for between $2,500–5,000 instead of
$15,000–20,000. Foreign assistance isn’t just for the small time. I
know from firsthand discussions that executives from big five
accountingandmanagementconsultingfirmsroutinelychargeclients
sixfiguresforresearchreportsthatarethenfarmedtoIndiaforlow
fourfigures.
IntheU.S.orCanada,theper-hourrangeisoften$25–100.Seems
likeanobviouschoice,right?Bangalore100%?It’snot.Theimportant
metriciscostpercompletedtask,notcostperhour.
The biggest challenge with overseas help will be the language
barrier, which often quadruples back-and-forth discussion and the
ultimate cost. The first time I hired an Indian VA, I made the
fundamentalmistakeofnotsettinganhourcapforthreesimpletasks.
Icheckedinlaterthatweekandfoundhehadspent23hourschasing
his tail. He had scheduled one tentative interview for the following
week, set at thewrong time!Mind boggling.23 hours? It ended up
costingme,at$10perhour,$230.Thesametasks,assignedlaterthat
weektoanativeEnglish speaker in Canada,werecompleted in two
hoursat$25perhour.$50formorethanfourtimestheresults.That
said,IlaterrequestedanotherIndianVAfromthesamefirmwhowas
abletoduplicatethenativespeakerresults.
Howdoyouknowwhichtochoose?That’sthebeautifulpart:You
don’t. It’s a matter of testing a few assistants to both sharpen your
communicationskillsanddeterminewhoisworthhiringandwhois
worthfiring.Beingaresults-basedbossisn’tassimpleasitlooks.
Thereareanumberoflessonstobelearnedhere.
First,per-hourcostisnottheultimatedeterminantofcost.Lookat
per-task cost. If you need to spend time restating the task and
otherwisemanagingtheVA,determinethetimerequiredofyouand
add this(using your per-hour rate from earlier chapters)to the end
stickerpriceofthetask.Itcanbesurprising.Ascoolasitistosaythat
you have people working for you in three countries, it’s uncool to
spend time babysitting people who are supposed to make your life
easier.
Second,theproofisinthepudding.Itisimpossibletopredicthow
wellyouwillworkwithagivenVAwithoutatrial.Luckily,thereare
thingsyoucandotoimproveyourodds,andoneofthemisusinga
VAfirminsteadofasolooperator.
Solovs.SupportTeam
Let’ssupposeyoufindtheperfectVA.Heorsheisperformingallof
your noncritical tasks and you’ve decided to take a much-deserved
vacationtoThailand.It’sniceto know someone besidesyou will be
manningthewheelandputtingoutfiresforachange.Finally,some
relief! Two hours before your flight from Bangkok to Phuket, you
receive an e-mail: Your VA is out of commission and will be in the
hospitalforthenextweek.Notgood.VacationFUBAR.
Idon’tlikebeingdependentononeperson,andIdon’trecommend
I
it in the least. In the world of high technology, this type of
dependency would be referred to asa “singlepoint of failure”—one
fragile item upon which all else depends. In the world of IT,
15
the
term“redundancy”isusedasasellingpointforsystemsthatcontinue
tofunctionifthereisamalfunctionormechanicalfailureinanygiven
part. In the context of VAs, redundancy entails having fallback
support.
I recommend that you hire a VA firm or VAs with backup teams
insteadofsoleoperators.Examplesabound,ofcourse,ofpeoplewho
havehadasingleassistantfordecadeswithoutincident,butIsuggest
thatthisistheexceptionratherthantherule.Bettersafethansorry.
Besidessimpledisasteravoidance,agroupstructureprovidesapoolof
talent that allows you to assign multiple tasks without bothering to
finda newperson with thequalifications. BrickworkandYMII both
exemplifythistypeofstructureandprovideasinglepointofcontact,
a personal account manager, who then farms out your tasks to the
most-capable people in the group and across different shifts. Need
graphic design? Covered. Need database management? Covered. I
don’t like calling and coordinating multiple people. I want one-stop
shoppingandamwillingtopay10%moretohaveit.Iencourageyou
tobesimilarlypound-wiseandpenny-foolish.
Team preference doesn’t mean that bigger is better, just that
multiplepeoplearebetterthanoneperson.ThebestVAIhaveusedto
dateisanIndianwithfivebackupassistantsunderhim.Threecanbe
morethansufficient,buttwoistoeingtheline.
The#1Fear:“Sweetheart,DidYouBuy
aPorscheinChina?”
’msureyoumighthaveyourfears.AJcertainlydid:
My outsourcers now know an alarming amount about me—not
justmyschedulebutmycholesterol,myinfertilityproblems,my
SocialSecuritynumber,mypasswords(includingtheonethatisa
particularly adolescent curse word). Sometimes I worry that I
can’tpissoffmyoutsourcersorI’llendupwitha$12,000charge
onmyMasterCardbillfromtheLouisVuittoninAnantapur.
Thegoodnewsisthatmisuseoffinancialandconfidentialinformation
israre.InalloftheinterviewsIconductedforthissection,Icouldfind
onlyonecaseofinformationabuse,andIhadtosearchlongandhard.
ItinvolvedanoverworkedU.S.-basedVAwhohiredfreelancehelpat
thelastmoment.
Committomemorythefollowing—neverusethenewhire.Prohibit
small-operationVAsfromsubcontractingworktountestedfreelancers
withoutyourwrittenpermission.Themoreestablishedandhigher-end
firms, Brickwork in the below example,have security measures that
borderonexcessiveandmakeitsimpletopinpointabusersinthecase
ofabreach:
Employees undergo background checks and
sign NDAs (nondisclosure agreements) in
accordance with the company policy of
maintaining confidentiality of client
information
Electronicaccesscardforentryandexit
Credit card information keyed only by select
supervisors
Removalofpaperfromtheofficesisprohibited
VLAN-based access restrictions between
different teams; this ensures that there is no
unauthorized access of information between
peopleofdifferentteamsintheorganization
Regularreportingonprinterlogs
FloppydrivesandUSBportsdisabled
BS779 certification for accomplished
internationalsecuritystandards
128-bit encryption technology for all data
exchange
SecureVPNconnection
Ibetthereisafairchancethatsensitivedatais100timessaferwith
Brickworkthanonyourowncomputer.
Still,information theftis best thoughtof asinevitable ina digital
world,andprecautionsshouldbetakenwithdamagecontrolinmind.
TherearetworulesthatIusetominimizedamageandallowforfast
repair.
1. Never use debit cards for online transactions or with remote
assistants. Reversing unauthorized credit card charges,
particularly with American Express, is painless and near
instantaneous. Recovering funds withdrawn from your checking
accountviaunauthorizeddebitcardusetakesdozensofhoursin
paperworkaloneandcantakemonthstoreceive,ifapprovedat
all.
2.IfyourVAwillbeaccessingwebsitesonyourbehalf,createa
newuniqueloginandpasswordtobeusedonthosesites.Mostof
usreusebothloginsandpasswordsonmultiplesites,andtaking
thisprecautionlimitspossibledamage.Instructthemtousethese
uniqueloginstocreateaccountsonnewsitesifneeded.Notethat
this is particularly important when using assistants who have
access to live commercial websites (developers, programmers,
etc.).
M
If information or identity theft hasn’t hit you, it will. Use these
guidelines and you’ll realize when it happens that, just like most
nightmares,it’snotthatbigadealandisreversible.
TheComplicatedArtofSimplicity:
CommonComplaints
y assistant is an idiot! It took him 23 hours to book an
interview!ThiswasthefirstcomplaintIhad,forsure.23hours!
Iwasheatedupforashoutingmatch.Myoriginale-mailtothisfirst
assistantseemedclearenough.
DearAbdul,
Here are the first tasks, due at the end of next Tuesday.
Pleasecallore-mailwithanyquestions:
1. Go to this article
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12666060/site/newsweek/,
get the phone/e-mail/website contacts for Carol Milligan and
MarcandJulieSzekely.AlsofindthesameinfoforRobLong
here
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12652789/site/newsweek/.
2.Schedule30-minuteinterviewsforCarol,Marc/Julie,and
Rob. Use www.myevents.com (username: notreal, password:
donttryit)tobooktheminmycalendarfornextweekanytime
between9–9ET.
3. Find the name, e-mail, and phone (phone is least
important)ofworkersintheU.S.whohavenegotiatedremote
work agreements (telecommuting) despite resistant bosses.
Those who have traveled outside the U.S. are ideal. Other
keywords could include “teleworking” and “telecommuting.”
The important factor is that they negotiated with difficult
bosses. Please send me links to their profiles or write a
paragraphdescribingwhytheyfittheprofileabove.
Lookforwardtoseeingwhatyoucando.Pleasee-mailifyou
don’tunderstandorhavequestions.
Best,
Tim
Thetruthis—Iwasatfault.Thisisnotagooddebutdemand,andI
madefatalmistakesevenbeforecomposingit.Ifyouareaneffective
person but unaccustomed to issuing commands, assume that most
problems at the outset are your fault. It is tempting to immediately
pointthefingeratsomeoneelseandhuffandpuff,butmostbeginner
bossesrepeatthesamemistakesImade.
1.Iacceptedthefirstpersonthefirmprovidedandmadeno
specialrequestsattheoutset.
Request someone who has “excellent” English and indicate that
phone calls will be required (even if not). Be fast to request a
replacementiftherearerepeatedcommunicationissues.
2.Igaveimprecisedirections.
Iaskedhimtoscheduleinterviewsbutdidn’tindicatethatitwas
foranarticle.Heassumed,basedonworkwithpreviousclients,
that I wanted to hire someone and he misspent time compiling
spreadsheets and combing online job sites for additional
informationIdidn’tneed.
Sentences should have one possible interpretation and be
suitable for a 2nd-grade reading level. This goes for native
speakersaswellandwillmakerequestsclearer.Ten-dollarwords
disguiseimprecision.
NotethatIaskedhimtorespondifhedidn’tunderstandorhad
questions. This is the wrong approach. Ask foreign VAs to
rephrasetaskstoconfirmunderstandingbeforegettingstarted.
3.Igavehimalicensetowastetime.
Thisbringsusagaintodamagecontrol.Requestastatusupdate
afterafewhoursofworkonatasktoensurethatthetaskisboth
understoodandachievable.Sometasksare,afterinitialattempts,
impossible.
4.Isetthedeadlineaweekinadvance.
Use Parkinson’s Law and assign tasks that are to be completed
withinnomorethan72hours.Ihavehadthebestluckwith48
and 24 hours. This is another compelling reason to use a small
group (three or more) rather than a single individual who can
becomeovertaxedwithlast-minuterequestsfrommultipleclients.
Usingshort deadlines does not mean avoidinglargertasks(e.g.,
businessplan),butratherbreakingthemintosmallermilestones
thatcanbecompletedinshortertimeframes(outline,competitive
researchsummaries,chapters,etc.).
5. I gave him too many tasks and didn’t set an order of
importance.
I advise sending one task at a time whenever possible and no
morethan two. Ifyouwant tocause yourcomputerto hangor
crash,open20windowsandapplicationsatthesametime.Ifyou
wanttodothesametoyourassistant,assignhimorheradozen
tasks without prioritizing them. Recall our mantra: Eliminate
beforeyoudelegate.
WHAT DOES A good VA task e-mail look like? The following example
was recently sent to an Indian VA whose results have been nothing
shortofspectacular:
DearSowmya,
Thankyou.Iwouldliketostartwiththefollowingtask.
TASK: I need to find the names and e-mails of editors of
men’s magazines in the US (for example: maxim, stuff, GQ,
esquire,blender,etc.)whoalsohavewrittenbooks.Anexample
ofsuchapersonwouldbeAJJacobswhoisEditor-at-Largeof
Esquire (www.ajjacobs.com). I already have his information
H
andneedmorelikehim.
Can you do this? If not, please advise. Please reply and
confirmwhatyouwillplantodotocompletethistask.
DEADLINE:SinceI’minarush,getstartedafteryournexte-
mail and stop at 3 hours and tell me what results you have.
Pleasebeginthistasknowifpossible.Thedeadlineforthese3
hoursandreportedresultsisend-of-dayETMonday.
Thankyouforyourfastestreply,
Tim
Short, sweet, and to the point. Clear writing, and therefore clear
commands,comefromclearthinking.Thinksimple.
IN THE NEXT several chapters, the communication skills you develop
withourvirtualassistantexperimentwillbeappliedtoamuchlarger
and obscenely profitable playing field: automation. The extent to
which you will outsource next makes delegation look like finger
painting.
In the world of automation, not all business models are created
equal. How do you assemble a business and coordinate all its parts
withoutliftingafinger?Howdoyouautomatecashdepositsinyour
bank account while avoiding the most common problems? It begins
withunderstandingtheoptions,theartofdodginginformationflow,
andwhatwewillcall“muses.”
Thenextchapterisablueprintforthefirststep:aproduct.
GowiththeFlow
ereisaflowchartof4HWWfromreaderJedWood,whohasused
it for faster decision making, more output with less input, and
moretimewithhiswifeandchildren.
Q&A:QUESTIONSANDACTIONS
1.Getanassistant—evenifyoudon’tneedone.
Developthecomfortofcommandingandnotbeingcommanded.
Beginwithaone-timetestprojectorsmallrepetitivetask(daily
preferred).Iadviseusingdomestichelpforlanguage-intensivetasks
andusingforeignassistantsintheearlystagestoimprovethe
generalclarityofyourcommunication.Pickonefromeachgroup
andgetstarted.
Thefollowingsites,splitupgeographically,areusefulresources.
U.S.andCanada($20/hour+)
http://www.iavoa.com(InternationalAssociationofVirtualOffice
Assistants).GlobaldirectorythatincludestheU.S.
http://www.cvac.ca(CanadianVirtualAssistantConnection)
http://www.canadianva.net/files/va-locator.html(Canada)
www.onlinebusinessmanager.com
NorthAmericaandInternational($4/hour+)
www.elance.com (Search “virtual assistants,” “personal
assistants,” and “executive assistants.”) The client feedback
reviewsonElanceenabled me tofind my bestVA to date,who
costs$4/hour.Similarmarketplaceswithpositivereviewsinclude
www.guru.comandwww.rentacoder.com.
India
www.tryasksunday.com ($20–60 per month for 24/7 concierge,
free one-week trial). AskSundayis oneof thesophisticated new
kidsonthepersonaloutsourcingblock.Theirsitewasnominated
the#2websiteoftheyearin2007byTimemagazine.Justdiala
212(NYC)areacodeandgetroutedtowell-spokenassistantsin
IndiaandthePhilippines.I usethisservice80% ofthetime,as
most tasks take less than 10 minues to complete. For longer
projects,thereareteamsavailablefor$12/hour.
www.b2kcorp.com($15/hour+)FromFortune10oilcompanies
and Fortune 500 clients to Big 5 accounting firms and U.S.
congressmen,Brickworkcanhandleitall.Thisisreflectedinthe
costs of this pure suit-and-tie operation—business only. No
flowersforauntie.
www.taskseveryday.com ($6.98/hour for a dedicated virtual
assistant)BasedinMumbai,availableviaphoneande-mailfrom
theU.S.,UK,andAustralia.Mustchoosebetween20or40hours
perweekandpre-purchasehours.
www.yourmaninindia.com ($6.25/hour+) YMII handles both
businessandpersonaltasksandcanworkwithyouinrealtime
(there are people on duty 24/7) and complete work while you
sleep. English capability and effectiveness vary tremendously
acrossVAs,sointerviewyoursbeforegettingstartedorassigning
importanttasks.Important:Followingthepublicationofthefirst
edition of this book, there havebeen some complaints of lower
qualityanduptofour-weekwaitliststobecomeaclient.
2.Startsmallbutthinkbig.
TinaForsyth,anonlinebusinessmanager(higher-levelVA)whohelps
six-figure-income clients achieve seven figures with business model
redesigns,makesthefollowingrecommendations.
Lookatyourto-dolist—whathasbeensitting
onitthelongest?
Eachtimeyouareinterruptedorchangetasks,
ask,“CouldaVAdothis?”
Examine pain points—what causes you the
mostfrustrationandboredom?
Here are a few common time-consumers in small businesses with
onlinepresences.
Submitting articles to drive traffic to site and
buildmailinglists
Participating in or moderating discussion
forumsandmessageboards
Managingaffiliateprograms
Creatingcontentforandpublishingnewsletters
andblogpostings
Background research components of new
marketing initiatives or analysis of current
marketingresults
Don’texpectmiraclesfromasingleVA,butdon’texpecttoolittle,
either.Letgoofthecontrolsabit.Don’tassigncraptasksthatendup
consumingratherthansavingtime.Itmakeslittlesensetospend10–
15minutessendingane-mailtoIndiatogetapricequoteonaplane
ticketwhenyoucoulddothesameonlinein10minutesandavoidall
thesubsequentback-and-forth.
Push outside your comfort zone—that is the entire point of the
exercise.
ItisalwayspossibletoreclaimataskforyourselfiftheVAproves
incapable, so test the limits of their capabilities. Remember
Brickwork’ssuggestion:Don’tlimityourself.
3.Identifyyourtopfivetime-consumingnon-worktasksandfive
personaltasksyoucouldassignforsheerfun.
4.Keepinsync:schedulingandcalendars.
Ifyoudecidetohaveanassistantscheduleappointmentsandadd
thingstoyourcalendar,itwillbeimportanttoensurewhatyou
bothseeisupdated.Thereareseveraloptions:
BusySync (www.busysync.com) I have two Gmail accounts: one
privateaccountformeandoneformyassistant,wheregenerale-
mail is sent. I use BusySync to synchronize her Google Calendar
with iCal (Mac calendar) on my laptop. I have also used
SpanningSync(www.spanningsync.com)successfullyforthesame
purpose.
WebEx Office (www.weboffice.com) Share your calendar online
while masking personal appointments. Can be synchronized with
Outlook,and also offers document sharingandotherassistant-or
team-friendlyfeatures.Isuggestyoucomparethistosynchronizing
yourOutlookwithanassistant’sGoogleCalendar.
COMFORTCHALLENGE
UsetheCriticismSandwich(2DaysandWeekly)
Chancesaregoodthatsomeone—beitaco-worker,boss,customer,or
significant other—does something irritating or at a subpar level.
Rather than avoid the topic out of fear of confrontation, let’s
chocolate-coatit and askthem to fixit.Once perday fortwo days,
andtheneachThursday(M-WistootenseandFridayistoorelaxed)
for the next three weeks, resolve to use what I call the Criticism
Sandwich with someone. It’s called the Criticism Sandwich because
youfirstpraisethepersonforsomething,thendeliverthecriticism,and
thenclosewithtopic-shiftingpraisetoexitthesensitivetopic.Here’s
an example with a superior or boss, with keywords and phrases in
italics.
You:Hi,Mara.Doyouhaveasecond?
Mara:Sure.What’sup?
You:First,IwantedtothankyouforhelpingmewiththeMeelieWorm
account[orwhatever].Ireallyappreciateyoushowingmehowto
handlethat.You’rereallygoodatfixingthetechnicalissues.
Mara:Noproblem.
You:Here’sthething.
16
Thereisalotofworkcomingdownon
everyone,andI’mfeeling
17
abitoverwhelmed.Normally,priorities
arereallycleartome
18
butI’vebeenhavingtroublerecentlyfiguring
outwhichtasksarehighestonthelist.Couldyouhelpmebypointing
outthemostimportantitemswhenahandfulneedtobedone?I’m
sureit’sjustme,
19
butI’dreallyappreciateit,andIthinkitwouldhelp.
Mara:Uhh…I’llseewhatIcando.
You:Thatmeansalottome.Thanks.BeforeIforget,
20
lastweek’s
presentationwasexcellent.
Mara:Didyouthinkso?Blah,blah,blah…
LIFESTYLEDESIGNINACTION
THEBESTTIMESTOSENDE-MAIL
You’vesuggestedpeoplechecke-mailonlyafewtimesaday.
Here’satwist:Ireplytoe-mailswhenit’sconvenient,butItime
ittoarrivewhenit’salsoconvenientforme.InOutlookyoucan
delaye-maildeliverytoanytimeofday.Forexample,whenI
returne-mailsat3p.m.,Idon’twantmystaffinstantlyzinging
meresponsesorclarifyingquestions.(Thisalsopreventse-mail
chats.) So I hit send, but it’s delayed to arrive later in the
eveningorat8A.M.whenmyemployeesarrivethenextday.
This is how e-mail was meant to be! It’s mail, not a chat
service.
—JIMLARRANAGA
14.To leverageglobal pricing andcurrency differences forprofit or
lifestylepurposes.
15.Informationtechnology.
16.Don’tcallitaproblemifyoucanavoidit.
17.Noonecanarguewithyourfeelings,sousethistoavoidadebate
aboutexternalcircumstances.
18. Notice how I take “you” out of the sentence to avoid finger-
pointing, even though it’s implicit. “Normally, you make priorities
clear” soundslike a backhanded insult. If this is a significant other,
youcanskipthisformality,butneveruse“youalwaysdoX,”whichis
justafightstarter.
19. Take alittle bitof theheat offwith this. The point hasalready
beenmade.
20.“BeforeIforget”isagreatseguetotheclosingcompliment,which
is also a topic shifter and gets you off the sensitive topic without
awkwardness.
D
IncomeAutopilotI
FINDINGTHEMUSE
Justsetitandforgetit!
—RONPOPEIL,founderofRONCO;responsiblefor
morethan$1billioninsalesofrotisseriechicken
roasters
As to methods there may be a million and then
some, but principles are few. The manwho grasps
principles can successfullyselect his own methods.
Themanwhotriesmethods,ignoringprinciples, is
suretohavetrouble.
—RALPHWALDOEMERSON
TheRenaissanceMinimalist
ouglasPricewaswakinguptoanotherbeautifulsummermorning
inhisBrooklynbrownstone.Firstthingsfirst:coffee.Thejetlag
was minor, considering he had just returned from atwo-week jaunt
throughtheislandsofCroatia.Itwasjustoneofsixcountrieshehad
visitedinthelast12months.Japanwasnextontheagenda.
Buzzingwithasmileandhiscoffeemuginhand,heambledoverto
hisMactocheckonpersonale-mailfirst.Therewere32messagesand
allbroughtgoodnews.
One of his friends and business partners, also a cofounder of
Limewire, had an update: Last Bamboo, their start-up poised to
reinvent peer-to-peer technology, was rounding the final corners of
development. It could be their billion-dollar baby, but Doug was
lettingtheengineersrunwildfirst.
Samson Projects, one of the hottest contemporary art galleries in
Boston, had compliments for Doug’s latest work and requests for
expandedinvolvementwithnewexhibitsastheirsoundcurator.
Thelaste-mailinhisinboxwasafanletteraddressedto“Demon
Doc” and praise for his latest instrumental hip-hop album, onliness
VI.O.I. Doug had released his albumas whathe termed “open source
music”—anyone could download the album for free and use sounds
fromanytrackinhisorherowncompositions.
Hesmiledagain,polishedoffhisdarkroast,andopenedawindow
to deal with business e-mail next. It would take much less time. In
fact,lessthan30minutesforthedayand2hoursfortheweek.
Howmuchthingschange.
Two years earlier, in June of 2004, I was in Doug’s apartment
checking e-mailfor what I hoped would be the last time fora long
time.IwasheadedtoJFKAirportinNewYorkinamatterofhours
and was preparing for an indefinite quest around the world. Doug
lookedonwithamusement.Hehadsimilarplansforhimselfandwas
finallyextricatinghimselffromaventure-fundedInternetstartupthat
hadoncebeenacoverstoryandhispassionbutwasnowjustajob.
The euphoria of the dot-com era was long dead, along with most
chancesforasaleoranIPO.
Hebidmefarewellandmadeadecisionasthetaxipulledfromthe
curb—enoughofthecomplicatedstuff.Itwastimetoreturntobasics.
Prosoundeffects.com,launchedinJanuaryof2005afteroneweekof
salestestingoneBay,wasdesignedtodoonething:giveDouglotsof
cashwithminimaltimeinvestment.
Thisbringsusbacktohisbusinessinboxin2006.
There are 10 orders for sound libraries, CDs that film producers,
musicians,videogamedesigners,andotheraudioprofessionalsuseto
add hard-to-find sounds—whether the purr of a lemur or an exotic
instrument—totheirowncreations.TheseareDoug’sproducts,buthe
doesn’t own them, as that would require physical inventory and
upfront cash. His business model is more elegant than that. Here is
justonerevenuestream:
1. A prospective customer sees his Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
advertising on Google or other search engines and clicks
throughtohissite,www.prosoundeffects.com.
2. The prospect orders a product for $325 (the average
purchase price, though prices range from $29–7,500) on a
Yahoo shopping cart, and a PDF with all their billing and
shippinginformationisautomaticallye-mailedtoDoug.
3. Three times a week, Doug presses a single button in the
Yahoo management page to charge all his customers’ credit
cardsandputcashinhisbankaccount.ThenhesavesthePDFs
asExcelpurchaseordersande-mailsthepurchaseorderstothe
manufacturers of the CD libraries. Those companies mail the
products to Doug’s customers—this is called drop-shipping—
andDougpaysthemanufacturersaslittleas45%oftheretail
priceoftheproductsupto90dayslater(net-90terms).
Let’slookatthemathematicalbeautyofhissystemforfulleffect.
Foreach$325orderathiscostof55%offretail,Dougisentitledto
$178.75. If we subtract 1% of the full retail price (1% of $325 =
$3.25)fortheYahooStoretransactionfeeand2.5%forthecreditcard
processing fee (2.5% of $325 = $8.13), Doug is left with a pretax
profitof$167.38forthisonesale.
Multiplythisby10andwehave$1673.80inprofitfor30minutes
ofwork.Dougismaking$3,347.60perhourandpurchasesnoproduct
in advance. His initial start-up costs were $1,200 for the webpage
design,whichherecoupedinthefirstweek.HisPPCadvertisingcosts
approximately$700permonthandhepaysYahoo$99permonthfor
theirhostingandshoppingcart.
Heworkslessthantwohoursaweek,oftenpullsmorethan$10,000
permonth,andthereisnofinancialriskwhatsoever.
NowDougspendshistimemakingmusic,traveling,andexploring
newbusinessesforexcitement.Prosoundeffects.comisnothisend-all-
be-all,butithasremovedallfinancialconcernsandfreedhismindto
focusonotherthings.
Whatwouldyoudoifyoudidn’thavetothinkaboutmoney?Ifyou
followthe advice inthischapter, youwill soonhaveto answerthis
question.
It’stimetofindyourmuse.
THERE ARE A million and one ways to make a million dollars. From
franchising to freelance consulting, the list is endless. Fortunately,
most of them are unsuited to our purpose. This chapter is not for
people who want to run businesses but for those who want to own
businessesandspendnotimeonthem.
The response I get when I introduce this concept is more or less
universal:Huh?
People can’t believe that most of the ultrasuccessful companies in
theworlddonotmanufacturetheirownproducts,answertheirown
phones, ship their own products, or service their own customers.
There are hundreds of companies that exist to pretend to work for
someone else and handle these functions, providing rentable
infrastructuretoanyonewhoknowswheretofindthem.
ThinkMicrosoftmanufacturestheXbox360orthatKodakdesigns
and distributes their digital cameras? Guess again. Flextronics, a
Singapore-basedengineeringandmanufacturingfirmwithlocationsin
30 countries and $15.3 billion in annual revenue, does both. Most
popularbrandsofmountainbikesintheU.S.areallmanufacturedin
thesamethreeorfourplantsinChina.Dozensofcallcenterspressone
button to answer calls for the JC Penneys of the world, another to
answercallsfortheDellComputersoftheworld,andyetanotherto
answercallsfortheNewRichlikeme.
It’sallbeautifullytransparentandcheap.
Before we create this virtual architecture, however, we need a
producttosell.Ifyouownaservicebusiness,thissectionwillhelpyou
convertexpertiseintoadownloadableorshippablegoodtoescapethe
S
limits of a per-hour-based model. If starting from scratch, ignore
service businesses for now, as constant customer contact makes
absencedifficult.
21
Tonarrowthefieldfurther,ourtargetproductcan’ttakemorethan
$500totest,ithastolenditselftoautomationwithinfourweeks,and—
whenupandrunning—itcan’trequiremorethanonedayperweekof
management.
Canabusinessbeusedtochangetheworld,likeTheBodyShopor
Patagonia?Yes,butthatisn’tourgoalhere.
CanabusinessbeusedtocashoutthroughanIPOorsale?Yes,but
thatisn’tourgoaleither.
Our goal is simple: to create an automated vehicle for generating
cash without consuming time. That’s it.
22
I will call this vehicle a
“muse” whenever possible to separate it from the ambiguous term
“business,”whichcanreferto alemonadestandor aFortune10oil
conglomerate—ourobjectiveismorelimitedandthusrequiresamore
preciselabel.
Sofirstthingsfirst:cashflowandtime.Withthesetwocurrencies,
allotherthingsarepossible.Withoutthem,nothingispossible.
WhytoBeginwiththeEndinMind:A
CautionaryTale
arahisexcited.
It has been two weeks sinceher line of humorous T-shirts for
golferswentonline,andsheisaveraging5T-shirtsalesperdayat$15
each.Hercostperunitis$5,sosheisgrossing$50inprofit(minus
3% in credit card fees) per 24 hours, as she passes shipping and
handling on to customers. She should soon recoup the cost of her
initial order of 300 shirts (including plate charges, setup, etc.)—but
wantstoearnmore.
It’s a nice reversal of fortune, considering the fate of her first
product.Shehadspent$12,000todevelop,patent,andmanufacturea
high-tech stroller for new moms (she has never been a new mom),
onlytofindthatnoonewasinterested.
The T-shirts, in contrast, were actually selling, but sales were
beginningtoslow.
Itappearsshehasreachedheronlinesalesceiling,as well-funded
and uneducated competitors are now spending too much for
advertisinganddrivingupcosts.Thenitstrikesher—retail!
Sarah approaches the manager of her local golf shop, Bill, who
immediatelyexpressesinterestincarryingtheshirts.She’sthrilled.
Bill asks for the customary 40% minimum discount for wholesale
pricing.This meansher sellprice is now$9 insteadof $15and her
profithasdroppedfrom$10to$4.Sarahdecidestogiveitashotand
doesthesamewiththreeotherstoresinsurroundingtowns.Theshirts
begin to move off the shelves, but she soon realizes that her small
profitisbeingeatenbyextrahoursshespendshandlinginvoicesand
additionaladministration.
She decides to approach a distributor
23
to alleviate this labor, a
company that acts as a shipping warehouse and sells products from
various manufacturers to golf stores nationwide. The distributor is
interestedandasksforitsusualpricing—70%offofretailor$4.50—
which would leave Sarah 50 cents in the hole on each unit. She
declines.
To make matters worse,the fourlocal stores have already started
discountinghershirtstocompeteamongoneanotherandarekilling
theirownprofitmargins.Twoweekslater,reordersdisappear.Sarah
abandonsretailandreturnstoherwebsitedemoralized.Salesonline
have dropped to almost nothing with new competition. She has not
recouped her initial investment, and she still has 50 shirts in her
garage.
Notgood.
Itallcouldhavebeenpreventedwithpropertestingandplanning.
ED“MR.CREATINE”BYRDisnoSarah.Hedoesnotinvestandhopefor
thebest.
HisSan Francisco–basedcompany, MRI,had the top-sellingsports
supplement in the U.S. from 2002–2005, NO
2
. It is still a top-seller
despite dozens of imitators. He did it through smart testing, smart
positioning,andbrilliantdistribution.
Priortomanufacturing,MRIfirstofferedalow-pricedbookrelated
to the product through ¼-page advertisements in men’s health
magazines. Once the need had been confirmed with a mountain of
bookorders,NO
2
was pricedatanoutrageous$79.95,positioned as
the premium product on the market, and sold exclusively through
GNCstoresnationwide.Nooneelsewaspermittedtosellit.
Howcanitmakesensetoturnawaybusiness?Thereareafewgood
reasons.
First,themorecompetingresellersthereare,thefasteryourproduct
goesextinct.ThiswasoneofSarah’smistakes.
Itworkslikethis:ResellerAsellstheproductforyourrecommended
advertisedpriceof$50,thenresellerBsellsitfor$45tocompetewith
A,andthenCsellsitfor$40tocompetewithAandB.Innotimeat
all, no one is making profit from selling your product and reorders
disappear. Customers are now accustomed to the lower pricing and
theprocessisirreversible.Theproductisdeadandyouneedtocreate
anew product.Thisispreciselythereasonwhysomanycompanies
needtocreatenewproductafternewproductmonthaftermonth.It’s
aheadache.
I had one single supplement, BrainQUICKEN® (also sold as
BodyQUICK®)forsixyearsandmaintainedaconsistentprofitmargin
bylimitingwholesaledistribution,particularlyonline,tothetopone
ortwolargestresellerswhocouldmoveseriousquantitiesofproduct
and who agreed to maintain a minimum advertised pricing.
24
Otherwise,roguediscountersoneBayandmom-and-popindependents
willdriveyoubroke.
Second,ifyouoffersomeoneexclusivity,whichmostmanufacturers
try to avoid, it can work in your favor. Since you are offering one
company 100% of the distribution, it is possible to negotiate better
profit margins (offering less of a discount off of retail price), better
marketing support in-store, faster payment, and other preferential
C
treatment.
Itiscriticalthatyoudecidehowyouwillsellanddistributeyour
productbeforeyoucommittoaproductinthefirstplace.Themore
middlemenareinvolved,thehigheryourmarginsmustbetomaintain
profitabilityforallthelinksinthechain.
Ed Byrd realized this and exemplifies how doing the opposite of
what most do can reduce risk and increase profit. Choosing
distributionbeforeproductisjustoneexample.
Ed drives a Lamborghini down the California coast when not
traveling or in the office with his small focused staff and his two
Australian shepherds. This outcome is not accidental. His product-
creation methods—and those of the New Rich in general—can be
emulated.
Here’showyoudoitinthefewestnumberofsteps.
StepOne:PickanAffordablyReachableNiche
Market
When I was younger … I [didn’t] want to be
pigeonholed … Basically, now you want to be
pigeonholed.It’syourniche.
—JOANCHEN,actress;appearedinTheLastEmperor
andTwinPeaks
reating demand is hard. Filling demand is much easier. Don’t
createaproduct,thenseeksomeonetosellitto.Findamarket—
defineyourcustomers—thenfindordevelopaproductforthem.
I have beena studentand an athlete,so Ideveloped products for
thosemarkets,focusingonthemaledemographicwheneverpossible.
The audiobook I created for college guidance counselors failed
because I have never been a guidance counselor. I developed the
subsequentspeed-readingseminarafterrealizingthatIhadfreeaccess
to students, and the business succeeded because—being a student
myself—Iunderstoodtheirneedsandspendinghabits.Beamemberof
your target market and don’t speculate what others need or will be
willingtobuy.
StartSmall,ThinkBig
Somepeoplearejustintolavishdwarfentertainment.
–DANNYBLACK(42″),part-ownerofShortdwarf.com
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DannyBlackrentsdwarfsasentertainmentfor$149perhour.Howis
thatforanichemarket?
It is said that if everyone is your customer, then no one is your
customer.Ifyoustartoffaimingtosellaproducttodog-orcar-lovers,
stop.It’sexpensivetoadvertisetosuchabroadmarket,andyouare
competingwithtoomanyproductsandtoomuchfreeinformation.If
youfocusonhowtotrainGermanshepherdsorarestorationproduct
for antique Fords, on the other hand, the market and competition
shrink,makingitlessexpensivetoreachyourcustomersandeasierto
chargepremiumpricing.
BrainQUICKEN was initially designed for students,but themarket
provedtooscatteredanddifficulttoreach.Basedonpositivefeedback
from student-athletes, I relaunched the product as BodyQUICK and
tested advertising in magazines specific to martial artists and
powerlifters. These are minuscule markets compared to the massive
studentmarket,butnotsmall.Lowmediacostandlackofcompetition
enabledmetodominatewiththefirst“neuralaccelerator”
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inthese
niches.It ismoreprofitable tobea bigfishin asmall pond thana
small undefined fish in a big pond. How do you know if it’s big
enoughtomeetyourTMI?Foradetailedreal-lifeexampleofhowI
determinedthemarketsizeofarecentproduct,see“MuseMath”on
thisbook’scompanionsite.
Askyourselfthefollowingquestionstofindprofitableniches.
1. Which social, industry, and professional groups do you
belong to, have you belonged to, or do you understand,
whether dentists, engineers, rock climbers, recreational
cyclists,carrestorationaficionados,dancers,orother?
Lookcreativelyatyourresume,workexperience,physicalhabits,
andhobbiesandcompilealistofallthegroups,pastandpresent,
thatyoucanassociateyourselfwith.Lookatproductsandbooks
you own, include online and offline subscriptions, and ask
yourself, “What groups of people purchase the same?” Which
magazines, websites, and newsletters do you read on a regular
basis?
2. Which of the groups you identified have their own
magazines?
Visit a large bookstore such as Barnes & Noble and browse the
magazine rack for smaller specialty magazines to brainstorm
additionalniches.Thereareliterallythousandsofoccupation-and
interest/hobby-specific magazines to choose from. Use Writer’s
Market to identify magazine options outside the bookstores.
Narrow the groups from question 1 above to those that are
reachablethroughoneortwosmallmagazines.It’snotimportant
thatthesegroupsallhavealotofmoney(e.g.,golfers)—onlythat
they spend money (amateur athletes, bass fishermen, etc.) on
products of some type. Call these magazines, speak to the
advertising directors, and tell them that you are considering
advertising;askthemtoe-mailtheircurrentadvertisingratecard
and include both readership numbers and magazine back-issue
samples. Search the back issues for repeat advertisers who sell
direct-to-consumervia800numbersorwebsites—themorerepeat
advertisers,andthemorefrequenttheirads,themoreprofitablea
magazineisforthem…andwillbeforus.
StepTwo:Brainstorm(DoNotInvestIn)
Products
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Geniusisonlyasuperiorpowerofseeing.
—JOHNRUSKIN,famedartandsocialcritic
ick the two markets that you are most familiar with that have
theirownmagazineswithfull-pageadvertisingthatcostslessthan
$5,000.Thereshouldbenofewerthan15,000readers.
Thisisthefunpart.Nowwegettobrainstormorfindproductswith
thesetwomarketsinmind.
The goal is come up with well-formed product ideas and spend
nothing; in Step 3, we will create advertising for them and test
responses from real customers before investing in manufacturing.
Thereareseveralcriteriathatensuretheendproductwillfitintoan
automatedarchitecture.
TheMainBenefitShouldBeEncapsulatedinOneSentence.
Peoplecandislikeyou—andyouoftensellmorebyoffendingsome—
buttheyshouldnevermisunderstandyou.
The main benefit of your product should be explainable in one
sentenceorphrase.HowisitdifferentandwhyshouldIbuyit?ONE
sentenceorphrase,folks.Appledidanexcellentjobofthiswiththe
iPod.InsteadofusingtheusualindustryjargonwithGB,bandwidth,
and so forth, they simply said, “1,000 songs in your pocket.” Done
deal.Keepitsimpleanddonotmoveaheadwithaproductuntilyou
candothiswithoutconfusingpeople.
ItShouldCosttheCustomer$50–200.
Thebulkofcompaniessetpricesinthemidrange,andthatiswhere
themostcompetitionis.Pricinglowisshortsighted,becausesomeone
else is always willing to sacrifice more profit margin and drive you
bothbankrupt.Besidesperceivedvalue,therearethreemainbenefits
to creating a premium,high-end imageand chargingmore than the
competition.
1. Higher pricing means that we can sell fewer units—and thus
managefewercustomers—andfulfillourdreamlines.It’sfaster.
2. Higher pricing attracts lower-maintenance customers (better
credit, fewer complaints/questions, fewer returns, etc.). It’s less
headache.ThisisHUGE.
3. Higherpricingalsocreateshigherprofitmargins.It’ssafer.
Ipersonallyaimforan8–10xmarkup,whichmeansa$100product
can’t cost me more than $10–12.50.
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If I had used the commonly
recommended 5 x markup with BrainQUICKEN, it would have gone
bankrupt within 6 months due to a dishonest supplier and late
magazine. The profit margin saved it, and within 12 months it was
generatingupto$80,000permonth.
Highhasitslimits,however.Iftheper-unitpriceisaboveacertain
point,prospectsneedtospeaktosomeoneonthephonebeforethey
arecomfortableenoughtomakethepurchase.Thisiscontraindicated
onourlow-informationdiet.
I have found that a price range of $50–200 per sale provides the
mostprofitfortheleastcustomerservicehassle.Pricehighandthen
justify.
ItShouldTakeNoMoreThan3to4WeekstoManufacture.
Thisiscriticallyimportantforkeepingcostslowandadaptingtosales
demandwithoutstockpilingproductinadvance.Iwillnotpursueany
productthattakesmorethanthreetofourweekstomanufacture,and
I recommend aimingfor one totwo weeksfrom orderplacement to
shippableproduct.
Howdoyouknowhowlongsomethingtakestomanufacture?
Contact contract manufacturers who specialize in the type of
products you’re considering: http://www.thomasnet.com/. Call a
related manufacturer (e.g., toilet bowls) if you need a referral to a
relatedmanufactureryoucannotfind(e.g.,toiletcleaningsolutions).
Still no luck? Google different synonyms for your product in
combination with “organization” and “association” to contact the
appropriateindustryorganizations.Askthemforreferralstocontract
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manufacturers and for the names of their trade magazines, which
often contain advertisements for contract manufacturers and related
serviceproviderswe’llneedforyourvirtualarchitecturelater.Request
pricingfromthecontractmanufacturerstoensurethepropermarkup
ispossible. Determine theper-unit costsof productionfor 100,500,
1,000,and5,000units.
ItShouldBeFullyExplainableinaGoodOnlineFAQ.
Hereiswhere I reallyscrewed up in myproduct choice withBrain-
QUICKEN.
EventhoughingestibleshaveenabledmyNRlife,Iwouldnotwish
them on anyone. Why not? You get 1,000 questions from every
customer:CanIeatbananaswithyourproduct?Willitmakemefart
duringdinner?Onandon,adnauseam.Chooseaproductthatyoucan
fullyexplaininagoodonlineFAQ.Ifnot,thetaskoftravellingand
otherwiseforgettingaboutworkbecomesverydifficultoryouendup
spendingafortuneoncallcenteroperators.
Understanding these criteria, a question remains: “How does one
obtain a good muse product that satisfies them?” There are three
optionswe’llcoverinascendingorderofrecommendation.
OptionOne:ResellaProduct
urchasinganexistingproductatwholesaleandresellingitisthe
easiestroutebutalsotheleastprofitable.Itisthefastesttosetup
butthefastesttodieoffduetopricecompetitionwithotherresellers.
Theprofitablelifespanofeachproductisshortunlessanexclusivity
agreement prevents others from selling it. Reselling is, however, an
excellentoptionforsecondaryback-end
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productsthatcanbesoldto
existingcustomersorcross-sold
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tonewcustomersonlineoronthe
phone.
Topurchaseatwholesale,usethesesteps.
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1. Contact the manufacturer and request a “wholesale pricelist”
(generally40%offretail)andterms.
2. IfabusinesstaxIDnumberisneeded,printouttheproperforms
from your state’s Secretary of State website and file for an LLC
(whichIprefer)orsimilarprotectivebusinessstructurefor$100–
200.
DoNOTpurchaseproductuntilyouhavecompletedStep3inthe
nextchapter. It isenoughat thispoint toconfirmthe profitmargin
andhaveproductphotosandsalesliterature.
That’sreselling.Notmuchmoretoit.
OptionTwo:LicenseaProduct
InotonlyuseallthebrainsthatIhave,butallthatI
canborrow.
—WOODROWWILSON
ome of the world’s best-known brands and products have been
borrowedfromsomeoneorsomewhereelse.
The basis for the energy drink Red Bull came from a tonic in
Thailand,andtheSmurfswerebroughtfromBelgium.Pokémoncame
fromthelandofHonda.ThebandKISSmademillionsinrecordand
concertsales,buttherealprofithasbeeninlicensing—grantingothers
therighttoproducehundredsofproductswiththeirnameandimage
inexchangeforapercentageofsales.
Therearetwopartiesinvolvedinalicensingdeal,andamemberof
the New Rich could be either. First, there is the inventor of the
product,
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called the “licensor,” who can sell others the right to
manufacture,use,orsellhisorherproduct,usuallyfor3–10%ofthe
wholesale price (usually around 40% off retail) for each unit sold.
Invent, let someone else do the rest, and cash checks. Not a bad
model.
The other side of the equation is the person interested in
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manufacturing and selling the inventor’s product for 90–97% of the
profit:thelicensee.Thisis,formeandmostNR,moreinteresting.
Licensing is, however, dealmaking-intensive on both sides and a
scienceuntoitself.Creativecontractnegotiationisessentialandmost
readerswillrunintoproblemsifit’stheirfirstproduct.Forreal-world
casestudiesonbothsides,rangingfromTeddyRuxpintoTae-Bo,and
full agreements with actual dollar amounts, visit
www.fourhourblog.com. From how to sell inventions without
prototypesorpatentstohowtosecurerightstoproductsasano-name
beginner,it’sallthere.Theeconomicsarefascinatingandtheprofits
canbeastounding.
Inthemeantime,wewillfocusontheleastcomplicatedandmost
profitableoptionopentothemostpeople:productcreation.
OptionThree:CreateaProduct
Creation is a better means of self-expression than
possession; it is through creating, not possessing,
thatlifeisrevealed.
—VIDAD.SCUDDER,TheLifeoftheSpiritintheModern
EnglishPoets
reating a product is not complicated. “Create” sounds more
involved than it actually is. If the idea is a hard product—an
invention—it is possible to hire mechanical engineers or industrial
designersonwww.elance.com todevelop a prototypebasedonyour
descriptionof itsfunction and appearance,which isthen taken toa
contractmanufacturer.Ifyoufindagenericorstockproductmadeby
a contract manufacturer that can bere-purposed orpositioned fora
special market, it’s even easier: Have them manufacture it, stick a
custom label on it for you, and presto—new product. This latter
exampleisoftenreferredtoas“privatelabeling.”Haveyoueverseen
amassage therapist’sofficewithitsownlineofvitaminproductsor
theKirklandbrandatCostco?Privatelabelinginaction.
It is true that we’ll be testing market response without
manufacturing,butifthetestissuccessful,manufacturingisthenext
step.Thismeansweneedtokeepinmindsetupcosts,per-unitcosts,
and order minimums. Innovative gadgets and devices are great but
oftenrequirespecialtooling,whichmakesthemanufacturingstart-up
coststooexpensivetomeetourcriteria.
Puttingmechanicaldevicesasideandforgettingaboutweldingand
engineering,thereisoneclassofproductthatmeetsallofourcriteria,
hasamanufacturingleadtimeoflessthanaweekinsmallquantities,
andoftenpermitsnotjustan8–10xmarkup,buta20–50xmarkup.
No, not heroin or slave labor. Too much bribing and human
interactionrequired.
Information.
Information products are low-cost, fast to manufacture, and time-
consumingforcompetitorstoduplicate.Considerthatthetop-selling
non-informationinfomercialproducts—whetherexerciseequipmentor
supplements—have a useful life span of two to four months before
imitators flood the market. I studied economics in Beijing for six
months and observed firsthand how the latest Nike sneaker or
CallawaygolfclubcouldbeduplicatedandoneBaywithinaweekof
firstappearingonshelvesintheU.S.Thisisnotanexaggeration,andI
amnottalkingaboutalook-alikeproduct—Imeananexactduplicate
for1/20thecost.
Information, on the other hand, is too time-consuming for most
knockoff artists to bother with when there are easier products to
replicate. It’s easier to circumvent a patent than to paraphrase an
entire course to avoid copyright infringement. Three of the most
successful television products of all time—all of which have spent
morethan300weeksontheinfomercialtop-10bestsellerlists—reflect
thecompetitiveandprofitmarginadvantageofinformationproducts.
NoDownPayment(CarltonSheets)
AttackingAnxietyandDepression(LucindaBassett)
PersonalPower(TonyRobbins)
I
Iknowfromconversationswiththeprincipalownersofoneofthe
above products that more than $65 million worth of information
movedthroughtheirdoorsin2002.Theirinfrastructureconsistedof
fewer than 25 in-houseoperators, andthe restof the infrastructure,
rangingfrommediapurchasingtoshipping,wasoutsourced.
Their annual revenue-per-employee is more than $2.7 million.
Incredible.
Ontheoppositeendofthemarketsizespectrum,Iknowamanwho
created a low-budget how-to DVD for less than $200 and sold it to
ownersofstoragefacilitieswhowantedtoinstallsecuritysystems.It’s
hardtogetmorenichethanthat.In2001,sellingDVDsthatcost$2to
duplicate for $95 apiece through trade magazines, he made several
hundredthousanddollarswithnoemployees.
ButI’mNotanExpert!
fyouaren’tanexpert,don’tsweatit.
First, “expert”in the context ofselling product meansthat you
know more about the topic than the purchaser. No more. It is not
necessary to be the best—just better than a small target number of
yourprospectivecustomers.Let’ssupposethatyourcurrentdreamline
—tocompeteinthe1,150-mileIditaroddogsleddingraceinAlaska—
requires $5,000 to realize. If there are 15,000 readers and even 50
(0.33%) can be convinced of your superior expertise in skill X and
spend$100foraprogramthatteachesit,thatis$5,000.Bringonthe
Huskies. Those 50 customers are what I call the “minimal customer
base”—the minimum number of customers you need to convince of
yourexpertisetofulfillagivendreamline.
Second,expertstatuscanbecreatedinlessthanfourweeksifyou
understandbasiccredibilityindicators.It’simportanttolearnhowthe
PRprosphraseresumepointsandpositiontheirclients.Seetheboxed
textlaterinthischaptertolearnhow.
Thedegreetowhichyoupersonallyneedexpertstatusalsodepends
onhowyouobtainyourcontent.Therearethreemainoptions.
1. Createthecontentyourself,oftenviaparaphrasingandcombining
pointsfromseveralbooksonatopic.
2. Repurposecontentthatisinthepublicdomainandnotsubjectto
copyrightprotection,suchasgovernmentdocumentsandmaterial
thatpredatesmoderncopyrightlaw.
3. Licensecontentorcompensatean expert to help create content.
Feescanbeone-timeandpaidupfrontorroyalty-based(5–10%
ofnetrevenue,forexample).
Ifyouchooseoption1or2,youneedexpertstatuswithinalimited
market.
Let’sassumeyouarearealestatebrokerandhavedeterminedthat,
likeyourself,mostbrokerswantasimplebutgoodwebsitetopromote
themselvesandtheirbusinesses.Ifyoureadandunderstandthethree
top-selling books on home-page design, you will know more about
that topic than 80% of the readership of a magazine for real estate
brokers.Ifyoucansummarizethecontentandmakerecommendations
specific to the needs of the real estate market, a0.5–1.5% response
fromanadyouplaceinthemagazineisnotunreasonabletoexpect.
Use the following questions to brainstorm potential how-to or
informational products that can be sold to your markets using your
expertiseorborrowedexpertise.Aimforacombinationofformatsthat
willlenditselfto$50–200pricing,suchasacombinationoftwoCDs
(30–90minuteseach),a40-pagetranscriptionoftheCDs,anda10-
page quickstart guide. Digital delivery is perfectly acceptable—in
somecases,ideal—ifyoucancreateahighenoughperceivedvalue.
1.Howcanyoutailorageneralskillforyourmarket—whatIcall
“nichingdown”—oraddtowhatisbeingsoldsuccessfullyinyour
targetmagazines?Thinknarrowanddeepratherthanbroad.
2.Whatskillsareyouinterestedinthatyou—andothersinyour
markets—wouldpaytolearn?Becomeanexpertinthisskillfor
yourselfandthencreateaproducttoteachthesame.Ifyouneed
helporwanttospeeduptheprocess,considerthenextquestion.
3. What experts could you interview and record to create a
I
sellableaudioCD?Thesepeopledonotneedtobethebest,but
just better than most. Offer them a digital master copy of the
interview to do with or sell as they like (this is often enough)
and/oroffer them a small up-front or ongoing royaltypayment.
Use Skype.com with HotRecorder (more on these and related
toolsinToolsandTricks)torecordtheseconversationsdirectlyto
yourPCandsendthemp3filetoanonlinetranscriptionservice.
4.Doyouhaveafailure-to-successstorythatcouldbeturnedinto
ahow-toproductforothers?Considerproblemsyou’veovercome
inthepast,bothprofessionalandpersonal.
TheExpertBuilder:HowtoBecomeaTopExpertin4Weeks
t’s time to obliterate the cult of the expert. Let the PR world
scornme.Firstandforemost,thereisadifferencebetweenbeing
perceivedasanexpertandbeingone.Inthecontextofbusiness,the
former is what sells product and the latter, relative to your
“minimal customer base,” is what creates good products and
preventsreturns.
It is possible to know all there is to know about a subject—
medicine, for example—but if you don’t have M.D. at the end of
yourname, few willlisten.The M.D.is whatI term a“credibility
indicator.”Theso-calledexpertwiththemostcredibilityindicators,
whetheracronymsoraffiliations,isoftenthemostsuccessfulinthe
marketplace, even if other candidates have more in-depth
knowledge.Thisisamatterofsuperiorpositioning,notdeception.
How,then,dowegoaboutacquiringcredibilityindicatorsinthe
least time possible? Emulating the client-grooming techniques of
someofthebestPRfirmsinNewYorkCityandLosAngelesisn’ta
badplacetostart.
It took a friend of mine just three weeks to become a “top
relationshipexpertwho,asfeaturedinGlamourandothernational
media,hascounseledexecutivesatFortune500companiesonhow
toimprovetheirrelationshipsin24hoursorless.”Howdidshedo
it?
She followed a few simple steps that created a credibility
snowballeffect.Here’showyoucandothesame.
1. Join two or three related trade organizations with
official-soundingnames.Inhercase,shechosetheAssociation
forConflictResolution(www.acrnet.org)andTheInternational
FoundationforGenderEducation(www.ifge.org).Thiscanbe
doneonlineinfiveminuteswithacreditcard.
2. Read the three top-selling books on your topic (search
historical New York Times bestseller lists online) and
summarizeeachononepage.
3. Give one free one-to-three-hour seminar at the closest
well-knownuniversity,usingposterstoadvertise.Thendothe
same at branches of two well-known big companies (AT&T,
IBM,etc.)locatedinthesamearea.Tellthecompanythatyou
have given seminars at University X or X College and are a
memberofthosegroupsfromstep1.Emphasizethatyouare
offering it to them for free to get additional speaking
experience outside of academics and will not be selling
productsorservices.Recordtheseminarsfromtwoanglesfor
laterpotentialuseasaCD/DVDproduct.
4. Optional: Offer to write one or two articles for trade
magazines related to your topics, citing what you have
accomplishedinsteps1and3 forcredibility.Iftheydecline,
offertointerviewaknownexpertandwritethearticle—itstill
F
getsyournamelistedasacontributor.
5.JoinProfNet,whichisaservicethatjournalistsusetofind
expertstoquoteforarticles.Getting PR is simpleif you stop
shouting and start listening. Use steps 1, 3, and 4 to
demonstrate credibility and online research to respond to
journalistqueries.Doneproperly,thiswillgetyoufeaturedin
mediaranging fromsmall localpublications to theNew York
TimesandABCNews.
Becomingarecognizedexpertisn’tdifficult,soIwanttoremove
thatbarriernow.
Iamnotrecommendingpretendingtobesomethingyou’renot.I
can’t! “Expert” is nebulous media-speak and so overused as to be
indefinable.InmodernPRterms,proofofexpertiseinmostfieldsis
shown with group affiliations, client lists, writing credentials, and
mediamentions,notIQpointsorPh.D.s.
Presentingthetruthinthebestlight,butnotfabricatingit,isthe
nameofthegame.
SeeyouonCNN.
Q&A:QUESTIONSANDACTIONS
orthishands-onchapter,theQ&Aissimple.Infact,it’smorelike
aQ.
The question is, “Did you read the chapter and follow the
directions?” If not, do it! Instead of the usual Q&A, the end of this
chapterand thefollowingtwo willfeature more extensiveresources
fortakingtheactionstepsdescribedindetailinthetext.
COMFORTCHALLENGE
FindYoda(3Days)
Callatleastonepotentialsuperstarmentorperdayforthreedays.E-
mailonly after attemptinga phonecall. Irecommend callingbefore
8:30A.M.orafter6:00P.M.toreducerun-inswithsecretariesandother
gatekeepers. Have a single question in mind, one that you have
researched but have been unable to answer yourself. Shoot for “A”
players—CEOs, ultrasuccessful entrepreneurs, famous authors, etc.—
and don’t aim low to make it less frightening. Use
www.contactanycelebrity.comifneedbe,andbaseyourscriptonthe
following.
Unknownanswerer:ThisisAcmeInc.[or“theofficeofMentorX”].
You:Hi,thisisTimFerrisscallingforJohnGrisham,please.
31
Answerer:MayIaskwhatthisisregarding?
You:Sure.Iknowthismightsoundabitodd,
32
butI’mafirst-time
authorandjustreadhisinterviewinTimeOutNewYork.
33
I’ma
longtime
34
fanandhavefinallybuiltupthecourageto
35
callhim
foronespecificpieceofadvice.Itwouldn’ttakemorethantwo
minutesofhistime.Isthereanywayyoucanhelpmegetthrough
tohim?
36
Ireally,reallyappreciatewhateveryoucando.
Answerer:Hmmm…Justasecond.Letmeseeifhe’savailable.[two
minuteslater]Hereyougo.Goodluck.[ringstoanotherline]
JohnGrisham:JohnGrishamhere.
You:Hi,Mr.Grisham.MynameisTimFerriss.Iknowthismight
soundabitodd,butI’mafirst-timeauthorandalongtimefan.Ijust
readyourinterviewinTimeOutNewYorkandfinallybuiltupthe
couragetocall.Ihavewantedtoaskyouforaspecificpieceof
adviceforalongtime,anditshouldn’ttakemorethantwominutes
ofyourtime.MayI?
37
JohnGrisham:Uh…OK.Goahead.Ihavetobeonacallinafew
minutes.
You(attheveryendofthecall):Thankyousomuchforbeingso
generouswithyourtime.IfIhavetheoccasionaltoughquestion—
veryoccasional—isthereanychanceIcouldkeepintouchviae-
mail?
38
LIFESTYLEDESIGNINACTION
OVERTHEMOON
My 13-year-old daughter would like to be an astronaut when
she grows up. Last year she had an extreme challenge to deal
with.ThephrasefromApollo13“Failureisnotanoption”sortof
becameourmotto.Igottheideaofcontactingthecommanderof
Apollo13,JimLovell.Itdidn’ttakemuchtofindhimandhesent
herawonderfulletterabouthisordealjusttogetintotheApollo
program,notto mention dealingwith acrippled spacecraft. His
letter made a big difference to my daughter. A couple months
later,wewere able to takethings a littlefurther bygetting her
VIPaccesstoashuttlelaunch.
—ROB
TOOLSANDTRICKS
ConfirmingSufficientMarketSize
Compete(www.compete.com)and
Quantcast(www.quantcast.com)
Findthenumberofmonthlyvisitorsformostwebsites,inadditionto
thesearchtermsthatgeneratethemosttrafficforthem.
Writer’sMarket(www.writersmarket.com)
Here you’ll find a listing of thousands of specialty and niche
magazines, including circulation and subscription numbers. I prefer
theprintversion.
Spyfu(www.spyfu.com)
Downloadcompetitors’onlineadvertisingspending,keywords,andad-
word details. Consistent and repeat spending generally indicates
successfuladvertisingROI.
StandardRateandDataServices(www.srds.com)
Checkoutthisresourceforannuallistingsofmagazineandcompany
customermailinglistsavailableforrent.Ifyou’reconsideringcreating
ahow-tovideoforduckhunting,checkoutthesizeofcustomerlists
fromhuntinggunmanufacturersandrelatedmagazinesfirst.Usethe
printversioninlibrariesinsteadofpayingforthesomewhatconfusing
onlineaccess.
FindingProductstoResellorManufacturing
AffiliateNetworks:Clickbank(www.clickbank.com),
Commission Junction (www.cj.com), Amazon Associates
(www.amazon.com/associates)
No inventory, no invoices. Experimenting with products and
categories through affiliate networks such as Clickbank and
CommissionJunction,whichpayyou10–75%ofeachpurchase,isa
fast method for doing a proof-of-concept using similar products. It’s
oftenworthsettingupaccountsatbothjusttoobservehowbestselling
itemsarebeingsoldandpromoted.
Amazon Associates averages 7–10% commissions, but bestselling
books are excellent for testing target markets for more elaborate
informationalproducts.Foralloftheabove:Donotgetintobidding
wars against other affiliates using expensive general keywords or
overexposedbrandnames.Gonicheorgobroke.
Alibaba(www.alibaba.com)
Based in China, Alibaba is the world’s largest business-to-business
marketplace. From MP3 players for $9 each to red wine for $2 per
bottle, this site is the source. If someone here doesn’t make it, it
probablycan’tbemade.
WorldwideBrands(www.worldwidebrands.com)
Offersanextensivehow-toguideforfindingmanufacturerswillingto
dropshipproducttoyourcustomers,whichallowsyoutoavoidpre-
purchasing inventory. This is where Amazon and eBay power users
find not just drop shippers, but also wholesalers and liquidators.
Shopster(www.shopster.com)isalsoapopularoption,withmorethan
1,000,000dropshipproductstochoosefrom.
Thomas’s Register of Manufacturers (www.thomasnet.com)
(800–699–9822)
Searchabledatabase of contractmanufacturersfor everyconceivable
product,fromunderwearandfoodproductstoairplaneparts.
Electronics, DVDs, Books (www.ingrambook.com,
www.techdata.com)
Housewares and Hardware (www.housewares.org,
www.nationalhardwareshow.com)(847–292–4200)
For these product categories and related talent (on-screen
demonstrations),alsoconsiderattendinglocalorstatefairs.
Consumables and Vitamin Products (www.expoeast.com,
expowest.com)
FindingPublicDomainInformationtoRepurpose
Be sure to speak with anintellectual property attorney before using
apparentpublicdomainmaterial.Ifsomeonemodifies20%ofapublic
domain work (through abridging and footnotes, for example), their
“new”completeworkcanbecopyrighted.Usingitwithoutpermission
would then be a punishable infringement. The details can get
confusing.Dothebeginningresearchyourself,but get a proto look
overyourfindingsbeforemovingaheadwithproductdevelopment.
ProjectGutenberg(www.gutenberg.org)
Project Gutenbergis a digital library of more than 15,000pieces of
literatureconsideredtobeinthepublicdomain.
LibriVox(www.librivox.org)
LibriVoxisacollectionofaudiobooksfromthepublicdomainthatare
availableforfreedownload.
Recording Seminars or Phone Interviews with Experts for CD
DownloadableProducts
HotRecorder (www.hotrecorder.com) (PC), Call Recorder
(http://ecamm.com/mac/callrecorder/)(Mac)
Usetheseprogramstorecordanyinboundoroutboundphonecallvia
computerusingSkype(www.skype.com)andotherVoIPprograms.
NoCostConference(www.nocostconference.com)
Providesafree800-numberconferenceline,aswellasfreerecording
and file retrieval. Normal phones can be used for call-in, so no
computerorwebconnectionisrequiredforparticipants.Ifyou’llhave
a Q&A, I suggest soliciting attendee questions beforehand to avoid
issueswithmuting/unmutingoflines.
Jing Project (www.jingproject.com) and DimDim
(www.dimdim.com)
Ifyou’dliketorecordtheactionsonyourscreenforvideotutorials,
both of these free programs will get the job done. If you need
advancededitingfeatures,Jing’sbigbrotherCamtasiaistheindustry
standard(www.camtasia.com).
LicensingIdeastoOthersforRoyalties
InventRight(www.inventright.com)(800–701–7993)
StephenKeyisthemostconsistentlysuccessfulinventorI’veevermet,
with millions in royalties from companies like Disney, Nestlé, and
Coca-Cola. He is not high-tech but specializes in creating simple
products, or improving on existing products, and then licensing
(renting)hisideastolargecorporations.Hecomesupwiththeidea,
files a provisional patent for less than $200, and then lets another
companydotheworkwhilehecollectschecks.Thissiteintroduceshis
fail-proofprocess for doing the same. His techniques for cold-calling
aloneareinvaluable.Highlyrecommended.
Guthy-RenkerCorporation (www.guthyrenker.com) (760–773–
9022) GRC is the 800-pound infomercial gorilla. It brings in more
than$1.3billionperyearinsaleswithmega-hitslikeTonyRobbins,
ProactivSolution,andWinsorPilates.Don’texpectmorethana2–4%
royaltyifyoumakethecut,butthenumbersarehugeenoughtomake
itworthalook.Submityourproductonline.
SearchingPatentsforUnexploitedIdeastoTurnintoProducts
UnitedStates Patent and TrademarkOffice
(www.uspto.gov)(800–786–9199)
Licensable Technologies Developed at
Universities (www.autm.net; see “view all
listings”under“TechnologyTransferOffices”)
InventorsGroupsandAssociations(calland
ask if members have anything to license)
(www.uiausa.org/Resources/InventorGroups.htm
BecominganExpert
Prof Net via PR Leads (www.prleads.com) and HARO
(www.helpareporterout.com)
Receive daily leads from journalists and TV and radio producers
lookingforexpertstociteandinterviewformediarangingfromlocal
outletstoCNNandtheNewYorkTimes.Stopswimmingupstreamand
startrespondingtostoriespeoplearealreadyworkingon.HAROoffers
selectleadsatnocost,andyoucanmentionmynamewithPRLeads
togettwomonthsforthepriceofone.
PRWebPressReleases(www.prwebdirect.com)Thepressrelease
is dead for most purposes, but using this service has some serious
search-enginebenefits,suchasappearingatthetopofrelatedGoogle
NewsandYahoo!Newsresults.
ExpertClick(www.expertclick.com)
This is another secret of the PR pros. Put up an expert profile for
media to see, receive an up-to-date database of top media contacts,
andsendfreepressreleasesto12,000journalists,allononewebsite
thatgetsmorethan5millionhitspermonth.ThisishowIgotonNBC
andendedupdevelopingaprime-timeTVshow.Itworks.Mentionmy
nameonthephone,oruse“TimFerriss$100”online,togeta$100
discount.
LIFESTYLEDESIGNINACTION
BonJourTim,
I was in Barnes & Noble at the help desk this past Saturday,
April25,waitingforanemployeetogetabookforme(Tropicof
Cancerifyoumustknow).WhileIwaswaiting,Inoticedacopyof
4-HourWorkweekonthecounterthatsomeoneelsehadordered.
Notonetobeshy,Ireachedoverthecounterandstartedreading
theircopy.Asyoumightguess,Ihadtheemployeegobackand
get me my own copy. Haven’t finished Tropic of Cancer but
finishedyourbook…
…OnMondayIgotayeswhenIaskedmybosstoworktwo
daysremotelyperweek.Istartnextweek.
OnMondayIalsobookedthemoststunningapartmentinParis
forthemonthofSeptember,atacostofhalfoftherentIpayin
Southern California. I plan to increase my remote time now
throughAugustsothatSeptemberwillbeaneasyasktoleavefor
remote work. If the answer happens to be no (which I now
doubt),Iwillbepreparedtoquitmyjob.
NowatworkonmyIncomeAutopilotproject.
Tim: amazing.My life has changedin three days. (Plus, your
bookwasfunnyashell.)Thankyou!!!—CINDYFRANKEY
21. There are a few limited exceptions, such as online membership
sites that don’t require content generation, but as a general rule,
productsrequiremuchlessmaintenanceandwillgetyoutoyourTMI
faster.
22.Museswillprovidethetimeandfinancialfreedomtorealizeyour
dreamlinesinrecordtime,afterwhichonecan(andoftendoes)start
additionalcompaniestochangetheworldorsell.
23. Distributors are sometimes also referred to as “wholesalers,”
dependingontheindustry.
24.Itisillegaltocontrolhowmuchsomeonesellsyourproductfor,
butyoucandictatehowmuchtheyadvertise itfor.Thisisdoneby
includingaMinimumAdvertisedPricing(MAP)policyinyourGeneral
TermsandConditions(GTC),whichareagreedtoautomaticallywhen
awrittenwholesaleorderisplaced.SampleGTCandorderformsare
availableatwww.fourhourblog.com.
25. The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2005
(http://www.technologyinvestor.com/login/2004/Jul18–05.php).
26.ThiswasanewproductcategorythatIcreatedtoeliminateand
preempt the competition. Strive to be the largest, best, or first in a
precisecategory.Ipreferbeingfirst.
27. If you decide to resell someone else’s higher-end products like
Doug, especially with drop-shipping, the risk is lower and smaller
marginscansuffice.
28.“Back-end”productsareproductssoldtocustomersoncethesale
ofaprimaryproducthasbeenmade.iPodcoversandcarGPSsystems
are two examples. These products can have lower margins, because
thereisnoadvertisingcosttoacquirethecustomer.
29. “Cross-selling” is selling a related product to a customer while
they’restillonthephoneorinanonlineshoppingcartafterthesaleof
a primary product has been made. For a full marketing and direct
response(DR)glossary,visitwww.fourhourblog.com.
30.Thisalsoreferstoownersofcopyrightsortrademarks.
31.Saidcasuallyandwithconfidence,thisalonewillgetyouthrough
surprisinglyoften.“I’dliketospeakwithMr./Ms.X,please”isadead
giveawaythatyoudon’tknowthem.Ifyouwanttoupthechancesof
gettingthoughbutrisklookingfoolishiftheycallthebluff,askforthe
targetmentorbyfirstnameonly.
32.Iusethistypeoflead-inwhenevermakingoff-the-wallrequests.It
softens it and makes the person curious enough to listen before
spittingoutanautomatic“no.”
33. This answers the questions they’ll have in their head: “Who are
you and why are you calling now?” I like to be a “first-time”
something to play the sympathy card, and I find a recent media
featureonlinetociteasthetriggerforcalling.
34.IcallpeopleI’mfamiliarwith.Ifyoucan’tcallyourselfalongtime
fan,tellthemthatyouhavefollowedthementor’scareerorbusiness
exploitsforacertainnumberofyears.
35. Don’t pretend to be strong. Make it clear you’re nervous and
they’lllowertheirguard.IoftendothisevenifI’mnotnervous.
36.Thewordinghereiscritical.Askthemto“help”youdosomething.
37.Justreworkthegatekeeperparagraphforthis,anddon’tdillydally
—gettothepointquicklyandaskforpermissiontopullthetrigger.
38.Endtheconversationbyopeningthedoorforfuturecontact.Start
withe-mailandletthementoringrelationshipdevelopfromthere.
IncomeAutopilotII
TESTINGTHEMUSE
Many of these theories have been killed off only
when some decisive experiment exposed their
incorrectness…. Thus the yeoman work in any
science…isdonebytheexperimentalist,whomust
keepthetheoreticianshonest.
—MICHIOKAKU,theoreticalphysicistandcocreatorof
StringFieldTheory,Hyperspace
Fewerthan5%ofthe195,000bookspublishedeachyearsellmore
than 5,000 copies. Teams of publishers and editors with decades of
combinedexperiencefailmoretimesthannot.ThefounderofBorder’s
Books lost $375 million of investor funding with WebVan,
39
a
nationwidegrocerydeliveryservice.Theproblem?Noonewantedit.
The moral is that intuition and experience are poor predictors of
which products and businesses will be profitable. Focus groups are
equally misleading.Ask ten people if they would buy your product.
Thentellthosewhosaid“yes”thatyouhavetenunitsinyourcarand
askthemtobuy.Theinitialpositiveresponses,givenbypeoplewho
wanttobelikedandaimtoplease,becomepoliterefusalsassoonas
realmoneyisatstake.
To get an accurate indicator of commercial viability, don’t ask
people if they would buy—ask them to buy. The response to the
secondistheonlyonethatmatters.TheapproachoftheNRreflects
this.
M
StepThree:Micro-TestYourProducts
icro-testing involves using inexpensive advertisements to test
consumerresponsetoaproductpriortomanufacturing.
40
Inthe pre-Internetera,thiswasdoneusingsmallclassifiedadsin
newspapersormagazinesthatledprospectstocallaprerecordedsales
message.Prospectswouldleavetheircontactinformation,andbased
on the number ofcallers orresponse to a follow-up sales letter, the
productwouldbeabandonedormanufactured.
IntheInternetera,therearebettertoolsthatarebothcheaperand
faster. We’ll test the product ideas from the last chapter on Google
Adwords—the largest and most sophisticated Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
engine—in five days for $500 or less. PPC here refers to the
highlighted search results that are listed above and to the right of
normal search results on Google. Advertisers pay to have these ads
displayed when people search for a certain term related to the
advertisers’product,suchas“cognitivesupplement,”andarecharged
asmallfeefrom$.05toover$1eachtimesomeoneclicksthroughto
theirsite.ForagoodintroductiontoGoogleAdwordsandPPC,visit
www.google.com/onlinebusiness. For expanded examples of the
following PPC strategies, visit www.fourhourblog.com and search
“PPC.”
The basic test process consists of three parts, each of which is
coveredinthischapter.
Best:Lookatthecompetitionandcreateamore-compellingoffer
onabasicone-to-three-pagewebsite(onetothreehours).
Test: Test the offer using short Google Adwords advertising
campaigns (three hours to set up and five days of passive
observation).
Divest or Invest: Cut losses with losers and manufacture the
winner(s)forsalesrollout.
Let’susetwopeople,SherwoodandJohanna,andtheirtwoproduct
ideas—Frenchsailorshirtsandahow-toyogaDVDforrockclimbers—
ascasestudiesofwhatthetestingstepslooklikeandhowyoucando
thesame.
Sherwood bought a striped sailing shirt in France while traveling
last summer, and upon returning to NYC has been continually
approachedby20–30-year-oldmalesonthestreetwhowanttoknow
where to get their own. Sensing an opportunity, he requests back
issuesofNYC-basedweeklymagazinesaimedatthisdemographicand
calls the manufacturer in France for pricing. He learns that he can
purchaseshirtsatawholesalepriceof$20thatsellfor$100retail.He
adds$5pershirttoaccountforshippingtotheU.S.andarrivesata
per-shirtcostof$25.It’snotquiteouridealmarkup(4xvs.8–10x),
buthewantstotesttheproductregardless.
Johanna is a yoga instructor who has noticed her growing client
base of rock climbers. She is also a rock climber and is considering
creatingayogainstructionalDVDtailoredtothatsport,whichwould
include a 20-page spiral-bound manual and be priced at $80. She
predicts that production of a low-budget first edition of the DVD
would cost nothing more than a borrowed digital camera and a
friend’siMacforsimpleediting.Shecanburnsmallquantitiesofthis
first-editionDVD—nomenus,juststraightfootageand titles—onthe
laptopandcreatelabelswithfreewarefromwww.download.com.She
hascontactedaduplicationhouseandlearnedthatmore-professional
DVDswillcost$3–5apiecetoduplicateinsmallquantities(minimum
of250),includingcases.
Nowthattheyhaveideasandestimatesofstart-upcosts,whatnext?
BestingtheCompetition
Firstandforemost,eachproductmustpassacompetitivelitmustest.
How can Sherwood and Johanna beat the competition and offer a
superiorproductorguarantee?
1.SherwoodandJohannaGooglethetoptermseachwoulduseto
try and find their respective products. To come upwith related
termsandderivativeterms,bothusesearchtermsuggestiontools.
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
(http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal)
Enter the potential search terms to find search volume and
alternativetermswithmoresearchtraffic.Clickonthe“Approx
AvgSearchVolume”columntosortresultsfrommosttoleast
searched.
SEOBook Keyword Tool, SEO for Firefox Extension
(http://tools.seobook.com/) This is an outstanding resource
page with searches powered by Wordtracker
(www.wordtracker.com).
Both then visit the three websites that consistently appear in
top search and PPC positions. How can Sherwood and Johanna
differentiatethemselves?
Use more credibility indicators? (media,
academia,associations,andtestimonials)
Createabetterguarantee?
Offerbetterselection?
41
Freeorfastershipping?
Sherwood notices that the shirts are often hard to find on the
competitivesites,allofwhichfeaturedozensofproducts,andthe
shirtsare either madein theU.S. (inauthentic)or shippedfrom
France(customersmustwaittwotofourweeks).Johannacannot
find a “yoga for rock climbing” DVD, so she is starting from a
blankslate.
2.SherwoodandJohannanowneedtocreateaone-page(300–
600words) testimonial-rich advertisementthat emphasizestheir
differentiatorsandproductbenefitsusingtextandeitherpersonal
photos or stock photos from stock photo websites. Both have
spent two weeks collecting advertisements that have prompted
them to make purchases or that have caught their attention in
print or online—these will serve as models.
42
Johanna asks her
clientsfor testimonialsand Sherwood letshis friendstry onthe
shirts to get several for his page. Sherwood also asks the
manufacturerforphotosandadvertisingsamples.
See www.pxmethod.com for a good example of how I have
created a test page using testimonials from seminar attendees.
Pleasenotethatit’sjustatemplateforreadersandnotalivesales
page.Freehow-toseminarsasrecommendedintheExpertBuilder
are ideal for identifying popular selling points and securing
testimonials.
TestingtheAdvertisement
SherwoodandJohannanowneedtotestactualcustomerresponseto
theiradvertisements.Sherwoodfirsttestshisconceptwitha72-hour
eBayauctionthatincludeshisadvertisingtext.Hesetsthe“reserve”
(the lowest price he’ll accept) for one shirt at $50 and cancels the
auctionlastminutetoavoidlegalissuessincehedoesn’thaveproduct
toship.He hasreceived bidsup to$75 and decidesto moveto the
next phase of testing. Johanna doesn’t feel comfortable with the
apparentdeceptionandskipsthispreliminarytesting.
Sherwood’scost:<$5.
Bothregisterdomainnamesfortheirsoon-to-beone-pagesitesusing
the cheap domain registrar www.domainsinseconds.com. Sherwood
chooses www.shirtsfromfrance.com and Johanna chooses
www.yogaclimber.com. For additional domain names, Johanna uses
www.domainsinseconds.com.
Costtoboth:<$20.
Sherwood uses www.weebly.com to create his one-page site
advertisement and then creates two additionalpages usingthe form
builderwww.wufoo.com.Ifsomeoneclicksonthe“purchase”button
atthebottomofthe first page, ittakesthem to a secondpagewith
pricing, shipping and handling,
43
and basic contact fields to fill out
(including e-mail and phone). If the visitor presses “continue with
order,” it takes them to a page that states, “Unfortunately, we are
currently on back order but will contact you as soon as we have
productinstock.Thankyouforyourpatience.”Thisstructureallows
himtotestthefirst-pageadandhispricingseparately.Ifsomeonegets
tothelastpage,itisconsideredanorder.
Johanna is not comfortable with “dry testing,” as Sherwood’s
approach is known, even though it is legal if the billing data isn’t
captured. She instead uses the same two services to create a single
webpagewiththecontentof her one-pageadandan e-mail sign-up
forafree“top10tips”listforusingyogaforrockclimbing.Shewill
consider60%ofthesign-upsashypotheticalorders.
Costtoboth:<$0.
BothsetupsimpleGoogleAdwordscampaignswith50–100search
terms to simultaneously test headlines while driving traffic to their
pages.Theirdailybudgetlimitsaresetat$50perday.(Atthissegue
into PPC testing, I recommend you first visit
www.adwords/google.com/onlinebusiness and then follow along by
creating your own account, which should take about 10 minutes. It
wouldbeawasteofrainforeststousetenpagestoexplaintermsthat
canbeunderstoodataglanceonline.)
SherwoodandJohannadecideonthebestsearchtermsbyusingthe
searchtermsuggestiontoolsmentionedearlier.Bothaimforspecific
termswhen possible(“french sailor shirts”vs. “french shirts;”“yoga
forsports”vs.“yoga”)forhigherconversionrates(thepercentageof
visitorsthatpurchase)andlowercost-per-click(CPC).Theyaimalso
forsecondthroughfourthpositioning,butnomorethan$.20CPC.
Sherwood will use Google’s free analytical tools to track “orders”
and page abandonment rates—what percentage of visitors leave the
sitefromwhichpages.Johannawillusewww.wufoo.comtotracke-
mailsign-upsonthissmalltestingscale.
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Costtoboth:$0.
BothJohannaandSherwooddesignAdwordsadsthatfocusontheir
differentiators. Each Google Adwords ad consists of a headline and
then two lines of description, neither of which can exceed 35
characters. In Sherwood’s case, he creates five groups of 10 search
termseach.Thefollowingaretwoofhisads.
SAILORSHIRTSFROMFRANCE
Johannacreatesthesamefivegroupsof10termseachandtestsa
numberofads,includingthese:
Notice that these ads can be used to test not just headlines but
guarantees, product names, and domain names. It’s as simple as
creating several ads, rotated automatically by Google, that are
identicalexceptfortheonevariabletobetested.HowdoyouthinkI
determinedthebesttitleforthisbook?
Both Sherwood and Johanna disable the feature on Google that
servesonlythebest-performingad.Thisisnecessarytolatercompare
the click-through rates from each and combine the best elements
(headline,domainname,andbodytext)intoafinalad.
Last but not least, ensure that the ads don’t trick prospects into
visiting the site. The product offer should be clear. Our goal is
qualified traffic, so we do not want to offer something “free” or
otherwiseattractwindowshoppersorthecuriouswhoareunlikelyto
buy.
Costtoboth:$50orlessperdayx5days=$250.
45
InvestingorDivesting
Fivedayslater,it’stimetotallytheresults.
Whatcanweconsidera“good”click-throughandconversionrate?
This is where themath can be deceiving. If we’re sellinga $10,000
abominable snowman suit withan 80%profit margin,we obviously
needamuchlowerconversionratethansomeonewhoissellinga$50
DVD with a 70% profit margin. For sophisticated tools and free
spreadsheetsthatdoallsortsofcalculationsforyou,visitthereader-
onlyresourcesatwww.fourhourblog.com.
JohannaandSherwooddecidetokeepitsimpleatthisstage:How
muchdidtheyspendonPPCadsandhowmuchdidthey“sell”?
Johannahasdonewell.Thetrafficwasn’tenoughtomakethetest
standuptostatisticalscrutiny,butshespentabout$200onPPCand
got 14 sign-ups for a free 10-tip report. If she assumes 60% would
purchase, that means 8.4 people x $75 profit per DVD = $630 in
hypothetical total profit. This is also not taking into account the
potentiallifetimevalueofeachcustomer.
Theresultsofhersmalltestarenoguaranteeoffuturesuccess,but
theindicationsarepositiveenoughthatshedecidestosetupaYahoo
Store for $99 per month and a small per-transaction fee. Her credit
isn’texcellent,soshewillopttousewww.paypal.comtoacceptcredit
cards online instead of approaching her bank for a merchant
account.
46
Shee-mailsthe10-tipreporttothosewhosignedupand
asksfortheirfeedbackandrecommendationsforcontentontheDVD.
Tendayslater,shehasafirstattemptattheDVDreadytoshipand
her store is online. Her sales to the original sign-ups cover costs of
production and she is soon selling a respectable 10 DVDs per week
($750 profit) via Google Adwords. She plans to test advertising in
niche magazines and blogs and now needs to create an automation
architecturetoremoveherselffromtheequation.
Sherwooddidn’tfareaswellbutstillseespotential.Hespent$150
onPPCand“sold” three shirtsfor a hypothetical$225 in profit.He
hadmorethanenoughtraffic,butthebulkofvisitorsleftthesiteon
the pricingpage. Rather than drop pricing, he decides to test a “2x
money-back guarantee” on the pricing page, which will enable
customers to get a $200 refund if the $100 shirts aren’t the “most
comfortable they’veever owned.” He retestsand “sells” seven shirts
for $525 in profit. Based on these results, he sets up a merchant
account through his bank and Authorize.net to process credit cards,
orders a dozen shirts from France, and sells them all over the
followingtendays.Thisgiveshimenoughprofittobuyasmalldisplay
R
adat 50% off(askingfora“first-timeadvertiserdiscount” andthen
citingacompetingmagazinetogetanother20%off)inalocalweekly
artmagazine,inwhichhecallstheshirt“JacksonPollockShirts.”He
orderstwodozenmoreshirtswithnet-30paymenttermsandputsa
toll-freenumber
47
intheprintadthatforwardstohiscellphone.He
doesthisinsteadofusingawebsitefortworeasons:(1)Hewantsto
determinethemostcommonquestionsforhisFAQonline,and(2)he
wantstotestanofferof$100foroneshirt($75inprofit)or“buytwo,
getonefree”($200-$75=$125profit).
Hesellsall24shirtsinthefirstfivedaysthemagazineruns,most
throughthespecialoffer.Success.Heredesignstheprintad,putting
answers to common questions in the text to cut down on calls for
information,anddecidestonegotiatealonger-termadagreementwith
themagazine.Hesendshissalesrepacheckforfourissuesat30%of
theirpublishedrates.Hecallstoconfirmthattheyreceivedhischeck
viaFedExand,withcheckinhandanddeadlineslooming,theydon’t
refuse.
SherwoodwantstogotoBerlinduringatwo-weekbreakfromhis
job, which he is now considering quitting. How can he roll out his
success and escape his own company? He needs to build the
architectureandgethismobileM.B.A.
That’swherethenextchaptercomesin.
NewRichRevisited:HowDougDidIt
ememberDoug from ProSoundEffects.com? How did he testthe
idea and go from $0 to $10,000 per month in the process? He
followedthesesteps.
1.MarketSelection
Hechosemusicandtelevisionproducersashismarketbecausehe
isamusicianhimselfandhasusedtheseproducts.
2.ProductBrainstorm
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