  
 |  | | Issue 215 | September 16, 2009 |
| | | | | | | If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade. ~ Tom Peters | |
| Opportunity Knocks: Creative Ways to Make a Living Without A Job Live and Work in Paradise: How to Transition to the Right Job in the Right Place |  | | Valerie Young | By Valerie Young What if you could earn a living working not only at what you love but where you love as well? If location is everything for you, here is the low-down on locating your ideal work in your ideal place. Over There, Over ThereIs your idea of heaven-on-earth to live in a Paris flat, on a houseboat in Tahiti or seaside in Belize? Before booking a ticket or updating that resume, says Clay Hubbs, publisher of Transitions Abroad magazine, you need to ask yourself a few questions. Like: 1)Where do you want to go? If don’t have a clue, start with a general region of the world and start doing your homework from there. 2)What do you have to offer? Landing a job overseas is not much different than landing one at home. Much of it comes down to whether you have the skills or knowledge that a prospective employer needs. While jobs in China are easy to come by, in Western Europe and other developed nations (including the U.S.) getting a work permit can be tough. It requires proving that you – more so than a native – are uniquely qualified for the job. (Before you get too discouraged, keep in mind that your keen insight into the American psyche may prove invaluable to a company looking to tap the U.S. market.) Jobs for Americans, especially those teaching English as a second language, are more plentiful in Eastern Europe but the pay tends to be low, especially compared to Japan, Taiwan and Korea where such jobs pay considerably more. 3)What kinds of jobs are available? If you want to work for an American employer, seek out U.S.-based companies that have a strong overseas presence. Smaller but innovative flex-friendly companies typical of the high tech industry are also good bets. Or, track down the local English language newspaper on-line and peruse their employment section. 4)What kind of contacts do you have? No international connections leap to mind? Keep thinking. Doesn’t your uncle have a second cousin in Athens? And didn’t a former coworker’s wife once work for a company with an Argentine affiliate? If you really come up dry, hop on a plane and do the same thing you’d do in any new place – network like crazy! Do Your Own Thing Think warm sea breezes, swaying palm trees, white sand and clear blue waters. That’s what Vicki Phelps, a homemaker who had been working part-time in her husband’s software business pictured when she decided to move to the U.S. Virgin Islands to bake cookies. On their numerous Caribbean vacations, Vicki noticed how few island-themed gift items were actually made locally. Spying an opportunity to relocate herself and her family to paradise, she decided the recipe for success lay in capitalizing on the island’s native fruits and spices. That was the start of The Original Caribbean Cookie Company. An immediate hit with the tourists, Vickie’s husband was soon able to close his business and join her full-time. Starting your own small business, says Hubbs, is a smart move, especially since in countries like Italy, for instance, it can be all but impossible for a non-European to get a job. That’s what Jules Maidoff did. Bucking the stereotypic image of the struggling artist, Maidoff is living proof that, like Phelps, you can have your cookies and eat them too. Since his humble beginnings as a summer art class instructor to a handful of American students in Tuscany some 25 years ago, Maidoff went on to found Studio Art Center International in the heart of Florence, Italy. Billed as a “school with a view,” SACI’s 100+ students, many with no formal training or even a college degree, are drawn to the school’s wide range of offerings from fresco and lithography to ceramics and art conservation. If you’re thinking about starting a business overseas Hubbs recommends you connect with that country’s branch of theAmerican Chamber of Commerce. Better yet, get the latest edition of Hubb’s book, Work Abroad: The Complete Guide to Finding a Job Overseas. The book offers a comprehensive guide to all aspects of international work, including work permits, short-term jobs, job listings by profession and region of the world, key employers by country, and starting your own business. Paradise Without a Passport Whether you want to move half way around the world or to the other side of the country, the same steps apply. Thankfully, you won’t need to track down local newspapers for employment listings. Thanks to affiliations with local resources from coast-to-coast, CareerBuilder.com lets you search 75+ sites for job openings nationwide. And while you’re at it, check out their newSalary Calculator and Wage Information. In seconds, a city-dwelling web designer torn between relocating to the tropics or the mountains can compare salaries in Honolulu with those in Helena. Once again, you can always create your own job. Fearing that their stress-filled jobs and long commutes had them “heading for a heart attack,” Dean and Darlene Jacobson transplanted themselves from Philadelphia to Charlottesville, Virginia. Motivated by their love of horses they saw an unfilled niche and decided to tap it. With the help of the free one-to-one counseling they received from two volunteers from the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), the Dean’s now publish the Virginia Horse Journal right from their farm. Like all major work/life transitions, this one took time. While Dean was getting the publication up and running, Darlene continued to work. When she was finally able to quit and join him, their combined income dropped about $100,000. But Darlene’s not complaining. “Every so often I ask Dean, ‘Are we working or are we having fun?’ and he says, ‘I think we’re working.’” Testing the Waters If you’re not ready for a permanent international move, try to short-term stint. A good place to start is Working Abroad, an international networking service for volunteers, workers and travelers. Projects can be short or long term, paid or unpaid, skilled or unskilled depending on your needs, qualifications and interests. You can go black bear tracking in Canada, excavate archaeological sites in France, work as a management trainer and administrator in Ghana, and more. A creative, low-cost way to try out a new area in the U.S. is to live rent-free by taking care of someone else’s property. The Caretaker Gazette lists caretaking, professional estate management, work exchange and house swapping opportunities in the U.S. and elsewhere. The number one rule in any real estate search is location, location, location. Apply this same principle to your work life and you may not only find your dream house but the life you’ve been dreaming of as well! Add Your Two Cents Want to comment on this article? Click here to hop over to the Changing Course Blog! About the Author "Turning Interests Into Income" expert, Valerie Young, abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at ChangingCourse.com offering resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her career change tips have been cited in Kiplinger's, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, Woman's Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN, CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie has spoken on the topic of How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are to such diverse organizations as Daimler Chrysler, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Harvard, and American Women in Radio and Television. To read more articles about how to work at what you love without a job go to ChangingCourse.com/articles.htm Follow Valerie Online  - ValerieYoungTwitter.com
- ValerieYoungFacebook.com
 - ValerieYoungLinkedIn.com
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| Adventure is worthwhile. ~ Amelia Earhart | |
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| | | | | Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose. ~ Tom Krause | | Guest Article The Five Easiest-to-Complete Information ProductsBy Marcia YudkinYour first time out of the gate, you’re going to be tempted to tackle an information product project that is much too complicated. After all, you know so much and can’t leave out any of the valuable points! Or, you lack confidence that anyone will pay you a dime unless your ebook, book or course is crammed with every imaginable tip and technique.
Don’t give in to this temptation, or you’ll be hamstrung and unable to finish that crucial first information marketing project. Instead, choose one of these easy formats for compiling and packaging useful information, and you’ll have your first product on the market – and making money for you – in no time. Five Easy Information Product Formats1. Compilation of Expert Contributions Here you request others who are respected in their field to provide you with content that you bring together into a product. Why would busy experts provide you with original, thought-provoking and useful material? They often will do so at no cost if you come up with an interesting enough question for them to answer and tell them their contribution should be a page or less.
Promise them a copy of the finished report, where they’ll be able to see how peers and competitors responded, too. Also tell them how you’ll be publicizing the product. No matter how well known they already are, prominent people love publicity. After all, that’s how they got to be renowned in the first place. In most cases, you’ll set up this compilation as a downloadable PDF report. Example: "Online Profits at the Speed of Light" by Bob Serling 2. Q&A Report Instead of asking many others one question, you can create a product by asking yourself – then answering – many questions. This works well when you simply collect commonly asked questions. You can also focus or the hardest ones, the most unusual ones or the funniest questions. If you find the idea of writing a formal article or a book intimidating, this may be the ticket for you. When it comes to anything you know more about than the average person, you’re probably in the habit of answering questions on a daily or weekly basis anyway. This one, too, would get sold as a downloadable PDF report. Example: "Answers to the World's Toughest Questions about Law of Attraction" by Andrea Conway 3. Audio Interview of an Expert In this option and the next two, you create an audio product in just one hour plus a little preparation time. Simply persuade someone whose opinions, experiences and knowledge others want to hear to be interviewed for an hour, and record the session. Voilà, a product! Many experts will agree to do this for free providing they receive a copy of the recording and permission to sell it or use it as a bonus product for something else.
It’s easiest to record such an interview on a conference-call line using a service like Free Conference Call. Sell your interview either as a downloadable MP3 or as a CD that you send to the buyer by mail. Some information marketers also provide the option of customers buying a transcript in addition to or instead of the audio recording. Examples: "Paying for College" "Inside the Mind of a Listing Expert" 4. Audio Interview of You Just flip option #3 upside down, and you have another quick-start information product: Someone else interviews you for an hour. The interviewer could be a friend or someone with a great voice and smooth interviewing skills whom you hire to do the interview. Record the question and answer session, and in little more than one hour, you have a product to sell.
Prepare for the interview by writing an introduction and conclusion for the interviewer to use and a list of questions. Keep the illusion of spontaneity by not writing out in full your answers to these questions. Instead, make notes on the points you want to make during the session and keep them in front of you as you and the interviewer go through the agenda, question by question. To the listener, interviews arranged in this way sound exactly like those in #3, so I’m not listing separate examples. 5. Teleclass Recording This audio option differs from the interview format in that it’s instructional in flavor and may include participant questions and your answers. You can charge for this kind of session in two ways: First, those who participate in the call might pay to do so, and second, those who were not present on the call can purchase the CD or MP3 recording. While some teleclasses become products as a multi-session series, it’s best to start with just a single one-hour class. Examples: "Creating Donor Evangelists" by Marc Pitman "Create a New Financial Identity" by Joan Sotkin When you’ve chosen the content carefully, provided useful information and described the product temptingly for your target market, these quick-to-produce information formats sell well. Henry David Thoreau put my point best: Simplify! Simplify! About the Author Marcia Yudkin has been selling information in one form or another since 1981, including conventionally published books, audiotapes, CDs, downloadable reports and multimedia courses. Learn more about her home-study course on becoming a successful information marketer:Yudkin.com Note from Valerie I've known of Marcia's work since 1995 when I published some of her articles in my original hardcopy issues of Changing Course. I'm thrilled to invite you to two free calls Marcia will be holding in the coming weeks on creating your first information products: Your First PDF Report, Step by Step, Friday, September 18, 4:00 p.m. Eastern ChangingCourse.com/recommends/pdfreport Your First Audio Product, Step by Step, Thursday, September 24, 7:00 p.m. Eastern ChangingCourse.com/recommends/firstaudio
| Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. ~ Jamie Paolinetti | Special Announcement Now You Can Experience Yanik Silver’s 2009
SOLD-OUT Underground Online Marketing Seminar In Your Own Home Last spring my friend Yanik Silver held his fifth SOLD-OUT Underground Online Marketing Seminar in Washington, DC. It was my third Underground and it didn’t disappoint. In addition to the wild 007 theme, this event is known showcasing largely unknown entrepreneurs making seven figures with various online businesses. Plus there are always amazing guest speakers like Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, the controversial founder of Go Daddy, master marketer Bill Glazer and others.  | | Valerie introduces Outside the Job Box Consultants Kate Fessler and Carrie Jeffries to Yanik at a special summer event | Yanik is about to offer videos of the entire event that over 400 serious entrepreneurs (like me) paid $3,495 to attend. If you already have an online business and are looking to take it to the next level or just open to expanding your entrepreneurial know-how, and you’ve always wanted to attend an Underground seminar but couldn’t swing it, this is your chance. I guarantee you will not only learn a ton but any doubts you may have had about whether it’s possible to build a profitable online business will be banished forever. Having said that, this is definitely not a beginners event or a step-by-step “how to” seminar. If that’s what you need then hold on to your cash and wait for a learning opportunity more in line with where you are in the process. If you want to get a feel for what the event is all about, for a limited time you can see some uncensored video clips from the event: ChangingCourse.com/recommends/bootleg You’ll get to see first-hand a portion of five different presentations from highly successful entrepreneurs all making seven-figures using a range of different business models and products. For instance, one guy figured out how to get his eBook translated into German and is now the #1 seller in his market in that country. You can get a glimpse into what they revealed LIVE that only attendees who paid up to $3,495 to be there have heard. I strongly suggest you check this out before Yanik removes the videos. Go there now: ChangingCourse.com/recommends/bootleg Plus you can watch the entire keynote presentation from Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com. If you don’t know Zappos, it’s an online shoe store that didn’t listen to everyone who said you can’t sell shoes online and now makes over a billion – with a B – dollars a year. Tony’s presentation is a fascinating look at how important corporate culture and mission are to building a hugely successful business. Case in point - they actually offer to pay new hires $2,000 to quit after the training period. ChangingCourse.com/recommends/zapposvideo No matter which video you watch you have to sign up to receive them – which means you’ll get several more emails inviting you to purchase the entire set. To me it is a small price to pay for continuing your education as an aspiring entrepreneur – and you may even decide to invest in the entire video series. | People have to really suffer before they can risk doing what they love. ~ Chuck Palahniuk | Learning Opportunities Turn Your Interests Into Income Tele-Brainstorming Call with Your Host, Valerie YoungHave you ever wished that you could sit down and have a
one-on-one brainstorming session with Valerie? You know you want to do work you love, you just don't know how! Here's your chance! Join us this month as we feature business ideas or challenges that Valerie and her special guests will focus on. | Wednesday, September 30
12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Free for Changing Course Club Members*
(sign up in the Club Lounge)
$19.00 for Non Members**
Click Here to Register |  *This series is free to current members of theChanging Course Club.
**100 percent of Non-Members registration fees go to the non-profit micro-grant organization TrickleUp.org
Playing Your Own Game:
What Every Aspiring Entrepreneur MUST Know BEFORE Starting a Business  Do you have a dream to be your own boss, to work where, when, and with whomever you choose? Do you desire to transform yourself from someone who plays by the rules of someone else’s game to someone who creates the rules for your own game? Join Outside the Job Box Expert Kate Fessler on September 22 for this free teleclass.
On this call, Kate will walk you through five surprising, yet essential, questions you must ask – and answer honestly – to set yourself up for success. You’ll learn the secret formula to thinking like someone who lives a life filled with joy, meaning and prosperity. If you’re longing to break the bonds of traditional employment and experience the true freedom that your authentic business can provide, don’t miss this life-changing call. Tuesday, September 22
8:30 p.m. Eastern/5:30 p.m. Pacific
Click Here to Learn More | Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. ~ George Bernard Shaw |
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The View From theOther Side "If you are trying to do something for the first time, it’s always an enormous challenge, and there is no guarantee of success. You never know with these things when you’re trying something new what can happen. This is all experimental." ~ Sir Richard Branson
| | Resources for a Change Creating Your First Information Product Master Marketer Marcia Yudkin (see our Guest Article above) is offering two calls on creating your first information product over the next few weeks. On Friday, September 18th she'll walk you through all the steps of creating your first PDF Report (sign up atChangingCourse.com/recommends/pdfreport) and on Thursday, September 24th she'll walk you through creating your first Audio Product (sign up atChangingCourse.com/recommends/firstaudio). Women's Leadership ConferenceThe Spirit of Leadership: Reawakening the Feminine is an invitation to women of diverse backgrounds and experiences, talents and circumstances, colors and shapes, to connect in common purpose: to acknowledge, support and express their innate abilities to lead... as only women can. It's happening October 2-3 in Lake Forest, Illinois. Learn more atTheSpiritOfLeadership.net Business Licenses and Permits Entrepreneur.com has an incredibly informative article detailing business licenses, permits, state and federal licenses, sales tax licenses and more for the home based business. Entrepreneur.com Note: Changing Course does not accept paid advertisements from any of the resources listed here. This list is provided to expand your thinking about just how many interesting ways there are to make a living without a job!
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