To Be...or Not to Be!

Posted on April 15, 2012

…a part of this blog. That is the question!

For those that choose to be, you’ll be glad to know that I have added a new page link to the bottom of the header above (“Subscribe”), where you can now sign up to receive notices of new posts to this blog automatically. If you already signed up for my free ebookon how to create your own minivan camper, then you don’t have to do anything… I have already added you to this list, since you have been getting emails from me anyway. But if you choose to NOT get notices of new posts, you can unsubscribe there, also.

Please note that subscribing here WILL NOT put you on the email list for the free ebook! From this day (4/15/12) forward these two lists will be totally separate! If you want the free ebook, you can opt-in to that list by clicking here.

Why am I doing this? Because many people that already own an RV, may not have an interest in creating their own minivan camper, but may be interested in many of the topics presented here on the blog, and vice versa. Although I mention the camper project, the blog is about ALL kinds of things of interest to campers and RV’ers of ALL types.

Also, I think the loyal subscribers to the ebook, who have been waiting patiently for me to finish it, deserve some perks that other readers don’t!

Also, it takes time to manually maintain lists, so anything I can do to automate the process and make things run smoother helps all of us. I won’t have to manually write an email to you to let you know that there is a new post on the blog. It will do it automatically. Of course, that also means I will have to proof-read more carefully, or otherwise, every time I make a correction it may email you! I’ll try to keep that to a minimum!  Anyway, we’ll try it for awhile and see how it works.

As part of these upgrades, I also plan to make it easier to acquire the download of the free ebook. Right now, subscribers to that list have to wait on me to manually reply to them with the link. That step became necessary because there were a few who tried to give me fake email addresses, and the form wasn’t set up to “test” them first. So I had to take the link off the “thank you” page because of dishonest people. Gee, what’s the world coming to when you can’t trust RV’ers?

But the problem now is that all the honest people have to wait until I can check my email and reply to them with the link! That’s inconvenient for both of us, so I will be working on correcting that in the next few days.

Little by little I have been working toward freeing up our time for the day when we can get out and travel again. Some of my other sites were using drop-shipped products, where I had to get the order by email, then send it on to my supplier, who then sends the customer their products… not a “bad” process… if you don’t mind being tied to your computer to process orders all day. Yes, you can “technically” process orders from almost anywhere that you have internet access, but some places out west, I know we won’t have. And even if I was at Disney World… why would I want to tie up my time working? At least the profit margin is usually higher, but you “work” for those extra profits, too. Some of those extra profits go to overhead, too, not all in your pocket!

As of this last week, with my last drop-ship supplier backing out because of problems with being able to supply the product, I have now converted everything to affiliate sales, digital products, and downloaded products that I can provide for free and for which I get paid by the vendor to give it away! That means that everything takes place totally on autopilot now, and any proceeds go straight to the bank by direct deposit!

Now, if I can’t check my email for a couple of days, it won’t matter to the business end of things. And if I’m out sightseeing, the sales keep going on even when I’m not there to see it happen! That’s what it takes to free yourself from the rat race of normal society and be able to do the things you’ve always wanted to do!

It’s taken me over 13 years of nearly constant study to put all the pieces together, and it wasn’t until 2010, when I retired early, (at 62) that my time became freed up from other things to implement many of the things that I had only “known” about before. It still takes lots of time to implement all the techniques. But I’m becoming more efficent at it as I go, and even though I am still learning (no one ever stops learning), I am seeing the progress happen, and getting the business steered in a direction that we need it to go!

To those who are still waiting for “something” to happen, so that they can afford to live their dream of travel, don’t wait until the last minute to do it. Whatever you do is always going to take more time to develop than you think it will, so get started on making the change as early as you can! Forget about those stories of getting rich “quick” on the internet. For 95% of people, it will never happen… BUT… if they are lucky enough to be able to start part time, learn the skills necessary and get “some” money flowing in, they might be able to have a sustainable income within five years. As with most businesses, it takes time to learn it, to develop your techniques and become more efficent at implementing them, to see where you market is, and develop a customer base.

But whether computers are your thing or not, whatever it is that you think you might want to do, get started on it… don’t wait! I just read about a lady who quit her job as a radio DJ, and started doing voice-overs… from her RV! That’s right, she travels wherever she wants to go, does her work in her little studio in the back of her RV, and sends the finsihed product by email attachment!

There ARE ways to make it happen… if you want it bad enough!

So now the question becomes “To Be or Not to Be”… out there traveling and enjoying life, or putting up with what you’ve always put up with, just because it’s the “safer” way, and it’s what the rest of the world expects from you?

The choice is  yours.