Interview with FrugalTheme creator, Eric Hamm.
In my relatively short tenure in the blogging world, I’ve been fortunate to come across some really good people. One of them I actually met after purchasing his WordPress theme, FrugalTheme. His name is Eric Hamm, and his story is an interesting one if you are a blogger or not. If you’ve ever considered making a living online this interview is definitely for you. Eric was nice enough to thoroughly answer a number of questions I posed to him. So let’s get right to the interview.
When did you first get involved in the blogging world and why?
July 21st, 2008, I wrote my first post on my personal blog Motivate Thyself. It was just a week or so before the publishing of that post that I started thinking about starting a blog and maybe even an online business. Read More>>
Interview with Jonathan Fields.
I have never had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan Fields face-to-face but I think I know a little bit about him. I read his book, Career Renegade, a couple of times. 
I also reviewed it in this post. I have exchanged emails with him a few times and he has been very gracious to respond to me. I also read his blog regularly because it is one of the most thought-provoking blogs I have found in the blogosphere. If you do not know his story, maybe you should. Just go visit his blog and go to the sidebar and download the first four chapters of his book, Career Renegade, for free. You will get to know a fascinating, dynamic person who has a compassion and a spirit that will touch you as he has me.
After I read his book, I emailed Jonathan telling him that I was planning on reviewing the book on my blog and I would appreciate it if he could answer a few questions that sprung from reading the book. He was very gracious that I had decided to review his book but he didn’t have time, at that time, to answer the questions thoroughly enough. He did say he would do so when he had the proper time to devote to answering the questions. Being a man of his word, Jonathan recently surprised me with a long email with all of my questions answered. I am happy to be able to share these answers with all of you. Read More>>
Career Renegade: a book review.
If someone were to ask you to define goals in your own life you might say:
- Make a great living.
- Love what I did.
- Be around people I loved.
Well, these were the exact goals that Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade, had when he left his job as a securities/hedge fund lawyer roughly a dozen years ago. Since then Jonathan has been able to realize those goals and live life to the fullest as a husband, father, teacher, speaker, and entrepreneur.
Jonathan launched a boutique creative marketing and entrepreneurship catalyst group called Vibe Creative and in January of 2008 launched a company called “Career Renegade” to help train others to be able to live and work as he does. He also runs two websites, JonathanFields.com and CareerRenegade.com. Jonathan had previously run blogs at both sites but he has decided to merge the two blogs on Tuesday, October 13th, into one blog at JonathanFields.com. And, according to a recent blog post, he has also relaunched TribalAuthor.com as what he calls a “full-on blog” and has begun contributing a weekly column to the new Huffington Post book section. So, as you can quickly note, he certainly appears to be living the life that he set out to live based on his original goals listed above.
Inspiring and Practical
Have you ever read a book that was jam-packed with so much information and resources that once you finished it you had to read it again? This was exactly the case when I read Career Renegade. This isn’t just a feel-good book, although I did feel great after reading it. What is more important is that not only does it inspire, but it also gives you actionable steps that you can take to achieve the goals of making a great living doing what you love to do. At the same time, Jonathan gives us real-life examples of people like Ann Rea who was able to parlay her artistic talents into partnering with wineries to paint scenes of their vineyards. And there’s the story of Victoria Colligan who was able to launch a national organization called “Ladies Who Launch” that brings female entrepreneurs together for education and support.
Challenge Yourself
The impression that this book initially had on me was that I cannot continue to make excuses for not living the life I want to live. I should challenge myself to explore the opportunities and resources that are available. And there are resources out there, and a lot of them are free, and they are listed in this book. Jonathan challenges his readers to find their passion by asking the question “What makes you come alive?” He beckons the reader to explore their passion and tap into that energy. You just might find that you can make a living doing what you love to do.
Explore Gaps
Jonathan talks a lot about gaps in this book. You may be able to fill a gap when it comes to information by creating an e-book or a podcast that you can sell on sites such as ClickBank.com. He talks about resources such as LuLu.com which will help you create and sell a professional-looking printed book or an e-book. Gaps in education are also explored in this book and how easy it is to create course material that will allow you to sell and teach your courses online. He even supplies you with a number of sites like elance.com and scriptlance.com where you can even hire someone to write your training material content. Being able to make money by exploring the need for stuff is also presented in Career Renegade. Along this vein, the story of Susan Nichols is discussed. Susan was able to parlay her passion for yoga into the development of a skidless yoga mat for a physical style of yoga called Ashtanga. She saw a gap and a need out there related to her passion and was able to exploit that into a lucrative business.
Blogging and Social Media
Setting up a blog and utilizing social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc to promote a blog is discussed in detail in this book. Mentioned previously, Jonathan has been writing blogs at more than one location and is being merged into one blog at JonathanFields.com. I’ve found this blog to be extremely entertaining and insightful. Jonathan talks about how you can promote your blog by guest-posting on other, more popular blogs and how you can approach these blog owners to get your post published. Blogging can not only promote your business but it can be a business in itself.
Possibilities
If there was one feeling I was left with after reading this book is that there are real possibilities out there if we only reach for them and utilize the tools Jonathan has detailed so thoroughly. I have only scratched the surface when it comes to the abundant resources that are found in this book. We can all sit there and wish we had the life that Jonathan does but, after reading this book, I feel that the possibilities are endless. It is possible to turn your passion into your livelihood. It may not happen overnight but if you don’t try you will never know. If you do try, who knows, maybe you too can live the life of a Career Renegade.
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Woot’s Up!
We’re all about success here at TotallyUniqueLife.com and, if you are going to start looking at successful websites, you have to take a walk on the web and stop at Woot.com.
Woot is an e-commerce site that was founded by electronics wholesaler Matt Rudledge and debuted on July 12, 2004. The most interesting and creative aspect of this site is that Woot offers one product per day until its stock of that item is sold out or the product is replaced at midnight Central Time with the next offering. This “One Deal a Day” business model has been copied and implemented many times since Woot was launched back in 2004.
Woot has fostered a “community” environment where users log in and talk about the products they have purchased or would like to purchase. Obviously, due to the expediency of the buying process on this site, the need for information is paramount. Interaction with other users is extremely helpful in the buying process due to the fact that you have only one day to buy the product. When a user goes to the Woot home page there is an immediate example of the community atmosphere of the site with a view of today’s discussions. 
This site screams “interactivity” and beckons the visitor to take part in the experience that is Woot.
There is even a section of the home page which shows who the first “sucker” was that purchased that day’s sale item and how long it took that user to make that purchase.
Adding to the customer experience is a Sales Statistics page which shows a number of various statistics related to the purchaser experience, purchased seniority, and quantity breakdown. The percentage of sales per hour gives a nice breakdown of how the product is selling by hour.
On the Statistics page the user is also presented with a map of where people are buying the product from.
The key to Woot’s success is obviously their creativity by creating a social atmosphere where the consumer feels like they are part of the user experience. It is this type of creativity and marketing genius that has made Woot a pioneer site. Other e-commerce sites, if they haven’t already, can learn a lot from the brilliant marketing strategies of Woot. Check out Woot and maybe you can incorporate a few of their creative strategies into your site. Thinking “outside the box” has led to the creation of a “totally unique” site in Woot…
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