Author Archive

“How can you afford to take two months off in the winter?”

That’s what the US border official asked me last week, when I was catching a flight to Corpus Christi, Texas, where my wife and I will be spending some quality “winter time.”

When you’re in Canada and fly to the USA, you cross the “border” inside the airport, so when you land you don’t have to go through border control again.

The agent was very friendly and genuinely asked me how I could take two months off to go to a more sunny place. After all, he was probably stuck in Canada for the entire winter due to his job!

Every year for the past 6 years or so, I’ve spent a good chunk of the winter in a sunny, tropical place. This year is the first time I go somewhere that’s not really “tropical.” In fact, Southern Texas is even a bit chilly right now. We’re almost at the border of Mexico, but I see the UPS guy wearing a hat and mittens while I’m out for my run in a T-shirt!

I guess Southern people are not very resistant to the cold…

My friends in Dallas tell me that it’s freezing and snowing there, and that because they lack infrastructures to deal with the winter, everybody freaks out and the entire city shuts down.

The reason I’m here is that my wife’s family owns a vacation house in Corpus Christi, so we’re spending some time visiting and combining that with our “winter retreat.”

Many people would love to spend a few months of the winter in a sunny, tropical place. Even folks in Dallas! And people in Miami might even want to get away from the tourists for a while.

I once met an American guy on the island of Moorea, in Tahiti, who would spent six months a year there because he thought Maui was becoming too developed. Going from one tropical paradise to another!

Having a winter retreat makes sense for most people. While some intrepid folks make a complete move full-time to a tropical paradise, the reality is that living full-time in the tropics is not for everybody. But living there part-time is a dream come true.

I’ve spent many winters in Costa Rica, and last year I travelled around the world. Next year, we might go to Thailand, but we haven’t decided yet.

When the border official asked me how I could take two months off in the winter, I told him that I owned my own business. To that he said:

“I guess with the Internet nowadays you can live anywhere, as long as you have a laptop.”

And to that I said “Exactly!”

And that’s true.

Yet most people are stuck where they are and can’t move like trees, which is a tragic thing.

That’s the beauty of what I call the “Internet Freedom Lifestyle.”

There are ups and down in building your Internet business, but if you’re patient enough the results are liberating.

How do you make that happen?

- First of all, you need to structure your business in a way that you don’t have any employees, only contractors. In other words, you want to be a client for other people’s business, instead of having employees. That way, you avoid the burden of payroll, a crushing administrative expense that can destroy your freedom.

- Second, you want to sell products that don’t require you to physically go to the post office and ship anything yourself. That’s easy to do with digital products but also print-on-demand.

- Finally, you have to set yourself up to be totally mobile, with a laptop, a mobile fax number (I recommend www.efax.com), a mobile scanner (I recommend the Fujitsu ScanSnap)… so that if anything comes up while you’re away, you can deal with it efficiently as if you were in your own office.

Of course, there’s a lot more than this in building the Internet Freedom Lifestyle.

In future posts I’ll tell you more about it.

In the meantime, the best way to get started is with the Do What You Love Success Group.

And as a special bonus, if you try out the Success Group, you’ll get a copy of my CD-ROM “Laptop and a Beach” that teaches exactly how to create a mobile, Internet Freedom Lifestyle.

Check it out at:
http://www.dowhatyouloveuniversity.com/new.html

Watch our latest video and sign up for the course at: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/makealiving.html

New video is below!

Post your comments below…

Jennifer Minar-Jaynes, WritersBreak.com.

I recently did an interview with Jennifer Minar-Jaynes Editor in Chief, at www.WritersBreak.com. She asked me specific questions about making a living while writing.

Check it out and let me know if you have any questions. Make sure to also check out Jennifer’s blog.

What were you doing before you became a writer?

I never actually considered that I was really a “writer” until recently. I studied classical music in college, and then became interested in natural health and raw foods. I went on a quest of self-discovery when I was about 20 and worked at different retreat centers in California. I got my first book contract when I was just 22 to write a recipe book for an up-and-coming star in the “raw food” world called “The Sunfood Cuisine”.

What do you like most about your work?

I really enjoy writing and being able to work from home. I also enjoy the high return on investment I have been able to generate from my writings. I don’t think, considering how lazy I am, lol, that I could have done the same in the corporate world!

The least?

I would say that there’s nothing I really hate about my work, now that I’ve systematized and outsourced the processes that were too difficult for me to handle all at once. At this point I have a lot of projects on my plate so that’s the part I enjoy the least.

You are a fantastic (& very persuasive) writer. Is this self-taught?

Thank you! Yes I have learned everything myself and not through any formal education.

You’re also extremely prolific. You’ve written 20 ebooks and have turned out possibly “hundreds” of articles. I know, because I’ve probably read most of them! Any tips for writers who would like to produce as much quality work as you do?

For the record, I have written many eBooks, yes, but also six published books.

Whenever I write I need to get into a “zone.” I need to turn off all distractions and just write. Whenever I have something important to write, like a new book, I find I get my best writing done if I work on it in a block of one of two hours, first thing in the morning! That is before I check my emails or do any other type of work or even eat!

I also always set a timer when I write, using the “clock” application on my iPhone. I normally set it to about 45 or 50 minutes and then take a 10-15 minute break, and come back to it if necessary.

When writing a big project like a book, it’s imperative to set yourself a daily word goal. Usually 2000 words a day is a good target to make any significant progress.

Every writer dreams of moving to a tropical paradise. To write remotely about the things they’re passionate about and also make a good living. But for many of us, it sounds too good to be true. If anyone can do it, then why aren’t we all? Or, would you say, it’s this very mindset that’s limiting us?

I’m not sure that every writer dreams of moving to a tropical paradise, but indeed many do! The great thing about writing is that you can do it from anywhere.

If that’s your dream, there’s really no one stopping you.

I would say that for many people, moving to a tropical paradise is not something they should consider until they have the other aspects of their business and writing plan in place. Once you’re already successful in writing, then you could consider making a move.

What else would you say limits us from doing this—making the above dream a reality?

Actually I think that what limits people is inaction and being overwhelmed.

People procrastinate and don’t get anything done. They are also too distracted and can’t focus on writing, and take too long to complete projects.

For a writer, it’s imperative to have that 2-hour block every day to write uninterrupted, with no checking emails or Facebook!

You also need to write in a very clean environment. Your office should be an oasis of peace with no papers lying around and no notes all over the place. Read the book “Getting Things Done” by David Allen if you haven’t already!

At first glance writing digital informational products seems much more lucrative than writing digital novels since informational products generally have much higher price tags. Any thoughts on this?

I cannot comment on digital novels since I don’t have experience with that field. However I hear  stories of people making a killing writing digital vampire novels for Kindle.

Digital information products can be successful as long as one spends enough time putting together a complete strategy.

To give you a case in point, I offer a course “How to Write and Sell Your Own eBooks in 24 Hours or Less,” on my website

This course could have well been a book, but instead I found it more beneficial to separate the content into 12 lessons. Each lesson is a written PDF, but I also provide support material in the form of videos, templates, etc.

That way, it’s 10 times the value for the customer. Most people who would buy a book on how to write eBooks would read it, but never get anything done! But with support material and lessons spaced over time, they can work on it bit by bit one step at a time.

So we have to redefine what being a “writer” is. I may not always publish books but other writing projects in different forms can be even more lucrative.

NOTE: To learn more about the “How to Write Your Own eBooks Course, Click Here

What kinds of skills, personality and constitution must someone possess, in your opinion, in order to be successful at making a full-time income by writing ebooks?

You have to be able to write, but you don’t have to be a good writer. I don’t consider myself a good writer, since English is only my second language. I make a lot of grammatical mistakes, and I haven’t mastered proper writing tecnique. However I can churn out at least 1500-2000 words an hour and write in a style that’s compelling for my readers.

You have to be in touch with your readers. You have to think about them first, before you think about yourself. I do a lot of surveys to ask people what they want, to test new ideas, before I put them out on the market.

To make a living selling ebooks, you have to consider the full package, not just the “fun” writing part. You have to be willing to learn about copywriting and marketing. Otherwise, you’ll just become a writer and be paid accordingly, which is very little.

You’ve written over 20 successful eBooks. How would you define “success” when it comes to ebooks? A certain number of sales?

It depends. I have some projects that have made hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales, and others have only made 10K. Yet I consider them both successful, because in the 10K example, I only spent 5 hours working on it! (This was for a recipe eBook).

I consider it a success if the return on my investment in time and energy is high. For example, if I worked 100 hours on a project, and end up making 10K with it, that’s about $100 an hour. That’s pretty good, but if I consider my business expenses, then the hourly wage I make is much lower.

I find writing to be a very high ROI activity, so I aim at making at least $250 an hour from it to cover the cost of my business.

Would you encourage a writer with a successful ebook title to also have his book published in paperback? Why or why not?

Unless you have a book published in a physical form, you are not considered to be a serious writer and expert. I encourage all eBook writers and marketers to have at least one of their projects printed and available for sale to the public.

A printed book is also your best business cards. Imagine showing up at a conference with no book and trying to advertise the fact that you sell an ebook! No one will take you seriously. So yes, you need both.

What’s your experience been with CreateSpace? I’ve interviewed other writers who have used them & they’re also one of my site’s affiliates since I’ve heard nothing but great things. Would you personally recommend using them?

I use CreateSpace for most of my books now, so it’s definitely recommended especially for first-time authors.

I understand that the more titles you have under your belt, the more money will flow in. What was your lag time when you first started? For example, how long after your first book was on the market did it take before you no longer had to rely on other sources of income?

Before I answer the question, I have to mention that books also have a shelf life. Not all books, but most do.

Think about the books that were best sellers in 1995. How many are still best sellers today? Most of them are not, especially the ones about the Y2K computer bug! Most books have about a 5 year shelf life, if you’re lucky.

I’ve been lucky that some titles have kept selling well for me over the years, such as my book Raw Secrets. Although I published it in 2002, I still make good sales with it.

When a book is reaching the end of a shelf life and it would be more profitable to focus on a new project rather than trying to revive it, I recommend repurposing the content. Sometimes, just changing the name of a book will boost its sales! Or including the book as part of a larger package of products you may offer.

Now to answer your questions, I initially thought I would make a lot of money from books alone. When my first book Sunfood Cuisine came out, I was expecting it to make me a decent monthly income. Even though I have sold over 15,000 copies of it over the years, I was only getting about $3 in royalty payments per book. Not nearly enough to make a full-time living, even in 2002!

I haven’t had a book that’s been a home run and that made me a ton of money. By book I mean an actual, physical book. I’ve made more money from creating bigger products out of my writings, such as the monthly newsletter I write for my paid membership programs on my websites.

However, each book has been useful and most of them have been profitable experiences. Now I combine many of my books in larger packages of products, and I find it’s also better that way.

So to answer the question, from the moment my first book came out, I was making a full-time living less than 2 years later. However, most of my income did not come from the book but from other projects — which are all writing projects to some degree.

I have to say that if I started from scratch today, I could probably make a living only with eBooks, and it wouldn’t take me very long to do it, because I know how.

How long did it take to generate a 6-figure income solely from writing and selling ebooks?

Again, eBooks alone are just one part of my business. I sell How-To DVDs, physical books, packages of my info products, a monthly newsletter, etc.

It took me until 2005 to be able to make a 6-figure income from my writings.

What are some of the top reasons writers fail at this? What would you say are the top areas most people go wrong?

The number one reason, besides procrastination, is not learning about marketing. Many writers think that books will just market themselves. In fact, writing is only 20-30% of the work, the rest is all marketing!

How many hours a week do you set aside to work on promotion?

I don’t set aside a specific amount of time, it goes with the projects. Because I have automated a lot of processes, I normally work about one hour a week on a regular promotion, unless I’m launching a new book or product. In that case, I may work 5 to 10 hours on it.

Once a writer has his ebook finished and properly edited & packaged, what ebook sellers should he work with?

It doesn’t actually matter. I’ve known people using Paypal, but most people use Clickbank. The most important thing is to automate the process. I remember someone selling eBooks a few years ago, and after I sent the payment, I had to wait 24 hours for them to send me the eBook by email!

You want to automate the process as much as possible, using 1ShoppingCart or Clickbank. Of course, you should also have your book available on Kindle.

Any last words of advice?

You only get better at writing by writing more and reading more. So set some time every day to read and write.

You only get better at marketing by learning about marketing and implementing it. I would actually recommend my course “How to Write and Sell Your Own eBooks in 24 Hours or Less” because I think it’s the best on the subject, but that would be shameless promotion. Am I allowed?

Of course! Do you have a favorite quotation?

I don’t have the exact quote, but in one of his old books Stephen King said that he writes like some people overeat — that is compulsively.

But more recently, he said:

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

I would add to that:

If you’re not writing at least 1000 words a day, then you’re not serious about writing!

I’m going to say something a little shocking today. Here it goes:

“I think one of the stupidest all-encompassing statements I’ve heard pushed over and over again in personal development fields is the notion that you have to make a living with your passion!”

Okay… I’ve said it. Let’s all take a deep breathe in!
Now the reason I’m bringing this up is because I recently got an email from a reader. He says:

“Really, it sounds stupid but, for the life of me I cant really say I have a passion. I’ve read books, taken tests, I look at what I like and I just cant see that others would need to know some of the things that I know. My biggest question is just – how do I know what Im really passionate about?”

I know you’re going to say… Fred, don’t you talk about making a living  with your passion?

For some reason, people sometimes get the notion that my course is about “Making a Living With Your Passion” when it’s actually titled “How to Make a Living in the Natural Health Movement.”

I talk about doing what you love a lot, in fact my website is dowhatyoulove.com, and that may sound similar.

I know you hear it all over the place… “Live With Passion,” that’s even something that Tony Robbins used to say a lot.

People torture themselves with this concept of “passion” and never get anything done.

When we think of passion, we think of Mozart, we think of rock stars, maybe  charismatic CEOs like Steve Jobs, of amazing thinkers of all ages.

Then we look at ourselves and think… wow, I can’t compete with that!

Then the worst thing of all is these tests that help you determine what  your “passion” is.

In reality, nobody is born on the Earth with a passion. A passion may be something that you develop, or something that grows with you with time.

For example, I can’t say that the field of “raw foods” or health is my “passion.”

I can’t say that “Internet marketing” is my passion.

I can’t even say that I have a “passion” for traveling.

Of course, I’ve experienced “passion,” well, in various ways… But specifically when it comes to work, I think passion should instead be called “determination.”

You’re Passionate About What You’re Good At

Have you noticed that if you’re good at something, you have fun doing it? For example, I just found out I love watching hockey games, but I couldn’t skate to save my life. Throw me in a hockey game, and I would hate it.

However, I tend to enjoy certain activities with which I earn a living, such as writing, speaking foreign languages, or running my Internet business. I consider myself fairly “good” at these things and therefore I enjoy them.

When I’m good at something… I tend to enjoy doing it more.

When you first get started making a living on the Internet, it’s likely that you will suck at everything, including:

- Copywriting

- Web design

- Outsourcing

- Writing

- Brainstorming

As you work on these things more and more, you’ll get better and have more fun doing it. You’ll even develop “passion” for these things, as you spend more time learning about them.

Pick Something You’re Interested In

When you get started making a living, you shouldn’t be blindly be looking for your “passion.”

It’s actually okay to not feel that throbbing feeling of passion for any specific topic.

It’s even okay to be interested in multiple topics!

However, ultimately you have to pick one for your website and your business.

I suggest to my students to pick the thing they feel they have the most knowledge in, instead of just looking at their feelings, trying to see if they have any “passion.”

If I were to force you, right now, to sit down and write me a 2000 word essay on a topic, any topic that you could talk a lot about, which one would you choose?

You see, you don’t have to be “passionate” about something. You just need to have knowledge and be interested in something.

Jim Rohn once said that if you read just one hour a day on a particular topic, you’ll become an internationally reknowned expert in that topic in only 5 to 7 years.

By reading one hour a day, you can probably read a book per week, or close to it. Multiply that by several years and you’ll have read hundreds of books.

I think that if you read hundreds of books on ANY topic you might not be a Ph.D. but you’ll know enough to call yourself an expert.

Passion is something you develop. It’s something that can strike you all at once, something that can leave you, and something that can come back.

Don’t worry if you’re not clear about your passion. Just get started!

PS: If you can’t wait to get started, I recommend joining the Do What You Love Success Group and get your $1697 package for just $9.95. Go to:

Do WHat You Love University

I’m about to redesign my website www.dowhatyoulove.com in the next few months, and I asked myself what is the goal of my business “Do What You Love.”

Yesterday I attended a great conference called “The Art of Marketing” here in Vancouver, with really awesome and high-end speakers such as Guy Kawasaki, Gary Vaynerchuck, Mitch Joel and Avinash Kaushik.

If you don’t know who any of these speakers are, then it’s probably a sign that you’re not following what’s happening in the marketing world closely enough and you probably should start reading a little bit more!

One of the speakers, Bill Taylor, spoke about the importance of creating clear values for your company.

He gave the example of the bank ING Direct, who’s sole purpose and value is to: “help people save more money”

With that value in mind, it’s very clear why ING has been so successful and has refused to get in the bandwagon of many financial products that have recently crashed (think: sub-prime) or even offer credit cards, because it wouldn’t help people save more money.

My values for DoWhatYouLove.com are very clear and simple:

Help you make a full-time living working part-time.

I proved multiple times that it’s possible to make a full-time living working only 2-3 hours a day. For example, last year I traveled around the world to over 25 different countries and only worked 2-3 hours a day on average.

Realistically speaking, it’s going to take a bit more time to build a sizable business that allows you to only work 2-3 hours a day, but it’s a clear goal that’s possible.

Many students of my courses and coaching at http://www.dowhatyouloveuniversity.com/new.html are clear examples of that.

- Look at Swayze Foster, from http://www.fitonraw.com who’s still finishing her college studies has has build a great website, launched several products and is earning an income from her website that goes way beyond what she could make working part-time.

- Look at Maryze, from http://www.diva-yoga.com, who started a business in French about yoga, while keeping her full-time job working at the government. She’s still been able to earn what some people consider a full-time income from her website.

- Look at Brian Greco, from http://brianonhealth.com/, who’s only 15 and has already launched a website, a recipe book, complete with a sales letter and everything! By the way, he still goes to school and lives at home. He’s done all of this just by looking at some of my pages and methods to create his own online business. Way to go!

I could go on and on, but let’s review how you can build a full-time income working only part-time:

- First you have to prioritize your time. At the conference I attended, everybody talked about the importance of Social Media (think Twitter, Facebook, etc.). I completely agree and in fact learned a lot that I was doing right.

However I believe that when you’re first starting your business and you have limited time, you have to put social media sites under a tight leash as it’s easy to spend a lot of time there while not working on your business.

At first, use Social Media to make connections, ask questions, see what others are doing and learn from masters. Don’t think it’s a priority to build a big Twitter following, Facebook friend list or massive YouTube subscriber base.

- Build your website. Your website should be a blog, no doubt about it, and doesn’t have to be complicated. The main thing you need to do on your website is to provide great content. But now in 2011, keep in mind that content is a cheap commodity!

Everybody has content. In fact, the Internet publishes in a month about has much content as was published from the beginning of written history up to 2002. Every single month! Think about it.

Your content must have two main qualities:

- USEFUL: Be interesting and get people to talk about it
– SHAREABLE: Have a certain quality that makes others want to SHARE it and spread it around.

- Start building your list. Your email list is key! The goal of your website and everything you do should be to build a list.

- Launch your first product! The best product to launch is an eBook as it’s easy to do and is the perfect “intro-level” product. If you can’t create your own product, promote other people’s products like crazy.

If you keep a laser-like focus you can certainly make a full-time income working part-time.

If you can’t wait to get started, the following two programs can help you tremendously:

- Learn how to write your own eBook with the course “How to Write Your Own eBook in 24 Hours or Less” — go to: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/writeyourebook.html

- For only $9.95, get a month of the “Do What You Love Success Group” and download your introduction package, over $1697 worth of information! Go to:
http://www.dowhatyouloveuniversity.com/new.html

I’ve been earning a full-time living on the Internet since 2003. I’ve had websites since 1998. In the last five years my business generated over two million dollars in gross sales. I don’t work like a maniac. I enjoy life. I do what I love. I travel to exotic countries every single year for months on end. Any questions? Post them below!

Check out the new video:

I welcome your comments below

For over 12 years, I’ve been making a living on the Internet with my passion for natural health. I’ve been able to build a complete, semi-automated business that works for me, even when I’m not working. In the past year, I was able to travel to over 25 countries around the world (a trip that took me from Iceland to Tahiti), and continued making a living and financing the trip with my business.

Would you like to also be able to make a living doing what you love with your passion for natural health?

We’re about ready to get started with a new, improved edition of the course “How to Make a Living in the Natural Health Movement,” now in its 5th edition.

The course is planned to start on June 6th, but first I wanted to ask you…

What Is Your Biggest Question About Making a Living in the Natural Health Movement or Making a Living Doing What You Love?

I would love to hear your comments!

Your answer is important as it will help me create a series of new FREE videos to help you get started!