The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich - Expanded and Updated

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 longtime³⁴ fan and have finally built up the courage to³⁵ 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?³⁶I 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.