Entrepreneurs-Journey.com

StomperNet is reopening for members at the end of this month. As they always do, they announced the news by releasing a series of free videos.

If you have never seen a StomperNet video then you are missing out. The video work from Andy Jenkins is definitely the best you will see, at least for free, about Internet marketing. However, it’s not the presentation that makes these worth watching, it’s the content.

StomperNet has so much talent working for them that they always uncover strategies that no one else talks about, at least not in free content.

You can watch the latest one here -

Going Natural 3.0 Video - Part 1

The topic this time is Pay Per Click Marketing with Dan Thies, who offers advice that isn’t your typical PPC tactics. He goes through the whole process in the video and if you do any PPC marketing you want to pay attention to this.

Keywords With Commercial Intent

The part in the video about researching the commercial intent of keywords I found really fascinating and I had no idea there were research tools available for this.

Commercial intent is what all business owners want - to find people who have the intent to buy. Obviously if you are in business you want to sell, and while there’s a ton of traffic searching for your goods and services every day, a good chunk of that traffic doesn’t buy.

Finding the phrases that people type into search engines that result in a sale is absolutely gold since you then know the keywords that lead to the buyers, not the browsers.

There’s a lot more to it of course and I recommend you go watch the StomperNet video for more on this. Here’s the link again -

Going Natural 3.0 Video - Part 1

More Videos From StomperNet

There’s a few more videos to come from the StomperNet team, so make sure you enter your name and email address if you want notification when the next videos are released. The opt-in form is on the video page.

[ Add Your Comment | 8 Comments ]

If you are in or around Vancouver this Tuesday night I’m going to have a little informal gathering while I’m in town.

I haven’t cemented a location yet but it will be somewhere close to or in the city as that is where I am staying.

If you can make it around 7pm on Tuesday and want to meet me and some of the other EJ readers from Vancouver, please email supportATblogmastermind.com with the subject line “vancouver meetup” and I’ll email you the final details.

I hope to see you there!

How Much Rent Did I Pay For My Apartment In Vancouver?

A couple of people asked in my previous posts on traveling business how much I was paying to rent the apartments I stay in.

To give you an idea, I recorded a short video of inside the apartment I am renting presently in Vancouver. I recorded it using my standard Sony snapshot camera, which is not designed for video, so it blurs a bit briefly, but you get a good look inside my temporary home. If you watch to the end I tell you how much the apartment costs to rent.

The apartment was located through VRBO.com.

This second video is a bit silly. I was out exploring downtown Vancouver today and walked through Canada place down on the harbor. If you haven’t been to Vancouver before you wouldn’t know about the giant Seagulls they have here - they’re huge!

I shot this very short video of a seagull eating what I think might be Australia’s favorite spread (not my favorite though - too salty).

[ Add Your Comment | 22 Comments ]

I’m writing this from the apartment I’m renting in Vancouver this week. It’s a bit chilly here, but that’s okay, because I’m writing about Hawaii now and it was wonderfully warm there.

The throat infection/head cold I had in Fiji finally left mid-way through the week in Hawaii so I was able to venture out and do some proper tourist things and even get into the ocean for a swim.

Hawaii I like better than Fiji simply because it’s more built up and there’s more happening. I also like that it’s part of the USA so you get the ridiculous amount of choice when it comes to food. I stayed right near a grocery store and had a kitchenette in my apartment in Waikiki, so I was able to cook food at home and not eat out every single meal.

Hawaiian Luau

Those who follow my Twitter Feed know that I went to a Luau, which is a Hawaiian feast-party. On Twitter I called it a “Lua” initially, which unfortunately means potty, so it’s not a mistake you want to make.

I’ve been to a proper Luau once before, in Maui when I was a teenager traveling with family and I remembered it being authentic and a great experience. This time, the luau was fun, but it felt very much commercialized and less authentic.

One of the main reasons this Luau felt more like theme show was the voice over guy who narrated and sung on the stage - he sounded like he was from a television game-show like the price is right. If you watch this video I took of the unveiling of the traditional steam cooked pig, you can hear the voice over guy and you will see what I mean…

The actual show was entertaining and the food was passable (especially if you love 5 different kinds of meat) but this is definitely not the luau to go to if you want a truly authentic experience.

Aquarium and Bus Tour

I popped into the aquarium for a visit one afternoon, which was a cool experience. They have some truly amazing things under the sea - some of the animals look like aliens.

Some sea-aliens at the Hawaii Aquarium

I took a half day bus tour as well, which was extra exciting when our bus broke down in the middle of a two lane tunnel up a mountain. Ironically there were great views just at the entrance and exit of the tunnel, but we were stuck on the inside of the tunnel looking at concrete.

When we did finally emerge from the tunnel after a replacement bus was driven to us, we made it up the mountain to a lookout, which is right in the middle of a wind tunnel. The wind was mighty strong and can very quickly turn a good hair day into a bad one. Here’s a shot of my hair…

Read the rest of this entry >>

[ Add Your Comment | 25 Comments ]

I’m in Hawaii now having come up from Fiji on my way to Canada. I’m presently typing this at a cafe on the top floor of the Ala Moana shopping center - the largest mall in Hawaii.

Typing on the third floor of the Ala Moana Center in Hawaii

In response to my recent blog posts written from places around the world, many people expressed a strong desire to emulate what I’m doing now - traveling and working in a functional and balanced manner (just without getting sick like I did!).

I’ve also had a couple of people email me explaining how they are also traveling the world and running their Internet business and how they believe more people could do the same, if only the knowledge of how to do so was out there.

In the spirit of helping others realize their dream of the traveling lifestyle, I’m going to present some tips to help you travel and run a successful business at the same time. I hope these ideas motivate you towards actually beginning the process of planning your trip, rather than constantly dreaming about it and putting it off until you have “more money” or “more time” or whatever belief that holds you back.

I don’t have a family traveling with me and I realize for many of you there are spouses and kids to consider too. Just remember your loved ones are variables you need to accommodate, they should not be reasons for not going, assuming the family are happy to come along.

It’s acceptable to hold off travel until children are out of school or independent, if you don’t want to disrupt their life. However the tips I’m about to present can certainly be applied to summer holidays and most of them apply just as well to any person who runs a business and wants more freedom.

Let’s get to it…

Read the rest of this entry >>

[ Add Your Comment | 51 Comments ]

This is going to be slightly off topic from the usual business and blogging but I’ve had a bunch of people ask for photos from my trip overseas, so I thought I’d stick some up here.

As I mentioned in my previous post - Life Portability: Mixing Travel, Business and Pleasure In One Seamless Lifestyle - I’m presently doing some island hopping, making my way from Australia to Canada for a six month stay.

Arriving in Fiji

Fiji was the first port of call on my trip, a mere three hours flight off the coast from my home of Brisbane. Having never been to Fiji I was curious what the island would be like.

We landed in Nadi and it was hot. Nothing too extreme, but since Brisbane didn’t really have a summer this year it was the first time I had felt humidity in a while. Temperatures in Fiji are quite constant and what you would expect for a tropical island. The days max out at about 30C and the nights drop to low twenties.

Upon landing at Nadi airport and quickly clearing customs we were shuffled into a taxi with a driver who turned out to be more than just your average cabbie - he also masqueraded as a tourist guide to make extra money.

He offered us a more extensive tour of Nadi city as a detour before our hotel for an “extra fee” of whatever we felt was appropriate. We accepted and he showed us around the city area before taking us to the resort. We gave him an extra $15 as payment for the short tour, which as it turned out was equivalent to nearly a days pay in Fiji.

On our taxi tour we were informed that there is high unemployment in Fiji and thus high crime too. Nadi and the surrounding area is quite run down, old buildings and a lot of Fijians that seem to be just hanging around, which is probably because of the unemployment.

The contrast upon entering the man-made island resort area, which includes several luxury hotels, a golf course and restaurants, was extreme. Clearly there is a big division between the average Fijian lifestyle and how some tourist experience Fiji.

The Fijian dollar is about 70% of the Aussie dollar and with a tiny economy I was expecting cheap everything. That rule was thrown out after entering the resort island. Meals were $20 and up, bottled water is $8 and chocolate bars $4. If you leave the resort area prices drop about 75% - that is some serious mark-up! Even with the 30% discount on the currency exchange, it was not cheap living in the resort area.

Eating and Reading

I managed to contract a throat infection that erupted the day after landing in Fiji, so unfortunately most activities were out of the question for me. Instead I focused on low-key things to give my body a chance to recover - eating, reading, and eating some more.

Buffet breakfast every morning - lots of fresh fruit in Fiji

I went to six different restaurants, some were good, some were not so good and no matter whether it was pasta, BBQ, Japanese or pizza - it was all made by Fijians.

Bula

I’m not sure if it is because Fijians are naturally friendly or they are instructed to greet every single tourist with a traditional hello to keep the atmosphere friendly at the resort, but I very quickly learned the word “bula” and repeated it several times a day.

Bula, as far as I can tell, is sort of like Aloha/Mahalo in Hawaii. I’m sure there is more to it and I’m showing my ignorant tourist side here, but needless to say it’s a word you have to quickly become very comfortable with.

Every single time I pass by a Fijian working at the resort they let out a bula. Strangely enough, Fijians don’t seem to greet each other with quite as effusive use of the greeting, so I do feel as if I’m getting a decidedly tourist experience.

I had intentions to see more of the island away from the resort area but my body simply did not comply so I’ll have to save my exploring for Hawaii instead.

Tropical Paradise

Fiji, from the perspective of a tourist at least, appeals to those who like to sit by the pool and read or head out and get into water sports. The vibe is laid back (even more than in Australia) and Fijians seem to be very chilled to the point of boredom sometimes, but I suspect that’s just because of the monotony of the jobs they perform every day at the resort.

The sunsets in Fiji are amazing

Unfortunately I wasn’t really able to give Fiji a proper look around, so I’ll withhold judgement for now. Based on the resort I stayed out, I’d opt for a trip to local Australian beaches before Fiji, but that’s probably because I never had a chance to see any of the outer islands, which are apparently very beautiful.

Next stop is Hawaii, an equally beautiful place, but with a distinctly different vibe. I’ll be blogging from Waikiki next.

Yaro Starak
Island Hopping

[ Add Your Comment | 38 Comments ]