Chris Guillebeau, author of The Art of Non-Conformity, world-wide traveler, and blogger extraordinaire, was kind enough to do a Q & A with me for your reading pleasure about his brand spanking new book, The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future, which just came out last week.
Chris has hit the road and is on a 7-continent book tour to spread the message of his book.
Jenna: What’s the big message you want people to take away from the new book?
Chris: If you want to start a business, or even just create an additional source of income, the skills you already have are all you need.
Jenna: What’s your advice for people who want to start a business based on what they love but feel reluctant about marketing and promoting?
Chris: Stop thinking of it as marketing and promoting. Think of it as connecting; doing what feels natural while inviting others to join your cause.
Jenna: How do you stay true to your own creative vision? Does that come easily to you? Do you ever wander in the darkness about your vision? How do you find your way back out?
Chris: I constantly wander. But when I’m off-track, I feel antsy. I’m not afraid of making mistakes, but I’m afraid of giving up. So I just keep trying things.
Jenna: Have you experienced anything you would consider a failure? How did you recover from it and get back on track?
Chris: Many times, over and over. Several of my product launches haven’t gone the way I would like. I’ve gotten lost all over the world and been stuck without a way out of several countries.
The key is to: a) reduce the risk of failure, to where you’re much more likely to succeed, and b) reduce the cost of failure, so that if you fail, you can begin again soon.
Jenna: What are your writing habits like? Have you ever dealt with writer’s block?
Chris: I write 1,000 words a day, every day. Not everything is brilliant (in fact, most of it isn’t), but persistence is very important in any creative discipline.
“Writer’s block” is an imagined condition that allows you to enable your rationalization. Have you ever heard of plumber’s block? Of course not — so if you’re a writer, you just need to write.
Jenna: What do you suggest for people who have a vision to write a book but haven’t quite gotten started with it yet?
Chris: Well, the most important thing is to have a clear vision, so if you’ve got that far, you’re farther along than I was when I started. The next thing is to create a structure that allows you to work on completing the outline in bite-sized pieces every day for as long as it takes. If you get stuck, see the previous answer.
About The $100 Startup & Chris Guillebeau:
(Excerpted from the official blurb about the book)
“In The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau shows you how to lead a life of adventure, meaning and purpose — and earn a good living.
“Still in his early thirties, Chris is on the verge of completing a tour of every country on earth — he’s already visited more than 175 nations — and yet he’s never held a “real job” or earned a regular paycheck. Rather, he has a special genius for turning ideas into income, and he uses what he earns both to support his life of adventure and to give back.
“Here, finally, distilled into one easy-to-use guide, are the most valuable lessons from those who’ve learned how to turn what they do into a gateway to self-fulfillment. It’s all about finding the intersection between your ‘expertise’ — even if you don’t consider it such — and what other people will pay for.
“You don’t need an MBA, a business plan or even employees. All you need is a product or service that springs from what you love to do anyway, people willing to pay, and a way to get paid.
“This remarkable book will start you on your way.”
Find out more at http://100startup.com/
Note: Amazon links are affiliate links.
Way to go with this Q&A, Jenna. Now, when are you going to interview Joss Whedon? :-)
That will be a glorious day! It could totally happen.
Glad you liked the Q&A with Chris.
Thank you for this Q&A. I remember reading Chris’s e-Guide about achieving world domination, and I used to follow his blog. His journey is very inspiring.
You’re welcome, Cindy. I agree, Chris is very inspiring with his dedication and passion to meeting his goals.
Thank you for sharing this Q&A with Chris. What a great resource. Incredibly timely for me. You did it AGAIN. Absolutely love the synchronicity!!
How perfect! I love it when that happens. Glad something connected for you, Beth!