Mars Dorian is someone you should know.  He’s got a great philosophy of how to go for your dreams, and get out of your own way.  Mars writes at “The World Needs You” and shows digital crusaders how to build a powerful online presence and kick-ass small business.

Tell us a bit about your background and how you realized you wanted something different for your life.

My past has always been dominated by creativity – I started writing stories when I was 8 and switched to drawing at about 12. In my high school years, I was drawing comics like a burning maniac and even earned some decent moolah from it – getting published in different newspapers. Right after school I traveled and worked around the world – Japan, Australia, Mexico and the States.

Exciting and KICK-ASS times, but when I finally came home, I had to get a real job – shit!

As an artist and creator, how has owning your own business allowed you freedom of expression (that you might not have found in other jobs)?

I don’t have any other options, I never had. When I was working for other people, I felt miserable. Idiotic, self-absorbed bosses that didn’t know crap about doing awesome stuff – meh!

At one point I said to hell with it – I’M going to start my own shit. Working for myself means that I fully express myself – all the crazy ideas and style that I had to tone down while working for others – terrible! Since my self-employment, I got FULLY cherish and foster my creativity, allowing me to do things I like never before.

There’s a lot of great information on your site about building an authentic brand.  Please share some tips with the readers on how they can find their niche and brand themselves accordingly.

These are the 2 most important things:

Number 1: It all starts with your core – the bom bom beating heart at the core of what you do. You have to find your “why” – why do you do what you do ? What’s your purpose ? Find out what makes you tick, and formulate that into an inspirational message/tagline/mission statement that will attract your “right” audience.

Number 2: The next major step would be: Master your motif ! And that’s basically finding a unique theme to your online presence and brand ! For example, Chris Guillebeau is all about adventure, traveling and living on your own terms. His whole presence has that adventures, almost Indiana Jones type of flavor – both in terms of design and writing style. Think about a unique theme that you can use for your own presence, and brand everything you do with that kind of motif!

You have a great online presence and a lot of active commenters.  What have you done to build your blog?

I brought my full personality into the blog – and showed my most, awesome self. I believe that if you want to make any impact, you have to be over-the-top in one way or another.

The other thing is my interaction: I encourage personal questions, talk to  my core readers and try to personally welcome every new subscriber to my email list. So, full personal infusion and hardcore interaction are my major tools for building a thriving community.

Working with clients that are based in different locations (or working while you travel) can pose unique challenges.  What are some of the things you’ve learned?

That you should pay special attention to time zones. I got clients from all over the world, and when I started out, I was scheduling sessions according to my preferred times, neglecting the fact that my perfect time could mean midnight for someone else. I now make sure that we find a mutual setting that’s good for both us.  To keep track of this, I use Tungle.me.

I really like your stance and philosophy that every person can “impact the world awesomely”.  Can you share some of your thoughts on how business owners can make a positive impact?

Hell yeah. The reason I say that is because it makes business much easier and way more fun. Most entrepreneurs are stuck with themselves – they always think: what’s in for me ? Why is business so tough ? Why isn’t it working out ? Bad questions that I asked myself as well.

But once I shifted my focus from “me” to the “world” – it became a joyous game. The thought of impacting the world with your business, and enhancing it through your existence will vaporize self-doubt and self-pity, because you act from a place that screams: “The world needs You!”

Final thoughts, favorite quote, & any recommended reading or links?

Yeah – check out this incredible Ted talk by Simon Sinek.

It’s about finding the purpose of your business – your “why”. I have watched that video at least 16+ times to remember the reason why I do what I do.  Also, if you want to get in touch with me, you can follow me on Twitter. I tweet valuable and entertaining stuff about building your own creative little biz!

Thanks so much, Mars for this compelling and fun interview! If you all have questions for Mars, please leave them below!!  And here’s some questions to get you thinking…

How do you want to help the world?

How can you infuse more of yourself into your business and branding?

What are some ways you are impacting the world awesomely?

Every so often I come across something brilliant that needs to be shared. Download this, read and learn, print it and wear it, but whatever you do, don’t pass it over…don’t tell yourself, “Oh, I’ll download it later,” because you won’t; just DO IT NOW and thank me later!

Chris Guillebeau’s 279 Days to Overnight Success:
http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/overnight-success

There are three reasons why I find this information so incredibly important:

1. I have been trying to sort out how to organize my schedule (i.e. life) around the new role of being a successful writer and social media expert. This information clearly spells out many of the “How To’s” and should help you get there faster.
2. Chris is a trusted source; I know from meeting him and spending time writing back and forth online that he is true to his word. He is NOT an egomaniac, only wanting an audience to self promote and sell, sell, sell—as many people in my field are (and I not so secretly loathe).
3. The steps are doable. Many times when I read a How To Download, I am overwhelmed and conclude that there is no way to pull it off. With this info, you are sure to get where you need and the reason WHY I’M PASSING IT ON is because I AM DOING IT, Too!

I have done my best to pull featured quotes and info from the download, but you will be best served to go through the original and pull out your own gems. Block quotes are taken directly from his article and the rest of the information I have pulled together to help you determine how to fit it into your schedule and actualize your road to success…

“For me, I relate money to happiness and freedom. Right now I spend
about 10% of my time on activities that are directly related to generating
income. The other 90% of the time I’m writing, connecting with cool
people, traveling the world, and drinking coffee.”

How did Chris get there?  By Taking Daily Action and writing to a Specific Audience.

Step 1: Determine Your Niche Market, Writing Topics, and What They Care About

Niche and Grow Rich—Part of Going Global is determining a Niche, or a specific audience that you can focus your time and attention to. Readers will immediately know if they identify with your information, or they will move on. This is why it is so important to pick who your audience is and make specific and direct posts.
Writing Means Nothing if You Have No Readers—Determine a few themes that your audience will care about and try to keep your posts specific to those topics. For example, in my blog, I focus mainly on Streamlining Your Business, Travel, Living Your Ideal Lifestyle, and Spiritual and Personal Growth. Chris recommends making sure the reader gets what they want by providing solutions.

“I try to think of only a few individual people and pretend I’m writing directly to them.”

What Do Your Readers Care About? Take time to interact with your readers to see if you are answering their basic questions of Why, What, and How. This ensures buy in, understanding, and steps towards a solution.

Step 2: Building Writing and Follow-up Into Your Schedule

I know as a business owner that your first concern is time. I have outlined some of the areas that Chris focuses on and recommend you actually BUILD TIMESLOTS INTO YOUR CALENDAR to make this happen.
When to Write—Chris writes daily. I really admire this philosophy and am going to work it into my schedule. Currently, I have been using the style of “Information Camel” where I think and muse on a topic for, um, ever, then I sit down and write four articles at once. I like the idea of building writing into a daily routine because it means you are taking yourself seriously as a writer.

How Much & How Often—On average, he writes about 1,000 words per day. This takes me about an hour and a half without editing, formatting, or tweaking in Word Press. All told, one blog post (for me) probably runs about 2.5 hours. Add an additional hour if research is involved. Chris posts two or three blogs per week. These also go out to subscribers through email or RSS feeds.
Following Up with Readers—I’m guilty of not doing this and it will change Now  Chris spends about two hours a day building and maintaining relationships online. Part of this is by reading other sites, welcoming new people, connecting and responding to other people. I love this one, and it is true:

He Answers Every Email.

Step 3: Growing Readership Through Social Networking and Marketing

Leveraging Social Networking—Many business owners I talk to are confused by social networking and it’s purpose. Generally speaking (and as a newcomer, myself) I see it as a great way to reach out to your niche audience by giving information, sharing tips, and connecting with people you otherwise would not have met.

” I do this mostly through Twitter, LinkedIn, site comments, 100+ emails a day, and occasional phone calls and in-person meetings
Writing my affiliates to discuss their marketing efforts
Building relationships with journalists — perhaps through Peter Shankman’s
Help a Reporter Out service or people I already know”

Chris’ Five Marketing Actions—

Almost every day, I try to take five actions that will help promote myself, promote a product, or otherwise bring in new readers.
…a selection of actions could include:

1. Publishing a “Daily Ass-Kicking,” passing on good information

2. Connecting with people through Twitter

3. Sending out review copies of my products and manifestos

4. Reaching out to other experts, colleagues, and readers

5. Scheduling and outlining a product launch

Step 4: Products and Final Thoughts

There is a good deal of information in the article about product creation, management, and (my favorite) promoting and releasing FREE INFORMATION. Chris suggests eJunkie, PayPall and using a “No Sell Philosophy.”  I love this approach… honest and not pushy, at all…

…actually I have nothing to sell to you. Sorry. I do have a few products on my site, and you can take a look if something suits you. I also have an anti-marketing policy, which means that you should keep your money unless you have a compelling reason to buy something from me.

Final Thoughts and Recommendations—As a business owner, consultant, and “Entrepreneur- Turns- Blog-o-preneur”, I have a few recommendations that will help you work these seemingly daunting ‘to-do’s’ into your schedule. If you were following the math of about how much time it takes to go this route, I added up approximately 22 hours/ week. This is only the writing, posting, follow-up, and some social networking. I would add more time if you are just starting to grow your readership, create products and learn new technology. With that, I’d like to answer your Inevitable Question:

“HOW AM I GOING TO FIT THIS INTO MY SCHEDULE?!?!?”

• Put new time blocks into your schedule for: writing, editing/posting, social networking, follow-up and outreach. I like to lump my tasks together so I can be efficient and stay in the same mode. For example, I write several articles at a time, post and schedule them all at once, and spend separate blocks of time on networking sites.
• Set a goal for How Much and How Often you want to write. Currently, mine is once per week until my readership grows.
• Set a Goal to Increase Your Readership through Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites. I get a lot of comments by posting my blog links to Facebook. You can integrate and update all of these tools at once by using www.Ping.fm.
• Reach out to your contacts to Find Opportunities to Write and Publish your articles. You can write on other blog sites, contact journalists, and write to reporters. Helpful links can be found on the download.
• If your goal is go create a product (Book, eBook, or Workbook) I recommend spending time BEFORE you start to write and come up with a detailed outline for your writing topics. I advise my clients to have 10-12 topics and then bullet point 3 or 4 subtopics below. Each of the subtopics can become a blog post and it will help you immensely to have this organized for compiling, tagging, and finalizing your product. I am in the final stages of my products and know it would have taken a very long time to generate my work another way. BTW: stay tuned for my eBook releases:

Return on Life: Reclaim Your Business and Your Life
Spiritually Rich: Building a Business to Help Others

…and my Book and Workbook are coming soon, too!!

Be in touch if you need help with any of this and definitely check out and subscribe to Chris’ site. For now, I’ll end wit a quote I pulled from his article:

“Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken.” –Oscar Wilde

Got Questions or Comments? Don’t be shy, post ‘em below!!

As part of the inspiring force to help you ‘take the leap of faith’, we will be conducting mini interviews featuring global entrepreneurs who have become “Business Backpackers”. Because we are all busy travelling, working, and having loads of fun, it is a short list of questions that will hopefully give you a quick glimpse of others “Living the Life”.

Our first mini-view comes from Chris Guillebeau, author of the blog ‘The Art of Nonconformity’ and creator of the following products:

• Create Your Own Freedom: Break Out of the 9-5

• Fly More: Spend (Much) Less

• Become Your Own Travel Ninja: Go Anywhere, Anytime

At the time of this posting, Chris has visited 103 of 197 countries. We were lucky enough to meet up with Chris on his way thorough Bangkok. It was a wonderful evening of sharing ideas, thoughts, and inspiration about leading an ‘alternative lifestyle’. I hope you enjoy the questions and comments below and feel free to get in touch with Chris, details below.

How did you know you didn’t fit in to conventional society?

I tried to fit in but never felt comfortable. I always had the feeling that “there must be more out there.” Everyone agrees that life is short, but most people don’t take actions that reflect that belief. I wanted to join the club of people who are not only unsatisfied with the status quo but also brave enough to step out and do something about it.

What do you currently do & please describe a brief roadmap of the haphazard leaps of faith that got you here today…

I am a writer, world traveler, and social entrepreneur. I’m very fortunate that most days of my life, I pretty much do whatever I want. I work hard (30+ hours a week wherever I am) but on projects that matter to me, not things I do for a job. There have been many pitfalls along the way – I have to deal with insecurity and depression from time to time – but I know I’m doing the right thing. I’m glad so many other people are enjoying the journey as well.

Your most life changing travel place & why?

I don’t have just one place, but definitely the four years I spent in West Africa served as the foundation for my worldview.

Encouraging words you would pass on to readers: If you could have had someone there when you took the leap of faith, what would you have needed to hear the most?

Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.

Get In Touch With Chris…

chris.guillebeau@gmail.com

http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5

http://www.twitter.com/chrisguillebeau

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