Usually, we work to go on a vacation, but Ryan Biddulph vacations for work and he teaches us the ways we can, too. As a blogger, he has been advocating to speak with your authentic self and shows how much we can work our way into a freer lifestyle. Ryan shares how he broke free from working long hours as a security guard to becoming an island-hopping blogger. All it takes is that decision to move past that fear and letting the universe speak to you. Going deeper into blogging, he talks about making connections with people through the words that you write.
Listen to the podcast here:
Blogging: Vacationing For Work with Ryan Biddulph
I have a special guest with me. His name is Ryan Biddulph. He is an ex-fired security guard and he turned into an island-hopping pro blogger at BloggingFromParadise.com. Ryan has appeared on Richard Branson's Virgin blog, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fox News and The Huffington Post. Ryan has written and self-published 126 eBooks and four online courses to offer you successful blogging tips and entertaining travel stories from his globetrotting experience. He can help you retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging. Welcome to Heartrepreneur Radio, Ryan.
Terri, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it.
I had to have you. I was taking a look at you and considering you for the show. Then BloggingFromParadise.com and looking at the image, I was like, “I'm done. You have to be on the show.” Here you were and ex-fired security guard. How do you turn out to go, “I'm going to start blogging?” How does this all transpire?
My old lifestyle was so bound up around the idea of putting crazy long hours. I had such a sense of contrast working seven days a week, sometimes eighteen hours a day as a security guard. I knew the next step I made had to be something freeing. It was one of those deals where I had the contrast and I had the experience. I knew the next step I was going to take was going to be “epic” from that bound lifestyle to something more fun and freeing. My then girlfriend and now wife, Kelly, told me about prospering online after I got the pink slip. I slowly but surely, emphasis on slowly, built up my blogging online real estate to where I could do it full time and travel. It was having that idea that I want to do something fun and freeing with my life. Then it was about jumping online, learning the basics and getting the practical tips. From that point, everything started to slowly but steadily expand.
It’s day one and you're going to do a blog. How did you know what you were going to blog about? What came up for you?
In the beginning, it was a totally different niche. I wanted to make money online. Like a lot of folks in the beginning, my intent wasn't quite as pure. This was back in the day when people who were dominating Google are doing more of the lower energy thing, the manipulation and all that good stuff, also known as bad stuff. In the beginning, it was more about making money online, but about five years in online space I had some success, but my host pulled a thousand of my blog posts. They were like, “The opportunity you're engaged in, we don't like it as much. Either you pull these posts or you trash your blogs.” We were in Fiji and I was like, “I didn't feel as authentic to me. I lost the fire.” I sat there and I was like, “Universe, send me an idea.” Five seconds later this idea popped into my mind; blogging from paradise, retire to a life of island hopping and smart blogging.” That's what I've done for the past four years or three years at the time, so just run with it. I was like,
