The OpenWorld Podcast: Live Without Limits

Welcome to another great episode of the OpenWorld podcast!

As a podcast that encourages people to view the entire world as a home base (and potential market), we don't often feature the traditional Silicon Valley type of entrepreneurs and startups. Today's guest is an exception, as someone who grew up in Palo Alto, with companies like Google and LinkedIn in his backyard. It was there he began his journey four years ago... as a part-time valet driver.

In this interview I have the pleasure of welcoming my friend Amar Ghose, whom I met recently in Bangkok. Amar is the founder of Zenmaid, a calendar and scheduling application for maid services. Today, Amar's business is doing well and is very profitable. In this chat we discussed how he was able to "rearrange his stars" and go from an employee earning a pittance to creating his own successful software as a service company with over 200 customers and traveling the world.

In the beginning Amar struggled to find qualified prospects for his niche product - a struggle all too common to new businesses. He kept plugging away, kept testing methods, and eventually discovered how to make very profitable partnerships and the best mediums to promote to scale up to his first ten clients, 50 and then 200.

Amar is a very smart guy, and we had a great discussion with a ton of insights related to marketing and lead generation. We also discuss how he created a successful software as a service business (with a model that can apply to any type of business) by uncovering the market needs, niche selection, entrepreneurship, and travel.

The spark that set Amar on the entrepreneurial path

Methods Amar and I have been using successfully to generate productized service leads using online portals

Simple techniques to build a stronger professional network

How Amar created two years worth of e-mail follow up content - to successfully nurture and convert leads over time

The most effective client-getting lead followup / onboarding process that Amar has used

How to easily craft powerful headlines and offers

Best lead magnets and offers

The #1 asset to focus on for long-term success and freedom

Monetization strategies using value generation, cross-sells and affiliates

Zenmaid's best marketing channel - and actionable takeaways

Marketing on Linkedin, Amar's LinkedIn marketing course.

And much, much more!

Hope you enjoy this awesome interview with Amar! And please do remember to show your love for the show by writing us a review on iTunes!

Welcome to another action-packed episode of the OpenWorld podcast! If you're stricken by a sense of wanderlust and looking for inspiration, you're in exactly the right place! In this episode I'm by Matt Prior, a Briton based in Hong Kong. Matt is someone who truly takes adventure to a new level.

He is a world record holder for the Highest Altitude Reached by a Taxi – 17,143ft. A former fighter jet pilot, an adventurer, and photographer. He recently just completed the world’s first circumnavigation of Lake Baikal, in winter, on the ice, in a WWII era motorbike.

A member of the prestigious Explorers Club, his past endeavors have included circumnavigating Lake Baikal on a WWII-era Russian motorbike, traveling across Sri Lanka in a rickshaw, and even participating in a Guinness World Record-setting taxi journey at 17,143 feet.

Prior's first real adventure began almost a decade ago, when he and a friend drove from London to Mongolia and back in a $180 1.0L car.

He’s also created Matt Prior Adventure Academy, a one-week course that teaches people how to conquer and enjoy extreme travel experiences. He exposes travelers to the joy of traveling off the beaten path.

• The highlights of Matt's exploits around the globe

• Does Matt have any sense of fear? If not, why?

• Reflections on death and living to the fullest.

• Why Matt is drawn to extreme experiences.

• Matt's philosophy and process for achievement - and how to identify plateaus in life and move beyond them.

• Advice for funding a lifetime for adventures

• A simple way to encounter failure and defeat and emerge as a success

• The #1 regret of self made billionaires

• Exactly what Matt said that brought a cadre of successful Hong Kong bankers to tears

• Living with intention, visualization, and creating the "perfect picture" in life

• Matt's advice for would-be adventurers who would follow in his footsteps

• And so much more!

This interview with Matt, our awesome guest, is sure to leave you inspired to dream bigger and to reach higher! No doubt you'll come out of it charged and ready to 5x or 10x your goals, as I have :) And please do remember to show your love for the show by writing us a review on iTunes!

In this interview of the podcast I'm joined by my good friend Pope Bustos. Hailing from Cordoba, Argentina, Pope and I met in the small town of Luang Prabang, our base from which we explored Northern Laos together on bicycle. As an expat based in Bangkok, Pope manages an exporting business and has created a great lifestyle for himself abroad.

Like many of us, Pope started out following the "default path" that he felt he should follow, following in his family's heritage by studying law. And also like many of us, he quickly realized that following someone else's path wasn't for him. Going to court and wearing a suit didn't mesh with his personality, his dream was to go abroad and travel.

He embarked on his first experience as a young man working abroad in the US, and despite only being able to speak ten words in English at first, he loved the experience. Later, when presented with an opportunity to live abroad in Thailand and become an entrepreneur, he immediately jumped on the chance. Since then, he's created a great lifestyle for himself of abundance, friendships, and travel.

"That's the good thing, when you keep trying, trying, trying, experience teaches

you how to grow and you find a way." - Pope Bustos

This discussion provides a unique look into the experience of life as a successful and happy expat operating a business abroad. Some of the topics we discuss during the interview:

• The effects of living abroad and doubling, tripling, and quadrupling life experience through travel

• How traveling accelerates learning

• The gifts of understanding, challenging our values, and empathy

• Cognitive filtering and how your perception shapes your reality

• Stories of unique cultural experiences and culture shock

• Lessons and skills learned from local peoples

• A look inside the expat lifestyle in Thailand

• Three qualities to succeed as an expat entrepreneur

• Highlights of the expat lifestyle

• Why I was miserable when I started out as an entrepreneur - and how travel changed me

• Best advice for anyone looking to make a positive lifestyle change

• The most empowering outlook to break down limitations

• Plus more!

Hope you guys enjoy this latest interview of the podcast! I've worked very hard to keep this podcast going for you guys while on the road searching for strong internet connections and quiet mosquito-free rooms to record. I want to continue providing these free interviews for you guys out there for a long time - so please become a friend of the show by leaving us a review on iTunes.

In this episode of the the podcast I have a special treat for you guys. Adrian is a 23 year-old Amazon author from Australia who has created a strong recurring income source through Kindle Publishing, having self-published more than 200 books.

In January 2017 alone he just received royalties from Amazon for more than $11,000 from his book sales. We met last year in Chiang Mai where we co-hosted a presentation on self-publishing together.

He also spends his time helping others to publish their own books through his course Freedom Self Publishing, writing for his blog Driven Living, and creating videos for his YouTube channel.

Just a couple of years ago, Adrian was working a normal salaried job at a gym. But he knew he was destined for more. He had an itch for entrepreneurship and travel which couldn't be ignored.

He began dabbling in online entrepreneurship peddling various products on eBay, from basketball jerseys to cosmetics, but found that selling physical products came with too many hassles. He discovered Kindle publishing, and the model suited him perfectly.

At first, he stumbled learning the ropes and his first books were terrible. But within 12 months he was earning enough money to quit his job, and he hasn't looked back since.

During the interview I picked Adrian's brain to share his entire formula for self-publishing success:

The mentality that holds people - including Adrian at first - back

The #1 biggest mistake that the majority of authors make - and what to do instead

How to assess profitable opportunities and competition within an Amazon niche

The #1 marketing "hack"

How to use sites like www.ewritersolutions.com or www.hotghostwriter.com to get books ghostwritten on the cheap

How to use tools like Kindle Spy and K Optimizer to simplify your life

How to research what the market wants and create a killer outline for each book

Quality controls to create books that sell

Adrian's pricing strategy to sell printed books - which makes up 70-80% of his sales

And much more!

Enjoy this epic interview about self publishing with Kindle author Adrian Ingram! If you find value in what we're doing and want us to continue creating epic podcasts, please take a moment to hop over to iTunes and leave us a review. Thank you and see you next week!

You might also like:

How I've Optimized My Kindle Books for Better Rankings and Sales

Earning Serious Bank with Kindle and Helping Others do the Same

My Six Figure Self-Publishing Success Story

Today we’re going to talk a bit about love, a first on this show! Valentine’s day passed last month and if you found yourself single - as I have - you’ll probably take keen interest in this conversation.

In this interview, I’m joined today by Aline Dahmen from Germany. A nomad for the last four years, she's on a mission to help nomads find love through Nomad Soulmates, an application for long-term travelers. She started out as a virtual assistant working remotely for $25 an hour, in the beginning working for exactly one hour per week, and has come a long way in her journey, launching her first Indiegogo campaign to help nomads find their soulmate. 

Does a lifestyle of endless dream chasing, goal setting, and pursuing the next high in some exotic place come at a cost?

There's a tiny voice in our heads, a shadow of something missing, that grows over time. It may be something we ignore at first, or overlook... but eventually it catches up to us.

What good is it to rack up all these quirky travel memories with no one to share it with?  Watch the sun go down in Uluwatu without an extra set of eyes at your side? Fly in a hot air balloon above Bagan alone? It doesn't add up. Clearly life is better when shared with someone meaningful.

Speaking from personal experience, I have failed at romance enough times to fuel my own soap opera. Travel exacerbates this. I've packed up and settled down, gone all-in for love, only to watch it vanish through my fingers. I've gone and done it all over again. Lots of hard lessons.

Although being a nomad promises a life of adventure, fun, and friendships, this very unconventional lifestyle seemed to be holding people back from basic needs that we all have, such as love, belonging, and fulfilling relationships. 

At some point, reality hits like a ton of bricks. It’s not as rosy and straightforward as we’d thought. We experience encounters with loneliness, heartbreak, missed chances – and it’s a tough freakin pill to swallow. To put it frankly, trying to find love as a digital nomad can suck!

This podcast interview is centered around this discussion. We talk about:

Why finding love as a nomad is so hard

Ways nomads can find the kind of partner who really complements them

Why the very things that make up the nomad DNA also holds them back

How to manage finances as a digital nomad couple - who pays, when?

Aline's business model and how she built her community first, then launched her product

And much more!

Hope you enjoyed this interview, please let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment! And if you like our show - become a friend. Write us a review on iTunes, each one counts!

He’s been a nomad for the past 15 years - nearly a decade longer than I have. For the last five years, he’s visited 30 countries a year on average, visiting about 15 new countries per year. He proudly declares to have never had a real job in his life.

Today's guest is none other than the international entrepreneur, philanthropist, and adventure capitalist, Scott Brills.

He’s an expert at creating and marketing businesses online since he was 19. He runs a successful web design business, Brothers Design and also organizes group tours around the world through his brand, Pamoja Safaris.

Scott's journey begin with a stint living abroad in Japan fresh out of high school, way back in 2001. Fulltime traveling since 2001, visited almost 100 countries. For the last two years, leads culinary tours in Japan, adventure tours in Madigascar, and safaris in Tanzania.

Scott and I had a really fun discussion discussing many of the highlights of his adventures around the globe, and discussed how to live the globetrotting lifestyle the way that Scott does.

Just a few of his adventures include raising money for charity by driving a car from London to Mongolia, then from London to South Africa, driving the length of the Indian subcontinent in a rickshaw - twice, meeting Richard Branson at his private estate (Kasbah Tamadot) in Morocco, and so much more.

During the discussion Scott also "peels back the curtain" and reveals what it takes to create a vibrant location-independent business and you’re completely free to roam the world and do whatever you want. We also bounce around ideas about how to create "passion projects" as side businesses (and fulltime businesses) and get them off the ground, where you do something you really love versus creating a boring business that only pays the bills, such as marketing or web design services.

This was a really fun chat with a very interesting guy, hope you enjoy the interview! Please become a friend of our show, by leaving a review on iTunes. Every bit helps.

Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of the OpenWorld podcast! Today we're joined by our fabulous guest, Tayo Rockson.

Tayo Rockson is a man doing big things with a big dream to make a difference in the world. He’s the host of As Told By Nomads podcast and has a YouTube channel called “Use Your Difference” which helps elevates cultural awareness. He also helps millennials pursue their passions in careers they love while making a difference.

Tayo is a true global citizen; he has called Sweden, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Vietnam and the United States home.

I’ve been a guest on Tayo’s podcast and it was a great discussion, we had a great chat about leadership, and identified a common mission to create a new generation of global leaders.

In this discussion, we reflect upon how experiences as a long-term nomad have shaped our lives and molded into more confident, self-aware, more compassionate leaders and entrepreneurs.

Tayo has some unique stories to share. You'll learn how he's been able to absorb different cultures and form different viewpoints and perspectives. We also discuss how we, as people, can make better decisions and set meaningful goals with an eye towards the big picture that will help the most people.

We also discuss how empathy can transform you and your efforts, stoicism and objectivity, our business models, delegating, leadership, and so much more! I think you'll come away from this interview feeling charged and with a fresh and new perspective to play big in the new year.

Enjoy this episode with Tayo! If you like our show, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes :)

Thanks for joining for another episode of the OpenWorld podcast. Today I’m joined by Johannes Koeppel, a long-term nomad and wanderer who with two friends created a travel startup, WeTravel.

Johannes has a pretty inspirational story around travel, entrepreneurship, and changing your life. Out of college, he moved from his native Switzerland to Central Asia to work for the Red Cross first in a prison facility in Uzbekistan, then as head of the Tajikistan office. While living there for 3 years, he began to organize group tours for Europeans hoping to explore Central Asia off the beaten path.

This became the seed of an idea for a startup, and now WeTravel is an 11 person team speaking 22 languages and representing 8 different nationalities. Anyone can sign up on the site and earn a living or extra side hustle doing similar things across the globe.

WeTravel's growth has been phenomenal, within a year and a half it has organized more than one million in tours just this month.

In this episode we discuss:

Johannes' adventures in off-the-beaten countries around the globe, his motivation for adventure travel, and how he's funded his trips - starting with selling Yo-Yos on the street during his youth

Lessons learned from working with political prisoners in Central Asia - and how he started a business on the side - which became his main venture

How his platform grew so quickly to more than 1 million in transactions in a month after just a year and a half after launch

How his team achieved its "product / market fit" based on early user testing (applicable to any type of business)

How WeTravel helps travel-lovers become entrepreneurs

How anyone can take advantage of the rise of the "sharing economy" to start a side business, or just live beyond their means

Plus a bunch more!

Hope you enjoy this interview with Johannes! If you enjoy our podcast, show your appreciation by leaving us a review on iTunes. It only takes a minute and makes a big difference.

How do you overcome social isolation, depression, anxiety, shyness, and loneliness to create a thriving online entrepreneurial career? How do you continue on and prosper after working your way through more than 30 jobs in your youth to find a mold that kinda - sorta - fits you?

I was looking forward to this podcast interview because today's guest shares a backstory similar to my own. Just like me, Justin Stenstrom was a young adult who felt lost and confused. He couldn't find his tribe, and (just like me) had no mentors.

Yet he went on to become a self-made man, and carved out a niche for himself in the online space. Today, Justin is a nationally acclaimed life coach, author, entrepreneur, and speaker. He is the founder of EliteManMagazine.com, the host of the Elite Man Podcast, and hosts the annual Elite Man Conference.

We discuss a bunch of interesting subjects, and there are takeaways sprinkled throughout the podcast:

• What we learned from experiences of failure and coming up short

• How Justin has been able to connect and interview the world's top mentors such as Robert Greene, Sean Stephenson, Ryan Levesque, and many others.

• Bonus strategies to connect with anyone.

• Business models of coaching and methods for building a tribe.

• And much more!

Justin reveals all in this week's action-packed episode of the OpenWorld podcast. Thanks for joining us, hope you enjoy the interview, and leave us a review if you like what we're doing!

Subscribe to Justin's new podcast, "The Justin Stenstrom show," and join the Elite Man Mastermind on Facebook.

"Mind your mind; guard it resolutely. Since it is the mind that confuses the mind, don't let your mind give in to your mind.” -Suzuki Shosan

In this episode of the podcast I was invited on to the "Suitcase Entrepreneur" podcast where I was interviewed by the host, Natalie Sisson.

We chatted about the mindset and lifestyle of high achievers, how to create your own set of rules to live by, and how to write your own life's narrative.

It was a really interesting, candid discussion. Some things we discuss:

How to flip the script on your internal dialogue and mindset

Why perspective is everything and what you can do to change yours

How to set specific and purposeful goals

What do if you’re doubting your path

What mindstorming is and how to do it

Enjoy this conversation between me and the one and only Natalie Sisson! And let me know you think :)