1314: How One Woman Started a Location-Independent Company Right Out of College by Chris Guillebeau on Entrepreneurship

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[00:00:52] This is Optimal Work Daily, episode 1314.

[00:00:56] How one woman started a location independent company right out of college by Chris Gillibault of ChrisGillibault.com.

[00:01:03] And my name is Dan, I'm your host here and I'm with you every single day reading from these terrific blogs that we find on work, entrepreneurship and so many related topics.

[00:01:13] So our author today, Chris, has a really unique life story which I'm gonna share with you after the post.

[00:01:19] But for now, let's get right to the content as we optimize your life.

[00:01:23] How one woman started a location independent company right out of college by Chris Gillibault of ChrisGillibault.com.

[00:01:33] Michelle Roadguard Jessen went from a corporate gig to a social change organization and finally landed on running her own business from the road.

[00:01:42] As an online marketer, she's narrowed her target audience and grown to the point where she's had to hire employees to keep up with the demand.

[00:01:50] Here's her story.

[00:01:51] My name is Michelle, I'm from Denmark and I'm a location independent online marketer.

[00:01:57] I've had a lot of different jobs before this including supermarket clerk and cleaner when I was in high school and volunteering in a hospital in Costa Rica.

[00:02:05] During university, I worked for a pharmaceutical company and focused on preparing myself for a job in the corporate world when I graduated.

[00:02:12] Yet after a couple years, I needed a change and wanted to work in a smaller organization where I would actually have some responsibility.

[00:02:19] I ended up in a public organization in Copenhagen that focuses on enhancing entrepreneurship among students.

[00:02:25] Most useful job was actually volunteering.

[00:02:28] On the side, I was also doing a lot of volunteer work in a nonprofit organization called Ventilen that aimed to help lonely young people in Denmark via physical meeting places and projects at high schools.

[00:02:39] I was the chairman of the department in Copenhagen responsible for 20 volunteers.

[00:02:44] This volunteer position was actually the most useful as far as preparing me for my current job.

[00:02:49] I learned so much about leadership by making a lot of mistakes, about running an organization, process optimization, internal communication and hiring and retaining volunteers.

[00:03:00] In all my student jobs, I wasn't allowed to do much besides administrative work, but in my volunteer job, I just had to do what it took to make things work.

[00:03:08] Expanding my horizons

[00:03:10] The last year of my university studies, I decided to study in Beijing.

[00:03:14] When I was in China, I was lucky enough to be offered a remote job at a small Danish company who needed market research in China.

[00:03:21] It was this remote job that opened my eyes to even more possibilities.

[00:03:25] I hadn't realized it was possible to create and work remotely.

[00:03:29] Where to start

[00:03:32] After I finished university, I wanted to travel the world, which didn't seem compatible with a normal job.

[00:03:37] So I decided to start my own small company.

[00:03:40] My boyfriend was an entrepreneur and location independent, so we made a deal.

[00:03:44] I would try to create my own remote job for one year.

[00:03:47] If I didn't like it after that year, we would come back home and I could get a normal job.

[00:03:51] The only problem was that I had no idea what company to start.

[00:03:55] I thought to myself, what do I know that I can help people with?

[00:03:59] Obviously, I had a lot of experience with administrative work and project management through my student jobs and volunteer work,

[00:04:05] so I decided to start out as a virtual personal assistant.

[00:04:08] I created a website and the day I started the company, we took off to Barcelona where we would stay the first few months.

[00:04:14] I started getting clients through my network and my website and I slowly realized that this was actually possible.

[00:04:20] Let it evolve

[00:04:22] But my initial idea of my concept as a virtual assistant didn't last for long.

[00:04:27] My clients started asking if I could help out writing the newsletters and doing their Facebook ads as well.

[00:04:32] I didn't know much about it, but I said I would give it a try.

[00:04:35] And that's how I ended up as an online marketer.

[00:04:37] I began to dive into the world of online marketing and I loved everything about it.

[00:04:41] It was much more fun and creative than the other work I was doing and it was what the clients wanted.

[00:04:47] So my business changed.

[00:04:49] My focus evolved further to focusing solely on personal brands and people selling their knowledge, like speakers, authors, consultants, etc.

[00:04:57] Six months into my business, I was fully booked with clients.

[00:05:01] Narrowing my focus was really working.

[00:05:05] I really love that I'm able to work from everywhere.

[00:05:08] I've been working from 30 plus countries all over the world the last two and a half years.

[00:05:12] But what I love the most is the feeling of creating something.

[00:05:15] Building a business with happy clients and happy employees.

[00:05:18] Building a team.

[00:05:19] Being able to create remote jobs.

[00:05:21] I love the feeling that I don't know how my business will evolve and where I'll be in five years.

[00:05:28] If you want to work with online marketing, there are lots of free resources online where you can learn more about the different topics.

[00:05:34] SEO, Facebook ads, social media, email marketing, etc.

[00:05:38] That's how I learned when I started out.

[00:05:40] I also invested in some online courses and learned from my network.

[00:05:45] That's the first step.

[00:05:46] The next step would be to get actual experience to really learn what it's all about.

[00:05:50] I started out asking my network if I could do some work for them for free or really cheap just to get some experience.

[00:05:56] Some of them became clients later on.

[00:05:58] This step is the most important one because it's all about focusing on getting started and getting sales.

[00:06:03] Without sales, you have no business.

[00:06:05] Many people focus on getting the perfect website, having the right business card or the right logo before they do anything.

[00:06:11] Which is a shame because when you actually start working for clients, your focus can evolve anyway.

[00:06:16] Don't be afraid to change your concept along the way.

[00:06:19] That's how it works.

[00:06:20] You start somewhere but end up somewhere else you never dreamed of.

[00:06:24] Last step, you have to show that you know what you're talking about.

[00:06:27] Write good content to establish trust from potential clients.

[00:06:31] This is building your brand and doing the long-term work to make a sustainable business.

[00:06:37] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:43] How One Woman Started a Location-Independent Company Right Out of College

[00:06:47] by Chris Gillibault of ChrisGillibault.com

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[00:07:47] Terms and conditions apply.

[00:08:07] And thanks to Chris, who as I mentioned at the beginning of the show has a really unique story.

[00:08:12] He started his site, which he called The Art of Nonconformity,

[00:08:15] to chronicle his journey to every country in the world,

[00:08:18] which he eventually completed before his 35th birthday.

[00:08:21] He's got a few books worth checking out, including The Art of Nonconformity.

[00:08:25] And he's also got a series of books that are worth checking out.

[00:08:29] So if you're interested in learning more about Indeed,

[00:08:33] He's got a few books worth checking out, including The Art of Nonconformity,

[00:08:37] which was translated into more than 30 languages.

[00:08:40] And also the $100 Startup,

[00:08:42] which was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller

[00:08:44] selling more than 700,000 copies worldwide.

[00:08:47] And his book, The Money Tree, is all about finding the fortune in your own backyard.

[00:08:52] He also hosts the popular World Domination Summit in Portland.

[00:08:55] And you can come by chrisgilibow.com to learn about that and a lot more.

[00:08:59] I've got his site linked for you in this episode's description.

[00:09:02] And I think that's going to do it for today.

[00:09:04] I thank you so much for being a subscriber to the show

[00:09:06] and for sharing it with friends and family when you get a chance.

[00:09:09] It really helps us to keep all of our shows going.

[00:09:12] So have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow

[00:09:15] where your optimal life awaits.