Book Review: Location Independence, by Paul Truant

Location independence is the idea – becoming more and more common – that you can live and work from anywhere, without being confined to a fixed office. This book is an overview of what it takes to set up such a lifestyle.

Location independence has two parts: physical freedom (which is now possible because of the Internet) and mental freedom. Truant starts by tackling the mental aspect – including the mindset you need. The book is broadly based on the idea of “geoarbitrage”, which put simply just means that you can live in countries with a lower cost of living, while earning money from customers outside that country. In other words, your money goes further. This can be a very effective lifestyle, provided you’re open to the idea of living elsewhere and embracing other cultures.

Because of this central idea of travel, most of the book describes what it takes to plan for moving to another country, but from the viewpoint of a location independent worker rather than a holidaymaker.

If you’re interested in pursuing this sort of lifestyle, this book would be an excellent starting point.

Buy the book from Amazon.com.

MOOCs: E-Learning For Out of Office Workers

GraduatesWhereas office workers might be sent on courses or receive on-site training, Out of Office workers are often responsible for their own professional education. MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are to education what OOO is to work; they allow you to time-shift and place-shift your learning. In this episode, Chris shares his experience with doing an online course using popular course provider Coursera.

Listen to the episode here:

Download the MP3 file here

Buy the book here (available at a reduced price for a limited time).

References:

Expert Gold Radio: Content Marketing

Expert Gold Radio brings you monthly ideas, information, interviews and insights into leveraging your leadership – through better communication, on-line learning and Internet marketing.

Listen to the episode here:

Download the MP3 file here

Content Marketing Made Easy

Content marketing is a bit of a buzzword now, but behind the hype is an important tool for building credibility, positioning yourself as an authority, and getting high-quality enquiries to your business. In this episode, I talk about why content marketing is important, and then show you how to create and distribute high-quality material easily and quickly.

Out of Office: Yahoo and the Telecommuting Controversy

On 22nd February, Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer made a ruling that all Yahoo staff need to be physically in the office – in other words, no more Out of Office work. The decision sparked off discussion, debate and arguments, both in the tech media and in mainstream media as well. Now that the dust has settled, my friend Chris Pudney and I talk about some of the issues around this – including productivity, convenience, comfort and collaboration.

Get the book “Out of Office” here.

Content Marketing Workshops in Sydney

If you’d like to know more about content marketing and how to use it in your business, come to my two one-day workshops in Sydney this month.

The first one puts your content marketing platform in place, with blogging, special reports, article writing, and social media. Then, on the following day, we look at making your ideas more visual - through slide shows, PowerPoint, video, infographics, and animation. Come to one or both sessions – whatever suits you needs.

Find out more here:

Find Out More Find Out More

Yahoo and the Out of Office Controversy

Busy StreetOn 22nd February, Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer made a ruling that all Yahoo staff need to be physically in the office – in other words, no more Out of Office work. The decision sparked off discussion, debate and arguments, both in the tech media and in mainstream media as well. Now that the dust has settled, we’ll discuss some of the issues around this – including productivity, convenience, comfort and collaboration.

Listen to the episode here:

Download the MP3 file here

Buy the book here (available at a reduced price for a limited time).

Initial reports:

The backlash:

Support for the move:

Other references:

Let’s Take This Offline

Shaking HandsMany online services help you to create new offline relationships and strengthen your existing relationships. In this episode, we explore a range of online tools that help you enrich your offline connections.

Listen to the episode here:

MP3 File

Buy the book here (available at a reduced price for a limited time).

Additional resources:

Expert Gold Radio: Taming The E-Mail Tiger

Expert Gold Radio brings you monthly ideas, information, interviews and insights into leveraging your leadership – through better communication, on-line learning and Internet marketing.

Listen to the episode here:

Download the MP3 file here

Out of Office: Building Your Personal Brand

In this conversation, Chris Pudney and I describe some practical things you can do to build your personal brand – whether you’re an employee or a business owner.

Get the book “Out of Office” here.

Seven Steps for Writing Effective E-Mail – with Steuart Snooks

E-mail and productivity specialist Steuart Snooks talks about the importance of thinking carefully when writing your e-mail, and shows how writing better e-mail can reduce your incoming e-mail overload as well.

Visit Steuart’s Web site here.

Out of Office: Brand You

Brand YouWhether we’re employees or business owners, it’s more important than ever before for us to create our personal brand.

Listen to the episode here:

Download the MP3 file here

Buy the book here (available at a reduced price for a limited time).

Additional resources:

Expert Gold Radio: Personal Branding

Expert Gold Radio brings you monthly ideas, information, interviews and insights into leveraging your leadership – through better communication, on-line learning and Internet marketing.

Listen to the episode here:

Download the MP3 file here

Personal Branding – with Michael Neaylon

Join brand expert Michael Neaylon as we talk about the importance of building a strong personal brand – one that’s aligned with your values and dovetails with your organisation’s brand as well.

Visit Michael’s Web site here or read his blog here.

Out of Office Trends for 2013

The Internet has given us so much more flexibility in the way we organise our work and home life, and my co-author Chris Pudney and I discuss this in our book Out of Office. We recently talked about some things that are changing in this world, and came up with 8 predictions for 2013.

Get the book “Out of Office” here.

Out of Office Trends for 2013

Crystal BallWe’re nearing the end of another year, so it’s time for our annual podcast episode about trends for the coming 12 months.

Listen to the episode here:

Download the MP3 file here

Buy the book here (available at a reduced price for a limited time).

Our list:

  1. Video Conferencing: It has become easy and ubiquitous, and its use will grow. It has higher “fidelity” than other channels. You need to think about how to use these tools effectively: When to use it, and how to use it well.
  2. BYOD on the Rise: Because of the rise of mobile technology, there’s an increasing demand for “Bring Your Own Device” capability in workplaces, particularly those with Semi-Commuters.
    But BYOD raises a number of issues. It’s not just the software and hardware integration, but also security, legal, acceptable use, and even HR/workstyle issues. Nevertheless, it’s already with us, so organisations need to embrace it. We expect BYOD usage to rise in 2013.

  3. Android is King of the Road: Total Android smart phones to top one billion in 2013, with one million currently being activated daily. Currently, the situation is good because we have competition between two strong rivals: Apple and Google. This ought to drive innovation in mobile platforms. Microsoft are playing catch up but have released the Surface tablet and Windows 8.
  4. Multiple Devices: Although we’ve seen some moves towards convergence, there still isn’t “one device to rule them all”, especially with the growth of Android (as noted above) competing with the iPad. So there’s still a need/desire for multiple devices, even if it’s less convenient to carry them all around.
  5. Part-time Telecommuting (Semi-Commuter): I’ve noticed a lot more working from home amongst my colleagues, i.e. more Semi-Commuting. Technological improvements are making it possible; employers are recognising that it’s win-win; and there’s a changed attitude towards it.
  6. Google Apps for Business: More organisations moving to this, because it brings all sorts of Cloud-based functionality under one roof.
  7. Better, Cheaper Texting: SMS is 20 years old. SMS texts are a useful way of conducting immediate, one-to-one communication but can be expensive. There are many cheaper Internet based alternatives, and SMS usage is in decline.
  8. Better Connectivity for Travellers: Although Out of Office work, by definition, means less travel between home and an office, there’s still a lot of business travel happening. And the travel and hospitality industry are competing to offer better services in this area, particularly for business travellers.

We wish all our listeners a safe and happy Christmas, and ongoing success in 2013.

A Month on the Road

Chris Pudney, my co-author of the Out of Office book, and I both spent time away from home over the last couple of months, so in this episode we share some of our experiences, including principles to help you plan your own business trips.

Listen to the episode here:

Download the MP3 file here

Buy the book here (available at a reduced price for a limited time).

Resources:


Subscribe to My Newsletter Read My Blog Listen to My Radio Show Follow Me on Twitter Connect With Me on Facebook Connect With Me on LinkedIn Watch my YouTube Videos Watch my Slideshare slide shows

Home | Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2013 Gihan Perera. All rights reserved

Gihan Perera

8 Windich Place, Leederville WA 6007, Australia
Help Desk (Support): (+61) 2 8006 2481
Sales: (+61) 2 8005 5746
Fax: (+61) 8 9238 0705

E-mail:
Web: www.GihanPerera.com

Return to top of page