In just a few short years, Chris Guillebeau has risen to be one of the the most popular and successful authors, bloggers, publishers and conference organizers on the planet. While building his media empire he has also been travelling to every country in the world. A goal which will be accomplished this year, before he is 35 years old. I have written before about some of the factors that have lead to Chris Guillebeau’s success and here are some of his projects and accomplishments:
- The Art of Non-Conformity Blog – Chris has blogged twice a week with out failure for four years.
- Unconventional Guides – A very successful series of ebooks and programs including: Travel Ninja, Frequent Flyer Master, Art + Money, Break out of 9-5, Freelancing 301, and The Empire Building Kit – teaching how to build a business in a year by doing one thing per day.
- Travel Hacking Cartel – A membership site where you learn exactly how to accumulate frequent flyer miles.
- Free ebooks – 279 Days to Overnight Success – Chris’s hugely popular free ebook. A Brief Guide to World Domination – Another free ebook with over 100,000 downloads. The Tower: a Free Report for a New Way of Life
- The Art of Non-Conformity best-selling book. A great read for those looking for more out of life.
- The $100 Startup Chris’s latest book. (I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve ordered it.)
- World Domination Summit The yearly conference the sells out in minutes. (I’ll be going this year, are any of you? Please get in touch!)
Chris is in the middle of promoting his new The $100 Startup book and getting ready for the sold out World Domination Summit in Portland, but he took some time to answer a few questions here.
Photo by Casey West
How do you feel now that you are getting so close to visiting every country in the world?
It’s funny you ask this—a lot of people are wondering the same thing. However, visiting every country was never just a stunt for me; it was something that seemed conceivable and got me even more excited about the travel I was already doing.
Right now I’m really focused on continuing to help the community of readers I engage with every day and doing the best I can to support the entrepreneurs highlighted in The $100 Startup. I’m also working on lots of other projects, so there’s always more than one thing happening.
You are one of the world’s top bloggers and authors, did you expect all this to happen when you were starting?
Absolutely not. A lot of this started because I happened to be sharing information as I traveled that was interesting to other people. Simultaneously, I knew it was going to be important for me to set a routine for myself—routine is key to working independently—so I set up a Monday/Thursday blog post deadline for myself.
I’m very privileged to have the attention of people who care about what I have to say. I try to be mindful of the value of their time and the honor that it is to have the opportunity to serve them.
Can you outline some of your key success factors?
Again, doing something well and doing it consistently are probably two of the primary factors of whatever success I’ve had. I also happen to be doing work that’s not incredibly common, so there is a bit of a fascination factor when people hear about what I do.
However, I’m not sure that the unusual elements of this are what are really important. More than anything, I’ve really chosen to hang in there over the long haul and let this grow into something bigger than myself. The factors that have proven to be the most valuable to getting there are hard work, consistency, and a relentless interest in helping others accomplish their own goals.
Please tell us about your new book?
The $100 Startup is both inspiration and how-to for creating a life and work that you love. It’s based on fifty case studies of people who have struck out on their own and created lives and businesses, many of which are even more interesting than what I do.
People have been asking me for years how they might begin to take steps to a more fulfilling and free life. Rather than write about myself—I do enough of that on my blog—I thought I’d shine the spotlight on some of the unconventional entrepreneurs I had met around the world.
Please tell us about the World Domination Summit?
WDS is a gathering space for remarkable people; it’s a welcome environment for people with shared ideals who are enthusiastic about supporting each other’s goals. Our team works hard on putting together a great program, but we also realized that the best thing about it is all of those other people who attend and participate.
What is next for Chris Guillebeau?
I don’t really think about my life in that way. I just go through my daily routine of writing, connecting with people, traveling, and learning. Hopefully what’s next is a great deal more of that.
Links
Follow Chris Guillebeau Twitter
The Art of Non-Conformity Blog
The $100 Startup Chris Guillebeau’s latest book.