The Power of Simple – Interview with Colin Wright of Exile Lifestyle

 

Colin talks with Adam Beckett @ Bootstrap Cafe

What’s included in this post:

• An Interview with Colin on the value of Bootstrapping and simplicity
• My review of My Exile Lifestyle, his new Ebook released July 1^st, 2011
• Your chance to win a free copy of My Exile Lifestyle by submitting an outstanding comment

 

This interview is one of many Innovator guest spots to follow at Bootstrap Cafe.

This Blog offers a high quality experience for readers and Subscribers. It’s about community first and foremost, so here’s what I’m asking from you – not just on this post, but ongoing.

• I’m looking for well thought out comments and general interraction.

• I’m also inviting anyone who thinks they fit in here to set up a future interview right here in the Bootstrap Cafe. Don’t expect to set up an interview immediately, there’s a queue, accept that fact and we’ll do something great together.

• It’s inclusive. This is a friendly, non Elitist place where Art meets business and anyone innovative is welcome to join us, regardless of whether you’re starting out with nothing but a great idea or already World Famous, you can brew up ideas and exchange them here in our virtual Cafe.

 

So, onwards…

I’ve followed Colin for a few years now, from when I started being influenced by people living a Minimalist Lifestyle who “Flashpacked” their way around the World.

Back when I was setting up my first blog I asked him to do an interview, half expecting a no-go. But Colin was happy to contribute to a blog with just a handful of followers, which gave me a moral boost at a time when I knew less about the Online game.

 

Adam: Hey Colin, welcome to the Bootstrap Cafe! Perhaps you can introduce yourself and tell us what you’ve been up to over the last few years, Lifestyle and business wise?

Colin: Sure!

Let’s see. I move to a new country every 4 months based on the votes of my readers at Exile Lifestyle (my blog). I also run a handful of businesses from my laptop and generally try to make every moment of every day one that I can be proud of.

I also own about 50 things in the whole, wide, World, engage in frequent extreme lifestyle experiments and am curious almost to a fault.

Adam: I wanted to talk about the advantages of using limited financial resources to launch and grow a project (just like I’m doing right here at Bootstrap Cafe).

When you start with nothing and decide to invest hardly any money in a new project, I find it forces you to focus only on the most important actions.

You have to focus totally on what you’re doing to produce something that gets noticed. The less distraction from peripherals, like changing your website layout for the hundreth time or reading your emails, the greater your focus on delivering high quality content in your writing or service that exceeds what your clients expect. What’s your view?

Colin: I totally agree.

I find it very satisfying to create something out of nothing, so if I’m investing a whole lot of money into a project, minor victories don’t really count as much because they were paid for, not really created by me.

I also feel that when I’ve removed the irrelevant from the process – trying to get bigger, better computers, or more sophisticated photography equipment, for example, when a laptop or smaller camera will work just fine -  I spend less time and effort focused on superfluous matters and am able to get a little creative within the confines I’ve created for myself.

I don’t think I’ve ever had someone complain that I use a little point and shoot camera instead of a scanner to get illustrations and such into my computer, but I have had people complain if my ideas or work isn’t up to snuff, which is all about me, not the equipment that I’m using.

 

Adam: Speaking of focus, at this point can we discuss why you launched MIPitR?

Colin: Absolutely!

The idea was to try and encourage intelligent conversation online, something that is unfortunately lacking in most cases. Sure there’s a LOT of conversation, but more doesn’t equal better, and I felt like creating a forum that had a small barrier to entry ($10/month for access) would increase the quality of the discussion, since everyone will have opted-in with their wallets, and therefore would have more incentive to keep the conversational culture high-brow.

There’s also the financial incentive: we pay out 10% of last-month’s revenue every week for blog posts from folks who are chatting in the forums. The thought here was that we would pay for high-quality content, and the forum would act as an incubator of sorts for these ideas. People who were willing to take the time to discuss, then, would be paid for their brilliance. Kind of a combination of crowd-sourcing and paying for content, mixed with a membership site and a few other little ideas I’ve been tossing around for a while.

At the end of the day, I’ll be happy if we can get some really solid conversations (the kind I’m fortunate enough to have a lot of in real life, as I travel and seek out interesting people) going on the Internet.

 

Adam: Here at Bootstrap Cafe we like to keep things simple. Simple works; it cuts through all of the “noise” on the Internet.

Simple is also something people can do; the majority don’t understand in-depth strategies and nuances of Internet Marketing. They’re not experts.

As someone who deals with Branding Professionally, what’s your view?

Colin: Clarity in your brand is vital if you wanted to stand out: it’s not about who shouts the loudest, it’s who is able to convey their thoughts most clearly and concisely in the sea of noise that people block out day-to-day.

My approach to branding is deceptively simple. If you take the time to step back, then back, then back again until you’ve reached the core philosophy behind everything you do, you’ll be in a good position to establish a strong, unique brand that people will just ‘get,’ no need for shouting or clutter.

Then it’s just a matter of figuring out how best to communicate that message to the appropriate audience. Easy breezy.

 

Adam: Let’s talk more specifically about launching your project using a Blog; what do you feel the essential elements are that should be included?  – apart from passion and knowledge of course – and at what point do you feel that you should start adding features which pay you if the project has a commercial intent?

Colin: I tend to stay away from making money directly from my blog, but I do use it to build up my audience, to whom I can then talk about my other projects (and because they like to read what I write, they’re pre-screened to be more interested in the other projects I have my fingers in), which helps me test out ideas and iterate quickly through the bad ones.

Being clear about your message is something to keep in mind from the very beginning, and though it will change over time, don’t be afraid to take stands and talk about your opinions. If you’re just saying the same things as everyone else, why would anyone read you when they could just go to a more-established person instead?

Give people a way to get in touch with you, too. One of the best things I think I did for myself when I first started blogging was to ask people to email me and just tell me about themselves. Since then I’ve received thousands of emails from readers, and this has led to a lot of interesting conversations, relationships and opportunities that I wouldn’t have otherwise has access to. Connecting with people in this way creates a two-way street (rather than the one-way shouting match that it’s easy to otherwise fall into) and also gives you a ‘straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth’ feedback chain from the very people you should be most interested in hearing from.

Everything else is situational. I would say don’t add anything to your blog unless you really need it. That photo album?That newsletter link? That Twitter feed? Ask yourself if it’s really necessary, or if it’s just cluttering the page. In most cases, it will probably be the latter.

 

Adam: Ok let’s flip it away from something that pays. And talk about The Satisfaction Factor of building anything on a budget, a project or even a Lifestyle similar to the way you’re living right now?

Colin: It’s incredibly satisfying to me, the building of anything.

In fact, if I didn’t have to worry about money at all and could just do anything I wanted with my life, I would be doing exactly what I’m doing right now (a good feeling!). I love building and making and getting my hands dirty, and building from scratch amplifies that love.

Stripping away the unnecessary is also a lot of fun, partially because it’s a challenge, but also because, at the end of the day, you’re left with a life full of things that you are truly passionate about and lacking anything that gets in the way of you enjoying those people, activities and things full-time. Definitely worth the time and effort, in my mind.

 

Adam: Let’s talk about the Big Picture and how important we are to the future of the Planet.

You live and work in a way that’s great for the Planet, with little reliance on material possessions. I’m more of a “Moderate Consumer”.  There’s no personal need for the weekly shopping expedition. I live in a small house, I don’t commute to work, I rarely go to meetings, I do use my old car but only because my Girlfriend has an illness that often affects her mobility. Otherwise I wouldn’t really need a vehicle where I live, near to the centre of a medium sized town with good amenities.

We’re in the middle of a Global financial crisis and the overriding consumer culture is unsustainable due to Environmental damage. I think more people are starting to appreciate the value of Living with Less, working location independent of a traditional fixed office.

 

What’s Your Verdict?

Ok, so you’ll have an opinion on what you’ve read here. And my writing will be in vain if it’s not discussed and shared, so it can be discussed a lot more extensively.

Over to you…comments and Tweet – outs please!