If you want to be able to live and work from anywhere, you need to have an online business—that is, a business that you can run from your laptop, anywhere in the world.

For many people, the hardest part of starting a location-independent or online business is figuring out what kind of business to start, and there are plenty of programs out there that can help you with that.

But once you have established an online business, you need to build that business. How? Marketing.

If you’re anything like me, that word probably made you break out in a cold sweat or make a funny face. I was the same way—until I found Marie Forleo and her online business and marketing program, RHH B-School* (co-created by Laura Roeder). (Last fall I wrote a post about attending Marie’s incredible live conference/event, RHH Live.)

Signing up for this program last year was the best thing I have ever done for my business, hands down.

It changed my perspective on marketing, it helped me fine-tune my business and develop better relationships with my clients, and I am still learning from and building on everything presented in B-School. I’m also part of an incredible community of women entrepreneurs that offers me support, guidance, and wisdom—and has also led me to new clients, new partnerships, and other resources I need to grow my business.

Why am I telling you all this? Because it’s B-School time again, and this is your chance to get in on an incredible program to delve into the marketing strategies you need to grow your online business (remember, the one you can run from anywhere?).

Even if you don’t sign up for B-School, Marie is offering a TON of value in a series of pre-launch videos. You’ll learn about the Six-Pillar Road Map to Online Success (upon which B-School is based), the 13 Keys to Killing It Online, and some of the common concerns that hold many women back from starting or growing a business. You’ll also hear from women who’ve done B-School (and had tremendous success) and learn more about Marie’s background and her take on marketing and WHY you need to a) be online and b) market your business.

If you’re serious about building a successful online business, these free videos will give you a lot of information and insight to help you refine your efforts and rock your business. And of course, B-School itself will build on these same concepts.

If you have any questions about B-School, ask away!

* “RHH” stands for Rich, Happy & Hot. Yes, I cringed on a cellular level when I first heard that, and I still get a little embarrassed when I tell people that. But now that I know Marie, and I know what she stands for, I recognize that this is much more than what it sounds like on the surface (and this is part of the “dirty little secret” she talks about in video 2. It’s about having a RICH, full life that makes you insanely HAPPY, and rocking a HOT online business that everyone’s dying to know more about. Sounds pretty good, right? Check out the videos and you’ll see what I mean. Marie is the real deal.

(Yes, I am an affiliate for Marie Forleo’s RHH B-School. I will receive a commission if you sign up through my links, and of course I’d love it if you did! Please know that I only recommend things I truly stand behind. B-School truly changed my life, and I know it will change yours too.)

(Am I playing the “just married” card? You better believe it!)

Roberto and I got married at the beginning of March and enjoyed a full weekend of festivities with friends and family from near and far. It was an amazing time with a crazy international crowd, and thanks to the buena onda (good vibes), everyone had a great time together–whether they spoke the same language or not!

So, without further ado, I thought I’d share some wedding photos–I LOVE the work of our photographer, Pedro, and I want everyone to see his awesomeness.

We took time off work but didn’t take a honeymoon–and we’re already regretting it, so I have a feeling a little mini-break is on the horizon.

Meanwhile, we’re gearing up for the next phase of our own Nomadtopia: spending 5 1/2 months traveling the United States, working, visiting friends and family, attending WDS, and (for me) leading writing retreats.

Stay tuned for new posts about how we’re preparing our apartment for renters, what we’ll be packing, and more.

So needless to say, all is crazy busy but awesome in Nomadtopia. Our goal is to be fully location independent by the end of June, so stay tuned for more on our adventure plus interviews, advice, and inspiration! (Sign up for the mailing list here, if you haven’t already—it’s the easiest way to stay in the loop!)

The next step is to free yourself of all the trappings of your location-dependent life so you can plot your escape. This is Step 2 in the 7 Steps to a Life of Travel.

First, think about where you currently live. Are you renting? If so, when does your lease run out? Are you allowed to sublet? If you own your place, do you want to sell? Or do you want to keep the property and rent it out or do home exchange?

What about all the stuff that’s currently in your home? Remember, everything you don’t get rid of will need to be stored somewhere or will have to go with you.

• Are you going to keep everything?
• Do you need to do some paring down and put the rest in storage somewhere?
• Are you going to get rid of everything?
• If you’re going to rent/sublet your place, what will you need to keep (or obtain) for renters, and what will have to be removed from your house, like personal documents and valuables?

Keeping everything is definitely not recommended! There’s no question that the less stuff you have, the better off you’ll be in the long run (even if you don’t go anywhere!). No matter whether you want to sublet, break your lease, sell your house, rent, or do home exchange, the less you have, the less there will be to worry about. The less you’ll have to store, and the less you’ll have to take care of (or ask someone else to take care of).

The sooner you start decluttering, the better. If your departure date is still a year or more in the future, you could start getting rid of stuff now and move to a smaller place so you can save money while you’re still planning your next move.

A lot has already been written about how to declutter; here are some of my favorites on the subject:
Twenty Questions to Clear Your Clutter
Declutter Your Fantasy Self (this sounds strange, but the concept is great)
How to Declutter
How to Get Rid of All Your Crap
And, Adam Baker from Man vs. Debt created the highly regarded Sell Your Crap guide to explain the why and the HOW of getting rid of your stuff (not an affiliate link, because I haven’t used it myself)

In addition to getting rid of stuff, also start working on the other side of the problem: Don’t let anything new into your home. Unless it’s something that you are sure you will need for your new lifestyle, now is the time to STOP buying things. Every time you think about buying something, ask yourself these questions:

• Am I going to take this with me when I become location independent?
• Do I need this right now?
• Will something else get me by?
• Is it important enough that it will be worth storing/saving when I go?

Obviously, if the answers to some of these questions are NO, then don’t buy it!

Also think about your bigger possessions, like furniture and cars, and when to get rid of them. If you have two cars, can you get rid of one sooner than later? If you have a lot of stuff, start purging now.

If you have lots of pictures and don’t want to keep the albums, start scanning the pictures now. If you have too many clothes, start paring down your closet NOW. This stuff takes a lot longer than you think it might, and it’s worth doing as soon as you’re motivated to get started. And, seeing some empty space in your home will make it feel more real, and make it seem feasible to actually live out of a backpack/suitcase!

I’ve heard that one of the best ways to declutter is to pretend you’re moving abroad. So if you’re actually moving abroad, even better! Determine what you’ll actually take with you, what’s worth saving, and what needs to go.

As you get closer to becoming location independent and hitting the road, you’ll have to figure out what to do with other things like foodstuffs, plants, pets, important documents… For the latter, I’d recommend scanning as much as you can, and then leaving any hard copies either with a trusted friend/family member or in a safe deposit box at a bank. You might even put everything in a little fireproof box so you don’t have to worry about any disasters befalling your stuff while someone else is looking after it.

Once you know what you’re going to do with your stuff, consider how those decisions will affect your money plan:

• Will you have income from your home while you’re gone?
• Will you have storage costs?
• Will you make some money by selling furniture and other items before you go?
• What will you need to buy before you go?

After you’ve done that, you’ll have a better idea of one of the most exciting parts of planning a life of travel: when you’ll be able to quit your job, give up your current digs, and hit the road! More on that in the next step, coming soon.

Are you currently plotting your escape? How’s it going?

My parents have told this story many times over the years. I don’t actually remember the moment, but yet I have always felt it, deep in my core—this awakening of who I was going to be in the world. I wasn’t yet ready to actually get up off the bed in defiance, but I sat there, swinging my little legs back and forth, shaking my blond head and shouting: “You can’t tell me what to do! You’re not the boss of me!”

Over the years, sometimes I’d play along, and let other people be the boss (or maybe I was just letting them think they were the boss). But all along, deep in my heart, I’ve always known that I am the boss of me. And somewhere inside of me there was always that little girl, sitting on the bed, swinging her legs, silently shouting to teachers, friends, boyfriends, bosses, “You’re not the boss of me!”

Then one day I noticed how easily my feet touched the floor. I started to wonder what it would be like if I stood up. What if I didn’t just silently shout “you’re not the boss of me,” but actually stood up? What if I got off the bed to prove that no one’s the boss of me? Little by little, I tested out this idea, watching what happened each time I gave myself a promotion instead of waiting for someone else to give me one:

Go to college out of state. I’m working in the mailroom.

Move across the country. I’m in the secretarial pool.

Pursue the only career I ever wanted. I’m an assistant VP.

Declare my outrageous plans to travel the world. Executive VP.

Quit my job, strap on a backpack, and hit the road. I am the boss of ME.

It’s been seven years, and being the boss of me is the best job I’ve ever had. I choose where I will live, what kind of work I will do, who I will work with, who I will be friends with, what I will spend my time and money on, whether I will do this or that or the other thing… it is MY choice. No one is the boss of me but me. I do what I do because I want to be the boss of my life.

Are you letting someone else be the boss of your life? Are RULES your boss? The ones that say you have to go to college, study something “marketable,” get a job, work your ass off your whole life with two weeks of vacation a year, get married, buy a house and two cars and spend all your time paying for them?

I’m not saying you can’t or shouldn’t do any of those things—hell, I own an apartment and I’m getting married—but don’t just do them blindly because society or your parents told you to. Do them because YOU are the BOSS of YOU. You are in control of your destiny.

I’m tired of rules that say that there’s only one way to live. Tired of rules that say there’s a RIGHT and a WRONG way to do things. YOU find your own way—you’re the boss. When you’re the boss, you get to decide when to go to work, and when to take a break. You decide what you will work on. You decide what your business will focus on. You decide where the office will be located. You decide what kind of people you will work with. You don’t have to ask for anyone’s permission.

When you’re the boss of your life, you decide. You decide where you will live. You decide what kind of work you want to do. You decide IF buying a house is right for you, instead of going into crazy debt just because everyone else is doing it. You call the shots.

If you ever ask yourself why you’re doing something, and the answer is “because everyone else is doing it” or “this is the next step in life” or whatever, take a huge step back and reevaluate your decision. You are NOT being the boss of you. Society is being the boss. The status quo is being the boss. Your friends and family are the boss.

ENOUGH.

I’m giving you a promotion. You are the boss of you. Starting now.

UPDATE, May 11, 2012: It’s B-School time again! To find out more about B-School (the online program run by Marie Forleo, who hosted the event you’ll read about below), check out this post, or hop straight over to sign up to watch the FREE training videos Marie just launched. 

B-School is open for registration! I’m partnering with the awesome Shanna Trenholm to offer a special deal for those who sign up for B-School through us. If you’re looking for support and community to keep moving forward with your writing projects, it might be just what you’ve been looking for, so stay tuned!

I extended my recent visit to the States so I could attend an event in New York City for women entrepreneurs called RHHLive (or Rich, Happy & Hot Live), put together by the awesome Marie Forleo (whose B-School course I took over the summer). I am so grateful for the experience, and send my HUGE thanks to all of the speakers and people who worked behind the scenes to make this event happen. It was absolutely incredible and life-changing.

Nomadtopia isn’t a blog for entrepreneurs per se, but if you want to be location independent, you will need to think of yourself as an entrepreneur, so I thought I’d share some things about the event with all of you.

I met so many amazing people during the event, and I can’t say enough about how important it is to surround yourself with like-minded people, both online and off. Having a community that is both supportive and inspiring does wonders for encouraging you and pushing you to reach your goals. It also keeps you from feeling like you’re crazy, which can easily happen when you’re the only person you know starting their own business/quitting their job/selling all their stuff/[insert your crazy idea here].

The other thing this event reminded me of yet again is that it is so crucial to really be yourself, in all aspects of your life. Marie Forleo is a great example of this: everything she does is infused with her personality, and in large part that’s exactly what makes people love her and want to follow her and buy her programs and hang out with her in NY for two and a half days.

I spent years trying to minimize or hide my travel lifestyle, worried it would affect clients’ impressions of me, but since I’ve “come out” as a nomad, the reaction has been nothing but positive. All the marketing experts talk about how people need to know, like, and trust you before they will buy from you, and there’s no question that being authentic is the easiest way to do this!

When I am myself and share my story, it resonates with people. So many people are really eager to live their ideal life, and they love to meet people like me who are actually doing it. It is inspiring to them and encourages them in knowing they can do the same thing. When my story resonates with people, it’s a clue that I’ve found a kindred spirit—the kind of person I want for a friend or even a client. (Remember this the next time you’re not sure you should tell someone about your crazy dreams!)

I learned so much from the impressive line-up of speakers at RHHLive. Here are a few of the life-changing gems I gathered in my treasure chest that weekend.

The first night, we participated in Josh Pais’s Committed Impulse workshop, where we learned that all emotions and feelings are just vibrations in the body, neither good nor bad. And if we don’t let our minds step in and narrate what is happening–when we’re nervous, for example, or upset–and just sit with the vibration, it’ll go away. Pretty powerful stuff.

Marie Forleo personally urged me to Do the Work. I’m fighting resistance like my life depends on it. I’m planning out each day the night before, and I’m going to put together a detailed business vision/plan for the next 8 to 12 months (and beyond).

Kris Carr reminded us that when you eat crap, you feel like crap. I’m detoxing and revamping my diet starting NOW.

Julie Cottineau encouraged us to focus and to be creative in creating and sharing our brand. The overhaul is in progress.

Ramit Sethi advised that we be wary about blindly taking business and marketing advice from others. We have to analyze and test that advice to determine if it’s right for us. I’ll be implementing some of his strategies ASAP.

Danielle LaPorte rocked. (Is that too vague? OK…) She pointed out that to create, you must destroy, and urged us to create a “Stop Doing” list, which I’m still working on. She also told me what her next book’s about.

Russell Simmons reminded us that nobody cares what you’ve done, they care what you’re DOING. And that it’s OK to make shifts along the way—we think we’re being watched through a microscope, but nobody’s really paying that much attention. What a relief!

Simon Sinek shared that you have to know what you believe—or no one else will. Our basic human desire is to feel like we belong, and to be with people who believe what we believe (which ties in ever so nicely to my points above about finding like-minded community and being yourself). You’ll be seeing more from me on this in the future.

Laura Roeder encouraged us to pitch more, to expand our circles and to not assume that we’re not a good fit for x or y. People want you because you’re different! Stay tuned as I work on some guest posts and other adventures.

Derek Halpern gave us lots of tips on how to get people to talk about you, and he highlighted the halo effect: if you’re known for one positive trait, people assume you’re good at everything else. Yet another argument for getting really focused on one niche, market, or service in your business, which I’ve been working on this year.

Mama Gena urged us to make a list of our DESIRES. Allow yourself to daydream, and get specific. She also hosted a bragging session that got us all inspired and feeling great. I encourage everyone to find a safe space where they can brag about their achievements!

There was so much more, and I highly recommend you check out each of these incredible people to find out more about what they believe and what they have to offer. While it’s fun and inspiring to read travel blogs and dream about what your life will look like in Nomadtopia, it’s also important to determine what your business will look like!

What business tips have you learned/implemented this year?

(Once again, if you’re ready to really amp up your online business this year, it’s time to sign up for B-School!)

(I am an affiliate for Marie Forleo’s RHH B-School. I will receive a commission if you sign up through my links, and of course I’d love it if you did! Please know that I only recommend things I truly stand behind. B-School truly changed my life, and I know it will change yours too.)

I have to admit, I had a pretty awesome collection of books, including a lot of travel books (of course). They’re all in great shape, and some are fantastic resources for anyone aspiring to create their own Nomadtopia. And rather than have them collecting dust on some shelf in a bookstore, I want to pass them on directly to some lucky Nomadtopia readers. Some of them have already been snapped up by lucky subscribers to the Nomadtopia email list (you can sign up too! just click here), but I’m opening the rest up to everyone.

All you need to do to get one of the books listed below is email me at amy [at] nomadtopia [dot] com by Wednesday, October 19 and tell me which book you want (one per person, please!). Include your address, and I’ll get the book out to you via Media Rate mail within the next week. If you’re outside the U.S., you can still choose a book, but I’ll ask you to pay the extra cost of international shipping via PayPal.

Without further ado, here’s the list:
The World Awaits: How to Travel Far and Well, by Paul Otteson
A great guide for planning extended travel around the world.

The Traveler’s Handbook: The Insider’s Guide to World Travel
This book has lots of practical information, including a country guide listing the basics of traveling in every country around the world.

First-Time Around the World: A Trip Planner for the Ultimate Journey (published by Rough Guides)
As with the other books on this list, this one includes information on health and safety, work options while traveling, and must-sees around the world.

Yep, I’m offering these books absolutely free (unless international shipping is required), no strings attached. I just want to see these books go to a good home, and to continue to inspire people to travel. If they’re not claimed by Wednesday, October 19, I’ll be donating them to the local library instead.

What other books would you recommend for aspiring Nomadtopians? Chime in below with your favorite travel resources!

I first heard about the Girl Effect a few months ago from some women entrepreneurs who donate a portion of their profits to the organization. The organization has put together a series of powerful videos, and the accompanying stats really drive home the importance of their movement: for example, women and girls who earn income reinvest 90 percent of it back into their families, compared to only 30 or 40 percent for men. A girl with seven or more years of education marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children. Providing education and income opportunities for girls and women allows them to stay healthier and raise the standard of living for their entire family. As I see it, girls can change the world—if we help them.

A few of the videos really impacted me, like this one from Kidan in Ethiopia.

I admire Kidan’s courage to share her dreams, and then feel so sad for her when I hear that she’s already engaged—but doesn’t know it. Her life will be just like her mother’s, with day after day full of endless work to maintain the household.

The story of Shumi from Bangladesh is more hopeful:

Shumi’s accomplishments strike a particular chord with me because she is sticking her neck out to live the life she wants to live, to find a way to be successful, and to help others in her community at the same time. It takes way more courage for her to live life on her own terms than it does for someone like me, and I admire her spirit.

I’m determined to be a part of this movement. I want to promote the Girl Effect so that girls all over the world become strong, healthy, educated women who can support and protect themselves—and do the same for their own daughters. As their website says, “If you want to end poverty and help the developing world, the best thing you can do is invest time, energy, and funding into adolescent girls.”

I’ve just taken the first step toward increasing the Girl Effect by donating to a program that teaches entrepreneurial skills to girls in India. I’d love to have you join me!

Moving locations always upsets the equilibrium a bit—physically, emotionally, and in terms of routine and productivity—and it’s been a challenge to stay on track with my projects and goals. I guess I must be out of practice!

So you can learn from my mistakes, here are a few things I wish I had done, and that I’m now doing, to help me keep track of it all while traveling or otherwise not following my typical routine:

1) Automate as much as possible.
Set up an out-of-office autoresponder if you won’t be checking email frequently (or hire an assistant to manage it). Set up automated payments for credit cards, and schedule reminders for other important deadlines so you don’t miss anything.

2) Plan/write ahead.
I let my store of blog posts and newsletter drafts dry up before I left, and I really wish I hadn’t! If you blog or send out other content for your business, write and schedule at least some of your content in advance so you can continue following your typical schedule. Using a service like HootSuite, Buffer, or Timely, you can also schedule Twitter and Facebook updates in advance so your feed doesn’t sit dormant while you’re off doing other things.

3) Prioritize.
When you do have time to get online, FOCUS. Zero in on the most important things you need to get done in the short amount of time you have, so you can get back to spending quality time visiting or exploring.

What strategies help you manage routine on the road? Let us know in the comments!

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