I'm 7 years away from retirement age and have no investments or retirement fund. (That's a long story for another time.) My plan is to work smart for the next 4-5 years, put a pile of money in the bank, live off the interest, then, when I'm gone, have the principal converted to a foundation that will award scholarships and business start up loans. Here are the steps I'm taking, in sequence:
1. Promote prepublication copies of my e-book, Your Wisdom is Worth a Million,
2. Promote profiles on my new speaker directory of Commission-Free Speakers to promote on tour,
3. Start to get in shape to increase energy and stamina for living "homeless" with sporadic power,
4. Finish painting my condo and clean it to immaculate, move-in condition,
5. Find a buyer who can give me the best price and take over September 1,
6. Turn my reports and manuals into e-books,
7. Update 4 web sites,
8. Sell everything I can for as much as I can and give away what I can't sell,
9. Pay off all debt from the proceeds so I am debt-free: consumer credit cards, van loan and home mortgage,
10. Live frugally in my van with few possessions,
11. Generate publicity through the press and media to encourage invitations to speak and invitations to park overnight,
12. Generate an income while living permanently on the road by:
a. Syndicating a newspaper column,
b. Accepting sponsorships for promotion on my web pages and van,
c. Offering one day workshops on Building an Advice Empire,
d. Speaking to professional and business organizations,
e. Performing "Business Biopsies": identifying unhealthy symptoms of professional practices and prescribing "cures,"
f. Offering 30 minute marketing consults by phone and email,
g. Promoting speaker directory and other people's how-to books and columns to press and media as I promote mine,
h. Offering online training/support to students and adults who want to earn income by providing personal services,
i. Processing e-book sales and speaker profiles,
j. Do fun things like voice commercials, voice-mail announcements, etc.
k. Land a contract for a trilogy of books on "advice empires".
13. Visit newspapers and talk radio stations with news releases for potential interviews,
14. Visit people across the United States I have met through various Internet forums,
15. Offer payment or do a household chore in exchange for connection to electricity/Internet, shower, other necessities,
16. Interview leading authorities across the US and Canada for my column and future books,
17. Check out communities where I might want to relocate when I can no longer travel,
18. Post to this blog about my experiences and thoughts.
That's my plan. If you have questions or comments, please post below.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Why am I going on a tour?
Yesterday would have been a good day to tell you about my tour, but I write what is on my mind, and yesterday I was irked by my environment. I don't work as well in a messy environment. It stems from my training as a writer. My journalism instructor once said (I'm paraphrasing): "Before you can report on something you have to get your own house in order." He meant that you ought not report on someone else's wrong doings unless you yourself are without misdeeds. But I also liked the idea that you can't organize your thoughts if your immediate surroundings are in chaos. So I like to have a clean uncluttered work space before I sit down to write. it just feels more peaceful and I accomplish more when I feel calm.
About my tour....
I left Girard, Pennsylvania 2 years ago to start a tour of the US and Canada but the stress of the previous 7-8 years (more about that another time) had taken its toll on my health and I got as far as St. Catharines Ontario. So I got sidetracked and bought a condo, my first-ever home purchase. Big mistake. After running for the board of directors and being rejected in favor of men who have no business experience or management background, I have been harassed and bullied by the 5 members of the board of directors and the property manager... to the point of having my fundamental rights under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms denied. So I am selling my condo at a loss in order to get away from the bullies. And then I can write about them without fear of retaliation.
I will resume my tour this fall, this time with a different purpose. Originally the mission of my tour was to teach about civility and empathy as an antidote to many of society's ills. Obviously that didn't work in my building. This time my mission is Spreading Prosperity. My passion is showing people how to generate more income as a consultant/advisor. I call it building an "advice empire". My clients over the past 30 years have been how-to authors, consultants, physicians, lawyers, speakers, etc. but business fell off drastically when I was unable to speak to associations, appear on radio and TV. Nobody would hire me because I have been invisible for nearly 10 years now. I want to be visible again, not to generate clients to promote and publicize as I did, but to promote myself as a speaker, consultant, author, teacher. I will generate an extraordinary income only if I assist others in generating excellent incomes. I also encourage people through one of my other businesses, Handy Ande, to start personal services businesses like personal shopping, errand running, pet sitting, organizing/decluttering, etc.
Considering that I have had very little income over the past 10 years, my plan is to sell everything I own, and travel and live in a 2002 Ford cargo van as my "poor man's RV."(Click on today's header at the top to see a photo of the van.) I plan to generate an income from which I can live in my old age when I can no longer work. I have no retirement funds or investments so this is definitely a working tour, not a vacation.
I will stop at newspaper offices to promote my business advice column, stop at talk radio stations to promote my books and businesses, consult by cell phone and email, write another book, and a bunch more activities which are listed on my web site's home page: http://www.AndreaReynolds.com
Necessarily, I will need to live very frugally, finding places to stay that cost little or nothing. By that I mean parking overnight in parking lots by permission (churches, shopping malls, schools) and in driveways of homes where I am invited. Without electricity I will need to either pay for or barter for electricity to recharge my cell phone and laptop - I have a 100 foot utility cord - Internet connection, freezing of ice packs for my cooler, empty waste, refill water jugs, even a hot shower, etc. I'm willing to do an hour of household chores in exchange and lots of people all over the US are taking me up on my offer. I'm not expecting a free bed or free meal. But I would love to be able to set up camp on a piece of level ground for a day or two. maybe an unoccupied section of a back yard, farm, or a private acreage. I have a tent, screened gazebo and a dog fence to confine the cat. I can't cook inside my van, and many parking lots don't allow cooking, and I don't want to spend money on fast food restaurants. I want to buy groceries and cook a decent hot meal every so often. Salads and fruit will be my mainstay, but some protein is important too. I'm a conservationist, a former girl scout and camp counselor so I know safety procedures and I leave a spot as I found it.
Next week I'll tell you about my Wish List which I am working on.
Andrea
About my tour....
I left Girard, Pennsylvania 2 years ago to start a tour of the US and Canada but the stress of the previous 7-8 years (more about that another time) had taken its toll on my health and I got as far as St. Catharines Ontario. So I got sidetracked and bought a condo, my first-ever home purchase. Big mistake. After running for the board of directors and being rejected in favor of men who have no business experience or management background, I have been harassed and bullied by the 5 members of the board of directors and the property manager... to the point of having my fundamental rights under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms denied. So I am selling my condo at a loss in order to get away from the bullies. And then I can write about them without fear of retaliation.
I will resume my tour this fall, this time with a different purpose. Originally the mission of my tour was to teach about civility and empathy as an antidote to many of society's ills. Obviously that didn't work in my building. This time my mission is Spreading Prosperity. My passion is showing people how to generate more income as a consultant/advisor. I call it building an "advice empire". My clients over the past 30 years have been how-to authors, consultants, physicians, lawyers, speakers, etc. but business fell off drastically when I was unable to speak to associations, appear on radio and TV. Nobody would hire me because I have been invisible for nearly 10 years now. I want to be visible again, not to generate clients to promote and publicize as I did, but to promote myself as a speaker, consultant, author, teacher. I will generate an extraordinary income only if I assist others in generating excellent incomes. I also encourage people through one of my other businesses, Handy Ande, to start personal services businesses like personal shopping, errand running, pet sitting, organizing/decluttering, etc.
Considering that I have had very little income over the past 10 years, my plan is to sell everything I own, and travel and live in a 2002 Ford cargo van as my "poor man's RV."(Click on today's header at the top to see a photo of the van.) I plan to generate an income from which I can live in my old age when I can no longer work. I have no retirement funds or investments so this is definitely a working tour, not a vacation.
I will stop at newspaper offices to promote my business advice column, stop at talk radio stations to promote my books and businesses, consult by cell phone and email, write another book, and a bunch more activities which are listed on my web site's home page: http://www.AndreaReynolds.com
Necessarily, I will need to live very frugally, finding places to stay that cost little or nothing. By that I mean parking overnight in parking lots by permission (churches, shopping malls, schools) and in driveways of homes where I am invited. Without electricity I will need to either pay for or barter for electricity to recharge my cell phone and laptop - I have a 100 foot utility cord - Internet connection, freezing of ice packs for my cooler, empty waste, refill water jugs, even a hot shower, etc. I'm willing to do an hour of household chores in exchange and lots of people all over the US are taking me up on my offer. I'm not expecting a free bed or free meal. But I would love to be able to set up camp on a piece of level ground for a day or two. maybe an unoccupied section of a back yard, farm, or a private acreage. I have a tent, screened gazebo and a dog fence to confine the cat. I can't cook inside my van, and many parking lots don't allow cooking, and I don't want to spend money on fast food restaurants. I want to buy groceries and cook a decent hot meal every so often. Salads and fruit will be my mainstay, but some protein is important too. I'm a conservationist, a former girl scout and camp counselor so I know safety procedures and I leave a spot as I found it.
Next week I'll tell you about my Wish List which I am working on.
Andrea
Thursday, July 19, 2007
My home is a mess
Great way to start a blog, by confessing my life is temporariy chaotic, eh? (I rarely say "eh?", but it fits here.) The truth is I'm a pretty organized person - I have a degree in home economics from Kent State University - but I have projects on the go that are waiting to be finished. At my age, if I put the necessary materials away, I'll forget where they are and then have to waste hours looking for them and gathering them all again.
For example, I have a pile of while metal pipes and a piece of green canvas that will make a nice gazebo awning to create shade for Casper (he's a cat) and I when we have a place to park the van. The awning, a gift through Freecycle, is waiting for a FedEx delivery so I can figure out how to put the metal poles together. No instructions. I washed the awning of dried grass clippings, cleaned the duct tape residue off the poles and discovered one of the corner brackets is missing. Without it, my 4 cornered awning will look like a broken umbrella. So I found the manufacturer who is sending me the bracket and a replacement for one of the base pieces that the poles fit into. (Ah, that reminds me: I need to pick up some stakes to hold the base plates in place.) As soon as I receive the delivery, I will erect the awning in my living room and draw myself a diagram of the proper assembly insructions. I'd rather do it now than when I am on the road.
In other parts of the house I have piles of other projects: everything I need to finish painting the balcony walls, everything to paint the kitchen, everything I need to replace the kitchen sink faucet. Etc.
The good news is I have To Do lists that I'm sticking to, and I'm getting things done that I've been putting off. One of the things I need to do before leaving Canada is getting all my medical tests done - free, under Ontario's health care plan - for a clean bill of health. Yesterday I booked a mammogram and bone mineral density test, confirmed a full medical exam with one doctor and confirmed another appointment with my gynecologist to discuss the pros and cons of HRT. Then I researched bus and train schedules to Toronto for my July 30 appointment. I'm proud of myself, considering how overwhelmed I feel.
For example, I have a pile of while metal pipes and a piece of green canvas that will make a nice gazebo awning to create shade for Casper (he's a cat) and I when we have a place to park the van. The awning, a gift through Freecycle, is waiting for a FedEx delivery so I can figure out how to put the metal poles together. No instructions. I washed the awning of dried grass clippings, cleaned the duct tape residue off the poles and discovered one of the corner brackets is missing. Without it, my 4 cornered awning will look like a broken umbrella. So I found the manufacturer who is sending me the bracket and a replacement for one of the base pieces that the poles fit into. (Ah, that reminds me: I need to pick up some stakes to hold the base plates in place.) As soon as I receive the delivery, I will erect the awning in my living room and draw myself a diagram of the proper assembly insructions. I'd rather do it now than when I am on the road.
In other parts of the house I have piles of other projects: everything I need to finish painting the balcony walls, everything to paint the kitchen, everything I need to replace the kitchen sink faucet. Etc.
The good news is I have To Do lists that I'm sticking to, and I'm getting things done that I've been putting off. One of the things I need to do before leaving Canada is getting all my medical tests done - free, under Ontario's health care plan - for a clean bill of health. Yesterday I booked a mammogram and bone mineral density test, confirmed a full medical exam with one doctor and confirmed another appointment with my gynecologist to discuss the pros and cons of HRT. Then I researched bus and train schedules to Toronto for my July 30 appointment. I'm proud of myself, considering how overwhelmed I feel.
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