I thought it’d be helpful to compile a list of resources—consisting of books, tools, blogs, links, and guides which have helped me learn to brand myself, build an extensive network, travel around the globe, and design a business that I can run from anywhere in the world. Check back often, as the Thrilling Heroics Resources section will undoubtedly grow steadily as I learn more and as my business grows… I recommend bookmarking this page for future reference. Enjoy!
Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links to products that will earn me a small commission that will help keep ThrillingHeroics.com alive. These are all products and resources that I have used with success or that come highly recommended from my colleagues and mentors, and because they are helpful and are companies that I trust.
Required Reading for Bending Spoons
Here are my “Most-Important Books”—or MIBs. These are the top 10 books I’ve read that have impacted me and influenced my life in a significant way for one reason or another. From what I’ve read so far, if you read only 10 books after college, read these:
- The Brand You 50 by Tom Peters (or one of his other books on personal branding)
- Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
- I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
- Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
- Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term Travel by Rolf Potts
- Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss
- The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman
If you’re just getting started, I believe reading them from 1-10 in this order would be the most intuitive mindset change from beginner to advanced, and have the greatest impact on you.
See more recommended reading »
How I Do It
These are the applications, tools, and resources that I use daily and recommend to all my clients and friends. All of my best-kept secrets!
Build Your Business & Online Presence
- The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself - Create your own Personal Freedom through a Very Small Business
- Cloud Living - How to make money with your blog simply, this details Glen Allsop’s success story about how he built a 4,000-subscriber blog in less than a year and earns a 5-figure monthly income
- WordPress – an easy content management (CMS) system great for blogs, galleries, portfolios, business sites & more. Learn how to set up your own website in 60 minutes here.
- BlueHost – reliable, inexpensive, easy web hosting (4 out of 5 of my clients use them). Easy to use, 1-click automatic WordPress installation, and superb customer service!
- NameCheap – if you need to buy several domain names in bulk and want to get the best service and lowest price, NameCheap is the best place for domain name registration in all of my experience. Definitely forget GoDaddy!
- WooThemes – incredibly awesome, powerful, open-source themes for WordPress for a reasonable, affordable price. Most of them come loaded with premium features and tie in nicely with Flickr photos and Twitter status, etc. My site is a heavily-customized FreshNews design from WooThemes.
- ThemeForest – more great, inexpensive HTML templates, themes for WordPress and other CMS programs.
- Wishlist Member Pro – if you want to build a community or subscription website, this plugin is the de facto solution for easily turning your WordPress site into a powerful, easily-customizable membership site. This is what I built Digital Nomad Academy on.
Gadgets & Gear for Digital Nomad Workers
- Apple MacBook Pro – intuitive, highly-customizable. The 13-inch unibody aluminum model has been great to travel with (it’s taken a hard hit to the ground probably 4 or 5 times and keeps on going. This thing is a tank!).
- iPhone 4S - I used to tote around the 3G for ages, but now I’ve upgraded to the 64GB 4S that comes factory unlocked so you can use it anywhere around the world, on any carrier. Otherwise, grab the unlocking instructions here for use on non-AT&T networks, international travel & data access. Still the best phone I’ve found for running a multi-national business remotely, and I love the new 64 gig 4S because I use it frequently for HDR photography and HD video (both which come built-in in the latest generation…
- Airport Express – this handy little gadget will turn almost any ethernet connection around the world into an instant wifi network. Fits in my cargo pocket, and you can also use it to remotely connect to printers, sound systems, and other USB devices, which is fun.
- 1 TB Buffalo MiniStation external hard drive – tiny and shock-protected for easy traveling, this is where I keep my local backup (see TimeMachine below) and external storage space.
- Backup your files frequently with TimeMachine and/or Mozy online backup. Last thing any nomadic entrepreneur wants is to lose their whole business when something catastrophic happens to the laptop.
- I also recommend an external GPRS/EDGE/3G USB Modem to plug into your laptop and grab an internet connection through the cell phone data network anywhere (the beach anyone?) if you’re going to be traveling in developing countries where wifi isn’t as widespread. Also, Novatel Wireless MiFi Mobile WiFi Hotspots come highly recommended, but make sure you get the right one depending what region you’re in.
International Communications & Scheduling
- Gmail – please please please ditch Outlook! Google’s email solution is the best in the world. Once you switch to it, also check out the Boomerang and Rapportive plugins for it.
- Skype – call friends & clients around the globe for as little as 3 cents a minute. This is also what I use to do video chats with friends & family (and record my video interviews for this site!)
- Google Voice – previously GrandCentral, this will give you one phone number to route and forward to any phone; highly customizable.
- Tungle.me – a scheduling application that connects with your existing calendar to easily allow others to schedule time during your availability, anywhere in the world.
- Doodle – easily schedule meetings & conference calls between multiple people, across timezones.
- Twitter – learn how to use it, but quickly migrate to a good desktop app like TweetDeck.
- Adium or Meebo can connect AIM, gTalk, MSN, Yahoo chat, Facebook chat and more.
- RescueTime – don’t spend too many hours wasted on Twitter & chat. RT is a great free application that will help you track your hours spent on different projects and limit how long you can spend on time-wasters or social sites.
- AwayFind - safeguard your attention. AwayFind will let you know when you get something truly important/urgent in your email, so you can spend more time outside the inbox.
Online Collaboration & Remote Working Tools
- Google Calendar – shareable calendar and schedule organizer.
- Google Docs – collaborative word processor and spreadsheet applications.
- Dropbox – store and share large files online, or sync your virtual dropbox folder across as many computers & mobile devices as you like.
- Calliflower – a great low-cost conference calling software that I use with my 100+ students for weekly phone calls, recordings, document sharing, and presentations.
- Adobe ConnectNow - meet live over the web and share your screen with anyone.
- Collabtiv - free alternative to web-based project management apps like Basecamp.
My Web Development Toolbox
- Cyberduck – open-source FTP for Mac
- Smultron – open-source, user-friendly code editor for Mac
- MAMP – run your own local Apache server
- Firebug – Firefox plugin that makes testing code much easier
- Adobe BrowserLab – test cross-browser compatibility for free (keep this one hush-hush
Distribution, Invoicing & Shopping Carts
- PayPal – You’ll need an account if you want to accept payments from many ecommerce providers online, and it’ll give you easy, simple email invoices you can send.
- FreshBooks – simple online invoicing and bookkeeping.
- e-Junkie – handles all the payment and fulfillment for your ebook, audio, or other information products. Links up easily with PayPal, Google Checkout, Authorize.net, TrialPay, Clickbank & 2CheckOut to get you paid.
- ClickBank – another digital products retailer that’s reasonably priced and comes with an amazing affiliate program for your products.
Online Marketing & Promotion
- AWeber – leading provider for mailing/customer list management, promotional marketing, and autoresponder newsletter campaigns.
- Market Samurai – the most effective software available for doing in-depth SEO keyword research, market research and niche discovery.
- Su.pr – install the bookmarklet in your browser toolbar, submit your links and they’ll be automatically sent to Twitter, Facebook & StumbleUpon! StumbleUpon also has a great CPC advertising program.
- LinkedIn Answers – LinkedIn is the best professional online network, and Answers is the best place to brand yourself, share your expertise with others, and even solicit feedback on your own questions from experienced CEOs and other professionals.
- Fiverr.com – this is a new site for me, but it’s already been helpful for online promotions. It’s a marketplace where people will do a wide range of actions for you for just $5 USD, including many social media promotions activities.
Money & Personal Finance
- ING Direct – fairly high-yield online savings accounts with convenient sub-accounts, so you can create different “buckets” for different savings goals.
- HSBC Bank – one of the best international banks with locations around the globe.
- Charles Schwab – reimburses all ATM transactions and has no international fees on their checking accounts.
- Discover Miles card – Frequent flyer? Get 1 mile per dollar spent, plus 12,000 bonus sign-up miles.
- Mint.com – powerful, free personal financial management application.
- Greenback Tax Services – for US residents/citizens only, but David & Carrie McKeegan at Greenback are a good go-to team for expat tax services.
- Unautomate Your Finances – A way to simplify your money & get passionate about it, from Baker at ManVsDebt, who eliminated $18K+ in consumer debt and took his family traveling through Australia, New Zealand & Thailand!
Travel & Living the Mobile Lifestyle
- Kayak.com – find the best travel deals, Kayak compares thousands of aggregators.
- Hipmunk – coming up hot on the heels of Kayak, this useful little tool saved me a couple hundred bucks on my last round-trip home to California. Useful because it compares different flights by a number of variables and
- Priceline – bid low on last-minute flights and check out their Pricebreaker deals.
- Agoda – this is now my first go-to spot when I’m looking for hotels, bungalows, villas, or other accommodation in a new city. Gives you pretty great rates that are hard to find elsewhere. First I check listings here, then I’ll compare against real people’s reviews and customer photos at TripAdvisor.
- Couchsurfing – meet locals for a drink, a tour, and sometimes free accommodation around the world.
- AirBnB – low-cost vacation rentals and sublets from locals in 87 countries.
- EarthClassMail – get all your snail mail sent to you via email. Great for business backpackers!
- World Nomads – easy, affordable travel insurance recommended by Lonely Planet.
- Passport Visas Express – Tim Ferriss recommends this service for expedited visa services and new US passports. Looks useful, but of course it comes at a price.
- Travel Full-time for Less Than $14,000 per Year – an incredible, lengthy guide on Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You To Be Rich site.
- Frequent Flyer Master – Chris Guillebeau, on his way to visiting every country in the world, shares all the top secrets for earning free Frequent Flyer miles and getting the most out of them. This ebook is guaranteed to pay for itself with a free flight!
- Language Hacking Guide – tips and language hacks from Benny the Irish Polyglot (fluent in 7 languages and counting!), if you’re interested to get to effective fluency in foreign languages, definitely pick this up!
Goal-Setting Tools
- Ideal Lifestyle Costing from Tim Ferriss
- Dreamlining Worksheet
Staffing Solutions
- Virtual Staff Finder – when you’re finally ready to outsource, you’ll find the hardest part is actually finding quality virtual assistants to help you grow your business. My good friend Chris Ducker has lived in the Philippines for 10 years and runs a BPO firm with over 215+ workers—when I need to find someone I go to him to get connected with the best staff. They do the search, the background checks, and the online testing, then I interview the top 3 candidates and hire my desired applicant.
Forums, Podcasts & Communities
- Lifestyle Business Podcast – the #1 podcast on iTunes for lifestyle designers and lifestyle entrepreneurs. Absolutely awesome fundamentals from Dan Andrews.
- Mixergy - Andrew Warner consistently interviews highly-successful entrepreneurs for online business tips. Solid.
- Digital Nomad Academy – our new 1-year business course for people who want to create a location-independent business, earn an income from anywhere, and live and travel where they like, and want to be held by the hand through the process. Get directly mentored by 10 high-profile, successful nomads.
- 4-Hour Work Week Forums - new rich, lifestyle design, and muse creation; focused on the priciples in Tim Ferriss’ book: elimination, automation, and liberation.
- 30 Day Challenge – Ed Dale’s awesome, free, how-to curriculum that will take you through all the basics of market research, online marketing, and how to make your first $ online.
- Outsource to the Philippines - another fantastic podcast from Chris Ducker all about outsourcing work to qualified virtual workers in the Philippines.
- Dynamite Circle – if you’re already an experienced entrepreneur or online marketer who’s pretty “in” the game already, Dan’s DC forums are an amazing place to build relationships with like-minded folks and get some very high-level knowledge (warning though: this is for advanced users only!)
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