News

Rialta Posted on eBay for One Dollar

On July 23, 2011, In News, By Tommy

I had a bunch of emails, calls and appointments to show the RV, but only one person actually showed up. I forgot how frustrating it can be to try and sell something on Craiglist.

I went ahead and posted the Rialta on eBay with a starting bid of $1. This will guarantee that the thing sells and provide some form of accountability for whoever places the high bid.

Here is the link to the eBay auction if you are interested in placing a bid:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220818470139

Selling the Rialta!

On July 15, 2011, In Living in an RV, News, RV Mods, RV Repairs, By Tommy

The Rialta spent the last 5 months in storage while I was busy visiting Australia, Asia and Europe. I came back and really didn’t have much interest in doing more trips in her. I’d like to spend a lot more time out of the country, and I can’t really take the Rialta along with me.

I made the decision to sell before I got back to the states. I pulled it out of storage the day after I returned, got it smogged the next day, cleaned it up and finally have it listed for sale. I’m going to be really sad to see it go, however happy knowing that I won’t have to worry about it anymore.

I figure that if I ever want to do another RV trip in the future, I can always buy another RV and do it again. Modding it out is half the fun!

Here is the official CL ad: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/rvs/2496392261.html

Goodbye California! Thanks Governer Jerry Brown!

On June 30, 2011, In Making Money Online, News, Observations, By Tommy

I wake up this morning in Zagreb, Croatia at 10:18am. Damn! I missed the free breakfast that went until 10. Ugh, that will be the worst part of the day. Guess I’ll meander down to the main common room of the hostel and check some lazy emails.

25 new emails! Hope nothing too important happened while I was sleeping!

Whats this? “Notice of Termination due to New California Law“ Sent from Amazon?

Hello,

Unfortunately, Governor Brown has signed into law the bill that we emailed you about earlier today. As a result of this, contracts with all California residents participating in the Amazon Associates Program are terminated effective today, June 29, 2011. Those California residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned before today will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of California. If you are not currently a resident of California, or if you are relocating to another state in the near future, you can manage the details of your Associates account here. And if you relocate to another state in the near future please contact us for reinstatement into the Amazon Associates Program.

To avoid confusion, we would like to clarify that this development will only impact our ability to offer the Associates Program to California residents and will not affect your ability to purchase from Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com.

We have enjoyed working with you and other California-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to California residents. As mentioned before, we are continuing to work on alternative ways to help California residents monetize their websites and we will be sure to contact you when these become available.

Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

Snap. I had just spent a lot of time and money implementing the Amazon feed, and Amazon was responsible for nearly $100 of revenue a day for me. I’ll also have to find out which other retailers will stop working with me because of Jerry Brown.

Leaving California is my ONLY option.

I’ll have to re-incorporate my California business in another state now. That is the only way to survive. Maybe Nevada? Delaware? A different country? I can’t call Amazon (and all the other affiliate programs that might nix me) and say “please please let me work with you!”. I can’t call Jerry Brown and say “please please please learn how the internet works!”.

I hope you are happy, California lawmakers. I was paying California income tax but now I will pay zero California income tax. I’m not sure how you intend to fix the budget when you are driving tax-paying businesses out of your state.

Would Meg Whitman Have Done It?

No! Former CEO of eBay? Are you serious? She understands how the internet works. Jerry Brown does not. It is totally not fair for these dinosaur lawmakers in California to pass a budget when they have no idea what it even means. Try to get each lawmaker to explain what this bill does exactly.

I’m In a Blind Rage.

I thought I had a lot of stuff to take care of when I returned to the states. Selling the RV, buying a car, finding a place, selling off my websites, developing the new version and optimizing my main site, closing out a few other projects, and somehow fixing my shoulder/wrist injuries. Now I have to move my entire business to another state. Change my address for everything: affiliate programs, taxes, payroll, banks, etc. All because Jerry Brown ignorantly decided that he didn’t want my tax dollars anymore.

Thanks, California. We had a good run.

Diversifying my Investments

On May 29, 2011, In Making Money Online, News, By Tommy

Here is a house our LLC currently has for sale.

As I have mentioned several times before, I’m in the process of reducing my website inventory down to 1. Not only will this help clear my mind, reduce my responsibilities, and free up some time, but it will also put a heap of cash in my pocket. I had been investing aggressively in websites over the last few years, spending a lot of money on acquisitions. I will get everything back and then some by the time I get everything sold.

Currently, the only other investments I have are my IRA (all in the stock market) and about a 1/4 ownership in an LLC that purchases foreclosures from the courthouse steps and flips them in ~90 days. Our first flip was a great success, and we are in the process of selling our second flip. I literally do zero work for this. We have partner running the whole show, he has his money invested alongside us, but also gets a bonus for doing all the work.

I’m currently trying to figure out where to place another sizable investment or two. I like the idea of start-ups, I like the idea of green energy/positive social change, and I like the idea of investing internationally.

Where to start? I don’t know. I Googled “Venture Capital” the other evening and read the Wikipedia article on it. Guess I need to do some more research in the field…

#####

Left Sweden on Monday and flew into Amsterdam, then took the train to Belgium on Thursday, and then the bus to Paris on Saturday. Will be here for a few days, and then head south towards Spain eventually.

Unloading More of my Inventory

On May 15, 2011, In Making Money Online, News, By Tommy

If you have ever seen “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan”, the name of the electronics store is actually called “Going Out Of Business”.

Being on the road for so long has forced me to re-work my business model. Previously, my plan was to acquire as many “set and forget” sites as possible, ideally creating a vast empire of sites that would generate me constant passive income. I acquired 50 or so sites, however my flagship site still accounts for nearly 80% of my revenue.

I’ve since realized that no website is truly 100% “Set and Forget”. Every site needs some level of attention, and I simply no longer have the capacity to babysit so many different web-properties. I spread myself too thin, and simply don’t have the time to properly manage each site.

Furthermore, my time is much better spent on my flagship site. I hired a guy to help me implement the Amazon product feed into my flagship site, and this project has increased site earnings about 8%. While this 8% doesn’t seem like much, it is more than twice what I make from my 2nd most profitable site. There is a clear advantage to leveraging my time by focusing on what is already making me the most money.

I’ve made the executive decision to reduce my inventory to one website. Way fewer responsibilities, and only a slight decrease in pay.

I will be selling each through Flippa. I’m flattered that several of my readers are interested in buying sites from me, but I can’t sell anything off Flippa as I could end up leaving a lot of money on the table.

Here are my current listings to give you an idea of what I’m getting rid of:

Dr-Gott.com: https://flippa.com/134142-4-Year-Old-Established-Money-Making-Zero-Work-NO-RESERVE

ClassicBodybuilders.com: https://flippa.com/134141-9-Year-Old-Established-TrafficRevenue-Zero-Hours-of-Work-NO-RESERVE

CashCreditAndLoans.com: https://flippa.com/134138-2-Year-Old-site-in-profitable-Finance-nich-needs-new-owner–NO-RESERVE

DietFoodDeliveryServices.com: https://flippa.com/133871-4-5-Year-Old-38-RevMo-NO-WORK—NO-RESERVE

HandModels.net: https://flippa.com/133838-HandModels-net-Established-Hand-Model-site—100-listings-Massive-Potential-NR

RealEstateListingReviews.com: https://flippa.com/133836-RealEstateListingReviews-com-Lots-of-Potential-in-Highly-Profitable-Niche-NR

Yes, I am starting each listing at $1 with No Reserve. This is because I am serious about letting each site go.

Made it to Singapore

On May 6, 2011, In News, By Tommy

Just a quick note to say that I made it safely to Singapore. Bali was incredible, and I can’t believe that I only spent 7 days there. Internet was scarce in Bali, but abundant here in Singapore, so I’m busy catching up with work.

I’m here for the weekend then head off to Thailand on Monday!

Here’s a picture from the Green School in Bali:

Made it to Bali

On May 1, 2011, In Destinations, News, By Tommy

Just a quick post to mention that I made it into Bali.

I mis-read my itinerary and was under the impression that my flight was direct from Melbourne to Denpasar. I was frantically running around the international terminal at Melbourne Airport wondering where my flight was. Eventually noticed the “Terminal: Domestic” on my itinerary, which failed to also mention my layover in Darwin. Oops.

Bali is hot, stuff is cheap. First night was spent in the most touristy part, and it was as if I hadn’t even left Australia at all. Thought it was pretty lame. Now I’m out in the area with mostly locals, and its way more fun. Heading further inland via motorbikes tomorrow with some fellow travelers.

Broadening the Scope of my Writing

On March 29, 2011, In News, By Tommy

View of a lighthouse on the Great Ocean Road

I’ve always enjoyed writing, but never had the patience or dedication to follow through with anything for more than a few months, until now. I was just going through the blog, and realized I’ve kept this up for over a year and have 51 published posts! I’ve made at least one post per month the entire time. (There was just one in October and basically informed everyone that I’m still alive.)

It was fun going through my old posts. There were a lot of details and feelings I had during my travels that I had completely forgotten about. Even if nobody else is reading my posts, its good to have a journal for personal reasons.

At the moment, pretty much all of my posts have to do with travel or living in an RV. I’m going to continue posting about travel, but I’m also going to start using this blog to share all sorts of other ideas, thoughts, ramblings, rants, questions, decisions, news, etc. that I have in other areas of life.

Just wanted to explain to my reader(s) (aka Mom and/or Dad) why you might start seeing some more off-topic posts.

PS- Still in Australia. I’ve been keen on taking more pictures, which I’d like to share, but the internet sucks here. I’ll have to wait until I have the time AND have a fast connection to get them all posted.

Tom's Adventure