4 hour work week book review / overview: part 3 of 4
June 13, 2007 by Cash
Automation
Achieving more by doing less depends on team work. Probably not the ‘team’ you have in mind though. T4HWW suggests outsourcing as many menial tasks as you can. Much as our own Greg has handed over cooking and laundry duties to outside vendors, so can you. Beyond that though, most of your non-essential computer work, (bill paying, research, gift ordering to name but three) can be handled by low cost ‘virtual assistants’ in India. Would it be cheaper to do it yourself? Sure.
It is absolutely necessary that you realize that you can always do something more cheaply yourself. This doesn’t mean you want to spend your time doing it. If you spend your time, worth $20-25 per hour, doing something that someone else will do for $10 per hour, it’s simply a poor use of resources. It is important to take baby steps toward paying others to do work for you. Few do it, which is another reason so few people have their ideal lifestyles.
The biggest piece of ‘Automation’ is generating automated income. The first thing Tim suggests is finding an affordably reachable niche market for a product. There are several ingenious methods for testing the market before the product is even produced. Tim has a lot of experience with Google AdWords and shares all his secrets.
The best thing about his suggestions is that they don’t require creativity. There are literally options for everyone; from an inventor with a brand new idea ready to explode into the marketplace, to co-branding an existing product with a new name and selling it direct to the consumer.
Tim gives suggestions (along with websites, phone numbers etc) for companies he’s had success with, from fulfillment houses, to call centers, and even manufacturers. His “Anatomy of Automation” virtual arcitecture diagram on page 185 is amazing in its simplicity, and ability to highlight the completely hands off approach it allows the owner of the business.
Several tips regarding attracting *good* customers (low maintenance, high propensity to buy) are invaluable as well, such as not accepting payments via Western Union, checks or money order and pricing your product in the $80-200 range.
There are plenty of real world examples, including his own supplement company, to show how well it works.
This is part of a series. See Part I, Part II and watch for Part IV tomorrow at noon.
I know someone with a Kitchen Aide Mixer… It’s real nice.
Another good candidate for automation is shit you just don’t want to do. Often when I’m asked about my laundry service i say, “I don’t want to do my laundry anymore.”
For some reason this shocks most people.
Somewhere on the path to adulthood, instead of gaining more privelages and confidence to decide what we will and will not do, we have accepted complaciancy in our own slavery.
Well put Greg. I’m anxious to try a virtual assistant out for a few tasks I’ve been lazily avoiding.
What happened to part IV?
Casey; thanks for noticing.
It should drop early next week, likely as the 4PM Monday post.
Note to self: Have virtual assistant finish posts with deadlines in the future.
Other note to self: Hire virtual assistant
[...] This article is part of a series. Be sure to check out Part I, Part II and Part III Filed under: Music & Media, Lifestyle | Author: Cash | [...]
[...] We’ve written a fair amount about the 4 hour work week, and now it’s time to put it to the test. Starting next week, we’re assembling a limited group of just 5 people to form an entrepreneurial club to see what we can do to live this life of luxory. [...]