Location Independent Professionals » General News & Updates

Meet the New Editor of the Blog Team: Marion Harrington, Who is Transforming a Life Challenge into a Viable Virtual Business

Marion Harrington — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:00:21 +0000

A few weeks ago on this blog, Jenn wrote that she was born independent. Maybe it’s in my genes too…I was the result of activity on a cruise ship en route to Sydney, Australia after Her Majesty’s Royal Navy posted my Father there for a three year tour of duty. My family is full of globetrotters and I’m currently residing in Spain but planning to move to a new home base in the next few months.

Apart from learning how to talk, read and write – subjects in which apparently I was advanced for my age (and I haven’t shut up ever since!) – in all other things I was labelled a “late bloomer”…

It is true to say that it has taken me half a lifetime to figure out what gives me true fulfillment and satisfaction but now, armed with the tools and resources, I’m catching up fast and diving head first into a life of location independence, enabled by my life long passion for music.

Take-away #1: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been” – TS Elliot

My first forays into exploring the concept of “live anywhere, work anywhere” reminded me of Sharon’s story in that I only discovered such a lifestyle existed by chance, thanks to the mysterious workings of the Google search engine.

Escape from Corporate Cubicle Nation

Having worked for myself since 1996, I was lured back into cubicle nation at the back end of 2007, merging my company with a then large pan-European concern. Offered an impressive salary with a title to match, I honestly thought that I had finally “made it”.

My mind and body survived four months in what was for me a totally alien environment, before waving the white flag and saying “Enough!”. I turned to personal development material to aid my recovery, explore what I really wanted, clearly define my purpose and make firm plans in constructing a future.

Classical music is most definitely in my genes – the UK family tree has been traced all the way back to 1300 and most were musicians. It slowly dawned on me, that despite flunking out of the Royal College of Music in London, a year before graduating, nothing else would tick all the boxes.

At the time, all I had to aid me in that quest was an old, cranky clarinet, my experience in business and an entrepreneurial mindset. Having not played a notes for over two decades, I started playing the clarinet again from scratch with only one goal – to relaunch my career by publishing an album.

Take Away #2: It is better to try and possibly fail than to be successful in doing nothing

I Surfed Into Location Independence by Accident

During the course of my continuing personal development research, I happened to chance upon Lea and Jonathan. My interest was piqued, I signed up for regular emails and started to devour every article that was published.

“Time out” at any time during a classical musician’s career isn’t usually considered an option unless you have already been added to the “A-List”. As a result, whilst I had always yearned to travel extensively, I was unable to think beyond the ingrained limited belief that there was an alternative to “going to work” let alone consider that sort of lifestyle when applied to the music profession.

The Location Independent site showed me that a nomadic existence was possible and could be applied to any area of expertise.

Armed with a light virtual back-pack that contained only my instruments, a laptop and what little savings I had as a financial cushion, I strapped on a crystal clear vision of exactly what I wanted, a loose plan of action and prepared for the performance of my life. With failure not being an option, I set off on my own location independent journey, not really knowing what I was doing!

Take Away #3: Don’t let a lack of resources or knowledge prevent you from pursuing your dreams

The Reluctant Writer

Recognising that I would benefit from some coaching to plug gaps in my Internet marketing knowledge, I signed up for Lea’s Location Independent Round Table coaching. When I subscribed for the monthly membership, I had no idea how quickly my modest investment would pay off.

Over the course of a couple of weeks, prodded, poked and cajoled by other members of the group, I found myself agreeing to write the Location Independent Guide to Tax and Finance on the Road (US Edition) and providing the more personalised international tax & finance consultation services.

My brief tango back into the uniformed world of men in suits & high finance had been so horrendous, I had vowed never to touch the subject again but once I got started, I found that I was still really passionate about the work when I could operate on my own terms. The launch was really exciting – more so when the book started selling and I picked up my first clients!

Take Away #4: Don’t overlook opportunities which may not figure in your original business plan

The Small Acorns Take Root

My music blog stats continue to rise at a rapid rate with regularly weekly postings and the development of my presence in social media. Building up the the trust element as I go, I am cultivating a growing audience to whom I can market new product and services in the near future.

Take Away #5: Create awareness, both of you and your brand before launching anything into the marketplace.

A portfolio web site with a twist was launched at the beginning of June this year, together with my first album of classical clarinet music (you can hear samples of my music on the site). The album is selling and I’ve already picked up a couple of gigs later in the year.

I was offered the job of Location Independent blog editor back in the Spring which I accepted – another bolt from the blue – and I love it! It’s an amazing feeling being able to contribute to something that is much bigger than you.

The hardest decision I have to take each day is how to spend the hours as I’m greedy and want to wear all my hats at the same time.

Considering I knew little about the internet before I joined the Round Table, I’m stunned by the developments in such a short space of time. I still don’t have all the answers but the pending move from Spain to a new base in either France or the UK is a indication that I’m well on the way.

If you still think you can’t make a viable location independent business in your niche, think laterally! If I can do it, so can you!

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Meet New Member of the Blog Team: Travis King, Who Shocked Himself When He Announced His Location Independent Lifestyle!

Travis King — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:00:48 +0000

I’d like to think of myself as the sort of the person that grabs opportunity by the throat. The type that doesn’t enter a room but kicks down the door and combat barrel rolls inside.

The reality is – I’m not like that in the least!

When I perceive opportunities I take tiny steps like a man slowly entering a freezing lake and trying not to disturb his sensitive bits. Strangely however, when the ultimate decision to freelance came my way, there was a whole lot more combat rolling and whole lot less screaming like a baby.

Opening My Big Mouth

I’d been working in the retail sector for some 13 years and while I loved the people I worked with, some customer attitudes were beginning to suck the will to live out of me and I was on the fast track to becoming a bitter person. So, although I’d been slowly working on my freelance career “on the side”, I came to realize that the time to take the plunge was quickly approaching.

The push came during a staff meeting when I found out a good friend in my department was going to be leaving to pursue his own freelance career. It came as a complete surprise and I was so shocked that I blurted out that I too was going to be going to going solo…that’s right…and I was going to be doing in it in 6 months!

The door had been kicked down but it felt like I had entered the room with less of a combat roll and more of an awkward face plant.

How I Became an Accidental Writer

Whilst I was really happy that I had finally made the decision, I wasn’t really ready to become a freelancer full time. I did have a decent client base already built up but it was going to be tight if I didn’t get up to speed quickly.

My solution to plugging this gap was to scour the Internet for any resources I could find about becoming a freelancer. That’s when I came across FreelanceSwitch and my world changed.

Up to this point I didn’t really have much of a direction in my business. In fact, I wasn’t even familiar with the term ‘freelancing’ until I found FreelanceSwitch. I’d told people that I was going to be self employed since I thought freelancing was something that only Spider-Man did.

The more I learnt about becoming a successful freelancer, the greater the appeal to me.

Although I typically plan out my moves carefully, from time to time (and when there is relatively low risk), I tend to rush into things. No big surprise then, when I found myself asking FreelanceSwitch if they would like to hire me as a technology writer

And I Hated Writing!

I was never a big fan of writing during school. In fact, I loathed grammar as much as I did maths. When I was dating my wife (and email was still a couple of years away) I used to write her a lot of letters until one day she told me that if I was going to continue to call her beautiful, I better learn to spell it right.

As you can imagine, when I told my wife that I was going to become a writer, she was stunned. The shock compounded when she found out that FreelanceSwitch wanted to bring me on board and I really didn’t have a scrap of writing to show them. Perhaps she thought I was nuts? Maybe she was right, but I was ready to become an “accidental writer”.

Case Closed

It didn’t take me long as a writer to realize that while grammar and spelling are certainly important skills to have, being readable is even more important.

Despite struggling with my dangling participles, I found that if you talked to people in an open and interesting manner, they actually wanted to read what you had to say.

So – while I never planned on becoming a freelance writer, writing is essentially what kick started my live anywhere, work anywhere career.

How about you falling face first into the water and to heck with your sensitive bits?

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Interview With A Location Independent Writer In Barbados

Meet New Member of the Blog Team: Sharon Hurley Hall, Who Stumbled on Her Road to Location Independence Almost by Accident!

Sharon Hurley Hall — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:00:32 +0000

When I started teaching at university in 2000, I had no idea that I’d just taken my first steps towards a location independent lifestyle. As a child, I’d been a nomad – or rather my parents had. By the time I was 12, I’d already lived in four countries and visited several others.

Growing up, travel was taken for granted in our house. There were always people dropping in speaking different languages and smelling of exotic spices and scents which made me long to visit those countries.

As I got older, I started to do just that, making forays to different countries in the Caribbean, South America and to different US States – New York and Miami, but who’s counting?

The year I turned 21, I lived in France and travelled all over Europe, experiencing the excitement and wonder of visiting new places and learning about new cultures. It was magical – most of the time, anyway!

First Steps Towards a Live Anywhere, Work Anywhere Lifestyle

Fast forward several years and I was back in the UK and had just started working as a lecturer. Unlike any of the positions I’d held before, this was a job where it was OK to turn up just in time for your lecture, to pop out for a coffee, to sit and talk to students and colleagues (as long as you got your marking done in the end) and to work from home.

Epiphany number 1 – When I worked from home, I found that I was more efficient, accomplishing in a couple of hours what would have taken me all day at the office. And the time I freed up by doing that was mine, all mine.

Work from home – there had never been three more beautiful words in the English language – and they opened up a range of possibilities for the rest of my life, although it would still be a while before I took the next step…

A Second Revelation

I’d spent my teenage years in the Caribbean and had always had a hankering to move back there – a vision which my husband shared once he’d been introduced to the region. But I knew that I did not want to work in an office and deal with 1950s style bureaucracy and formality.

While I was puzzling that out, several things happened: we found a piece of land, I had a baby and started working part-time.

Epiphany number 2 – once I was working only two days a week, I had a much better quality of life and work-life balance. I could spend most of the week with my family, while doing enough to bring in some pennies for the rest of it.

What a revelation! I began to think hard and in 2005, I went freelance while still in the UK. That gave me the chance to build up a writing business, while still taking on part-time teaching work. By the time we made our move to the Caribbean in 2006, it was obvious that working remotely was not only possible, but would eventually be lucrative.

Location Independence – My Version

So that’s my story. I’ve been living in the Caribbean for the past four years. For me location independence doesn’t mean I have to move about, only that I can. Since I don’t choose to homeschool, I spend most of the year in a beautiful tropical paradise, but I often travel either for family holidays or client work. Last year, I ran my writing business from Chicago, Mexico, London, Bahrain and Florida – it was a great year!

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