Muse creations aplenty!

Well Mr Smith and I have been brainstorming muse creations. These are what Tim Ferriss argues is the tool by which you can fund your lifestyle redesign.

I have started work on one muse in the coffee industry. Once the site is up and running, I will reveal what it involves. After briefing my designer via Elance http://www.elance.com/, she has come back with some fantastic logo concepts and we have almost chosen the final version. Her Elance profile is under ohSnap. The next step will be briefing in the website which I will also do via Elance or Guru.

Mr Smith and I have also come up with another idea around house-sitting. We have had frustrations with trying to find suitable places to house sit and have resorted to friends. This has made us realise there is a gap in the market which we can fill. I have again briefed the same designer (she is highly creative, quick and efficient) and looking forward to seeing her concepts.

Mr Smith is also using her for his muse logo which has just been finalised!

The ultimate aim by the end of this year is to have 3 online businesses up and running so that we can have multiple streams of income and apply E Myth principles http://www.emyth.com/ to them to ensure we have an efficient organisation that frees up time for us to focus on fulfilling our lifestyle dreamlines! E Myth by Michael Gerber is a fantastic how to book for small businesses to run your business more efficiently by working on your business rather than in your business!

Not only are we going to have more flexible income streams but also I'm learning how to set up a business from scratch and adopting skills along the way i.e. web design briefing

Lots of fun to be had!

A muse has been born!

Well after a relaxing Australia Day weekend down south in Gerringong (and recovering after my rather ugly bout of Gastro), we came back energised and ready to start the muse creation. As mentioned in previous posts, a muse is the tool by which you create a passive income or close enough to it. This is one of the key methods Tim Ferriss uses to work his '4 hour week', travel the world and still have an income.

To start off the muse creation process, today I (Mrs Smith) registered a domain name at http://www.crazydomains.com.au/ for $24 for 2 years, which is one of the cheapest ones I've found. I used to go through ttp://www.melbourneit.com.au but they now seem a little expensive. I have also signed up for an email package with 20 accounts for $2 a month also at CrazyDomains (again very good value for money!).

My next mission is to outsource the website and logo design. I have posted a job description on both http://www.guru.com/ and http://www.elance.com/ which are both global freelancing sites where freelancers bid for your work from web/graphic design, transcribing to report writing!

Once we have decided on the best supplier we will put together a creative brief and write some website copy. We then have to decide on a hosting package and ensure that we can easily update the website from anywhere!

Watch this space!

So, what is the 4-hour work week?

Taken from Vive Magazine Issue Oct/Nov 2008

"We're in the middle of a lifestyle revolution. Leading the charge is the New Rich (a modern derivative of nouveau riche) a group of people who have amassed independent wealth within their own generations. Most commonly, this group comprises of entrepreneurs who have found their fortunes on the internet's new frontier. With technology on their side they have effectively put lifestyle and work methodologies under the spotlight - and they are keen to spread the word. Tim Ferriss's thought provoking The 4-Hour Work Week discusses the concept of Lifestyle Design, questioning society's long held expectation that chronologically, work comes first, followed by retirement."

This is our story of bringing the 4 Hour Work Week to reality downunder!