Welcome to show 52 of the BRAND New You show. On today’s show, it is my pleasure to welcome Danny Flood co-founder of Open World, the world’s #1 resource for active lifestyle creators.
Danny is an author, a podcaster, and location-independent entrepreneur originally from San Diego, California.
He is the founder of Open World magazine and the Open World podcast, where he interviews the world’s most exciting adventurers and location-independent entrepreneurs.
Danny has traveled to over 30 countries on four continents and during his travels, He has crossed half of Southeast Asia on a motorcycle.
He’s rafted down the Amazon and climbed the tallest mountains of South America. He’s rappelled off waterfalls in the jungle and sailed across the South China Sea.
He’s even tangoed in Buenos Aires and fought Thai boxing matches in Bangkok.
Danny believes that we should live life on our own terms without the outside pressure from others.
To this end, his book, “Buy your own Island” is a playbook designed to help individuals find the love, adventure, passion and purpose they seek.
Help me welcome Danny Flood to the brand new you show.
BUY YOUR OWN ISLAND – THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO BREAKING FREE AND MAKING YOUR DREAMS A REALITY
Buy your own Island is not a book on how to buy an island. Rather, it’s a highly actionable and motivational book which I consider to be a great mix of two of my favorite books, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and The 4-hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.
This book provides the reader with an MBA in location independent lifestyle.
During our discussion, Danny Flood dispels the notion that location-independence is just for “certain types” of individuals. It really can be something we all enjoy if we have the right mindset.
Because he has “been there done that” Danny understands more than anyone the games your mind will play with you to keep you in your comfort zone.
Danny spends a good deal of time in the first section of the book walking the reader through exercises to help the reader overcome their own fears and self-doubt.
ALIBI-ITIS
We all suffer from an affliction known as alibi-itis, our secret excuses that keep us from getting what we want from life. These excuses act to postpone action and defer the things we really want out into the future.
To overcome alibi-itis help Danny Flood recommends taking small steps out of your comfort zone by “leaning in” to the edge of your comfort zone.
This allows you to try something new without making a plunge and leaving your comfort zone behind altogether. This will also help you build up your confidence.
To help you Lean In, Danny suggests taking the following four steps.
1 – Break goal into component parts
2 – Determine specific actions you can take, today, tomorrow, etc for each of your component parts.
3 – Determine the cost.
4 – Determine the investment in time.
The problem most of us face when setting goals for yourself is they are abstract with no timeline. You need to believe the goal is possible and set your goals with intention.
OTHER KEYS TO OVERCOME ALIBI-ITIS
1 – Break free of your current environment, routine.
Too often we get into a routine that keeps us from pushing our comfort zone. In some cases, the best way to push past this will be by separating yourself physically from your routine.
2 – Sometimes you need to replace your friends.
I’ve mentioned this before but if your current friends think and act in a mediocre fashion while you are focused on your dreams, your friends will impact your thinking and mindset.
You have to ask yourself, can you current friends help you achieve your goals? If the answer is no, Danny Flood recommends surrounding yourself with like-minded people in a mastermind group.
Mastermind groups will hold you accountable to your dreams and goals. Remember you broke down your goals into specific and actionable steps, now use your mastermind to help hold you accountable.
3 – Turn negatives into positives.
Danny suggests running events through a negative, neutral or positive filter. This is a slight mindset change for many but will have a huge impact on most.
HACK UPWORK – HOW TO MAKE REAL MONEY AS A FREELANCER
In Hack UpWork Danny Flood takes all of his experiences using UpWork, an online staffing website for freelancers and clients developed to connect companies with talent, and boils them down into an actionable strategy you can follow to make the most of the system for freelance work.
Companies post project based jobs and registered freelancers in areas such as web development, writers, sales, marketing and accountants review the job postings and bid on the ones they are interested in performing.
At a high level, all that is required to get started using Upwork is to set up a profile and starting bidding on open jobs.
Danny Flood recommends against this “strategy”. Upwork uses an Amazon-like search function that floats the higher rated freelancers to the top of every job posting.
This means if you start “cold” you’ll be competing against higher rated individuals who may already have a great portfolio.
BECOME AN UPWORK SUPERSTAR
Danny recommends starting out your Upwork “career” by positioning yourself as a superstar by following the steps outlined here.
1 – Hire you current clients through Upwork.
Have your current clients use Upwork to hire you. This will give you the initial traction you need by having your current clients pay for and rate your services through Upwork.
Additionally, you can hire friends who may need your services through Upwork as well. This will help you build up a base of reviews which will help your profile being to rank organically.
2 – Use Facebook or other online groups to find clients.
Danny offered special pricing initially to members of Facebook groups looking for freelancing solutions. His only request to them was to hire him through Upwork.
Hiring through and getting early favorable ratings with Upwork will get you started but you still need to build out an amazing portfolio. To do this, you need to raise your perceived value.
BUILDING YOUR PORTFOLIO
Ideally in order to make aside like Upwork, work for you, you need high ratings and high perceived value. To boost your perceived value Danny Flood recommends the following couple of steps.
1 – Set high rates for your services
This may sound counter-intuitive but by setting your rates higher than other freelancers, potential clients will automatically assume your services are better or higher in quality.
2 – Conduct Brand Studies
I love this idea and I think it’s great for people just getting started out. This is also the case for those who have been at it for a while but may have only worked with smaller companies that most people have never heard about.
You can still use past clients in a case study but to boost your perceived value you can conduct a brand study with a higher profile brand in order to demonstrate your skills and abilities.
Conducting a brand study requires the following actions.
1 – Select a multinational brand
Selecting a high-profile multinational brand like Apple, Nike or Mint.com for your brand study, will have the benefit of piggybacking on the brand’s notoriety.
This will boost your portfolio and will help you reap the benefits of working with a large brand by association.
2 – Draft a creative brief
Once you’ve selected your brand, you need to put together a creative brief explaining what you would change with the brand if you were responsible for managing its brand.
3 – Execute the work
Take your creative brief and make it happen. Build a mock-up of your suggested changes with a side-by-side comparison to the original. Highlight your reasoning behind the changes and how they help the brand achieve its goals.
Brand studies will help potential clients “see” the work you’ve done for this multinational brand and they will have a better understanding of the work you are capable of doing and what you could do for them.
Brand studies provide social proof. Here is the Mint.com example we discuss during the podcast. Notice this person has included his brand study with his overall portfolio of work.
OPEN WORLD MAG AND PODCAST
Open World is the name of Danny’s blog and podcast. For both the podcast and the blog, Danny talks to inspiring people who do amazing things.
While the feats they achieve are amazing, Danny really wants to understand the psyche behind their motivations and what drives them to achieve their goals.
If you are seeking inspiration, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything better.
Danny is currently working on turning his blog and podcast into a digital magazine. n true digital nomad fashion he is starting this venture via the crowdsourcing site Indiegogo.
DANNY FLOOD WRAP
The best way to get in touch with Danny is via the following links.
Website: openworldmag.com
Podcast: OpenWorld Podcast Series
Twitter: @dandanflood
Udemy video course – Sleep Hacking Masterclass
Amazon author page: Danny Flood
Free audio book giveaway: Buy Your Own Island
Danny leaves us with these final thoughts:
“If there is something you really want to do, you will also need really compelling reasons to do them. If you can find your compelling reason or your vision, they will serve to prop up your goals and make them much more achievable.”
