Saturday, August 11, 2007

Portable Empire vs The 4-Hour Workweek

Since I'm getting asked this question so often, I'm going to go ahead and post the answer here.

What's the difference between the strategies revealed in "Your Portable Empire," and the system in Tim Ferriss' "The 4 Hour Workweek?"

I'd say the main difference is that "Your Portable Empire" lays out a clear and simple plan for creating an online business that supplies you with multiple streams of passive income. Creating digital information products, gathering a list of buyers, writing compelling sales copy- it's all in the book.

The 4-hour Workweek tells you a lot about how to simplify your life once you've got your business up and running, and has some great tips on travel and outsourcing. I think it's a little facile about how to actually create the income generating business.

Tim says to find a product and use adwords to sell it. This, in my experience, is tougher than it looks. I don't think the average person is going to be able to start and run a profitable business with the info in "The 4-Hour Workweek."

I think you should read both books.

The manuscript for "Your Portable Empire" was completed and delivered to my publisher long before I even heard of "The 4 hour Workweek," and a lot of the book was inspired or harvested from my blogs, which go back to 2004.

I had an advantage over Tim, in that I spent most of my life as a broke blues guitarist. I'm 52 years old, and I know a lot about how to fail. I made about $12,000 in 2003. I started my internet marketing business in 2004. By 2005, the business was grossing six figures, and it just keeps growing.

Tim's 29, a Princeton graduate and guest lecturer. He's a remarkably talented guy in many areas.

The reason I say that my years of failure is an advantage is that my experience is more like the average person's experience. I was a broke single parent, and I figured out how to make money from anywhere with just a laptop computer. My book will teach you how to do it, too.

Luckily, I started documenting this journey on my blog at the very beginning. So, when it came time to write a book to show others how I did it, and how they can do it, I was able to look back at the steps I took and show what I did right, and where I screwed up.

Anybody who reads my book and follows the simple steps in my system should be able to "at least" duplicate my success. Chances are, you'll go farther and faster than I did because you don't have to make the mistakes I made. The system works for housewives, corporate refugees, students- technically, you could be homeless and run your Portable Empire from a public library, if you had to.

So, if you want to make money from anywhere doing what you love with only a computer, read my book and take inspired action on what you learn.

Read Tim's book to learn how to outsource the things in your life you don't want to mess with, and how to have adventures in foreign countries.

1 comment:

funDiva Christy Hoffman said...

What is missing for me from 4HWW is practicality. Tim does a great job glossing over what Pat knows in detail about automating income online.

Personally, there is almost no one in my sphere of influence who is in a position to do Tim's "liberation" How do you convince your boss to let you work from home if you install plasma TVs? (Like my husband)

But almost everyone I know could choose to build a Portable Empire. (I am racking my brain to think of someone I know that does NOT own a computer - 3 acquaintances? Hello Public Library)

Start with Portable Empire. Get the easiest automatic income going first, then revisit 4HWW for what you can do now that you've got the income & freedom.

:)
fdc