Jonathan Fields walked away from what was supposed to be a great job as a hedge fund lawyer. Fast-forward a few years and many mistakes later, and he’s become a yoga instructor and fitness entrepreneur, and a prolific blogger and marketer. In fact, he had a hand in helping me successfully launch Remarkablogger about a year ago.
Here’s the story: Â in association with Freelance Switch, he ran something of a contest, where bloggers could have their blogs critiqued by Jonathan for marketing issues. This was a great opportunity, so I jumped on it (this is the part where you write a note to yourself about the importnace of “jumping on it”).
Jonathan’s critique was money in the bank. Without his fantastic advice, I wouldn’t have landed the early business I did. More importantly, though, was that I have re-issued that advice to everyone I help and so it has now gone on to make money for many other people.Â
Basically, Jonathan’s just always been a cool dude. And now he’s written what I think might very well be the underground (or even not-so-underground) bestseller of 2009: Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love.
This book is a smart-bomb that will go off in your heart. It will blow away the walls that confine you and help you win your own freedom. I can’t recommend it enough. Reading it changed how I understood things and what my options really were. I think it’ll do the same for you.
I interviewed Jonathan about Career Renegade. I asked him how it compared to other entrepreneurial blockbusters of late and what it really offers:
There are now more than a few well-known books that seem to be on a similar path as Career Renegade, such as Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind and Tim Ferriss’ The Four-Hour Work Week. What’s different about Career Renegade?
But, what makes this book so different is that it answers the question, “what if my passion isn’t in an area that normally generates enough money to live well in the world? What if I love to paint, write, teach or do something that most people say can never make enough money? Is it possible to turn a seemingly moneyless passion into a great living?”
The answer, by the way, is a resounding yes. And, Career Renegade is literally a 288 page manual, packed with hundreds of strategies, resources, tactics, links and case studies that walk you through the process of “monetizing” nearly any passion in detail.
It’s about taking back control of your career and rebuilding it around the life you want you live, even if those around you say it can’t be done. Newsflash…it can!
The most brilliant aspect of Career Renegade to me was the seven ways you list for finding a market for what you do and how you can meet the needs of that market profitably. What was the process you went through to discover these?
Along the way, often more through failure than success, you start to learn what works and what doesn’t. And, for me, I’ve always been obsessed with understanding the psychology of markets and persuasion. What makes someone buy? What are the triggers, the motivations, the fears and desires that lead someone to take action, to choose your product or service over another’s. It’s probably why I’m so drawn to copywriting, too.
Also, if I am going to commit myself to any business, I need to be passionate about the product or service, the mission and the people I work with and serve. Life’s just too short to do anything but immerse yourself in the process of coming alive and doing great work.
Through my own exploration and the chance to connect with so many other Career Renegades, I started to see a set of coherent guiding strategies or paths that, if followed, would greatly increase your chances of success in nearly any venture.Â
And, over time, these evolved into the renegade paths that I’ve tapped largely to guide my own efforts in deciding where to invest my time and how to launch and grow my ventures.
What really surprised me, though, was how much changes in technology in just the last 3 years have made it possible to turn nearly any passion into real money, while spending little or no money.Â
Things that would have required a huge investment in time money, overhead and risk just a few years ago can now be done in hours or days for next to nothing. So, I spend a lot of time detailing how to tap this technology in the book.
Career Renegade is much more than a book. What else is there to Career Renegade? And why should anyone involve themselves beyond reading the book?
There’s been a growing level of discontent in this country for years. People have given up decades of their lives on the promise of security and the chance to finally enjoy themselves when and if they ever retired. Problem is, over the last 40 years through 2007, gross disposable income rose 32%, but happiness flatlined. Â
We gave up more and more, sacrified so much passion and meaning in the name of “success.” And, now, by the millions, people are realizing they’ve become dead men and women working. Or, as Seth Godin calls them, “sheepwalkers.” I actually just published a giant post packed with research on this phenomenon over at CareerRenegade.com on Monday, so I won’t get into it too much here.
Then, you add to the undercurrent of stress and disillusionment what’s going on in the economy and the lid is literally being torn off the desire to finally just say, “screw it, I’ve lived by your rules long enough.”
There’s a classic line from the Bhagavad Gita that says, “far better to live your own life imperfectly than to live another’s perfectly.” Well, for decades, millions have been living someone else’s life…far less than perfectly. Giving up what meant most to them because someone else, somewhere along the way said they couldn’t have both passion and prosperity.
What a big, fat lie! Career Renegade, the book and the movement, are all about arming you with the knowledge, the tools and support needed to step up and rebuild your career around the life you want to live, the things you love to do and the people who make you smile, all the while earning enough to be really comfortable as you move through life.
If you are strongly self-directed, the book is pakced with so much information and strategies, it’ll literally keep you humming along for months or years. And, for those who could benefit from a bit more guidance and who are willing to act fast, I am actually giving scholarships to my 16 hour online Career Renegade Flight School, which is a companion training to the book.
You can find out more about Flight School at http://www.careerrenegade.com/book.
Why is now the time to become a Career Renegade? Shouldn’t we wait until the economy improves?Â
So, I took some time to step back, looked at what was happening in the city, made some major adjustments to my business plan, launched the business and served my market in a very different way. Seve years later, the business had become one of the most successful of its kind in the country, allowing me to sell it and pursue my next big adventure.
There will always be certain circumstances that are beyond our control, whether we succeed or fail is more about how we respond and adapt to those circumstances than the circumstances themsleves.
Plus, there is a shift in psychology that won’t be around for much longer that makes now a great time to join the Career Renegade revolution.Â
Promises have been broken on a scale that’s literally changed the career paradigm. People gave up their lives on the promise of a secure retirement that’s just evaporated. And, for many, the jobs and even the companies they’ve left simply don’t exist anymore.
But, truth is, for millions, the job you now have or just lost is one you’ve hated for years or decades. At any point, if you thought those closest to you would support a serious change in career to something that not only filled your bank account, but your sool, too, you would’ve jumped ship long ago.Â
Well, if that’s you, the economy just served up justification on a platter. Now, it’s your turn to remake the rules and more than ever before, judgment has been suspended.
The big question is–are you ready to come alive?
You talk a lot about blogging as a marketing tool in Career Renegade, which I think is fantastic (of course I would). What’s a piece of more advanced blog strategy you can offer to a blogger who’s ready to “go renegade?”
So, you should decide what type of authority you want to build. Do you want to be known as a thought leader, an aggregator, a conduit, a connector? Decide what will work best for you and build your personal brand around not only the content and abilities you want to be known for, but how you deliver your expertise and information.
Thanks, Jonathan!
Thanks so much for this wonderful opportunity to share a bit about being a Career Renegade with your community. It’s a wonderful gift and I am grateful.
If your readers are interested, they can download the book’s introduction for free at http://www.careerrenegade.com/book
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