In 2010 quite a few people made an impact in my life and influenced my decisions in many ways. The cool thing is that these people were individuals just like you and me. They didn’t have any super powers, or were any kind of celebrity status (okay maybe for us blogger they did).

The whole reason I’m talking about them is NOT to inspire you or sell you their beliefs, although it might anyway. What I really want to do is thank them for doing what they do, which is- Help others live the life they want and encourage them to take action. At least that’s what they’ve helped me do.

So who are they?

Chris Guillebeau - If I had to describe him in three words this would be it: a nice guy. Chris is the author of The Art of Non-Conformity; it’s a book now but it started out as a blog. I recommend you read them both, especially if you want to know more about how to live your life the way you want, not how others expect you to. In the Internet world I’d say he’s one of the few honest people talking about ways to leverage the power of the Internet. I first read “279 Days To Overnight Success,” which is a great FREE ebook he wrote, and I was sold on his ideas. I think Chris is a great example of someone getting paid to do what they love like traveling and writing. If you’re looking for a remarkable person to teach you how to dominate the world talk to him. Don’t be shy to visit his home chrisguillebeau.com or hit him up on Twitter @chrisguillebeau.

Corbett Barr – Believe it or not, he started 18 months ago and now he’s making a full-time income online and traveling the world with his wife. Watching Corbett grow his blog has been really cool because seeing someone start from the beginning and get to the top makes you a believer. ThinkTraffic.net, which is one of the site he built and became profitable only a few months after starting it, has been a big hit and it’s an example of how you can make it online. On his About Me page he really hit a note with me:

“I write this blog to help you real­ize you’re not crazy for want­ing more from life and your career.”

It really is cool to know that there’s people that have the same ideas as you. I guess it really is a small world after all. If you’re one of those crazy, or not so crazy, people that wants to build a business doing what you love doing, I suggest you stop by corbettbarr.com it might just change your life or teach you something new.

Pat Flynn – As I said earlier all these guys are just people like you and me. Pat was an architect and he loved it. But the economy hurt him like a lot of us in the 9-to-5 world, which probably was a good thing any…more about Pat. When I first started reading his blog I didn’t quite understand all this Internet Marketing stuff, but I found out this FREE info he was putting out was extremely valuable, while others were charging for it. I took that as a sign of honesty and ever since he’s been one of few that I trust. He’s quiet the expert when it comes to passive income, don’t hope to find any get rich quick schemes when you visit his blog. Don’t take my word for it just go to smartpassiveincome.com as see for yourself.

Glen Allsopp - Although he’s a really under the radar guy, he’s earned a lot of respect online. I can tell you about him, but it’s easier for you to read his bio. Glen puts out the best articles about online marketing, plain and simple. His site is called viperchill.com check it out if you can.

I want to thank you guys for all the work you put into 2010 and everything you share on your blogs. I’m sure it’s helped a lot of people besides me. I figured I would thank you all before the year is over.

Who are some of those people that have inspired you or influenced you to take action and do things you love and make a living while doing it?

I know there’s more people out there doing awesome things, like Tim Ferriss, Darren Rowse, Gary Vaynerchuk, and more. But I want to meet others that are closer to us, the beginners the ones that are just getting started with our online businesses. If you have someone share it in the comments and thank them if you will.

If I confuse you with this post—my bad. This post will have a little bit of everything. I’ve been away for a while I know, but it’s absolutely your fault guys. Why do I blame you? Well… I’ve been working on a little project for all you guys (more on that later). I think you’ll like it and forgive me for disappearing for so long…

…Before I go back to work I just wanted to keep you posted on what I’ve been up to and give you a little something-something.

So what have I been doing? I’ve been looking at what I do and what I want to do in the future. I’ve been reading a lot of my favorite blogs a lot. But mostly working on my first e-book (my little project), it’s been a really exciting experience. Due to it’s something that I’ve wanted to do, but really never put the time, effort or thought into it.

I don’t know why but I’m going to assume there’s a lot of people that have been in the same situation as me, so I figured why not give you an idea of what I’ve gone through in the process of producing the 10,000 words I’ve put on paper so far.

But before we move on…

What’s an E-Book for those who don’t know?

If you ask Wikipedia this is what you get:

“An electronic book (also e-book, ebook, digital book) is a text- and image-based publication in digital form produced on, published by, and readable on computers or other digital devices.”

But this is not just an e-book. This is my story and what I’ve done so far and a little-tiny-bit more than that. It’s my own personal way of saying and writing about a particular topic. It’s a lot of hours of work, more like days and sleepless nights. OKAY, OKAY no need to exaggerate. Sorry I get out of hand sometimes. But in all truth I have put some work into this tiny little project.

Why am I writing it?

I’m not writing it because everyone on the web says “you need to give something, to get peoples’ emails—so I can get RICH” that’s not the type of person I am. The biggest reason I did it was because I got some friends that were interested in the topic and I thought, hmmm how could I explain to all these people what they’re asking me. Oh I know, let’s write it down on a piece of paper and make copies and mail it to them. Ah NO! that would take forever. Aha! I’m going to write an e-book and that way everyone can read it on the web too. Cool that’s exactly what I am going to do. (BTW, that’s the conversation I had with ME)

Shit that happens when writing an e-book

Man, where do I start? I’ll tell you something about me, I’m restless. I don’t even know how I can sit down and write a paragraph, let alone 1,000 words per day. What’s the secret?  Having a big enough WHY, I mean big-big-big WHY. Anyone can write an e-book, the how is not a problem. You just read How to Write a Good eBook – You Know, the Kind that Doesn’t Suck and you do it. But if there’s not a big enough reason WHY you’re doing it, it’s not going to come thru.

• You won’t feel like doing it—damn flipping lizard brain!
• Nothing will come to you when you sit down to write
• Your mom will call you and ask you for a favor (okay, maybe it will happen to you)
• You’ll think, ah!!! no one will read my stuff
• The computer will crash
• You’ll forget to save that last 1,000 words you wrote

Moral of the story—shit will happen!

Knowing all these things gets rid of all your fears if you’re going to write one too. When it’s all set and done I know it’s my will to finish this e-book no matter what happens in between. Like someone once told me “its life” what can you do. Here’s the things I’ve done to swerve around the STUFF that happens:

• Woke up early in the morning to work on it (5:45 a.m.)
• Went to bed after I’ve actually written 1,000 minimum
• Followed a schedule everyday
• Gave myself a break on the weekend
• The thought that I need to ship soon

Just those five things have helped me be more productive when writing it especially the last one. Don’t let “the resistance” as Seth Godin calls it stop you from doing what needs to be done. Just start something, even if it starts with “once upon a time” or at least entire paragraphs, then you’ve started.

It took me a long time to put this together, but here I am finally telling you about it. Hopefully so I can feel pressure of finishing, because if I don’t I’ll look like an ASS and nobody likes looking like that.

You’ve been talking about this e-book, but what is it about?

Basically it’s a manifesto, a guide, and a little more. I think it will help a ton of people understand this “online thing” as I call it. So many people are confused about it, and so many ASS****** are trying to get peoples’ money by promising shit that isn’t true. The point of this is to help people with no idea of how people make money on the web. I say it how it is, and I don’t hide anything. It’s basically my journey to location independence plus how to DIY.

Hope that explains why I’ve been missing for so long. I’m gonna be more active for the next few weeks that’s for sure. Mostly sharing work great people on the web are doing. Until the next time… take care and keep an eye open for what’s coming.