Project Manager Helps Cubicle Workers See the World

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

Just a couple days ago, we had an episode, I believe it was number 522, about the art of wanderlust. That episode featured a couple who wanted to quit their jobs and travel. After they came home from, I think it was a year-long trip or at least close to it, they started a small business selling inspirational items. Well, today's story is about a related yet distinct group of people called "remote workers". Remote workers are not typically self-employed, they don't necessarily want to be, they're not trying to quit their jobs.

Instead, they are people who have jobs that allow them to do their work from anywhere. They take advantage of this benefit by going out to see the world and living in different places for a few months at a time. There's a big group of people from lots of different places doing this already and an even larger group of people that like this idea but don't know how to do it. And when I say don't know how to do it, I don't just mean the part about how do I get my boss to let me not show up for work, I mean the part about moving abroad for temporary stints. What do you do about visas, vaccinations, housing, safety, language, and of course, the biggest concern of all, Wi-Fi. As you'll hear in this story,

there are companies and individuals that have created solutions to these problems, but it's a big market. Lots of people out there. So this featured side hustler finds a way to break into that market for herself and ends up helping a lot of people interested in making the leap to remote work contracts. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. Stay tuned to hear exactly how she makes it work.

For project manager, Libria Jones, it was a desire to travel the world that brought her to side hustling. Before Libria's daughter started high school, she wanted her to experience a different kind of education, the kind that could only be gained by immersing yourself in the peoples and cultures of distant lands. To do this, Libria convinced her boss to allow her to work remotely. Then she began looking for opportunities to travel and work at the same time. She'd heard about companies that facilitated experiences, providing accommodation in workspaces, giving remote workers the chance to go all over the world. But as she researched

these companies, she found a common theme. She wasn't allowed to bring her daughter with her. Unable to find a package that worked for her, Libria took her daughter traveling on a self-planned trip for nearly a year. She felt she couldn't be the only remote worker who wanted to share the experience with their family. So, in the spirit of so many of our case studies, Libria came up with a solution to her problem and created an experience that would make this kind of travel more accessible. She called it "wandrous life" and it was built around

the concept of having a life you don't need to take a vacation from. The simplest way to describe wondrous life is that people trade their at-home living costs, like monthly rent and bills, for one monthly payment to the wondrous life service. For this monthly payment, Libria will find your accommodation, give you access to a co-working space, arrange transport and travel and organize unique experiences each month for you to take part in. She also provides a high level of support to the workers. Each location has a community manager to take care of your trip and even mastermind groups if you need help with specific problems. Depending

on the details of these trips, the price will vary. Travelers can choose packages from one month, three months, six months, nine months and twelve months. If you wanted to take a one-month trip to Southeast Asia, for example, that could cost you around $2,000. To test her idea and get real-time feedback from her target audience, Libria decided to create a one-off excursion. She chose the location of Chiang Mai, Thailand, and aimed to get 50 people to spend time there over Thanksgiving. It was a big goal, but she posted

in travel and remote work Facebook groups and quickly built a list of people to attend. That excursion allowed her to get a feel for booking accommodations, planning trips for larger numbers of people, and seeing how remote workers enjoyed spending their time on the road. It influenced how she planned and approached the future trips. Building this business is all about logistics. She has to ensure the locations are safe, but also active and exciting. In different cities, Libria works with on-the-ground consultants,

both locals and expats, to help refine locations and assess a spot without having to fly all over the world. She hoped to make a profit right away, but she found there were lots of costs she didn't account for. Extras like value-added tax or VAT or problems with landlords have run up extra bills. It was a steep learning curve in year one, but Libria feels like she's finally on track to make real money. Next year's trips, which begin in September 2018, are on track to generate just under $200,000. After figuring some things out, she's now able to set prices that allow her

to cover unexpected costs and still make a profit, all without making the trips unaffordable. To find the remote workers who are interested in her products, she's focused on Twitter and blogging platforms like Medium. The content she posts there often leads back to a free, become location-independent course on the Wondrous Life website. When people sign up for that, they're also added to Libria's mailing list. For now, she's focused on growing the brand and creating more one-month experiences for travelers to test new locations. She's

also expanding into speaking and looking to promote the idea that you don't need to work from a cubicle to be successful. So if you like the idea of working remotely without quitting your job, maybe you should check out that Wondrous Life. So in the introduction, I mentioned a recent episode number 522 about a brand that a couple was starting called "The Art of Wanderlust." I also mentioned that the market that today's featured side hustler, Libria, is focusing on is quite different. Or let's say it's similar in some ways, but also distinct. If you want to provide people a product or a service, especially something that has a relatively high cost, especially something that is very personal and involves a major decision, like going to Thailand for a month or perhaps even making a longer commitment, you really need to understand the mindset of your customers. You need to know very specifically what their needs are. Like, what is their

greatest problem? So if we think about these two different groups, remote workers value security and stability more than self-employed nomads. So you've got people that just want to travel around the world with a backpack, start a little business, use that business to support themselves. That's one group of people. Then you've got this other group of people that wants to maintain the ties to their job. They need that steady paycheck

and they're willing to embrace adventure. They want to go out and see the world have different experiences, but not at the expense or the risk of losing their job. Okay. So if you think about all the different needs that each group has, like I said, there's some overlap, but there's also a lot of distinction. The group consisting of self-employed nomads might want to know a lot more about growing their business or how to make their business more efficient or more sustainable or less reliant on them. They might not care as much

about the co-working space. Like it could still be important to them. It could be a fun thing, but it might not be critical. Whereas the remote workers are like, "No, I absolutely need at this particular time. I need to make sure that I am online. I need to make sure

that I have a good place where I can make a quiet phone call." That is basically non-negotiable because to convince my boss to be able to work remotely, I had to commit to making sure that I could still do my job and still be available at the times I was needed. Still produce all the deliverables that I'm responsible for. The key point here is it's not only what you actually provide the people in each group, it's how you speak to them. In fact, that might even be more important. So whatever it is that you are trying to create, make sure you have your customer's mindset front and center. Think about their core needs. Think about their problems. Think about what

they really want to do and think about what they're afraid of. Unless you are selling a commodity, which you probably shouldn't be doing anyway, the answers to those questions will be insightful to you. If you pay attention, it will give you information that's helpful as you build your side hustle, as you start your second or third or fifth source of income. As the host of Side Hustle School, that is my hope for you. I hope you enjoy the show, but I hope it also makes you think. Maybe it teaches you something. Maybe it helps you

apply this in some way to your life. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes are online at sidehustleschool.com/525. That is for episode 525. We've got the weekly recap coming up tomorrow and then a whole new set of stories all next week. Thank you

for joining me. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.