I love fast cars. Enter the Audi R8 supercar. OMFG.
I get a massive amount of e-mail — almost 300 per hour at one point during major media — which is why I outsourced my inbox in the first place to virtual assistants.
Sometimes, though, comes a snort-worthy e-mail — a zinger exciting enough to make me choke and spurt morning coffee out of my nose like a fire-breathing dragon (not recommended).
Here is one of them, received last week, from James Tate of Traction magazine:
“I’ve got a gray six-speed Audi R8 booked from the 28th through the 4th of Feb. and can do any of those dates. Any chance you’ll be in town?”
…
The Audi R8 – The supercar the US market is still waiting for.
Let me keep this simple. I’m not a car person and don’t expect you to be. I just don’t care about most cars. BUT, there are a few cars that put me in an odd state of 200+ mph-induced euphoria. I am a racer at heart.
James’ e-mail had good timing, as I had just read a review of the R8 as the best Audi ever built.
More convincing still, the reviewer reported that it was the first car of the dozens he’d reviewed to make his wife and all the women who rode in it drool like blubbering fan boys. WTF was going on? That’s not supposed to happen.
It would be like a bunch of men crying while watching Whale Rider. [Postscript: OK, I did, but only the scene where she’s reciting the story for her grandfather… Man, that’s a rough one.]
This was the car I wanted to drive.
Due to massive pre-orders and other factors, the Audi R8 supercar isn’t even available in the US until April or summer of 2008. Its 420 HP of power is transferred to all-wheel drive and its design, based on the Lamborghini Gallardo, allows you to drift and do all manner of things impossible in normal street cars.
“So let me get this straight,” I wrote. “I get to drive the machine at faster than 25mph?”
Here’s the sequence, leaving out the parts that would get me a nice sit down with fine gents in uniform…
Magnetic suspension and introduction of the R8.
First acceleration test.
Second acceleration test. Smoother than butter at triple digits within a 1/4 mile — I can only assume, of course 🙂
For more shots of the test day, check out Flickr.
I suspect this will not be the last time you see me in an R8.
If you like speed and the feeling of commanding the road (not to mention the ego-driven but still fun experience of having EVERYONE gawk at the car), I recommend you take this one-of-a-kind dream machine for spin.
Just put yourself on the waiting list and be forewarned… mixing testosterone with this Audi could be hazardous to your bank account.
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Odds and Ends: I Need Your Help
I want to revamp and redesign this blog beginning next week.
What changes/improvements should I make? Please let me know in the comments! Whether features, new layout, better design, plug-ins, regular features, guest posters, or content… I want your suggestions! This blog is for you, so please tell me what changes to make.
What do you like most and what do you dislike most?
Related links:
The Official R8 Page – Audi of America
Meet the Real Fast and Furious: 130 MPH, Creating Supercars, and Breaking Records
Chapter 15 – Filling the Void: Adding Life After Subtracting Work
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
FYI, I say 180K, but list is much less. The price can get jacked up due to dealer pre-selling at higher margins due to demand.
Tim
I truly can’t think of anything about your blog to improve at the moment, it’s my favorite – it’s all about content and I think yours is A
But I look forward to others thoughts.
I drive an Audi (A4 – mom style), Tim, and all I have to say is, why do you continue to tease me? 🙂
Have a great weekend!
I honestly like the site how it is Tim. It is one of my favorite blogs in regards to look and feel (and content) 🙂
Tim,
I think you should have animations of robots watering some fake grass in a fake desert in Nevada. That would really spruce up your site.
Also, have a little interaction between your readers and you – such as putting up polls and tracking — fun things and maybe substantive things. Maybe stuff about robots. Watering fake grass. In a fake desert. Eating candy.
Tim,
Hmm… a trip to the Autobahn as your next mini-retirement? Yeah, then you can YouTube at 225mph… That way we can still drool.. collectively.. as racers at heart. If you need contacts let me know.
And there’s really nothing that I can see that needs improvement on your blog. It’s blingin hot.
Seth
I can only say that I am insanely jealous Tim.. congrats 🙂
Hey Tim,
Im in town too 😉
How do you like the R8 in comparison to the Aston Martin DB9?
###
Oooooh. That’s a tough one. I’d vote the R8, just because you feel like you’re in 2050, but I still haven’t tested out the DBS (in Casino Royale).
Tim
Tim,
Wow, yeah, ditto Paul. I’m officially jealous.. as if I wasn’t before. Slap that thing on the Autobahn (next mini-retirement idea). I’d love to see a YouTube at 225mph.
Don’t have much to add to your blog. It already hits the spot. Your content is king.
I think build the blog upon either Drupal or Joomla! to give you more options in the future. Also, allow the 4HWW community to initiate more and let the community do more to spread hacks to each other (see 43folders.com – built on Drupal).
I love the stuff in the book I recently read – Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message.
http://www.creatingcustomerevangelists.com/cm/
I didn’t realize those were still unrealeased? I saw one a couple weeks ago at a cafe in Palos Verdes and I just assumed it had recently gone on the market…
Tim
The blog is great as is. After all, it is tough to complain about something that is free. Nonetheless I think it would be cool to have daily reminders, tasks, challenges, etc that reinforce the NR mentality and keep those of us struggling to escape the deferred-life focussed.
thanks
Vincent
Wow, congrats! I wish someone offered my a ride in an R8 while I’m patiently working on being able to afford one 😉
In terms of specific content, it’d be great to see more stuff about actually breaking out of the money-for-time trap. The licensing post with Stephen Key was great.
You could integrate the blog with the book side of the site more. That would be a big improvement. What you have now are two sites under the same domain, and I think that funnels your audience away from the blog content unnecessarily.
The blog site of the site is great, though. Don’t fix it too much.
I recently read 4HWW and thus discovered this blog. I have throughly enjoyed every post.
But since you are asking … I would love to see more posts on the following topics:
– what you outsource: I know there are several posts on this, but if you discover new things along the way I would love to keep hearing about it.
– more guidance on muses: this is the area I struggle with the most. I have a ton of ideas but find myself losing focus, mostly out of fear of failure. I know you cover this in your book – I keep rereading the muse chapters – but it helps a lot to hear stories of others who have been successful.
All in all, I would say this is a great blog – one of my favorites – so really you don’t NEED to change anything. But I’d love to see more of the above.
Whatever you do next, launch it from here, which means you might want to redesign around that. Other than that, a kind of NR education center (wiki?) would be great way to sustain and grow your audience. Awesome web resources/destinations are powerful magnets. Ditch the silly old-school book promo site.
Keep it free and stuff it to the digital rafters with real good info. Give it away. You want mindshare. You want community, let the community edit/create. When you get ready to drop something new for sale, you will have an eager audience ready for it.
First thoughts and random neurons firing, anyways.
Perhaps track your top bloggers, as these people keep some sort of consistency with ideas and opinions. Just my thought. More video clips, as we all know video speaks so much louder than words.
On the side of muses, i would have to agree with this. Perhaps, ideas on what to do if you get stuck, damage control ideas possibly, more martial arts videos, an action plan for being more resourceful, but all in all I enjoy this blog very much and will continue to be a writer on here.
Thanks everyone for your ideas and comments, they have helped me.
Cheers
Jose Castro Frenzel
Change the copyright date on the bottom, it’s 2008. Other than that, just do whatever makes you aesthetically pleased because it really is fine the way it is.
Note: @sheila – your comment made me shoot soup out of my mouth. Hilarious. Eating candy.
ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL U!!!!!!!
You may know this already but what the hell:
You can upload your videos directly from your IMOVIES to YouTube. This is done if you have the ILIFE 08 from apple.
To publish to YouTube:
Select your project in the Project Library, and then choose Share > YouTube.
Choose your account in the Account pop-up menu.
If you don’t have a YouTube account, click Add to be guided through the account creation process on the YouTube website.
Choose a category from the pop-up menu for the video to be categorized on the YouTube website.
Fill in the following fields:
Title: The name of your movie.
Description: Some information about your movie for viewers to read.
Tags: Keywords that viewers can use to search for and find your movie.
This is directly from Apple. All rights reserved.
Anyhow, I thought you might like this so to speed up your traffic when people search for you on youtube.
APPLE one on one Rocks!!!!!
Jose
The content is perfect, I like the layout – I’d just like more of the same.
I especially like stuff that inspires me and gives me practical help in getting to where you are!
But I like the personal stuff too – this car is awesome, I love seeing you dance… I haven’t been bored here yet.
Hey Tim,
I love your site and your book. I constantly check out the sites you refer on here. The only problem I have in using Mozilla is that I have to right click on links and “Open in New Tab or Window” so that I don’t leave your original article. I tried changing the setting in my browser and it doesn’t work. Could you make your links the type that open a new tab or window without leaving your original site.
Sprock
While I would love to drive that car (and envy your opportunity!), I would kill (okay, maybe just maim) to drive the R8 V12 TDI concept car:
http://audiworld.com/news/08/audi-r8-v12-tdi-concept/outstanding-torque/
~500hp, ~758lb-ft
I have a special little place in my heart for those three magical letters: TDI.
Tim,
First of all, great book! Loved it! As for the car, it would be hard to find an equal at the price they want to sell it for.
As for the site, you have everything I would consider sidebar worthy.
Hey Tim,
It would be cool if when you responded in the comments to your Blog posts it was blocked out in a different color like green.
Then when I scroll through 300 or so comments (like in the weightlifting post) your responses are easy to find.
holler!
Your blog is perfect the way it is. We come in, get great advice and we are out. Part of your style is “less is more.” I think your blog is exactly what it should be.
Your posts are more consistent lately and that was the only thing I would have suggested before.
If you want to add anything make it available through a link in the blogroll. Keep It Simple…
I would love to see more case studies or examples of others who have started their own companies. Maybe even a message board for people to toss around ideas.
Great material. Always enjoy a new post.
BLOG REVAMP:
Tim, one thing that has started to niggle at me recently is the strong possibility that the articles and your comment replies are not actually created by you. With all your outsourcing advice, how can we be sure we are not engaging with a “Turing Robot”? (see Turing Test)
Authenticity has value and matters to me. Is there a way of distinguishing content and engagement actually created by Tim Ferriss…as opposed to an outsourced Turing Robot?
###
LOL… but of course. Until I can leave my digital fingerprint, I suppose you’ll need to take my word for it, but this is the real Slim Shady. It’s too much fun causing trouble online for me to let someone else do it 🙂
I do like Turing, though…
Tim
Favour done, suggestions for website improvement:
Increase the whitespace between the article and right column, but don’t shrink the left column. Also more whitespace around the article title.
Utilise the right column more.
Move the archives list to a different page
Eg. Change title of ‘blogroll’ to ‘favourite sites’.
More descriptive categories. Eg. ‘how to dance’ rather than dance.
And possibly experimentally: a rotating header that changes every time people log in. Since you’ve got the lifestyle sorted, why not automatically show it off? Could be a different landscape with the same caption every time.
See: http://pearsonified.com/theme/neoclassical/
Phraedus
###
Phraedus, thanks for the recs. I am definitely envisioning something a la Pearsonified for the rotating photos.
Tim
I thought cars were a huge waste of money considering Ferriss’ lifestyle…
The blog could have a forum, so readers could discuss the principles of Lifestyle Design.
###
You’ll note that I prefer to test cars vs. buy them. Why would I want one car when I can test the best when I like and not pay the insurance, etc.? But, I don’t have anything against toys as fun. Some people would call my expenses on travel ridiculous.
Each to his or her own…
Thanks for the comment,
Tim
Tim, Supercars rock. End of story. Great pics and movie clips, many thanks!
The R8 is pretty special, and I have a great friend who got one here in the Uk last year in August. We went for a drive parked up by my house, to be greeted to a roar of a 600bhp roar of a 599 GTB Fiorano, and the owner, Barry, parked up, got out, and said “‘ere son, have a go”.
No word of a lie. ‘ere son, have a go. Music to my ears. What a car! He then took my friend out for a spin, (and this is when it just get bonkers), and they turned up 15 minutes later in his “other” Ferrari, a 430 Spider. needless to say, I got to drive that too.
It was a quite a day, and so I can share that amazing feeling, when you drive a car that sounds and looks amazing!
Pics here – clickety click!
I am sorry but I cannot agree that the blog is perfect, as others suggest.(It is, of course, pretty damn good, or I wouldn’t be here !)
The main improvement for me as a reader would be to stop covering multiple topics in a single post. If I had not caught you at it before, I would have assumed that this latest post was an extended paean of praise for a motor car, and skipped to the next item on my list of RSS feeds.
As a reader for some time, I have a good idea why you do this, but it does not work for me.
I’d like to echo Vincent above. More challenges, more tools, and really just more everything. We can all check email once per day, but building a business that is self sufficient is the hardest piece. I’d love to see more on that particularly.
As far as blog structure, organizing some of the articles into a chronological to-do list might be helpful. Similar to the book (improve efficiency -> remove yourself from work -> surf and dance).
Maybe something that loads faster. As it is now, the blog takes a few seconds longer to load than other sites I visit (like employee evolution, brazen careerist, guy kawasaki etc).
Oh and utilize the right side of the blog more. And the categories could be clearer too I think, maybe more descriptive?
Then again, if you leave the blog as is, its still pretty good. ^_^ just some minor suggestions.
Great car. Wish I could have one…
Dude,
>It would be like a bunch of men crying while watching Whale >Rider. [Postscript: OK, I did, but only the scene where >she’s reciting the story for her grandfather… Man, that’s a >rough one.]
Why do you have to go and post stuff like this. Now this means I actually have to think you are a real and likeable person, on top of being an extremely cool and successful young guy.
You’ve done a great job on the blog, I really enjoy reading a wide variety of posts on everything from bodybuilding to driving the R8.
One idea may be to interview/feature people who have successfully applied The Four Hour Work Week to their own lives. Guest posts for this would be cool, if they were closely on topic.
I think the blog should be two columns instead of just one. Place posts in the left column and links to post categories in the right column. The column edges are currently white on black, and need some type of transition. You could make it look like a stack of paper or put a notbook binder on one side to make it look like one of your notebooks that you love to write in.
Foul language is best used when quoting someone else who said it first. Great job Timothy, love your book and your site. Enjoy life, and I will try to do so as well.
Hi Tim,
I would enjoy reading real-world examples of everyday people putting your strategies to work successfully. Those sorts of stories would be both motivational and educational, and likely help people like the commenter above who suggested help with muses. While I enjoy the insight into your personal life, your blog could also serve as an ongoing conversation – an interactive “book” – continuing and expanding your ideas of lifestyle design. Perhaps that was your original intent, but I feel we would all benefit by contributing as a community to advancing these ideas.
Wow, that car is hot. I have to get that waiting list!
Forgot to add my 2 cents for the blog. I think it would be useful to have a forum so that readers could more easily share ideas/advice/questions. There are some people here who are already living the “NR” lifestyle and many more who come here to hopefully learn how to do it. A forum would be a great place for that kind of interaction and also encourage some great stickyness for this blog.
Tim, Been a long time fan of your work (website and book).
I live in the ny/nj area and actually saw an R8 on the road in the Clifton, NJ area (I noticed the NY plates on the R8 you have a picture with). I checked the dates, though… I saw the R8 heading on rt 3 W on Saturday, Jan 26th, so I guess it wasn’t you 😉
Good stuff, regardless. Fast cars are definitely an addiction… a dangerous one at that haha.
Hi Tim,
Cool videos of the Audio R8; looks like you had a lot of fun. As far as updating/changing your blog–I’m going to have to agree with Teresa (comment #15 above) that a few posts about muse creation would be really helpful. Maybe take what you have in your muse creation chapter (which I’ve read over and over again) and elaborate a bit more.
Keep up the great work on your blog!
Robert
On a regular basis I receive e-mail from you that appears like this in my Apple Mail Inbox … the vertical line below represents the divider between the “From” column and the “Subject” column.
The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss | New Post – The Blog of Tim Ferriss
(1) Your “From” should be shorter, e.g. “Tim Ferriss Blog” OR “Tim Ferriss 4hrWkWk Blog” OR “The Blog of Tim Ferriss”
Who chose “The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss” anyway? It sounds SO pompous, not as streamlined and modern as your ideas or your travel habits.
(2) Each “Subject” line should ALWAYS include the TITLE of your new post.
Since your name is already in the “From” field (or column in my e-mail Inbox), why repeat your name in the Subject? It’s stupidly duplicative.
If virtual assistants are cleaning up your e-mail blog drafts and then “publishing” them on the blog for you, surely they can also do this step for you.
As it stands, if I like one of your posts enough to save it, perhaps to forward to a friend (and future blog subscriber), I must take several steps to avoid having a confusing stack of “New Post – The Blog of Tim Ferriss” lines in my Inbox subject field.
First, in Apple Mail, I choose Redirect (so it retains your “From” identification), then resend it to myself, then copy and paste your existing headline from within the body of the Message to the Subject line, then hit Send.
All this extra effort contributes to extending my workweek beyond the 4 hours you recommend in your book and blog!
Please clean this up — your blog deserves better.
In my culture we have something known as the ‘evil eye’ that is affected due to jealousy, it can destroy a person.
I just want to say I officially hate you now! And passing on the ‘evil eye’ to you LOL.
Now there are certain rituals that can deflect that and I may teach them to you someday.
Hey man,
I really like your blog, only thing I could think of would be rotate some new pictures out – the ones on this page have been there since inception I think?
I also liked the comment above from Vincent – daily posts would be really cool, especially with some challenges or something of that nature.
I rely on a Google widget on my Google home page to let me know when you have posted something new, because the email notification is VERY slow, sometimes days slow. Just a couple thoughts, keep up the good work, it’s great to take 5 to read your adventures each week!
I’d like to see a link for “Lifestyle Design Coaches.” Your blog could be the definitive licensing (and marketing) source for an entire army of LDC’s – the model would be straight outta your book. Let’s face it, we need coaches on the front lines ensuring that the average American doesn’t become a work zombie glued to their Blackberry and cell phone. Everyone is looking for recognition not realizing they just need to get a life – and this blog is the absolute best reminder of this fact. And coaches could be constant reminders while getting paid for it – working minimally from anywhere in the world.
Keep rockin’ and Live Young
Agreed on the muses, and I would extend that to remote work arrangements. Perhaps you could solicit success stories (and challenges) from those who have tried the techniques in your book and achieved their goal. It would lend credibility, give you a way to begin measuring the impact of your book, and also help others who are testing your ideas.
And perhaps also an anonymous poll box for other grown men who are willing to admit that Whale Rider made them cry.
In the past, we had such biblical trouble with an Audi we owned, that my husband has never recovered from the experience even though it was about 10 years ago. I had to laugh when I showed him the pic of that smashing new car, as he sniffed, “Looks like a Dodge product,” and left the room. He’s still not over the car-hell trauma! Me? I’d take one in a New York minute.
You blog is wonderful. Some good, thoughtful comments about possible additions already posted. Always a pleasure to see you name in my in-box
About 10 years ago, my husband and I owned the Audi-from-hell! The repair trauma we experienced was biblical in scope. Seems like my husband still isn’t over it. When I showed him the pic of that smashing car, he sniffed, “Looks like a Dodge product.” I had to laugh. I don’t think there is anything Audi could ever do to change his mind. Me? I’d take that baby in a New York minute.
Your blog is always a highlight of the day. Others have offered some thoughtful suggestions. Personally, I’m a happy camper.
Hey Tim,
I suggest you consider some things for he next version:
1. Don’t use bright colors on bright background. It’s uncomfortable for reading (bright green on white).
2. Consider moving archive, most liked posts and blogroll on different page/pages
3. Implement Google Custom search in your blog. The default WordPress search is awful and no plugin can make it as good as Google.
4. Consider switching/adding a tag cloud.
5. Your “description” meta tag appears twice …
6. Make your HTML valid (W3C Standards).
7. Resize your photos at the exact size you want them to appear in your blog. Pics look garbled if they are resized via editor.
8. Surprise us 🙂
These are my suggestions. Sorry if they’re somewhat centered on a more technical side … its the field I work in.
All the best,
Z.
I love the blog, lots of great stuff.
I would like to see some more thoughts on how to come up whith what to sell. I’m really, really stuck and can’t seem to get beyond that. As I look around at the economy, in the US and abroad, what would sell to people who have less and less expendible income to spend. As we slide into recession and what some are predicting, depression, what do we do to appeal to people with less to spend? Maybe I’ve just got brain freeze but I can’t seem to get beyond that.
Totally cool car BTW. I’m drooling on my keyboard.
The only thing I think that could be improved is more content. the content is great, so lets have more frequent updates. And if you are too busy rappeling into a volcano, have some guest posts.
PS more videos of neat stuff like the ultra light travel accessories would ROCK!
That must have been fun. Although a lot of fun can be had for less…
For now, I drive an Audi RS2. It’s a little known cooperation between Porsche and Audi that dates back to 1994. But it does 0-60 in under 5 secs and 189 mph. It’s the Ueberautobahnmonster. (Which itself you enter on to conveniently 15 miles from my home if you want to get rid of some testosterone in a legal way) And it’s a station wagon, so you can also take the kids to school or go buy a bed at IKEA. A good one, low mileage can still be had for less than $ 20 K here in Europe. And it beats the insane credit rate you pay on your DB9… Nevertheless I admit that I am slightly envious that you’ve already driven it. 😉
Hey Tim, If you thought that was fun, how about coming to Toronto Canada for a ride in my police car on a Saturday night shift downtown? I’ll arrange an appointment with the skid car as well at the training centre. Not as fast as the Audi no doubt but its tough to beat the lights, sirens and excitement of responding to emergencies 🙂 Ever been to the CN tower?
Hey Tim,
Some thoughts the site…
I see that you do a lot of “experiments” on yourself and such. I love reading about them! Probably my favorite posts on your site. The Colorado experiment geek to freak post and similar ones like the no negativity challenge. As I said I love reading about them but I think it would be really interesting to follow along with the progress as well as hearing the final results. Maybe when you do a month long extreme experiment post maybe once a week with updates and thoughts. It could possibly be a quick blurb that does not conflict with current posts. Possibly a side bar such as your tinyurl updates. I love reading in the moment thought processes. I think it would be ideal for experiments that produce data that can be recorded and compared.
As far as layout, I would really enjoy a “Top Ten” post section. Maybe an entire resource top ten or a top ten for each sub category that us readers could vote on. I often ask myself when searching your posts “what would the long time readers suggest to me?”
One more idea. Allow readers to register a screen name to post replies. I see that many posters have great advice and some have a track record of good tips in your reply sections. If it was easier to keep track of what MARK and what JIM or what Sara is the one with the track record of quality tips it could create much more helpful and fruitful reply sections. It would also make it easier and quicker to skim through replies.
Just some quick thoughts…I understand first thoughts usually are lacking quality but hey it is a start maybe others can expand or use my reply to crank out some great stuff. Idea linking and so on.
Anyhow just keep up the great posts…and we will keep coming.
Tim,
I want to know how other readers of your book are implementing your strategies. Would you mind posting a few “after” stories – short, of course. Just the essential facts. Then, you can start ticker of sorts, that tracks how many work hours your readers have kicked to the curb. Also cool would be a list of what we did with our time instead. Just a running list, from weekly matiness to full-on mini-retirements.
Something like this:
Hours worked per week before 4HWW: 56
Current hours worked per week: 34
Experiences/Gains: Three-day weekend jaunts every week, violin lessons, sessions with personal trainer, afternoon playground sessions with my kid, etc.
Mini-Retirement: Three-month vacation biking around Lake Superior
Would love to hear what everyone else is doing. Let’s see the results. Thanks!
Anjanette Harper
(Ghost) Writer
Hey Tim, I’m drooling and NOT watching ‘Whale Rider’ just a natural state. I too LOVE speedy cars!
Anyway, about your blog design, I would keep some simplicity about it. I know the impetus to perhaps jazz it up more, make it more polished.
Yet, there is something seductively quaint about your blog being easy to read and easy to follow. Especially since you have the ‘ends’ to make it say…the Vegas style of blogs.
I vote for your present simplicity and closeness of character…that being you! That’s my final answer.
Adrienne Zurub
Author
‘Notes From the Mothership The Naked Invisibles’
Your blog is already my favorite, but if your gonna redesign it, I recommend not switching to another platform. This spring WordPress is set to release a new version with more powerful features which means more powerful plugins.
As for the content, have you ever thought of a podcast? If your on Windows, look up castblaster.com for podcast recording software and check out podshow.com to publish.
Why don’t you get your mitts on one of these … or at least schedule a test drive while you are hopping around the planet.
Use your celebrity power – your networking – your raw ness…
I am itching to know…. come on!
I dare you.
Double dog dare …
http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/
http://www.teslamotors.com/
Hi Tim. I agree with most other folks that there isn’t much in need of change on the blog, however, the one thing I would love to see is a schedule of where you’re going to be speaking so we can check you out on the road.
I would say more videos and audio.
For suggested blog improvements-
Yesterday I wanted to print out your post on hacking your sleep for a friend and I realized that if I just hit print I would get pages of comments as well. A simple “print this post” feature would have been useful.
Thanks!
Hey Tim, I really enjoy your website and book (read it 3x now). The website could definitely use a forum for itself. I’ve seen websites where they link the title of the blog post to a forum topic. That way you won’t have these huge comment listings (e.g., your post about losing 20 lbs in 30 days).
Otherwise, I really like your content.
Incidentally, I saw an R8 in the NY/NJ area recently driving west on rt 3 in NJ. Noticing the NY license plate, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was you… but then again, that was last Saturday, January 26th, so the dates don’t quite match.
That car is SICK to see on the road. The gawking you’re talking about is an understatement.
keep it up!
He said “rear!”
Business in the front, party in the back!!!
The site needs a typography upgrade. Crisper, cleaner fonts to differentiate headings, links, lists, quoted text, etc. It would make everything a little more readable.
Tim, post more videos of you living the life. I would also love to see more of your comments on what is changing for you and what works and does not and any new observations you have having. I find those kinds of personal posts very inspirational and tend to not read the posts that are not specifically about your experiences and your ideas and opinions. And, I agree with several other posters too: 1 topic per post please. And, fill up that Flickr site. You must have gobs of pics of you traveling around. et
I saw one of these last week parked in my neighborhood last week. I live in Los Feliz, in Los Angeles, and it was parked on the street for a few days waiting for pigeon crap, and some punk to key it.
Hey you want to feel like your in 2050? Get into a Tesla Roadster! 100% Electric, 0-60 in under 4 seconds, 135 mpg equivalent, less than $0.02 per mile! Now that’s performance and efficiency. The design is gorgeous too…No compromises – these guys aren’t kidding around.
Blog note: You might want to try linking blinklist…I find it infinitely more useful than Digg etc…
First – that car looks amazing.
As far as the blog – I’d go with a different color for some of the text. The current lime green color (granted it matches the color of the text on your book/theme) is a little rough on the eyes when overlayed on the white background & viewed on a LCD. Not terrible, but that would be my first tweak.
Hey Bro, I think your blog sucks (I’m kidding, I’m kidding)
Here’s the thing, most people give up when they don’t become multi-lingual-internet-marketing-master-international-tango -champion-body-building-best-selling-author-kung-fu-master-chick-magnet superstars overnight.
So…
I would put in a “How I Did It” section with case studies on how normal people solved problems that we all face. People love stories because they can relate to them… some of my favorite parts in your book are when you describe how you (or someone else) did something. For example, how your friend got expert status in 3 weeks.
But it should specifically focus on the CHALLENGES people faced while embarking on a task. For example, I got into creative real estate really heavily last year (subject to, lease-option, wholesaling, etc.) because I read about how much money people were making with these “no money down” techniques. So a friend and I got pumped, bought some DVD’s and went at it. Six months later, after talking to a lot of people, we never closed a deal. Same experience with PPC for my website. I thought that if I start an AdWords account, I’d have a flood of qualified traffic to my site. After a few months I realized that I was just wasting my money. Granted, I made a lot of mistakes and could have done better with both endeavors, but the point is that I went in with a pretty unrealistic attitude. I expected the world to be served to me on a silver platter.
I think you should have a “How I Did It” section a la Joel Spolsky’s column “How Hard Could It Be” in Inc. Magazine. I’m really interested in how other people dealt with the challenges they faced, the roadblocks they encountered, and how they eventually overcame them. To this effect, there’s a great story about the CEO of a company called SubscriberMail who went to a tradeshow. When he got there, he realized that FedEx lost his booth. Rather than sitting there, he went to every FedEx/Kinko’s store in the city and got a bunch of boxes and built a booth from them. Then he hung a sign up saying “Guess when FedEx will deliver our booth and win a box of Omaha Steaks (delivered by UPS!)” Another great story is the Stockdale Paradox that is mentioned in “Good to Great”
The point is that nothing is easy in life. But I want to see how other people creatively solved the problems they faced, maybe it will inspire some creativity in me.
Like my step-dad always says, “It’s harder than they say, but easier than you think”
Raza Imam
A Big Failure
Hi there Tim. First of all, this is my first comment on your blog, so I would like to personally thank you for pursuing your dream of helping others to live life more fully. It has helped me to both take action on my dreams and to speak to others to motivate them. On the Universal Scoreboard, I’d say you racked up a great deal of points.
As far as your blog, and things to make it more functional and powerful, I’ll just throw out an idea I had.
First of all, nothing motivates me more than competition. One idea might be to have a competition section, with a new competition every 1-2 months or so. For example, your Ultimate Weekend competition was brilliant.
Competitions which challenge people to exit their comfort zone with gusto and panache would, I believe, not only create great interaction with your readers, but also simply change their life for the better.
Thanks, and take care.
I would love an audio podcast. At work some people have complained about “others” surfing the net while working. If I can listen,my business is mine. Plus, I can take you with me while on my travels inside my mp3 player. It can be a simple audio podcast either from you or another site/person your interested in introducing to us.
I’m living vicariously through your blog. It’s the only one I’m reading regularly. Great work. What I like is the regular updates and variety. I’m a big fan of the 4HWW and I’m working on my muse.
You’ve really started something great in my life.
Keep it going!
I’d like to see more on discovering and executing muses from Tim and from others.
For the site design I’d like more consistent and readable typography. Right now you’ve got several type faces competing with each other. Lose the “Century Gothic” and stick with one or two really solid typefaces. You also need a favicon. Let me know if you need help or advice on any of these items. I owe you one because The 4HWW clarified my feelings that there’s something wrong with the 40 hour world and gave me the courage to do something about it.
[…] Â clipped from http://www.fourhourworkweek.com […]
There is some excellent feedback on design. I’ll provide two points. Don’t worry about guest bloggers, none needed. No need to increase your frequency of posts either. I would take one to three posts of yours a week over any guest posts. I am regularly letting go of feeds that are high volume.
Regarding content I would enjoy hearing regularly about what your reading, or think might be worth reading. Your personality comes through your writing, that keeps things fresh, interesting. Your posts are not just acts of journalism or mere procedures.
Thanks for asking for the feedback by the way. A post in the future about what you sorted out from this all would be great.
I would like this blog more if you answered a reader question or two once a week 🙂
Outsourcing the Blog Designs by Professionals
http://www.uniqueblogdesigns.com/
http://www.weborithm.com/
http://www.solostream.com/
http://www.theblogstudio.com/
http://ewebscapes.com/
Hope this give perspectives on design style from different professionals.
I admire the picture in header. Great background and color scheme. Picture conveys emotional feeling and the idea behind the 4-Hour Work Week.
one of the few advantages to livng in Europe (other than geting to pay more taxes than I can understand) is to get cars like this – and I really think they run faster here. If you want to test drive a car like this it has to be done in Germany. No concept of speed limit in Germany!
Please make your responses stand out so I don’t have to scroll incessantly. The more popular you get, the worse this will be for me saving time. I want to read your words quickly amongst everyone elses posts. Thanks Tim
Living in Alaska, I have chosen a Dodge Ram 3500 with a Cumins engine, and 650 foot pounds of torque. It gets me where I need to go, and lets me bring my toys. Plus it is a diesel engine, so even though the mileage isn’t great, I’m doing my small bit for the environment.
I think my wife needs an R8.
Tim, if you’re into the Audi, then you MUST come to Mosport Raceway (Bowmanville, Ontario, about an hour’s drive northeast of Toronto) for the American LeMans Series (ALMS) race, August 21-24. Schedule’s here: http://www.mosport.com/roadsched-cal.htm. For the record, I don’t work for Mosport or ALMS or anything even remotely associated with them, I just happen to LOVE the sound, sight, even the smell of hot brakes as the Audis shriek by.
As for the blog, something that would highlight your responses to make them easier to find as well as podcasts. (I think these have already been mentioned though I can’t find the specific posts at the moment.)
@ Sprock:
No need to right-click and select from the dropdown when opening a link in a new tab/window. Just hold down Ctrl and click.
@ Tim:
First thought? Compartmentalizing the question a bit more. I’m sure you know usability is different from design, is different from content, etc. Maybe asking your audience about or testing for one thing at a time will provide a saner set of results.
Second thought: For design and usability – separate the input of readers that visit the site from the ones that receive email updates and the ones that subscribe via RSS since they’re all having different experiences of the blog.
Third: I definitely agree with the overall sentiment – if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. However, as others have suggested – I think there are some little things that I would enjoy seeing.
1. Some sort of trackable identity for community members. Whether just a little avatar, or a full-fledged method of following individual contributors – it would be nice to more easily detect and follow patterns amongst commenters. Apart from plugins, Gravatar.com, CoComment and MyBlogLog offer services along these lines.
2. Printer-friendly views, email article to a friend capability, save as a PDF – all things easy enough to do without an explicit button – still may benefit from having a “Don’t Make Me Think” button for the lazy and/or less informed among us. Also – you can track how many people are sending an article to a friend if it’s done within a form on your site as opposed to a reader just copying and pasting the url.
3.Integration amongst the different facets of the site would be great. I just registered for the vBulletin Message Boards. I’ll spend some time over there later.
4. Highlighting your comments separately – maybe being consistent about whether you create a new comment or reply inline to a viewer’s comment. Snook.ca has great looking comments in lime green. 😉
5. Share your musical tastes with us… iLike, Pandora (not sure if they have a plugin yet), etc.
Fourth: I didn’t get the impression that you’re necessarily looking for a new platform – but since other readers brought it up, I’ll throw in my two cents.
I can’t stand wading through html tables, so I’ve never really given Joomla or Drupal the time of day. I haven’t used WordPress much either – so I’m by no means a well-rounded expert. However, I can say that I love TextPattern – it’s a lightweight yet powerful blog and CMS in one elegant admin interface. It supports forums, eCommerce and more. I just wrote my first PHP plugin for it last week because I wanted the site I’m developing to support Gravatars not only for comments, but for the forum, too. It was a thrilling accomplishment in my world of dorkiness.
In any case, TextPattern would allow you to maintain your blog, forum, etc. all in the same user interface – if that’s desirable to you.
Finally, you should know that I have been constantly referencing the design and functionality of your blog while working on a recent project. It has been a very helpful template of sorts. Mine is an unfinished, largely untested project – but you can see the results of your inspiration at http://www.pilatesforthepeople.com. It’s heading in the right direction.
If I make it to SxSW, maybe I can trade some Apple tutorial time for picking your brain time. 😉
One more thing…
I feel cheated when your Twitter updates reflect your latest post title. Personally, I think they should maintain unique, inventive and spontaneous content – which should be sufficient marketing in and of itself. 😉
an interactive map with travel destinations would be a great addition and easy to do in WP. Also, have you thought about doing a podcast?
As far as cars go, I know I’ve got my eye set on the aptera (www.aptera.com) which comes out later this year
Dear Tim! 🙂
Don’t mess up your blog site!
Both content and appearance are great. Think of the 80-20% rule 🙂
These babies have been in Europe for many months now.
I see at least one every day.
Beautiful car.
180k!! you are being soooo ripped off. Makes a change, usually you have cheap german imports.
[…] the Audi R8 zooms […]
Just saw the Superbowl commercial for this! WOWWWWWWWW
almost more fun than driving the R8 is getting to ride shotgun in one with a professional driver who knows how to push the limits of the vehicle. Apparently Audi offers it http://www.audidrivingexperience.com
Hi Tim,
Got the reference from http://lifehacker.com/
I liked the blog and stuff is great. One suggestion you might want to take seriously is the font selection. If you can use fonts which are easier on eyes, that would be super. (like in comments section)
You are doing amazing. Keep it up! 🙂
Tim,
I made a comment before and you’ve deleted it. Im sorry if it came across as flippant but i was trying to make a genuine point. I love your blog. This article about the car however was a big dissapointment, it seems as if someone was allowing you to come for a drive in exchange for you talking up their product. I think that really undermines the value of the normally excellent articles here. Tell me if im wrong.
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Hi Vince,
I appreciate the follow up. The comment, it ends up, was deleted as flippant, but I took a look at it and get your point. The reality is that Audi had nothing to do with the test drive. The magazine wanted to interview me and I turn down most interviews, so they used the R8 as a tool to get me interested, and it worked. I like Audis and racecars. There was no agreement that I would like the car or blog about it or anything.
I did end up liking it, and the video was fun, so I posted it. Nothing sinister involved and no behind-the-scenes deals. I might have come to the same conclusion as you as a reader, but it’s simply not the case. It’s not to say that people don’t try to buy me (or other bloggers) — they do. It doesn’t work with me. In fact, I had someone offer $10K to one of my charities today in exchange for a book plug, and I turned it down flat. People who try that just piss me off.
If I needed or wanted the cash, I would have tons of ads, AdSense, and so forth here, but I don’t. I might have advertisers in the future, probably will, and I’m sure I’ll review things in the future (I have one planned for this week, in fact), but I’m no one’s hired gun. I don’t need the money. If someone’s product sucks, I probably won’t write anything (If you can’t say anything nice…), but I definitely won’t post a positive review of anything that I don’t actually dig and want to pass on to you guys.
Hope that helps 🙂
Tim
You have a great blog and excellent information for us inspired but previously aimless wannabe retirees.
Thanks for the great info and keep up the good work.
Hey Tim;
I really like the website, so the only layout change that I can think of is: white on black or similar. I read my share of computer text during the day (I’m a programmer) and setting my code window to white and pastels on black has made life much easier on the eyes.
I know it sounds kind of corny, but it may be worth a try. It should also help make the comments easier to read.
Love this site. Love it.
I’d echo the blog-improvement-idea of having an author class in your CSS, so it’s easy to see when you’re commenting (you said you’re checking out Chris Pearson’s work, and he does this very well in his new Neoclassical theme…).
Otherwise, you’ve gotten a bunch of good suggestions re: Muse creation, how-to’s, examples, yadda yadda.
Number one, though: Be yourself, baby. Don’t sacrifice one iota of your original perspective – it’s your viewpoint, your content, your genius that we’re here for. I, for one, love it, and wouldn’t think of editing your inner content creation machine.
Rock on, brother.
Hey Tim,
Great video! Reading your blog is the next click after reading my Email every morning. I really appreciate your articles and sharing some of your adventures. I just don’t get why every few weeks someone comments on how you’re somehow a sellout or some craziness. Keep doing what your doing!
– Dave
Hey Tim a quick question – which camera are you using now? Is it the Canon SD1000?
I am hoping to have a similar video of me in a Murcielago sometime soon, and wish the same for you!
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Hi Dennis,
I’m still using the Canon I mentioned in the “How to Travel the World with 10 Pounds” post. I forgot the model number, but just search the post on this blog. It is the best camera I have ever used by far.
Good luck with the Lambo 🙂
Tim
Hi Tim,
Cool car.
Some of the comments indicate you should scrap the whole blog and start over…
Not me.
I think the whitespace comment makes sense.
Other than that, leave it be. It’s a great blog.
“Even women”??? um, excuse me, but lots of women are interested in cars. We own them. We fix them. We read car blogs and magazines. We watch Top Gear and follow the WRC. Saying women getting excited about a new hot car is “not supposed to happen” is pretty ignorant. What is this, the 1950s? Sure, some women (and some men) couldn’t care less about cars, but please, try to join the 21st century! If you don’t have any cool, car-loving chicas in your life that’s your misfortune, but it’s not right to stereotype like that.
Woooow.. I love this supercar, it is the best of Audi in last years. Here is more interesting info. about this Great car: http://passioncars.blogspot.com