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Book Format Remote Foundations Compressed PDF
Book Format Remote Foundations Compressed PDF
FOUNDATIONS
A Zero to One Guide for Starting
Your Remote Career
JAMIE SYKE
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 01
Introduction
As we move further into the 21st-century, remote work is becoming more
and more prevalent. The flexibility offered and removal of a commute is
just so powerful. Because of the many perks offered as part of remote
work, it will only continue to grow as more companies become open to it.
So what about you? I can assume by the fact you're reading this book
that you're already on your way to making money for yourself remotely, or
you have dreams of doing just that.
Throughout this short guide, we'll cover all the steps needed to put the
foundations in place for your remote business; all the way up to finding
your very first client or customer.
I'm Jamie Syke. For over 12 years, I've helped companies like Facebook,
Bumble, Samsung and many more to design amazing apps, websites and
products. I've also dedicated a lot of time assisting other designers
through books and articles online.
I've had failed businesses, dreams and goals. But the knowledge I've
gained has hardened me to the harsh world of technology and also given
me the secrets only obtained from failure.
All of this has been done remotely and without any formal education.
Let me tell you how you can get yourself on the same path.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 02
Let's take a look forward a couple of years to see where you could be if
you have executed on your plans.
You're making all of your income online from a small handful of clients or
a reasonably sized audience you have built. Maybe even both! The pay is
what most people dream of, and you make it by doing the things you love
and sharing your knowledge.
But right now, it's still 2020. And you have no clue how to make it to this
place. You know you have the drive, and that you'll put the work in to
make it. So what is keeping you?
Enter me. I'll be your guide for the duration of this handbook. Helping you
embrace the power of the web and social media to make five and six
figures a year from your knowledge.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 03
The internet has completely changed the game when it comes to the
ability to make a living. You're only reading this book because of the
internet and that, to me, is fantastic. I make money pretty much every day
now thanks to the web and someday someone will pay you for something
they found on the internet too. Pretty awesome right?
Using the internet for your business means that you level the playing field
and don't need to work your way up corporate ladders to make it to the
money. You instead can make your own rules and, with a bunch of work,
find the audience for you. No middlemen. No recruiters. Just you and
YOUR customers.
Now I know, the idea of building a following online, helping others and
making money has been around for almost as long as the internet. But
what is impressive is the fact there is always space for new unique voices,
takes and mindsets. It's why thousands upon thousands of people make
all of their money online on their own terms and why you can too.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 04
PART I
WHAT
ARE WE
DOING
?
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 05
A Personal Story
I Learned From
In 2019, I had a pretty shitty time. After many years of successful
freelancing, I fell upon a dry spell (and an unexpectedly colossal tax bill I
totally wasn't ready for).
After working my entire life to set my own schedule and work remotely.
This was pretty jarring. It's what led me to write this book to help people
escape the rat race and find their own path.
That full-time job took a lot from me, and I massively fell off in my online
output of content. There just wasn't enough time or energy to get
everything done. But the few hours I had free I used as effectively as I
could and it taught me a lot about productivity and how achieving goals
when working for yourself works. It's all based around habits and finding
the small steps that push you forward.
The habits and actions you build based around your goals will be the
driving force that you'll have the fill your spare time with going forward.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 06
When I had that full-time job, I used every spare minute to push to find
clients to help return my freedom.
A lot of mistakes were made and learned from. Several things failed.
I only remembered the real power of the internet in 2019. When I was
working my way towards independence during that year, I had to decide
which actions were truly worth my time.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 07
Decisions Decisions
While I now have a couple of products out and different things that I work
on every single day. When I was first starting out (and getting back on
course after 3 years offline) I focused solely on one thing: Getting design
clients.
This simplicity of having one main focus meant that whenever I had a
spare moment, I knew precisely what I needed be working on.
Take this same mentality going forward of finding exactly what you should
be offering and then pushing forward on that until you reach your goals.
Then you can expand later.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 08
But first, you need to make a decision on what that offering will be. Then
stay on that path until you start seeing results.
Finding that one thing to work on can be tough. It is a decision that can
tie you in knots for months. But you need to defeat that indecision before
it even strikes by accessing your skills, researching and then forging
forward with a plan.
Take your existing skillset and break it down into the transferable skills you
might have or can build (bonus points for things like design, writing,
development, management or marketing skills).
I'm going to take a bit of a more different background for this example to
show how seemingly vanilla jobs can be extrapolated into transferable
skills. For this very rouge example, I'm going to breakdown the
transferable skills of an account manager. An account manager is
someone who sources and manages the clients of a company. Helping to
find new work and keep the existing work on track. I chose this example
as it is less stereotypical to find a way into making money from the skill
set of an account manager as it is from the perspective of a designer,
developer, marketer, etc. Hopefully, it gives us some refreshing new views.
It's essential to make sure you outline the talents you already possess
early on in the process of building any career (remote included).
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 09
Let's take the example of an account manager and break down how the
skills can be transferred to making a living remotely online.
Let's continue the usage of an account manager for our examples and
say for the purposes of this point breakdown that this imaginary account
manager works at a technology startup. During their time in this job,
they'll have learned not only of how that specific industry sources and
executes its projects. But also the tools and tricks that make a good
member of that particular community.
Here are a few ideas of how this specific person could use the knowledge
they might have acquired as a startup account manager to sell products
and services online:
These were just a few examples that came to mind. The same kind of
methodology is transferable to other skill sets and backgrounds. It's just a
case of thinking about the skills you've built up that other people don't
have and then calculating how to leverage them to solve problems.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 11
A great way to explore the paths available to you is to see what others
are doing and how they have formed their own path. In this generation,
there will be a coach, consultant or course provider of every kind in every
vertical you can imagine. So take some time to research how others have
done it and follow the same script as them with your own spin.
As more flock to the internet in search of growing a career, those who are
naturally gifted or work hard at staying on top of the latest news will
dominate.
With the advent of social media, the need to build in-person networks has
diminished drastically. Your passions and ability to problem solve can
now be shared with potentially millions of people with just the click of a
button. I, just last month (in the context of the release of this book), saw
the impact a simple click can have on your career and revenue.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 12
That Sunday, Product Hunt decided to feature that post, and the timing
couldn't have been better. In the space of Sunday to Tuesday, I made
somewhere around $1,000.
This was the first time I've had a product "pop-off" from an online
platform, and it really showed me how vital taking as many shots as
possible is. A lesson that you need to learn early on in your internet
career is the importance of volume when trying to make any headway
online.
Many will spend time convincing you of the value of "quality over
quantity" when it comes to your cadence online. But quality is subjective.
The real value lies in the number of opportunities you can get to put your
products and posts in front of people. The real value is in the eyes you put
on your work.
By efficiently planning and using your time; you can build a regular
schedule that gets your creations in front of as many people as possible,
as often as possible.
Through persistence, the power of the internet can work for anybody and
your work will improve from all the practice you're putting in. The key is to
build your entire mindset around getting things out of your brain and into
the world. To be continually releasing. Growing. Failing. Learning. And
ultimately, progressing forward.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 13
By keeping this mentality at the front of your brain, you always work to
have your success as the main thing you're working on. So keep this in
mind and always be working on transferring the knowledge you've gained
into a service offering or product you can put into the world, whenever
you have free time.
If you're still stuck in the stage where you don't know what to do. The
missing key to success you're searching for is research.
Once you've discovered those you can follow the script of; make a list of
the tasks you need to complete and put your own spin on them. By finding
ways to follow the path of others while making the result unique, you're
able to unlock the secret to success. It'll take a lot of practice, but if
you're fearless enough, you can make it.
You must take one of the things you identified as part of exploring your
knowledge and skills to do something that can make you a living.
Once you've broken down the data you're able to transfer, teach or give
to others, it is your responsibility to find a way to make that work. If you're
genuinely passionate and driven to make a living working for yourself
remotely, you've got to decide on something then get rid of your excuses
and get going.
We have established you've got the skills. You know you have the ideas.
And you definitely have the drive.
Maybe you don't know where to start, or perhaps you would rather sit idle
and watch these opportunities pass you by.
I know how scary taking the leap into a new venture can be. I've failed
many, many times and can tell you from first-hand experience that it
fucking sucks. That failure teaches you, though. It moulds you and shapes
you. It makes you better for the next time around.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 15
But you can't even get to learn from failure if you don't DO SOMETHING.
Remember To Care
Amid all this pressure to make a decision and start getting things out
there, it's tempting just to pick the first idea you come across. But a vital
part of this decision you make is that it needs to be something you care
about.
Contrary to popular belief online, it's not the likes that matter. It's the
views. Every view is another person who could potentially become a
customer or client. So frequency matters a lot. Your aim is to catch the
eye of the silent majority that exists online. Those who follow and learn
and buy, but don't engage or share content of their own often.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 16
Before you get to carried away and start writing a whole bunch of posts
to put into the world, let's take a moment to remember always to keep
the potential audience you will serve in mind whenever you make
something. When you create with someone specific at the core of things,
you are always able to check that what you put out into the world will
resonate the way that you need it to. By making sure you build to impact
a particular person, you drastically increase your chances of success.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 17
PART II
ACHIEVE
YOUR
FREEDOM
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 18
Five Actions to
Build Your
Foundations
As we've already established, you want to work for yourself. To become an
independent creator making a living remotely on the internet. I've got
good news, though, the financial freedom you seek is easier to achieve
than ever. Another bonus is that the barriers to entry are not just low, they
don't exist. All you need is an internet connection.
Let's get into five actions and mindset elements you need to work on from
here on out, now you've chosen what it is you'll be working on.
1: Build A Reputation
I'm not asking you to go full Gary Vee and share every waking second of
your existence. Unless you want to, that's up to you. That's the key here,
doing what you want to do (but with some direction). When you have
broken down your skills and worked out what you'll be offering; you better
learn to love that and be willing to talk about it. By getting your voice out,
you start building a reputation and get the opportunity to show your
passion. That dedication you have will shine through and help grow your
audience.
You've got to break through those doubts telling you that you shouldn't
share. Make the commitment to get yourself out there in the world.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 19
Share your ideas. Reveal your secrets, struggles and what makes you
unique. At the end of the day, you're selling yourself. So you need to build
the reputation and trust that will encourage people to buy into you
helping them. Or you're not going to get much traction. So make sure
always to be sharing your thoughts, struggles and processes to show you
know what you're doing and draw in new viewers.
Consistently getting out there as an authentic voice is the best way you
build a reputation and get people to pay attention to you and your work.
A way to strengthen that reputation you need to develop is to show that
you're relatable. That you understand the problems, your audience is
experiencing. You need to show that you get it.
When you get yourself out there and allow people to relate to you, you
open up the gates to growing your audience. Telling the stories you've
learned from alongside the services or products you offer is super
powerful and makes people pay attention.
To find these reputation-building stories, you can tell, ask yourself some
of the following questions:
By getting this information out into the world you are not just showing
your willingness to help, but that you're decisive enough to have taken
action (the action the people in your audience hope to make
themselves). So share openly and often, to allow others to see their own
journey in yours and be inspired.
2: Keep It Focused
You've made your choice on what you're offering and learned how you
can build a reputation with an audience that could provide your income
in the future. Now you've got that foundation in place you've got to make
sure you stay on track and follow through on your plans.
You get started on a project, and you're super excited. You work every
hour you can trying to push it forward. You make the scope yourself and
execute it in your own way. But then you start to get the first thoughts and
feedback; the real work begins, and you eventually wish you were working
on something else, or you give up.
As time goes on in a project, you learn more about what exactly it is that
needs to be done to succeed. That growth in knowledge comes with a
price though: Your energy will wane the longer you push down a path. This
might seem disheartening, but it's something you need to know.
But there's good news, you can plan for that dip to make it through.
Since this falloff usually comes from a lack of planning and focus, you
can remedy it by charting the exact steps you need to take. It's then just a
case of pushing through one at a time as often as you can.
3: MAKE SYSTEMS
When you first have an idea, you get a massive drive to dive down the
hole into doing a big push on the work. Blindly jumping without thinking of
the consequences. What happens when you take this leap and don't plan
is things end up getting complicated very quickly, we get bored or stuck,
and you know what happens? We give up. There's a way to preempt this
failure, though. It all comes from planning and systems. By showing up
every day and working on your goals, in any way possible; you build
momentum. You pile up small wins that get you towards those more
meaningful goals.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 22
Once you identify a goal, it's not time to dive in. It's time to plan. Let's
look at a few examples of how you can break down bigger goals into
smaller, actionable habits you can take every day:
When you're planning your habits, avoid things that don't directly tie into
the ultimate goal you're working towards: Working remotely for yourself
and making a living doing what you love. Keep your habits simple and
easy too. They should be able to be completed in less than an hour and
slotted in around existing commitments. Sometimes this comes with the
benefit of you getting multiple days worth of work done in an evening will
pop up. But you keep the habits small so that even when you're
struggling, you can still keep your momentum.
That momentum you build will be the drive that keeps you showing up
every single day.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 23
At the end of the day, all money is made by solving problems. So give
away how you solve the problems you run into, and others will flock to you
in hopes they too can use your solutions for themselves.
5: Become Relentless
Speaking of regularity, that's the reason we break down our goals into
things we can continuously be taking action on. A key element of your
success is regularly sharing and creating for that audience you're
building (the one that will pay your bills). So make sure what you're
working on is essential and enjoyable enough to you and your audience
for you to constantly WANT to work on it. This is how you will make a living
remotely online. By solving problems, enjoying doing so, and then sharing
how you did it as often as you can. And if the content, services or
products you're providing are something you give a shit about, you'll
always be willing to go that extra mile and show up every single day to
get the work done.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 24
PART III
TIME TO
GET TO
WORK
!
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 25
Finalising Your
Offering
By now, you should have taken the time to work out what it is you can
offer; and made a decision on the kind of stuff you'll be putting out into
the wilds of the internet along with who it's for. You've also learned that
good offerings are important to you and to others and are something
that you can make money from in some way. Cool.
- Courses
- eBooks
- Physical Items
- Coaching
- Productised Consulting
There are definitely more, but these are usually the most common. You'll
be able to find examples all over the internet of existing products that
others offer. Probably even some on the idea you have in mind right now.
Some people would see this as disheartening. That another has already
"beat them" to an idea. But the truth is the opposite, these others validate
that it's possible. In today's world, there's a market for everything. You've
just got to find the people you can help and show them the value you can
provide. And in a world of billions, your offering will speak to someone.
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 26
Finding Your
First Customer
You know what you're offering and who it's for. Now it's time to hunt down
those you can help and get them to become a part of your network.
Once again, it all comes down to providing value and solving problems. A
portion of your regular routine should be to promote your work (blog
posts, etc.) in the places your customers spend time (usually a social
network of some kind), and to answer any questions you can to help out
for free.
This takes time and a commitment to showing up over and over again.
But keep at it, and you'll see results in the form of people willing to spend
money for your time or products.
To get extra content, run a weekly log post on your blog and newsletter.
These will allow people to understand more about what makes you tick
and what you're working on. The newsletter is extraordinarily powerful. It
gives you a direct line into someone's inbox, and the people who sign up
have been willing to share their email address with you. A big step on the
modern internet.
Most importantly, though, is that you improve and iterate with each cycle
through building and releasing content, promoting it, and trying to get
clients and customers. You've always got to be running down (and
sharing) your endless journey of improvement.
THANK YOU
REMOTE FOUNDATIONS 29
In Closing
✌
Thanks for reading and for joining up to the newsletter. Stick around for
more lessons coming soon.
I wish you the best of luck on your journey. Think back to earlier when you
thought ahead to a time you'd achieved your goals. That is why you're
doing this. To achieve that dream of making a living remotely. To get that
freedom you seek.
Go get it!
Jamie Syke
@jamiesyke