Mark Manson
Medellin, AT
Male, 28
I am a professional blogger, internet entrepreneur, and world traveler. I've been to over 40 countries and am currently working on my second book about long-term travel and how to work/live abroad. On my blog I write about self development and creating a unique lifestyle for yourself. Feel free to ask me anything.
I have a TXT file where I keep a list of blog post ideas. I update it regularly whenever something occurs to me. Then, when I want to write something, I refer to it. I do spontaneously write posts as well though. I would say that maybe 25% of my posts I come up with on the spot and the other 75% are taken from my list of ideas. And yes, I do hold back on some material if I know I want it to specifically be for in a book or product. Although sometimes I also write an article about a topic knowing that I will use that article in a product or book. I would say about 20% of my books end up being adapted and expanded blog articles
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I actually came up with the idea for it months ago. I knew that it probably had some strong viral potential and I was still organizing some of my on-site branding, so I put it on the back-burner for a while. Then in early July, an article I wrote about India went viral and got a lot of attention. With it came a lot of angry Indian commenters (the article was decidedly negative), and a number of them criticized the US or made the assumption that I thought the US was somehow superior. So in an effort to engage these new readers and keep them around I decided to dig up the America article idea and write it up. I wrote it in a few hours the night before, edited it again the morning of and put it up. I expected it to get viral attention but I never fathomed it was going to blow up to the degree that it did. Not only did it go viral, but it went mega-viral. I had people from high school and college, friends of friends, emailing me telling me it popped up on their facebook. There were a handful of occasions after posting it where I met someone new and it turned out they had read it. It was pretty insane. Surprisingly, not as much changed as I thought or hoped while it was happening. 99% of the traffic didn't stick long-term, which I suppose is to be expected. Sales didn't jump up much either, which I suppose is also to be expected. It did open up some mainstream writing opportunities though, which is awesome. What it did show me was it gave me a lot of information on what is valuable on my business and what isn't. It showed me that more traffic by itself doesn't solve very much. It showed me that writing an amazing post and writing my ass off is the best marketing tool I have. It also showed me the (f)utility of blog comments and how much negative feedback I can handle until I start to lose it a little bit.
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My two biggest blog influences are Bill Simmons and Andrew Sullivan. Simmons is a sportswriter and Sullivan is blogs about politics. I have read almost every word they've both written for almost 10 years now. From Simmons, I love the audacity of his long-form pieces, especially in this day and age of short attention spans. His angles, humor and casual tone are so good though that he always keeps you hooked to the end. It's very, very rare that I don't finish his articles in one sitting. It's amazing that he's the most popular sportswriter in the US and he regular puts out 3,000-5,000 word columns when most of his contemporaries are churning out 800-word pieces of fluff. I love that and try to do the same thing for my industry. I admire Sullivan's absolutely unrelenting honesty and unwillingness to compromise his search for the truth. Unlike most political writers, he almost never succumbs to cheap shots or propoganda. He writes serious pieces that make you think while still making them relatable and very human. He's also lived a very interesting life (gay, HIV-positive, immigrant) and is very open about who he is and where he comes from. Incredibly smart as well. Lately Tim Ferriss has become a bit of an influence, but more from a marketing perspective. I think his headlines are brilliant. His content is very hit and miss for me.
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I was terrified to quit my day job and I questioned myself every day. I just burned the boats and couldn't turn back. Turning back was never an option for me. I was going to have to be broke and homeless with my mother about to throw me out of her house for me to turn back to a day job. I was all-in from the get-go. That said, I had MANY sleepless nights from 2008 thru 2009. I think it comes with the territory. I wrote about my experiences here: http://postmasculine.com/kill-your-day-job
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Audiologist
Are earbuds dangerous for my ears?
Antiques Dealer
What's the most profit you've ever made from a single item?
Rap Promoter / Manager
Do rappers ever stage beefs with each other as a PR stunt?
Depends on the food.
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As far as I'm concerned, two consenting adults can have whatever type of relationship they agree to. I have nothing against it.
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People always hate me when I answer this. I wrote "Models" (349 pages) in six weeks, and took another month or so to edit it, and release it. When writing it, I aimed for 3,000 words per day but often exceeded it by quite a bit. On really, really good days, I've written as much as 10,000 words in a single day. But I'm a bit of a freak. I've learned from other writers and bloggers that I write very quickly. It's something you practice and work up to. Back in 2008, I wrote a small 100-page ebook on dating to sell to some people, and that actually took me closer to three months. So these things, like anything, come with practice. I did not get an editor. I didn't have the extra money for it at the time, and honestly the book suffered for it. Lot of typos and errors when it came out. Took a couple months to fix all of them. Taught me that self-editing is very hard. No matter how many times you read your own stuff, something still squeaks through.
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