This first launch week of ours was quite enthralling here at Untemplater. We’ve worked hard over the past few months to deliver Untemplater.com, and your excitement about the launch of this site makes us all feel really warm and fuzzy inside.
But this is just the beginning. You’ll be seeing some great posts from our talented writers, interviews, and more giveaways! We have lots in store for you all, so make sure you check back here and stay connected with us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for our newsletter and subscribe to our RSS feed. We want to know what YOU look forward to seeing at Untemplater!
Here at Untemplater we focus on four categories: Business, Mobile Lifestyle, Personal Finance, and Self Improvement. What do you think about these four categories? Is there a particular topic that you find extremely interesting and would like us to highlight more? Is there any topic or issue that you’ve encountered that you would like us to address in any of these categories? What do you envision for the future of Untemplater?
Hey guys!
I know this is late in the game, but I’ve been going through all of your older posts to make notes and catch up on what’s been going on.
I would love to learn more about how we can interact with one another and really expand on the learning element of untemplater. Can we have a case-study group? Find ten or so almost college grads (I graduate May 2011) and watch their step by step process of living the untemplater lifestyle.
Hey guys, I’m really digging the the entire Untemplater site. I feel that if I were to build a site with a group of people it would be really similar to this. The appeal to twenty-somethings is what first drew me here and it’s my favorite part about this site. I think it’s something that really sets you guys apart from other “financial, life improvement” sites.
I am a student and I think that it would be really cool to see more topics aimed at the student population.
And I really like Lauren’s idea, in the post a spot or two above mine, about hearing more of how the authors live. This sounds really interesting.
Thanks,
Collin
I love the site design and the content. The only thing is, I feel like this is geared towards gen y college grads, and those with degrees.
What does all this business talk mean to someone with only a high school diploma, or better yet someone that dropped out of high school? What about people that aren’t interested in business?
I hear a lot about lifestyle design and the joys of being location independent but not enough on how to create that income stream or how to get that job. It seems like a lot of the people that are living the location independent lifestyle have been at their niche for years. For example, I was just checking out colin’s site. This guy has a long history and a large amount of experience, almost everyone of you do, or graduated from school.
So a foundational question I think that needs to be answered is what is basic to this type of life? A degree, skills that will land you a freelance gig, web design skills? Because that’s all I’m reading about.
I would really like more information about how the creators of the site actually live. I love the idea of doing something different and not being a part of the 9-5 world, but don’t have any idea of how it actually works. As a married person with a mortgage who wants to have children relatively soon, I don’t know how people do it. I just have basic questions about health insurance, paying the rent/mortgage, saving for emergencies/cars/just a rainy day. etc…. I just would like some practicle information about how the bills actually get paid. (I sound so old, but I swear I’m only 30!)
I suppose this is where I am supposed to have some helpful suggestion or something similar, but I think everyone has already made some great ones. Instead I just wanted to say what a fantastic launch week this was, and that’s coming from one who has been involved in quite a few similar launches — this one went off without a hitch and I am really excited to see how things develop in the future.
If I had any additional comments it would be to listen to the minor design suggestions that have been offered up. A couple people have told me that the post organization is a bit confusing.
All in all, brilliant job to everyone involved and thank you to everyone who is reading.
I am really excited about this website! I’m 25 and currently working on breaking free from the 9-5 so this is perfect for me. I think what I would most like to see here is practical financial advice. For many people I think that getting out of debt and saving enough to fund their passions is the biggest hurdle to living the way they want.
Hey Steph, a lot of people have mentioned step-by-step guides for needed topics. I am working on the “start a company” topic, and other founders will write guides for “mobility” and “getting out of debt”.
Our goal is of course to help you step-by-step through the process. Be on the lookout for the guide you’re seeking.
Awesome theme for you site btw! Cody does some great work 🙂
In the business section it would be nice to see examples of what it takes and what people can do to Untemplater the business itself. Looking forward to reading more great stuff
Check out my Young Successful Entrepreneur Series. I will go over all of this.
For now, you can follow it here: http://untemplater.com/author/jun/
I would like to read more about Untemplating lifestyle for people older then 30. Sometimes i feel it’s sold as something for young people and that would make it something fashionable, i prefer it to be more a lasting and growing trend!
I hear you. I’m turning 30 this year, and I feel the same way! We’ll be doing all we can to focus on things that are age-inclusive as possible. Considering both Baker and I are married with kids, we’ve got some more ‘adult’ experiences to share.
The four categories are pretty inclusive of most things I would expect from this site. As for specific topics, here are some random thoughts that I’m dealing with personally…
Business – Implications of earning a living while living abroad
Mobile LIfestyle – Insurance for the self-employed wanderer
Personal Finance – Making the leap while still having student loans
Self Improvement – Where do you start if you’ve never focused IN
Great suggestions Ben!
We’ll get this all covered in upcoming posts.
Awesome! Looking forward to the info. Thanks Jun!
I’m with the people who’ve mentioned steps & muses — I’d love to build my own business, but I have NO idea how to do it or how to even figure out what would be a good fit for me. I am TOTALLY clueless, and I’d love the chance to read some things that may make it click for me. 🙂 (I’m waiting for my aha moment, not just a brilliant one, but ANY one…)
Maybe some freelance stuff? Like best ways to get started or just things like that. There’s so much for a newbie freelancer to try and figure out that it’s kinda overwhelming…
Most of all, can you get some people to write about their lives that span across a really broad spectrum? I like the entrepreneurship stuff and the mobile lifestyle things, but how about people who just have really unusual hobbies? (I mean, I’d totally write you guys up something to show you what I mean… “Racing cars” isn’t something you hear everyday, I don’t think, and that might show what I’m trying to get at better.) Especially off-the-wall ones or expensive ones, things that require different lifestyles.
Other than that, as long as it stays motivating and shows some passion, I think I’m really gonna like it here. 🙂
Meg, we’ve received A LOT of feedback about “muses” and we are definitely listening. The team and I are already chatting about a series that highlights this.
All of the founding members and a lot of our authors have done freelance work. We can definitely help you get started with this.
“unusual hobbies” is a neat topic. Unfortunately, this may be a little outside the scope of Untemplater. Great suggestion though!
Just started reading your blog and I love it!
I’d like to see….
…some focus on business development (including suggestions) that are similar to the approach Tim Ferris took with BrainQuicken.
David Damron
LifeExcursion
Hey Dave,
Do you mean “how to sell a product?”
I’ll talk with my team about doing a “selling techniques” series, that will be comprehensive of selling products online to selling products in a physical meeting.
Hi Guys
The site looks great and I love the idea of mixing business, your passion and giving.
Creating a business from interests and hobbies is something I would like to see featured.
I also really like Yongho Shin’s idea on creating information products.
Life is too short to build a business around something that you aren’t passionate about!!!
Cheers Adam
Hey Adam, I know that there are a lot of people talking about monetizing your passion. This is actually what the 3rd post in my series is about which you will see in two weeks.
In my honest opinion, the best entrepreneurs solve a pain and our passionate about the process. More to come my friend…
–
I will speak to my team about the “muse” topic. I will make sure this topic is addressed and featured on Untemplater
I didn’t realize I’d stumbled on your first week! Great start! I really like the posts in the business section, and I know the people you have in the mobile lifestyle will do a great job.
I’d love to see a series on getting started untemplating yourself – sometimes the steps seem so obvious, but difficult at the same time. 🙂
A minor comment on the site – adblock plus is blocking your email sign-up for me. I haven’t seen that on many other sites.
Thanks for the feedback Beth. Norcross will get the Adblock bug fixed
“Getting started untemplating yourself”
That’s a great idea Beth! I will speak to our Content Director, Carlos Miceli, about getting this topic on our site!
Since this is a new site, I’d like to give some feedback on design. Love the logo and the Featured posts on top.
I feel the middle section with the categories is a little large. I just don’t see why “Business… Mobile LIfestyle… etc…” have to cover the entire width and be so bulky. It just makes the whole top section feel too large for me, and it prevents me from reading the first blog post w/o scrolling down.
I love the content, but I feel like there is TOO much to read. Again, this may just go back to the layout of the design because everything just looks so large. Since this is a group blog, why don’t you try to make the images on your posts similar to mahable.com? The site will then NOT feel so large and like there is SO MUCH content to read.
Let me reiterate: I love the content, so please don’t stop giving it to me 🙂
I can ramble on and on but I think I’ll stop here.
You guys have inspired me to finally start my own blog 🙂
Stacey,
That’s awesome, you should definitely start your own blog! Also, thanks for the design feedback. You are not alone in some of the things you mentioned and we are cleaning house next week to improve the usability and layout of the site.
Thanks for the comment!
I have a question for Monica actually:
How did you write a book at such a young age? Actually, even before that question, how did you have the capital to do it on your own?
To get a little more personal: Do authors make a lot of money? I guess “a lot” is subjective, but I want to know if the time invested is worth the money, or if there are other tangible benefits to writing a book.
Have you met more people because of it?
David,
Wow, great questions! There is so much ground to cover here that a comment response couldn’t really do this topic justice. I will be putting together a document (likely ebook size due to the number of questions I’ve gotten) in the near future that covers the topic extensively, and I’ll write a post about it on Untemplater when the document is done.
I’m really glad to see many familiar faces on the Untemplater team, and I know this website is going to be awesome. I’m definitely going to be reading your articles.
I would really like to see more of creating muses (how to start an online business selling information products). I feel that this is step #1 that most people struggle to grasp.
Thanks for the feedback. Creating a muse, or how to sell an information product online, is definitely a highly talked about topic online. Tim’s 4 hour work week pretty much goes into specific detail about this.
I can tell you right now that the series I am writing on Untemplater has nothing to do with building a “muse,” it’s about building a full fledged internet startup: solve a pain, build a team, build the product, get funding, generate revenue, etc…
I will talk to my team about focusing a section of our content on building a muse. Our goal is to give you actionable content that helps you take the first step in the direction that you want to take.
Be on the look out Yongho