I’ve had 4 months to use my 13″ Macbook Air (2nd Generation) and I must say that I’m glad I made the switch. I’ve been a PC fanboy for as long as I can remember because I was a gamer and also because 12 years ago in middle school I was forced to use those original colored iMacs (they sucked). First I got an iPhone last year and now I have a Macbook Air… no hard feelings Apple, right?

I hate you.

I love you.

The Macbook Air 13″ has a beautiful 1440×900 pixel screen which is higher resolution than most PCs have. More screen resolution = more visible on your screen and higher productivity (according to this Microsoft study). I haven’t really missed the 15″ screen and for me the lower weight and size is worth it.

Speaking of weight, the Macbook Air is super light at just 3lbs. The small size has allowed me to eliminate carrying a separate laptop bag and now I can carry my laptop and all my other stuff in just my backpack.

Battery life is one area where the Macbook Air could use some improvement. Because I tend to have a lot of applications and tabs open at once, my battery life is usually around 4 hours which is decent but not spectacular.

The Macbook Air is fast enough to handle most work with ease like internet, spreadsheets, Skype, etc. Although I have noticed some slowdown when having lots of programs open and like 50+ tabs in 3 different browsers, but I probably shouldn’t have all that opened at once anyways. I got the 128GB version which is enough storage for me since I don’t have lots of movies or other big files.

There are a lot of small details that help with productivity. I really like the backlit keyboard which makes working at night way easier. Also the Macbook Air is very fast to startup and wakeup from standby. I rarely turn off my laptop and so this is super useful. If I have to stop working I just close the laptop lid, and when I open it again I am instantly right back where I was. Also the “spaces” feature allows you to have multiple desktop screens that you can quickly switch between. I can have a separate desktop for my own stuff and a separate desktop for the project I am currently working on.

The thing that surprised me the most is the touchpad. I used to HATE using laptop touchpads and always carried around an external mouse. As much as I loved the flip open Microsoft Arc Touch mouse from my Gear Post last year, I haven’t used it in months. The Macbook Air touchpad is so good, I don’t need a mouse.

It took me some time to get used to the Mac interface but I really feel like I have a more productive setup than I did on the PC. If you want to run your business from your laptop while travelling the world, the Macbook Air 13″ is a solid choice.

Next week I will post my favorite Free Mac Apps that help boost productivity.

Would you kick yourself if something as simple as changing the size of your Add To Cart button increased your online revenue by 10%?

Even though online business owners know that split testing can greatly increase their online revenue…  many still don’t do it.

There are so many things that you could be testing like headlines, body text, layouts, colors, menus… it can get overwhelming really quick.

So where do you start?

Buttons.

 VS. 

Which do you want to click on?

Something as deceptively simple as changing the size and color of your Call To Action button can have a significant impact on your bottom line.

Studies have shown that, in general, the bigger and brighter your Call To Action button… the more conversions you will get.

And yet still there are so many dull and boring buttons out there.

So how do I get awesome buttons that people want to click on?

1. DaButtonFactory is a free online tool that will generate button images for you quickly. It has nice templates and an easy interface so there is no need to bust out the Photoshop. It takes literally 30 seconds to make a button and get it on your site. I especially like the Ubuntu button template and Twitter button template. Make sure to test out different variations of the button text like “Sign Up Now” vs. “Sign Up For Free”.

2. The “Belcher Button“ is the de facto standard button of internet marketing that you have probably seen in one variation or another. It may seem a bit obnoxious, but the statistics show that it does work very well, especially for long sales letters. Perry Belcher found this button had 35% to 320% higher conversions than any other button. The two best Belcher Button Generators online are this Flash Belcher Button Creator With Rollover Effects and this JPG Belcher Button Creator.

So how can I test these on my site and track the results?

Optimizely is an online tool that makes split testing super easy. I’ve used it extensively for the Tropical MBA and my other clients’ businesses and I love the visual interface that allows you to drag and drop and make changes directly to your webpage. It’s so easy that you can set up a split test in under 5 minutes without needing any technical knowledge. And you can try Optimizely free for 30 days.

You can also use Google Website Optimizer to conduct your split test, but you will have to manually create the different page variations and get them set up yourself.

How do I know it will work for me?

It is important to remember that even though a certain type of button has shown to work well for other online businesses, it may not necessarily work for you. Don’t take my word for it. Test it yourself with Optimizely.

Also, there are lots of factors that influence the decision of someone to buy your product or sign up. That’s why it is important to regulary split test your website, especially your “money pages” (the ones bringing you the most signups / sales). If you aren’t split testing then you are leaving money on the table.

By split testing one “money page” for a Tropical MBA niche business I increased Add To Cart clicks by 33%. If you don’t have the time or inclination to regularly split test and optimize your “money pages” I can Increase Your Conversions for you.

Has it really been one year already?

One year ago today, I landed in Bali for the Tropical MBA Semester #3.

I am amazed at how quickly my life has moved in the past year:

• hung out with Dan and David in Bali – May
• volunteered for 2 weeks in the Philippines – June
• went to the first ever Dynamite Circle meet up in Puerto Gallera - June
• lived in Davao and fell in love – July
• saw amazing waterfalls – Aug
• went on boat adventures – Sept
• visited Singapore and Malaysia – Nov

When I went home to visit Pennsylvania in December, things were more or less the same as when I left. However, I had changed dramatically.

“If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, travel is a dangerous (but seductive) choice” – Dan A.

I sure had a blast going on travel adventures in 2011, but it wasn’t long before I realized that it was unsustainable in the long-term. If I wanted to make my location independent lifestyle last I needed to make some big changes.

When I returned to the Philippines in January until now I have made a concerted effort to baseline – cutting my expenses and distractions by moving to Tagum City with my girlfriend (about 1.5 hours outside Davao City).

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that building a lifestyle business is easy.

If you aren’t willing to sacrifice and put in a lot of hard work up front to build a solid base to support your lifestyle, it won’t be long before you end up like most backpackers who have to go home to work.

Sometimes you have to work on a Saturday night to meet a deadline for a client. Get used to it.

And in order to complete your work, you will have to put up with a lot of bullshit and distractions that you might not have back home including (but not limited to): power outages, parties, slow wifi, time zone differences, and landlords refusing to refund your apartment deposit because they stole it and never gave it to the owner.

3rd world countries don’t always operate smoothly. Get used to it.

It’s easy to get frustrated when you are grinding work out day by day and lose sight of the bigger picture. But you have to remember that…

“Shit takes forever” – Ian S.

Finally now I am starting to see real results from the concentrated effort to build up my consulting work on the side for Adwords and Conversion Optimization. I’ve gotten several one-off projects, but now I’m trying to build up longer term relationships with my clients.

Sidenote: Check out my Conversion Optimization and Adwords Management services on the awesome
Tropical Workforce Job Site.

And actually if you count since I started my first online business in April 2010 (which got me sued)… I’ve been hacking at this online business / location independence thing for 2 years… and now I finally feel like it’s almost sustainable.

Its been 730 Days since I started. Sounds like I’m right on track for my 1000 Days.

So what’s in store for the next year?

Tropical MBA Businesses – I want to help take them to the next level. Despite a setback from the latest Google update, I am really pumped about what we can do this year to break $2 million in annual revenue.

Travel – I am not expecting to travel as much this year, but I want to visit Vietnam and Cambodia. I also want to head to Bangkok, Thailand in October for the Dynamite Circle meetup. Dropping by Bali at some point would be great if possible.

Personal Finances – If I want the freedom to invest in new businesses and travel more, than I first need to get my financial house in order. Eliminate my credit card debt and build up $10k in savings.

Freelance – I enjoy doing Conversion Optimization work and get great results for my clients so I want to build longer term relationships that lead to $1500 per month in recurring revenue.

This Blog – I’ve neglected the blog while keeping my head down to work hard, but I want to get more involved again and post once a week. I also want to reach out to other bloggers and have at least 5 guest posts and create a free 7 day crash course to building a 4hww muse business.

—

If you had asked me when I landed in Bali a year ago what I thought would happen over the next year – I couldn’t have predicted 90% of it.

I know my life will change again over this next year in ways I don’t expect – but the persistence to follow my dreams remains the same through the ups and downs.

I know I am moving in the right direction, and although I’m not quite there yet… success is inevitable.