The 9 to 5 Alternative

Happy Monday, folks.

This is me jumping over some chairs a few years ago. And no, I’m not wearing any pants.

I hope your week (and month of March) is going well. Wanted to take this opportunity to update you on this month’s challenge, lay out a few mini-goals for the last week of the month and tell you about an exciting trip I recently returned from.

Parkour Theory

March, unfortunately, is not a Parkour-friendly month in Boston. I’ve spent most of my time reading about the sport/discipline/philosophy, watching movie clips, taking notes and scouting out locations, basically biding my time until the weather becomes more agreeable. At the end of the month, I will upload a short video clip that highlights what I’ve learned.

Parkour is a sport of efficiency, where traceurs navigate urban obstacles using only their bodies. Neophytes tend to focus on a particular set of moves/skills before linking them together in longer, more fluid sessions. A good resource for beginners can be found here: The Definitive Guide to Parkour for Beginners

Below are a few of the individual elements I’ve been working on:

The Precision Jump

Landing and Rolling

The Kong Vault

The Wall-Run

Care to join me? I know Josh Crocker and Joel Runyon have expressed interest. Let me know if you would like to contribute.

Technical Difficulties

Some of you have probably noticed a few issues over the last month. Unfinished posts. Delayed email updates. Blank pages and garbled text.

Here at The 9 to 5 Alternative HQ, things don’t always go as smoothly as I’d like them to. While I try hard to keep this blog nice and orderly, from time to time I let operations go a muck. Thanks for baring with me, folks!

Mt. Shasta, Avalanches and Winter Camping

A couple of weeks ago, I flew out to California with my brother to attempt a winter summit of Mt. Shasta, a 14,179 ft. volcanic peak near the Oregon border. While I’ve been fortunate enough to reach the summit twice during the summer months, I was itching for winter camping experience. My brother and I crashed with a former coworker of mine in San Francisco who joined us for the climb.

Avalanche conditions and impending 90 mph wind gusts held us to about 8,500 ft., but it was a fantastic weekend. We learned a lot about winter camping, gained mountain confidence, and I had the chance to snap a few photographs.

Buenos Aires is a stunning city, rich in colonial and political history, chock-full of trendy art and fashion and baked empanadas. Its cheap wine and funky atmosphere are two of many reasons why its one of the most relaxed and hip metropolitan areas in the world. I was fortunate enough to spend my time romping around the city with a handful of friends. Some were from home and traveling along. Some were living temporarily as expatriates. Some were new friends, ones I met along the way. Below are a few images from my trip.

In the Retiro district, the British Clock Tower stands tall. Retiro is known for its high-end residences, transportation terminals and five-star hotels. This tower was a gift from the local British community and was inaugurated in 1916.

One morning, I had a meeting in Recoleta. With a healthy dose of green space, stylish statues and plazas and luxurious apartments, Recoleta is another popular district for the affluent. It’s famous for its cemetery, which caught the corner of my eye during the meeting. Before I headed back to the hotel to write up my report, I walked over to explore. The Recoleta Cemetery houses some of Argentina’s most iconic figures—Eva Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, and several former presidents. I really enjoyed the layout. It was eerie and symmetrical and architecturally stunning. I wasn’t looking for anything specific. Caffeine was seeping through my veins, and I needed to let the mind wander. I walked around a lot. I took pictures and turned corners. I found a textual summary of the cemetery’s history and read about neo-classical gates, the monks of the Order of the Recoletos and a nineteenth-century yellow fever epidemic. The cemetery contains space for 4800 ground-level vaults. The Facultad de Derecho, or School of Law, at the University of Buenos Aires. It was under construction, but that didn’t stop some friends from sprinting up its steps. The University of Buenos Aires is Argentina’s largest educational institution, and one of Latin America’s most prestigious. In La Boca district, the Boca Juniors are one of the Argentina’s most successful sports clubs. The day before I left for Uruguay, I was fortunate enough to catch a soccer game. At the end of the game, stadium officials (and local police) facilitated traffic by staggering our exits. Across the stadium are a compact section of Boca Juniors fans, disparaged from the 4-1 loss. The rest of the stadium is empty, but the Boca Juniors fans have not yet been authorized to leave. At Cabañas en las islas, I indulged in the most toothsome rib-eye of my life. It literally, I mean literally, fell apart in my mouth. Argentina, where steaks are an art form, has the highest per capita meat consumption in the world. With its fertile grasses and ideal climate, no hormone shots or special feeds are necessary. The meat is naturally divine. El Ataneo Grand Splendid is one of the most well-known bookstores in Buenos Aires. As you might be able to tell from the photograph, it originally opened as a theater in 1919. Eventually, the seating capacity of 1,050 gave way to bookshelves. Where the stage once was, an elegant café serves up gourmet coffee and pastries. While I only had a few days in Buenos Aires, I enjoyed my initial impressions, enough to warrant future trips. Anyone care to join me? On Friday, stay tuned for an update from Uruguay. Hope you enjoyed!

March! Two months–and challenges–complete, ten to go.

In February, I set out to write one thousand words a day. A lofty regimen and healthy challenge for someone who normally doesn’t write that much.

I ended the month in the same way I started the month, by free writing. For about twenty minutes, I typed out the first thing that came to me, regardless of grammar, style, inhibition or spelling. Regardless of how ridiculous or incoherent it sounded in my head.

Free writing is more about the act of writing than anything else. It’s about letting the mind wander into new territories. It’s about letting go. Yesterday, just after I had written my final words of the month (something about Steve Jobs, chickens and the rumba), I made a note to try free writing more often. It’s a great way to start the day.

With two challenges under the belt, it’s time to step things up a notch. In March, I will study and practice the sport/philosophy of parkour.

From the Wikipedia page:

Parkour is a utilitarian discipline based upon the successful, swift and energy-efficient traversing of one’s surrounding environment via the practical application of techniques, based around the concept of self-preservation and the ability to help others. It is a non-competitive, physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, using only their bodies. Skills such as jumping, climbing, vaulting, rolling, swinging and wall scaling are employed. Parkour can be practiced anywhere, but areas dense with obstacles are preferable, and it is most commonly practiced in urban areas. The usage and employment of flips into the named route does not constitute parkour.

The main characteristics of parkour are speed and efficiency, both which require physical prowess, spatial awareness and, of utmost importance, the ability to minimize short and long-term injuries.

I’ll be taking the month of March to learn about parkour, to practice some moves, to post hilarious videos of my trying aforementioned moves and, of course, to have fun.

As always, if any of you are interested in participating with me, please get in touch!

Happy goal-setting / challenge-crushing. I’ll check in soon.

What a trip, folks.

I recently returned from a cost-of-living assignment in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. I was gone for a little under a month and visited five different cities, São Paulo, Manaus, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. It was my first time traveling in this part of the world, and I had a whopping fun time.

In this first of three travel updates this week, I’ll highlight some of my favorite experiences in Brazil. I’ve been trying to take more images while traveling, so I’ll be focusing these three updates around photography.

São Paulo

São Paulo, the world’s seventh largest metropolitan area, is fast-paced, noisy, graffiti-splotched, chock-full of Japanese restaurants and teeming with the vibrancy of a modern, urban Brazil. This is a view from my hotel room, just off of Avenida Faria Lima.

In the early twentieth century, Italian immigrants established a presence in the south and southeast of Brazil. One of their many influences is mortadela, a heat-cured cold cut made from finely hashed pork sausage, deftly spiced and often eaten for lunch.

Manaus

Some of the more popular soft drinks in Brazil are guaraná-flavoured. Guaraná is a climbing plant, native to the Amazonian Basin. Its fruit contains twice the amount of caffeine found in coffee beans. This particular brand of fizz, Baré is only available in Manaus.

Just down the hill from the Hotel Tropical, Manaus’ Negro River feeds into the Amazon River. Many people use Manaus as a launch pad for Amazonian tourism—fishing trips, tree climbing, jungle lodging and the like.

The Teatro Amazonas is a replica of the Palais Garnier (or Grand Opera House) in Paris. It was built in the late nineteenth century during the rubber boom, constructed with European resources—steel walls from England, furniture from Paris and roofing from Alsace.

Rio de Janeiro

Ipanema Beach, the sexiest in the world, home to bossa nova, clean surf and teeny bikinis. Because I got to Rio de Janeiro so early in the day, I was able to catch the last few minutes of a Friday sunrise.

Paulinho, my driver and tour guide for the day. If anybody is looking for an apartment to rent in Rio de Janeiro—for the 2014 World Cup, for the 2016 Olmpics, for a few nights in one of the world’s most beautiful cities—Paulinho promises to offer a great rate.

Sugar Loaf mountain presents panoramic views of what locals call the marvelous city. It can be accessed by cable car and is about 5 miles from Copacabana Beach.

Helicopter tours of Rio de Janeiro are a popular way to see the city, its beaches and favellas, or slums. This image was also snapped from Sugar Loaf. In the distance, Christ the Redeemer.

Tourists atop Sugar Loaf take in a scenic view of Copacabana Beach, one of the world’s most famous stretches of sand.

Christ the Redeemer, made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, stands 130 feet tall and is considered the second largest Art Deco statue in the world. It was constructed in the earlier twentieth century and stands as an iconic watchdog over Rio de Janeiro.

Another view of Christ the Redeemer. Due to its position over the city, the statue endures strong winds and rain and must frequently be restored.

Alright folks, hope you enjoyed. On Wednesday, a similar update from Buenos Aires.

Case Studies in the 9 to 5 alternative: No. 8

Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, drop me a line.

Meet David Bixler. He’s traveled a bit. He lives in Washington D.C. and runs his own company. He likes to jump on trampolines. He’s intelligent, relaxed and waxes philosophical on small businesses and customer loyalty. David’s a cool guy.

I met David a couple of months ago, when he came to visit my roommate and crashed on our couch for a few nights. We fended off mice, walked around Boston and sampled some of our favorite microbrews. When we weren’t playing video games or cards, we chatted about entrepreneurship.

After graduating college, David mingled with a start-up company in D.C. and licensed their software, effectively launching his own customer loyalty company. I had fun probing him for details.

So, tell us about your company, Client Rocket.

The old elevator pitch, huh? Client Rocket is an API driven loyalty platform for businesses, organizations, and entrepreneurs. So if you’re not a techie like me, Client Rocket allows any business to operate and manage their own in-house points, loyalty, or rewards program powered by a web-based technology. My loyalty philosophy is the more you give, the more you have to give. It may sound counter-intuitive, but studies have proven that 20% of customers can account for 80% of a business’ profit. Treat these customers well and they will reward you with a stream of profits and praise. Since loyalty is confusing, we help clients conceive of the right solution for their specific business while fulfilling the need for marketing materials like those awesome plastic cards you get at your grocery store. If it pertains to loyalty, we’ve got it covered.

Client solutions are just one side of the business. Lately I’ve been fascinated with what entrepreneurs are doing with our platform. Loyalty takes many forms, and entrepreneurs around the world are creating stand-alone businesses based on our platform.

Where did the idea come from? How did you originally get things off the ground?

Most people laugh when I explain this, but the idea for ClientRocket actually originated from my intelligent, wonderful, amazing mother. I come from an entrepreneurial family, and right after I graduated from college I was looking for a fun Internet project instead of getting one of those “real world” jobs. At the time, my mother was launching a rewards program for local home builders to earn points for shopping at local suppliers like local lumber, flooring, plumbing, and hardware companies in effort to compete with the national Lowe’s and Home Depots. The web-based software she found to track all this was provided by a startup company based in Washington DC called StickyStreet.com. I thought her idea was brilliant but surely there had to be other applications for this loyalty-centered business model.

Turns out, StickyStreet was about to change their business model to license their technology only to resellers that understand the concepts of loyalty. I was at the right place at the right time so I jumped on this opportunity, drove up to Washington DC, took their 3-day loyalty immersion course and have been obsessed with loyalty ever since.

StickyStreet helped me pick the name ClientRocket and launch a website but I already had my first client lined up back home. It was a big name Spa franchise that was missing the loyalty functionality from their pre-approved corporate software. They had no way of rewarding frequent customers. Luckily, my new gig provided the solution so I spent some time with the owners and listened to what they needed. We designed some plastic cards and kicked off their program a few weeks later.

Being a non-conformist (hence ending up on this blog), I thought this was a dream come true. I could work from anywhere in the world, provide a web-based service, and still make a monthly income. Plus, knowing that I was adding value to these businesses really gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. My next few clients came from the leads I received from my first Google AdWords campaign. I had never done any online advertising, but I was fascinated with its effectiveness. No wonder Google has about $35 billion in cash lying around! My first low budget AdWords campaign resulted in several leads and a few new clients. I got to know them over the phone and through email correspondence and built the loyalty solution they were seeking. Piece of cake.

I’m digging this whole customer loyalty thing. Any fun clients you’ve worked with?

I’m glad you agree, Alan. Loyalty rocks. On a side note, I consider myself a loyal friend and Apple fanboy, but the former generally gets me more points with the ladies. But fun clients you ask? Plenty. One of my first clients is a coffee franchise based in Australia called The Dancing Bean. Not only do they have fun accents, but also the owner has a serious dirt biking hobby, which makes me insanely jealous that we don’t get to hang out on the weekends. Even though we’ve never met in person, I can tell he’s a fun guy. I have the privilege of speaking to like-minded folks all day long. For example, one of my favorite clients (oh wait, I can’t pick favorites) is a chain of Bike Shops in Virginia. They sponsor race teams and have built up an impressive customer list from using our program for several months. They are always reaching out to the community and they see the results through several dedicated customers. In fact, their customers have reached out to me to praise them! I really just love working with positive people, and loyalty has that effect. Other cool businesses we work with include wine shops, salons, fine dining clubs, auto dealerships, doctor’s offices, and an entire school district in Michigan (I made them promise they wouldn’t give me homework).

What have been some of your biggest entrepreneurial hurdles so far? What have you learned?

Of course, entrepreneurship has its hurdles. As much as I love this pirate lifestyle, I always wonder if I missing something that a real job could offer. On second thought, no paycheck could sway me from wearing pajamas until noon. I am always challenged with the ability to be self-motivated. Since I ultimately make every decision about my business, I have to rely on myself to stay on top of my game. Time management can be difficult especially when it’s a beautiful day outside. Everyday I have to prioritize what is important. I am an avid list maker and generally a very organized guy. Making lists is one of my favorite things to do and a must on a Sunday night in order to plan my week. I’ve definitely learned that it is always better to be proactive instead of reactive. There is always something that could be done to keep me ahead of the curve, whether it be reading the latest loyalty blog, or broadening my horizons with a new skill. For example, this month I took a Photoshop class so I can better understand graphic design.

Another entrepreneurial challenge pertains to staying focused on one project at a time. I have a tendency to be an off-the-wall thinker and can easily go off on a tangent if infected with a new idea (Inception reference). I am constantly asking myself if these new ideas relate to my core business model of loyalty. There is nothing wrong with side projects, and a full shelf of them could lead to a breakthrough one day, but if my idea doesn’t fit my core business, I have to put it on the shelf or move it around to one of my peers.

Anything exciting in the works? What can we expect from Client Rocket over the next couple of years?

I am very excited about what’s in the pipeline for 2011. We’ve brought on some extremely talented developers who are going to lead our foray into the mobile market. Tablet devices have only scratched the surface of their potential, and have yet to be fully adopted by the business world. Developing a mobile application or hotsite for these tablet devices would open up a huge opportunity for businesses. I talk to businesses all day that need a loyalty program to fit their current workflow, except they don’t know what they want or how it will work. Henry Ford said, “If we asked our customers what they want they would have said a faster horse.” I think that quote is incredibly accurate in the loyalty market right now because customer loyalty is rapidly changing with new media like Facebook and Twitter. We are listening to what customers want and then hiding out with people that truly understand the technology to determine the next loyalty breakthrough.

As for me, I’m incredibly happy with my role at ClientRocket. I’m working with some of the smartest people in the industry in a city that I love, Washington DC. I’m focused on growing my business for the next several years, but who knows what form that will take. I’m a huge fan of what you do with The 9 to 5 Alternative and share your passion for traveling and micro-goal setting. I want to travel to South America, Thailand, and Australia but I can’t decide in what order. Thankfully, I’m self-employed and can make these decisions for myself. After all, it’s never been easier to be an entrepreneur than right now.