Archives for February 2015

Motobiking from Huế to Hội An, Vietnam

Vietnam reminds me of my former home state, California. Both are a single state/country and yet each offers rich geographical and lifestyle diversity. In Saigon you can smoke Cuban cigars from an elegant rooftop bar on Monday night and then hop a short flight to explore the caves of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng.

With some friends in town, my girl and I flew from Saigon to Hanoi and gradually worked our way South, back to Saigon. While in Huế, located centrally in Vietnam, we all decided to rent motobikes to take the trek further south to a relaxing beach town – Hội An.

We got a guide, which I’d recommend. Navigating through Vietnamese streets can be a bit daunting at first. Also, the guide handles the logistics of setting you up with a motobike and he will know how to keep you out of too much trouble.

The drive itself could take you two hours (if you sped) or six hours (if you stopped to smell the roses).

The map from Huế to Hội An.

The guide arrived to the hotel with motobikes and took us on our way.

I would look cooler on a full-sized motorcycle, but these motos’ get you around swiftly while in ‘Nam.

Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world, and there’s no California Clean Air Act here. The air inside denser areas like Huế and Saigon can be nasty, which is why we look like bank robbers in this pic below.

Face masks are a necessity.

Once outside the city, the air was clean.

As we drove up the mountainside, we were greeted with views like this.

After a long ride, we arrived safely in Hội An.

I hid out in the shade.

Others enjoyed the sun.

Do you enjoy these travel updates? If so, I’ll keep posting them. I’m keeping a travel journal, anyhow, so I can share it with you all or keep it to myself. Either way I’ll be writing.

(For more travel pics, check out my Facebook and Instagram.)

Why You Need Multiple Streams of Traffic

By Mike Cernovich 4 Comments

Jeff Walker coined a cool phrase that sums up my approach to the web – multiple streams of traffic.

We all know that multiple streams of income are preferable to a single stream of income. If you lose one job or client, you will be OK as you have other sources of income. The same is true of web traffic.

You need multiple sources of traffic.

A friend-of-a-friend had his Facebook page with 800,000 likes taken from him. No reason given. He asked me what he could do.

The answer is, “Not much.” Facebook can delete your page at any time for any reason. The same is true of Twitter.

If you rely on any single source of traffic, you can be screwed if you lose one of them.

You need multiple sources of traffic – Twitter, Facebook, SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, a personal web page (even if it’s just your face + resume), and an email list.

(You don’t need all of those pages. I am my own media company, with a podcast, books, and multiple websites, so my case is an extreme one. But if you earn your living online, you need more than one web or social media presence.)

It would take a lot of effort to remove me from the Internet. I could lose Twitter (a major source of traffic) and be OK. I have a large email list. I also own several websites that can drive traffic to each other.

In addition I have a huge network of friends who could drive traffic my way, should someone attack me.

Google “Mike Cernovich.” Nearly every result on Page 1 of Google are sites I own or that are directly under my control.

I control what is said by me, even though MSNBC, Gawker, the Daily Beast, and other large websites have attacked me.

A friend of mine runs a company called BADNET that sets people up with websites for free. I recommend using BADNET to create a stable web presence. (I get zero commission if you sign up with him and he has not paid me or asked me to plug his company.)

You should also build up a social media presence. Do not concentrate your effort on any one medium.

Build up one medium at a time. I have a large readership at Danger & Play, a large email list, am big on Twitter, and am now focusing on my Facebook.

Diversify the web holdings of You, Inc.

P.S. Check out the official Mike Cernovich Facebook Page.

How to Get Rid of Whiners and Complainers

By Mike Cernovich 7 Comments

I’m a fan of Jeff Walker’s work and thought highly of his book Launch. (Read my review of Launch by Jeff Walker.) His recent video resonated with me, as I’ve been thinking of a way to handle an issue at Danger & Play.

How do you reward your core guys while getting rid of the freeloaders and mooches?

I am happy that Danger & Play is a free site, as it’s helped a lot of men (and a growing number of women) change their lives. What does bother me is the bitching and moaning men do.

And yes, it is men. No woman reader or podcast listener has ever complained about what I write.

You’d be surprised by the volume of complaints I receive. To me, this makes zero sense.

Danger & Play is a website that costs nothing to read. Yet I constantly hear that people don’t like my posts on Twitter (unfollow me) or that they don’t like how I am marketing my juicing ebooks.

I even had two young men backstab me. After helping them with their sites, they have become haters.

It’s tiresome, and it’s why a lot of people burn out from helping men.

One reason I don’t deal with as much hate as many is because of my aggressive style. In a way, my attitude prices out the people most likely to complain.

On the other hand, there are a lot of core guys who are supportive.

They review my podcast and many bought my juicing ebooks (even though they don’t juice) as a way to support my work.

I have been thinking of a way to take care of the core guys who take care of me while getting rid of the complainers.

One way to accomplish this is by raising your prices. It seems counter-intuitive, but people who pay are less likely to complain than people who ride for free.

Check out this video and let me know what you think.

How and (Why) to Charge Higher Prices by Jeff Walker.

Happy Tết 2015 from Hanoi!

By Mike Cernovich 11 Comments

Although the Vietnamese work long hours (a full day’s work is often 12 hours or longer), they also take their holidays seriously. Tết, the Vietnamese new year, is a major holiday. Saigon practically shuts down during Tết, as people return home to be with family.

We decided to leave Saigon to enjoy the new year in Hanoi.

Hanoi had a Haight-Ashbury feel to it. The scenery was cool, but there were a lot of backpackers and other tourists in the city.

We stayed in the the Old Quarter area, which was centrally located and also a place tourists tend to stay.

People assumed a man out walking alone was looking for some, shall we say, “recreation.”

My attempt to take a long walk in the cool evening was frustrated. My thoughts were interrupted by locals asking me, “Want marijuana? Want massage?”

No drugs or boom-boom for me. I want to take in a view of the lake.

Hanoi was packed, as everyone wanted to see the fireworks display.

The fireworks display was spectacular.

After the show we smelled paper burning. There were fires everywhere. The fires contain paper money.

The Vietnamese practice a form of ancestor worship.

The burning money symbolizes prosperity in the afterlife.

Persians jump over a fire during the celebration of the Persian New Year, so one of my fellow travelers joined the fun.

Persians in Hanoi and they’re going gorillas.

Hanoi has a nightlife scene. I went out just long enough to capture some photographs for you.

Hair of the Dog bar in Hanoi is where people to go for that YOLO.

Trustafarians have been spotted in their natural habitat.

After a solid night’s sleep, we took in the view of Hoàn Kiếm Lake.

Lý Thái Tổ moved the capital of Vietnam to Hanoi.

We were unable to take in an opera, but we did enjoy the beauty from the outside.

Happy 2015!