In 2014 I spent almost 6 months traveling around Europe. In June of the same year I was looking for the best way to get from Poland to Ukraine. The two countries share a border and there are numerous way to get from one country to another so I started looking evaluating my options. Whenever I did a search on that particular route I kept stumbling upon the same website: Ukraine Travel Secrets.
Since I am an online marketer and I do my fair share of search engine optimization I couldn’t help but wonder who was behind that website. The site wasn’t government owned but it ranked #1 for most keyword phrases, mostly because it had loads of great, helpful and unique content. After a while I figured out the site was owned by Orest Zub, an online entrepreneur from Lviv, Ukraine. Further research showed that Orest also ran OpenMind.com.ua – a popular blog about travel, lifestyle and entrepreneurship. Unfortunately for most of my readers this website is in Ukrainian, however you can use Google Translate to get a basic idea: the content is pretty great.
So I’ve decided to meet the guy who traveled to over 50 countries while managing and growing these websites. Meeting Orest was also the reason why I decided to make Lviv my first stop in Ukraine, instead of the capital city of Kyiv. We met up at a really cool cafe/restaurant and I tried to record an interview with Orest, so he could share his experiences, tips and strategies. Unfortunately that didn’t work out too well as the place was poorly lit and you can hardly make out the faces on the video. There were also little kids running around the restaurant and creating a bit of a chaos, as well as their grandmothers screaming at them. You got it, you can’t hear much of that interview either.
Fast-forward 5 months. I found out that Orest was coming to North America in October and Montreal was one of his planned stops. I invited Orest to stay at my place for his visit so I could show him the city, explain a few things about our life in the Eastern part of Canada and simply hangout. This is when we also got a second chance for that interview.
Finally the interview is online and I’d love to share it with you. In this video we cover a lot of things such as:
… and a lot more!
The video is almost 30 minutes long so get comfortable and enjoy the show!
Questions and comments are greatly appreciated. Don’t be shy, use the comment box below 😉
– Alex
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Hey, Alex. Thanks for sharing that interview. Very good, down-to-earth, realistic conversation. I found it encouraging since I recently started getting up earlier in the mornings to get work done on my blog, and was wondering if it was worthwhile. This verifies it!
How many months did you two find yourselves "setting up shop" with your blogs/websites before you decided that it was definitely worthwhile and making money?
Hi, Scott.
My belief is that it's worthwhile regardless of how long it takes to succeed. I think Orest mentioned that it took him 6+ months to see the first income from his sites.
Now for me, it took about 2 weeks to make the first $30 online. Since then, I set up dozens of sites, most of them failed miserably but a few made decent money and made it all worthwhile. So in the end it all comes to your personal determination and actions. Recently Kyle posted a great article titled "If I Work At This 8 Hours Per Day" - check it out, it's very insightful.
The best part of the interview was hearing how to manage working while living the "laptop lifestyle". That's the hardest thing for me to do. I'm usually either all or nothing. Working all day means why travel at all? But taking 2 weeks off leaves a lot of loose ends and emails when you get back.
I should start doing more work in the morning and leave myself some free time in the afternoons to enjoy life! I tend to leave all my work for the evening, and end up working into the night.
Oh I hear you man!
Every time I go "binge-travelling" my business loses traction. That's mostly because I am not organized (or disciplined) enough to do what Orest does: allocate a specific working time every day (or at least 3-4 times a week). That's something I am working on at the moment. Trying to get up earlier so I can get more things done before noon ;) Thanks for sharing this interview on Fresh + Coffee !
- Alex
Thank you for the interview! I needed to hear it as I am starting off with a blog and find myself totally overwhelmed with tons of new tools and frustrated at the luck of progress. Great tips on time management too! Good to know that I am not alone in this boat. (work, children, home)
And what is most heart warming is to see my country man is leading the way and sharing his knowledge and experience with others. Dyje dyakuyu.
Tatyana, I am very happy to hear you enjoyed the interview and information, don't hesitate to share it with others who might enjoy it, haha!
Starting a business can be scary at times but you just have to push through it. It might take a week to see some results, it might take a year but it will work out eventually.
Don't give up! Всього найкращого ;)
Alex
Guys thanks so much for such cool interview.
I'm new at all of this and it's really helpful to hear the insights from people who've been at it for a while.
Jenna, thank you for watching.
It's awesome that we were able to bring some value to you and help you out. Please don't hesitate subscribing to this blog to get more of my content.
- Alex
What a great interview Alex and Orest.
I will share it with my contacts as more people need to realize online business is not a get rich quick scheme.
Your points about hard working and not giving up are great and will help me stay motivated along my online career.
thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching it, Peter.
I am glad you enjoyed the interview and hopefully learned something new.
- Alex
It was a pleasure to hang out with you, Alex.
Wish and readers of this blog all the best :-)
It was awesome meeting you, buddy and thanks so much for the interview!
We should meet again, somewhere around the globe ;)