How I Run an International Publishing ‘Empire’ Entirely From My Pocket

It’s easier than you’d think and I have email to thank for it

I’m a data-junkie. I keep track of all kinds of numbers. Some useful, some less-so. One of the numbers I enjoy tracking is the number of different countries I serve — something I never thought possible until a few years ago.

My pocket holds my entire business most days.

Sadly/luckily, with the world-wide proliferation of English, I can now reach people who were unreachable just ten years ago. I’m a selfish American, so I never had to become fluent in another language. Something I’ve always regretted. But not enough to do something about it.

I run an international publishing business from my phone.

I used to say this when I ran a business newsletter. But at the time my ‘international’ audience included Canada, the UK, and a little Australia. Now the game is completely different.

With access to smartphones becoming universal, I now have clients in 60 different countries. The list grows monthly. Some, I had to search on a map (just learned where Mauritania is, for example). Today I added Denmark to the list.

This new landscape is exciting.

Not only do I believe it brings people of diverse backgrounds (and governments) closer-together, but it’s also a great way to uncover new ideas. Granted, most of my communication with my tribe is one-way (via email, social, and Medium), but I’ve got some great feedback from people all over the world, with ideas I’d never envision on my own.

Mobile has changed everything. For everyone.

Now I can communicate with people in Tanzania, Swaziland, and Japan, simultaneously. We all want to do better for our families and ourselves. We all want to be entertained, feel like we’re part of something bigger than ourselves, and connect with like-minded folks.

I think about these people. A lot. Not just about Wendy in Omaha, or Spike in London. But also about Omar, Hasan, Peggy, Sofia, Talara, and the others. Each time I send an email to my readers I know there’s another human on the opposite end. A person with their own pressing problems. A current condition they’d like to escape from.

I speak to one person at a time, even if I deliver my message in bulk.

I answer their questions, check my stats, fix errors, write, and develop new product ideas, all from my phone. I’m a one-man, multi-national company. It’s a weird feeling. But powerful.

I try not to change my writing voice, although I know not everyone will get my jokes. I don’t pander my readers. They’re really smart people. They all want what’s best for their indie businesses, no matter where they lay their pillows at night.

Make your plan before you start

If you want to run an international conglomerate from your pocket, it’s best to design your business before you start.

What are you willing to do and not to do?

How can you serve your clients from your pocket, and what will be the pitfalls of such?

I have pitfalls all the time. Document management sucks on a phone. If I’ve got a customer service issue I must run to my laptop before the person gets too upset and leaves. Some days this means solving problems late at night.

Most days pocket-business is a freeing feeling (that doesn’t sound right, but I’ll leave it be).

I conduct business while I pump gas and wait to buy my can of Spaghetti-Os at the supermarket. What I wouldn’t do is develop my idea first and later try to stuff it into a mobile frame. Choose the business model first. Then find the audience to serve. The product comes dead-last.

I choose not to take certain routes with my work, because they don’t fit my ‘pocket’ model. The operational design of the business is just as important to me as the business itself.

I don’t want employees.

I don’t want to answer the phone if I don’t have to.

I don’t want to trade hours for dollars.

I don’t want to be stuck in a cubicle until they pry the mouse from my cold, dead hands.

Your decisions will be different than mine. But they’re all important to think about before you run too far down the rabbit hole.

I couldn’t have done it without an email list

I contact my customers through a measured, automated sequence most days. I know how they’ll respond. I know what they’ll probably click and what they won’t.

I test, re-test, tweak, and track.

The income is semi-automatic. I’m able to pay for all my annual business expenses in a single month’s sales. I’ve failed more times than I’ve won. And this isn’t easy, or some sure-thing.

Mobile is a business model.

I like to go for a walk. I like to sit in bed and not worry about phone calls, production timelines, or employees. This is the way I designed my own business to fit my personality. I’m an introvert. If I was an extrovert, a mobile business might suck the life from me. Instead, mine adds life.

I think it’s important that entrepreneurs think more about what their personality can and can’t handle when developing a business model. There’s no work-life balance anymore. It’s all life. If you don’t want to answer angry phone calls, or navigate customer returns during your Caribbean vacation, design that into your business process.

If you don’t care about a nomadic life, maybe you don’t need a nomadic model.

The last thing I want is to be a digital nomad, but by business is designed as such, because I like the feeling of freedom it brings. I’m a homebody. I don’t travel much. But I can. And that’s all I need. To know it’s possible at any moment. I can get up and leave the house for a month. The business won’t change at all.

Sure, I use my laptop for chunks of my business, but the day-to-day is all done from my pocket.

I couldn’t do it without my email list. It’s never too early to build yours either. The sooner the better. If you wait to build you list after you have a product, you’ve waited too long.

There’s room in my pocket for you too.

We’re either producers or consumers. I’d rather be a producer most of the time. There’s much more room to grow. Maybe you agree too. It’s time to design your life and business the way you want to live it.

We’re waiting for you.

(Enroll in My Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers.)

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. A self-proclaimed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indie authors how to write books that sell and how to sell more of those books once they’re written. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.