Pandemic or not, the world is transforming, and technology is changing to match. As more businesses go digital, we need to ask ourselves: are the ways we conduct business online so different from doing it in the real world?

If your business is online, you don’t want to be swept by the riptide of technology. In this episode, Case Lane tells us all about her experiences doing business online. She tells us what she did to get where she is today. She also talks about her work as a fiction author.

Tune in to learn how to write fiction and adapt your business to an increasingly digital world.

3 Reasons to Listen:

1. See how minimalism helps you do what you want in your life.
2. Learn how a prolific writer like Case constructs her stories.
3. Discover the foundations of starting an online business.

Resources

• Jim Rohn's works
• Tony Robbins' works - The Works of Tony Robbins
• Episode Details

About Case

Case Lane is an entrepreneur out to help other entrepreneurs find their niche. She has a background in communications, political science, business, law, and economics.

Case Lane has done a variety of things. She's been a reporter, diplomat, digital media corporate executive, and lawyer. In addition to these things, she also writes plenty of fiction about the future and technology.

You can find Case Lane on her website, Ready Entrepreneur. If you’re interested in her writings on technology, romance, or the future, you can read them at Case Lane World. To contact her, you can send an email to contactcase@readyentrepreneur.com or find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Episode Highlights

[01:59] Who is Case Lane

• Case Lane is the founder of Ready Entrepreneur.
• Before the lockdown, she lived what she calls a global laptop lifestyle, where she traveled often but was usually working.
• She would go to Las Vegas to write because it’s a quiet and manageable place for her.

[09:19] How Minimalism Helps Creativity

• Minimalism helps save money and takes away much of the unnecessary activities from your life.
• Having fewer things around you helps you focus on what you want to do.
• Case found that she never needed to purchase items anymore and had never needed to do so.

[15:01] Case & Writing

• She likes to write in different genres, such as romance.
• She takes an interest in how the Internet and digital interactions have changed the nature of human relationships.
• Case feels that our relationships through the Internet are part of a bigger story of how humanity uses technology in general.

[15:07] “I always tell people the overall umbrella of everything I do is: prepare for the future.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[17:31] The Meaning of Your Identity

• When writing, Case keeps a pen name for practical reasons. It helps her keep compartments of her life separate and functions as a brand name.
• Your pen name is a reflection of yourself. You have to connect with your brand, or others won't.
• The Internet lets you be who and what you want.
• Being an expert comes from having experience, not credentials.

[25:35] What Made Case Who She Is

• Case joined the Canadian Foreign Service and served in the Philippines, Colombia, Chile. Then she went to UCLA to get an MBA.
• While in law school, she started self-publishing e-books.
• No matter where she went, she was always learning.
• Having her own business was always her desire.

[30:07] Writing About the Future

• Case didn't predict the current world situation would happen, but she had once written a concept about all of humanity being online.
• The things we needed to know before the advancement of technology were relatively simple.
• Controlling your life may become more difficult because of technology.
• Case thinks that online education is going to become more popular and possibly become the norm.

[34:03] How Case Writes Fiction

• Case usually creates her fictional world first, but she already has a sense of the characters and their roles.
• When planning a book, Case doesn't use a rigid outline for fiction stories. She does use outlines for non-fiction, however.
• Case mostly writes about places she's been to and uses real-world locations as inspiration.
• She also takes inspiration from the places she hasn't visited. In fiction, you can do what you want.

[39:48] Algorithms & Fiction

• Algorithms on the internet are proprietary technology; you need people who can scientifically research how they work.
• Learning how an algorithm functions will require much trial and error.
• Algorithms collect large amounts of data on you, but most people don't have much information about algorithms.
• The technology has great potential to do good.

[47:31] Education, Technology & the Future

• People need to pay more attention to applying technology to issues such as education and health care.
• Case believes the pace of education should depend on a person’s ability; today’s educational system is too narrow.
• Technological change, such as automobiles and electricity, has always received pushback.
• It’s good to pay attention to who is pushing for and making technological changes.
• The online college experience is mostly meeting new people and building a network.

[47:47] Not a New Dark Age

• Case is an optimist about the future.
• The real dream for Case is freedom and democracy.
• The current situation is a call for all people to rally and encourage each other.

[50:59] “Instead of curling up and stepping away, come forward, and let's see what you can do.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[52:10] The Online Mindset

• Case says to start by always thinking you’re going to do something.
• Always be thinking about looking for opportunities.
• 
  
• No one was taught how to have a success consciousness. You have to retrain your brain.

[58:30] “I don't even want to call it failure because everything was an incremental learning step on to the next thing.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[59:04] Who Can Do Online Business?

• Entrepreneurs come from a variety of places, but the successful ones are those who keep at their work.
• Online work can and will get tedious as you try different things.

[01:01:18] The Internet as an Equalizer

• The top successful online entrepreneurs are, according to Case, predominantly white men.
• Much of online entrepreneur success stories have a gap between where they started and their current success.

[01:07:14] How to Start an Online Business

• Online businesses are about finding people who need service and serving them.
• Many online businesses have been started by people looking for a service but couldn't find one.
• One way to find a starting point for your online business is to look at your interests.
• Case encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to look outside their credentials and utilize all their experiences.
• People online are mostly doing searches on the Internet. Case sees this as people requesting services and, therefore, as an opportunity.

[01:13:52] Making Money Online

• The quickest way to earn money is through advertisements. Joining an advertising program costs nothing, and you make money for every click.
• When you get bigger, you can also earn from sponsorships.
• Eventually, entrepreneurs can start selling their content by writing books, hosting conferences, or speaking.

[01:16:24] What's Next for Case Lane?

[01:16:53] “There's no slowdown when you're in the online world. There's no slowdown in your work because your infrastructure, as long as we've got the Internet, is very much up and functioning every day.” - Click Here to Tweet This

• Case will continue writing and promoting her e-book to eventually turn it into both an audiobook and physical print.
• Case is always thinking about what to write next.
• In the mornings, Case doesn't pick up her phone to text; instead, she writes out new ideas.
• She believes her role in life is to provide solutions for people.

[01:19:19] “Create from scratch. Create from what you see, from what you know, what others are doing, but you do them in a different way for other people. Just constantly put it out there and let it help build a better world as we move forward.” - Click Here to Tweet This

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To growing and becoming all we are created to be,

Tim