The Rv Entrepreneur With Heath Padgett

After three years of dreaming, shopping, researching, and hoping we could find our own campground, we are under contract and closing next week on our own property! In today's episode, we are diving into: Where our property is and some of our building plans How we found this opportunity (and passed on it and then decided to go for it!) Our many, MANY ideas for what we can do with this space The fact that 1 GB fiber internet gets set up next week (Heath NEEDS everyone to know this

Last week, Liz Wilcox shared the process of how to build, package, and sell a blog. This week, as promised, we are sharing the other side of the story: how to buy a blog. Debra and Barry Benton—who we met on the road a few years ago—saw Liz's post in our RVE Facebook group that she wanted to sell her blog and jumped on the opportunity. In this episode, they share why they wanted to buy a blog and the process they went through to finalize the sale. --- This episode is sponsored by Pillowpak. One thing almost every RV lacks is a place to hang up and store a backpack, but you always need one for hiking, taking an overnight trip, or just packing up your laptop to work away from your rig. Pillowpak offers a line of lightweight, machine-washable backpacks and organizing bags that easily roll and stow away in small spaces. We spent two weeks in Florida and we stayed a short two-minute walk away from the beach and used the 55-liter Pillowpak to fill with towels, snacks, water, extra clothes, and we brought along the

How do you start a blog, make money with it, and then sell it when you're ready to move on? That's the problem Liz Wilcox tackles in this interview. You may recognize her name from following her blog and I'm excited to bring her back on the show to share the saga of how she sold her blog. --- This episode is sponsored by Pillowpak. **SALE: Tuesday, May 25 to Monday, May 31st at midnight, Pillow Pak is running a Memorial day sale for 20% off your purchase when you use the code honor20. Visit getpillowpak.com to shop.** One thing almost every RV lacks is a place to hang up and store a backpack, but you always need one for hiking, taking an overnight trip, or just packing up your laptop to work away from your rig. Pillowpak offers a line of lightweight, machine-washable backpacks and organizing bags that easily roll and stow away in small spaces. We spent two weeks in Florida and we stayed a short two-minute walk away from the beach and used the 55-liter Pillowpak to fill with towels, snacks, water, extra clothe

You sell the house, you buy an RV, you start a blog. But how do you take a blog and actually turn it into a profitable business? Today Alyssa shares ways to monetize a blog plus how to start treating your blog as a business instead of a hobby. Blogging is always the #1 way new RVers tell us they want to make money. You can work from anywhere, have endless stories to share, and you always see bloggers sharing amazing things online. It's a dream job! But building up a profitable blog can take years—especially if you don't know how to blog as a business. --- This episode is sponsored by Pillowpak. One thing almost every RV lacks is a place to hang up and store a backpack, but you always need one for hiking, taking an overnight trip, or just packing up your laptop to work away from your rig. Pillowpakoffers a line of lightweight, machine-washable backpacks and organizing bags that easily roll and stow away in small spaces. We just spent two weeks in Florida and we stayed a short two-minute walk away from the beac

Hailey and her boyfriend always talked about living differently. Maybe a tiny house or a straw-bale construction. An RV turned out to be the perfect new home. And when they pictured RV life, Hailey always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She wanted the freedom that so many of us hit the road searching for. She took her skills in pewter casting and started making jewelry, which turned into her first business: Lynn Mineral. --- Today’s episode is sponsored by ID Plans (and it’s actually less of a sponsorship than it is an opportunity). ID Plans is a software and service company based in Tampa Florida that provides solutions for property managers.  Over the past 20 years ID Plans has been able to hire a number of full-time RVers who help survey commercial properties and they are currently looking to hire 3-5 more additional RV teams. I’ve seen a lot of companies who hire RVers, and this is one that you can make a near full-time income almost immediately. You’ll receive training for the software,

Theresé's corporate job was stressing her out. Between working full time and teaching fitness on the side, her schedule was packed. And when her doctor recommended yoga to help her de-stress, Theresé was adamantly against it. She hated her first class. And the second. And the third. But in the fourth class something changed. Six months later she was teaching yoga. After teaching in person, Theresé took her practice on the road, almost immediately seeing the need for yoga for RVers. Between physical activities like hiking and sedentary activities like long drive days, Theresé felt her body need yoga after a long day. She started teaching yoga classes at RV events and teaching private classes to travelers. In this episode, Heath and Theresé talk about: The “tape reel” and what you’re telling yourself and limiting beliefs as an entrepreneur The power of setting your intentions and goals regularly How Theresé took her practice on the road Creating a loyal following How to get started with yoga

This week we have some pretty big news. Campground Booking has been acquired. In this episode I share why we sold the company, who bought it and what's next. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

Finding remote work can be intimidating—especially if you're looking at a career change. In today's episode, Heath is interviewing Lezlie Garr or "Resume Lezlie" on finding remote work. This is something we haven't covered much on the podcast—because never in my seven years of being an entrepreneur has someone asked for my resume—but with so many people wanting to find remote work on the road, we wanted to bring Lezlie on to share some tips. You'll hear Heath & Lezlie discuss the process she walks clients through when they want to switch careers and find remote work, how to stand out as an applicant, and where to focus your attention during the job search. Plus Heath shares how many replies he got to his last job posting when Campground Booking was hiring. (Spoiler: it was a LOT.) ---- Today’s episode is sponsored by ID Plans (and it’s actually less of a sponsorship than it is an opportunity). ID Plans is a software and service company based in Tampa Florida that provides solutions for property managers.&

How do you get the word out about your business? Ads? Social media? Blogs? Youtube? SEO? The heart of today's episode is all about content marketing for your business. Heath is chatting with Liz of Pop Digital Media. Liz runs her digital marketing company with her husband Josh with a focus on content marketing, or as we like to call it, playing the long game. This isn't about getting a customer right now, it's about getting a flow of customers for the next few years.  In today's episode, Liz shares a lot of helpful tips and processes for developing a content marketing plan from scratch so if you aren't doing content marketing for your business, this is a great interview to help you get started. Heath and Liz also cover:  The almost unbelievable story of landing her first client  The process before creating a content marketing plan The biggest mistake people make when developing their marketing plan How to create a customer profile or avatar Liz also has some free resources to help you g

In 2016, Kara and Nate set off for a year around the world, planning to vlog their adventures. They didn't expect that four years later, they would have over a million subscribers, visit 100 countries, and have one of the most popular travel vlogs on all of Youtube. This episode is pulled from our 2020 RV Entrepreneur Summit, just days after international travel began to close, so it's recorded from a hotel room in Singapore. The RV Entrepreneur Summit is our annual conference for full-time travelers on how to build a business on the road and in their mainstage presentation, Kara and Nate break down how they turned making travel videos into their dream business. In their talk, they share: How travel hacking got them starting traveling for cheap Year by year how much money they made on Youtube The struggles and wins of growing their Youtube channel Getting free experiences (and if they were worth it) How they diversified their business Their secret recipe for how to record videos now AND how they e

Working in finance in New York City, Dave started dreaming about living in a van and taking his hedge fund on the road. But he couldn't hit the road immediately, so he rented his van out on Outdoorsy to offset his van costs while he wasn't traveling. To his surprise, his van booked out for four months! So he got another and soon had 6 vans being rented out. Meanwhile in Colorado, Dave's college buddy Matt was renovating and building out a van of his own. When Matt shared how much it cost him to buy and build out the van and that he sold it for a profit after taking it cross country, the friends had an idea: Let's build out custom vans and rent and sell them. In this episode, they share their story of getting started. Plus: How to approach renting your RV online Using the real estate model to analyze the RV rental market Deciding on the basic, customizable van layout Costs and time to build out and ship vans Why the van lifestyle allows you take more risk in business ---- Today’s episode is sponsored

Kay has been traveling internationally with her family and son for years and made the jump into full-time RV travel. Her travel blog was making money, but not nearly enough to support her family full-time. The RV was her chance to go all-in. In this episode, Heath and Kay talk about where Kay has found success monetizing her blog, how to connect with brands, and what makes you stand out on Instagram. One of the things I loved about this episode is when Kay explains how to find success on Instagram because the answer isn't "have the most followers" or "take the best photos." She'll share more about halfway through the episode. But the Mom Trotter blog isn't Kay's only business she runs on the road. She also runs Black Kids Do Travel, which offers community and resources to families of color who want to travel more. What else Heath & Kay cover in this episode: The primary ways Kay monetizes her blog & social channels Finding success on Instagram How to collaborate with brands Setting your rate to

This week on the show, Heath is interviewing Tim Ewing. After years in the C-suite, Tim decided to leave behind his steady paycheck and travel with his family. But he couldn't retire at 51. So he started Quest CPA and a consulting business on the road. There are a few things I really loved listening to Heath and Tim. One, they both share the stories of their first business failures and the lessons they learned which are a must hear for any entrepreneur. Two, Tim is really open and honest about what his expectations were and how he's adapted in the past 7 years of traveling to focus on the right things—like working with his family, a lifelong dream, and how he's made that a reality. Plus at around 23 minutes, Heath asked Tim to share his tax expertise and answer three incredibly common RV tax questions: Can I write off my RV mileage? If I domicile in a tax-free state, do I need to pay taxes in other states? And how should I file my business? So if this tax season you're wondering about any of those thing

How do you get new clients for your business? This is one of the biggest hurdles to starting and growing a new business. Even people who have been in business for years struggle with finding new clients sometimes! In today's episode, Candyce Edelen is sharing how she uses Linkedin to source business leads. As an entrepreneur, I'd kind of written off LinkedIn as being a place where people look for a new job. But Candyce explains how it can be the #1 tool to keep your business actively growing and find new clients, plus step-by-step how you can use the platform to find new clients. Today’s episode is sponsored by ID Plans (and it’s actually less of a sponsorship than it is an opportunity). ID Plans is a software and service company based in Tampa Florida that provides solutions for property managers.  Over the past 20 years, ID Plans has been able to hire a number of full-time RVers who help survey commercial properties and they are currently looking to hire 3-5 more additional RV teams. I’ve seen a l

On today's podcast episode, we are tackling one of the BEST problems RVers face on the road: where should we camp next? In their latest book, Jeremy and Stephanie Puglisi share the best campgrounds, glampgrounds, and destinations to add to your travel plans. We got an advance copy of the book and I've already taken pictures of different chapters and sent it to my traveling friends saying you should stay here. In today's episode, Heath, Jeremy, and Stephanie talk about how the camping industry has changed, how they've planned roadtrips, and what makes campgrounds awesome. If you want suggestions on where to camp next, you can pick up their new book anywhere books are sold. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

We often see questions in our Facebook group on how to RV to craft shows. What do you sell? How do you find shows? Are shows even happening right now? Shanna Wyatt of Chadwicks Naturals answers all these questions and more as she shares how she built a homemade dip business that supports her family.  In this episode, Shanna shares: What happens if she runs out of dips on the road Her average costs and earnings How she chooses which festivals and shows to attend (and it's WAY more complicated than you'd think!) How to stand out with customers What Shanna says to every customer who approaches her booth Why you can still kill it at small shows How Shanna and craft shows have adapted to COVID rules Other food-related products you can sell at craft shows The BIGGEST mistake you can make at a craft show One resource you'll want to check out if you're looking to dip into the craft circuit (sorry, had to) is Festivalnet. This is paid service (but only $50 a year) for finding festivals. You can al

The Dream: A Hospitality Business on Wheels Back when they first wanted to start RVing, Josh and Brittain bought and renovated an 88 Airstream. Then they picked up a rare '87 Airstream motorhome to renovate and rent on Airbnb. They dreamed of creating awesome unique glamping experiences for people who want to enjoy the outdoors. "We had the vintage camper, but we didn't have the land," explained Brittain. That's when they connected with a vintage campground in Tuscon to park one of their Airstreams on site. They worked out a 50/50 revenue split and all the fine details and continued traveling in the RV, making their Airstream rental almost completely passive income. Josh and Brittain are very open about numbers, so they share a ton of insights behind how much they paid, earned, and profited as they've built this business. I highly recommend listening to the episode to year all the nitty-gritty details on finances. Now they have four vintage trailers and recently found a new home for their rental business

Would you live in a 39-inch trailer? Check out photos and video of the trailer at heathandalyssa.com/hitch-hotel In March of 2014 while driving down the road, Geoff had an idea and immediately called his friend Gil. How could they build a collapsible (but stable), a lightweight (but sturdy) trailer for camping and mountain biking? But bringing a dream this big (or this little, really) to reality would take time. They had four things they need to do to get the first Hitch Hotel created: Develop prototypes Establish funding Patent their invention Find a manufacturer This process has taken seven years, but the amount of time and capital it's taken hasn't slowed Gil and Geoff down. Like everyone, they have bad days, but every morning they wake up excited to finally bring this product to market. What Heath and the guys cover in this episode: How Gil analyzed the opportunity in the 60-billion-dollar camping industry How Geoff built the first prototype on his own (and fixed it when he learned that he di

When we ask people how they want to make money while traveling, one idea always comes up: making passive income through real estate investments. IT'S THE DREAM. You only work a few hours, you have a property to come back to when you're done traveling, and real estate is a great way to diversify your portfolio. It's a no brainer. But it's also a completely daunting and intimidating prospect. You have to buy a house. Get it ready for tenants. And then let strangers live in it. Heath and I have wanted to get into real estate investing for years, but the magnitude and upfront costs always scared us off. So today we're interviewing realtor Jordan Knoll on her experience renting and managing seven rental properties (while she was RVing in Mexico, no less!). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

If you want to work on the road, you need RV internet.  Today we are bringing back experts Chris and Cherie of RV Mobile Internet to share the best options and updates on internet for RVers in 2021. Chris and Cherie are OG full-time digital nomads and have been traveling for nearly 15 years! They both work on the road and knew that this lifestyle couldn't work long-term without solid internet. After years of testing and experience, they've become the gold standard for understanding and finding gear for internet for RVers. In this episode, Chris and Cherie dive into the major changes internet for RVers has faced in the past few years and how to get internet on the road this year. They cover: How to stay connected for working remotely Creating redundancies so you always(ish) have internet How unlimited data options have changed Who the top 2 carriers are for data (and it's not who we thought!) How throttling works What 5G even is How close Starlink is to nationwide internet access To see the