About Ignite Living

About the site

Ignite Living is all about freelancing and all the bits and pieces that surround such a thing. Stuff like organization, productivity and personal finance. Ignite Living is about getting the most out of your days and staying sane while doing it. It’s for the entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs out there who want to make the leap into self-employment.

The site features productivity tips for people who are probably ultra-productive already. It features business and marketing tactics written for people who have already gotten their feet wet with business. It is for people who know there’s a life out there that doesn’t even slightly resemble talk-show TV.

It’s for camaraderie and sharing and inspiration. It’s for people who gave up the security of a paycheck to chase a finer dream…even if they’re scared shitless.

What the hell is going on here?

Ignite Living is a refreshing blast of not-so-common sense, savvy ideas and writing that goes down like filet mignon. The main, broad intention is to show you how to make money by showing you how I myself make actual real money. I know, that’s very broad, which is why you’ll see posts somewhere in these general areas:

  • SEO practices
  • Productivity
  • Writing
  • Advertising
  • Product development
  • Marketing
  • A fairly whopping dose of ripping apart other bullshit I see on the web
  • Other things I can’t think of right now because I want to go ride motorcycles

I don’t promise to stick to those. If I write something entirely useless outside of wanting to just make you laugh, well…don’t be too surprised.

If I were to officially state IgniteLiving’s primary goal, it would be sorting the garbage information from the practical and practice-able information. To present Ye Olde Readers with workable techniques, case studies and actual life experience as they relate to your business, your life and your income.

A secondary goal is to help you get productive through the means of helpful information, intelligent focus and gentle prodding with a pokey stick. I believe if people just did what they set out to do, persisted through the difficulties and stopped wondering why why why all the time, they’d be happier, richer and a lot more badass than they think they currently are.

And lastly, or thereabouts, this blog exists to help people break through the constant “Look Over There! Syndrome” that happens in life. That’s right, I made that up. Took me all damn night. But just because I made it up is no reason it isn’t true.

“Look Over There!” Syndrome is when you’re going along in life just fine. You’re moving from Point A to Point B and things are looking grand. Then for some reason or other, you look over at Point C and think, “Ooh! A piece of candy!” You go to check it out and three months later you wonder what the hell ever happened to your goal of reaching Point B.

“Look Over There!” Syndrome sucks. But it’s got a simple cure which doesn’t even involve pills! That’s what IgniteLiving is all about.

Who’s this Charlie Pabst guy?

Most people know me as Charfish Charlie, an unfortunate name for which I have no one to blame but myself: I started and run a design company called Charfish Design, so that particular epithet was bound to happen.

I make a living online as a website and ebook designer, website consultant and writer.

Interesting (maybe) things about me and the world:

  • I’m 36 years old and still hold my dad’s hand.
  • I’m afraid of heights, but love to rock climb.
  • False information and terrible advice dressed up in businessman attire are the spawn of Satan.
  • I play electric and acoustic guitar like a madman.
  • I am a qualified Expert Rifleman and can shoot the fuzz off a peach at 100 yards. In a hurricane at midnight. With my eyes closed. Using only my elbows.
  • Business isn’t complicated, but the gurus out there do their best to fuck it up and make it seem like it is.
  • I love talking to people and will talk to anybody about anything.
  • Jobs I’ve had: direct-mail marketer, writer, roofer, delivery driver, UPS truck loader, roofer again, skyscraper cladding systems designer, Starbucks coffee shop designer.
  • In college I studied law, philosophy, architecture and engineering. Now I design websites and write. Sometimes the straightest path looks like a big ol’ plate of spaghetti noodles.
  • I believe the IRS is a highly unethical and coercive organization. If I treated my clients like the IRS treats everyone else, I would go to jail for it. Somehow they get away with it. I justify this by telling myself: I love America, and the IRS is my rent. Thus I pay my taxes.
  • In 2008, Ron Paul was running for president and promised to abolish the IRS and empower the Constitution for a change. He actually meant it. People voted for Obama. Go figure.