Well my Summer experiment of keeping my business flourishing whilst travelling and on vacation for a month is almost coming to an end! August is a funny old month in business - great things can happen but I've found over the years it 's an excellent time to get away and take advantage of the slower season.
Note I don't mean stopping all activity! But that's the beauty of the internet and the mobile lifestyle isn't it? As long as you can get a little spot with wifi and you've got your laptop (or even your smart phone) then you're open for business.
I've opened up office in my mother in law's 'Garden of Eden' as I call it.
A shady little spot on the patio, a cup of tea and I'm all set.
I admit that sometimes it's not quite as easy as it sounds.
When you have kids and you're on a family holiday of course you're going to have to be very smart with your time and allow for inevitable distractions.
It's a good idea to prepare some content for your blog or ezine before you leave so that you only have to do the minimum whilst away.
I've done a couple of hours in the morning here and there and kept the rest of the days free to enjoy being here with my family.
As Jim Rohn said, 'Wherever you are be there.
' On the other hand it is SO much easier than being tied to a local business or job where you can't go away for more than a week or two.
The internet and social media tools have opened up a whole new vista and whether you have a full blown internet empire you're building or just using the internet to promote your business in your niche it is all much easier these days to stay in touch with your customers and to generate new business on auto-pilot while you're out and about.
Multiple streams are the key so if you're feeling limited by being confined to one or two types of income now's a great time for you to start to think about what else you can add into your business model which will provide value to your existing clients and customers, give you extra streams of income AND not distract you from your niche.
You can add in many types of services and products once you have your niche expert (business) platform up and running.
Here's an example of some of the streams of income we benefit from (and you can too) when using this internet model: E-books, courses or physical products directly related to your business Client income - long term customer or client programmes Home Business Programme (Network Marketing or High End Affiliate Programmes) Coaching or consulting programmes Membership sites Subscription online courses or physical products Affiliate programmes for add on services that serve your niche These are just some of the ways to generate other streams of income around your core business niche.
Once you have a profitable niche website and platform you can even move on to setting up another one that is either directly related or completely separate.
It really depends on what your passions and goals are.
While I've been flitting around Israel on lots of cool 'mini-trips' and hanging out with friends and family in the sun I've been secure in the knowledge that my multiple streams of income are in place.
If I had a linear type income I wouldn't be able to travel as much as I do or take so much time off.
All that being said I love what I do so logging on once a day to check emails and deal with important stuff hasn't been difficult.
On some of my trips I've disconnected completely for 3 or 4 days at a time.
If you have a high maintenance programme you might need a customer service person at that point or just have your iPhone or Blackberry handy - depends on your specific business model.
My Kindle has been indispensable - I brought a lot of research material with me and some stuff I needed to read in preparation for my first book being published in paperback.
As you can see by the photo it's fairly easy to combine some reading with sun tanning...
So I highly recommend the Kindle it offers an amazing experience for serious readers.
(You can even listen to audio on it too and upload your pdfs & ebooks).
I had my Blackberry off most of the time because for some odd reason Blackberry don't offer any bolt on deals for Israel so it would have been astronomical to use it for a month to operate my social media.
In future I may check out which packages are available on iPhone cause that would definitely have made things easier.
On the other hand almost everyone I know here has an iPhone so I can log onto Facebook easily and check in etc.
even when away without my laptop.
A laptop is definitely a necessity to stay on top of things so be careful not to leave yours on the plane like I did! Thank goodness for alert flight attendants.
Note I don't mean stopping all activity! But that's the beauty of the internet and the mobile lifestyle isn't it? As long as you can get a little spot with wifi and you've got your laptop (or even your smart phone) then you're open for business.
I've opened up office in my mother in law's 'Garden of Eden' as I call it.
A shady little spot on the patio, a cup of tea and I'm all set.
I admit that sometimes it's not quite as easy as it sounds.
When you have kids and you're on a family holiday of course you're going to have to be very smart with your time and allow for inevitable distractions.
It's a good idea to prepare some content for your blog or ezine before you leave so that you only have to do the minimum whilst away.
I've done a couple of hours in the morning here and there and kept the rest of the days free to enjoy being here with my family.
As Jim Rohn said, 'Wherever you are be there.
' On the other hand it is SO much easier than being tied to a local business or job where you can't go away for more than a week or two.
The internet and social media tools have opened up a whole new vista and whether you have a full blown internet empire you're building or just using the internet to promote your business in your niche it is all much easier these days to stay in touch with your customers and to generate new business on auto-pilot while you're out and about.
Multiple streams are the key so if you're feeling limited by being confined to one or two types of income now's a great time for you to start to think about what else you can add into your business model which will provide value to your existing clients and customers, give you extra streams of income AND not distract you from your niche.
You can add in many types of services and products once you have your niche expert (business) platform up and running.
Here's an example of some of the streams of income we benefit from (and you can too) when using this internet model: E-books, courses or physical products directly related to your business Client income - long term customer or client programmes Home Business Programme (Network Marketing or High End Affiliate Programmes) Coaching or consulting programmes Membership sites Subscription online courses or physical products Affiliate programmes for add on services that serve your niche These are just some of the ways to generate other streams of income around your core business niche.
Once you have a profitable niche website and platform you can even move on to setting up another one that is either directly related or completely separate.
It really depends on what your passions and goals are.
While I've been flitting around Israel on lots of cool 'mini-trips' and hanging out with friends and family in the sun I've been secure in the knowledge that my multiple streams of income are in place.
If I had a linear type income I wouldn't be able to travel as much as I do or take so much time off.
All that being said I love what I do so logging on once a day to check emails and deal with important stuff hasn't been difficult.
On some of my trips I've disconnected completely for 3 or 4 days at a time.
If you have a high maintenance programme you might need a customer service person at that point or just have your iPhone or Blackberry handy - depends on your specific business model.
My Kindle has been indispensable - I brought a lot of research material with me and some stuff I needed to read in preparation for my first book being published in paperback.
As you can see by the photo it's fairly easy to combine some reading with sun tanning...
So I highly recommend the Kindle it offers an amazing experience for serious readers.
(You can even listen to audio on it too and upload your pdfs & ebooks).
I had my Blackberry off most of the time because for some odd reason Blackberry don't offer any bolt on deals for Israel so it would have been astronomical to use it for a month to operate my social media.
In future I may check out which packages are available on iPhone cause that would definitely have made things easier.
On the other hand almost everyone I know here has an iPhone so I can log onto Facebook easily and check in etc.
even when away without my laptop.
A laptop is definitely a necessity to stay on top of things so be careful not to leave yours on the plane like I did! Thank goodness for alert flight attendants.