After deciding to take a hiatus from business travel, I’m back at it again. This time I’ve got two major conferences in a span of about three weeks. Each conference requires some travel and is a few days long so it means I won’t be as readily available for my business as I usually am for about three weeks.
This begs the question I’ve been trying to answer all year – how do you keep your business running smoothly when you travel all the time? After all, I would be lying if I said it was easy (I’ve since learned it’s not). I’d also be lying if I said you can be just as focused from airports as you can from your own home (that’s only partially true).
That being said, it is important to attend these kinds of events for your business. As your network grows, so does your revenue. While I’m definitely not the best road warrior out there, I do still have some tricks for keeping my business running with a heavy travel schedule.
Stop taking on more commitments.
Since I’ve had both of these events on the books for some time, it means I can plan ahead of time. In my business, that includes saying no to projects so I don’t lose my mind.
Look, I’ve done the “I’ve taken on way too much work before a major event” thing. I’ve done the not sleeping thing. I’ve also done the overcommitting thing. Quite frankly, I’m done.
That’s why I’ve started ruthlessly saying no to things that have come across my inbox lately. Want me to review your course? Sorry that will have to wait. Want me to help set up an event? No thank you. Want me to take on a huge project with a tight deadline? That doesn’t work for me.
Focus on what you can control ahead of time.
While you can’t control everything, there are things you can do ahead of time before frequent travel. For example, you can definitely handle any monthly client commitments you have before getting on a plane. I’ve actually spent the last couple of weeks getting way ahead on some client work in anticipating of not being around.
You can also put much of your marketing on auto-pilot. My branding, social media content, email marketing and podcast schedule is set. I don’t have to worry about it because I plan ahead.
Realize that everything is a marketing opportunity.
I’ve attended several marketing conferences and events this year. One theme has kept coming up consistently: your market wants a peak into your life.
As such, pretty much everything is a marketing opportunity, especially if you’re traveling for business. Here’s what I mean:
- I will be doing live video and short stories from these events.
- I will be sharing photos consistently.
- I will make sure all of this content either positions me as an expert, builds a relationship with my audience or helps me build my email list.
After all, if I’m going to be traveling so much (and spending the money to do so) I’m at least going to use it in my marketing to grow my business.
Final Thoughts
You can keep your business running even with frequent travel, it just requires some focus on planning ahead of time. Take it from someone who has learned the hard way, if you focus on just these three things you’ll be less likely to get overwhelmed while still making money.