As I sit here on my patio watching the squirrels and birds play in the trees I started to think about how difficult it can be for me to have down time. After all, I came outside because I can hear my mother saying “Sissy, you need to spend time soaking in the vitamin D” but what did I do? I brought my laptop with me. Just like to so many driven over-achieving multi-taskers, I find it difficult to step away from my business.
This seems to be a running theme through my life lately. On Friday my personal trainer asked me if I ever woke up in the morning and didn't want to work. That almost never happens to me. Of course, when I asked her if she ever wakes up and doesn't want to work out she said no. LOL So we just have different passions and we are truly committed to those passions.
Over the last week or two, I have been having conversations with solo-preneurs and small business owners about attending my upcoming Extreme Income Explosion Summit (EIES) in Salt Lake City. I keep hearing the same excuses for why they can't commit (and I can't say much because I have used these excuses before on occasion).
1. I can't be away from my business for 3 or 4 whole days!
2. I can't afford to spend the money right now!
The funny thing is that even though I do attend a lot of events – each and every time these are the 1st thoughts I have when I hear about an event. Thank God that I can snap myself out of this terrible way of thinking. If you will indulge me for a moment, I would like to help you get past these thoughts as well.
So back to our issue of not being able to take time away from your business. Oh and by the way, this might seem a little direct but sometimes we need more directness in our lives. 1st – seriously is this really the issue? Successful business owners understand the value of planning, learning and expanding their beliefs not to mention the value of face to face networking.
You know I love social media and online marketing but there is NOTHING as valuable as face to face networking (and yes this is coming from a shy introvert). My best clients, vendors, mentors and joint venture partners are people I met at face to face events. Here's the secret – How do you think these mega-collaborations come to be? They start with a conversation at a face to face event. And I am talking about in every form of business. There is different level of trust that comes when you meet someone in person.
OK so we can no longer use that as an excuse. So what about the money issue? This can be like our go to excuse a lot of times, right? I want you to look at a few things. If you are thinking about investing in your business by attending an event, what will you have to do at that event to re-capture that money.
Let's say the event is going to cost you $1000 for registration, travel and expenses. How many new clients would you need to meet at that event to cover that investment. For example, I know that my clients spend on average $3000 with me – not up front but over our relationship together. So as long as I got 1 new client I would cover all my investment and still make money. What if you met a new vendor who could provide with a service that would save you $100 a month? That is a $1200 savings over the year – so by attending the event you have not only continued your entrepreneurial education, met amazing potential clients but also saved money on a service you were already paying for.
I hope you can see that events like these do not COST you – they are an INVESTMENT which can be easily re-couped.
With all that being said I hope you can indulge me for a little shameless plug of my event. I would like to invite you to meet with me, face to face, in Salt Lake City on May 3-5, 2012. I am co-hosting this event with Shahar and Nash Boyayan and we have designed it especially for entrepreneurs who are asking themselves how they can structure their business to get where they want to go, how to get there fast and how to ensure that it will be designed in a profitable way which allows you to enjoy the rest of your life.
We have a line up of fabulous speakers (Bob Jenkins, Caterina Rando, Jill Lublin and many more) and we have some super cool surprises in store for you. Last but definitely not least, we are expecting a crowd of 250+ entrepreneurs so the networking will be out of this world.
I encourage you to be decisive, understand it is ok to take time away from your business (a little down time) and click here right now to reserve your seat at the event (and be sure to check out how you can guarantee a seat in the front section of the ball room)! See you soon.
