Recently, I took a vacation to Greece where I wanted to relax and not be concerned about my daily business routine. Upon returning home I reviewed the results and it left me amazed at what is possible when automation is in charge for a few days. Just look at the results from my JVZoo affiliate account? This was earned while I was sitting round the pool sipping cocktails. Talk about living the true internet marketing lifestyle.
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From the outside looking in it looks like I can simply walk away from every aspect of the business and it will run itself. That is not entirely true when you consider the fact that automation will not work without setting the wheels in motion first.
How well could you automate your business?
Possess the Tools
Although I love to talk about the freedom this business brings to my life, I want others to understand the importance of owning the right tools. One of the issues traditional business owners have is that their business is completely dependent on their hourly involvement. Technology replaces much of what we do to create interest in our products and services.
- Mobile devices – Without an equipped laptop and mobile phone, the unplugged vacation is out of reach. Connecting for five minutes from the sun lounger by the pool allows you to verify that your plan is working back home and everything is running like clockwork. A few clicks and you can see the results of your automated activities. It’s always nice to know that email you queued to go out at a specific time has indeed been sent.
- Trusted partners – As your business grows, you will need other people who “watch the store.” Failures could occur at any time without any warning, and someone must be able to take action should something go wrong. You will meet people who have the skills and prowess to respond if a server fails or a system crashes. It’s very important someone is on standby ‘just in case’.
- Software and accounts – Autoresponders, websites and marketing tools must be in place before you can claim that your business is automated. Mastering the abilities provided through these instruments is necessary long before you board a plane. Use these tools to build automation into your business each day. With WordPress you can schedule a blog post, with Aweber and GetResponse you can schedule a broadcast. With CountDown Monkey you can end a promotion, all on autopilot.
Make a Plan
I do not want to leave you with the thought that I simply walked out of the office for a full week. In the days leading up to departure for vacation, I was looking at my promotion schedule for the coming week. Maybe you do not plan ahead for upcoming launches. I highly recommend maintaining a calendar of upcoming product launches.
Automating business processes, such as sending emails, and posting to your social media accounts, will increase the workload in the days before you leave. You can have someone else help you, or you can plan to spend additional time to automate those activities. Your plan will guide the final hours so every minute is used to cover your vacation time. Here’s my aweber schedule all set up and ready to broadcast to my subscribers on autopilot.
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Test Before You Leave
Before you schedule a vacation, master the fine art of scheduling emails and updates and then signup to receive those updates yourself. Watch the processes happen and ensure that you get the desired results. Learn the steps to monitor your accounts without being in your office. Using a mobile phone is handy to make sure things are working but remember that you are on vacation so don’t check too often.
Enjoy the Freedom!
Automation can enhance your ability to leave the office early, play a round of golf or have a few weeks away from the office. Maybe you are planning a special event and you need more time to spend with other people. Implement automated processes and learn to enjoy the finer things in life more than just a couple of times each year. Focused effort can create freedom that you never dreamed was possible. We live in a world of automation, make it work for you.
“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”
~ Bill Gates
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Great stuff as usual mate, automation is the KEY for any business! Especially if you need a Holiday 🙂
Regards,
Dave.
Hey John, great post, insightful as always. I’ve done the same thing a few times though on a much smaller scale. It still amazes me every time this happens. I can’t think of any other business quite like it, definitely beats my days as a web designer.
Best wishes,
Steve
Hi John,
I work full-time and do my marketing in my spare time. I simply could not do this without automating things. As my online business grows I have to make more and more use of automation.
It is true that it takes time and effort to set up but once it is done all I need to do is monitor things and watch it all happen. Like you I subscribe to my own e-mails so when they arrive on my mobile phone I know everything is working.
Thanks for the great post and timely reminder.
Regards
Donald
Hey John, fantastic scheduling stuff man!
I have only scheduled a few days in advance and broke a sweat in case my autoresponder went a bit crazy by entering bad dates or something.
Sergio Felix
PS. Now I’m wondering what would those 4 excluded lists could be about… personal coaching maybe?
That’s correct Sergio, I never promote anything to my coaching students, they have all they need 😉
Hey John..
Great post..Automation is a must so are vacations..Greece sounds great.It’s always good to hear from the great ones. Just knowing you are doing things right.
Thanks, always good to hear from you..
Jan
Great advice, as always John.
great advice by John again… I also notice that you send a email twice a day. AM once and PM once..
What we all like about IM is the ability to have location and time freedom.. that’s cool.
Cheers!
Thanks for the great tips , Good Stuff
Regards
Zora Blume
Hey John,
That was gutsy going to Greece in the middle of their ongoing crisis, with the streets lined with protest and anger (instead of the proverbial gold).
But actually, if I understand correctly, you didn’t work any less then if you didn’t take a vacation, just that you did all the work that needed to be done during that week before hand, and set it up to go off automatically.
The answer is, I imagine, that when you are in the office, you find gobs of other stuff to do, and the automation part at least lets you, well, automate it so that you can “live your dream”. But you still have to set it up, like you explain in your article.
As for me, I have a different dream, and I hope to make it there someday – to live without pressure even here in my home, to do the things that I want to do, not that I have to do because of money.
Anyway, thanks for you article!
Alan