Travel for Success – Overnight Success

nice post

Nice Travel Blog. I had seen the video. The video is really interesting

Chris,

Thank you, again! What you say is so true.
In addition to good intentions we must make the effort logistically, financially and emotionally.

Stephanie

Thanks for the "travel" vlog for Overnight Success, it has helped with my guilt with the expense and 'why am I doing this'

I've been realizing this more recently, Chris. After making a recent trip to DC and NYC, I've been able to deepen relationships in ways that I couldn't have just with phone calls and email.

After an eventful, self-funded solo acoustic tour in the UK Nov 10-20...this post definitely spoke to me! Thanks!

Not only that, but how are people supposed to see what you can do if they never see you?

When the former employer let me out behind my desk, ...well, to quote Dr. Seuss..."Oh, the places you will go."

Also, fill your mp3 player/phone full of quick-tempo-ed tunes and make sure you have a car you love driving or you'll find a reason not to travel. Even if you're just driving to the airport. It's not only okay to enjoy the tools of the trade, but it's imperative. Or else in the next few days I wouldn't enjoy trips down to Indy, back up to Valparaiso, up to Chicago, back to Valpo, back down to Indy, back to Valpo, back to Chicago, and then off to Ft. Myers, Margaritaville through the new years - where I'll go to Naples, Miami, Key West, and back before driving home.

To quote Dylan, "keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew...tangled up in blue."

Chris, You're correct. Travel is important. Meeting face to face is best. I think what you said in the video points to an even more important point. Whatever it is that one needs to do to further his work, he should be dilligent in doing, whether it is traveling or something else. Results won't come to you much if you just sit around! Just do it!

I sure am thankful you traveled to Atlanta recently. A pleasure to meet you IRL (and to watch you sign my Trust Agent books!).

So true :)
I traveled a few month ago to enterprise 2.0 in Boston from Israel, and had the honor and pleasure of meeting Mr Chris Brogan a person i did not know before, but someon i trust told me that i MUST meet him.
After 3 days of hanging out with him, i learned and evolved in so many ways that only now i can start to collect the fruit of my labor.
Chris is an example of the good man i meet along the way in the US who inspired me to release great products.
i think that travel is a MUST in order to succeed, especially if you are not located in the US, your ability to introduce yourself to industry leaders like Chris and get feedbacks, suggestions and advices in a personal level has an impact long after you return.
But just travel is not enough, you should cultivate and build the relationship, and when have different cultural differences and time zones it could be hard :)

Keep them coming,
Sharel

Hey Chris,

I have to say that I agree with you 110%. For the past few months, I've made it a priority to get to every BarCamp, SocialCamp, conference or just gathering of a few folks talking about the social space in my area. I haven't made them all but I've made quite a few. I've spoken at most, even asked to speak a few times, but without a doubt the greatest result is meeting people. After all, social is about people... right? Oh, and just for the record, I've paid my own way to every one of them! Driving, flying, hotels, food, drinks... all on me.

Why? Here are just a few reasons I think its worth it:

1. I learn tons about the social space by talking with people. They have different opinions and perspectives that I get to learn from. I'm not always right after all... just ask my wife!

2. There are hundreds of people at most of these events, and most wouldn't know me from Adam's cat, but after we meet (and I work hard at meeting people in these venues) now we have a connection. Now we can connect on Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn. Now we will check out each other's blogs. None of that would have happened if I hadn't been there.

3. It energizes me! Its pretty easy for me to get down, feel drained, when I've been sitting here writing for hours over many days. Sometimes it can feel like I'm shouting at the wall. And when the opportunity presents itself for me to visit with friends and make new friends at in-person events, its like a fresh shot of go juice. I think we all need that every once in a while.

Even if you can't afford to hit the road, at least get out from behind the desk and find some people to talk to. Quite by accident I ran into Beer & Blog, spent some time chatting with the founder Justin and started a local chapter! We meet every Tuesday night to eat, socialize, and talk tech. Its AWESOME! Since I eat and have a few beers, it usually costs me about $20 a week, but some folks get out under $5.

Have I seen any results from all this? YES, and even more seem to be in the pipeline! I can't wait to see how they develop.

The bottom line is, social media is only a method of connection, not the do-all-end-all. We need that human interaction we get from meetups IRL!

Sorry, that got a little long... guess I was on a roll.

Thanks for the topic Chris! Love the series and thanks for all you give!

jtrigsby

Thanks for the great post Jtrigsby!! I'm in the process of taking advantage of all this great info! I just signed up for some great network meetups locally and really looking forward to meeting Chris Brogan one day soon! Thanks again, I will definitely follow you on twitter since I like your content!

Happy Thanksgiving! I agree you need to go where the people are and networking online doesn't always translate well. So you need to be where the people are and by now I can imagine you are a rock star at packing too. I am sure there is a science to that after all the miles you put in.

thank you very much. this is very an inspiring telling story. I agree with all of what said :)

I just went out west doing appearances with my book/app I can't describe the financial straits this put me in, this after a summer of earning back what I'd lost in the down economy of early 2009. Now I'm re-back to square one.

The trip was indispensable as I continue on the path. Showing up in person demonstrates commitment like nothing else can. It was the right thing to do.

Some friends are confused as to why I stuffed the turkey with Top Ramen, but they'll get over it. Onward!

Chris, thank you for your insight - AGAIN. I have been in a huge planning mode for a few weeks. Now, it's time to get out and make those connections. While my planning is not yet complete, nothing will ever get done if everything remains on the boundaries of paper.

I wonder if its less about "traveling" and more about being "present." In order to get people to transact with you, you must be trustworthy. I speculate that being present facilitates your trustworthiness and as you spend "real" time with others, you can be someone to them that they can allow to take care of their concerns/needs.

Traveling seems to be a means to an end. Building trust seems to be the ultimate goal.

Happy Thanksgiving Chris,

The world will not beat a path to your door, no matter how great the mousetrap. I have actually increased my face-to-face travel during this "recession". Much of my competition is staying off the road, working the phones and doing what they can on-line. My efforts stand out more today because my competition isn't making the effort. Do the costs involved always produce immediate results? No. But I am in business for the long term, and that means I need to be in front of my customers and prospects all the time, regardless of economic conditions.

Me consistently showing up with ideas and opportunities builds my own personal brand. It sends a message about my professionalism and my level of success. No excuses, just doing what needs to be done to do business.

Greatly appreciate all that you do and your willingness to share.

Peter

In the corporate world, most travel is not necessary. When there is a clear purpose and goals, though, it is hard to beat one-on-one personal contact.

Hate to agree with this - but it is true. While the online relationships are great - nothing will ever replace that human interaction - no matter how much we want it to.

This difference is everyone has to travel on their own terms. Some do hops and always gone, others seem to make it work with the whole family traveling together. Have to decide what is more important and keep perspective.

Hey Chris!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm sure you're happy to take a few days off the road to hang out with the family. I'm looking forward to the next time you are in Toronto since I was unable to get out to PodCamp to meet you the last time you were in town.

Then again, I meet up with a lot of people in airports unexpectedly as we're all criss-crossing the continent and that's always an exciting bonus of travel. I do keep an eye out for my social media contacts while on the road and it's thrilling to be able to say "hi" in person when we cross paths.

Safe travels. Enjoy your travel break. You deserve it!

Linda Lopeke

First I have to say how impressed I am you can do this filming with people walking all around. I think I'd be intimidated by that. Is there a trick for tuning it out?

Second, (subject of the vid) I agree to an extent. I've never 'met' you in real life but I went out of my way to get your book. Couldn't afford it, so asked library to get it in. It wasn't published here at the time (England) so I begged them to put through a special request for it to be imported. In the mean time, I won a copy AND it was published over here so by the time it arrived in the library I didn't need it, but someone else will pick it up and spread the Chris/Julien message. Also I tweeted my rear off about the book even though I hadn't read it yet.

The point is, if I went to that trouble I'm sure stacks of people did something easier - they bought the book. If so, you'd make money whether you travelled or not. If you limit your notion of 'success' to the places where you actually meet people it is denying the USP of the web - that you don't necessarily need to MEET people in the flesh to impact upon their lives. You can be successful without that. If anything, you are the perfect demonstration of that. If someone makes enough vids, they are connecting with people face to face.

Getting out and about like you do is bound to have a positive effect on your business and also make you look like someone who cares about your audience - which is a great thing - but I don't think it is always necessary.

Loving your work, as ever,

Rebecca
www.rebeccawoodhead.com

Rebecca- Thinking it is because of his money from the book that allows Chris to get "out there" is backwards. The only reason he could write a book like this was because he had already built a platform. Plus, as Chris said... most folks don't make big money from books.... they are a credibility marketing tool. While th web is a good tool... and I have made many connections that way.... Human beings are still wired the same way and meeting face to face has much more power in how you are viewed. Having a "link" to someone is nice, but sitting across a table and chatting gives you more of a real bond.

I admire how hard you worked to get Chris's book. That type of attitude focused on your dream will make YOU an overnight success (which we all know does not happen overnight!!!)

I'm actually quite shy about shooting the video. Doing this was a stretch outside my comfort zone. I felt dopey, but no one was mean.

You should know that MOST books aren't very successful. I think @gapingvoid said that over 90% never sell more than 5000 copies. So if I didn't get out as often as I did, there'd be fewer people who cared enough to bother buying it. Make sense? : )

Chris,

It is the message, not the appearance or delivery (for the most part). over 200 episodes into our show and I am my toughest critic, you will never be comfortable with yourself on camera, and, if you are, start to worry, it means you are focusing on the wrong thing.

Nobody cares what your hair looks like, or if you have 'umms' and 'ands' in your message, this isn't Toast Masters, we are here for the deliverable, not the presentation.

Erik Boles
http://ErikBoles.com
http://twitter.com/ErikBoles

Your videos come across so smooth. I would have never thought you felt that way about doing them. Kinda encouraging...

Chris, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the Overnight Success series (as well as everything else you share). It's eye-opening. It's real life. You're out there living it day after day (and sometimes the weariness does show in your face but still you keep going....!). Thank you for making the time on a regular basis to share your insights and valuable information with us.

As effective as social media is at establishing connections, I would have to agree that F2F connection is essential. By traveling to where your business lies, you are tacitly saying to the people you meet, "You are important enough for me to incur expenses to meet you. I value your personal interaction and am interested in forging a workable and mutually beneficial relationship."

It's very "put up or shut up," to adopt a truism inherited from my maternal grandmother. What lengths are you willing to go to to learn? to grow? Travel is a physical gesture that says you're serious about your success.

I agree, too. Face-to-face is best.

Thanks Woody! I appreciate your post. Best, M.

I completely agree about the importance of meeting face-to-face and to do that, it takes travel.

Mind you, we can still do all this flying about because it's still cheap to do it (relatively). I think once oil starts to get more expensive again things like air fares will rise dramatically and it will be a lot more difficult to pick up and fly across the country or continent, or ocean, so easily.

Of course, let's not forget the environmental impact of all our travel. It's huge. Even if it's travelling across your own community in a car.

travel for what sort of business, i think links are needed and for that you have to make them personal so travel is needed what if i am running a website for content and earning what is coming as revenue via adsense?

If you're making enough loot via adsense, bless you. Lots of folks don't.

And this is why I haven't bothered even TRYING to get into social media stuff. I'm on a reduced income, geared-to-income housing and have been saving all year for the 300.00 laptop I spotted as an upgrade to this Windows 98 machine.

I guess it takes money to make money after all.

Hey Zach,

I know where you're coming from, I've been in the same boat for a while also. Don't let it get you down though, there are plenty of ways to get out and about - whether it's meeting people at your local rotary club or chamber of commerce, or finding little conferences to speak at (most should at least cover the cost of travel and hotel). Or start your own PodCamp/BarCamp/etc and bring the conference to you if you can't travel, what local businesses would give you some cash in exchange for a table/etc at your Camp?

What are you passionate about? What organizations would benefit from your unique worldview? Try to convince them to bring you out as a speaker, or failing that look for conferences you can volunteer at. Most local groups will waive your entry fees, etc if you volunteer to work at their conference. That can give you the foot in the door, then you wow them with your knowledge, passion and mad skillz.

Whatever you do, don't give up! Remember that even a small step forward is still a step forward, they start to add up over time. Good luck!

Zach, I agree with what Coree, Chris and the others say. Don't let "being broke" at this time in your life stop you from moving ahead. Look for opportunities. Better yet, as Coree did, MAKE opportunies. Being a blogger means being creative! I'm sure you can come up with lots of ideas to improve your business, if that is what you want to do -- turn your blogging into a business. Whatever you need money for -- traveling, creating a product, anything related to blogging -- come up with a way to attain the funds, resources or whatever you need to achieve it. If you are creative enough to create and keep a blog going, you are creative enough to travel and do other necessary things related to your blogging business also! :)

Hey Zach...I think half the bloggers out there started out pretty broke...heck, that's what most of us love about blogging and social media is that it fits in our budget. So, don't get too discouraged about where you're at right now.

I've been to a couple events with zero dollars available to spend when I got there. That part kind of sucked, but I constantly told myself I would look back and share that growing experience one day when I was the one on the event speaking panel!

Be creative. Start looking for contests to win event passes, write great content and find sponsors that would like you to represent them at the event. Often a sponsor will cover travel or accommodation costs...sometimes even food and/or clothing.

When I wanted to go to Blogworld I wrote a post about sponsoring me & submitted it to contests giving away passes, and I made a whole "Sponsor Me" page on my blog to sell myself and what I could do for a sponsor at an event. I placed it on Ebay for sale, posted it on free forums, and even paid the $10 to place an ad on SitePoint. Results? I won a weekend pass from John Chow ($900 value), and had a sponsor pay for my hotel ($250 value).

Was it worth it? Heck yeah...priceless!! I met people like Chris, David Risley, John Chow, Jim Kukral, & plenty more. David even mentioned my blog in his post which ended up giving me a big boost in traffic & subscribers!

It didn't stop there: from those same efforts I just secured a sponsor for SXSW & a sweet business collaboration.

Do what it takes. You won't be sorry, and if you do it right, not only will it NOT cost you an arm and a leg, but you will PROSPER much more in return! :)

Hi Zach
I am sorry to hear that you're so broke. It is very miserable and demoralising and I know how that fear and worry can dominate your thoughts making it difficult to move forward. What I would say though is that there are plenty of things you can do free or for very little cost. When we're talking about Travel for overnight success it doesn't have to mean flying cross country, in fact that may be a waste of money if your target market is on your doorstep. It would help if you were able to tell us what you are trying to accomplish, eg. are you looking for a job? do you have a business that you are trying to grow or launch? If yes then who are your target market in this area? What people are likely to buy from you? or hire you? What business support agencies are in your area? Can you make an appointment to go and speak with them about what face to face networking groups are in your area and if you are setting up a business what training supports have they for a new business. I hope things pick up for you soon.

Lots of us started poor, Zach. I sure did. I couldn't pay mortgage plenty of times in the middle of my journey. If you check out because of a stupid excuse like money, then you're not giving yourself enough credit. Hustle, make the money, and deliver what you can to the world.

I don't trust poverty as an excuse. I never let it slow me down.

When you're at that point in the Journey it's harder than ever to see the light. Thanks for the uplifting comment.

Zach - Travel doesn't have to be a cross-country business trips. It might be travel within your own community. I think Chris' point is, get out and among people.

Right now, I'm in a less-travel mode because I'm preparing to move half-way across the country. Once the move is made, I'll be traveling again. First, in my new locale; then slowing spreading out.

While I'm not traveling as much right now, I'm doing other things to be ready to go when I get to my new digs.

I encourage you to start to travel within your area -- even if it's taking public transportation to get there. Each baby step gets you closer to being an overnight success.

I am enjoying this video series. This one is good because people forget that you have to show your face. Even in your local city, if you do not go out where the people are, you will be limited. Lots of people try to live by the "Kevin Cosner School of Business" -- If you build it, they will come!!! But you have to take "it" (you) out and show people. And while the internet is a wonderful tool, face-to-face makes you real to people. (You do a great job of talking to people in real life situations... some folks act too cool to talk to regular Joe's... but that is another video topic!).

The other part of travel, is people think it is soooo glamorous to fly to neat places to speak. They miss the reality that it is a fast turn, so you often see little of the city. Plus you are arriving late, airport hassles, hotels that dont have your room ready, and you are away from your family. The travel is not always as "great" as those on the outside think.

You know the frequent business travelers - they are the ones that are almost undressed before they go through airport security.

Chris,

In terms of travel on the web and not actually traveling I know personally if had better success when I am "traveling".

People are not just going to do the traveling to your "place", because for one they probably havent heard of you before and secondly you want success so you need to do the work, not them.

Another great video post!

man, you just summed up everything I have been putting off. Not out of lack of desire, just thinking I didn't have the money or time, etc. Yet it's so essential to flourishing that I need to find a way and make the time.

Great thoughts.

Any you *must* take social media to the next level by meeting people in person. Yes, twitter/facebook/etc. is amazing to make initial connections & bridge the in-person meetings. But only in real life (IRL) can you get a feel for someone's energy and *really* make a connection w/ them.

I couldn't agree more. Face to face is where real relationships are made. Online tools help us keep relationships warm, but it's face to face where real business takes place.

Doug

As an aside:

I find it ironic how many of the people who sell "make money in your pajamas" types of products actually make the majority of their income by speaking at conferences and the joint ventures they develop there.