Today, we’re talking about the dirty “V-word” again.
(No, not the jab…)
We’re talking vacations.
Mandatory ones.
Again.
For mayhap the 13th time in the last 10 days.
Why?
It’s that important, cully.
And I wish someone would’ve told me this back when I first started my biz and would work 60-80 hour weeks.
Here’s the story:
Before I left for vacation, I was chatting with a prospect.
Turns out, their email person just left the company. And they were desperate for help.
Well, the evening before I left for vacation, they replied to a cold email I sent and wanted to hop on a call.
I made an exception (usually I don’t let people book meetings with me past 4 pm or so). And we hopped on a call about 20 minutes after they replied. (I made another exception here too. Usually you must book a call an hour or so before it begins.)
See how urgency creates action? (Especially when it’s real urgency and not fake urgency.)
We had a good convo. They were interested. And I could help them.
But then I left for two weeks. And I even had to cancel our original follow-up call because of plane delays and cancellations.
Well, when I returned, we hopped on another call to iron out the details and decide if we wanted to work together. In the two-week span I was gone, they had meetings with other agencies and such.
Which, in theory, could’ve cost me the client.
But it didn’t.
In fact, their check just cleared.
They’re officially a client.
And I’ve stacked up another anecdote of my favorite “top secret growth lesson:”
Whenever I travel or go on vacation, I come back to a bigger business.
They’re not the only new client either:
* One of my client’s suppliers hit up my client asking about who writes the “wonderful email copy.” Gonna meet with him next week.
* One of my clients upgraded their package, so they’ll pay me more.
* I have an almost overwhelming pipeline of at least semi-interested prospects from cold email
* I got promoted from “Copy Cat” to “Copy Chief” for another client I have who works with several copywriters.
(If you’re a copywriter looking for gigs, I might have something for you in this regard. But do not reply to this email and ask about it. I’ll reach out to you when it’s time. You will disqualify yourself if you can’t follow basic directions…)
So how does this happen?
Is it pure luck? A weird coincidence? The universe telling me to travel more?
It might be a mix of all three.
It does take some luck. All businesses need a little bit of luck to get started.
But you can also create your own luck: By showing up and publishing something every day, like I do with these emails. That’s the law of attraction in action, baybee.
The latest client I closed involved luck:
I reached out at the right time. Going on vacation showed them that I know what I’m doing at least enough to afford vacations and take time off.
But I also created my own luck:
They read some of my emails and fell in love.
There’s probably a coincidence-factor working here too. Or maybe not because I’ve always returned home from a trip to a bigger business.
And as far as the universe “telling” me to travel more?
Mayhap yes, maybe no.
But I’ll tell you this:
When I was working 60-80 hour weeks starting this business, vacation never crossed my mind. Hell, leaving my house barely crossed my mind. I only went to the gym, the grocery store, and my parents/grandparents house at that time.
It was necessary because I had no “plan B” if my business failed.
And I would do everything in my power to make it successful.
But maybe a vacation would’ve helped?
Since 2020, I’ve traveled to Chicago, Mexico, Vegas, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Myrtle Beach (twice), and I’m probably leaving some out.
I have a trip to Texas and Florida planned for this year too.
Only one of these trips was for “business.” (In the most unlikely spot too because it ‘twas Vegas.)
Better yet:
I’ve worked less and less on each trip. And I've traveled longer.
My first trip was only 3 days.
My latest trip was 13 days — and I only worked for a few hours while Peanut drove.
So here’s my verdict:
Go on vacation as soon as you can.
Even if it’s only for a day or two.
It’ll help you do a couple things:
1. Practice the freedom your business should give you.
2. Boost your productivity to “Limitless” levels. You can squeeze in as much as a month’s worth of work into like 10 days before vacation.
3. Force you to realize that your business won’t crash and burn if you take a few days off.
4. Land more clients.
5. Rejuvenate your creativity muscles and fend off burnout.
And many other reasons I didn’t list here.
Anywho:
Wanna take a vacation while you make more money from email marketing than you ever imagined?
In 2021, one of my clients made more money from email alone than his entire business made, across all its marketing channels, in 2019.
Now, I can’t promise the same thing will happen in your business.
But it’s at least worth a shot, eh?
So book a discovery call, and let’s chat.
John
Kommentare