This post is contributed by Jason Dirkham
Networking is one of the most important parts of running a business. You constantly have to be ready to meet new people, charm them, and make them interested in your product. It’s the same as taking your marketing strategy and condensing it into one manageable pitch. And that pitch is always best delivered face to face. Your target audience isn’t necessarily going to be directly under your nose all of the time, which means you need to travel to make those connections happen. Traveling for business is an amazing experience; you get to meet so many people in so many different cultures that you would never usually have the chance to meet. You also get to pitch your business idea to some leading head in your industry as well as introduce new people to your ideas.
However, traveling too much can mean that you lose touch with home – in both a personal and business sense. That work to life balance is so delicate and one that you should always strive to keep balanced, otherwise you will completely lose one in favor for the other. So when you are out there making vital connections for your business, sitting in meetings and debating in negotiations half way across the world, you need to make sure that you stay connected to the world back home.
News
Shockingly enough you can easily stay up to date with the news at home online. Download the local news app and set up notifications on the main headlines and in the areas that interest you the most. You can also order local newspaper to be sent to you wherever you are. Yes it can be a bit pricey, and you may have to wait to read about yesterday’s news today, but it will keep you up to date and should be able to flesh out the headlines you scanned coming in yesterday.
When you’re on the other side of the globe it doesn’t stop you from getting mail. Yes, you can easily have a family member or friend pick up your mail, do you also want the combing through it all for anything important? Or simply not looking through it at all and you missing out on an important piece of mail? The alternative is to sign up at https://physicaladdress.com. This allows you to redirect your mail to a physical post box where trusted, and appropriately background checked, employees of the company scan your mail and send it to you virtually. This way you see your mail everyday and can easily see what is important and what is junk. You can set up a postbox for business or personal use, or for a mix of both. You can also have the company shred any documents that you don’t want or need, or any that contain personal information that you don’t want lying around. They also deal with parcels, but only so far as to store them and notify you of their arrival.
Family
The last thing you want is to be out of touch with your friends and family while you’re away. Luckily, with thanks to modern technology it is so easy to pick up your phone and message someone and receive an instant reply, or to call and have a video chat. However, there are still obstacle like time zones and data that need to be overcome. So that your phone doesn’t get blocked due to irregular use, make sure that you have added or activated data roaming to your phone plan – this ensures that any activity you do on your phone while traveling doesn’t flag up as suspicious activity, nor will you get charged extra for using it. However, each company has different rules regarding this, usually depending on which countries the company has a foothold in, so double check with your provider before heading abroad. If you don’t have enough data to see you through and you know the Wifi will be bad where you’re going, then look into a Wifi data box. It’s a portable box that you can carry anywhere that acts as a wireless router or hotspot you can connect your phone to. You can also use Skype if you have people back home, or yourself, who don’t have iPhones for Facetime.
Stock and Finances
The stock market is international, however time zones do come into play. If you’re managing your own stock then it should be a simple enough task to juggle the different markets, however, when you’re attending meetings everyday you don’t have the luxury of staying up all night. So look into hiring a broker either full time or just while you’re away to manage your stock for you.
