Marketers Mojo is all about building a business that supports your life – that includes when you get sick.
Last week I came down with one of the worst flus I’ve had in years. I spent the whole week in bed or on the couch, sleeping. 
Boy did that ever suck!
Now, I do still have some clients so one of the first things I did was let them know I just wasn’t feeling well enough to do any work for them. I have awesome clients and they were completely understanding. So my client work didn’t get done but neither did anything else.
As I mentioned before I’m working on my professional blogger status right here at Marketers Mojo. Being sick got me thinking of what I can do to prepare for future unexpected or even expected leaves of absence from my work.
Here are a few things internet marketers can (and should) do to prepare for being sick or away from their business:
Have a week’s worth of blog posts prepared – This is not hard to do. With the wordpress draft feature it’s just a matter of saving posts in draft until they’re needed. Or the posts can be loaded in a pre-scheduled each week. This will also be handy in a pinch when a blog post is needed and inspiration is not hitting. My plan is to have at least 10 blog posts on reserve.
Systems – I do have some systems in place, like one for my podcast, but I don’t have anyone trained to pick them up while I’m away. While I do currently have a VA who helps me with my business on occassion, I plan now to make sure she knows my important systems and could take over if needed.
Autoresponders – One thing that did keep running while I was sick were my autoresponders. I have autoresponder mini-courses set up and those continued to run automatically even while I was sick.
Email Updates – I like to send email updates to my list on a pretty regular basis. Like the blog posts, I can have a few of these prepared and on standby in my Aweber account. Then when I’m in a pinch or not feeling well enough the emails will be ready to go. I’ve done up a full review of Aweber for you, click here: Aweber Review
It’s all about planning ahead and getting ahead using as much automation, systems and outsourcing as possible.
I’m so glad to be feeling almost completely back to normal and I’m also glad my flu wasn’t entirely for nothing. Next time I need some time off I’m hoping it’s for an unexpected vacation but THIS time I’ll have prepared ahead so my business will continue running while I’m off relaxin!
p.s. One of my favorite automation tools is using my email autoresponder program, Aweber. Take it for a test run by visiting this link.
Great topic Angela! I've had to limit my work as well the last two weeks because of horrible back ache so i can totally relate. We should always have a back up system in place, and take time to make it
[...] it was the full week off I had last week due to being sick. Maybe it was the fact I screwed up my podcast for today (actually, totally DELETED it by [...]
Twitter: AngelaWills
says:
Sorry to hear about your back ache Linda! Definitely the hardest part might be to actually take the time when it's non-essential to actually get that system ready. Now that I'm back to work creating a backup still isn't my priority. Guess I'll have to just fit it in a little at a time
Twitter: AngelaWills
says:
Sorry to hear about your back ache Linda! Definitely the hardest part might be to actually take the time when it's non-essential to actually get that system ready. Now that I'm back to work creating a backup still isn't my priority. Guess I'll have to just fit it in a little at a time