How To Run An Online Business... From The Road

By Ken Leonard,Jr.
Posted Sunday, September 12, 2004

Running an online publishing business really lends itself to mobility. Giving you the freedom to live as you would like, while running your business, is the appeal of the internet as a powerful money making vehicle.

The idea is to automate all that you can, so your promotion machine works 24/7, while you're asleep, or wandering around Northern Europe. You now have a small number of tasks left that demand your prompt attention, which are very do-able as you travel, in your spare time.

The promotion methods you have put into action will continue to work for you day after day. Articles you have written for use in other online publications will be printed and seen by countless subscribers, growing your reader base. Ads you have set up in other publications will run per schedule. Any viral subscription programs or co-ops that you use will continue to grow your list, while you have lunch in a cafe in Cologne.

The use of autoresponders to host a free course or report on your subject matter is a valuable tool to the mobile marketer. I have a free email series on autoresponder, that brings in leads and subscribers for my ezine anytime and automatically. "PC Tips For Online Marketers" is a seven-part series on keeping your home office computer running safe and sound, especially if you aren't a techie. You will see some of the tips in my newsletter from time to time. It is available by sending an email to:

mailto:pctipsformarketers@postmaster-email.com

This email course generates subscribers 24/7, if I'm walking the parks of Amsterdam, or watching the midnight fireworks at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.

The list management service I subscribe to automatically adds new subs to my PC Tips series, or to my New Marketer Ezine list. It automatically removes unsubscribes, and allows me to send unscheduled mailings to either list any time I please. I use this function to mail my ezine weekly, and as it is web-based. I am using the service today from an internet cafe in Amsterdam. It is my "Business Office Online", from BambooBiz Online. (http://www.bamboobiz.net/)

I highly recommend this service, as it is very convenient to use while traveling, since it is web-based. There is no software to run on your PC, no mailing to do through your ISP. You can manage multiple lists, and you get up to fifty sequential autoresponders, for courses, series, and follow- ups.

Every couple of days you stroll back to your favorite internet cafe, and casually check your email. You'll have to have access to some kind of web-based email checker. My local DSL provider in South Florida, BellSouth, gives me a webmail page that I can use to check all of my mail, even other POP3 accounts, as a free benefit. You file some emails for later, you answer customer and other important messages, and you're off to the Diamond Exchange in Antwerp.

This pace of checking up on your email and running some simple tasks via the net (occasionally) is easy to do. You will find that a nice break to sit down for awhile and relax while you do some work is welcomed. It's a lot of work to see five countries in two and a half weeks. It is easy to find the time you need to keep your business running smoothly, when you are having the time of your life, and getting rid of all the stress from the last year.

Getting out of town will help you to be more productive the rest of the year, and your business won't miss you for a minute. You may prefer to travel with a laptop for your office tasks, but really consider the fact that you have to keep an eye on it the whole trip. You have to watch yourself, you know. That's where the web-based email and BambooBiz Online come in handy.

The future is now. It's here for the taking.

Do it because you can! You'll be glad you did.

About the Author
Direct marketing veteran Ken Leonard Jr. publishes "New Marketer Ezine" weekly, helping to take the headaches out of starting and growing your online or home-based business. Get yours now by going to (http://www.kenleonardjr.com) and get two useful resources free.