Global Tips and Tricks

Ok everyone… If you’ve been following so far, we’ve gone through The Benefits of Going Global, Taking Your Business Online, Building a Global Audience Part I & Part II… now that we’ve covered some of the basics, let’s look at how to apply them. The best advice I can give you about creating a global business is to stay on track and have a schedule.

Create a Schedule!!

When your business goes global, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and unfocused. One of the things I teach people in my consulting practice is to set goals, and have a schedule that integrates your goals. Now you are in a position that you need to keep up a presence on your website, you have several areas that are going to help you get noticed. I have outlined these areas below, and recommend that you put a day and time to each of these areas. Otherwise, you will find yourself spinning and feel you have little to no organization for your time or day.

1. Blog Posts (outlining, writing, editing)- Determine first, how often you want to post. I started by doing once a week until I gained more of a following and now I try to put new content up about twice a week. Schedule time for generating ideas. This will help you to outline your posts and build a general format. When are your creative days? Let those be the days that you write your material. I give myself a few days after writing my posts to go back and edit. This way, I’m not worried about posting it the same day. Also, if you are worried about editing and formatting, you are not likely to stay in the creative state of writing.

2. Research & Finding Strategic Partners- You will begin to build networks through Twitter, Facebook, and your blog. Part of the meaning of a network is your participation. As you find others and begin to connect with those that share your same market and values, subscribe to their sites via RSS feeds & email or newsletters. Pay attention to what they are doing and what is going on in their worlds. This will help you to interact with them on a deeper level and support them as they are rolling out posts, products or services. I like to tweet what I am reading as I’m doing it so they know they are supported.

3. Participating on Other Blogs - leave comments- People don’t know you are reading or what your thoughts are unless you speak up! Take time after reading posts to leave comments, insights, or share how the post made you feel. Be authentic and actually dig into the article. By leaving comments and speaking up, the writer feels supported. There is really nothing better than getting comments from your readers that Understand You! So, speak up and let them know you are there.

4. Hosting or Writing Guest Interview Blog Posts- I think it is very important to bring the Strategic Partners you learn from into your site. I host one interview a month with someone that is influential in my industry. This is not hard! I ask them if they would like to participate, send them my questions, and post the response. The goal is to give my readers a chance to see that there are other people out there living an inspired life.

Similarly, you can share your insights on other blogs. Find out if other people in your network are interested in having a guest author. This gives you a chance to get in front of their audience and show people your stance. Getting exposure on bigger blogs helps you to grow your following and readership; ultimately positioning you to influence more people and change the world for the better!

5. Writing Back to Your Readers- When your readers contact you, write them back! I have this built into my schedule so that every post gets a returned email from me. I have realized you can get into wonderful discussions and even find out where people are in the world. One of my readers will be coming through Bangkok soon and I can’t wait to meet up with him! Build time into your schedule to get back to your biggest fans!

Here is an example of my schedule:

Monday: Tech Day - website, blog formatting, editing, newsletters

Tuesday: Writing Day - BusinessBackpacker articles, outreach articles, guest blog posts

Wednesday: Research Day - finding and interacting with other location independent professionals, global entrepreneurs, and researching tools for business backpackers

Thursday: Social Networking Day: finding and adding followers on Twitter, replying to blog comments, retweeting other articles, reading RSS feeds and commenting

Friday: Creative Day: taking photos, video, uploading pictures to blog site, connecting with friends and family

What is your schedule like? Take some time to get organized this week and then check out our next post on Global Tools & Downloads!

Be in touch! What are your questions, concerns or comments?