We all have them: the stuff we're not ready to chuck out yet and want to read, to give further consideration.

Stick all that stuff in a 'to read' file. Could be a container of whatever size (I prefer a poly pocket folder about an inch wide) that you can grab when you're heading out the door to an appointment, on a trip, whereever.

Sitting on a plane right now, I can read them all then throw them away. More space on the way back.

Okay, they're gonna take my laptop away now.

Love you, love your show.

Jessica

Find out more about me at http://roomtobreathe.biz

I have seen spectrum on which people reside where travel is concerned. At one end, you've got anxiety, trepidation, and nausea. At the other, giddyness, excitement, and potentially nausea. (So maybe it's a continuum?) 

Anyway, I land firmly on the giddy, excitement, "oooooh let's go!" point.  I love the potential. I love sitting in the airport watching people. I love listening to the announcements, hearing who needs to get to their gate, and watching planes arrive and take off.  For the most part, all I see is love.

Today I get to be in the international terminal as I head out to a conference in Canada. So the people in this terminal are extra happy, love-y, and smiley.  Announcments are in Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Brazilian, and English.  There is amazing art and a display of Italian Motorcycles from the 50s and 60s. 

Yes, I was born with wanderlust in my blood. I love coming home as much as I like leaving again. For a while, I traveled the world and got paid to do it. I'm starting that trend again at the perfect pace for me where I am now in my life.

Being a hugely creative, visionary, ooh-shiny thinker, here's how I keep my zen like state for travel (and I mean travel anywhere - car, train, plane).

I have a packing list.

I add an extra hour earlier onto my 'drop dead gotta leave the house' time.

Yeah, I know. It's that simple.

Listen, I can hear you, wait, I can feel you, railing against using a list for travel. "Don't fence me in!"  or "you can't make me!"  I was like that once. And the bullshit stress of being late, forgetting stuff, having to spend money I didn't need to if I'd just remembered, finally got to me. I got tired of being in the security line worrying, judging all the 'slow' people who don't already know they have to take off their shoes. Ugh. Way not cool. That stress is totally avoidable.

I picked up a template from the Microsoft Office template site, searched "travel", picked one, and customized it to my needs.  Why should I recreate the wheel when I could just put shiny hubcaps on one?

Now, it takes me about 45 minutes to pack, I bring everythign I need and want, get to the airport on time, and observe the crazy "freak-outs" without getting sucked into them.  By the power of magical internet and laptops (yes, it's magic, don't kid yourself) I get to work in a calm way for an hour, catch up on reading, and hey, even write a blog post or two.

So do yourself a favor. Go make yourself a list. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just occasionally go to the aiport, grab a template and customize it. Have your Assistant customize it for you. Whatever.  And if you want to see mine, book a 30 Minute Sesh with me and I'll email it to you.

Have a magnificent day!

Jessica

A little inspiration and curiosity this morning as I read the paper at my local coffee joint.

Background: today is Saturday. The section of the paper I'm reading: a very thin D section, exactly 6 pages long, front page contains the funnies.

On page 4, opposite the movie listings, I see the ad promoting a "local small business marketing consultant" ... "providing the tools to develop a marketing strategy and grow your business with confidence."

This ad placement, right next to Miss Manners, strikes me as one that really isn't going to touch this fella's target market.

Since the event is sponsored by the newspaper, I wonder if the consultant had anything to do with the location of the advertising placement. I wonder if this ad was anywhere in the weekday editions. I wonder if it actually ended up in the business section. I wonder what other, non-newspaper, promotion is happening to fill this room. I wonder how many people are attending.

Ad placement is just as important as ad content and has to be driven by the habits of your target market.

If this were a private event, not sponsored by a newspaper, where would you want your ad? Where would you tell this guy to advertise to ensure his target market would show up?

Jessica

When you work with http://roomtobreathe.biz , we ask all these questions so when a paper comes to you with an offer to collaborate, you know how to leverage the opportunity. Visit our website and set up a 30 Minute Sesh today to see how we can help you know what you need to know.