Traveling with a Laptop?

I know for a fact that you don't stay at home all day, every day. I have hit the wall again and again with a product launch problem, a product creation problem, a programming problem or I just couldn't solve some problem. 10 minute break, 15 minute walk, 30 minute drive, or a 45 minute nap, I come back and I know exactly how to solve my problem.

The next time you leave town, or even better, attend an offline event or a mastermind, even for just a few days, you'll make new connections, get a brand new perspective and solve most of your problems.

But here's the question... what do you bring to these events? And how much of your business do you take with you?

Laptop? iPad? Pen and paper? Second monitor?

I've literally been to events where 100% of all attendees were on their laptops. Not taking notes, not learning, using wifi (and mifi), surfing the web, checking Facebook, wasting time – when they could be wasting time at home!

Do You Really Need That Laptop?

My first question to you is, do you REALLY need to be that connected that you bring your smartphone, tablet, laptop, and notepad in your backpack when you attend these events? The answer is probably not. I've been to events where I tripped over power cords from plugged in laptops. I hosted an event once where one of the attendees plugged in a power strip, two laptops, and a router.

What would happen if you attended a conference and you were 100% focused on what was right in front of you?

Just think about how differently you'd think if your attention didn't have to be "split" all the time. Or if, for a few hours at a time, you were unreachable, no interruptions, just focusing on where you are and what you're hearing and seeing?

Business Building Tasks Only

One of the weirdest experiences I went through was being confined on a train for 48 hours from Sacramento, California to Mount Pleasant, Iowa. I got a heck of a lot accomplished, and part of it was writing 52 articles. I used some as membership content, some were blog posts for my sites, guest blog posts, articles for a print magazine.

This was before Amtrak provided wifi service. It was also before mobile 3G and 4G hotspots existed. Even so, the cellular reception was so terrible that even my GPS device couldn't always get a signal.

I guarantee that if train wifi had existed back then, I wouldn't have written 52 articles. I probably would have used Facebook and Skype, checked my email, read articles, forum posts and blog posts, however.

Think about it. What if YOU were trapped on a train for 2 days and had no internet service? And you had no movies and TV shows left to watch? No books left to read?

You'd probably build your business. Write articles and blog posts, create videos, membership site content, sales letters, you would CREATE instead of wasting time.

Here's what I do at events. I bring in just ONE device into the room. That means it's either JUST my phone, JUST my iPad, or JUST my laptop. I don't have it out 100% of the time, and when I do, I'm not on Facebook, I'm not browsing, surfing, consuming, I'm creating. Once I've finished that article, I shut the laptop down and I'm done.

Internet Security

Here's something that might save your entire business. Never use public wifi to login to most sites. Skype, Evernote, Gmail, Facebook, and most remote desktop software (my favorite is LogMeIn) are all okay to use on public wifi because they use SSL to encrypt those communications.

Let's say you login to your favorite message board, your WordPress blog, or membership site. If the web address doesn't have a "https" at the beginning (instead of "http") or shows a "lock" symbol, then you've just broadcasted your password to everyone within 1000 feet of you. If you login to your cPanel without typing the https or you FTP without checking the box to use FTPS or SFTP, you've just broadcasted your password to everyone within 1000 feet.

Scary stuff. So other than being careful about what sites you visit, what do you do?

Remote Desktop

I have a program called "LogMeIn" installed on my computer. I also have the "LogMeIn" app installed on my iPad. Using this app, I can connect to my computer at home from anywhere. This means I view my screen over there, I can click on anything and type anything. Edit video, record video, access files, login to sites.

Remote desktop is actually GREAT when you want to login, get your computer running (like processing a video), then logout and let it crank away at home.

I've installed the app on my iPhone and on my laptop, so it doesn't matter where I am, if I need to use my computer at home, it's one "tap" away.

Here's another thing. My home computer has RoboForm installed, my laptop doesn't. This means if I lose my laptop (which is itself password protected), my passwords aren't lost. They're on my home computer.

If I need to check my PayPal balance or pay someone and I'm not home, I can just remote desktop and do it -- without setting off alarms with PayPal. If I need to login to a non-SSL forum or website, I remote desktop and do it.

Should you travel? Yes. Do you need to bring your laptop along? Probably not if you have a tablet. Even so, here's what you need to do:

• Only have one device "on" you at a time (phone, tablet, laptop)
• Use your device for content creation tasks instead of browsing and surfing
• Avoid logging into non-SSL sites and use Remote Desktop (LogMeIn) whenever possible

I hope that helps when traveling and building/maintaining/growing your online business.

Filed in: Travel