Just like many of you, I can’t wait until we can start getting back to in-person conferences. Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t have survived the past year without Zoom, Skype, UberConference, and other virtual meeting apps. But I miss that face-to-face contact, exchanging ideas, learning about affiliate marketing, and the excitement of being together with a group of people who really understand what online selling is about. Okay, I also miss the food, the fun, and the entertainment. So, I’m counting the days when the next big affiliate conference happens.

ResponseCRM has been remote from the start, and I really like the freedom and flexibility of working remotely. I can set my own hours and when people see me in a meeting in a corporate shirt, no one will ever know that I’m also wearing sweats and no shoes. My Apple Watch tracks my commute to and from my home office to the kitchen. Sound exciting? So, the in-person conferences are just what many of us might need to get even more motivated. In the meantime, here are some ideas about how to stay sane, connected, productive, and watch your revenues grow.

1. Set some boundaries. Just because business happens 24x7 it doesn’t mean that you need to be always-on. Determine what hours you plan to be at your computer and available to meet with people, review reports, take actions based on metrics related to conversion rates, and so on. When you run your own business, there’s always the temptation to answer every message ASAP, but not everything is a priority. If you don’t set boundaries, you just might find yourself working through dinner too often. Sometimes you just need to take a break. You’ll find setting and keeping boundaries can make you more productive.
2. Attend online workshops, watch short videos, or listen to podcasts about trends related to your business, products, and services. Invest in yourself by setting aside time each week to expand your knowledge about issues and ideas related to your business. It’s amazing how much useful material is out there – make professional development a priority.
3. Stay connected with people. It’s so easy to be tied to a computer all day and feel like you just have to do one more thing alone. That turns into two, three, or four more things. Instead, plan a virtual meeting with someone who can help your business—whether it’s meeting with an affiliate distributor, a web designer who’s going to build your website, potential customers, or other people important to your business.
4. Spend more time understanding and leveraging the capabilities of your CRM solution. In 2020, we did a major overhaul of ResponseCRM to include many integrations with your favorite apps and implemented a lot of new features to make it easy for you to sell. Our new UI is powerful and intuitive, and the dashboards provide the level of detail you need for effective decision making. I could go on and on about the benefits of split-URL testing and how it helps to improve conversion rates, but you’ll figure that out on your own once you try it.

One thing we’ve all discovered this past year is how working remotely has helped businesses to adapt during the COVID pandemic and how consumers are buying more products online than ever before. Here’s to more growth in 2021 and to seeing you at a live conference soon!