PR Pointer – What I SHOULD have learned on my summer vacation

You might remember the drill. This is a slight twist on the “What I did on my summer vacation” theme.

In filling in as the facilitator for a recent roundtable discussion (the regular hosts–Bernie Heine, Philip Ashcroft and Paul Crossman–were ironically on vacation themselves), I had a chance to meet with a handful of entrepreneurs to, well, roundtable the topic of vacation epiphanies to pitfalls. In other words, the good, the bad and the ugly.

What I learned was that many business execs suffer from vacation anxiety.

“How can my business carry on without me?”

“What horrors will greet my return?”

“Will I be bored not chained to e-mail and social media?”

On the other hand, everyone knows that sometimes vacations allow for genius to strike. Or, at the very least, it gives you new perspective.

One CPA had this advice, “I delegate as much as I can so that come vacation time I am less enmeshed.”

A divorce coach noted, “My vacation time is taking my dogs for a long walk every afternoon. My mind wanders and they get a good workout.”

A financial planner said, “I prefer not to vacation. I’d prefer to combine work and play.”

I say, “To each his own.”

Research revealed several useful tips on how small business owners and executives can prepare for and enjoy vacations:

1. Choose a slow season to travel. Key holidays like July 4 week, Thanksgiving or Christmas work for me. Most clients are also taking time off.
2. Plan well ahead. This offers ample time to have a plan and relish the anticipation.
3. Alert your client of when you will be unavailable. No surprises. No procrastination.
4. Don’t launch a new website or initiative prior to leaving. You know things never go smoothly.
5. Deputize a reliable colleague to babysit key projects. Introduce the all parties.
6. Set boundaries. Either you are completely unavailable or ONLY available at a very specific time.
7. Review the results. This could bolster your confidence for the next trip to Fiji.

Now that you are back from holiday let us know how we can jump in and kick start a new PR/Marketing effort.