People want to associate themselves with winners. The more you win, the more messages you’ll get. The more invites you’ll get. The more everything you’ll get.
Much of it’s great, like more referrals.
Other opportunities are awesome, but you need to be realistic with yourself.
Invite to speak overseas at an exotic location? Hell yeah! Add “International Speaker” to the virtual resume. Until you find out it’s not paid.
That’s okay, sometimes. I gladly spoke on SEO in Vietnam last year.
While the speaking wasn’t paid, accommodations were covered, the venue was great, and even if I broke even, getting to see Vietnam (and I hit Thailand too) made it a worthwhile write off and investment of time.
Big events with big exposure you can still cover your costs and come out with a bunch of clients that make up for it, too.
But other times you find out not only is the speaking not paid. No part of it is. Not even your room is covered. Now you have:
- $5,000 flight
- $1,000+ in hotel (on a low end for three nights; night to land, day to recover/adjust, day to speak)
- $500+ food
But the real killer is endless opportunity cost
You just took three days out of your schedule just to get there and back. Not to mention the preparation time, and the guaranteed few days of jet lag and lower productivity afterwards.
I’m grateful for all the opportunities, especially those I have to respectfully decline. And I look forward to doing more. But the reality is just four days down could easily cost me $50,000 – $100,000 in opportunity cost. Add in missed family time and it just doesn’t make sense.
It’s okay to say no. It’s okay to not put “opportunity” over family.
As you grow, pay more attention to the opportunity cost associated with everyone that approaches you with those opportunities. The more you focus the more you ACTUALLY grow. And the more you actually grow, the more qualified opportunities present themselves that compensate you without any sacrifices.
