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Trust me, it's really just a way of improving your marketing skills
Steve was telling me this morning that he could hardly wait for Christmas morning. It's not because he's just a big kid who loves to open presents but because he can sleep in if he wants to and he won't feel guilty that he's not going to go into his office here at home all day.

After he said that he looked at me rather strangely and then I realized that I must have been looking horrified. I'm sure I was because I was thinking that no one could last a morning without at least checking their email but here was my partner telling me that he was planning on not going anywhere near his computers all day!

Then just a little while ago I was down at the bank putting some checks into our account and the bank clerk who always serves us and knows us quite well was telling me what she and her family had planned for Christmas. It was nothing special, just the ordinary things most Australian families do on Christmas Day and it struck that there in the busy bank I was surrounded by normal people and I was the one who didn't quite fit in.

If you work online in this industry then it's quite likely that you're like me. You work long hours in front of the computer and even when you're away from the computer you're still thinking about work and the next site or the next gallery. But that's not the way the rest of the world thinks or works.

Normal people might use computers in their work life and many use it at home for recreation or even some information gathering but their lives don't revolve around a computer like our lives do. All those normal people are not like us ... in fact we're more than a little abnormal and it's time we got out and got a life.

Not only do we need to do that so that we remain sane and can continue to function in society but we really do need to get out there and experience life as others do so that we can be even more effective marketers.

In this industry it's way too easy to lose touch with the world and begin to live in our own little fantasy world where things are as we think they should be. The more we drift into that fantasy world the more we lose touch with reality and the less effective our marketing becomes.

The longer we stay in our own little world the more we begin to sell to ourselves and not to the people around us. The further we drift into our fantasy world the more out of touch we become with the things that are important to everyone else.

Whether we're selling adult products or mainstream products we need to know where the market place is itching so that we can scratch that itch and make money. But if where out of touch with the market place because we're living in our own little fantasy then no matter how hard we try we're not going to be able to connect with those we want to sell to.

So it's time for all of us to get out and get a life. I know that yesterday I said that I was going to spend more time away from the computer this coming year but at that stage I hadn't contemplated spending an entire day without even looking at the computer. But now that's exactly what I'm going to try.

I was horrified when Steve suggested that he wasn't going to look at his computers on Christmas Day but now that's something I want to try for myself. I want to see if I can live without a computer in my life for one whole day ... and if I can manage it on Christmas Day I might even be daring and try it on the day after Christmas too.

The rest of the world can manage to live without computers in their lives every day of the year so why can't I? If they can do it then why can't you?

Go on, I dare you, try to spend an entire day every week away from the computer. I guarantee that the world won't come to an end if you don't switch your computer on tomorrow and I'm just as certain that your business empire won't crumble into dust if you spend an entire day each and every week away from your computer.

I can also guarantee that you will be able to go back to work the next day feeling refreshed and you will actually be more productive because you took that day off. I can also guarantee that if you keep taking a day off every week you will be able to keep burnout at bay.

Not only will you feel better for taking a day off every week but if you actually go out of the house and start mixing with people on those days off you will begin to get in touch with those that you're trying to sell things to. And when you get in touch with them you will understand them better and ultimately you will make more sales.

So come on, be brave, be bold and go out and get a life.