Last week, I was down in Orange County for Adam Urbanski’s Info Profit Success 2009 and a mastermind retreat. Going to events like these always reminds me of the value of real personal interaction. I’m hundreds or thousands of miles away from most of my clients and colleagues on a day-to-day basis, so often times, I’ll know someone for months or even years before ever meeting them in person (if I ever do).

This event was particularly impactful for me, not only because the content and speakers were great, but I got to spend time with a few of my favorite clients, meet a few people who I’ve worked with in the past and connect with familiar online personalities and “celebrities” - some of which I had communicated with in the past online - in “real life”.

Me and Carrie Wilkerson (The Barefoot Exec). She gave a great talk about community building with social media. She and Perry Lawrence of AskMrVideo.com also gave an awesome private workshop on video which I was lucky enough to attend. Follow Carrie on Twitter

This is me and Rosie Battista (AKA “Your Info Product Queen”). She’s soooooooo awesome and she’s actually a client of North Bank Audio Solutions. We’d actually helped her with an audio info product right before we met at the event. I didn’t even know she was going to be there, so it was a wonderful surprise! Follow Rosie on Twitter.

This is Del Williams and me. I’d been following her on Twitter for months, so it was great to meet her in person. She’s a Twitter superstar. We didn’t get a chance to talk that much at the event, but I have a feeling we’ll meet again. Make sure to follow Del on Twitter.

This photo is me with Nancy Marmolejo and Marian Sparks. These two women are super fun and have a lot of amazing knowledge to share. I’ve actually been “virtually acquainted” with Nancy for a couple years, so I was very excited to get to meet her in person. Follow Nancy on Twitter. Follow Marian on Twitter.

MaryPat Kavanagh is a marketing and social media strategist. She runs a couple of businesses including Savvy Mompreneurs. We first met around three years ago at an event in Los Angeles when I was first getting my start in this business. We shared a client at the time and she taught me a lot about article marketing - something I now help many of my clients with. Follow MaryPat on Twitter.

Rob Schultz is a mastermind buddy of mine. He’s an extremely talented video/post production guy who helps budding infopreneurs make money with audio, video, article marketing and more. He made an awesome intro video for the Info Profit Success Seminar. Follow Rob on Twitter.

Michele Flamer and Carey Powell are rock stars! I didn’t get to learn too much about their businesses, but we made up for it in laughs. One of the best things about these events is the opportunity to “party it up” with like minded folks you wouldn’t get to hang with in any other situation. Follow Carey on Twitter. Follow Michele on Twitter.

These are just a few of the photos from the event. Make sure to check out my Facebook album with the rest of them here.

My Biggest Takeaway:

Act now, perfect later!

I’ve heard this many times, but I don’t think I really fully grasped it. As Adam Urbanski (my marketing mentor, friend, mastermind facilitator and client) always says, “you can only learn what you know.”

I’ve learned that I am often the biggest bottleneck to my business’ success. Obviously, I care about the efficiency of my business and the quality of our services and products, but business is messy - there’s just no way around it.

In this next phase of growth in my business, my challenge is to overcome (or at least balance) my personal tendency to cling to tidiness, simplicity and stay in control. My first action step has been to build my team to give me more space to focus on my unique strengths. I’m in the process of hiring a “front end” virtual assistant to handle admin, communication and followup tasks and I’ve empowered some of my current team members to take on additional responsibilities.

Please share your takeaways…

Were you at Info Profit Success or the Platinum Mastermind retreat? Have you recently gone to a transformational event, seminar, retreat or taken an uncomfortable yet necessary step in your business or life at large?

I’d love to hear what your recent epiphanies were, the changes you’ve made and how you see them helping you reach your business, career or personal goals.

Simply add your comments below.

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