Doug Wilder declared his independence this holiday weekend. Instead of getting in his car and driving all over town to visit clients and prospects he took to the internet to publish a blog post.

It started Friday morning with a visit to my Kuna Co-working studio. Doug had accepted my invitation to appear as my special guest on the Art of Digital Leverage podcast. Just a 10-minute live video broadcast was all it took. Post-production included editing via iMovie then an upload to Vimeo.

Doug did the heavy lifting by publishing a blog post to share the clip.

What I am most excited about is Doug’s decision to become the Master of His Digital Domain. It wasn’t the Declaration over 200 hundred years ago that secured our independence and freedom. It was the investment of time and treasure that followed.

What will you do this July to declare your independence?

In the blink of an eye summer will be over. Students will grudgingly return to class. A classic assignment is an essay describing how they spent their summer vacation. Since it's not a work of Summer fiction, I would hope they would consider writing it as you go, in real-time, as it unfolds.

Spend or Invest?

How about you? When you look back this Fall will your time have been spent, or invested? Will you adjust your schedule to take Friday afternoons off? Perhaps Wednesday afternoons? Long weekends ending when you return to work on the second Monday of the week? I'm willing to bet you could name a competitor who will do just that. What a perfect time for some Digital Leverage.

What You Could Do On Your Summer Vacation

Summer is a perfect time to change your approach, try something new to develop your business. Here's a few you could try:

• Organizations often take the Summer off from regular meetings. Schedule your own.
• Execs start early to take afternoons off. Call early.
• Meet and network with prospects where they are. Go to the beach.
• Publish new content, write your Summer story. Give your prospects a different perspective.
• Dig deep into your most important business asset, your contact database. Ask the question, "What do you have planned this summer"

Doug has chosen to become The Master of His Digital Domain. What's on your summer agenda?