When I receive a speaking invitation from Australia or from Europe or from Kuala Lumpur to keynote or to conduct a seminar in customer service, sales, or telemarketing, its an honor and its enticing.

The possibility of combining work and pleasure, a lucrative program with a short vacation in an exotic locale, are nearly irresistible.

But while your mind and heart are willing, your body and checkbook may not be up to the challenge.

Simply put, battling time zone changes is not for everyone, and when you consider the economics of conducting foreign business, you may come out on the wrong end of the stick, if youre not careful.

For example, on multiple occasions Ive been invited to do seminars in places such as Malaysia and Australia, where they tell you, up front, that their economies are so primitive that they can only pay $1,000 per day, plus economy class air fare.

If youre used to billing three, four or more times for a speech, domestically, that has to wake you up and startle you.

But thats just the beginning of your expenses. Even more ominous is whats looming in terms of preparation time and recovery time.

Doing two days, six to ten thousand miles from your home base, entails at least two days of preparation, and you may need to apply and pay for a visa, and that adds time, out of pocket, and expenses.

Once you arrive, you wont be at your best, physically or psychologically, having been on airplanes and in airports for up to and beyond 20 hours. So, if youre wise, youll factor in this problem and arrive at least one, and better, two days ahead of your event.

You wont be paid for these vacation days, and youll have to pay your own hotel, meals, and incidentals.

After doing your event, youll either spend more time on a mini-vacation, that youll pay for, and then upon returning home, you body will demand two-five days of recuperation to get back onto the local time.

Add all of this up and youre investing 9-13 days to do two days of work.

It means youre being paid about $200 per day to do those programs, but its even more likely that theyll cost you big bucks in respect to the other business youll turn away and for your out of pocket for vacation related expenses.

Can your body and checkbook afford to accept international business?

The general answer is, not at the prevailing rates. To make it pay, you need to be compensated for its true costs, plus garner a profit.

In a future article, Ill tell you exactly how I calculate these financial requirements.