There are two things just about all of us need. We need to market our businesses. And we need to take a vacation.

Sadly, unless you’ve tapped into your higher power and enjoy a perpetual state of balanced laid-back-edness, it’s hard to do one without feeling a burning desire to do the other.

For example, when I’m working on my business and busting through deadlines, naturally, all I can think about is how nice a vacation would feel.

And when I’m on vacation, all I can think about is the glorious work that isn’t getting done.

What if you could do both at the same time–while deducting 73% of the entire trip? And what if this approach had a snappy name to boot?

Read on, my brothers and sisters!

Introducing The 73%-Deductible Buffalo Vacation.

You go on an 11-day vacation, deduct 8 days, and work a total of 8 hours at something that both generates revenue and helps you market your business. It’s a Buffalo Vacation because it’s big and you’re doing everything at the same time. Marketing your business with a workshop, taking a vacation, generating revenue, and deducting the costs.

So, I haven’t actually done this yet. But the first step is putting together a plan. And because I can’t keep an entire buffalo to myself, I’m sharing it with you here. With the caveat that I’m a copywriter and not a tax adviser. And that my arithmetic is unreliable. And that I’m not giving you advice. And that you’re mostly reading for entertainment. And because you like European vacations.

Here’s how it works:

• The Buffalo Vacation requires two half-days of work—consisting of two, four-hour workshops. (While you will spend additional time preparing for and marketing the workshop, you can give the same workshop multiple times, so it’s easy to leverage. One lesson plan can go a long way. As can the reusable marketing systems you create.)
• Deduct 100% of airfare, meals, and all things that are a part of daily life—even a haircut or new shoes—for 8 days. So, you only need to “pay” for 3 of those days. The workshops could actually pay for the entire trip.
• Even if only one person goes to each workshop, it will be worth it. You would have gone on vacation anyway, and can still deduct 8 of 11 days.

(The following schedule employs a few tactics I learned from Tax Reduction Strategies by Bradford & Company, which I’m not affiliated with except for having purchased it about a year ago and listening to maybe two of the CDs before zoning out. You’re probably much more disciplined.)

Here’s a sample itinerary:

Friday: Fly out early morning. (Deduct 100%. Travel days are 100% deductible.)

Saturday & Sunday: Vacation time! (Deduct 100% because you can’t work on a weekend anyway.)

Monday: Give 4-hour workshop. Take the rest of the day off. (Deduct 100%. Four hours counts as a full day of work for tax-deduction purposes.)

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: Vacation time!

Friday: Give 4-hour workshop. Take the rest of the day off. (Deduct 100%. Four hours counts as a full day of work for tax-deduction purposes.)

Saturday & Sunday: Vacation time! (Deduct 100% because you can’t work on a weekend anyway.)

Monday: Fly back late evening. (Deduct 100%. Travel days are 100% deductible.)

Here’s the Buffalo Vacation Account Ledger:

Total expense:

$1,000 airfare

$1,100 hotel

$1,100 meals and other fun stuff because you love to eat and do fun stuff

= $3,200

Total revenue:

$4,000 by charging 20 people $200 each

Total deduction:

$1,000 airfare

$792 hotel

$792 meals and fun stuff

Total deductions: $2,584

And if you fill both workshops, you leave your vacation with an $800 profit.

If you’ve tried something like this, I’m curious to hear how it went. I’ll write a follow-up post next year, after my first planned Buffalo Vacation attempt.

Image by will_hybrid via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.