The moment of truth is coming. Next Thursday, I’ll be at Russell Brunson’s “12 Month Internet Millionaire Workshop”, meeting the guru face to face at last. Will my efforts bear fruit, or will I come home empty handed?

I finally nailed down my travel plans last night. My wife and I had been considering taking the whole family out so that they can visit friends down in Utah Valley while I’m at the workshop, but between our van being questionable for such a long trip, the cost of renting a vehicle, the cost and trouble of getting to the airport in Omaha to fly, etc., we finally decided that I’d make the trip on my own. It’ll be the longest my wife and I have ever been apart since getting married in 2002.

A few weeks ago, I was thinking of taking the bus, so I checked ticket prices, and the round trip would have cost $118. When I went online last night, the price was up to $292! So I checked Amtrak and found out that it would cost $190 round trip. Plus I’ll have access to a dining car and lounge, and it’ll make the trip about 2 hours faster.

The downside is that I’ll have to be at the station in Hastings (about 25 miles away) at 1:47 am.

I’ll stay with my brother (who’ll be attending the workshop with me) in Orem for the nights surrounding the workshop, and at the hotel for the nights in between.

But back to business.

Whether the workshop is a success may turn out to be a matter of perspective. I’ll try to get a photo taken with Russell (that’s something that I frequently see recommended by people in a position to know — having the photo to associate you with your guru can boost your credibility), and a personal conversation that lays the foundation for more would be even better. But what if that doesn’t happen?

I’m following my own advice and preparing to take the consolation prize. That’s not to say that I’m planning for failure — quite the contrary — I expect that what I do to claim the consolation prize will make me more likely to win the sweepstakes too.

I found out how many people will be attending the workshop, and I’m preparing a little gift for my fellow attendees. I’ll give you more detail later, but for now, let’s say it’s designed to recruit high-quality affiliates and lay the foundation for some good business contacts.

I wonder whether any of the other attendees will be passing out anything other than business cards. If not, I hope to make enough of an impression that the next time they attend an event, they’ll be bringing a little more luggage with them.

I’ll update you as things progress…or flop!