Small business owners should cancel all unnecessary meetings

One of the best ways to recapture energy and time is to identify timewasters. Unnecessary meetings can be major time and energy wasters for small business owners. Be mindful of how you spend your working hours. Make them productive, make them effective and make them efficient. The more you ask yourself “what decision needs to be made?” or “how will this bring me closer to meeting my goals and objectives?” the more you will start to eliminate unnecessary meetings. With all the technology we have today, take advantage of ability to reduce travel time and expenses.

Face-to-face meetings should be scheduled wisely. They should include establishing a personal connection with a potential client, sales dialogue and persuading or soliciting a decision. Most other meetings should be done virtually. For more effective and efficient meetings:

• Make sure there is a real purpose for your meeting or event and predetermine your outcome. If your meeting involves: business negotiations, connecting with a decision maker, personal favors, promises, understandings, coordination, persuasion of others, expression of emotions, etc. they should be face-to-face. If not, schedule a virtual meeting.

• Use technology to make scheduling easier and stop playing phone tag. Sites like Tungle, Doodle,Bookfresh and Setster allow you schedule a board meeting, business lunch, conference call, family reunion, movie night, or any other group event.

• Use your virtual meeting to determine the need for a face-to-face meeting and cover the basics (i.e. draft an agenda, review material, etc.) Use sites like DimDim.com, gotomeeting.com, conference call lines, Skype and video conferencing to save time, gas and money and still achieve optimal results. Be sure to send visuals (i.e. PowerPoint, reports, documents, presentations, etc.) ahead of time so that you can review them together online. (This also saves paper).

As a small business owner, you can’t afford not to streamline your business operations, work with a purpose and be efficient. So before you schedule your next meeting, ask yourself, “What is the purpose?” “Is this the best use of my time?” and “How will this bring me closer to my goals and objectives?” and cancel any current unnecessary meetings.

WANT TO RE-POST THIS ARTICLE ON YOUR BLOG OR USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, E-NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

A.Michelle Blakeley is in the listening business. As a Micro Business Therapist, she provides an open-minded and non-judgmental ear to listen to the real issues and concerns that start-up, emerging and women entrepreneurs experience and negotiate solutions through comprehensive discussions and practical micro business plans. She is featured in Forbes.com and the Financial Post as one of 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter, contributor for the San Francisco Examiner and Fearless Woman Magazine; the host of Simple Truths for Women Entrepreneurs on BlogTalkRadio.com and author of the NEW e-book: “Get it Right and Move Along… a collection of practical tips, tools and techniques for small business owners.”

5 Ways to Erase Daily Procrastination in Your Business

According to Real Simple magazine’s survey of 10,000 readers, the average daily to-do list has 5 to 9 tasks on it. Only 5% of the readers are productive for 3 hours during a 9-to-5 workday as a result of web-related distractions. According to the Procrastination Research Group, based on some figures, it is estimated that as much as 95% of the people are prone to procrastination. Amongst them, 20% of them are chronic procrastinators.

Procrastination is generally defined as avoided tasks or activities that need to be accomplished. Poor time management and procrastination can be a direct result of having unreachable goals, having to meet others’ standards, disorganization or the inability to handle the task. Below are ways to erase daily procrastination in your business.

1. Use the first hour or two of your day to work on things that require your attention or have deadlines. Accomplishing necessary tasks will invigorate you to do more.
2. Inspire yourself with insightful reading. Read at least one business article daily and take action. Try implementing a new idea. Don’t just read about it, but do.
3. Afternoon organization can make the next day easier. Take 15 minutes at the end of each day to think about tomorrow’s priorities. Knowing what needs to be done at the beginning of each day gives you focus and direction.
4. Break large projects or tasks into smaller activities and schedule them on your calendar as appointments. Do them in 30-minutes, 1-hour or 3-hour time blocks. You wouldn’t interrupt a scheduled appointment, so don’t allow unnecessary interruptions when working on your projects.
5. Don’t make lofty goals. Be reasonable in your expectations of yourself, your time and your commitments. Overextending yourself can cause you shut down. Be practical and realistic.

It’s always helpful to identify the source of your procrastination. Take some time to think about why you are putting things off and then try one of the above techniques. Procrastination can really be a struggle and challenge for small business owners, especially when they are simply overwhelmed and unsure of their next move. Take it one step at a time and be conscious of your actions AND inaction.

WANT TO RE-POST THIS ARTICLE ON YOUR BLOG OR USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, E-NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

A.Michelle Blakeley is the Founder and CEO of Simplicity, Inc.; a progressive small business development firm. She manages her clients’ business expectations and prevents information overload via Micro Business Therapy™ and Micro Business Action Plans. She is featured in Forbes.com and the Financial Post as one of 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter and the host of Simple Truths for Women Entrepreneurs on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Marketing on your terms

How serious are you with marketing and growing your business? Let’s find out right here and now. First of all, when is the last time that you sent out an email to your current database? Do you have a blog or newsletter that you can send to new leads and potential clients? Neither of these cost a lot money, but will cost you a time and effort.

You don’t have to be a marketing guru to implement solid marketing techniques with a little bit of effort. Nor do you have to spend a lot of money on engaging marketing professionals. We all have to start somewhere. If your budget is limited or non-existent, try implementing some of the following techniques.

NOTE: Be sure to measure your progress by checking your stats and tracking your inquiries.

Before you begin, ensure your marketing message is clear and consistent. Know who your audience (client profile) is. And have a way of tracking and following-up with leads and inquiries. For examples of free contact management resources that allow you make notes about your leads or clients, track emails, etc. try freecrm.com and highrisehq.com

• Establish new connections: How many social networking sites are you actively participating on? Try to do a minimum of 5. With each one, make it a point to respond to postings, add your own postings (for efficiency, it’s okay to use the same article for each site), and establish new connections. Go one step further and make referrals to your connections. As you are able to manage the minimum of 5, add a new site per month or every 90 days or whatever time frame is comfortable for you.

• Blog your way to new leads: Write articles on topics that your clients and prospects want to hear and learn about. If you are not a writer, provide 3 to 5 tips on how to do something. Be consistent with your postings. It can be daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. Select whatever time frame frequency you can realistically post something. The most important thing is to do it consistently. Don’t think you have enough tips to post? Try sharing articles, discussions or other blogs about current events that relate to your clients.

• Take your show on the road: Present a teleclass or webinar on something that you are knowledgeable or an expert about. You can host free informational sessions, where prospective clients can get a sneak preview of your products/services and existing clients can hear about new products/services. You can host a signature session (same session monthly, quarterly, etc.) or a series of sessions. Find something unique to you and your business.

The objective is to find a marketing technique that you are comfortable with and master it, be consistent with it and own it. Start learning how to turn your processes into products and services. Start learning how to share your expertise so that others know how and where to find you when they need you. Start learning how to give your services away without giving away the kitchen sink (… stay tuned for that article). Whatever the state or condition of your business, learn how to market your products and services on your own terms, in your own way. Continue to do what works and stop doing what doesn’t.

Submitted by A.Michelle Blakeley

Simplicity, Inc. |Because you don’t have time to waste.™ |866.927.5888 x1

Ask about our PROVEN Coaching and Mentoring Services.

Copyright Notice: Visitors to the Simplicity Mastered™ website may not reproduce, republish or redistribute material found on the website in any form without the express written consent of Simplicity, Inc.. For all requests for use of copyrighted material from the Simplicity Mastered™ website, please contact amichelleblakeley@yahoo.com

10 Ways to Measure Your Time Effectiveness and Efficiency

It’s true that what we focus on tends to expand. When we watch the clock, time moves at its slowest pace. However, when we are conscious of what actions, tasks and activities we give out time to, we have more of it. If you don’t know how your time is spent, keep a time log for one week. Track how much time you spend on each activity throughout the day. Once the week is done and your notes are complete, sit down and analyze how you’ve been spending your time and make the appropriate adjustments. You should be able to identify pockets of time that are being misused on the phone, on the internet, with non-clients, too much networking, in front of the TV, sleeping, chatting on non-relevant, etc. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be doing these things, but you do want to make sure they are not stealing valuable time.

Conduct an honest evaluation of yourself and your daily work habits. An honest reflection on your daily work habits will reveal exactly “who, what, where, when and how” contributes to your productivity or lack thereof. Ten ways to measure your time effectiveness and efficiency, ask yourself:

1. Am I being productive or just active? Know the difference.
2. Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important tasks and activities?
3. What are my non-negotiables? (i.e. how late am I willing to work, do I really need to attend 3 networking events a week?)
4. Are you willing to train your unconscious with new techniques? If I keep doing what I’ve been doing, I’ll keep getting what I’ve been getting.
5. It takes longer not to write things down than to write them down. My plans, goals and activities don’t need to be complicated, but they need to be written. That which is written, gets measured.
6. What have I learned and am I willing to correct what needs to be corrected? This should include mistakes that should not be repeated. Get it right and move along. Time allocated to actually serving clients earns money. Time allocated to administrating and soliciting clients, costs time and money.
7. What am I currently doing? What actions have worked? Not worked? – Detail the effectiveness of specific tasks. Did each task achieved do what was intended to support the larger goal? Detail actions taken that did not provide the expected benefits.
8. What progress has been made, if any, by my current system? Does this system work for me? Does it meet my needs?
9. What adjustments to my plan are necessary for maximum results?  What can I plan to do differently? What should I do less of, more of, and what should I stop doing altogether?
10. What should I add to my plan that I now realize is missing? 

These questions used to measure your effectiveness are critical to not only establishing a functional system, but getting rid of time consuming non-revenue generating activities and maximizing your work efforts; while strengthening your business. And finally:

• Deal with procrastination – “what if I do it, what if I don’t”
• Establish a standard starting format
• Plan and schedule
• Delegate and trade
• Break down projects
• Set and calendar deadlines
• Consolidate like tasks (i.e. return calls, checking phone/mails, emailing/filing, answering letters, sorting

 

 

 

Are Interruptions Your Scapegoat for Lack of Productivity?

One of the biggest barriers to productivity is interruptions. According to a study by Intel, we can only focus on an individual task for three minutes before a technology- induced interruption intervenes. In addition, after being interrupted, it can take a full 25 minutes for us to return to the task at hand. So, it’s not hard to believe that 41 percent of the time, we never make it back to the task at all.

Let’s put some of these interruptions into perspective; interruptions from email, cell phones, instant messaging, text messaging and blogs now eat up nearly 30 percent of each day. How do we counter the interruptions and distractions? Shorten phone calls, close your door, turn your computer screen off; interrupt the interruption, and acknowledge and reschedule the interruption. In addition, you can help someone who has interrupted your workflow to get to the point by asking, “How can I help you?,” stand while talking, set a time limit up front (You got a minute? … Yea, I’ve got about 10 min.) and schedule a block of time.

It’s also just as important is to learn and know how to say “no.” Of course, this can be done without being rude or abrasive. You only need how to be assertive.

You have the power to control interruptions. They can be disruptive, they can be minimized or they can be avoided. Get clear about your work and what needs to be done. So, are you proactive or reactive? Get laser-focused on what you need to accomplish and make no excuses … for anything.

Invest in the Growth of Your Business

Are you spending too much time on administrative tasks and not enough time growing your business? Being overwhelmed is often as unproductive as doing nothing, however; being selective about the tasks you perform is actually what generates productivity. Overbooked calendars and lack of time simply reflects a lack of determined priorities and ineffective use of time. Never start your day without a clear list of goal-oriented priorities and tasks.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

So you have a great product or service and you love what you do, but business is slow and your client base hasn’t grown in months. What’s the plan?

If you feel like your business is stagnate and the economy is proving to be your worst enemy, work smarter, not harder. There are 5 steps to get you back on track and give your business the boost it needs to shift into drive and prosper!

* Organize with a written plan of action

* Determine and know your priorities

* Focus your resources on connecting with your niche market

* Implement functional ofifce systems

* Power Partner

If you want to discover how to implement time saving techniques and processes visit http://www.addinghourstoyourday.com/ or call us today at 916-287-1432 and ask about our business support packages.