Time Management - Marketing techniques for results driven entrepreneurs

Apr

My top time vampires

By Troy | Entrepreneur, Success, Time management and productivity

We live in an exciting time. From the technology tools at our disposal, to the incredible ability to be connected to anyone, anywhere. Change is rampant. But with the type of change we have, brings with it many challenges that can ruin your work day.

For example… much of my business is focused on writing. Articles. Reports. Sales copy. Emails. Direct mail. Scripts, etc. My clients rely on me for the copy, and my own business relies on me to keep providing content.

So I need to write at least 4 hours a day.

Which sounds easy, but I find it challenging many times.

Why?

Meetings.
Phone calls.
Emails.
Conference calls.

I haven’t been able to find ways to get rid of these things or outsource them to competent people. I have tried… but lost the battle.

It’s interesting to watch peoples reactions when they try to book meetings with me and I battle back. It is also just as interesting to watch how much time is wasted in meetings. I don’t understand why – but many people think a one hour meeting is necessary.

Makes no sense to me since much of the content discussed in these meetings could easily be shortened up to 15 minutes… easily.

Much of it is small talk, wishy-washy chatter, and ramblings about things that could have been much easily said in a fraction of the time.

Half the time in these meeting, I have no choice but to mute the phone and get real work done in the background while someone is going on about something.

3 one hour meetings a day is a HUGE drain on the day.

Every day of the work week like that and you have just sucked up 2 FULL WORKING DAYS in meetings. Time that probably accomplished little that couldn’t have been done over email in far less time… or in a much more focused and productive meeting.

Dan Kennedy always talks about how he keeps all of his meetings to 15 minutes. At first I was amazed, and dumbfounded on how this could be. Now I get it. If every party is prepared before the call with questions and answers – and KNOWS they have 15 minutes ONLY… stuff gets done much faster.

Start tracking where your time goes in an average day. Keep a little piece of paper by your desk with 15 minute blocks of time. Each time you check and answer emails, block off a 15 minute square. Reach time you have an hour meeting – block off 4 squares. Lunch out of the office? block of 5 or 6 squares. You very quickly start to see why your days go so fast and you feel like nothing productive got done that day… because it DIDN’T!

You need to take control of your time… or others will GLADLY use it up for you.

Troy

Jan

Are you saying NO enough?

By Troy | Marketing Calendar, Marketing Plan, Success, Time management and productivity

4 Comments

Gulp – one month down.

1/12th the year is near gone… are you 1/12th the way to reaching all your goals?

The days and weeks fly by so fast, it sometimes feels like you are moving faster backwards than forward.

That said, there are still 11 months left, and some fantastic opportunities out there for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Some rules of engagement for 2011:

Rule #1 – Focus. Take a long hard look at all of your projects that you have on your plate. Write them down. Each. One. This is difficult to commit to – and the results will SHOCK you if you are honest. Write down every single project you have on the go right now. Honesty will set you free here.

a) Get rid of those that have no residual or ongoing revenue. Is this a one-hit-wonder project? Or is there something here that you can repurpose and leverage for years to come? A winning promotion can easily be run again next month – or next year. As long as you have new, fresh leads coming in, your promotion will continue to work for you.

b) take a look at the remaining projects. If they are niche or narrow in reach then sell them or close them down. Only look at projects that have a broad reach (can affect many).

Rule #2 – Get your priorities straight. Your main goal this year is…? Number one priority is YOU, then your family, then your business. You cannot run a successful business for the long term if your health is falling apart, you are stressed out, and an insomniac. And if you aren’t looking after yourself, you won’t be looking after your family properly. And if you aren’t looking after yourself or them, your customers certainly won’t be ‘feeling the love’. And if they aren’t feeling it… your main goal doesn’t have a chance!

a) Take daily time for you (rest + play). Make sure you are getting a decent sleep, are eating properly, and getting in some daily exercise (if you are in Calgary, and looking for a like-minded workout partner, I would love to have you join me in my M/W/F Tae Kwon Do Classes (12-1) – let me know if interested). You need to be fully exploiting your downtime, and you need to start doing fun stuff with fun people on a regular basis.

Me and my daughters waiting for the 'old guy' to finish the Black Belt Test

Full disclosure: For far too long I have avoided going out to local networking events in Calgary. I had a good reason – 3 years ago there was nothing really solid in the entrepreneurial space here for meetings. That was 3 years ago. Just last week I went to a fantastic event with over 100 entrepreneurs. Great people – a great event – and a realization that things HAVE changed in the past 3 years. Resources like meetup.com have changed this space. It is now easier than EVER to find like-minded people to talk to… use this service for finding others… and setting up your own meetups.

b) Appreciate your spouse and children. If your home life is a mess, your business life won’t be any better. Give them time, and a FOCUSED you. Not you with nose buried in a crackberry or iphone. You. Just you. No technology.

My daughters LOVE going for walks with me and the dog – no ipods or phones allowed. We talk. We laugh. We solve all of the world’s problems. Create a one hour rule.

My Assistant, 'Casino'

One hour of family focus time a day on weekdays – and MUCH more than that on weekends. Again… if your home life is a mess, your business life won’t be any better.

c) Are you working harder for others or for you? Stop running on adrenaline. This is an exhausting treadmill to be on. Constantly pushing to help others, do good, be more, connect more, etc. All sounds good in theory – but if you aren’t worrying about your own good (and ability to pay the bills), the rest doesn’t matter.

Serving and helping more people is a great thing… but change things if it isn’t paying the bills. Now is NOT the time to get deeper in the hole, while you wait for the miracles to happen. Get busy helping others, as long as it is helping yourself as well!

Rule #3 – Say NO! Lots. For many entrepreneurs, this is one of the toughest things to ask of them. We all LOVE new ideas. New ventures. New possibilities. But that love for ‘new’ costs us all dearly. You know it. I know it.

a) Decide what you want in 2011 and don’t want. Are you going to launch a new venture? Then launch A new venture – not 5. Are you re-focusing your marketing on your top 3 products? Then narrow it down to ONLY 3 products and create new marketing campaigns for ONLY those 3. Get rid of everything else – not an easy thing to do – but a necessity!

By far the most empowering thing you can do in 2011 is to start saying no every single day to new distractions. Keep track of how many times you say no a day. How can you double that?

b) Manage your time and STOP letting others manage your time. Emails. Facebook. Twitter. Phone calls. Instant messages. Texting. I get exhausted just thinking about it all. The biggest lesson? You have NO control over your life and business if these so-called ‘tools’ run your life.

If you can’t go to the bathroom without a phone in your hand…or you can’t eat dinner without checking email…or you can’t sit and enjoy dinner without the phone ringing… you AREN’T the one in control of your life. Electronics and clients are… and something needs to change.

c) Think BIG. Successful CEOs don’t tackle it all at once, or on their own. They quickly figure out if the project s leading them in the right direction or not. Either turfing the idea overall, or delegating it to someone else who can implement the idea. Implementation is the nemesis of most entrepreneurs… taking on too much and not picking up the pieces after. CHANGE THAT THIS YEAR. If you are always saying yes and trying to do it yourself, then you are in the mud all the time and someone else is making the money off of your hard work.

Rule # 4 – Must take action on a daily basis. Sounds easy… but most of us don’t take the proper actions on a daily basis. We start the day with email… then fight fires answering emails and letting them direct the rest of our day.
Eugene Schwartz gave us one of his greatest secrets – a timer set to 33 minutes and 33 seconds. Let that little electronic device determine the direction of your day.

Start blocking off your day with the help of that timer and you will get more done in 5 of those 33 minute blocks than you normally do in an entire day, maybe WEEK!

All it

takes is one thing a day…

* Write an email to your clients
* Send 1 card to 1 prospect
* Write one press release and submit online
* Ask one person for a referral
* Write one blog entry
* Ask one person to endorse me to their list
* Write one article for your newsletter
* Compliment one person who has helped you
* Add one page of content to your website
* Send one monthly promotion to your clients
* Test one new upsell offer today
* Bundle 3 products into one and create a new name
* Ask one customer for their feedback
* Ask one customer what else they would like to buy
* Create a customer survey to find out what they want
* Offer one free bonus “just as my way of saying thanks”
* Find out what your clients fear the most
* Offer your clients a teleseminar – ask them for content
* Offer your clients a live seminar – bring in guest speakers
* Visualize your perfect business and life for 5 minutes
* Ask 5 clients if you can take them for a brainstorming lunch

Simple… right?

That is exactly what you need to do to make the most of 2011.

One.
Simple.
Thing.
A Day.

Real success is NOT about shiny objects and miracle pills. It is all about systematically doing the right things that pull you one step closer to your goals. It doesn’t happen overnight… rather one simple step at a time.

Here’s to a fantastic year ahead!

I would love to hear YOUR additions to this list!

What is your greatest tip to getting more done in less time?

To your success,

Troy White

PS: If you are ready to rock and roll the rest of the year – get your Cash Flow Calendar and have me help you create the perfect marketing plan for 2011. All the details are at Cash Flow Calendars… The Ultimate Marketing Plan (also very much underpriced – according to many, many buyers who used it and got 20:1 returns on their investment the FIRST time they used it.

2011 Marketing Calendar, Marketing and promotional plan for small businesses.

Wacky marketing ideas galore! Over 1,200 marketing prompts, templates and blueprints

Nov

Focus and productivity for entrepreneurs

By Troy | Copywriting, Entrepreneur, Main Content, Story Selling, Success, Time management and productivity

Time management… the right way

By Troy | Entrepreneur, Time management and productivity

One of the greatest challenges I have is time management.

Does this sound like you?

…too many great ideas to implement

…wearing the hat of the sales person, the marketer, the ceo, the book keeper, the custoemr service team, etc

…too much fighting fires during the typical day

…far more things on your to-do list at the end of the day than things cross out

…fill in your own time mgmt problem here ______________________

There are 2 things that I found that made a huge difference in my days (you might not like either):

* Shutting off my phone from incoming calls. If you are trying to run a company, and are taking unscheduled calls all day long… it’s no wonder you can’t get anything done!

Studies have proven time and time again that every interuption (like an unscheduled phone call), puts you behind by 10-15 minutes. Now times that by how many phone calls you are taking every day!

I don’t accept unscheduled calls. Period.

Yes, it probably costs me sales… but it gains me freedom and getting-stuff-done-time. Try it – and outsource what you can for call returns.

* Working in chunks with a timer. I find that setting a timer for 45 minutes, blocking it off, and working on ONE project for those 45 minutes is a big hit for me. It helps me focus (typical entrepreneurial ADD affliction here). If my projects are smaller (less than 45 minutes), then I pile up a few of them and work on them exclusively for 45 minutes.

At 45 minutes, stop what you are doing, take a 10 minute break (not email – that will further distract you). Then do another 45 minute chunk. Do that a couple times a day and you are well on your way to getting more done.

If you are thinking “I can’t do that because _____” then you seriously need to ask yourself who it is that is REALLY in charge of your time and future.

If you can’t control it – who can?

How can you honestly expect to acheive your business and personal goals if you aren’t even in control of your time?

Think about it.

You can’t gain more time in a day, we all get the same, but you can manage it differently.

With the summer upon us, now is the time to rethink how you run your business, and how you are going to make the most of it in the last half of 2009.

If you aren’t half way to reaching your goals… what will you do to MAKE SURE you do in the last 6 months?

Treating your time as more valuable is a great start!

May

The Action Reaction for Passionate Entrepreneurs

By Troy | Entrepreneur, Success, Time management and productivity

The Action Reaction Formula

I was fortunate to learn early that money loves speed – and that failure is actually a form of success. You have to try things and find out what works… and it will never happen perfectly the first time. If you aren’t trying to fail, you will never succeed.

In fact, the faster you fail – that faster you will find success.

Money loves speed.

The more speed you have in your business, the more you will attract money. And the best way I can say it is “TAKE IT SERIOUSLY!” Don’t pretend you will try one thing this week and another thing next week. Take 10 things and try 2 of them a day! MAKE the time. If you want serious change in your life and business – make a serious change!

Me?

Many times I feel like my head is swimming as I have so many things on the go at once. But it has reaped great rewards for me in a short period of time

Some of my daily actions I take – and I recommend you do too:

Habits – get up early and write. Huge rewards. I had a 6 month span where all I did was wake up at 5:30 am and I would write for 2 hours before my kids got up. I got so much done in an average week just from that alone. You can easily write 2 books a year at that speed. If you don’t want to write – read a motivational or uplifting book (non-fiction). BUT, I can say this: writing every day will turn into the most profitable habit you ever have! You can use these writings in numerous ways in your business, and the rewards will be great.

Nutrition – find what works best for you for energy, and a clear mind. Eat fruit only in the mornings is a great way to feel good and clear – and keep a healthy system going. One fabulous tip I learned was the 3 apple a day technique. 3 apples a day is an excellent health foundation that will keep you healthy and thin. Eat them throughout your morning (with no other foods) or spread the apples out so you eat one an hour before each meal. Try it for a couple weeks and see for yourself how good you feel.

Exercise. Guilty! I put on 30 pounds when I stopped kickboxing and took to running my own business from behind a computer screen. I am back to martial arts now – and that “rush” feeling is something that I missed deeply and look forward to experiencing when I am in my class. Find something, anything, that helps you work up a sweat. 3 times a week is ample for 30-60 minutes at a time.

Hire a coach. Years ago, those in business didn’t quite get this. Athletes made sense – but business? Now it is more commonly understood and adhered to. And it makes sense. Coaches can see things you can’t – both good and bad. They can motivate you. They can hold you accountable to your actions and promises. And they can make it happen for you, versus stumbling along trying to tackle it all yourself.

My thoughts: hire one making much more money than you. And check their references. I made the mistake of hiring one once that sounded good on paper, but was a disaster as a coach. I now have one who is phenomenal and I suggest you find one too. If you are interested, I have a small coaching program I run for a select group of people. It is not cheap – and you will be held accountable for your own results. But those results can be fabulous!

Read – lots. I am guilt of reading too many business books – and too few novels. I think the advice to read 4 business books for every 1 novel is a good one. Business books – the reason is self explanatory (remember the one big idea philosophy). Novels – because you need to expand your mind and because much of what makes for a successful business involves building character into your marketing and day-to-day operations. Novels provide you with exceptional character building ideas… if you put your mind to it. See the newsletter reports for more on this.

Invest in seminars. But be careful. Seminars can be a very powerful way to fire yourself up, meet incredible entrepreneurs, and discover techniques to grow your business that you may have never even thought of before. But, make sure the speakers are all high quality success stories. Make sure there is some form of a guarantee. And make sure the seminar promises to help you with your existing business, not distract you with another business “opportunity”. Those are a dime-a-dozen, and are not the answer to success. Learn as much as you can about marketing, advertising, and the mindset of the successful. Master those 3 and you will succeed in any business you decide to take up.

Start a mastermind… preferably more than one. If you haven’t read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, go get it! It is only $10 new, and you can probably find one at your local used book store. That one signle book has created more millionaires than any other book in existence… you think there may be an idea or two for you in there? Damn rights! One of the best ones is the mastermind principle. In a nutshell: meet regularly (weekly or bi-weekly preferred) with 3 to 5 other driven entrepreneurs. Discuss your business challenges, and ask for suggestions on what to do or who to talk to. Keep the conversations positive and helpful. Look deep to find the right people – preferably get people from other industries as you will expand the viewpoints and not get pigeon holed into thinking like everyone else does in your industry.

The key with the action reaction is to do many things – all at once. Take MASSIVE ACTION and see what happens. Test new ads, new sales campaigns, new success mindset ideas, new client referral ideas… weekly… all at once. Some will work and some won’t. But the ones that DO work will make you a fortune.

Apr

Productivity and profit with 2 simple steps

By admin | Time management and productivity

My top time vampires

Are you saying NO enough?

Focus and productivity for entrepreneurs

Time management… the right way

The Action Reaction for Passionate Entrepreneurs

Productivity and profit with 2 simple steps

Who Is Troy D. White?

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My top time vampires

Are you saying NO enough?

Focus and productivity for entrepreneurs

Time management… the right way

The Action Reaction for Passionate Entrepreneurs

Productivity and profit with 2 simple steps

Who Is Troy D. White?

Subscribe To My Blog’s Feed

YES! I Want Troy to show mehow to turn my words into wealth!

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

YES! I Want Troy to show me
how to turn my words into wealth!