cost savings – Page 2 – Michele Christensen

Save time and improve quality with templates

As a solopreneur, using your time well is one of the most important things you can do. Anywhere you can be more efficient while maintaining quality will help you have a more profitable and fulfilling business. When you wear all the hats in your business, every single thing you do has to have a purpose and somehow help your bottom line.

One of my favorite efficiency techniques is using templates. A template helps you to do tasks more quickly by giving you a place to start or often a complete version of the end result. You can create templates for a variety of purposes such as:

Social media updates
Answers to questions you are asked often
Initial contact with a new person
Emails for various purposes
Promotional copy for specific events

If you have a task you know you’ll be doing again and again, begin creating your template the very first time you do the task. Revise it each time until you have the best possible version you can create. Be sure to test your template to make sure it works. Here are a few ideas to test your templates and see how well they are working:

When you answer a question, does it resolve the issue for the other person or do you get more questions?
Does the person take the action you direct them to take?
If you are asking for something such as information in your template, do you get what you need?
What kind of feedback are you getting?

Templates can be stored in a variety of ways depending on how and where you use them. Social media tools such as Hootsuite let you save drafts right inside them. Anything written can be stored in a plain text editor or word processing document. Any initial contact can be done via a form designed for the specific person using it (e.g. a potential customer, a vendor, a strategic partner, etc).

Start using templates as soon as you can. They will save you time and allow you to do better quality work. The people you deal with will get more consistent action from you and you’ll have more time to do creative and innovative work.

Templates are just one of the bonus strategies I cover in my book The Solopreneur’s Success Strategy: Automate Your Grunt Work. In the book I teach you 9 automation strategies so you can spend less time doing repetitive boring tasks. I also give you 3 bonus strategies (including how to use templates) that are related to automation. Grab the book on Kindle at the link below (you don’t need a Kindle device, scroll below the link for more information):

The Solopreneur’s Success Strategy: Automate Your Grunt Work

Note: You do not need a Kindle device to read Kindle books. You can get a free tablet or phone app or use the Kindle desktop reader. Click the book link above and explore the options in the Kindle store.

Tips for automated appointment scheduling

When I first started my business, I scheduled my clients via an email exchange. It usually took several emails to find a jointly acceptable time, and in the interim both of us were held up from booking something else that might interfere with a time we had already offered. This back-and-forth creates a spreading wave of inefficiency and is not a good use of time for a solopreneur or anyone for that matter. As a solopreneur, you have to be super efficient in how you use your time because you are juggling so many things. Appointment scheduling is one of the first areas I automated.

Now, I use an automated scheduler called Timetrade (timetrade.com) that links directly to my Google calendar and shows my guests available appointments in their time zone. They can book on the spot with no back and forth. We each receive a confirmation email and the appointment is put right on my Google calendar.

Using a scheduler like Timetrade is great, but it takes some getting used to. Here are a few tips to help you get going quickly with automating your appointment scheduling:

Give clear instructions for how you will meet. For example, specify who will initiate a phone call and what number you will call from or receive the call on.
Handle time zone issues. Timetrade displays meeting times based on the time zone settings on your and your guest’s computers. If the service you choose does not handle different time zones, make the time zone you are displaying clear to your guest.
Provide your guests with an alternative in case they can’t use your scheduler or can’t find a time that works. You can say something like “If you can’t find a time that works, email me some alternatives and I’ll do my best to be available.”
Make sure to stay on top of your schedule. Remember, things can be put on your calendar at any point. Make sure to block out any days you want off or days you won’t be available for other reasons.

If you aren’t using an automated appointment scheduler, I suggest looking into getting one. This can free up time that you can use for better (and more profitable) things. I explore the use of an automated appointment scheduler in more detail in my #1 bestselling book The Solopreneur’s Success Strategy: Automate Your Grunt Work. The book has 9 other automation strategies plus 3 bonus automation-related strategies. Check the book out in the Kindle store here.

Don’t have a Kindle? You can still enjoy Kindle books by using a free tablet or phone app or free desktop reader.

Free book download today!

In honor of Small Business Saturday, I’ve polished up and revised my first Kindle book “Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?” and made it available free today through Monday (aka Cyber Monday!)

Grab your copy here:

Is a Solopreneur Business Right for You?

Today is all about supporting small businesses, and if you are thinking of starting your own small business I want you to have this book. In the book, I share what you need to know to figure out if the model of a solopreneur business is a good fit for you. Enjoy, and please use the social sharing buttons below to spread the word to your community and to any aspiring entrepreneurs you know. Thanks!

What if you had a budget department?

When I worked for a big corporation, we had a budget department. It was not a big department, but there were 4-6 people whose sole function was to create and manage the company budget. Because it was a big company, the budget filled a 5-inch binder and there pages and pages documentation to go with it. The budget itself went from a big, broad picture to minute detail about each department within the company. The budget was drafted before the year started, and as the year progressed we measured how well we did in revenue and expenses against the budget.

In this setting, the budget served a lot of purposes and most of them aren’t relevant to solopreneurs. However, one of the vital functions of the budget was to justify every expense and make sure someone had the responsibility of deciding how to spend limited dollars. Nobody could just go off and autonomously decide to start some brand new promotion or create a brand new, untested product with no way of knowing if it would sell. While that does make for some slow implementation, it also makes sure that any new idea goes through some sort of review process.

As a solopreneur, you don’t have a budget department. In fact, you don’t have any departments or anyone to report to. This is a fun, phenomenal benefit of a one-person business, but it also means you can grab any half-baked idea you want and run with it. That can be a big problem!

Way too often, I see solopreneurs randomly adding project after project into their business with no planning and no way to measure what’s working. What they end up with is an overwhelming mash-up of disjointed tasks that aren’t working and no way to determine why.

So what’s the alternative? You don’t need a full department to help you stay on track, but you do need to perform the function of the budget department in your business. What if you did have to justify each new expenditure? What if you had to explain all the person-hours you needed? How would that change the way you work?

Here are a few tips to get your “budget department” started:

Do some research before you start anything new whether it’s a new promotion strategy, a new product or a change in the way you deliver a product. Don’t ever blindly just throw something out and see if it happens to work. Have some justification for what you are attempting. If it helps, you can pretend that you are justifying it to someone else.
Set some goals for your new project. What do you want to happen? How will you know if it’s a success? You don’t have to be elaborate with this – it might be enough to say “I hope to sell this new product.”
BEFORE you launch or start, have some way of capturing data about your success. Make sure there is some way to know if what you are doing is making any impact. Don’t wait until you’ve been doing this new project for 6 months with no feedback to try to force fit some measurement on the back end.

In short, one helpful way to look at any new project you are thinking of taking on is to pretend you have to justify it to a budget committee. How will it help your bottom line? How will it contribute to sales? If you are thinking of trying something new, and want to set it up properly from the start, I invite you to schedule a coaching session with me. I can help you make sure you are heading in the right direction and that you’ll be able to tell if your project is successful.

Like this post? Please pin and use the social sharing buttons below. Thanks!

Get Started Right – Standardize Your Intake Process

If you provide a service or work with clients, you have some sort of intake process. Even if currently you just grab bits of information as you realize you need them, you still have a process. Once practice I recommend is having a standardized intake process. Aside from saving you time, if you have a set process you’ll avoid re-inventing the wheel every time a new client enters your business. You can design your process to make sure you get all the information you need for each new client, such as their contact information, what name they like to be called, how they like to be contacted, etc. Because the process is standardized, you’ll get the same information in the same format for each new client which lets you hit the ground running. If you process is set up correctly, you can also be sure that each new client is added to your email newsletter list without any intervention from you. Of course always make it clear they are being added to a list during their transaction.

If you already use a shopping cart or Paypal, you can specify what contact data you want from the client when they checkout. Your shopping cart or Paypal should also add the client automatically to your email list. A great next step is to have your client visit an online form where they fill in whatever information you need to get started. You’ll want to make sure whatever form you use is as secure as you need it to be to protect your clients’ privacy. Finally, it’s important that you design your process to be as error-proof as possible. The client should be ushered through easily and flawlessly with no effort on their part. Whatever comes after the intake process should appear at the right moment.

Since you can’t, nor should you be, at your computer 24/7 all of this needs to be set up to happen automatically to create the best experience for your new clients. Making sure client intakes happen smoothly with or without you present is especially important for solopreneurs. The last thing you want is a bad first impression or a customer service situation you need to fix. You also should not set up a situation where you need to be there all the time to start new clients. Fortunately, you can use free or low-cost automation tools and even settings on the tools you already use to make this happen. Automating your intake process is one of the areas of automation I cover in my book The Solopreneur’s Success Strategy: Automate Your Grunt Work. In the book, I cover 10 key areas where you can use automation to deliver better service and more of yourself without adding more to your bulging to-do list. There’s also 3 bonus automation-related strategies and downloadable checklists to make your business run smoother. Get a copy today by clicking here.

Note: The book is a Kindle book, but you don’t need a Kindle device to read it. You can get a free reader for your desktop, or an app for your smartphone or tablet.

Like this post? Please tell me what you think about it by sharing and commenting on the social sites. Use the Pin It and social sharing buttons below. Thanks!

Independence Day coaching sessions still on sale!

In honor of the Independence Day holiday last week, I have a special way for you to work one-on-one with me that I’ve never offered before! There’s no contract, no long-term commitment and no complicated package. It’s simple and can help you make a big leap forward in your business quickly!

You have a huge degree of flexibility in how you use your sessions, and I’ve given you ideas to think about on the information page. I’ve coached solopreneurs since 2010, so there are a lot of areas I can help with. Click the link below to get inspired about how we can work together!

The offer is only good until Thursday, so click here to get details and book your sessions!

Independence Day Coaching Session sale

PS – This offer was opened for my email subscribers last week. If you want priority notification of upcoming special offers and useful content to help you grow your solopreneur business, fill out the box at the top of the right sidebar to join my email subscriber list.

13 Gifts for Business Freedom Giveaway closes tomorrow!

Just a quick note to let you know that the giveaway event I’m participating in is closing tomorrow. There are 13 great gifts for you to download, and they are all designed around the theme of freedom in your business. Make sure to get the gifts you want before the giveaway closes.

Grab your gifts here:

13 Gifts for Business Freedom Giveaway

Ten reasons why you need to be email marketing

One of my big strategic shifts this year has been to devote even more time to email marketing. I’ve let go a lot of what I used to do that didn’t work as well. I didn’t start building my list or doing any email marketing until I had been in business for more than a year because I needed convincing that it was a worthwhile tactic for me to use. Let me state that I am now officially convinced that email marketing is one of the most powerful ways for almost any business to market. In this article, I’ll give you 10 reasons why you need to be email marketing.

Less selling. People will want to buy your products and services with less selling by you.
Keep in touch with people who are interested but not yet ready to buy.
Have a warm audience to test new ideas on and get feedback.
Be a better event participant and JV partner. You are much more attractive to collaborators when you have an audience that you’ve already proven yourself to.
Decrease the variability in your business. You’ll be able to make offers to a receptive audience when things are slowing down.
You control when people hear from you instead of depending on them to visit your site at the right time
Earn the trust and respect of your audience over time
Non-monetary support – even people that don’t buy can bring ideas, questions, participation, shares, etc
Better return on time spent because you are talking to a self-selected audience of interested people
Make more money. It may not be the only reason you are in business but it has to be one of the reasons.

Are you convinced you need to be using email marketing? If so, I invite you to join me on this special training They say “The money is in the list…” So where’s mine? I’ll be co-presenting with Becky Sangha, The Online Video Marketer, and we’ll be sharing how you can start your email marketing campaign in just a few weeks. If you aren’t convinced yet, I’d love for you to join me as well so you can get more information on how email marketing can help your business. Click here to sign up.

Are you using email marketing in an original way? Share it in the comments. Please share this article using the Pin It and social sharing buttons below. Thanks!