Business Strategist for Solopreneurs
Earlier this year, I gave my email subscribers the chance to ask me anything about their business. In this video, I answer a question about how many experts to be following. I’ll be answering more questions over the coming weeks and months.
Earlier this year, I gave my email subscribers the chance to ask me anything about their business. In this video, I answer a question about how to set up a time management system for solopreneurs. I’ll be answering more questions over the coming weeks and months.
If you want more information like this, including a chance to get your questions answered in the next “Ask Me Anything,” enter your name and email below for regular email updates from me.
Earlier this year, I gave my email subscribers the chance to ask me anything about their business. In this video, I answer the first question, and I’ll be answering more over the coming weeks and months. The question has to do with time management systems and Timetrade.
If you want more information like this, including a chance to get your questions answered in the next “Ask Me Anything,” enter your name and email below for regular email updates from me.
I’ve just put the finishing touches on a brand new free report that will help you get more done every day and feel less overwhelm! Having to much to do, running in circles and feeling disorganized are all common problems for solopreneurs. One of the biggest single complaints I hear is that business owners are overwhelmed. When you wear all the hats in your business, you have to be super-efficient and super-organized to get done what you need to.
Most people understand the basic concept of keeping a to-do list, but they make mistakes in how they keep it that cost them time, well-being and productivity. The good news is that this report gives you 5 really easy tips for writing your daily to-do list that you can use right away to start feeling more on top of things.
Fill out the form below and get your report right away!
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:
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:
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.
VIP Half-Day Planning sessions are closed right now. Please make sure you sign up for my mailing list using the box at the top of the right sidebar to get priority notification when new VIP opportunities are available. Thanks!
My first few years in business, I pretty much flew by the seat of my pants. There was so much to master, so much to do, and so many balls to keep in the air that I couldn’t find the time to think ahead. I was too busy reacting. As you probably know, this is not the best way to run a business. It’s like trying get somewhere by running really fast without knowing if you are going in the right direction. Fortunately, I learned that I had to plan ahead to be successful.
First I took baby steps, and just planned a few weeks ahead. Now that I’ve gotten much better at it, I plan my full year out ahead of time. In case you are wondering, things never go exactly as planned so my plan changes a lot as the year progresses. Nor does having a plan lock me into anything. As a solopreneur, I can change my plan any time I want. The key thing is having a plan to start with.
What will having a plan do for you? You’ll be able to make much better decisions about what opportunities to say yes or no to. You’ll know if you have space or can make space for something new. You’ll be working proactively and moving forward, instead of fire-stomping and treading water. What you do during the year will be laid out in a logical sequence.
Do you see how having a plan can help you have your best year ever? The benefits may be obvious, but how are you supposed to find the time to do a plan for a whole year? It’s one of those things that’s important but not urgent so it tends to get pushed to the back burner and before you know it months have passed.
To make sure you get your plan done for 2015, I’m pleased to offer you my support in a VIP Half-Day Planning Session. Your VIP experience starts right away with a questionnaire that I’ll review before our session so we can jump right in. Your VP Half-Day will be a total of four and a half hours – 4 hours of work with 2 breaks of 15 minutes. I’ll give you my custom planning tool, and we can even work collaboratively on your plan during your session (i.e. both of us working on the same document from our separate computers) if you want. This is not a group experience – you and I will be the only ones present and we’ll get your 2015 mapped out so this isn’t hanging over your head any longer. We will meet virtually and you have several technology options to choose from for our meeting.
To make absolutely sure you that nothing gets in your way, I’m adding in a 15-minute follow up call in February. We can revise your plan or talk about anything that you need help on to keep moving forward.
To recap, your VIP Half-Day Planning Session includes:
I offered this first to my email subscribers and as of this posting, there are 8 spots left.
To get started on your VIP Half-Day Planning Session, click the button below (terms and conditions here).
VIP Half-Day Planning sessions are closed right now. Please make sure you sign up for my mailing list using the box at the top of the right sidebar to get priority notification when new VIP opportunities are available. Thanks!
One of the main skills you need to be an entrepreneur who works at home is how to schedule and block your time out. When you work for yourself on your own schedule, there is no natural start and stop time for anything. Creating your own start and stop times is the structure that you need to create in order to be successful at running your own business from your home.
It’s definitely great to work from home, but without the skill of being able to properly schedule and block out your time you may find yourself spending too much time in a grey area where you are trying to straddle your work and personal life and do both at the same time. You can end up with a lot of poorly used time where you aren’t really working and getting things done and you aren’t really enjoying yourself.
What are some examples of in-between behavior?
Any of these can be enough to cause you problems. You can end up with no time where you are really “off” work, and you end up with a lot of hours of poor-quality work because you weren’t fully into your work. Because you don’t take enough time off, this can lead to burnout, stress and lack of enthusiasm.
It’s super important to create time when you are 100% working and time when you are 100% not working. The grey area in between is not a good way to spend your time and needs to be minimized. There’s a Zen saying that comes to mind:
“When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don’t wobble.”
In our entrepreneurial world, we could say “When working, just work. When off, just don’t work. Above all, don’t try to do both.”
Make sure every minute of your day is spent intentionally. Whether you are relaxing or working, what you are doing should be a conscious choice that represents the best thing you could be doing right now.
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:
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.
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!
