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 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.
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.
It can be hard to get your day started when you are a solopreneur! There’s so much to do in so many different categories, and then there’s all your personal stuff too. If you don’t have enough structure, that wide-open schedule might be as much a curse as a blessing. One way I get started right is to have a kick-start that I do every day. No matter how overwhelmed and lost I might feel, I always know to go through this short list and then I will have at least gotten started.
Here’s my kick-start list:
Once I tackled this list, I have a sense of accomplishment and my day is off to a good start. It’s often enough to get my momentum rolling and I can dig into everything else I want to get done. As with so many things, once you get your work day started it’s much easier to keep going than it was to get started.
If the idea of having a set way to start the day doesn’t appeal to you, an alternate approach is to set up the start to your day the night before. As your last task of the day, get yourself organized and set up for the morning so you can jump right in. Either way, make sure you give yourself an easy way to get your day going or you might waste a lot of time just trying to get started.
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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.
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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.
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