In order to successfully move forward in your goals for your business, you have to stay in constant learning mode. You can never stop learning.  This does not mean that you have to go back to school and take formal courses, but you can seek ways to increase your knowledge and take steps to sharpen your skills on a regular basis.

• Make use of your waiting time:  Always have material with you so that you make good use of time you spend waiting – for meetings to start, for a doctor’s appointment, at the beauty salon, at the barber’s, to pick up your children from school, waiting at the airport, to name a few.

• Turn travel time into productive time:  Use your car as your mobile university.  This is one of the reasons I don’t mind traveling long distances alone.  I can listen to whatever I want freely without having to be concerned about imposing on other persons in the car.  I keep CDs with motivational and training topics, as well as books on CDs.  How about you? Traveling on an airplane is another great time to increase your knowledge.

• Keep a notepad and pen close by.  As soon as you think of something you want to do more research on, write it down.  It’s easy to forget and when the opportunity arises for you to search for that information, you’ve long forgotten what it was you wanted to learn more about.

I read an article in which Chris Palmer, who teaches communication at American University in Washington, was quoted as saying that your daily interactions with people provide plenty of learning opportunities. He noted that friends and colleagues are a valuable source of coaching; and they provide feedback, which prevents you from becoming isolated and arrogant.

A learning tip that I especially appreciate as it can increase your knowledge exponentially and help you reach your goals, “Be an active listener when you seek advice.  Repeat what you’ve heard to make sure you got it right.”

Everyday, make an effort to do one thing to increase your knowledge, whether it’s searching the Internet  for specific information (otherwise you could waste hours), reading a book – your own or from the library, or calling a friend and discussing a topic that stimulates your mind and boost your learning at the same time.

Would you like to get more information on how to motivate yourself and move toward your goal by increasing your knowledge daily?  I invite you to read Tom Connellan’s “The 1% Solution for Work and Life“.

I just wish I had more time!” “Where did the time go? I just wish I had more hours in the day.” Have you ever made any of those statements or asked that question? In reality you’re saying that you were given less hours than others, but we know that isn’t true. Time is the great equalizer.

W all have the same 24 hours in each day. What makes the difference is how we use those 24 hours. You probably could think of quite a number of persons who seemed to have accomplished a great deal in their lifetime, and often in a short time. They did this within the framework of 24-hour days.

Are you discouraged with how little you seem to accomplish while others seem to accomplish a great deal more in a short time? If you do, you’re not alone as I’ve felt that way at times. What are the possible stumbling blocks? Some of these are -

Seeking perfection. One person will have a vase and a bunch of flowers which they’ll randomly stick in the vase and they have an attractive display. The other will have the same two things, but they’ll spend a much longer time trying to achieve symmetry and matching blooms so they balance just so, while the only person who’ll probably notice those intricate details is the one who did it.

Lack of organization: Disorganization is a huge time-waster. Searching for papers, documents, etc. is great waste of time – yours and others. There is no question about it that to make good use of your time, you must stay organized. No fancy storage system is required, but having a specific place for certain things will allow you to find them immediately when you need them rather than running around searching here and there, frustrating yourself, and wasting precious time. Your lack of organization may affect others so that you end up wasting their time as well.

Taking on more than you can manage: Most of us have a natural desire to help others, and we also have a problem saying, “No.” We often take on much more than we can comfortably handle and find that by saying “Yes” to too many things we actually become unproductive. How is that possible, you may ask? The answer is simple: Time spent on one thing is time away from another. This goes hand-in-hand with the questions small business owners and entrepreneurs should keep asking themselves, “Is what I’m doing taking me closer to my goal?”

If the task is something that could easily be done by someone else, and is not in line with your goals, whether these are personal or business goals, and is actually robbing you of time you had scheduled to work on these goals, it is not an effective self-management decision. This is in no way encouraging selfishness or a ‘me-first’ attitude, but in order to practice good self- management, you should have a plan or strategy for the various aspects of your life and work at sticking to your plan in order to reach your goals.

Because it’s self-management or managing yourself, no one can tell you exactly how you should do this since everyone’s circumstance is different. Further, there are people who can set schedules and live by them, while others like to go with the flow.

It’s important to remind yourself that to the extent to which you practice good self-management it’s to that extent you’ll make good use of your 24-hour days, be productive and reach your goals.

We are all at different levels in our business. If you’re just getting started, claim my Free Checklist at http://getyourbusinessonlinetoday.com

“Burn Your To Do List” was a headline I read some time ago, and although the writer may have had really great content, my initial reaction was, Oh no. I could not do without my “To Do” list!  How about you?

Everyone of us as entrepreneurs wear different hats that involve various aspects of our lives, and with the fast pace of life regardless of where you live these days, it’s almost impossible to retain everything mentally.  If you’ve been able to do that successfully, then you have my utmost respect and awe.

We all have different personality types and some are more detailed than others.  One person may be content with jotting down just brief notes of what they need to do on a daily basis, while others prefer a detailed list.  The bottom line is that you as an individual must decide what works best for you.  Here are some suggestions to avoid frustration:

• Every night make a list of the three or four most important things you need to get done the following day.  These would include personal and business.  The advantage of doing this the night before are many, but among them, knowing that you’ve put the important things you need to do on paper, you don’t have to worry about them or that you may forget to do them.  Secondly, you can start the day knowing exactly what your priority tasks are so you save time.

• Some persons like to use a computer generated Planner and that’s great if that works for you.  My suggestion would be to print each day’s activity and take it with you, because I would imagine that it would be frustrating to be away from home and know there’s something you should do but can’t recall what it is.

Making and keeping a “To Do” list is an effective way to keep track of your weekly and monthly goals.  If you have no idea what you should be doing daily, it will be hard to know what you need to give attention to.

What types of “To Do” lists to you use?  Or do you feel you should have a “To Do” list?  I’d love to hear your comments.  We learn from each other…

This may seem like a strange question.  Why would you need to schedule an appointment with yourself? Do you find yourself saying, as I often do, “I wish I had more time.”  Do you find that you start tasks and never seem to complete them?  How many reports have you started in the past three months or more and not completed them?

If any of the above questions even remotely sound like they apply to you, it’s time to make an appointment with yourself.  Many of us who have an online business have other businesses or may work outside of the home, whether it’s a 9-5 job or another schedule that takes you away from home.  You also have family and other  responsibilities, which may or may not include young children.

It’s very easy to fall into a routine of crisis management, where we just attack what seems to be the most critical at that moment.  I know that has happened to me a lot recently…and that’s not good business practice.  It’s not a good practice for any part of our lives.

Scheduling an appointment with yourself means that you will need to take time to put in writing all the short term things you need to do in your life, not just your business, then take time to sit down and make a realistic schedule. It would be impractical to make a schedule for only one part of your life and not incorporate all aspects.  Do not think of this time as time wasted because it’s critical so that you can reduce stress in your life.

For your business you need to take time to really analyze where you’ve been, where you are, and where you want to be so that you can know whether you’re actually accomplishing your goals or if you’re just like the little hamster on the spinning wheel.  Just thinking about that poor hamster working those little feet so hard and  going nowhere – not achieving anything, makes me tired.

Have you scheduled an appointment with yourself lately?  If you do, what do you do and how often?  Please share in the comments.

In my last post the focus was on making the best use of your time with blog posts.  Today we will look at utilizing our time effectively with articles, creating videos, and other product creation.

Points to note from comments received on the previous post:

(a) Do indepth research on a topic in one sitting

(b) Write a long article and then divide it into two or three blog posts

(c) Write a series on a topic you’ve researched

(d) Use templates or copy and paste your format.

Articles:

(i)  You can re-purpose your post by submitting it to your favorite article directories.  You will need to verify the acceptable minimum number of words as some article directories will accept as low as 250 words, whereas some will accept a minimum of 500 words, and at least one that I know of will not accept less than 700 words.

(ii) Because you have written a series or done research extensively on a specific topic, if your individual posts are too short for article directory submission, just combine two or three posts.  Depending on how personal and informal your writing style is on your blog, you may need to make it just a little more formal for article submission, but avoid spending too much time re-writing the information.

Video:

I have not created my first video; therefore, I can only share what I’ve been taught.  When creating videos, plan ahead and create several in one sitting.  This is an especially good use of your time if you’re setting up backdrops, lighting etc.  All of those things take time and by doing your set-up just once you will have save yourself time that can be spent creating other products.

Product Creation

The list of products you can create is endless: special reports, free reports, ebooks, an opt-in page, a sales letter, an e-course…and the list goes on.

When I wrote my first e-book it took me almost three months working on it part-time. When I created my first report, it took me weeks! I’ve made significant improvement, but recently I read Jason Fladlien’s report on “Time Management Secrets “ and I realize I still have a long way to go.

In that report Jason said that it was important to put a deadline on anything you do that’s important and stick to that deadline.  He gave the example that for him all products under $97 must be completed in a single day from start to finish.  His other examples may prompt you to use a timer or determine beforehand how long you will spend on a specific task.

You may download the report at http://budurl.com/jftmr and no optin is required.

Appreciation for Comments

Our time as entrepreneurs is extremely valuable and we each have to determine how to use our time effectively, but learning from each other as well as other marketers is a valuable part of doing business on the internet.  I appreciate all the comments that have been shared on this topic as they will continue to benefit all of us and future readers.

Have you been creating videos? Do you have other recommendations to maximize the use of your time in video creation?  Please share.

We know that as entrepreneurs we are responsible for carrying out various tasks essential to our business.  Many entrepreneurs have wisely taken advantage of Virtual Assistants and other professional services to outsource a number of their projects.

Let’s imagine that like the majority of us, you do it all.  For the do-it-yourself person, let’s look at posting to your blog.

• How long does it take you to do research for each post?  And how long does it take you to write it?

• If you post to your blog everyday this alone could take significant chunks out of your day. What’s more, you may work your online business only part time so you do need to maximize your time.

Here are some recommendations:

i)  Select a topic you can approach from different angles, do research in one sitting and jot down possible titles you can use from the material you’ve researched.  You may find that you could have a week’s posts from that research.

ii) If you are in a blog challenge, the requirement is usually a minimum of 150 words, but many of us may find  for the most part that’s not enough to provide the kind of content we want to give our readers.  Other marketers are able to do just that with 150 words…it all depends on your writing style.

iii) When it’s time to key in the information, based on your typing speed, decide on how long it will take you to write your post of 150 – 300 words.

iv) Type your information in a Word or Open Office document instead of directly into your blog software. You will need it again in the future.

We’ll look at repurposing blog posts in “Making the Best Use of Your Time” in the next article.

What do you find works best for you to maximize your time when doing blog posts?  Please share.

A growing number of men are pursuing successful businesses from home; however, it would appear that the majority of home-based businesses are managed by women. Many of these women are mothers, especially of small children; wives; caregivers for elderly parent/s; involved in social and volunteer activities, and the list goes on. While these are normal, everyday activities and responsibilities, they can create tremendous stress for solo-professionals working from home.

It is important to maintain a proper balance between personal and professional life when working from home:

a) Location: Your office building is your home. Your office may be a desk and chair in an already occupied room. Or you may have a room designated as your office. Can you make and receive phone calls without interruption or background noise? At the start of your day, do you dress as if you were expecting a client in your home, or as if you were leaving for a job outside the home? Nothing excessive, but doing whatever is necessary to make you personally feel you’re going to YOUR office to work?

b) Setting Parameters: One of the reasons many mothers with small children choose to work from home is the desire and preference to raise their children themselves while others with older children desire to home-school their children. Does your family understand that once you are at your desk you should not be disturbed unless it’s very important? Do they understand that tools (pens, pencils, notebooks, etc.) on your desk are for business purposes only so that you don’t waste your time looking for them when you need them?

c) Setting a Schedule: A basic schedule is essential. Where babies and very small children are involved it can be challenging to adhere to that schedule. You need to know what your goals are on a given day because without a plan the day goes by and you’ve accomplished very little in your business.

d) Managing yourself not just your time: A proper diet and exercise are essential to function properly in any situation. Many solo-professionals I’ve spoken with find this a challenge, and I often do as well. I’ll get so caught up in what I’m doing that I forget to eat, which leads to headaches. Unfortunately, this will only add to your stress level and may result in health issues. Exercise engenders a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction and can create a sense of well-being that allows you to find humor even in stressful situations.

e) Isolation: Many people love working alone. Others hate it! They miss the rapport with co-workers, the watercooler chit-chats and jokes, and face-to-face interactions with people. Depending on the type of business you’re pursuing, you may not have regular interaction with people. Regardless of how much we love our children, most of us crave adult conversation. If you work with clients/customers mainly on the telephone, why not arrange to meet them in person from time to time? If there are networking events in your area, why not make arrangements so you can attend one or two each month?

Working from home does not mean you have to control every situation instead learn the art of delegation. Share responsibilities with other family members. You may also have to learn to say ‘no’ especially when family members and relatives fail to respect your time or appreciate that you have a business to run. Do not rely only on just yourself and maintain a sense of humor.

I would love to hear what you’ve found works best for you. How do you cope with stress as a work-at-home professional? Please share your thoughts in the Comments.

Today is August 1^st and the start of  the “Ultimate Blog Challenge” coordinated by Michele Scism  and Michelle Shaeffer with the hashtag #blogboost on Twitter.

The last blog challenge I participated in was in June, coordinated by Dr. Jeanette Cates with Twitter hashtag #blog30.  During the challenge I submitted 21 posts; 9 short of the goal and was a little disappointed with myself that I’d not met the goal.  However, I reminded myself that in setting goals, you may fail to reach them the first time but the solution is to pick yourself up and start again.

Before committing to the Ultimate Blog Challenge I debated whether I should participate in another challenge for these reasons:

1)  To meet the goal I am obligated to write and submit a post on one designated blog for 31 days.

2)  I have other blogs that I need to write posts for, two of which I’ve neglected.

3)  One of the goals I’ve set for myself and my business is to focus more on Article Marketing.

4)  Another goal is to increase my online visibility.

Here are the reasons why I went ahead and made the commitment:

1)  Writing and submitting a new post each day allows me to provide more valuable content for my readers.

2)  Because my blog will be updated daily, the Search Engines will crawl my blog frequently and this will increase my rankings.

3)  One of the most effective ways to increase my online visibility is to have a blog that provides valuable content and that’s updated regularly.  And additional benefit is that with more readers who may be Alexa users themselves, my Alexa rankings are likely to increase.

4)  I can re-purpose my blog posts into articles and submit these to the various article directories, the main one I submit to is ezinearticles.com. In so doing I’d be able to maintain my goal of focusing more on Article Marketing.

Here is a bonus reason:  During the last challenge I had the privilege of meeting some remarkable people and build friendships and working relationships with like-minded people.  This is an opportunity to engage in virtual networking especially if you work from home and may have small children that limit you from attending local networking events.

If you’ve hesitated to join the Ultimate Blog Challenge for reasons similar to mine, I hope you will see that the benefits far outweigh any negative thoughts you may have. I invite you to join the Ultimate Blog Challenge by visiting http://ultimateblogchallenge.com or clicking on the banner on the upper left-hand side of this website.

Please share one thing that motivated you to join the challenge.

People chose to work from home for different reasons.  Many persons who work from home do not have an online business even though they use their computer extensively.  In order to be efficient and productive and thereby contribute to your success, it’s important to have systems in place. Systems are defined as a set of detailed methods, procedures, and routines established or formulated to carry out a specific activity.

Here are three systems in your home office that could be great time savers, but at the same time can rob you of your time if not used wisely.

1.Your Computer As a Time Saver: I cannot imagine running a business from home without a computer.  Your computer allows you to store huge amounts of information and retrieve them with a few clicks of your mouse.  The volume of software on the market allows you to be creative, and of course, access to the internet allows you to communicate quickly and effectively, as well as do research quickly.

If you’re in Direct Sales, for example, you can use your computer to send your customers an e-card.  I like to send an actual greeting card through the US mail and my customers invariably call to thank me.  Just for reading my post, go ahead and click the greeting card link and send a card to yourself or someone you care about.  I’ll pay for your card and your postage.

Your Computer Can Rob You of Time:  To determine how effectively you are using your computer for your business, why not keep a notepad by your computer and do a quick test.  Jot down how much time you actually sit in front of your computer over the course of one week. Then note how much time you actually work in your business.  You may be surprised to find how much time you spend surfing the internet, checking your e-mails during the day, visiting social networking sites, etc. compared to how much actual work you’ve accomplished.  While these are essential yo your business, they can become time-consuming if not managed properly.

2. Your Telephone As a Time Saver:  The telephone gives you the ability to communicate messages quickly and almost instantly.  It can save you lengthy trips away from your income-producing activities and allows you to keep  in touch with your clients or customers, your peers, and others in your network on a regular basis.  It’s also a wonderful medium for providing prompt customer service to your customers.

If you are in Direct Sales, one effective way of using your telephone is to make at least three customer calls each day.  And if you have a team, call at least one member on your team each day.

Your Telephone Can Rob You of Your Time:  Telephone calls can disturb your thoughts and throw your schedule out the door for the day.  Many callers are never content with a brief conversation, and may feel that because you work from home you should be available to talk whenever and for however long they wish to talk.  Ineffective use of voice mail can also be a time waster.  Leave a short, but detailed message rather than “Call me!”  It gives the person receiving the call an opportunity to get the answer to your inquiry before calling you back and may eliminate the need for another phone call.

Even when you call your clients or customers, if this is not to discuss a project and you’re just calling to check on them or follow-up on a purchase, set a limit on the amount of time you talk to each person.  It may sometimes be necessary to start your call with “Hi …. It’s ….. with So and So… I’m just making a quick call to follow-up, etc.”  Hopefully they’ll understand that it’s not a social call.

3. Your Filing System As a Time Saver:  Being able to find an important document immediately is an invaluable time-saving benefit.  It not only saves time but is actually good for your health as the level of frustration and anxiety experienced when an important document cannot be found is not in your health’s best  interests.  There should be a proper place to keep your files, even if it starts with just a box, which should be labeled and files sorted in a logical way for easy retrieval.

Your Filing System Can Rob You of Your Time: The expression “There’s method in my madness” is used by many to excuse their lack of organization.  If you can’t find it when you need it, then there is no method or organization.  Touching lots of paper and files, pulling out drawer after drawer in an effort to locate one document is a waste of your time and is unproductive.

Many years ago I did a Time Management course and the point was stressed over and over that you should touch a piece of paper only once.  The idea is that when something gets on your desk you make a decision immediately where it should go, if it merits further attention, or if it should be shredded.  Unfortunately, I’ve still not reached that lofty goal and of all these systems, my filing system is the most challenging because I’m always keeping that piece of correspondence to read later.  There’s probably a name for that somewhere.

Time Management begins with managing yourself and your resources and your systems are part of your resources.  What systems do you have in place and how effective are they for your business?

For someone new to marketing on the internet it can be like taking a four-year old into a huge specialty candy store.  There is so much to see and so many appealing and delicious type of  candies for that child to choose from that she becomes overwhelmed! Imagine that the parent said, “Remember, you are only allowed to choose one.” A typical reaction in a whiny voice could be, “I don’t know which one to choose!”

One of the things I struggled with and am still working on is to avoid clicking on emails with a really good subject line. Sometimes it’s nothing new, perhaps an e-book with a catchy title.  I know I’ve heard the topic before, probably have something similar in a binder on my shelf or on my hard-drive, or may even be in a class on the topic, but natural curiosity impels me to take a look to see someone else’s take on a topic.  I may open the document and just scan it.  Five or 10 minutes later I’ve learned nothing new, but that’s five or 10 minutes lost.  That’s time I could have spent doing something in and for my business.  One solution I’ve implemented is to unsubscribe from a number of lists.

The challenge – FOCUS.  A lack of focus is one of the things that can affect beginner internet marketers adversely.  It is a challenge, because many persons do not have a clear picture of where they want to go and how to get there, so in their research to do so they get caught up in all the various types of ‘candies’ and baubles that are on the internet.  In my next post we will delve a little further into how having a focus can propel you forward quickly.

Remember, “time spent on one thing is time away from another”.  Make sure that what you are spending your time on is going to move you forward in your online business.