Blog Challenge Wrap-up: Would it Help Your Business?

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Even though the July challenge is over, there will be another challenge in October. Should you consider participating? I had one main goal: to extend my reach. Let’s look at what I gained:

  1. I grew my Facebook page ‘likes’ from 70 to 101; this enables me to use the ‘promoted posts’ feature on Facebook.
  2. I added three new subscribers to my mailing list.
  3. my Klout score (a measure of influence in social media) grew to 47 – an increase of 17 points.
  4. Additional comments on my blog should help my google ranking.

What did it cost?

  1. Participating is free. You make a commitment to post 31 times during the month, and comment on 2 other blogs daily.
  2. The time commitment is substantial. Although I repurposed some material, and scheduled a guest post weekly, writing a completely new blog post could take me up to 2 hours. And there was additional time to read and comment on a minimum of 2 blogs/day.
  3. Some of my VA’s time; she found and added an appropriate visual to each post.

What I learned:

  1. Guest posts are a great way to expand your reach, because your guest blogger promotes the post to their list also. 
  2. There was a definite ‘fatigue factor’; I had only one ‘unlike’ on Facebook, and no unsubscribes to my email list, but readership dropped off as the month progressed. My theory is that daily posts created information overwhelm.
  3. Having the posts written & scheduled a week in advance was the best strategy for me. I did this prior to going on vacation, and it worked well. When I returned, however, I had a horrendous week (my husband had surgery, then a setback which landed him in the ER for a full day AND I had to make several trips to Santa Barbara to get my mother’s house ready to sell AND of course the washing machine picks that week to go kaput.) Everything had a good outcome, but I missed 6 days of posts.

Would I do it again?

Maybe, but not until next July, which is usually a slower month for me. And I would begin to write/schedule posts a month in advance, so there was less pressure during the month of the challenge. See yesterday’s post for the tool I used to plan and keep track of my posts.

If you would like to participate in an upcoming blog challenge, they are held quarterly; find out more here.

If you’ve read this far, I’d love to hear your comments on what you liked about what I posted this month and/or suggestions for improvement. Use the comment box below.

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Streamline Your Blog Maintenance

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Writing a daily blog post is time-consuming! There was one tool I used that definitely made this challenge easier: a simple spreadsheet. Without this tool, I would find myself writing posts without a plan for how the posts related to each other; with the spreadsheet, I was able to create a cohesive theme, and make sure I included a call to action in each post. I explain how it worked in this video:

Filed Under: business management, Delegation, System Development, time management Tagged With: ,

The Myth of the Paperless Office

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Finance concept: optical glass with Energy Saving Lamp icon and“Paper is the enemy” Most of us can relate to this quote from a local attorney. He would rather email a powerpoint presentation than create a hefty handout.

Then there was this headline in the Los Angeles Times Business Section:

“Software is making the filing cabinet obsolete for some big clients”

The idea of all our paper magically disappearing into our computers is certainly appealing. Magical is the key word. Unless you can dictate that all incoming data is digital, you will spend about the same amount of time scanning your paper as you would to file it. So when does going digital make sense? Here are two instances that come to mind:

  • If you can dictate that all incoming data is digital
  • When you must keep huge quantities of contracts

At least one large insurance company insists that all claims, body shop estimates, photos, etc be sent to them digitally. If you want to be paid, you need to follow their rules. Paper still creeps in, but it’s mostly created by people printing out data. Of course, even digital data can overwhelm; I had a client at this company, and we spent time creating systems to manage her email overload.

The contract issue is huge with government contractors. The documentation the US government requires could easily fill several rooms if it was left as paper.

But for most of us, I believe learning to keep less is a more efficient solution. What do you think? Add your comment.

Filed Under: personal organization, System Development, time management

Clear Your Desk Fast With This Powerful Technique

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Pending FileTaking my own advice, I purged my pending file yesterday. For those who need reminding, a pending file helps clear your desk by being a repository for event fliers, tickets, and other items you have calendared [use a [p] after the event in your calendar as a reminder that more info is in your pending folder] . It’s also where you keep temporarily needed info, such as the return form on something you’ve mail-ordered, and a holding file for things on which you are waiting to hear back. It is NOT a place to dump things you have not taken some action on.

The idea is that you look through the file once a week [or when you pull out some needed piece of info] and pull out what is no longer needed, or remind yourself of something that needs follow -up [see below]. Still, it’s easy to just glance at the top pieces of paper, allowing some build-up to occur over time.

During my purge, I:

  • found a prescription reminding me to make a mammogram appointment
  • found documentation on a class action refund request I had submitted over a year ago. This prompted me to check the listed website to see why the check had not arrived
  • threw away quite of bit of no longer needed info

My doctor will be pleased to know I now have a mammogram scheduled for next week. As to the refund . . . “It’s in the mail”.

I also have a pending folder in my email – I identify calendared items with info in this folder with an [ep].

If you already have a pending folder, take 10 minutes now to clean it out. If you don’t, create one (either for paper or in your email system) now!

 

Filed Under: personal organization, System Development, time management Tagged With:

Meet Gmail’s New Inbox

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Concept of email filter in work.Dealing with email is one of the top complaints I hear from my clients. Gmail just came out with a terrific update that I love! It automates what I was doing manually by creating filters (similar to rules in other email programs), and you know how I love automation! Even if you are not currently using Gmail, watch their short video for ideas on how to streamline your own email overload. If you like what you see, remember that it is easy to forward your email from Outlook or another email provider into Gmail. That’s what I do. I explain how in my Inbox Simplicity program.

Filed Under: business management, personal organization, System Development, time management Tagged With: , ,

Accounting – The Rodney Dangerfield of Your Business

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Business reportIf you are a typical business owner, you complain mightily about email, but you completely ignore your accounting, hoping it will go away if you don’t think about it. Like Rodney Dangerfield, it just gets No Respect!

Look, you don’t need to do the accounting; your job as business owner/CEO of your business is to make sure it gets done. But there is more to it than handing it off – you do need to review the reports on a monthly basis. Why? Because the reports tell you if you are making money, and what brings in the most profit. They can provide an early warning that an area of your business is in trouble, giving you the chance to make changes before you begin hemorrhaging money.

I have many clients who hire a bookkeeper and never look at the reports – and have no idea the bookkeeper may not be producing reports that give you the info you need to make the decisions that will make you more money. Start by sitting down with your bookkeeper monthly, and asking them to walk you through the reports. If the information is not clear to you, or too difficult to see easily, ask for it to be provided in a different way – you are the boss, after all. The goal is an easily scanned report that will give you the key data you need without taking a lot of your time. At a minimum, you should be able to answer five questions:

  1. How much do you need to make each month to break-even? [This should include your salary]
  2. What percentage of your net income is provided by each product or service you offer?
  3. Who are your top grossing clients or customers? [Important not only so you can thank them, but also to minimize risk – if one client provides 80% of your income and you lost that customer, your business would probably fail]
  4. How much money do your customers owe you? How long do they take to pay you? Are any payments overdue?
  5. If you have inventory, what is the cost of your inventory? What is its average turnover time?

Your call to action is to calendar a monthly time to review your financials.

By the way, did you know that another comedian, Bob Newhart, was an accountant before he got his break in comedy? He didn’t like accounting either, but I’ll bet he reads his P&L report regularly!

Filed Under: business management, System Development Tagged With: , ,

Three Simple Systems That Saved My Sanity

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Clock. Time to planSupport systems are important in our personal lives, too. Here’s a post from 2009 that’s illustrates why.

My life changed dramatically in August 2009 when my 87-year-old father fell and required surgery. He was in the hospital for 10 days, then rehab until Oct. 28. What with visiting, acting as patient advocate, and setting up systems to support his return home, I was spending two to three days a week in Santa Barbara. At one point I realized the irony that I was making sure my mother had groceries, but hadn’t had time to do my own grocery shopping in 6 weeks.

Thank goodness I already had three systems in place that really saved my sanity:

  • Bill pay and direct deposit – What a relief to realize that all but one bill (the credit card) was already set up for automatic bill pay, and my husband’s paychecks were on direct deposit. There was no extra work to do. This automation was an additional blessing when I was consumed with my father’s illness – everything got paid without me putting in any work.
  • Dream Dinners – This is what kept food on the table. Once a month my husband and I attend a meal preparation session for an hour and come home with 36 servings of a minimum of 6 entrees we put in the freezer. I’ve been a loyal member for 8 years. In October I didn’t even have time for the one hour monthly session, but the good folks at Dream Dinners prepared my order for me, and I just needed to stop by and pick it up. I even had them make up extras to take to my mother. Another lifesaver!
  • A community of friends and relatives – sometimes we have to accept we are drowning and ask for help. I don’t know what I would have done without my sister, and I cannot come close to expressing my gratitude to her. Another resource was my minister, who used her “minister network” connections in Santa Barbara to publish my request for someone to live-in with my Mom. Although I had also advertised at a local university, it was the congregational appeal that garnered me the most results.

My father died in May, 2010; I still spend one day a week with my mother in Santa Barbara, but it’s planned, and not because of crisis. However, the essence of all disaster planning is to have systems in place, and I encourage you to evaluate what systems you need in place to save your sanity and/or your business. How would your business run if you were sick? [this is essential system #4 on the business systems assessment. If you have not done so yet, you can download this self-assessment from the top right of this page] .

Filed Under: personal organization, System Development, time management, working moms

Does Your Client Intake Create Raving Fans?

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Happy businesspeople, or businesswoman and clientWhat makes you love a business from the get-go? My guess is that it has to do with how easy they make it for you to work with them. It shows you they respect you, and aren’t going to leave you hanging with unanswered questions.

How can you do that for your clients or customers? Let’s look at two examples I’ve recently experienced:

  • A live online course that meets 3 times a month on Wednesdays at 11 am. Anyone else notice what’s missing? I did, as soon as I had a client who wanted to schedule an appointment with me Wednesday afternoon. I had no idea how long each class was. The information was not available until 2 days before the course began. Evidently I was supposed to put my business on hold until then. I’m sure the provider didn’t think that’s what they were doing, but it’s what I felt when I had to postpone scheduling my client. Make sure you provide all the information a prospective customer or client needs as part of your intake process. This can be as simple as a FAQ page on your website.
  • It is possible to overwhelm with too much info. I experienced this with a new email marketing product I tested. As part of the ‘training’, I was sent no less than 10 separate emails in one day, most with multiple links. On top of the overwhelm, there was the added frustration that many of the links no longer worked because the company had revamped its website , but never thought to check the ‘training’ emails to make sure the links still pointed to the information promised. Training is supposed to simplify the learning process, and that means spending some time to edit it down to the essentials. Make sure your material gives required information in a concise way that honors your customer’s time.

Do you have a standardized client intake? Are you answering the basic questions a new client would have? One way to find out is to survey your customers. What you find out will only improve the experience you give your customers.

In this post, we’ve focused on what information you need to provide your client, but there is also information your client needs to provide you. Do you have that written down, so you always ask all the questions you need? Have you ever had to call a client a second time to get information you forgot to get?

Documenting and standardizing your client intake is one of the things you will do in the next Rapid Action Day. If you like the idea of standardizing your intake, even getting it to a point that you can hand it off to someone else with confidence nothing will fall through the cracks, I encourage you to give me a call.

Filed Under: business management, System Development

A Checklist Can Literally Save Your Life

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ClipboardSome things are just so simple you wonder why no one thought of it before. In the article below, a surgeon talks about the complicated process of keeping patients alive and shares his simple solution for how that process might be streamlined. It’s easy to find applications for your business.

Two immediate take-aways from this article:
1. When introductions between team members were made before a surgery, the average number of complications and deaths dipped by 35 percent.

Why? A person, having gotten a chance to voice their name, was much more likely to speak up later if they saw a problem.

Apply this immediately to any team – you may get some insight into problems and/or solutions from people who would otherwise remain silent.

2. Ninety-four percent of surgeons wanted the checklist used if they were to have surgery.

Where could a checklist help you? How about daily tasks for new hires, a packing list you keep in your suitcase, a vacation checklist to make sure you change your voicemail and so on. Please share how you use a checklist to improve your business in the comment section.

read the full article:
Atul Gawande’s ‘Checklist’ For Surgery Success : NPR

Filed Under: business management, System Development, time management

Four Ways to Use Your Qualifying Conversation

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Smiling business people shaking hands at office lobbyThe first item on the Systems Assessment is your qualifying conversation AKA your ‘elevator speech’. But there are many other ways this info can be used – and they all will save you time and reinforce your branding (because you will be delivering a consistent message):

  • bio – write out your elevator speech and use it as your bio when you speak or write an article.
  • website – use that written out elevator speech on your website to clearly identify your ideal client and how you help them.
  • networking – practice your elevator speech until it rolls naturally off your tongue when you are asked :What do you do?”
  • social networking – use your written elevator speech to fill in your social networking profiles.

Your challenge is to resist the urge to re-invent the wheel every time you are asked for a bio. The consistency of using a well-crafted elevator speech for all of the above will help you attract your ideal clients.

Make sure your elevator speech is written and saved as a document you can easily retreive whenever you need it for one of the uses above. That allows you to check off box #4 next to ‘Qualifying Conversation’ on your Business Systems Assessment (You have a method to follow that is consistent, is documented and has some steps automated).

We create a system incorporating yet another way to use your elevator speech in the upcoming Rapid Action Day.

Filed Under: business management, System Development, time management
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