Bill Gluth, Creative Business Strategy Blog

Observe Yourself at Work

Throughout each day you must handle a number of tasks in your small business.

If you were watching yourself at work you would probably notice the following types of general outcomes:

1. Productive

2. Not productive

3. A total waste of time

4. The best thing you could do in that moment.

The secret is to decide on what you want to accomplish first.

Then notice your action/activity and the result you achieve relevant to the goal you desire. 

What works means you moved closer to reaching your goal(s).

What doesn't work means you stayed where you are now or moved behind a bit. 

If what you're doing isn't working, do you keep doing the same thing hoping for a different result?

Or are you so bored with what you're doing you're just reacting to whatever happens until you can get to the end of the day?

If either of the two scenarios above describe you at work, change the paradigm immediately. You're stuck. 

Photo Courtesy: Drtel

Creative Thinker Steve Jobs 1955-2011

While I have not been an iUser I am an iAdmirer of Steve Jobs' amazing creative thinking abilities and vision. And, probably just like you, I am #iSad at his passing. 

 

Steve Jobs showed us that one man CAN change the world. One creative visionary can modify how millions of people worldwide act, think and interplay with one another.

It's been said that millions of people around the world heard the news of his passing on a device he invented. 

What an amazing tribute to a remarkable human being. 

Wired Magazine did an excellent article on Steve Jobs. They lead with the video that opens this article that inspries us to "Think Different."

Steve Jobs' quotes inspired millions.

His presentations on TED were enjoyed worldwide.

The headline in today's edition (October 6, 2011) of the Huffington Post says it all, "Gone Too Soon."

I think anyone who loves creative, visionary thinking feels the same way. Steve Jobs is gone WAY too soon. 

"Remembering That You Are Going To Die Is The Best Way I Know To Avoid The Trap Of Thinking You Have Something To Lose." Steve Jobs. 

The power of inspriation that a single, creative thinking visionary with a BIG vision can have on us all is remarkable. 

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” [Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]

God bless you, Steve Jobs. Through demonstration you showed us, "How to Live Before You Die."

Thank you for the amazing gifts and tremendous inspriation you left behind for us to all to remember you by.  #iSad

What Social Media Channels Waste Time

Around 2003 social media starting kicking up. Back then I became aware do a group called Ecademy. Then there was Ryze and an upstart called LinkedIn.

I started playing because I enjoyed it. It was fun to interact with people all over the world. 

As we now know, LinkedIn won social media prominence because they offered something people wanted. And they offered it in a way that small business owners responded to.

Fast forward to 2011- 2012. 

If you're like me, I'll bet you get invitations from people you know (primarily in your loose network) that want you to join them on any number of social media channels. 

It's amazing to me how many emerging channels continue to open.

If you try to keep up, none of them can really work. Your efforts are too diffused. 

To make sure you're not wasting time on social media, find the channels that work for you and use them daily. 

I like to stay with the "Biggies", e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Why?

Because that's where the crowd is. 

For my 60 minutes per day of social media activity, those channels provide me with the best opportunity to educate, engage, give value, stay informed and meet like-minded people.

The secret is to focus.

Don't spend time investigating every new social media channel that comes up.

Stay where the crowds are. Then engage, share and give consistently.

You'll find better results for your efforts and will not waste time on channels that are here today and not very popular tomorrow. 

Things Just Take Longer Than You Think

 

No matter what the project is, add some time to your deadline. The reason is, projects and tasks ALL just take longer than you think they will.

Simple Marketing Consistency

When it comes to marketing, consistency is the key. The problem is, who has time?

If you understand that marketing is the step that attracts leads into your sales pipeline, it suddenly becomes much more important. Make marketing a priority.

Here are simple ways to remain consistent with your marketing efforts.

Schedule 30-minutes for marketing activities every day. Use that time accomplish one marketing step.

Automate your marketing efforts. Even direct mail and consistent client contact can be automated.

Segment your list of prospects and clients into niches and communicate to each group separately.

Blog to share your ideas, information and knowledge. Then tell your audience (clients and interested prospects) that you have information up, using a tool like AWeber.

Call two clients every work day. Ask how they are doing. Find out the impact your work had on them. Ensure they are happy. Find out who else you should be talking to that they know.

Simple and easy things to do that can be done in 30-minutes or less. Do it and watch your anxiety decrease while sales increase.

Of course, if just don't have the time or expertise to accomplish this, hire someone to do it for you.

One Trick to Save Tons of Time Everyday

I had a computer meltdown this week and had to go back to my old trusty Compaq computer.

I won't go into a rant here, but it did force me to manage my email differently. I was stuck with Web mail for each of my addresses instead of Outlook.

As I checked them, I noticed two interesting things:

1. I only checked each email address a few times a day.

2. I did not have previews enabled, so I deleted messages that were not personal, anticipated and relevant immediately.

As a result, I was in and out of email in record time.

My conclusions?

Use Webmail instead of Outlook and you won't get distracted by incoming email messages throughout the day.

Keep the preview feature closed and read emails that are of interest and delete those that are not right away.

After all, if the email is not immediately identifiable, why take the time to look at it.

What to Do if You Don’t Have Time to Do the Important Things

It happens to us all. We have every intention of accomplishing tasks that are vital to our success. We dislike doing some of them, adding to the problem.

The day ends, time flew by and important tasks remain undone. Now, if that task is sales related (as it often is), the problem becomes worse as days and even weeks slip by.

How do you get ALL the important things done?

In my book, 90 Minute Time Manager, I suggest taking 15 to 30-minutes to:

List all the tasks you need to accomplish.

Prioritize them as; vital, important but not time sensitive, delegate.

I would add “eliminate” to any tasks that are scheduled during your work day that do not move your business forward.

Now schedule your day.

Start with yourself. When will you eat lunch? What kind of personal time do you need during the day? Add that to your schedule first.

Now add your vital tasks. Exactly when will you accomplish each of these vital tasks? Put the exact time on your calendar and stick to it. Get the task done at the exact time you scheduled and do not waiver.

Add the important but not time sensitive items once you have the exact time set for your vital tasks.

These are generally large tasks that are broken down into manageable chunks. The adage; “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” applies here.

Get one thing done consistently to move your big projects forward.

Here’s where your troubles may come in.

Frequent interruptions get you off track. A client needs something right away, for example.

If that occurs, go to your calendar, take a look at your vital tasks, see which one you can bump into tomorrow and move it out of today and add the vital client task that came up.

If you are constantly interrupted, schedule those projected interruptions into your day.

Realize that you simply won’t be able to get everything done you need to because you will be interrupted frequently.

The rewards for following this idea are;  less stress, vital things get done, you learn your work capacity and can then schedule more effectively every day.

You gain control of your time, instead of your time having its death grip on you and your life. Try it. You only have your stress to lose.

Bonus Time Tip: There is never anything more important than making sales.

What to Do Today to Have a Banner Year

Let’s face it, on Monday January 5^th 2009, the year starts in earnest. With that in mind, consider what you are going to accomplish this year.

I’m not talking about goals. Goals don’t work because over the years, we have given ourselves permission not to reach them.

I’m talking about specific outcomes. What are you willing to commit to right now, that will provide an outcome you find appealing. How long will it take you to reach that outcome?

Outcomes should be realistic, actionable and measurable.

For example, I’m going to make $25,000 per month in my business is not realistic if you’re only earning $3,000 today.

It’s also not actionable because you are not showing the path you’ll follow to get there.

It is, however, measurable, but only as a final result. Since it’s not realistic or actionable, you won’t reach the goal anyway.

Right now, drop what you’re doing and write down three main outcomes you’ll create in 2009.

What specific steps will you take to reach the outcome you want?

How will you measure your results? Remember, small steps are needed to reach big outcomes, so measure success as you go. You should measure:

Daily (short term, small steps that lead to a bigger result)

Weekly (a mid-term check to ensure you’re on track)

Monthly (how you progressed and what still needs to be done if the outcome is not yet reached)

If you don’t take this step, you will generally under perform. When you hope for the best and wait to see what happens, your ‘goals’ will remain unfulfilled dreams you have not achieved.

One small step can make a big difference.  Taking consistent action to reach an outcome you truly want will get you there.

But you have to start, so take this step now.

Write down three major outcomes you want to reach in 2009. Then write down the action steps you’ll take to reach each one.

Finally, write down how you’ll measure your success daily, weekly and monthly, until the outcome is reached.

 If you need further help with time management, check out my book about a new way to control time, written specifically for entrepreneurs at http://www.90minutetimemanager.com

What's a Phone Book

Does anyone remember when we used to use phone books? I stepped outside this morning and found a phone book sitting in a yellow plastic bag in front of my door.

I immediately took it to the recycle bin. I didn't even consider keeping it on a shelf.

But then I wondered why. The first answer that came to mind was, "It's useless."

This is just one instance that brought me to that conclusion.

Yesterday I was watching the NFL Championships on TV. By the end of the AFC game I was craving a gyros sandwich.

No problem. I went on line, typed in Gyros sandwich and my zip code and POOF. Two close by contenders popped up.

I called one, found out how late they were open, jumped in my car and scored a sandwich to carry out.

I didn't even think to use a phone book and I'm in their target demographic age wise.

Dex, Yellow Book people, anyone else selling a print directory we are not listening any longer.

Does anyone out there ever use a printed phone book. If so, let me know. The comment line is now open ...

Everyone has the same challenge

I just completed a promo for my 90 Minute Time Manager Program. I asked the question, "What is your greatest challenge in controlling time?"

Interestingly enough, one answer was appropriate for everyone who responded. Here it is:

Priorities make time control work and they can only be set if we know two things.

1. Where we are going in life

2. Where we are today.

The 5-day e-course, How to Created a Roadmap for Your Life (free when you visit www.2managetime.com) will help you develop the 2-points I mentioned above.

From there, you have to realize that to reach your life goals you have to take action each day that gets you there one small step at a time.