Are You Wasting Your Time?

How Do You Spend Your Time?

 

Whether you own a small business, consult, or just want to create a project--how do you allocate the hours of your days?

 Most people don't like to think about sales, but regardless of your endeavor, finding the source of your cash flow is the lifeblood of your venture.

 

Time Allocation Formulas

Experts disagree on exact percentages about how to spend time. Keep in mind that needs change over time. A new venture will require almost all sales and marketing, 80% to 90%, with little time devoted to the actual product or service. Later, when a customer base is established, less selling will be required.

 

60 - 30 - 10 Rule

 Sue Clement at Success Coaching recommends:

 

 60% on marketing and sales (= 24 Hours)

30% on making or providing products or in service delivery (= 12 Hours)

10% on administration and management (= 4 Hours)

• Or simply, prioritize your time as marketing - making - managing. 

 

 40 - 20 - 30 - 5 - 5 Rule

 

Allan and Steve at LessEverything advise:

 

40% Doing work that pays = 16 Hours

30% Marketing = 12 Hours

20% Learning new things = 8 Hours

5% Running the Company = 2 Hours

5% Getting Inspired = 2 Hours

• Are you spending at least 12 hours per weeks on marketing yourself? Probably not.

• Can you live on 16 hours of paid work a week? If not, time to change things. You need a higher hourly rate or to cut your living expenses.

 

Which Rule Is Correct?

 It takes trial and error to fine tune which formula is best suited to any individual company. I am assuming Sue runs her business by herself while Steve and Allan have a partnership. Let’s look at the numbers based on solo versus partnership.

 

24 Hours a Week on Sales and Marketing

Allan and Steve’s numbers work for them because they have a partnership. Businesses that have more than one owner tend to generate better profits and are more likely not to fail. While Steve and Allan are only putting 12 hours each into marketing and sales, together they are completing 24 hours, equal to what Sue needs to stay in business as a sole proprietor.

While companies may hire marketing or sales help, most small businesses don’t have those kinds of resources. Likely all the sales and marketing duties will fall to the owners in companies that generate less than $5 million.

 

Doing Work

Sue spends 12 hours a week on delivery of her services, while Allan and Steve have a combined total of 32 hours. The latter could be a more labor intensive business, which requires more working hours from Allan and Steve.

If Sue owns a business which competes directly with Allan and Steve, she must be able to charge higher rates (best choice), hire help, or be able to live on 12 billable hours instead of the 16 billable hours per owner generated by Steve and Allan.

 

4 Hours a Week on Running the Company

Sue is spending 4 hours a week on running her company, while Steve and Allan’s combined 2 hours apiece also equals 4 hours.

 

Learning New Things and Getting Inspired

Allan and Steve have allocated 10 hours each, or 20 hours per week combined, to learning new skills and getting inspired. Sue, while running her business by herself, doesn’t have time to engage in these activities during a 40 hour work week.

Is Sue wants to have the same level of learning and inspiration as Steve and Allen, she must work 60 hours a week instead of 40. Otherwise, she is spending her time on running her business without being able to focus on new markets and expansion.

 

Conclusion

 

Both rules advocate only spending 4 hours a week on the actual administration of a business, and 24 hours a week creating a sales pipeline and generating exposure. If you aren't sure how you measure, spend a week tracking your time. You may be amazed to find it's time to change your schedule.

 

Not sure how to proceed? Business coaching can be a good start.

Date Before You Marry

Business Dating Advice

Do you fantasize about landing a big project or customer? Are their steps you can take to put yourself first in line? How do you offer ways to date before asking for the gigantic commitment to marriage?

 

Date Before You Marry

Dating is a process of getting to know each other. At first, no strings are attached. You only have to agree to a cup of coffee for an hour. Later, if you're compatible, you may go out to dinner or spend the whole day together. As time goes on, you may decide to become more committed, which can eventually lead to a lifelong partnership.

The road to marriage is taken in steps, with time and effort. In sales, it's called building a pipeline.

A local commercial real estate broker I know offers tax protest consulting services. For a percentage fee he helps property owners lower their tax bills. In the process he can meet landlords, demonstrate his reliability and skills, and remind the owners twice a year he is available for their real estate needs without being pushy.

Dating Services

What small service can you offer which would get you in front of the right people? If you want to write for a national magazine, can you contribute 300 words to a sidebar before pitching an entire article? If you're a consultant, can you offer a workshop? If you want to be given a large project at your job is there a small one to start?

Dating Success

Landing a big fish doesn't happen overnight. But with some work you can put yourself first in line.

The Art of Being Rejected

 

Rejection

By Samantha Clark

One of the hardest parts of business ownership, consulting, or freelancing--in short, being your own boss--is the constant need to find new revenue streams. Building a new business often takes more time spent in marketing than performing the actual service.

As a business coach one of the biggest obstacles to growth I see is the fear of rejection. Writers have to submit queries, a plumber's business will expand with word of mouth referrals, and a lawyer may have to become a saleswomen to find new clients.

How do you motivate yourself to get out there and risk having the public tell you they think your work sucks?

Try making it into a game. Set a goal for weekly rejections. Just as you can have goals for taking half hour walks or not drinking sodas, you can make getting rejected an expected part of your work week.

My personal goal is five rejections per week. When I started I picked the easy task of inviting friends to like my Mariposa Facebook page. (Hint, hint... go like the page if you haven't already.)

See! That wasn't so hard.

I find expecting to be rejected takes the sting out of the big ones. Recently, when a nationally known literary agent rejected my manuscript after reading it a second time, I thought to myself, okay, only four more rejections left to go this week. It was time to get back on my horse and keep riding.

Give it a try.

You'll soon discover what my clients and I have--it's hard to meet your rejection goal. Often, I don't make my weekly number. People surprise me by saying yes or liking my work.

The other benefit of a concrete goal is I know when to stop. If I can get my rejection requests done on Monday, I give myself permission to take the rest of the week off. It helps me get past my procrastination. I also know when I'm finished. I can enjoy my weekend off instead of worrying about finding new work.

After awhile you'll learn how many rejections you need to get what you want. The same advice can be applied to dating or making new friends. The important part is to just get out there.

Good Intentions, Bad Habits

Creating Lasting Changes

Starting a new habit is difficult. Our routines help us get through the day. So while we know we have things in our life we would like to change, our behavior doesn't match our intentions.

I didn't realize how out of sync my own actions were until one day I mentioned to my daughter, once again, that I intended to lose weight. A couple of weeks later my daughter went with me to the grocery store. Part way through our shopping expedition she asked if I still intended to lose weight. I replied that I did. So she asked me the obvious: Mom, why do you have a carton of ice cream and a box of cookies in the basket if you're planning to lose weight?

It was a light bulb moment. I realized I had not changed my habits to match my intentions.

I couldn't blame my family. I'm the one with the sweet tooth that always hauled home a bag full of treats. My husband and daughter only ate it because I was the one who brought the junk food into the house.

That realization was one step in a broader process that has helped to shed 40 pounds.

Since that time, I've noticed my clients often engage in the same behavior. While they tell me they want to earn more money, when we track how they spend their time, they are clearly engaged in activities that won't increase their income.

One of the most helpful aspects of coaching is having someone that will help you not only define your goals in life, but also make sure you are engaging in the behaviors that will make your dreams come true.

The Hardest Part of a Journey is Starting

Starting a Journey

On Saturday morning I held my first Creatives Session. A group of three women are meeting once a month to focus on getting creative work done in their lives. We will do guided writing sessions to help them stay in touch with their dreams and goals. More importantly we'll provide support for their creative endeavors.

Finding time to do creative hobbies is challenging. One participant told me that she knows her work suffers when she doesn't make time each week to do writing. She is short-tempered with her colleagues and isn't as open to new ideas.

All three women lead typical busy lives with careers and family. It's difficult to find even three hours a week to pursue a creative passion.

It's a shame that so many schools have removed "extras" from their budgets, like art and music classes. We are saying as a society that creativity isn't important. But to be innovative great minds and companies have to tap into their creativity. We need to be able to see problems in a different way if we're going to find solutions.

Pursuing creative hobbies isn't just a pastime. It leads to a much richer life.

Intro to Prospect List

 

 

Building a Prospect List

How are you doing building your business? Are you bringing in new projects or clients? Are your profits growing?

One of the keys to expanding is setting up a prospect list. Who are your potential new customers? Most of us make the mistake of thinking we can make a mental note to keep track. We vaguely think about new sources of income, but don't write anything down.

Not systematically tracking prospects is a big mistake.

There are many methods--from using a piece of paper and a pen, to setting up a computer program, to finding a phone app. Sophisticated tracking systems use CRM: Customer Relationship Management. A good CRM program helps automate the process of keeping in touch. If you're in a high volume business that generates tons of leads, you need a portable way to access client data quickly, to be able to remember names and details about potential accounts. Older systems include the little black book and file cards. Newer systems can tap into a range of information and social media that's already publicly available.

Savvy prospectors can follow their potential clients reactions in real time on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The most important part of a prospect list, however, is your ability to sort and classify any potential business. Are you spending enough time working on the deals which have the best potential to expand your income?

 

Toxic Prospects

I was taught prospecting the old-fashioned "A, B, C" method. I ranked them based on the idea of good, better and best. I don't like this method. If you think back to grade school, anything "C" or higher is passing.

Anyone dealing with prospects should be aware of potential "D" and "F" clients. These are the folks who will waste your time, not appreciate your services, ruin your reputation, haul you into court, damage your morale, and refuse to pay you after your services are rendered. In short, these are toxic prospects.

Avoid or get rid of any toxic prospects.

 

Making a List

The first step in prospecting is to figure out who has been your best source of income already. How many "A" clients do you have? If you have never had any, think about who would be your ideal client. If you could choose anyone in the world, who would be your customer?

Next, who are your "D" and "F" clients? What have been your worst experiences? Were there any red flags that a problem was coming, but you missed it or failed to get rid of the client? What should have warned you to stay away?

Of your remaining business, who fits into "B" or "C"? Why?

Once you've defined what types of clients are both good and toxic for your business, you can then start to rank prospects. You'll want to assign two categories--what they appear to be initially and what their future potential seems to be.

For example, you may be approached by a start-up company. Their current situation is that they have no income, no customer base, and no company history. You'll probably list them as an "F" to start. However, it may be a pair of partners with lots of investment funding and a history of forming successful ventures in the past. Therefore, they may have the potential to go to "C" in the near future. I would argue this would never be an "A" or "B" prospect until they have been in business for awhile.

At the other extreme is a potential client that appears to be an "A". You're ready to start work, but since it's a large account, you decide to call a couple of their vendors before arranging their services. You find out that the company has recently fallen behind on making their payments. This is a red flag that the company could be headed for bankruptcy, which would turn them into an "F". More investigation is needed.

Link to Bankruptcy Indicators

Prospecting

Once your prospecting system is in place, you need to schedule time weekly to go over your potential sources for new income. Make sure you have a systematic way to follow up.

Free e-Book if Order by Fri, May 31st, 2013

The Big Book of Content Marketing. New book. Free for only two days. Go http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D1C3KJC



80% of your online advertising doesn’t reach your audience. People delete cookies and block ads. How can you reach your audience?

There’s a new way. Your audience wants useful information. If it’s useful, they will share it. Use content marketing to give your audience what it wants. Based on real-world experience with Fortune 500s and Silicon Valley startups, this book covers:

• How Content Marketing fits into your marketing
• How to build your Content Marketing strategy
• Use Influencer Marketing to distribute your content
• Use SEO and PPC with your Content Marketing
• Metrics, tracking, and business goals for Content Marketing

About the Author
Andreas has worked at SGI, SUN, Brio, and Acxiom in Silicon Valley. He co-founded two digital marketing agencies. The second agency got investor funding, grew to 175 employees, and was sold in 2012. Andreas is on the advisory board of six Silicon Valley startups. This is his ninth book. His books were published by McGraw-Hill in the USA and Tsinghua University in Beijing (Tsinghua is the MIT of China). Andreas has been an SEO consultant for Stanford and manages PPC for MIT. He earned his post-graduate degree at the Universität Heidelberg and speaks four languages fluently.

What Others Say
• “Actionable and intelligently written, … a blueprint for driving tangible results….” --- Shawn Naggiar, Chief Revenue Officer, Act-On Software
• "… fantastic overview of content marketing." Joe Lajos, Professor, Faculté des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC)
• “… clear and accessible English for a worldwide audience… Ken Chang, CEO, ShanghaiValley.com
• “… captures the keys to making content effective…” -- Bonnie Crater, CEO, Full Circle CRM
• “… mandatory classroom reading.” – Jodi Gill, President, The Experts Bench
• "… the tools to create, distribute, and measure..." -- Ryan Withop, YouSendIt
• "… excellent book for the beginner or expert marketer…" -- -Craig Ellrod, Citrix Systems
• “Marketing professionals (…) will find this book invaluable.” Grace Hu-Morley, Polycom