This Week’s Project List…

(KAI): Social Media Management
(BB): Website Launch
(GCR): Ghostwritten Content Deliveries
(LSG): Affiliate Program Management
(Many): Website Maintenance
(LJW): Content Management, Website Launch
(SLNY): Content Management, Website Launch
(SFA): Shopping Cart Setup, connect to website
(LAC): Website Customization
(OMM): Content Management
(MTC): Website Customization

Upcoming Projects…

(SLNY): Salespage, eCourse setup and launch
(CC): Content Management and Website Launch

My Business Projects…

(SUB): Training Membership
(GCR): New Content
(BSJ): New Guides

Keep a daily and weekly schedule of tasks you need to do. If you’re not using a daily schedule to manage your time and business tasks, you’re likely cutting your effectiveness in half. It’s a simple procedure. Just sit down and make a list of everything you need to do, then assign a time to do it. When you start out, you may want to overestimate how long a task will take if you’re not sure. That way you won’t feel pressured by deadlines you can’t seem to meet.

Pre-schedule posts using Hootsuite. No longer just for Twitter, Hootsuite now allows you to update several of your social networks including Facebook, LinkedIn and Ping.fm in one simple step. By setting up posts in advance, you can spend 30 minutes or so a week getting everything lined up, then not worry about it again until next week.

Set a time limit. Give yourself 15 minutes two or three times a day to interact socially and check out what’s going on at Twitter and Facebook. Give yourself permission to stand around the virtual water cooler and chat a bit before getting back to work. If you’re not disciplined enough to log out when your time is up, schedule another important task immediately following. That will help you get back on track more easily.

One of the main reasons I, personally, get socially distracted is that I enjoy seeing what my friends and family members are doing, reading their tweets and posts, seeing what they have to share, etc. And the best way for me to stay motivated to work is to allow myself the luxury of a couple social breaks during the day so I don’t feel as isolated and alone. It makes it much easier to get back to work when my break is over!

What about you?  How do you manage your time so you can avoid becoming socially distracted?

Keywords

Keywords allow you to optimize your posts so that when someone searches for that word, your site has a better chance of showing up high in the search results. Say your blog is about Cooking and you provide content on a variety of food related topics. Every post you write will contain a Keyword or keyword phrase that has something to do with cooking.

A post you’ve written about quick meals, for instance, would use the term “quick meals,” as a keyword phrase so that searchers looking for quick meals would be drawn to your site. For best results, Keywords should be used in the title, first sentence, the last sentence and at least one or two more times in your post.

Categories

If you think of your blog like a filing cabinet, categories are the hanging folders that divide your posts by topic. Every post needs a topic, or a Category. Once you’ve written your keyword optimized post, you need to assign it a category. For your cooking blog, you might choose such categories as Recipes, Measurements, Common Substitutions, Menu Planning, Grocery Shopping, etc. Every post you write will fit into one of the categories you choose. Just as every piece of paper in your office would fit into one of the hanging file folders in your file cabinet.

Tags

If categories are the hanging folders, tags are the manilla file folders in the filing cabinet that is your blog. For instance, within the category Recipes, you might have Italian Recipes, Mexican Recipes, Frugal Recipes, Appetizer Recipes, etc. Every post you write will contain one or more of those Tags. If your recipe is for a Frugal Mexican Appetizer, you would tag it  for all three—Mexican Recipes, Frugal Recipes, Appetizer Recipes. These are akin to the manilla file folders that you would label and place in your hanging folders.

Keywords, Categories and Tags all serve the purpose of optimizing your blog posts so that your site will rank higher on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). That’s what SEO is all about and these three tools are great tools to help you optimize both your website and individual posts.

Building a relationship with your clients or customers is the best way to build a business, especially online where the only “real estate” you have is your website and your words. If you take the time to form relationships through your blogging, sales will follow. The key is learning how to form relationships via your blog.

Here are three simple ideas to help you build relationships:

1  Read other blogs, both in your niche and in similar topic areas. For instance, if you write about beauty and skin care, fashion trends and clothing blogs offer a natural connection. Get to know other bloggers by leaving comments, reading their posts, adding them to your blog roll, linking to them, offering to swap posts, or inviting them to your Blog Carnival.

2  Visit online discussion forums where other bloggers, or customers hang out. You’ll find some of your most loyal online friends to be those who are also bloggers themselves. And that’s okay! Though you want to make friends with prospects as well. Online forums are a terrific way to get to know people online and let them get to know you. Don’t try to sell them anything. Just chat, offer helpful information, encourage and share. Remember, the goal is to build a relationship with as many folks as you can.

3  Use your Facebook page or Twitter to get to know people as well, then post links to your blog posts and encourage your friends to visit you there. You’ll be surprised at the number who do, especially if the content is something useful.

The joy of making friends online can be as fulfilling as in your own home town. Be yourself, talk to others via chat, email, IM, blog posting or comments. Ask questions, offer tips and advice and more, just as you would if you were sitting down talking over a cup of coffee in a local cafe.

What would you like to see covered here? Do you have questions or comments? A topic you’re interested in? Share your thoughts and let me know what kind of posts you’d like to read!

1FreshBooks — An online time tracking and invoicing solution. FreshBooks lets you track time spent on a project and on different projects for the same client. You can also track invoices sent and payments received. And FreshBooks integrates with PayPal so clients can easily pay you online. Start with a free account for a limited number of clients and move up from there if you need to.

2Tungle — An online scheduling management tool which is ideal for service providers. You simply create a business page, set available time slots, then direct your clients to your page and let them choose the appointment time they prefer. You can connect and sync with your WordPress blog, Outlook, phone, and Google.  It’s free to use and a real time-saver!

3Dropbox — An online file sharing application that makes it easy to collaborate with others on a variety of projects. Shared folders allow you to work with your team on the same projects and see each time a change is made.  Take it with you and edit using your cell phone while your on the go. Your first 2GB are free!

Have a business tool to share? Leave a comment and let us know about it. And if you’d like some help choosing the best business tools specifically for your needs, contact me about my business consulting services and let me help you choose!

Instead, learn to focus on one job or one task at a time. You may think that multi-tasking helps you accomplish more, and it may, if all you’re looking to do is check off items on your to-do list. But focusing on one thing at a time will help you do a better job and create higher quality results nearly every time.

When you’ve finished that task, then move on to the next. And give the same amount of focus to that one. For instance, if you’re a writer, instead of starting one article, then going on to research another article, then moving back to the first, you’ll end up so confused you won’t know which topic you’re supposed to be writing on. If, on the other hand, you research and write the first article before moving to the second, you’ll end up with two completed articles that are much higher quality than either would have been had you worked on both at once.

Another aspect of focus is on what you do, not necessarily how many things you do at once. Your focus for your business success should be on what you do best that no one else can do as well. If you’re a writer, for instance, you write. That’s what will make the most money and help you succeed. Doing so may mean you have to contract with someone else to do your bookkeeping, or clean your house in order to free you to write.

Your business success and your ability to focus on what’s important that only you can do will make it worthwhile.

While it’s true that for most of the products being advertised with this statement, you don’t need a formal degree or extensive training. But to think that you could start a business, online or off, with absolutely no skill whatsoever is a bit far-fetched. Don’t you agree?

When an ad claims that no skills are necessary, it typically means that no formal education or college degree is required, and no previous experience with the specific job or business is needed. This may not always be the case, but it’s generally what can be inferred by such a claim.

To dispel this business myth, let’s think about it logically.

To begin a business of any kind online, you need to be able to either set-up a website, start a blog, sign into a membership site, place an online ad for an affiliate product, or a similar task. To do any of these things requires you to use a computer, access the Internet, type in at least a minimal amount of text, send and receive email, and various other actions that require at least some technical skill and computer knowledge. For a statement to be made that there are NO skills required is illogical, as Mr. Spock would point out.

Sure, you can find an online business that’s easy to do, that requires little training and that practically anyone can learn. But taking this statement that “no skills are required” literally can be misleading. You will need some skills to succeed online, whatever business model you choose. This may involve simple skills such as being able to send email or access the Internet, but it will require some basic knowledge, nonetheless.

Understanding this up front can help you avoid disappointment and discouragement that could come when you realize you don’t know what’s required to succeed at the business you’ve chosen.

To get help finding the ideal business based on your skills and abilities, contact me today to find out about consulting and mentoring services that can help you make the right decision from the beginning!

What not to outsource

There are some tasks you’ll never want to outsource, of course.  This includes the real meat of your business tasks, the things you do better than anyone else.  If you’re a writer, it would be writing. If you’re an artist, it would be drawing or painting.  If you’re a business consultant, it would be consulting.  Whatever it is that you, and only you, can do for your business, you do.  But a lot of these other tasks can be outsourced.

Some tasks you can outsource:

• Adding or updating plugins and widgets.
• Answering common questions.
• Arranging joint ventures.
• Finding guest bloggers.
• Finding photos for your blog posts.
• Handling product fulfillment.
• Handling some of your social networking tasks.
• Invoicing clients.
• Managing blog carnivals, contests and other online events.
• Promoting your blog or website.
• Submitting your articles to other publishers.
• Uploading podcasts, videos, articles, web pages and blog posts.
• Verifying facts or researching information.
• Verifying links.
• Much more!

There are any number of other tasks that can be outsourced to someone skilled enough to perform them.

How do you go about finding someone and getting the systems in place to work with them?

First off, to find someone you can trust your business to, ask your online friends and others who already outsource who they use.  They may be able to recommend someone who can handle much of what you need done.

You can try posting on the forums or freelance work sites, but be careful of who you choose there.  A lot of people may sound good at first, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, they’re not able to do the work they promised.

Always opt for a trial run before making a long-term commitment.  This gives you an opening to go back to the worker and say, “I’m sorry, this isn’t a good fit.”  And don’t be afraid to do that, if needed. You can do it kindly and courteously, of course.  But don’t stay in an outsourcing relationship with someone who doesn’t meet your expectations or who just doesn’t mesh with your personality or work habits.

Once you’ve located someone you feel you can work with, and you’ve agreed on a rate, begin feeding her tasks that you’d like to see done, but don’t have a deadline.  Until you’re sure you can trust a contractor, never assign a task that could cost you business if she doesn’t follow through or is late getting the work back to you.

After awhile, you’ll get a feel for what you can send her.  Just be careful to not overload one person.  Instead, if you need to, hire an additional worker.  That way you can split the amount of work between them and let each one do the tasks they excel at.

Outsourcing makes some people feel uncomfortable, but if you find yourself struggling to meet your goals and get everything done in a reasonable amount of time, outsourcing can be a lifesaver to your business and your mental health.