Categories
Operations

3 Tips for Successfully Managing Your Day-to-Day Workload

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If you don’t already know, I am a big fan of spreadsheets! They have so many more uses than just calculating figures. They are also a great tool to help you manage your time effectively.

As a busy soloprofessional you are not only working for your clients, but you have to work ON your business too. Effective time management is crucial for developing and growing your business, as well as income generating activities.

Below are my top 3 tips for effective time management using spreadsheets.

1. Create a Work Schedule

When I started to get busier I realised I needed a system that would allow me to anticipate or schedule in client’s work. I designed a really simple spreadsheet with the weeks along the top and the client’s down the side. I encourage my clients to book work with me in advance so that I can put this in my schedule. For regular clients I can book in so many hours for them each week, and because my spreadsheet totals the number of hours booked each week I can see what my commitments are and what I have left.

I find that it’s really working, not only because my clients can get ‘booked in’, but when I get an enquiry for new work I can look at my schedule to see if I can meet their deadline.

This system works well for me!

If you find yourself having time management issues with your clients, then give my system a go!

2. To Do List

How do you manage your day-to-day tasks? Do you have a notebook for your To Do lists and cross out each one as you go along? Or do you have little yellow post-its stuck all over the place? Is this really the best way of managing your daily tasks?

Spreadsheets are a great way for you to organise your To Do list. Set up headings in the first row and add your tasks below. You can then sort your list by any column that you choose, making it an interactive To Do list. And best of all, your list is contained in one place.

Create a shortcut to your To Do list and place it on your desktop so that you can access it easily, or just keep it open and minimise your screen each time you’re not using it.

Make your To Do list even more interactive by filtering out those tasks that have already been completed. How? Use the AutoFilter built into Excel!

3. Plan Projects and Activities

How do you keep a track of what needs to be done and when?

The answer’s simple — set up a spreadsheet!

Spreadsheets also accept date formats and this makes them a great tool for tracking projects or planning activities. You can easily use AutoFill to create a date timeline too. Use the column headings for your dates, and the rows for your activities.

Use the cell where the date meets the activity to enter notes, To Do, or anything else relating to your project or activity. Once an activity is complete you can use the strikeout feature to cross it off!

As you work along the timeline, you can hide the columns with past dates, showing only those columns for current and future dates. And if you want to be really creative, use different colours for the cells to represent different activities, i.e. blue cells = to be done; red cells = overdue etc.

Follow these 3 time management tips, and you will soon be using more time more wisely!

Categories
Sales & Marketing

The Fuel that Drives the Engine of Your Sales Success

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It is important to identify the prospects that will have the highest need for your product or service.  These are your best prospects—the ones who are most likely to buy, use, and recommend you and your services.

When you have identified your best prospects and know where to find them, you can use your marketing skills to generate leads that will most likely result in profitable sales. Qualified lead generation is the fuel that drives the engine of your sales success.  The techniques discussed here can keep you supplied with highly qualified leads.

How can you identify those prospects that are most likely to want to hear your message? And, once you’ve identified the profile of those most likely to buy—your TOP 20%—where can you find prospects in large numbers who fit that profile?

Begin with an analysis of your sales over the last year or two.

In your analysis, you look at three things:

1.            Who bought what?

2.            How did you find and sell those customers?

3.            Why did they buy what they bought?

Possessing the right marketing skills is crucial in properly identifying the right kinds of prospects for a company. Smart companies accomplish this responsibility by profiling the top twenty percent of their current customers who typically provide eighty percent of their profits.

Looking for new business is very expensive. Therefore, companies need to avoid the wrong kinds of prospects for them.  Just as it is critical in distinguishing the attributes of the right prospects, a company needs to outline the characteristics that make-up the bottom twenty percent of their customer base. Anybody in business can easily recognize who the complainers, price-grinders, and transaction-oriented clients are. By clearly understanding the bad traits of those bottom twenty-percent, companies can much easier avoid the wrong prospects.

Categories
Newsletter

BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 156

BIZNESS! Newsletter

 

Cover Story

BikeSpike Bicycle Tracking

The BikeSpike is a subtle way to deter bike thieves by looking like a regular old water bottle holder. However, that bottle holder hides a unique little trick: a GPS tracker that syncs to your smartphone. Beyond letting you know where your stolen pedal-based conveyance is, the BikeSpike also has more practical everyday purposes for bike riders ..

Continued in BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 156 >>>

 

Top Stories From CoolBusinessIdeas.com

– Teleporting Gifts
– Unlimited Dose of Coffee
– Mood Adjusted Music
– PocketBands
– Play and Learn Maths on iPad

Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

 

Top Stories From GetEntrepreneurial.com

– 3 Positive Reasons to do the Right Thing in Business
– Handling Bad Customer Reviews
– The Mistakes I Made Creating My First Info Product
– 3 Positive Ways to Engage Clients for More Business

Continue reading these top stories in the BIZNESS! Newsletter >>>

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Categories
Operations Planning & Management

Scaling Up Your Business the Right Way

Scaling Up Your Business the Right Way

Let’s face it – scaling up matters to any business, regardless of its size. Whether it’s a multinational corporation with thousands of employees or a startup comprised of a few devoted full-timers, business growth is the objective. And if there is no scaling up, there’s obviously no growth going on.

Now, scaling up ranges in complexity, involving equal parts practical and prospective. It’s that balance that positively defines entrepreneurship. There is buying new office chairs from officedesk.com, and there’s reinvesting in new information technology. It’s about taking the business to the next level with the right mindset and building a proper foundation for it. In order to ensure a flourishing/successful business the following scaling tips should be kept in mind…

#1: Streamline Processes

One of your key focuses when scaling your basis should to make things simpler, faster, and more efficient. Whether it’s bringing down double work to making improvements to the bottom line – you have to work on “speed” and “ease”. So how do you go about doing this? You do it by streamlining processes, which can only be possible by keeping track of technology trends, welcoming feedback from employees and working with consultants/contractors. The idea here is to bring more improvement and ease in your business in the best possible way so that scaling becomes practically possible.

#2: Take Advantage of the Cloud

There’s no doubt about the fact that cloud storage is a highly effective way to not only share information easily, but also to collaboratively edit documents. When you get in the cloud, your business benefits in a number of ways. It helps in cutting down on paperwork, saves you printing money and of course lets you have a clear office space. The storage account can be managed by the CEO so that he has access to all files 24/7. There would be no excuse to to getting the wrong copy or not being present in the office to grab the needed file.

#3: Invest Where it Really Matters

Investing the money that you have in hand the right way is crucial if you want to scale your business effectively. There will times when you simply shouldn’t skimp on investing. Times such as when you want to hire an SEO expert to optimize your website for the search engines, or buy some quality technology that will make your business run smoother. By focusing on the right investments, the business will have the tools and resources needed to maximize the returns and thus make scaling a reality.

#4: Work on Micromanaging Issues

If you’re the CEO or the manager of your company, understand that you will have to strengthen your skills and keep on improving to ensure that you effectively manage the business’s growth. If required, go to a supervisor consultant that helps you address any micromanagement issues early on, giving you the freedom to scale without worrying.

Conclusion

In the end, whether your goal is to run an energy conscious business or dominate your niche – you will have to effectively scale up things to ensure that you’re on the right track. Because without growth, your business will become stagnant – which is the last thing you want.

Article contributed by Jenna Smith

Categories
Sales & Marketing

Which Event is Right For You? 3 Questions to Help You Choose the Perfect Event

If it hasn’t hit you yet, it will soon — there are an awful lot of live events happening in the online world.

 

Now there’s an excellent reason for this — hosting your own event can be a huge business booster, so many entrepreneurs find themselves giving the whole event-hosting a whirl. However, for the attendee, it can be downright overwhelming to decide which events are worth the time/money/aggravation to attend.

 

If that’s you then never fear, help is here. As someone who has attended probably a gazillion events (the good, the bad and the ugly) I have a few thoughts on this whole event-attending business. Below are 3 questions to ask yourself when an event invitation crosses your path:

 

1. Is the event promise something you feel like you need to learn? First and foremost events are about training, so taking a look at what you’re going to walk away with is an excellent place to start. In addition to reviewing the event promise (or transformation you’ll receive by attending) also check out the event host. Is this someone you want to learn from? Not only from a credibility standpoint but are you going to enjoy watching them on a stage for big chunks of time?

 

If the answer is “yes” then it probably would be worth your while to carve out the time in your schedule to attend (especially if there’s not another way to get your hands on the information). If the answer is “no,” that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t attend, but you should definitely keep reading.

 

2. Will the networking be worth it? Will your ideal clients be in attendance and/or possible joint venture partners? Events are also about meeting people live and in person. If your peeps will be at the event then you also probably want to be there. If they aren’t going to be there, well, then you may want to think twice about attending, unless…

 

3. Is it time to infuse your business with new ideas? Are you feeling old and stale sitting by yourself in your home or office? Events are fabulous at helping you shake the cobwebs out of your current thoughts and behaviors and have you see things in a new light. If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed in your business, attending an event can be just the ticket to helping you get a fresh new perspective (which ultimately can lead to you getting unstuck and un-overwhelmed).

 

And I know I promised 3 questions but here’s one more bonus question:

 

4. Has it been awhile since you attended an event? I do think there are a ton of benefits to getting yourself away from your daily to-do list and into the energy of possibilities that events hold, and if it’s been awhile since you attended an event, then it’s probably time.

 

Now for scoring — unless you had all yeses or all no’s, there’s no real right or wrong answer. If there was only one yes but it was a really strong and important yes, that may be enough for you. But on the flip side, you still might decline to attend an event even with all but one yes (if the one no was strong enough you just felt like you couldn’t stomach going).

 

Mostly what I wanted to do is to help you think about all the reasons why it’s important to attend events, and then to decide if this particular event is the right one for you.