|
Webmaster or Web Slave? Time Saving Tips for
Cyberpreneurs
Copyright Marty Foley, ProfitInfo.com
Time is money in your online business, just as in the
offline business world.
Problem is, the typical Internet entrepreneur is in a race
against time: Often snowed under with many things to do,
trying to achieve maximum results (income) within the
precious, very limited time available.
Especially if you're holding down a full-time job while
trying to launch or expand your Internet business in your
spare hours, you've got precious little time to waste.
If care isn't exercised in the way we spend time online,
our personal and family life can suffer, not to mention
bad financial consequences.
To add to that pressure, family members may resent the
amount of time spent on our venture, versus the limited
income it may initially earn.
As the author of an audio program on time management, I'm
going to share with you some proven time management tips,
which have been adapted to running a business online.
I can't promise you more than 24 hours in your day, but
I'll share practical tips to help you work smarter and
more profitably online - instead of longer or harder.
Two primary keys to making the most of the time we spend
online are:
A) Being selective, and
B) Staying focused.
We must be SELECTIVE, because there are an infinite number
of things we can spend our online time on, which will not
yield productive results.
We must stay FOCUSED, because any of an infinite number of
things can easily distract us from getting more important
things done.
That brings us to the first step of effective online
time management...
1) Set Goals
If you don't know what your final destination is, how can
you ever take action toward getting there? Hence, the need
to set goals.
The goals you set for your online business will vary,
based on which stage you're at and which direction you
want to go from there.
It helps to write your goals down and periodically review
them. Many feel that this better enables your subconscious
mind to help you work toward your goals.
2) Keep and Use a Prioritized To-Do List
Keeping lists may seem simplistic, but the most productive
top-achievers are typically methodical users of To-Do
lists.
Be sure to rank each task on your To-Do lists by priority,
such as high, medium or low. As you tackle the items on
your list, always tackle the highest priority tasks first,
and those of lower priority as time allows. Obviously,
your highest priority tasks will correspond with the
achievement of your highest priority goals.
I've found that a 3-ring binder kept near my computer is a
good place for organizing To-Do lists, project notes, and
other frequently used online information, within easy
fingertip reach.
Once your goals are set, you'll know exactly where you're
going (and what to stay focused on), and when you use a
prioritized To-Do list, you'll have a step-by-step plan
for reaching your destination.
3) Exercise Self-Discipline
The best time management system in the world is worthless
if we don't exercise self-discipline.
It's so easy to log on to the Net, just planning to "check
your email," and before you know it, get distracted by
other things and end up spending much more time on things
we hadn't planned, and wonder where the time went.
I know, I know: It's easier said than done, but exercising
self-discipline helps us stay focused and avoid wasting
time or getting distracted on less important activities.
If you can stay focused on the most important tasks (which
you've identified by setting goals and prioritizing your
To-Do list), you'll see greater results from your time and
effort.
4) Automate Where Possible
I have written much more on this topic than the limited
space in this article allows, but let me mention a few
tools that aren't new to online marketers, but whose
time-saving value is often overlooked:
*Autoresponders
Autoresponders are very useful tools for automatically
filling your prospects' requests for information on your
products and services, non-stop, 24 hrs of every day of
the year.
*Email Filters
The "filters" feature of good email programs such as
Pegasus and Eudora Pro make the automation of many email
activities a snap. If you're not using them, you don't
know what you're missing.
~ Pegasus: http://www.pmail.com/
~ Eudora Pro: http://www.eudora.com
5) Periodically Analyze Your Business
In our quest for more value from the time we spend in our
online businesses, it helps to stand back and periodically
analyze which activities have been working - and which
haven't.
From there we can give more attention to expanding what's
been working, and tweak, change, or eliminate what hasn't.
We can thus progressively see more profitable results from
the time spent online.
Conclusion
If you want to get maximum benefit from the limited time
you have to accomplish things in your online business, or
any other area of life, you must manage your time well.
When you do, you'll achieve more, and you'll look back on
your work with the satisfaction of knowing that you got
the most important things done, instead of looking back
with regret.
As Benjamin Franklin said: "Dost thou love life? Then do
not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of."
More Helpful Resources...
Marty Foley's Internet marketing techniques and resources
have helped set the standard in e-commerce, and are often
imitated by other famous online marketers. They can truly
help you succeed online:
Back to The Marketing Tips Library
|