Small Business Blog

RescueTime is really working! If you haven’t already, check out my original post on this time-management application. It tracks your total computer usage and lets you know where you are spending the most time. From there you can set goals to spend more or less time on certain projects.

For me, the biggest time hog was email. I spent 33% of my time the first week on email. I generally work about 45-50 hours per week with more than half that time spent on the computer. I was easily spending 10 hours a week on email. Email! Some weeks I don’t even spend that much time WRITING and that is a core piece of my business (another surprise to myself - no wonder the book is making such slow progress).

After seeing that 33% the first week, I analyzed my usage and found that notifications from networking sites and informational emails were heavy distractions for me. I set up a folder called “Internet Reading” for all of that and set up rules for my Inbox to automatically process them. As new emails of this type came in, I added them to the rule. It will probably take me a month or so to get everything set this way, but I can already tell a difference in how I’m using email (instead of letting it use me).

Once or twice a day I click on the folder, scan it to see what is appealing, and read those entries. Then I do a group delete of all the items I have read or do not wish to read. This has substantially cut down on my email reading time because it is done at one time and when I am ready to do it, not when the little alert shows me I have an email waiting.

Another thing I did was start unsubscribing from emails I do not have time to read. Yes, it is all important, but I am only one person and can only take in so much information at a time. So instead of subscribing to every guru I want to follow, I only subscribe to those I have actually been following. I put a lot of my “good intentions” on my ever-growing “not to do” list. It is okay to not take advantage of every good thing out there.

My latest figures show my email time down to 24%, which is pretty good in such a short period of time. I plan to get it down to 10% by summer. And all that rescued time will go back into the book that has been on the backburner lately.

Try RescueTime yourself and see what changes you can make to streamline your day and get some of your time back.

There is a reason the flight attendants tell you to put your air mask on before helping the person in the seat next to you. You have to help yourself first if you want to survive in business.

Making sure your company is profitable gives you the means to perform charity/pro bono work long-term and from a position of abundance. Helping everyone else and disrespecting your own needs is an almost sure path to failure.

Many of my friends with service-based businesses have told me their battles with the “coffee date.” They meet someone at a networking event, the person expresses interest in getting to know them, and a date is set up. When my friends arrive, however, they find the date is really not about networking and helping each other succeed; it is about getting free advice.

Coaches, healers, organizers, computer technicians, etc., – they all have a great deal of knowledge as their “product.” No one would ask a widget maker to give away free widgets over coffee, so I’m not sure why it is expected that service professionals would give away free advice. The reason their information is so valuable is that it took them a long time to learn and master it.

If you are a service provider who regularly gets asked to coffee dates that turn into free consulting sessions, here are some tips to get your time back:

• Set up your coffee date via phone rather than email. You can usually find out quickly if the person truly wants to get to know you or just wants the benefit of your expertise.  Even better, make it 3- or 4-some coffee date with a few others you want to get to know.
• While on the phone, ask them the top 3 things you will learn about their business and referral needs and tell them the top 3 things they will learn about yours. This sets the expectation for the give-and-take of a true networking meeting.
• There is nothing wrong with giving away occasional free consulting – if you are doing so by your choice. Make sure you do this deliberately and let your audience know the market value of your services. This helps them appreciate it as well as making sure they don’t tell other people to come to you for similar free sessions.
• Devise a playbook for these situations. I have a mental checklist for new contacts who want to “get to know me better” and you can do the same (this also works well with people who only want to sell to you and are not interested in a true referral relationship).

Some of my entrepreneur friends have come up with terrific ideas for warding off the takers and sussing out true customer leads and networking relationships.

The best by far?

Offer an introductory consulting package with a price that goes toward any of your services. For example, a phone/in-person consultation could go for $150, and if future services are booked that money goes toward the package. If not, the customer got $150 worth out of the first meeting and you both walk away satisfied. Pitch this package for every “iffy” coffee date request and check the response. If you do have a free networking coffee date that goes off track, you can always refer back to this package and let your date know you are happy to help them at that rate.

Remember that as a service professional your store’s inventory is in your head. Treat it as well as you would a product, and in no time you will have the means to offer pro bono work by choice and on a grander scale than you can as a new business owner.

You are a small business owner so you obviously work more hours every week than the average Jane, right? Hmmm, maybe not.

RescueTime is a free web-based time management system that shows you where you are spending the most time on your computer. Download the free widget and RescueTime starts tracking your time in each application right away. You then check the dashboard at RescueTime and “tag” everything with the label you want.

For instance, rather than tag each of my customer’s websites with a specific name, I use the tag “customer site.” General research for client projects is just labeled “research.” My first weekly report arrived on Sunday, and I was surprised to see that 33% of my computer time was spent on email. Wow. Another big time consumption was social networking sites at 14%.

Once you tag your usage and monitor it for a few weeks you may consider adding daily or weekly goals to help with your productivity.

Some of the tags I’m using:

• Feeds (tagged to my Bloglines feed)
• Writing blog (tagged to my blog site)
• Writing my book (tagged to my Google Docs page)
• Business Networking (tagged to Biznik, Ning, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Googling (I was only5% curious last week)
• Customer sites
• Entertainment (who doesn’t like a little Perez Hilton over coffee?)

Thanks to Zita Gustin for telling me about the site. It is my new favorite productivity tool! Let me know in the comments if you use this and how you find yourself adjusting your time afterward.

Looking for a little advice for your small business but don’t have the time or money to consult an expert?

Check out the Microsoft Small Business Summit on March 24-27 for a virtual seminar on topics of interest to you.  The seminar is free and has some top-name experts I’m interested in, like John Jantsch from Duct-Tape Marketing.  Each day has 4 hours of live speakers you can access right from your computer.

Click here to register for the free event, then sit back and get some expert help from the comfort of your own office.  “See” you there!

Developing a sounding board is an excellent way to vet your ideas and get valuable feedback on your business plans. Think of it as a board of directors for your small business.

In my circle, I have an accountability partner for weekly check-ins. She has a similar but different business from mine, and we both benefit from the other’s input. Sometimes I like to get input from others in my network, so I have a group of about 10 people I can call on for various things, whether it is a bookkeeping question, a website design opinion, or a marketing strategy.

The important thing to remember is that we are all in business to make money and time is valuable. Don’t monopolize the time of your peers or let them do the same to you (sometimes we get addicted to helping others or getting instant feedback).

How do you develop a sounding board?

• Ask people you admire if they would be willing to give you occasional feedback on ideas.
• Create a few sounding boards - one for marketing ideas, one for customer service plans, one for project management, etc.
• When you need advice, make it easy for your sounding board to help you with concise emails and phone calls. Respect your network.
• Offer the same service to your sounding board. Many times this will give you insight into your own business ideas.

One last bit of advice: Don’t expect your sounding board to make decisions for you. Their input is valuable in helping you see the forest instead of the trees sometimes, but ultimately the decisions are up to you.

Over time I’ve used everything from online timers to good old index cards to track time, and none of have been ideal. Recently, I discovered the Time Tracker by Quickbooks and have been using it for a month.

Each employee is given a website login to track time. There is a dropdown list of clients pulled from your Quickbooks system as well as a dropdown list of billable items. The employee (or you) simply clicks on the client, the billable item, and the number in the corresponding date.

The timesheets are submitted on a schedule you designate, and when it comes time to invoice you will be prompted to pull all that information in. It is so easy I finished my invoicing in record time. In addition, I was able to track time spent on package pricing projects and come up with a more reliable profit margin than my previous guesstimates.

The service is free for 60 days if you are a Quickbooks customer, and after that the price varies depending on the number of employees, though it is not expensive. Check it out and let me know what you think. You will be surprised at the ease of use, and you may be surprised to find out how much time you are spending on some of your projects!

Do you struggle with keeping your email organized? People usually fall into one of two categories:

• Organizing email to death with dozens of folders
• Keeping thousands of emails in the inbox with no system whatsoever

My old system consisted of keeping my “to-do” emails in an unread status to remind me that I still had work to do. The problem with that is that sometimes those emails get unintentionally clicked and revert to “read” status, which means my reminder is gone. My day is much too busy to use the extensive folder system, but I do know people who use it and they seem to spend a lot of time filing items they will likely never need again.

The solution? A 3-folder system within an email program like Outlook or Gmail that contains a search function. This idea comes from Gina Tripani at Lifehacker, and I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks with good success.

Why only 3 folders?

• Archive is for anything you want to keep but do not need to access regularly. By using the Search function in your email program, you will easily be able to find the email about widgets by simply typing in “widgets”
• Action is part of your to-do list. If you need to perform a task, put the email in your Action folder. Check it several times a day and prioritize your work as needed. Move items to archive or delete as you finish them.
• Hold is where you keep action items awaiting response from someone else. Again, you will check this one regularly and move items out as you get the necessary information needed.

The goal is to keep your inbox empty and your mind clearly focused on what needs to be done. Too many times we keep unnecessary items, which makes it harder for us to see what we really need to do. My husband calls this “nesting” and he says I’m a pro. I guess I never realized the habit had seeped into my email box. That is, until I had 782 emails in my inbox.

This system is working great for me, and I have an empty inbox for the first time in…well, ever. Try it yourself and see if it works as well for you.

[Note:  You can number your folders to keep them together on the dropdown list (1-Archive, 2-Hold, 3-Action) - that’s what I did]

Thanks to my “technology consultant” Ken (who is actually a well-informed friend who keeps me updated at no charge - thanks, Ken!), I have a great new product for you. Microsoft Groove is a easy way to transfer files without the headache of zipping, relying on email, or wondering if everyone is working from the same version of the file.

I used this for the first time a few weeks ago to transfer a hundred or so pictures to Ken from a recent trip. It worked like a charm and took less than minute, start to finish!

Microsoft Groove allows you to create “workspaces” where you can share files with others. For instance, a web developer might have a Groove workspace with a designer and the client to collaborate on a website project. On a personal note, a mother may create a workspace to share pictures of her children with grandparents, aunts and uncles. You simply create the workspace(s), invite the appropriate members, and then add files as needed for everyone to retrieve. One of the best features of this product is that you can access your Groove folders even when you are offline. What a great way to be productive in an airport or train when you don’t have internet access! The minute you go back online your work is synced up.

You can get a free trial of Microsoft Groove for 60 days. After 60 days you can continue using Groove for free for a year, but you will not be able to add any new workspaces.

Feel free to add me to your first workspace if you want to try this out. I’ll send you a picture of the official Small Business Blog Dog, Max.

Last week I took a seminar from professional organizer Debbie Rosemont of Simply Placed. My goal was to learn some tips for my clients who struggle with organization, and I really never expected it to impact me so much personally.

Regular readers know that I am all about systems, but I have to confess that I am much less organized in my paper life than I am in my electronic life. In a moment’s notice I can bring up a specific detail about a project with a single customer on my laptop, but if you give me a piece of paper - a grocery list, a receipt, or a piece of mail - I become paralyzed with indecision about what do with it.

Debbie addressed those mental processes that block us from truly being organized, and she also spoke about the myth of multitasking. Since taking the class, I have implementing just a few strategies to start (at Debbie’s suggestion), and I can already tell a huge difference not only in my attitude but also in what I produce. I’ll keep you posted over the next few weeks as I implement more of Debbie’s strategies in my life.

Are you interested in learning more? Check out my interview with Debbie.

 

 Debbie Rosemont Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you are in the greater Puget Sound area you can attend Debbie’s next GO System seminar on December 13 at the Sammamish City Hall. Click here for registration information.

This is a great monthly contact solution that is effective, unbelievably inexpensive, and takes no effort from you after the initial 15-minute setup. The brains behind this operation is Amber Riviere, my accountability partner and one of the savviest business people I know. I keep thinking just by knowing her some of that will rub off on me!

Email Newsletters with No Heavy-Lifting Required

Staying in touch with customers and clients can be a challenge, and finding an effective and affordable solution is even more difficult. Now, with 411 Real Estate Place, it’s never been easier to maintain contact and establish lasting relationships with your clients. This monthly email newsletter goes out automatically, no heavy-lifting required! Agents simply submit their images, contact information, and mailing list, and the editors and staff of 411 Real Estate Place take care of the rest. Prices start at just $39 per month, and for all the Web Women Giving Circle supporters out there, 100% of proceeds from character illustrations go to benefit the CARE organization!

Here’s one agent’s testimonial:

411 Real Estate Place is a terrific new tool for those of us in the real estate profession. Eye-catching graphics, informative content, and ease of use cause me to rate this one of the most effective tools I’ve ever used! The first edition was sent out this week. The newsletter was sent to approximately 100 people in my email database at 9:00 am. I’m not kidding at all - by 12:00 noon I had heard from 5 people who received the newsletter. Not only was the feedback good, but these people all needed real estate help or knew of someone else they were referring to me! In the past 3 years, I have not had such a quick and positive response to a mailing (email or snail-mail). I would highly recommend looking into this great service! Thanks for jump-starting my business!
- Chrissy, Colorado

http://www.411realestateplace.com/