Every entrepreneur tells me that they are time-starved. My first thought is “are you a smart business owner, or just hard-working?
To me, it comes down to 4 key points:
- Value your time
- Leverage the strengths and time of others
- Implement passive income models into your business where you can
- Don’t be afraid of technology
Here are some thoughts on each of these:
Value Your Time: You need to set and limit your working hours. You probably run your business, so you can stay home with your family or have more freedom. Well, being a prisoner to your computer doesn’t do either of those things for you.
In addition, when you limit your work time, you are more productive. If you have only 3 hours to get work done, you’re more likely to stay focused and do what you need to do.
If you have set aside the whole day to work, you’ll probably slack off and hang out at Facebook, check your email and stats endlessly or find other distractions. Sorry to say – that’s NOT working.
Leverage The Strength & Time of Others: Don’t think of yourself as a solopreneur…think of yourself as a team. You can leverage the strength and time of others by:
- Outsourcing: Never try to do it all yourself! Partnering with others reaching the same target market as you (your competition doesn’t need to be your enemy!)
- Recruiting and training an affiliate force: Just setting up the software/system for your affiliate program isn’t enough…set up a stellar program instead.
- Being part of a mastermind group that shares business strategies and experiences. Stay tuned – ours is launching in September. Hope you can join us!
Implement Passive Income Models Into Your Business: Outsourcing and having your own well-managed affiliate program are ways to generate passive income. Other ways to add more passive income to your online business are:
- Join affiliate programs: You don’t have to fulfill all the orders and provide customer support.
- Backend Sales & Upsells: When someone is already going to buy from you once, they’re more likely to buy more. Make sure you make extra offers.
Embracing Technology: This one might be tough for some non-technical people. Honestly, I’m not very technical…but I do know that if I can automate something in my business, it saves me time and money.
Some uses of technology can include…but the possibilities are ENDLESS!
- Autoresponders
- Shopping carts
- Membership sites
- Automating content addition to your sites
- Making customer/prospect management easier and more profitable
- Customer feedback, comments, reviews
- Tracking advertising and split testing
So please, stop doing so much work! Your business, family, and friends will thank you for it!