HOW
TO SCHEDULE FOR SUCCESS
CARA'S
CORNER
I
love watching new ideas pop into my head. I know them as the gifts
from Spirit that they are and I try to honor each and every one.
But there sure are a lot of them! It occured to me that learning
to create,choose, develop, and market an idea successfully meant
I have to go off the beaten path to look for the unique approach
and the perfect twist on the idea. So of course I wanted to pass
on what I have discovered about capturing and developing ideas.
It is both a teleclass and an e-book. However, the e-book will
only be available in the teleclass for now. I hope you join me
for four Thursdays beginning May 3. You can read more at Off
the Beaten Path, Creative Thinking for the Entrepreneur Teleclass
Because
that project came on my so fast and so completely it is only fitting
that I write about Scheduling for Success! Enjoy.
Warmly,
HOW
TO SCHEDULE FOR SUCCESS
As
someone recently said-even though we are metaphysicians there
are still only 24 hours in the day! Don't you sometimes wish you
had a magic wand to change that!
Here's
the mistake many of us make. We don't actively schedule in the
marketing and administrative time needed to grow our business.
Here's
what I mean.
If
writing is one of my marketing strategies, I need to set aside
time to write articles and post them on the internet. Otherwise
I'm not working my strategy.
If
giving talks is one of my marketing strategies, I have to schedule
time to make the contacts and follow up and make certain my one
sheet is what I want to reflect my work. And that's all without
being sure I have my talk prepared!
If
I don't actively schedule time for new product development I can't
create a new e-book or teleclass.
And
if I don't schedule marketing promotion time I don't make space
to write the sales page and figure out a profitable joint venture
for my new product or service.
Are
you beginning to get the picture?
And
we haven't even mentioned self care…
When
you begin to cluster your clients into specific days, schedule
one morning for outreach and connection, one afternoon for simply
sitting and thinking up new ideas, and perhaps a full day of creating,
you will find your business flying forward.
CLUSTER
YOUR CLIENTS
One
of the ways I have needed to help people who are deeply in service
is to suggest that they set specific days they can see clients
rather than making themselves available to the client's schedule.
You'd be amazed at how much time is cleared by funneling your
client sessions into specific days and time slots. If you need
to schedule people every hour and a half starting at 9:00 AM,
mark those slots on your calendar and move people into it. That
way you see the maximum number of clients you can physically place
in a day. Time zones are tricky. My 9 AM Pacific Time is Noon
Eastern Standard Time. That's not an early start for them.
If
you tell me you have to fill all your working hours with clients
to create enough income, I will tell you that you'll stay stuck
in that need unless you schedule time to create products that
bring you passive income. You won't grow if you don't take time
for a class that adds value to your services, or make time to
follow up with your present clients with notes, and e-mails that
continue to build trust and relationship with those who already
know you work and are perfect candidates to purchase more goods
and services. You must schedule development and application time.
Even if you hire some of the administrative work done, you have
to schedule time to tell them what to do!
SCHEDULE
A "MOVE IT FORWARD" DAY
Mondays
are "Move It Forward" day for my business. It is the
day I either write one of my two e-magazines, or post some articles,
create another podcast, or even just set up interviews for my
podcast. It may be a day I study my affiliate program to make
it more effective. It is a day I look at what I accomplished last
week, what I want to make happen this week, and perhaps look over
my marketing plan to see how I am progressing. It is a day for
setting up new joint ventures and a day for writing down new ideas.
Sometimes
I need to use part of an additional day to "Move It Forward"
I'm
nearly always taking a new class-The Product Factory, Traffic
School, Podcast Boot camp, 30 Days to Radio Success-some I have
taken more than once. If you take a class you have to clear time
to study and implement what you are learning. If you don't, you
are wasting your money. You may only take one or two classes a
year. Pick them with your business or personal growth in mind,
schedule them and wrap time around them to immerse yourself in
the new information and skills you will be taught.
SCHEDULE
A "CREATIVE" DAY
Saturdays
are "Creative Day." Sometimes that spills over into
Sunday because I really, really like to create. There is nothing
more glorious than to know I can go into my home office and make
something new happen. It may be a book cover, a sales page, a
teleclass, an e-book or simply time to see how far I can develop
a new idea. Having a clear day for creativity is a joyous gift
to yourself.
Some
things need a start up time-listing my podcast in the directories
(there are 300 if I want to get carried away), creating an initial
submission to a new article directory site, or figuring out how
to optimize my blog all take additional time.
And
sometimes I have to move everything over and let the new idea
come into being.
BE
FLEXIBLE FOR SUDDEN INSPIRATION
An
idea for an e-book came instantaneously one day. I made a cover.
It was posted on my "Works in Progress" wall which is
actually the door to my office-always in plain site as a reminder
of my intentions. Suddenly one Saturday morning-a scheduled Creative
Day- I knew it was time to make it happen. It needed to be both
an e-book and a teleclass. I sat down and in 24 hours had the
first draft of the e-book workbook completed, and a second and
third draft of the sales page. I had contacted a person for a
joint venture on her product in relation to the teleclass, put
the new product in my shopping cart, figured out when to offer
the teleclass, and wrote copy to begin announcing it in my e-magazines.
You've
got to leave time for that kind of spontaneous combustion.
Cluster
your clients. Set aside an entire "Move My Forward"
day. Treat yourself to a regular "Creative Day." Make
a realistic marketing plan that clearly defines the most productive
use of your attention and time and follow it. Then watch your
business take off.
That's
called Scheduling for Success!
©
Cara Lumen 2007
www.caralumen.com
WANT
TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-MAGAZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as
long as you include this bio with it:
Cara
Lumen, MA Internet marketing coach, international author and
visionary, provides innovative and profitable internet marketing
strategies to entrepreneurs. Her business e-books are respected
for their clarity and basic "start-here" message. Her
free informative e-magazines, blog and podcasts can be found through
www.caralumen.com
©
Cara Lumen 2007
www.caralumen.com
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