Time Management Tips for running an Online Business
If you run your own business online, statistically you spend most of your time working from home. Working from home is great. It’s nice to pop out of the office for a few minutes here and there, give the kids a kiss, see what’s on the news, have a snack and think about those poor schlubs at initech (or one of the millions of similar office farms) staring at the cubicle wall and praying for death. It is nice, no, it is WONDERFUL to not be one of those poor worker bees.
But this freedom comes with a huge price. The price is discipline. There are just certain things that have to be done. You have orders that must be processed, you have email that has to be read, filed and dealt with, you have blogs to write, comments to moderate, and a million other things that must be done right this minute. At the same time, everyone of them can be put off until tommorrow.
This is a deadly combination. You must force yourself to stick to a certain schedule when you will work regularly. Plus you need to figure out a way to be productive during those hours.
When setting a schedule and being productive there are two great enemies.
Enemy #1 - Procrastination 
Like I said, working from home is nice because you can choose when to work. There are times we all want to go to the zoo, watch TV, or just lay in a hammock and let the world go by. When you are you’re own boss that is one of the benefits. But you must determine exactly how many hours you need to work, and then schedule them.
Let your family know that today, these hours are work hours and they need to be respected. Then you need to take the lead in adhering to that. If you interrupt your own work schedule to do something relaxing or entertaining, you will be teaching them that your work hours are something that doesn’t need to be taken seriously.
Another way to get around the procrastination monster is to remove distractions. I am writing this post from a coffee shop where I like to go to work from time to time. There is nothing here to distract me except for the occasional interruption from a friend or an acquaintance for a brief chat, and that is something I actually plan for when I decide to spend some time here.
Enemy # 2 the tyranny of the urgent
The phrase above is completely plagairized from somewhere. I don’t know the original source so I am not able to cite it, but it has been repeated so much that it is probably in the public domain almost at the level of a cliche’.
What it means is that when you are working from home, everything is urgent, and must be done right this minute. Those emails you need to check, those RSS feeds you have to get to, those orders you need to batch. All of it is essential. Darren Rowse wrote a post on this exact topic the other day so I will refer you to that, but let me summarize quickly.
He suggested “Batch Processing” where you focus your energy on one thing at a time. When you are writing, turn off your email notifier. In fact only check email a few times a day and deal with all of it at once. Set aside time for particular tasks and don’t interrupt editing content so you can send someone an email.
Personally I keep a notepad beside my computer so that when I am working and I think of something I need to do, I jot it down really quick as a note to do later. Then I spend a few minutes each day dealing with the items on that note pad.
So, Just to sum up.
Schedule your work time and keep it work time. Remove distractions that might keep you from work. And then work in a way that prevents your work from distracting you from your work. (read that last sentence again slower)
Batch Process it! Now when you have the time set aside, go read Darren’s post on that very topic.
Are there other things that you would see as enemies to your schedule? I would love to know your thoughts, as well as any ways you have dealt with them.
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Firefox 3 and some great Add Ons
So I have been playing around with Firefox for the last hour or so. For those of you who are not watching feeds ravenously like I am, you might not know that Mozilla unleashed its newest form of perfection on the internet yesterday.
This new browser makes firefox 2 look like an old rusty version of IE 17.9 - Yes, I hope you caught that jab (Exploder is only up to version 7).
Anyway, all MS bashing aside, I am loving Firefox 3. It is fast and smooth. It is visually Stunning, and it promises to make social networking a breeze!
If you ever look at anything on the internet, you really should install Firefox, and then uninstall Internet explorer just for wasting hard drive space. ( Whoops! I promised not to bash).
So what you need to do right now is download Firefox 3.
After you are done with that I might humbly recommend my two favorite Add Ons.
Del.icio.us - a nice new add on that is even prettier in Firefox, and if you don’t use delicious, you should start.
and also
Gmail Manager- an excellent on board add on that sits on the bottom right of firefox and lets you know when you have mail.
I would love to hear some other add ons that you enjoy! Please leave them in the comments.
So Take off and enjoy the ride!
Overcoming Obstacles when Starting a Blog
When I am counseling a business owner about expanding their influence, I always recommend a blog. In the web 2.0 world of social media and authenticity, your customers want to see a person on the other side of the cyber connection.
I think almost anyone active in today’s marketing environment will recognize the value of this platform. Often there are obstacles to engaging in this medium that many of those new to the game of social media have a difficult time overcoming.
We will tackle a few of those here.
1. But I am not a writer.
I talk with people all the time who tell me they are not writers. They know a lot about their field, but they don’t write well. When they do begin to blog it looks more like a page of classified ads than a blog.
So how do we deal with that? First of all, stop telling yourself that! If you are not a writer, you are right - You STINK at it. But if you have “never been a writer before,” then you can learn.
Second, some people really were not created to write. There is no denying that. If that’s the case, then you still have options.
a. You could pay someone to write your blog. Make sure this person is teachable and knowledgeable about your business. Make sure they have a passion about your market. To be completely honest with you I don’t know how someone with no passion can ever write quality content at the level necessary to write a compelling blog.
b. Learn. This is my favorite. I am a firm believer that anything can be learned. Good writing comes two ways. First by reading, and then by writing. The more you read the better you will write, and the more you write, the more you will improve.
On this note let me say this. When you are writing, you should write like you are talking to someone you care about. English class is over, and it doesn’t matter anymore. Now it’s time for real life. Be authentic, be real, and be yourself! If you are writing about something dear to you, this will come across!
So in summary, if you are not a writer, you need to either hire one or become one. My recommendation? Become one!
2. A blog is NOT an advertisement for your business.
This is a HUGE obstacle because honestly, yes it is, but then again no it isn’t. People unschooled in social media will quickly learn that advertising is a waste of time, money and energy. You must think of your blog not as an advertisement for your business but as an advertisement for yourself. Your readers don’t care what XYZ corporation does. They want to know you.
A great example of this is the blog of Bob Parsons. Frankly, by my standards Bob is a pervert, but as the founder of Godaddy he writes his blog so his customers can know HIM! And he is producing content that his readers enjoy reading. While learning about Bob, they are also learning about his products. They value the blog, not because it is all about Bob, nor because it is all about godaddy, but because there is a name and a face on this corporation.
So when you are writing your blog, don’t try to be some stone faced bluechip executive. Be who you are. Be passionate about what you care about. If you care about your business, terrific! Let your readers know that, but let them know you as well.
3. Provide Quality Content, Not Garbage.
While your readers really do want to to know you, they are far more interested in themselves. If you ramble on and on about yourself and your business, you will lose traffic fast. You need to carefully craft content that is helpful to your target audience.
Let me illustrate, I was talking with someone the other day who had posted a paragraph on a download site they were recommending. This was nothing short of an advertisement. I told them this could be considered spam and I explained that a much better blog post would review various download sites with the pros and cons of each.
This sort of post would provide helpful information to someone looking for the best site to download music and movies from. People would be likely to subscribe and come back later if this is the sort of content you produce. But if you are simply suggesting a product, people are going to hit the back button faster than you can say “lost opportunity.”
There are more, so please dont hesitate to let me know if there are stumbling blocks in your way or some you have seen others struggle with with. I would love to hear your thoughts on these and more!
Read Books - Save the World
I don’t spend a lot of time here on this topic, but I am a HUGE believer in making the world a better place. I have said it a couple of times. One of my Secrets to Success was change the world, but for the most part I choose not to rant on that.
But when I see a new start up that has a mission of making the world better I cannot help but to promote it a little bit.
The Mission of BetterWorld is to fund literacy through book sales! What a novel idea! I think I might be turning to these guys to order my books from now on! They seem to have a great catalog of just about anything you could want, and isn’t it nice to know that your purchase is going to be used to fund literacy?
I just happened to run across this little startup, but I plan on spending more time there as my fall semester kicks off in August. I will let you know how that goes. For now, go check out BetterWorld!
While You are pondering that, You might enjoy this video by Radiohead:
Setting and Acheiving Goals for Success
I have been really thinking a bit lately about friends of mine who desire “success.” In this video I address some of my concerns and how goals can be achieved.
In this Next Video I offer a simple systematic approach to setting and reaching goals. I am introducing you to a tool which might cost 79 cents and could change the way you live your life!
Is it worth 2 minutes to watch this simple tip for changing your habits?
Do you Skype?
Friends, Business people, Internet Entrepreneurs -
Do you Skype? Skype is an excellent way for you to keep in touch with friends and family, take care of business over a long distance, and keep it all at a minimal cost.
I know some of you don’t like to make long distance calls because it costs too much. If you are running a business from home you should not do it without skype. All you really need is a High Speed connection!
You can call other Skype users for free! And for a very small charge you can call phones all over the world! When you download it, feel free to add me to your contact list! I am jaredmlee on skype. I will look forward to seeing you there!
What are you waiting for? Get it today!
Post in Many Social Nets From one New Service!
Ping.fm my new friend and time saver! Where have you been all my life!
Friends, Ping.fm is a new service, still in BETA. It allows you to update your status on multiple services all at once. Myspace, blogger, facebook, twitter, pownce, jaiku, linkedin, plurk and MORE!
Finally from one place you can update multiple sites. This will help when twitter goes down, plus it posts in places twitter can’t! (think LinkedIn).
So what are you waiting for? go check it out! It’s FREE - Ping.fm
For now you might need to have a beta code - if so you can use “tastyping.”
Enjoy! And remember, you heard it first at TheBloggersDesktop!
Secrets to Success #3 - I KNOW I Can
In keeping with my popular series of Secrets to Success, I want to talk about something which has been on my mind a lot lately. Believing in yourself.
You might remember that old story about the little engine that could. He had to pull far more than he was built to haul over a long, steep mountain. All the way up he kept telling himself, “I think i can, I think I can.”
This story was about achieving whatever you wanted simply on sheer will alone. This might at first blush seem like a bunch of hocus-pocus.
You will remember the movie “the Secret” which was popular a while back. This was supposed to be some new discovery, but the reality is that I have a book on my bookshelf which I inherited from my Grandfather called “The Magic of Believing.” Written in 1948, this book had exactly the same ideas as the movie. In fact I felt ripped off after watching the first 20 minutes of “The Secret” because I had read the book in high school.
Anyway, the idea of the book and thus the movie, is the concept of the “law of attraction.” Frankly, I find the spiritual aspects of both to be a bit unrealistic. If you simply believe you are rich you will be rich kind of stuff. That is more likely to be classified in the Diagnostic Service Manual as some sort of mental illness.
However, and this is the part you have been waiting for.
I am absolutely certain (based on my own experience and the experiences of people I work with). That if you believe you can do something, then you can and will do it. I know people who just can’t possibly learn html. They are right, they can’t. I know people who tell me they can’t write. They are right, they can not, and they never will.
But then again, I know people who tell me they have never done anything like start a blog, but they think it looks like something they can do, and you know what? They do it! And they do an excellent job of it!
The Little Engine, believed he could. And he did.
Dear readers, I know you dream of success or you would not be reading this. Believe you can. Know you can. I promise you - if you believe in yourself you can achieve your dreams.
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A Book Review for Serious Entrepreneurs
In the online business world, you will often read reviews of e-books and download-able information. Today I want to recommend a real book. I know some of you old schoolers still like to hold something in your hands when you read it, and I understand that.
If you are serious about starting and building a business, Making a Living Without a Job by Barbara Winter is a MUST READ.
I read this book early in my internet business career. She doesn’t get into the technical details of how to click and what affiliate marketing is. Heck, you can get that information here! She wrote this book before the advent of Social Online Marketing. But the principles in this book hold true in any generation.
She helps you explore knowing yourself, being serious about your business, and even delves quite a bit into the essential work of developing multiple income streams.
This is THE book I have returned to over and over again as I sought to restructure and re-develop my business to adapt to a changing environment. No entrepreneur should be without it.
