| There are two things that I commonly hear from my | | | | easy for an assistant or other person to step in and |
| marketing clients. The first is that they don't have | | | | take over these tasks. It also makes it easier for you |
| enough clients - they are struggling to keep their sales | | | | to repeat and refine these actions so that they |
| pipeline full. Often they are so busy one month that | | | | improve over time. When systems work, they will lead |
| they don't take the time to market themselves and as | | | | to the same positive results over and over. |
| a result, their business declines drastically. | | | | 3) Cluster your activities: It takes a lot of energy to |
| The second problem is one of capacity. In this situation, | | | | switch gears. And when you switch gears constantly, |
| my client has a steady stream of business but feels | | | | you lose time and money. Therefore, the best solution |
| overwhelmed, exhausted, and stressed. If you fall into | | | | is to be ruthless with your time. Group like activities |
| either one of these scenarios, rest assured that you | | | | together and then create a schedule on your calendar |
| are not alone. There are many entrepreneurs who are | | | | and stick to it. For instance, if you know that a high |
| in the same boat. The good news is that there are | | | | payoff activity for you is to make phone calls to your |
| solutions you can incorporate into your business to | | | | clients, then set aside blocks of time to do this each |
| solve either of these problems. The answer to this | | | | day or each week. During this time, do NOT answer |
| problem involves creating systems - these systems | | | | e-mails or begin other project work. Commit to these |
| leverage your time and your knowledge. By doing this, | | | | activities and follow through without fail. |
| you can attract an ongoing flow of clients into your | | | | 4) Put it on autopilot: Look at your business to see if |
| pipeline and serve more of them with less effort. | | | | there are any activities that you can automate. For |
| Here are tips to help you systemize your business: | | | | instance, when people sign up for your ezine, you can |
| 1) Delegate, delegate, delegate: Are you still doing your | | | | set up an autoresponder to thank them. Another |
| own books, running your own errands, or organizing | | | | example is placing a page on your website that |
| your own files? If so, ask yourself, "Is this activity my | | | | answers all of the questions your prospects typically |
| highest pay-off business activity?" Or is there | | | | ask. You can direct people to this page instead of |
| something else you could be doing with your time to | | | | spending time on the phone answering the same |
| bring revenue into your company? Be ruthless with | | | | questions. |
| your time and delegate the busy work to an assistant. | | | | By creating systems for your company, you'll have |
| You can also outsource to graphic designers, | | | | more time to do the things you enjoy and the ones |
| copywriters, bookkeepers, and website programmers | | | | that bring in revenue. Instead of spending your day |
| to save you money, time, and energy. | | | | scrambling to get your daily tasks completed, you'll be |
| 2) Document your processes: Take the time to write | | | | able to focus on the high payoff activities that will |
| down the specific way your company does things. | | | | make your company more successful. You'll also be |
| You should have a specific method for closing sales, | | | | able to reap the rewards of having more time to |
| storing your files, developing proposals, pricing your | | | | market your company leading to a steady stream of |
| services, and communicating with your clients. By | | | | clients. Begin the systemization process today and |
| creating "How-to Guides" for all of these activities, you | | | | you'll enjoy the rewards for years to come. |
| begin to standardize these processes. This makes it | | | | |