You only have so much time in a day right?
So wouldn't it make sense to focus as much of your time as possible on the things that produce the highest payoff.
I don't know about you but most small business owners are do-it-yourself types and get sucked into doing the littlest silly work faster than you can say "Oh look, the copier is jammed again."
If you want to achieve any of your goals and finally start making what you are worth then you've got to stop doing $5/hr work. Period.
As you might have guessed by now, I believe that every business owner's highest payoff work, or best use of time, is any amount of time spent creating effective marketing.
Here's a little math quiz that I suggest you play with to help drive home this point. Figure out how much money you make annually or, better yet, how much you want or need to make annually to achieve your dreams and goals.
Now, divide that number by 2080. (That's the number you get if you work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year - I know, I know, you work 80 hours a week but just work with me here.)
The answer you get is what I call your "PAY" or Personal Average Yield. (I should probably trademark that it's so clever) The idea here is to pin down what you are worth an hour and realize that if you can hire someone to do any of the things you currently spend your time on for less than that number, you can't afford to do it yourself - did I mention that you could use the spare time to do some marketing.
So let's run some numbers. Let's say that you want to make $150,000 per year. Well, using our little formula, that means that you need to be doing work that is worth a little over $72/hr - 8 hours a day.
But guess what...we haven't even factored in any overhead or costs of doing business. That number might really get big if you've got those as well.
This is the point at which many people finally come to understand that they are undercharging for their services?but that's another issue all together.
So I ask you. Is fiddling with the copier, chatting with the mailman, running to the office supply store, making deliveries, or returning meaningless email paying you $72/hr? For that matter, doesn't mowing your own grass, washing your own car, picking up your dry cleaning, and getting your oil changed take you away from marketing your business? I know, now I'm asking you to consider giving up most of the fun things you like to do everyday but hey, if you can get the neighbor kid to mow your grass for anything less than $100/hr, therefore giving you 3 hours to write a killer sales letter - it's probably a steal
Figure out your PAY number, paint it on the wall in your office, and then go about setting up your business in a way that allows you to focus on the only things that can really pay that kind of money: marketing, innovation, and customer service ? cause everything else is just a cost.
Copyright 2004 John Jantsch
About The Author
John Jantsch is a marketing consultant based in Kansas City, Mo. He writes frequently on real world small business marketing tactics and is the creator of "Duct Tape Marketing" a turn-key small business marketing system. Check out his blog at http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/weblog.php - get these kinds of killer tips weekly by sending an email to http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/weblog.php
maid service near Lake Forest ..There are many little details that go into making sure... Read More
Top 3 Ways to Maximize Your Small Business Server Consulting... Read More
Data. Most people think it is a term relegated to... Read More
Why should you do informative talks to smaller groups?Informative talks... Read More
Everyday, customers and business owners are bombarded with billboards, logos,... Read More
A lot of business owners I've spoken with lately have... Read More
Franchisors of home based and mobile businesses need to carefully... Read More
You make the decision to go into business and for... Read More
Many experienced auto detailing professionals who have started out using... Read More
Business card size works well for invitations to special events.What... Read More
You're pretty proud of yourself! After all, only four months... Read More
No matter type of business you operate you've got to... Read More
One of the most common horrific mistakes a business can... Read More
If you run a pressure washing company in a rural... Read More
In a world full of complications sometimes we overlook the... Read More
Before you start a business we encourage you to prepare... Read More
What is the satisfaction & expectation review of the business... Read More
Back when I owned an inventory-based business, one of my... Read More
As a Boat Detailing Specialist, you may want to offer... Read More
Tap these treasures of ideas. The best money you can... Read More
Continuing from the second article:6. About the aground mathematical model,... Read More
Is it right for you?If you decide to advertise your... Read More
We love Wichita because it has great all round weather... Read More
If you're anything like me then you dislike with a... Read More
Grow your Professional Organizer business by branching out into related... Read More
top rated cleaning service Des Plaines ..Multimedia is everywhere on the Internet, whether in the form... Read More
You've always liked flowers and you think the idea of... Read More
Marketing is one of the four corner-posts of a solid... Read More
So you want to start a business but you don't... Read More
People will always stress that having a well researched business... Read More
When working properly, computers enable small businesses to make big... Read More
If you're just ramping up your small business email newsletter,... Read More
With the massive explosion of start-ups and home businesses developing,... Read More
We visited Lexus USA, home of the Lexus North America... Read More
If you are a non-operator owner of many work trucks,... Read More
Too often in business we get trapped into reviewing our... Read More
Macon, GA goes after garage-gas station conversion detail/hand car washes... Read More
If you're serious about wanting to start a business, the... Read More
In a world full of complications sometimes we overlook the... Read More
In your small business debt collection laws will eventually become... Read More
Technical writing services are employed to explain the details of... Read More
One of the biggest fears people have about starting a... Read More
It's just like a marriageTo expect a bank manager or... Read More
North County San Diego has had some significant growth, and... Read More
Q: A friend told me that as a woman of... Read More
Here are seven ways for owners of small businesses to... Read More
No matter what kind of small business you have, you... Read More
Success is the desire of everyman on the face of... Read More
Quality control in franchising companies is paramount and all franchising... Read More
Sometimes the simple businesses are the ones, which make good... Read More
Small Business |