Time is money in your online business, just as in the offline business world.
Problem is, the typical Internet entrepreneur is in a race against time: Often snowed under with many things to do, trying to achieve maximum results (income) within the precious, very limited time available.
Especially if you're holding down a full-time job while trying to launch or expand your Internet business in your spare hours, you've got precious little time to waste.
If care isn't exercised in the way we spend time online, our personal and family life can suffer, not to mention bad financial consequences.
To add to that pressure, family members may resent the amount of time spent on our venture, versus the limited income it may initially earn.
As the author of an audio program on time management, I'm going to share with you some proven time management tips, which have been adapted to running a business online. I can't promise you more than 24 hours in your day, but I'll share practical tips to help you work smarter and more profitably online - instead of longer or harder.
Two primary keys to making the most of the time we spend online are:
A) Being selective, and
B) Staying focused.
We must be SELECTIVE, because there are an infinite number of things we can spend our online time on, which will not yield productive results.
We must stay FOCUSED, because any of an infinite number of things can easily distract us from getting more important things done.
That brings us to the first step of effective online time management...
1) Set Goals
If you don't know what your final destination is, how can you ever take action toward getting there? Hence, the need to set goals.
The goals you set for your online business will vary, based on which stage you're at and which direction you want to go from there. It helps to write your goals down and periodically review them. Many feel that this better enables your subconscious mind to help you work toward your goals.
2) Keep and Use a Prioritized To-Do List
Keeping lists may seem simplistic, but the most productive top-achievers are typically methodical users of To-Do lists.
Be sure to rank each task on your To-Do lists by priority, such as high, medium or low. As you tackle the items on your list, always tackle the highest priority tasks first, and those of lower priority as time allows. Obviously, your highest priority tasks will correspond with the achievement of your highest priority goals.
I've found that a 3-ring binder kept near my computer is a good place for organizing To-Do lists, project notes, and other frequently used online information, within easy fingertip reach.
Once your goals are set, you'll know exactly where you're going (and what to stay focused on), and when you use a prioritized To-Do list, you'll have a step-by-step plan for reaching your destination.
3) Exercise Self-Discipline
The best time management system in the world is worthless if we don't exercise self-discipline.
It's so easy to log on to the Net, just planning to "check your email," and before you know it, get distracted by other things and end up spending much more time on things we hadn't planned, and wonder where the time went.
I know, I know: It's easier said than done, but exercising self-discipline will help us stay focused and avoid wasting time or getting distracted on less important activities. If you can stay focused on the most important tasks (which you've identified by setting goals and prioritizing your To-Do list), you'll see greater results from your time and effort.
4) Automate Where Possible
I have written much more on this topic than the limited space in this article allows, but let me mention a few tools that aren't new to online marketers, but whose time-saving value is often overlooked:
*Autoresponders
Autoresponders are very useful tools for automatically filling your prospects' requests for information on your products and services, non-stop, 24 hrs of every day of the year.
*Email Filters
The "filters" feature of good email programs such as Pegasus and Eudora Pro make the automation of many email activities a snap. If you're not using them, you don't know what you're missing.
~ Pegasus: http://www.pmail.com/
~ Eudora Pro: http://www.pmail.com/
5) Periodically Analyze Your Business
In our quest for more value from the time we spend in our online businesses, it helps to stand back and periodically analyze which activities have been working - and which haven't.
From there, we can give more attention to expanding what's been working, and tweak, change, or eliminate what hasn't. We can thus progressively see more profitable results from the time spent online.
Conclusion
If you want to get maximum benefit from the limited time you have to accomplish things in your online business, or any other area of life, you must manage your time well.
When you do, you'll achieve more, and you'll look back on your work with the satisfaction of knowing that you got the most important things done, instead of looking back with regret.
As Benjamin Franklin said: "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of."
About The Author
Marty Foley is a successful home business owner and the founder of http://www.pmail.com/. His Internet marketing techniques and resources have helped set the standard in e-commerce, and have often been imitated by other famous Internet marketers. They can truly help you succeed online: http://www.pmail.com/
deep house cleaning Glencoe ..."Because there will always be something more to do, we... Read More
Want to improve your time management?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker,... Read More
As a small business owner, does the following paragraph sound... Read More
Handle small emergencies fast: When a small emergency does pop... Read More
Time management consultant Stephen Young claims that the average time... Read More
It's been said, "That no one has enough time yet,... Read More
I have worked with so many people over the years... Read More
We all know the harmful effects of overwork. People get... Read More
At Home? Keep related items together, for example the coffee... Read More
There are so many books on Time Management published every... Read More
My job in Chicago began with three months of probation.I... Read More
Time is money in your online business, just as in... Read More
One of the most challenging situations people face when planning... Read More
Number Yourself: Count yourself as an important individual. You are... Read More
Would you like to know how to get 10 times... Read More
We all face decisions that involve doing things that affect... Read More
In most organizations, meetings are often the biggest time-wasters. With... Read More
Goal Planning-Achieving balance in a person's life requires assessment of... Read More
Many of us spend long hours at our desk. To... Read More
The Internet is increasingly becoming a major time killer for... Read More
If you have ever missed an appointment, forgotten to pick... Read More
This is one more article on "Organizing and Enjoying Your... Read More
Everyday, in life, we are bombarded with 101 tasks that... Read More
TIME MANAGEMENTWith the creation of the universe, God gave humankind... Read More
Everyday life can present us with opportunities to make us... Read More
efficient cleaning crew Lincolnshire ...So What Then Is The Opposite Of Procrastination? Urgency is... Read More
* If you were paying you to prioritise emails over... Read More
A new client recently admitted to me sheepishly that she... Read More
Why waste your precious time working on tasks, which are... Read More
Isn't it amazing that some people can produce huge results... Read More
When I sit down with a client to work on... Read More
Looking out through my picture window during a recent winter... Read More
Having a home based business can be overwhelming. When you... Read More
Are you drowning in a sea of unread papers? Do... Read More
* spreading yourself too thinTaking on too many things at... Read More
Where does your time go? We all know we are... Read More
Do you manage your time or does your time manage... Read More
If you're like most people, you want to get better... Read More
It's easy to waste time on things that seem urgent... Read More
If I had a dollar or even better a pound... Read More
We don't realize many things we do until we draw... Read More
It's been said, "That no one has enough time yet,... Read More
Recently I saw an advertisement for a time management booklet:... Read More
To work smarter all you need is the consciousness of... Read More
When you decide to become self-employed, you automatically become the... Read More
Time is wealth;Time is health; Time is power; Time is... Read More
Setting goals is the easy part -- but sticking with... Read More
?busy, busy, busy, busy, busy?busy, busy, bus? OK, slap me... Read More
Does it seem like there is never enough time in... Read More
According to a Miller Heiman 2003 Sales Effectiveness Study, over... Read More
Time Management |