We all have a limited amount of time available to grow and run our businesses. So how can you decide where your time is best invested?
I have been giving this a lot of thought lately. My conclusion: Investing time in tasks that create long-term value is the way to go.
That might seem obvious to you, but is that how you operate? Or do you spend your time on “right now” tasks–going from doing repetitive jobs, such as filling orders and paying bills, to putting out “fires”? When you do productive work, is a large portion of it work for which you will only be paid once? If so, you need to make some changes.
Someone once told me she could not spend 15 minutes setting up a page on her web site with affiliate links because she was so busy with her work. Well, that single page probably wouldn’t make her rich, but it might bring her $20, $50, $100 or more (possibly much more) every month.
Let’s say she bills $100 an hour. Doing her regular work and billing for15 minutes earns her $25. If putting up the affiliate page brings in $500 or $1000 (or more) a year, every year, what is the better use of that 15 minutes? I’m not a math whiz, but I can figure that one out.
Commit to spending at least a portion of each work day creating long-term value. That means doing something that can help you prosper for years to come. Here are just a few ideas.
Create content for your web site, and monetize it with ads (such as Google AdSense) or affiliate links.
Develop material you can present again and again. There are workshops I have been giving for 14 years. I long ago amortized the time I spent in development. My preparation time is now near zero, and my only time involvement is the actual presenting time.
Better yet, turn that workshop into a product, such as an audio or video recording and eliminate the presenting time, too.
Create other products, such as books, ebooks, audio programs and more. Sell them yourself and recruit affiliates to sell for you. Set up automated downloads for digital products, and get an assistant to ship physical products for you, or hire a service such as http://www.SpeakerFulfillmentServices.com/.
The best part? Each of these will make money for you for a long time to come.
Cathy,
A great reminder all of us entrepreneurs need–to do those long-term tasks that helps us make income in the short run.
I finally decided to make this the year I really invest in my book coaching business (I help people write and publish their books).
So, I took much of my profit and hired people to interview me for material for courses, and to start developing the courses.
While I’m a perfectionist and I often find I spend a fair amount of time revising what they put together, the truth is that I would not have spent the time creating it if I didn’t have someone there helping to keep me honest and about taking that time. And sometimes they come up with very creative ways of presenting material I would not have thought of.
I have one question for you though.
I love the idea of recruiting affiliates, but I’m not quite sure how to go about that–setting up the infrastructure (I have the capability on 1shoppingcart, but I mean more than that), and also getting people interested to take their time to sell what I’ve developed. Any suggestions for how to go about this in an efficient manner?
Cathy, I love love love getting your emails. You are so remarkable! I learn new stuff and am inspired by your ideas! Please never stop! I can spend hours on your website reading…I know that kind of goes against your article’s advice here, but I do not look at it that way. Spending time on your website is time very well spent!
Please, please, please keep up the good work!
Love ya Cathy!
I’m glad the information here is useful to you.
I think it is important to learn and get inspired, so time spent reading is not wasted. Of course, then you have to put what you learned to work for you!
Good luck!