How to get your work done!

General Internet Marketing
Outsourcing/delegation
1Comments

Do you have things that you want to accomplish in life? Of course you do!

internet-marketing-get-your-work-done-1Do you have projects for your business that you want to get done — but are lingering uncompleted for weeks, months, even years?

How about the essential projects that will grow your business? For example:

  • Your first (or second) e-book
  • Your first (or next) webinar
  • Your first (or next) course
  • A joint venture program
  • Your first (or next) video

Do you have trouble getting even the basics done? For example:

  • Blogging at least weekly
  • Sending out a regular newsletter
  • Posting to social media regularly

Whether it’s a first-time project or ongoing basics, if you aren’t getting your work done, your business isn’t moving forward as much as it should be.

Some people attack their projects and get them done. If they get waylaid, the come back later and finish. They persevere. But many people procrastinate and don’t get their work done. They find all sorts of excuses:

  • I don’t have time
  • Something came up
  • I got involved in something else

But if you really want to move your business forward, you have to find a way to get your work done. Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein

Are you having a problem writing? Here are 5 solutions!

Email marketing
Outsourcing/delegation
Selling Products and Services
WordPress/blogging
2Comments

When you have an Internet-based business, you need to write. There’s no getting around it. You need to write:

  • internet-marketing-problems-writing-1Web page content
  • Blog posts
  • One or more free reports
  • Sales pages
  • Squeeze pages
  • Emails

Plus you may want to write:

  • Webinar scripts
  • Video scripts
  • Course scripts
  • Course handouts
  • E-books

That’s a lot of writing!

I’m a writer and I rarely have a problem writing. I’ve also noticed that most successful marketers find writing pretty easy.

But writing can be hard!

I’ve learned that my situation isn’t typical. Many people have difficulty writing, so if you’re in that boat, you aren’t alone!

Here are 5 reasons you may have difficulty writing: Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein

How to get help when you’re overloaded

Outsourcing/delegation
3Comments

Oops. In April, I wrote a blog post (“Create an automated business — or maybe not“) on automating a business and promised to write a couple of posts on outsourcing and automation. That never happened and I apologize. It’s an important topic.

internet-marketing-stress-overload-outsourcing-1Are you overloaded?

Are you working too hard? Are you doing too much? Could you being making more money if you did more work?

It’s good to have a lot of work! It means that your business is expanding, but you can’t do it all yourself!

Why getting help is important Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein

Create an automated business — or maybe not

Deciding What Business to Do
Outsourcing/delegation
Products/Services
Web technology
1Comments

Internet marketing-automation-robotInternet marketing gurus often tell you to automate your business. They say you can make money working 4 hours a day or even 4 hours a week by outsourcing your work.

But, is this really what you want to do?

It sounds enticing to make money without working. That’s what many Internet marketers promise.

It is possible to create an automated business. For example, you can do the following:

  1. Find or create products to sell.
  2. Train an assistant to set up and place ads
  3. Set up an autoresponder system to upsell to other products

There’s obviously some initial work to be done, but then it runs itself.

But it rarely works. That’s because YOU aren’t really in the business. People want good products, but they also want to connect with a person. Especially customers interested in buying products from a social entrepreneur or heart-based entrepreneur.

And will you be happy doing business this way? Maybe, maybe not. You have to decide.

Not all businesses can run in an automated way. Some businesses rely on an entrepreneur’s expertise and judgment. Coaching and training are examples.

That doesn’t mean you can’t outsource or automate. You can. But don’t assume that you should remove yourself from being connected with your business and your customers.

In the next couple of posts, I’ll talk about both outsourcing and automation.

How involved are you in your business? Do you automate your processes? Do you outsource some of your work?

by Ellen Finkelstein

What to do when you don’t have time for marketing

Outsourcing/delegation
Success
2Comments

No time for marketingLast week, in my post, “Is your 2012 marketing plan done? If not, you’re late!” I explained how to create a marketing plan to help you meet your goals.

But many people, even people with a marketing plan, don’t get their marketing done. They get behind. I have this problem myself, so I’ve thought about it a lot.

Do you find yourself working so hard in your business, taking care of clients/customers, perhaps creating your products and services, that you don’t have time to work on your business? By working on your business, I mean planning and marketing.

If so, believe me, you’re not alone! This is a common problem. Here are 4 possible solutions.

Wait, it might get better!

Your schedule will wax and wane and this is natural. So, if you’re too busy now, wait a couple of weeks and see if things change. You may not be able to work on your marketing projects every day, especially your big ones like creating videos. But if you get to them without too much delay, don’t worry, you’re OK.

Schedule your marketing tasks

When you have completed your marketing plan, including monthly projects, the next step is to schedule them. Just writing them down in your marketing plan isn’t enough. Fill up your calendar with a little marketing activity each day. I’ve put my projects on my calendar through April so far.

Having these tasks on your calendar will help you to get them done!

Schedule your day

Even if you have your marketing projects scheduled, you might find that your daily schedule doesn’t give you enough time to get them done. Read More

by Ellen Finkelstein