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Track Your Productivity & Your Marketing–Free!

April 8, 2011 Leave a Comment
Track To-Dones with OhLife

You can review previous to-done lists in your account

Today, I thought I’d share a totally free tool called OhLife that I’ve been using for the past month to keep track of my to-dones.

Making a daily to-done list is great for 3 reasons…

1. It’s a nice boost on those days when you feel like you didn’t get anything at all done.

2. It’s a good productivity kick in the butt when you realize you spent all day on stupid, unimportant stuff.

3. But it’s also a nice little business journal–great for tracking the marketing you’ve done. And this can be REALLY important when things suddenly go really well or or really wrong and you’re trying to figure out why…

Perfect example…

A friend of mine was upset after looking over his Google analytics report and seeing his website traffic had suddenly bombed a few weeks before. (This was before big article-farm killing Google algorithm change.)

So, he was racking his brains to figure out what he might have changed or done to cause it–which is not easy to do several weeks after the fact.

But if he’d been using OhLife, he could have saved himself a TON of time by looking up what he’d done the days leading up to the big drop, instead of spending hours backtracking through files trying to figure it out.

Here’s why I’m so high on OhLife…

I’ve tried keeping spreadsheets and notebooks, or using to-do list sites before. Problem is I quickly start forgetting to do it. Or the notebook’s in the other room. Or I don’t feel like adding a 42nd open tab to my Firefox at that moment.

But OhLife makes it super easy…they email you every night asking, “How did your day go?”

You just reply with your to-done list and it automatically imports it into your account. When you want to go through your lists, simply log into the site and scroll through them.

You can also…

  • Add one photo a day–just attach it to the email–which could be fun if you went to an event that day or want to save a screenshot of a great testimonial email you received
  • Export all your entries to a text file (hopefully, they’ll add Excel as an option soon)
  • Choose what time you want your emails–so you’ll still be at your computer when it comes in

Anyway, it’s the first thing that’s gotten me to regularly start tracking my to-dones so I thought I’d share in case anyone else might want to give it a go too!

Like I said, there’s absolutely no cost to use it at this point. Check it out for yourself at:

www.ohlife.com

Enjoy!

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5 Ways to Get Others to Create Blog Content For You–Wordcamp Part 3

June 17, 2009 1 Comment

Today, some tips from another Wordcamp RDU presenter, Jason Keath.

Jason is Social Media Director of Heels.com and a social media consultant. He talked about ways to have others provide blog content for you. My five favorites of the suggestions he shared were to:

  • Build a circle of people who comment on each others’ blogs. An “informal” blog network, so to speak. You can even arrange to talk about the same topic once or twice a month and link to each other’s articles.
  • Do a round-up of Tweets about some hot topic in your market to show different sides of the discussion.
  • Write guest posts for others and have them do the same for you. (give before you get)
  • Create a topic series where you interview other experts on a related subject.
  • Interview your customers–either in text or video–or invite them to write guest posts. (Brilliant because it’s not only interesting for visitors–it also provides social proof of your work!)

So far in this Wordcamp RDU wrap-up series I’ve covered:

WordPress News, Tips & Stories from founder Matt Mullenweg

SEO for Blogs from Andy Beal

Tomorrow…how to stay out of trouble with the law.

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4 Favorite Tools for Online Marketing

March 27, 2009 Leave a Comment

I am always looking for low-cost ways to do things better, faster and easier. So here are four of my favorite tools for online marketing.

Fast, Safe Online Signatures

Adding a signature to your sales and opt-in pages has been shown to increase response because it personalizes the message. I used to do it the old fashioned way–sign a piece of paper, scan it and convert that into an image. But it turned out a little fuzzy and the white block around the signature wouldn’t always blend into tinted backgrounds.

Now I’ve found an easier, better-looking way to add signatures to a web page or any type of digital document–and it’s safer too. Identity thieves are getting so savvy these days that using your real signature may not be a good idea.

But you can use My Live Signature’s free online signature wizard to create one that’s close but not identical in 2 minutes flat.

There are hundreds of handwriting styles to choose from, plus you can choose the ink color and even how crooked you want it to be. It then creates a file you can  upload like any other image. Just visit My Live Signature to get your new signature.

Download Multiple Files with Just One Click

How many times have you gone to a download page for a program or giveaway and groaned at the number of PDF, mp3 and video files there are to download? That’s exactly why Down Them All has to be my single most-used Firefox plug-in.

Using Down Them All cuts download times for just a single file almost in half. But even better–if you right click on the screen it will bring up a box listing everything that’s downloadable on the page. Simply check off the ones you want, hit download, and it does them all in one fell swoop. Awesome!

There’s no cost for the program, but it currently only works with the Firefox browser.  Get your download time-saver today!.

Fill Out Forms & Log-Ins with One Click

I was going batty trying to keep track of all my log-ins and passwords before I discovered Roboform.

Now, if I create a new log-in for a website, Roboform automatically asks if I want it to remember the information. When you go back to the page later, the name of the site will appear as a button on your browser toolbar–simply click Fill & Submit and you’re in.

You can also enter all your contact information just once–including credit card numbers–and use a different toolbar button to fill out all those profile or order pages…again, with just one click. And as you see on the site, they are quite serious about security.

I couldn’t live without it. For just $30 a year it saves me a ton of time and frustration. So check out Roboform today!

Shorten & Track Your Clicks

A URL shortener is a handy tool for any kind of online marketing. BudURL though is a shortener plus research tool all in one because it offers extensive tracking of who clicked your link and where both in real-time, and over a period of time.

Say you create a BudURL to a page on your website. You can:

  • Keep using that one short URL as long as you want, and track the results over time
  • Send out links to articles elsewhere on the web and see which topics get the most interest
  • Use it along with two or three possible titles for an important blog post and see which gets the most clicks

And the basic account is free, so there’s no excuse for not using BudURL for your links.

Want more time, money and headache saving tools? Check out Resources that Rock!

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8 Ways to Make More Marketing Time

August 12, 2008 Leave a Comment

You can’t skip eating for a week and then refuel yourself in one day, and you can’t do the same with marketing. It’s hard, but finding the time to promote the business must be a priority if you want to keep growing at a healthy rate. You have to do it every (working) day—for at least two hours a day. So here are some ideas to help you fit it in:

1. Outsource the things you shouldn’t be doing. You knew I was going to say this, so I won’t harp on it. But remember that it’s mathematically impossible to make $100 an hour while you’re doing $15 an hour tasks.

2. Start an idea book. Someone sends you a link to check out, or you get a great idea for a new service. In the excitement, you drop what you’re doing to explore further—then suddenly you look up and it’s two hours later. Next time, jot down the link or the idea in a notebook or on a sticky note to go into an idea book. It’ll be there for you later when you have time to look into it, and in the meantime you may realize it’s not a good idea after all.

3. Create a marketing calendar. Spend some time mapping out what you want to do over the next month or so. For those tasks you need to do weekly, assign a day of the week and how much time you want to spend on it. For example, my calendar says I’m going to visit the Linked In website every Tuesday and Thursday for 15 minutes, and I’m going to spend 3 hours on Saturday writing articles. Have certain promotions you want to do? Put them on the calendar as well so you can see when you need to be getting things ready.

4. Time yourself. A kitchen timer is a clear reminder that time is up on a task. If you decide you want to keep working on that item, take a quick break then reset the timer. Otherwise you may fall into “zombie mode” where your brain is getting increasingly less productive but you’re still sitting there trying to finish three hours later.

5. Batching tasks. Schedule client appointments back to back and group any other like tasks together as well. It’s much more efficient to sit down and crank out all the articles you need for the week in one sitting, than to try to work on them piecemeal here and there. Same for phone calls you need to make. You’ll save time plus get bigger chunks of time to concentrate on projects.

6. Automate repetitive tasks. If you type certain emails over and over again, store a copy in your Outlook Drafts folder or use an autoresponder service. I’ve also found free applications that feed my blog posts to Twitter and Facebook. Just Google what you’re looking to do and you’ll probably find suggestions for free or low-cost software that can save you time doing it. (To be safe, I usually look for recommendations from other legit-looking bloggers, not the sites of the applications themselves.)

7. Take advantage of “down” times. For some reason, article outlines often come to me while I’m brushing my teeth at night. Or I’ll use a digital recorder to brainstorm ideas or map out what I want to say while I’m driving. Being away from your desk can actually spark your creativity, so take advantage of that by keeping paper and pens stashed everywhere.

8. Eliminate marketing time wasters. Networking can be a huge time waste. You do NOT need to attend every networking event in town—and it’s really not going to do you much good to do so. Be strategic about the groups you get involved with, and the events you go to. Here’s an article about networking that discusses this a little more. And of course, track your marketing results so you can eliminate tactics that aren’t paying-off in a reasonable amount of time.

I’d love to hear what you have to say, click on Comments and post below!

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Can I Double My Income By Sept 4?

August 5, 2008 5 Comments

Today I’m officially launching my 30 Days of Massive Action initiative with the goal of doubling my monthly income. Massive action means setting goals and then doing as much as possible, in as little time as possible, to reach them–essentially kicking your butt into high gear in a focused way. So every day, I’ll post about what I’ve done, any results and where I’m at in terms of my daily income goal.

Why now? August isn’t exactly high season for business unless your business is a hotel at the beach. Despite the “R” word the media keeps talking about, business has actually been pretty good. But I’m still paying for those years where it wasn’t enough to cover being a single solopreneur with a mortgage and a chronically ill dog. So I had to liquidate a financial asset this past weekend which will cost me big time taxes and maybe penalties. I may be able to reverse or reduce the damage in the next 60 days, but to do so, I’ll have to reach my monthly income goal now instead of in December.

My six-pronged plan involves:

  1. Changing mindset–overriding any fears and “thinking bigger”
  2. Planning–from creating a 30-day marketing calendar to making friends with time blocking
  3. Getting ruthless about time–and weeding out time wasters or time-eating perfectionism
  4. Filling out my products & services funnel–time to launch those programs that have been simmering on the stove
  5. Taking care of myself–taking the time to stay healthy, including one full day a week off so I don’t get burned out, and to keep my environment organized
  6. And of course, ACTION, ACTION, ACTION. Because all the planning in the world is no good if you don’t act.

So stay tuned to see how things progress! I’ll start my daily updates later today…

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How Much Is Your Time Worth?

June 11, 2008 Leave a Comment

Time is the one commodity no one can buy more of it, not even Bill Gates. And as an entrepreneur, the two most profitable ways to spend our time are serving clients and marketing. If we’re serving clients we’re making money and if we’re marketing or creating new products and services then we’re working on things that will make us money. But most everything else actually costs us to do it ourselves. Want to see how much?

The most realistic way to calculate the value of your time comes from Dan Kennedy’s book, No BS Guide to Time Management, because it factors in productivity. Let’s face it—no one is truly productive for eight hours a day. In fact, he cites a study of Fortune 500 executives who said they averaged only about 28 minutes of productivity a day. (Of course, they have someone paying them whether they’re productive or not!). But for the purposes of this exercise, he suggests estimating that one-third of your time will be productive.

1. What do you want to earn this year? (Aim high, within reason.) $_____________

2. How many days do you plan to work this year? ______________

3. Hours you plan to work a day ______________

4. Multiply lines 2 and 3 to get your total annual hours ______________

5. Divide line 1 by line 4 to get your base hourly rate $_____________

6. Productivity multiple (which is 3 if you use the 1/3 suggestion) _____

7. Multiply lines 4 and 5 to get your rate per productive hour $_____________

For example, if you want to earn $100,000 this year, assume 220 work days of eight hours a day, and one-third productivity, one hour is worth $175.16 to you.

Calculate this number and start evaluating everything you do against it. Does it make sense to keep doing those website yourself, when you could hire someone for $50 and use the newly freed-up hour to focus on making that $175? Or, is it that important to meet in-person, since the 20 minutes to and from the meeting is costing you $113 of time? The answer may be yes if it’s an important prospect or a friend you really want to see. But you’ll quickly realize which trips aren’t worth the time.

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Networking That Works

May 12, 2008 1 Comment

Everyone knows that networking is one of the best ways to build relationships that can benefit your business. But it’s most effective when it strategically leverages your time and money.

Studies show that people usually have to meet you 6-8 times before they really know who you are and understand what you do enough to share it with others. In the meantime, they are assessing your character and competence, according to Lynne Waymon and Anne Baber in their book, Make Your Contacts Count. So how do you show them yours?

  • Choosy networkers choose…Narrow your memberships to groups that are truly useful to your goals – and go to their events regularly.
  • Bring good things to life…Take an active role in the group. It doesn’t even have to be anything related to your work — people automatically assume if you do a good job with one thing, you’ll do a good job with another.

    • [Read more...]

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Resource that Rocks: LogMeIn

April 21, 2008 2 Comments

Since my laptop is not my primary computer, a regular part of my last-minute preparations for every trip used to be desperately trying to make sure my jump drive had every possible document I could possibly need to look at while I’m gone. But inevitably, I would still get an email during the trip asking about a document I didn’t have.

LogMeIn has eliminated all of that hassle and more. I can use any computer anywhere to log into my desktop PC and get documents, run programs, just about anything I could do if I was sitting in front of it. You only have to download software for your desktop– the computers you log in from only need an internet connection.

But even when I’m not traveling, I’ve found it to be invaluable. Here’s how:

Working on my laptop downstairs. Using the XP remote access was always a pain. I didn’t do it often–so it would somehow reset itself and I’d have to figure out how to set it up and find all those login codes again. And for some reason, there were issues trying to use Outlook. But now I just get the internet connection, login, and work as if I’m upstairs in my office. [Read more...]

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Make the Most of Your Marketing Time

March 26, 2008 Leave a Comment

This week I’m trying two programs that will hopefully help make the most of your marketing time. The first is Rescue Time, a free new program that tracks your computer movements and shows you exactly where you are using your time–without having to a log anything in. It even let you set goals for where you want to spend it. While I already use something called TraxTime to track time on client projects, this should give me a better idea of where all that non-billable time is going. Elizabeth Potts Weinstein has a terrific video about its on her blog.

The second is Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a program that lets you talk instead of type into your computer. While I’m a pretty fast typist, I’ve had a lot of neck and shoulder pain lately (exacerbated by too many hours at the computer!) and thought I would give this a try. I’m actually dictating my post right now and I’ve had to make a few corrections, but it is getting better the more use it. One benefit I didn’t expect is that it may be helping me compose e-mail faster. I sometimes spend way too much time tweaking a response before I send it, and I do notice that I haven’t been doing that as much. But there are a few quirks to get used to, so I’ll let you know what I think in about a week.

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