Progress Report: When You Work Full Time

Written by Alice Seba

As promised, I’m back with a progress report from one of our Profit Priorities 30-Minute Bootcamp students (by the way, I can take 5 new people for October). Upon signing up for the bootcamp, all participants agreed to be part of a case study that would be shared with our readers. Participants are allowed to be completely anonymous, but our first case study has agreed to have her information published.

So now we get to air their dirty laundry…

(Just kidding…of course!)

Our first case study is Debbie McNeely. Debbie works a full time job during the day and is trying to build an online business in her spare time. She came to me with limited time, a long to do list and a hope that things would soon start really coming together for her.

Despite the fact that she has limited time, she is definitely dedicated to making things work and diligently applies the things she learns and the plans she made. For that reason, she was an ideal candidate for the Profit Priorities Bootcamp. If I suggested she do something and it made sense to her, she did it. Of course, we’re just one month into her change in focus, so we can post other updates in the future if Debbie wants to share them.

Before:

Debbie was putting her focus into article marketing (distributing articles to directories) and driving traffic to a blog/website. A mailing list had been set up and offered a free report, but growth of the list was very slow. Much of her time was spent writing articles, blog posts, emails, research and learning.

Feedback for Debbie:

Debbie was doing a lot of things right, but I suggested a shift in focus would help her move toward her goals much more quickly. This meant turning away from just driving traffic to her main page and instead driving traffic to an opt-in offer that would build her list. It also meant ensuring that the free report and follow-up emails were set up to convert more readers into subscribers. In fact, Debbie inspired this post on Why Selling Early Might Make Sense. If you’re not working to become an Internet rockstar, it’s an approach that makes sense.

Debbie was also concerned that she wasn’t involved with social media and other things on her “should do” list. Again, given Debbie’s limited time and need to focus, I suggested she put these things aside and put her focus into growing, nurturing and converting her list. She was definitely relieved to get “permission” to stop worrying about the extras. Of course, Debbie can still make it easy for her readers to share her content on social media, but for her to get involved when she’s working only few hours per week, just didn’t seem to be the best use of her time.

One thing that was missing for Debbie was connections with other like-minded online business owners. Knowing other people is what can really accelerate your business. Whether it’s doubling work power by working on a project together or having someone with influence spread the word about you, connections can be powerful. Also, when people know you, they can refer other connections to you too. I suggested that Debbie try to meet just 1 person a month and start a dialogue. They might work on a report, webinar or do just about anything that will start building that connection and getting Debbie’s business more visible.

I also suggested that Debbie hire a Virtual Assistant to take care of her correspondence, so that she no longer needs to worry about it and can put that extra time back in her business. Email can be such a distraction and really takes away from one’s focus, so it’s something I always recommend to people wanting to use their time efficiently.

Action Steps:

Debbie has reshaped how she approaches her content distribution and is now focused on driving people to her opt-in offer.

She has also come to understand the power of “preselling” as opposed to just giving away information. This is a key puzzle piece in creating a profitable content-based business.

But most importantly, she has removed some of the tasks she has been working on that she felt that she had to do, but now with the list building focus, she realizes are unnecessary. And knowing that you have the time to actually get things done is priceless.

Debbie is also starting to work on building some relationships, but is concerned about getting involved with forums and has found that working with others in the past has just meant she has to do all the work. Personally, I think forums (good ones, like Clicknewz or Solo Masterminds) are a great place to get your feet wet in getting to know people. Forums are a great opportunity to observe people and understand their approach to business and work ethic. Plus, being visible is an opportunity to grow other connections through referrals.

The key is to limit your time (maybe participate on a smart phone during a lunch break and while away from working at the computer) and not get involved in drama. While I participate in forums much less these days, they were integral for connections early on. So were live events, but we don’t all have the luxury of attending them, so online communities can be very effective.

By the way, if you sense sense some contradiction in my saying don’t get involved with social media..but do get involved with forums, I’ll explain. Social media is often less focused and it’s tough to get a really good picture of who someone is. In open conversation format like a forum, you can see much more. It is a matter of preference, for certain, so the decision of where to get to know people is a personal one.

I’m really looking forward to seeing Debbie’s progress in the coming months! But enough about Debbie (for now), let’s talk about you…

If YOU Work Full Time:

A lot of our readers at Contentrix have full time jobs and create content at night. If you’re in that boat, you know it’s not an easy gig. While you’re at work, you wish you could work on your business, but by the time you get home…you may not have the energy. Or if you do, you might stay up way too late getting everything done and then suffer for it in the morning. It’s a constant juggling act, I’m sure.

Before you do anything else, you must resign yourself to the fact that you’re on limited time and plan accordingly. Being efficient with your time and realizing that things will take a while to build is going to help you in the long run. It will keep you focused and help you avoid the “get-rich-quick” crap and fly-by-night marketing tactics that will drain your time and your bank account.

Once you can admit you’re on limited time, remember these golden rules:

One niche, one market…especially to start. There’s no sense in dabbling in a bunch of areas because you just don’t have the time to do it.

One project at a time. If you’re going to focus on building, nurturing and profiting from your mailing list, focus on that. If you’d rather create an info product, set up paid advertising and grow an affiliate force, then do that. Don’t try to do it all.

Avoid distractions: You don’t need to be on forums or social media all day. You don’t need to be on every marketing list, hoping for the next key to your success. You need to hard work, testing and improvement.

Then write down the following:

What niches/markets are you currently working in?

What projects do you have on the go?

How many hours do you really have available to work your business? No, not the 15 minutes you squeeze in while cooking and the kids are clamoring for your attention. Actually focused available work time.

What tasks do you currently do in your business? Write down everything and estimate the amount of time you spend on each task each week.

That list itself will be eye-opening and help you see just how much you may be trying to do and how it’s working against you, being on limited time.

Once your list is complete, consider:

If you’re in more than one market/niche, find the one that has produced the best results and/or that resonates with you most. Focus on that one and drop the rest. Your sanity will thank you.

If you have more than one project, choose one to focus on right now. If you have other projects in the same niche, put those aside until later.

Once you know how many hours you have to work each week, you need to schedule your focused time. Make sure your family knows and is on board, so you can get the focused time you need.

Now that you know what area you are putting your focus in, you can whittle down your to do list. If you’re working on building your list, but have been trying to get 10,000 followers on Facebook instead…it’s time to readjust your efforts. Make sure everything you do helps you work toward your goal and that you have time for it.

For those tasks that are still key to your business, but are cutting into you profit-producing time, consider outsourcing them. The same goes for things you don’t like doing or aren’t good at doing. If you’re forcing yourself to do work you don’t want to or can’t do well, you are setting yourself up for procrastination and destroying your productivity. If you don’t feel you have the budget to outsource, start small. Perhaps transfer some of that Starbucks budget to getting help for your business. It’s little sacrifices like this that will starting paying off for you big time.

The more you can focus and whittle down what you’re doing in your business, the more you’ll see steady progress. It seems weird to say the less you do, the more you’ll get…but when you’re working with a few hours per week, you have to be smart. No doubt about it.

Want in on Profit Priorities?

As I mentioned earlier, we are taking 5 new people for the 30-Minute Bootcamp in October. If you want to grab one of the spots or learn more, click here. It’d be great to work with you more closely and hey, we also added a 3-month follow up to the program, so you get even more bang for your buck.