Successful Blog

How to prepare your blog for Q4 2017

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My Girl Scout training taught me to “be prepared.”

Back then, it meant gathering enough kindling to build a proper fire, or carrying a canteen with extra water.

Now, it means periodically reviewing and reflecting on what’s ahead for my business. At the end of Q3, it’s good to look way back to January to see what your goals were.

Don’t beat yourself up if your current self hasn’t lived up to the hype of your January self. You’ve still got three months to pull out a victory (or two) if you don’t get distracted.

Here’s a handy checklist that will help you do a quick check-in and reset as we move into Q4 2017.

Review How Your Marketing Campaigns Worked So Far

Look through your key metrics for campaigns you ran the first two thirds of the year. How did they do? Do the results mean you need to shift priorities through the end of the year? If something isn’t working, stop doing it.

Prepare Your Content Calendar

If you’re blogging and/or sharing on social media (and hopefully you are), take some time to stockpile some content ideas and schedule them on your content calendar of choice. When the holidays start approaching, you’ll be able to have a pumpkin spice latte instead of scrambling for topics.

Make Sure You’re Up To Date with SEO Shifts

Google changes its algorithm a few hundred times a year; have you changed your SEO strategy this year? Of course you always want to keep your customers’ needs in the forefront of your content planning, but you should also be aware of shifting search priorities. Moz is my go-to resource for SEO.

Leverage End-of-Year Spending

Yes, it feels as though the end of the year is “looming,” but there’s some silver lining in there. Consider offering a special discount or bonus for new customers in Q4. Some organizations end up with budget to spend at the end of the year. You might be able to nudge indecisive prospects with a special deal.

Don’t Coast

It’s tempting to ditch accountability if you haven’t achieved your lofty goals for 2017 yet. Don’t do it! If it’s been a lackluster year, choose just one of your goals and hit it hard now. Set your mind on how great you’ll feel as you put your feet up in December by the fire. Break it down into weekly tasks, and get after it.

If you want to share your “one goal” with us here in the comments, we will cheer you on!

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Featured image via: Jessica Ruscello

How to Get More Done by Managing Your Energy

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We all aspire to be Dicky Fox from Jerry Maguire.

I’ll bet he doesn’t even drink coffee.

The reality is that, for most of us, our energy ebbs and flows throughout the day. We aren’t going 100 mph all day long.

Around 3pm, trying to get something accomplished is like pushing a cooked noodle uphill.

So what if we leaned into our energy flow to take advantage of the Dicky Fox time, while accommodating our natural low-energy time?

Here are some tips for working with your own natural energy flow, rather than fighting against it.

You’ll get more done, I promise:

  • ZONE OUT: Figure out what time of day is your “zone” and load high value tasks within it. For a few days, take active note of your routine and how energetic/productive you feel at different times of day. Note when you’re in “flow state.” Then try to schedule difficult or challenging tasks during that time (whether it’s first thing in the morning or late night).
  • OWN IT: Stop beating yourself up for cruising Instagram; give yourself a break to do that, then return to work. You might be spending more time unproductively being guilty than if you just took a moment to goof off.
  • SLEEP RHYTHMS: Do you need a power nap? Lots of famous go-getters included a brief nap in their routine (Churchill, Benjamin Franklin). Are you getting enough quality sleep in general? Your body needs that restoration time, so don’t skimp.
  • TLC: Don’t try to “push through” injuries or sickness. Take time off for recovery instead of doing half-baked work while ill. People who force themselves to keep going aren’t going to win a medal; they’re just going to infect the rest of us with that virus.
  • FUEL YOURSELF: Watch your snacks. Grab a handful of almonds or some apples/peanut butter instead of a Snickers or another cup of joe. The sugar or caffeine high will give you an artificial burst of energy, but then the crash will come.
  • CHANGE IT UP: When you start to feel your energy flagging, change scenery and/or your state of mind. Stand up at your desk, walk down the stairs, or use a technique to change your entire state of mind.
  • PERSONALIZE: Don’t use others’ schedules, follow your own body’s queues. Not everyone can do 4am crunches, and not everyone is jamming uninterrupted at Midnight. Listen to yourself, and set a schedule that is optimized for you.
  • MOVE: Exercise doesn’t sap energy, it creates it. Be a body in motion, and create your own energy source. Elevated endorphins can last a few hours after intense exercise!

Interested in reading more about how to manage your energy? Check out “The Power of Full Engagement,” by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, which contains a step by step approach to increasing performance and productivity, or this HBR article co-authored by Tony Schwartz.

How do you keep yourself energized and manage your priorities? Please share your own tips!

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Invest In Your Health For Business Success

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By Deb Bixler

Home business owners rarely think about business assets, and when they do, there is one asset they often overlook.

When you work for yourself it is not unusual to become engulfed in the pursuit of income and forget to invest in your most important asset.

Your Most Important Business Asset

Your health is your greatest business asset and you should treat it as such.

With all the activities that need attention in a home business combined with the busy lifestyle of the 21st century, it is easy for a business owner to put their health aside for future consideration, but this is a big mistake.

When your life is balanced between personal and business time, you can prioritize your health and be a more productive employee working for yourself.

Working with a schedule is often the best way to go. Create a schedule that matches the results you want in your business.

If you want a full-time income then plan to work full-time hours. Schedule 40 hours a week for business activities.

For those who want a part-time work-at-home commission schedule, your work hours need to be between 20-30 per week.

While the desired income won’t immediately start flowing, a consistent, steady and balanced schedule that you consistently and steadily work year-round will create the income you desire.

When you take personal time off, you will be more productive and focused in the office. Many major corporations are switching their work ethics to a balanced approach as science shows that fewer work hours and more personal time makes for better employees.

Less work means less stress and a more productive worker.

There is nothing more important than your health because without it, you have no life.

Take the time to exercise! You don’t have to go to the gym, just incorporate everyday activities such as a simple walk to make a big impact on your long-term health.

Health Is Your Best Business Asset

Rarely do we equate the food we eat to our work performance, but what we eat affects us more than we think!

Did you ever notice how difficult it is to concentrate when you are hungry?

Food has a direct impact on our cognitive performance, which is why a poor decision at lunch can derail an entire afternoon.

When you make poor food choices you can have a tough time staying focused and performance drops.

Make a plan to eat three small balanced meals a day and three healthy snacks in between to satisfy between-meal cravings and prioritize your health!

Your Best Business Asset

Your health is the best business asset you have. Invest in it regularly and it will pay off handsomely.

If you work hard and make a fortune it will mean nothing if you don’t protect your greatest business asset… your health.

About the Author:
Deb Bixler is a trained chef turned passionate speaker who focuses on sales education and healthy living. As a party plan trainer she focuses on systems for direct sellers at the CashFlowShowRadio.com and her healthy food website can be found at WowFoodTips.com.

5 Nifty Time Tracking Resources for Entrepreneurs (updated)

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One of my first jobs was as a real estate settlement coordinator, and I learned valuable lessons being thrown into the fiery brew of emotional sellers, unreliable home inspectors, and mortgage refinance. The habit that has stuck with me the longest, however, is logging how I spend my time each day at work.

In that first job, it was crucial to note my contacts, how much time was spent, and who promised to do what. On day one, my boss gave me a legal pad and told me to keep a running log of my day. She said, “trust me, you’ll be glad you did.”

The first time I got into a dispute about whether a certain termite report was supposed to be submitted, I was able to say, “on February 22nd at 10:30am, you committed to sending that report by today.” BOOM.

In a subsequent job, I worked on a government contract, where I had to designate (at an hourly level) which project I was working on. (Also on paper, pre-Internet.)

Whether you are trying to track your activities for accounting purposes or for productivity, it’s much easier now. (I still log my days in a Moleskine, though– old habits die hard.)

These five apps will help you track and manage your time much more efficiently than my old legal pad.

1. TSheets

Tsheets is one of the most popular time tracking and scheduling apps, approaching its 11th birthday.

  • TSheets is the only time tracking app embedded into QuickBooks Online
  • See who’s working, their GPS location, and what they’re working on straight from your phone or computer
  • Create, update, and dispatch employee schedules on the fly
  • Turn a tablet into a mobile punch clock on any job site with TSheets Kiosk
  • Take advantage of resources on gig-style time tracking on their Mobile App page

In June 2008, Liz Strauss did a 4-part interview with Matt Rissell, CEO of TSheets, with lots of insights regarding time tracking.

2. Weekplan.net

Weekplan is currently beloved by more than 300,000 users. Its simple layout is based on time-tested management techniques. They include a free multi-step online course on time management.

  • Uses a weekly grid based on importance and urgency to track time allotted to tasks.
  • Balance your time with a role-based system.
  • Pomodoro timer integrated to keep you focused.
  • Syncs with Google Calendar and provides analytics (ultimate plan).

3. Toggl

Toggl claims to “drive a stake in the heart of timesheets,” which sounds great to me! The whole point is to make it so easy that you don’t forget to use it, and Toggl succeeds.

  • Useful for teams, with billable rates and time audit tools.
  • Includes project management tools.
  • Integrates with lots of other tools, including Asana, Freshbooks, and Basecamp.
  • Track time automatically or manually, with tagging and projects.

4. Timely

I fell in love with Timely when I saw on their site that it was “meticulously designed by vikings from Oslo, Norway.” A productivity app with a sense of humor. Timely’s secret sauce is the gorgeous calendar-based interface, which makes it simple to just dive in and start tracking.

  • Sync meetings and calendar events into the app.
  • Set money or time-based project budgets and then track progress toward the goal.
  • Understand how the time is being spent with tags and subtags.
  • Integrate with other apps like Trello or email, and keep a detailed activity log.

5. Time

The guys at Blue Cocoa (two teenagers) are going to have a hard time with their SEO strategy, but their Time app is really cool. It functions mostly as a to do list, but I include it here as a time tracker because that’s how I’ve been using it.

  • Click any to do item to start a color-coded timer that changes as the time ticks down.
  • Easily just drag to reorder, add/delete, or shift the timeframe for any task.
  • If you take too long, it goes into “overtime” with a red timer, to push you to finish.
  • Stats and insights into how you’ve spent your time.
  • Powered by artificial intelligence, which learns your behavior and offers tailored suggestions to help.

BONUS: TimeCamp

TimeCamp is time tracking & invoicing software that helps to increase your team’s productivity. It records every minute of the task your team is working on, shows results in clear reports and allows you to square up with clients accurately.

  • Includes reporting, budgeting, and billable hours.
  • Integration with several project management platforms, including Asana, Podio, and Trello.
  • Track attendance and time off.
  • See project profitability, and see problems before they arrive.

EXTRA BONUS: ProjectManager.com

ProjectManager.com goes beyond time tracking and covers the whole waterfront of project management. It’s a complete online suite of tools to manage a project from start to finish.

  • Includes real-time customizable project dashboard that tells you at-a-glance whether your projects and your team are on track.
  • Create, monitor and share your project plans online, with multiple views for your team. As they work on tasks, your project plan updates automatically in real-time.
  • Create executive-ready status reports with the push of a button. You can export and share your reports as a PDF, Word or Excel file.
  • Manage your team’s workload across the board, and have timesheets auto-filled with last week’s tasks.

EXTRA EXTRA BONUS: HubStaff

HubStaff is time tracking software with screenshots, app & internet monitoring, employee payroll system, and 30+ integrations.

  • Set the maximum number of hours you want a member to be able to work in a week and the app will automatically prevent them from exceeding the limit.
  • GPS monitoring and time tracking apps for iOS and Android allow you to track time while on the go and reports on your location.
  • See which applications your team members are using and what URLs they are browsing, while tracking time.
  • Add your team’s one-time or recurring shifts to the work calendar easily.

SUPER EXTRA BONUS: Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a SaaS time tracking and productivity tool that helps you and your team get a lot more done each day. This software helps you see exactly where time is spent in your business, or for individuals to improve productivity.

Hubstaff and Time Doctor are the two most popular time management apps used in the market today. Learn the pros and cons of using each app in this quick guide to Hubstaff vs Time Doctor.

 

What’s your favorite time management tool right now?

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

My Productivity Secret Weapon

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If your work involves spending any significant amount of time online, you’re always going to be vulnerable to distraction.

Ooh pictures of baby hedgehogs…

Every tab you keep open in your browser represents an opportunity to wander down the garden path. That’s fantastic if you need creative inspiration or you’re spending some downtime. It’s destructive if you’re working against a deadline or trying to “move the big rocks.”

Hey, a new recipe for enchiladas…

Today, I wanted to share my single most effective productivity secret weapon. (Full disclosure: my amazing husband kept telling me about this and I only recently downloaded and fell in love with it.)

It’s called Pocket and if you use it effectively, it can really keep you focused and organized.

Pocket

Once you sign up for an account, you have a space where you can save articles or web pages of interest. There’s a browser-based interface and an app for your phone, so you can save things from anywhere.

The superpower comes in when you use the browser extension button (it’s available for Chrome, Safari, Opera, and MS Edge). With the extension, you get a tiny magic button in your browser bar. Any time you find yourself on a distracting website, just click the magic button and it’s saved for later.

Yes, you can save fun things like hedgehog pictures and recipes, but you can also use tagging to organize and separate the leisure items in the list from the business-related content. I’ve got tags set up for “research” and “marketing planning” as well as “recipes.”

Sometimes magic happens when the random content you’ve been reading collides with a real-world business requirement. Remember the scene in Working Girl where Melanie Griffith pulls out her “idea” folder and shows Mr. Trask how she put together Trask and radio?

Pocket is my “idea” folder and my distraction terminator. Did I mention that it’s free for most functions? There is also a premium option that adds advanced search, permanent saving of pages (protects against website changes), and other goodies.

I wasn’t asked to promote Pocket, and I’m not an official “ambassador,” but it’s made such a big difference to me that I had to share it!

How do you defend against distraction?

 

 

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

 

Featured image via Flickr CC: Chief Trent

Having a hard time finding focus?

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Finding focus

It can be hard to find focus sometimes.

A few months ago, I was talking with a colleague who was having a hard time finding focus in their work. They spoke of feeling pulled in multiple directions and of many obligations — both at work and with their family. As I listened, I could hear how frustrated they were feeling. It was obvious that a few things needed to shift for them. They needed to create a path that would get them moving forward in a more focused way. A path that was achievable and that would help to reduce the level of distractions they were experiencing. They needed to find a way to feel a true sense of control over their life.

Working together, we set out to make a list of ideas and strategies that, when practiced, had the potential to really assist them. Here’s a few key things we put on that list . . .

  • Reduce interruptions when focus is needed! This meant finding the least distracting spot to work, eliminating the constant notifications on their computer and smart phone and planning ahead to maximize productivity during the quietest moments of the day.
  • Stop working. Really! This was critical — often my colleague would keep working long into the night — when they were overtired and actually not productive at all. Instead of pushing themselves to keep on going we agreed that they would set a regular time to stop their work. This would support them to move on in their day and to be sure they were enjoying time with family and friends more frequently.
  • Look after self. These were simple self care ideas — but they mattered. Going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. Finding moments in the day to breathe more deeply, calming busy thoughts in their mind and being more mindful throughout the day. It also included eating more real food and less junk food – and — actually remembering to eat. Oh – and getting their body moving. Going for walks or for a swim several times a week.

Today, things have improved. My colleague tells me they feel more focused and less distracted. These improvements show in the projects they are working on and in how they are generally feeling. They seem more at ease. They are also more aware of what works and doesn’t related to maintaining ongoing focus and eliminating distractions.

Finding your way to focus can be difficult. Sometimes the more we try to achieve focus the more distracted we become. It can be good to get out of your own head and discuss your thinking with another person. You’d be amazed just how many other people also struggle with distractions and maintaining focus. Other people can offer you solid ideas and suggestions that can make a real difference.

Do the things you need to do — so you can reduce the distractions in your life and improve your overall focus. Finding focus will make everything so much easier, faster and more rewarding.

Put Your Mind to It

The next time you find yourself having difficulty with focus or you feel distracted from your work — take note. Ask yourself what is happening that is causing you to feel that way? Consider what you can change up in your life. Talk about it with a close colleague or friend and get their input.

More from Successful-Blog on Focus

The Most Important Thing You Can Focus On Today

Distraction or Opportunity?

Jane Boyd is a Partner in GeniusShared. She is also the CEO of 45 Conversations Media & Education Ltd, a Canadian education and training company based just outside of Vancouver Canada. She works with educators, business, community and government in the areas of early learning, work-life, community development and employee engagement.