How are you working smarter?

[mary2222]

I always take this rule: 20% work; 80% results. That helps me a lot to work smarter NOT harder. Like I always invest on good and handy tools for my online business. I take effort to really learn and look for tools that can save me time. I love free tools from Google and Also Traffic Travis/Affilorma. Aside from this, I also make sure that I outsource some of my work load. Investing on these things really doubles up my productivity.

 

[ffox]

Just one technique – and tons of spin off requirements


Don't repeat the mantra “..can do, will do..”

repeat the mantra “.. why do?..”


If I don't continually ask the question “why?”, and come up with a good solid answer, then I'm wasting time and resource.


Everything we do is process orientated, especially in business, so list the process steps and ask why do it that way? Is there a better way? Is there a more cost effective way?


Probably the biggest failing of outsourcing and delegation stems from the fact that the principle failed to define clearly enough the “what”, “where” and “why” of the task. Define the task and define the expectations.


This works for personal tasks and processes as well as delegated tasks and has led me to adopt the use of Office 365, Electronic Document Management and mobile working. The result is that I have access to all my business mail on the day of delivery, where ever I'm working (or not working) and I can process the requirements of the mail immediately. Enquiries get same day response, orders get same day action, invoicing is always done on time and accounts are up to date.


While I am an IT “techie” none of the above requires any technical ability. It can be done by anyone with basic administrative experience. And, it doesn't cost a great deal, in fact it will probably save a business lots on reduced overheads.

 

[davehayes]

This thread is very interesting. There seems to be theme running through it of outsourcing and google apps, both of which I agree with. I have to say as well that my own business allows for a unique way of working smarter, by leveraging others to increase the hours that go into my business, by using one single app, which is not google apps

As a result, both my business and their business benefits from an increase in profits and time freedom, which to my way of thinking is the smartest way of working

 

[Guy Ryckaert]

I am working smarter (or at least trying) by working on the business instead of in the business. While previously doing everything myself, I am now delegating a lot more. When delegating the work I provide people with exact instructions of the path to be taken, but empower them to make decisions when necessary.

This leaves me to concentrate on the parts of the business I like doing and what I am best at. Letting go is not always easy, but if working in the business and not on the business progress will be slower.

 

[Tech4Homes]

Interesting thread, we've recently reduced our office team from 7 to just 3 including me so we are looking to "work smarter" now. I'm looking to move from our own server to Office 365 with a central NAS for storage as well as use of dropbox etc.

I'm also aiming to give my operatives iPads so they can input data straight to computer (electrical test certificates) which means our admin doesn't need to type them up anymore.

I have an iPad also and I'm desperately trying to make myself use it for quotes, site visits and everything else but I'm struggling. I think maybe I need to force myself!!

I've taken a lot from my ecommerce business which I love as I can run it from anywhere as long as I have a tablet or computer and an internet connection. I don't think we'll get the main business that way, but I'd like to be able to work from home/office/costa coffee/my car on a sunny day without being too limited, which I think is perfectly achievable with the right apps, remote desktop etc.

 

[George Smiley]

This is a very informative thread

I just bought quickbooks essentials online...never used any of these accounting softwares before.

anyway. I thought other than having to log in online and use it, I was surprised I havent received a download link that I could install to both my laptop and desktop. Imagine I'm in a place where there's no internet does that mean I cant use Quickbooks?

i wish to reiterate this is my first experience so i wont mind inputs from others

 

[Louis Smith]

A good thread.

Know what you are good at. Concentrate on it, then delegate the rest either to your employee(s) or external talents.

Louis
Cooper Kaplan Partners

 

[Jennie@FreeAgent]

There are lots of great answers in this thread. Lots of mentions of Google apps (which we are avid users of) and outsourcing.

Another point I'd like to make is about the smaller things in your business. For example, the little expenses that you might overlook could add up to a lot.

Are you billing for enough of your time? Don't sell yourself short.

You could get paid faster if you send your invoices faster.

Make your customers happier. Sometimes it's the 'small touches' that can really matter.

I hope these little points help!

Jennie

 

[Barbara McKinney]

Leave a buffer-time between tasks. When we rush from task to task, it’s difficult to appreciate what we’re doing and to stay focused and motivated. Allowing ourselves down-time between tasks can be a breath of fresh air for our brains.

 

[janib4all]

I am fascinated with working of scripts, and always trying to search programmatic solutions of every act that I perform online – ranging from sending email, updating my Facebook and twitter accounts, adding posts at my blogger blog, doing office work, virtually trying to automating everything.

I use Google script and iMacro more often; it gives me edge over rest of my office team and I get to receive more spare time as I finish my tasks way before office ending time – feels good to work smarter!

 

[elenaolga]

Totally agree with you here, SEO company wanted to charge us £300 per month(

 

[MargaretJPoland]

think smartly

 

[betulatreecare]

If i'm around mess and clutter it severely affects how I think and how motivated I am, so my biggest thing to ensure I work at my best and most efficient is to keep my room, house, workshop and car all as clean, tidy and organised as I can. Keeping on top of paperwork so I don't feel like its hanging over me and when it comes to staff, paying them and treating them well. It's shocking how many places I have worked at where they do not know how to treat the staff properly and as a result they have an unmotivated work force

 

[cartridgesave.co.uk]

Taking 10% of your day to work on something completely unrelated to your usual role. Often surprisingly good ideas come from a fresh point of view from a non-expert

 

[Ritesh Sanghani]

I am capable to find out a unanimous response to the question, how are you working smarter?

Outsourcing has grown in the last decade, and last year only more than two million jobs were outsourced to countries like India and China. Major Industrial contribution was from IT Sector (43%), R&D (38%) and Rest for call centers etc.

Major Reasons Why Businesses Prefer Outsourcing is the reduction is a cost, gaining access to IT Capabilities, and Improved Efficiency. The offshore collaboration and partnership allows individuals to come together and work toward common goal and also outsourcing, let companies gain access to a large pool of talented workforce.

 

[MatthewRJones]

Pomodoro Technique

 

[HazelC]

I run a 'not-for-profit' networking group through my business and we had a guest speaker call Richard Vanbergen last week, he spoke about The Smarter Working Week and some of the stuff he said was really good. He does talks across Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas for free - shout if you want his details!

I took loads away from it

 

[HazelC]

I outsource a lot of admin type tasks, also I have a few different sales funnels which collect leads and run automatcally with little management or maintanence, these are generally using paid traffic and in many cases were not profitable to begin with, but after putting the work in upfront they are pretty much running on autopilot now

I outsource my admin / invoicing. It was Christmas last year and I realised that I am not running my own business to do things I don't want to do so I outsourced what I didn't enjoy!

 

[Concept Vehicle Leasing]

Naomi summed it up for me. Nicely worded!

 

[TimFallon]

One small thing we've been doing at SmartTrade is using Dropbox to share files online.

So much easier to keep track of than having an unwieldy and ever growing email thread.

 

[Jennie@FreeAgent]

One small thing we've been doing at SmartTrade is using Dropbox to share files online.

So much easier to keep track of than having an unwieldy and ever growing email thread.

I should have mentioned Dropbox too. I love it and use it all the time. They also have handy tips to get more storage space for free, such as tweeting about them. Google Drive is also very useful.

 

[PetarPetrov]

Using Google Apps for Business has certainly helped us be more productive. We also outsource a lot of our work to Philippines, India, Pakistan & Ukraine which saves us a lot of time. We pretty much have a 24 working cycle where one person logs off and the other one takes over from a different time zone.

It certainly has, we too have outsourced our work to a team in India, it certainly does pay off.

 

[SamiKhan]

Outsourcing is a good option but when number of companies from India are calling you and you are not aware which one is best can create a problem. I receive calls daily from SEO companies. Some says we can do it in £100 and some ask for £300. Trust me you have to be very careful by looking at their portfolio. You should have some knowledge of SEO yourself so that they know you can catch them. But I believe one can't do all online marketing work by himself. We need to employ someone services. Outsourcing is best option but we need to be careful.

 

[integrity Rules]

edited
Don't repeat the mantra “..can do, will do..”-repeat the mantra “.. why do?..”
If I don't continually ask the question “why?”, and come up with a good solid answer, then I'm wasting time and resource.
Everything we do is process orientated, especially in business, so list the process steps and ask why do it that way? Is there a better way? Is there a more cost effective way?
Probably the biggest failing … stems from failing to define clearly enough the “what”, “where” and “why” of the task. Define the task and define the expectations.

...has led me to adopt the use of Office 365, Electronic Document Management and mobile working. .

Excellent principle , which is why I thought it worthwhile to edit the main ( concept bases ) part of your post.
"can do , will do" promotes a unthinking proactiveness
Pro activity is good , but not when its by rote- that way lies burnout.
"Why do?" injects the needed note of reflection- that way lies sanity.
You may not, then, get everything done, but you get done what needs to be done.
I think that the importance of process is underrated by most businesses : you see them falling flat on their faces every day on issues that clearly repeat themselves regularly , but they haven't introduced clear, repeatable processes to save themselves time & angst.
This is seen so often in terms of client service related items. For instance, how many businesses have philosophy, strategy& process for client reviews? Despite the fact that its one of the significant ways of helping your business gain traction, I am betting that many business are reactive about this.
As for the specific tool " Office 365" - i am not familiar with it - but will check it out.

 

[Eco-lead.co.uk]

The biggest single thing I've done to improve my business was to learn everything I could about online marketing. It's taken some time and I'm by no means an expert but I can now make websites on wordpress, I've learn't how to setup, host, advertise through google adwords and improve my organic search rankings through good seo practices. In addition I've learn't how to use photoshop and Illustrator to make my own logos and artwork for my sites.

I'm now getting between 5 & 10 organic customer requests per week which don't cost me a penny

Being a small business I just didn't have the funds to be able to afford a professional. I've now got my main site onto the 2nd page of google and I'm aiming for number 1.

Key Tips

I use Evohosting to host my sites, they're a great UK based company
Wordpress is a really great platform for making websites, it's 100% free for a basic site and about $50 for a really snazzy theme.
And until I'm near the top page of google I'll continue to advertise using google adwords, it's a really cost effective way to get new business.
For seo I would recommend checking out Neil Patel, he provides a really comprehensive free guide which lays out step by step what you need to do to improve your seo (search engine optimisation). It's really not rocket science, it just takes some elbow grease
There are a plethora of tutorials online to help with everything you need to get yourself going.

Not everyone has the time but if you're a small business like me and you're hungry to succeed, learning how to get and market your business online may just be the secret ingredient that gets your business to the next level

 

[integrity Rules]

• edited
• The biggest single thing I've done to improve my business was to learn everything I could about online marketing.
• can now make websites on wordpress, I've learn't how to setup, host, advertise through google adwords and improve my organic search rankings through good seo practices. In addition I've learn't how to use photoshop and Illustrator to make my own logos and artwork for my sites.
• I'm now getting between 5 & 10 organic customer requests per week which don't cost me a penny
• I use Evohosting to host my sites a great UK based company
• Wordpress is a really great platform for making websites, it's 100% free for a basic site and about $50 for a really snazzy theme.
• advertise using google adwords, it's a really cost effective way to get new business.
• For seo I would recommend checking out Neil Patel,

A really timely post for me , thank you.
Getting 5 to 10 organic requests is a big deal for a small company, with repeat business you really can traction off that.
I am going to investigate your recommendations and incorporate some into my business plan.
Neil Patel, I have come across. Find his writing style and terminology difficult, but it may be that I am not following his guides sequentially enough. Have you actually signed up to his paid programs?
Google ads, I am exploring by way of Peter Kents' " for Dummies " book on PPC.What resources did you use?
Did you get your google search ratings up ( to first page ) on relevant search terms organically , or thru' google ads?
Thanks , again.

 

[integrity Rules]

edited

• Are you billing for enough of your time? Don't sell yourself short.
• You could get paid faster if you send your invoices faster.
• Make your customers happier. Sometimes it's the small touches that can really matter.Jennie

Hi Jennie,
Don't sell yourself short . Really , really important. Educate yourself about the value of your input, and think well of your skills . If you don't, you will end up underselling yourself. At the same time be generous with your input. They sound like contradictory things , but they are not!
get paid faster : I believe in setting things up so as far as possible, you get prepaid . If you can't get prepaid, have a strong process for following up on payments due. Credit control is key.
small touches= customer delight = word of mouth/ word of mouse . A business has got to be way beyond average in its commitment to the customer.

 

[Eco-lead.co.uk]

A really timely post for me , thank you.
Getting 5 to 10 organic requests is a big deal for a small company, with repeat business you really can traction off that.
I am going to investigate your recommendations and incorporate some into my business plan.
Neil Patel, I have come across. Find his writing style and terminology difficult, but it may be that I am not following his guides sequentially enough. Have you actually signed up to his paid programs?
Google ads, I am exploring by way of Peter Kents' " for Dummies " book on PPC.What resources did you use?
Did you get your google search ratings up ( to first page ) on relevant search terms organically , or thru' google ads?
Thanks , again.

Glad to be of any assistance

I'm not on the first page yet, but I've gone from nowhere to the second page in 6 months.

Regarding Neil Patel I guess I take some of the terminology for granted now but I'm by no means an expert so I've still got a lot to learn about online marketing. Google has recently updated their search algorithm to place more emphasis on "relevant" back links and good content. Gone are the days when you could just setup or even buy backlinks. What this means is that if you have links to your site from other relevant sites with a good domain authority (high organic search ranking) it's very good. For example this forum has an excellent domain authority. Good content on your site is crucial, the content must be relevant and fresh and consistent. This is where blogging comes in and is also an opportunity to setup back links by posting your blogs on sites with a good domain authority.

As for Google PPC, I picked the brains of my google appointed account manager, they are free and will guide anyone through how to setup an effective advertising campaign. I only know the basics. Thanks for the tip for Peter Kents, I could probably benefit from reading that

A few things I've done that have made a difference include -

• Made my site load very fast using googles page speed app to see where gains could be made.
• Structured my site in a minimal clean fashion with lots of "call-to-action" areas which prompt browsers to click through to an online form. This is a fine balance, you don't want the site to look like a pushy, cheesy marketing site.
• Posted on various forums, hoping to both provide some value to the readers and promote my site.

The above points alone have got me to page 2 of google. Depending on what your company does will determine how much competition you have, I'm not competing against companies like sony so for other businesses it may be much more challenging...

My plan for getting to page 1 on google -

• Setup social media - twitter, g-plus & facebook.
• Write fresh content using blogger and offer to write content for other relevant sites free of charge. The cost being an opportunity to link back to my site.

I would highly recommend to everyone wanted to improve their sites performance to read Neil Patels "Quick Sprout" guides. They are 100% free and really effective.

Tod date I haven't paid for any resources besides google ppc and I hope to improve my organic search rankings so ask to minimise my advertising costs.

The great value of learning how to promote your own website is that the skills are transferable. You will be able to then setup any website and get it in front of "eyeballs". Thats priceless )

 

[integrity Rules]

Edited

Glad to be of any assistance

• if you have links to your site from other relevant sites with a good domain authority (high organic search ranking) it's very good. For example this forum has an excellent domain authority.
• Good content on your site is crucial, the content must be relevant and fresh and consistent. This is where blogging comes in and is also an opportunity to setup back links by posting your blogs on sites with a good domain authority.
• As for Google PPC, I picked the brains of my google appointed account manager, they are free and will guide anyone through how to setup an effective advertising campaign.

A few things I've done that have made a difference include -

• Made my site load very fast using googles page speed app to see where gains could be made.
• Structured my site in a minimal clean fashion with lots of "call-to-action" areas which prompt browsers to click through to an online form. This is a fine balance, you don't want the site to look like a pushy, cheesy marketing site.
• Posted on various forums, hoping to both provide some value to the readers and promote my site.

My plan for getting to page 1 on google -

• Setup social media - twitter, g-plus & facebook.
• Write fresh content using blogger and offer to write content for other relevant sites free of charge. The cost being an opportunity to link back to my site.
• read Neil Patels "Quick Sprout" guides. They are 100% free and really effective
• The great value of learning how to promote your own website is that the skills are transferable. You will be able to then setup any website and get it in front of "eyeballs". Thats priceless )

Thank you for another generous post, which I have edited above to distil the key points (for me ). It will act as a check list when I revisit aspects of my marketing strategy, in terms of what am I not doing yet.
I am sure other readers will hind your original sots, and perhaps this distillation, useful.
Julia
West London Colonics

 

[BOS]

The two products that we have found most useful for our small business have been dropbox for file management and folder sharing with remote workers and bananatag. The latter has been amazing value for tracking emails and monitoring when attachments are read. We are an outsourced sales business and like to know levels of sales readiness; opening a brochure online is good but opening the price list is far better. And now we know when they do it.

 

[OakMarkLondon]

Definitely hi-tech plays an important role. Video conferencing saves time and money and is much better than good ol' phone.

 

[Funkyowl]

I find good old Skype invaluable. Saves me countless emails.

 

[CarloMartin]

Schedule my breaks and working only 2 hours at a time to get more focus.

 

[DvanBins]

Using Google Drive for the whole team has made collaboration very easy for us.

 

[CharlineCaisse]

Thank you for the tips!
Wonderful tread!

Glad to be of any assistance

I'm not on the first page yet, but I've gone from nowhere to the second page in 6 months.

Regarding Neil Patel I guess I take some of the terminology for granted now but I'm by no means an expert so I've still got a lot to learn about online marketing. Google has recently updated their search algorithm to place more emphasis on "relevant" back links and good content. Gone are the days when you could just setup or even buy backlinks. What this means is that if you have links to your site from other relevant sites with a good domain authority (high organic search ranking) it's very good. For example this forum has an excellent domain authority. Good content on your site is crucial, the content must be relevant and fresh and consistent. This is where blogging comes in and is also an opportunity to setup back links by posting your blogs on sites with a good domain authority.

As for Google PPC, I picked the brains of my google appointed account manager, they are free and will guide anyone through how to setup an effective advertising campaign. I only know the basics. Thanks for the tip for Peter Kents, I could probably benefit from reading that

A few things I've done that have made a difference include -

• Made my site load very fast using googles page speed app to see where gains could be made.
• Structured my site in a minimal clean fashion with lots of "call-to-action" areas which prompt browsers to click through to an online form. This is a fine balance, you don't want the site to look like a pushy, cheesy marketing site.
• Posted on various forums, hoping to both provide some value to the readers and promote my site.

The above points alone have got me to page 2 of google. Depending on what your company does will determine how much competition you have, I'm not competing against companies like sony so for other businesses it may be much more challenging...

My plan for getting to page 1 on google -

• Setup social media - twitter, g-plus & facebook.
• Write fresh content using blogger and offer to write content for other relevant sites free of charge. The cost being an opportunity to link back to my site.

I would highly recommend to everyone wanted to improve their sites performance to read Neil Patels "Quick Sprout" guides. They are 100% free and really effective.

Tod date I haven't paid for any resources besides google ppc and I hope to improve my organic search rankings so ask to minimise my advertising costs.

The great value of learning how to promote your own website is that the skills are transferable. You will be able to then setup any website and get it in front of "eyeballs". Thats priceless )

 

[BethWoods]

I'm glad to see outsourcing appearing on top of many decision-maker's list. Although I fully understand the fear of many businesses that are apprehensive about outsourcing for the first time.

What many don't know is that there is an alternative to freelancer sites and that you don't have to be stuck with sites like Odesk and Elance where there is quite little control over whether your worker will show up or decide to sleep in or go surfing somewhere just when he has an important deadline...

There is the option of staff leasing, wherein you have your own virtual team that are office-based, with a full management umbrella above them. In this case you're sure that they're operating under the conditions you want (specific software, even hardware, fast connectivity, attendance monitoring, contingency measures, leave structure, project management, etc). This setup can be fully outsourced or a co-sourcing model, wherein you are still as involved as you want in operations. Not to mention training and quality assurance.

 

[PeteRoll80]

Do you know the Pareto's Principle? also called the 80/20 Rule:
So it says that 80% of results/effects are achieved in 20% of the total time of a project.
The remaining 20% of the results require 80% of the time and cause most of the work.
So we should work smart on the right things

 

[mixtureofmarket]

For me, I always do outsourcing to mainly handle and maintain my website, posting of articles, social media, etc. It allows me to concentrate on my core business operations without jeopardizing other area in my business.

 

[Chinavasion]

1. Manage your passwords with Lastpass
Forums, social media, blogs,...you are working with so many accounts today that it's sometimes hard to keep the oversight. You don't want to use the same password for security reasons also. Therefore, I just lastpass so that I can access all my password while I only have to remember my lastpass password.

2. Don't check your email more than 3 times a day
Checking emails frequently definitely kills efficiency. Don't do that. People will call you or find you if they urgently need to talk to you. I personally only check my emails in the morning and around 4pm in the afternoon. And by the way, don't read emails on your phones at all.

3. Google
From gmail and google drive is awesome. Recently, we are making a switch in the company to use google hangout more often instead of skype, because the latter has connection issues very often.

4. Collaboration tools
Someone mentioned basecamp, that's indeed great. Also checkout Slack or Asana. They are all pretty good. You have to analyse the features to see which one is working for you. I do believe these kind collaboration tools are the future, but people are usually not willing to change. So if you are just starting up, it can be good to start with those collaboration tools right away.

 

[Sriramanaenterprises]

Using Google Apps for Business has certainly helped us be more productive. We also outsource a lot of our work to Philippines, India, Pakistan & Ukraine which saves us a lot of time. We pretty much have a 24 working cycle where one person logs off and the other one takes over from a different time zone.

Which Google apps we should use for bussiness