#11 LOOK AFTER YOUR TIME

Transcript:

[00:14]Hey everyone! It’sStephen here looking at another episode of Marketing on the Move. I know it’s been a while.

We haven’t spoken much but I definitely want to get back into these podcasts.

[00:26]There’s been a lot going on between moving into the new office and catching up on work and launching some new projects. It’sjust been all over the place, so I’m excited to come back.

It’sjust been all over the place, so I’m excited to come back.

[00:37]What I want to talk to you guys today about is looking after your time and realizing how valuable your own time is, and it’s something which I found that I have an issue with lately, and I’ve been sort of trying to deal with it, so I want to sort of highlight that same issue with you guys too: that your time is the most precious commodity out there. Everyone’s gonna try to grab it.

Everyone’s gonna try to grab it.

Everyone’s gonna try to use time to their advantage. For you, time is so precious. It’s the only thing you can’t get back.

[01:05]Money is different. Money comes and goes, but time… once it’s gone it’s gone.

So if you’re spending time on projects or things that aren’t related to what your end goal is, you can’t expect to reach that end goal in the time that you’ve allocated. You can’t expect to get that goal with the time you’ve allocated and with the goal you’ve put ahead of you.

[01:27]So what you need to do is that you need to make sure that your time is allocated as efficiently as possible. What I did, and I highly recommend everyone else to do, is going to Google and making sure you synchronize everything between your phone, your calendar, and your e-mails. Have everything very easily accessible.

What I did, and I highly recommend everyone else to do, is going to Google and making sure you synchronize everything between your phone, your calendar, and your e-mails. Have everything very easily accessible.

Have everything very easily accessible.

I did this, and it’s literally saved me so much time, so much effort, and so many headaches.

[01:47]I spent one hour on the phone with Google apps and their business technical support or whatever it was, and now I’m paying 10 bucks a month and they are managing everything. Everything from my emails to my calendar– I’ve got it synchronized with my phone.

Everything from my emails to my calendar– I’ve got it synchronized with my phone.

I’ve gotten rid of all the other entire crap memos. Hotmail’s calendar, no more! There’s no more of this and no more of that. I highly recommend it guys.

Just spend that 10 bucks a month and just jump onto Google. They are doing a phenomenal job with it.

I just wanted to give you guys a quick tool tip right there.

[02:17]But what I wanted to really tell you was in those calendars that you’ve got,you need to go in there, and really allocate your time efficiently. When I say efficiently I’m not really saying to just put some meeting here and there.

I’m talking about allocating your whole day out, at least three or four days earlier, because that way you know you’re coming into the office and you know exactly what you need to do. There’s no mucking around; there’s no I might do this or I might do that.

You’re going in there and you instantly know exactly what you need to be doing, and it just gives you a really great way to organize yourself and really focus on what you need to do to reach your goals.

[02:57]Andwhat I want to talk about as well are distractions, and I’ve had distractions in the office. I’ve had distractions from friends and family.

I’m just finishing off my 21st birthday, and I’ve had a lot of distractions lately about people just… not in a bad way, but just wishing me happy birthday throughout the day and bits and pieces, and I just started realizing that it all adds up, and it all really takes your time away from what you focus on.

If you start spending 20 minutes on a task and then you lose focus it can really mean a lot. It can really impact how effective you’re going be that day.

It can really impact how effective you’re going be that day.

I’ve had instances where a ten minute conversation turns into a one hour conversation and I’ve just lost the whole hour of — maybe I was writing a blog post or handling a tasks or writing a sales funnel or whatever it was — I’ve just lost a whole hour of time because a coffee went over for too long or a conversation just jumped into something else.

[03:49]So what I want to really enforce is protecting your time and limiting your distractions. I don’t know how many of you guys have meetings, but meetings are really, really bad time suckers.

They really grab up all your time, and they turn into really long winded conversation about things that don’t really matter.

[04:09]So what I really want to get into you guys is that if you got a virtual assistant, then great! If you don’t you should get one. Grab a virtual assistant and make sure that they’ve got a really good system and a really good management system on how you manage your time because for me what I set up with my virtual assistant was…

Grab a virtual assistant and make sure that they’ve got a really good system and a really good management system on how you manage your time because for me what I set up with my virtual assistant was…

I set up a whole lot of systems lately after hiring a new one, and she is fantastic. She’s been following the systems to the letter, and now instantly, if I need something done she refers to the system and doesn’t take up my time.

She’s been following the systems to the letter, and now instantly, if I need something done she refers to the system and doesn’t take up my time.

So I built a system around me rather than the system being built around what needs to be done.

[04:43]So now, whatever happens, I’ve instantly got control of it. If any issues pop-up if — if anything needs to be notified — they let me know when it’s convenient for me and not the other way around: not having things pop-up and me having to go out of my way to fix them, and that’s what I really encourage you to do.

If you’ve got things that might come up in your business or might come up even throughout the day, make sure you’ve got a system in place that will be to able to handle that and that way you are not using your time to go out of your way and handle things. Whether it’s with clients, whether it’s with products, whether it’s with membership sites, whether it’s with whatever: make sure you’ve got a system in place to handle the time suckers.

Whether it’s with clients, whether it’s with products, whether it’s with membership sites, whether it’s with whatever: make sure you’ve got a system in place to handle the time suckers.

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[05:23]I might use that more often, ‘the time suckers.’ It sounds a bit mean, but I like saying it. Have a system in place to handle those time suckers so that way they’re controlled by that system.

You’re not spending your time on it; you’re not worrying about it. And one example of this is that I had a client I was doing some SCO for and there was one moment where I was in Sydney not too long ago, which you would have heard at Taki Moore’s conference, and their website went offline and the first thing the client did was contact me.

“Steph the website went offline. I don’t know what to do,” and I was in the middle of the seminar so didn’t have time to come back and fix it and everything like that.

So what I did was at the end of the seminar is that I had to go in and fix it. Everything was fine.

[06:05]But what happened was that I just needed to be there and actually fix it myself, and I never want to be doing that again because that was probably one of the most dissatisfying things I’ve ever had to do: going there and just fix a website so I could put it back up online. It’s not something that was in my job description; it’s not something that the client should be relying on me for.

So what did I do when I returned? I turned it into a video; I turned it into a task. Now the client has got a whole library of short videos that I’ve created for him that he can refer back to and fix on any occasion that I’m away.

Now the client has got a whole library of short videos that I’ve created for him that he can refer back to and fix on any occasion that I’m away.

[06:37]So now that client’s pretty much set and if anything that happens they can go back and say, “Alright, this is how we fix it. This is what we need to do, and obviously it doesn’t take up my time. That’s one way you can systemize something.

This is what we need to do, and obviously it doesn’t take up my time. That’s one way you can systemize something.

That’s one way you can systemize something.

[06:47]There’s a whole lot of ways, but that’s just one that will work, and that’s what I really want to encourage, whetherit’s for yourself or for your clients. Systemize everything and automate everything so your time doesn’t get taken up.

And in another example of that is how I’m recording this podcast right now. Not many of you know, but I called it Marketing on the Move because I don’t really like sitting there and recording things.

Not many of you know, but I called it Marketing on the Move because I don’t really like sitting there and recording things.

I like doing things on the go and making myself productive and the example is that I’m currently recording it on my phone but as soon as it uploads it on my phone my virtual assistant will be able to edit it, upload it, fix it, and put it out to you guys so you can listen to it ultimately, which is a fantastic process and system that has been put in place.

[07:27]So that’s one way how my time is alleviated, and if there’s any issues with that as well, there’s ways which I’ve counteracted them by spending my time andinvolving myself in the process.

[07:39]So guys, take a good hard look at where you are right now. Have a look at where you’re spending your time in your business, at your work, and at home with your family.

Have a look at where you’re spending your time in your business, at your work, and at home with your family.

Find out and really work out who the time suckers are. Find out what they do and how you can really get rid of them, and make sure that you’ve moved them into a part of your life where you don’t have to spend your time helping them and alleviating their pains.

Find out what they do and how you can really get rid of them, and make sure that you’ve moved them into a part of your life where you don’t have to spend your time helping them and alleviating their pains.

You want to make sure they’re alleviating your pains, and if you are alleviating their pains they should be paying top dollar for it.

[08:13]So make sure that you’ve got your systems in place. Make sure that your time is spent well and that you are productive. I want to have that harmony on this podcast, and make sure you just have everything ready for you.

Make sure that your time is spent well and that you are productive. I want to have that harmony on this podcast, and make sure you just have everything ready for you.

Design your life around you; design your systems around you — especially your time. Don’t go away on a trip and then be called up by a client like I was.

Make sure that everything was put into place before hand so that the mechanisms just work the gears into lock and you just move along smoothly.

[08:39]I’ll speak to you soon guys. I’m looking forward to getting a few more episodes in here. Hopefully you can shoot me some messages if you’ve got any ideas.

Hopefully you can shoot me some messages if you’ve got any ideas.

And another cool thing actually before I go is that I was entered into a competition called Rescue My Side, and I was put under the group called Local Legend, andsomeone nominated me. I don’t know who it was actually, it was an anonymous nomination to take my site to the next level.

I don’t know who it was actually, it was an anonymous nomination to take my site to the next level.

So I’ve decided to share that a little bit, and hopefully everything goes alright. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can get… I think the prize is a $10,000 website upgrade or something like that.

I’m looking forward to seeing if I can get… I think the prize is a $10,000 website upgrade or something like that.

So just for a bit of a laugh I thought I’d enter into that and push that a bit to see if anything comes of it.

I think I’m doing alright with about eight or nine hundred votes so you never know, something might come of it, but we’ll soon find out.

[09:27]Alright guys, I will talk to you soon. All the best, and make sure you look after your time.