Archive for Time management
Email Inbox Out of Control?
Posted by: | CommentsI recently came across a great new service called Sanebox. It looked so good I immediately signed up and wanted to tell you about it
SaneBox is a service that classifies and controls the destination of your incoming email. Instead of everything going to your Inbox, SaneBox sorts out the important messages and sends them to your Inbox. All of your other emails are moved to your new “SaneLater” folder so you can deal with them when it’s more convenient. Once a day, or more often, the system sends you a summary of everything that has happened in your account so you won’t miss anything important.
I am currently using their 14-day free trial and after that the choices range from $2-20 per month depending on any options you want. Some options include: connecting up to three email accounts, automatically unsubscribing you upon your request, saving attachments elsewhere to save storage space in your email account, reminders when your emails have not been responded to, and customizable defer folders so email returns to you on the schedule you want. There is another option where you can connect your social media accounts to Sanebox.
The Sane box system works on a “smart” algorithm and can be trained if you don’t like how it sorts your email. The training process is a one-click system.
I recently received an email from Sanebox saying I saved 3.1 hours this week because I didn’t have to search through hundreds of emails to get to my important ones. I’m sure you can see how you’ll save time with this system and we all know Time is Money!
Give Sanebox a try if your inbox is OUT OF CONTROL!!!
Warmly,
Suzanne
Disclosure: If you happen to purchase anything I recommend in this or any of my communications, it’s likely I’ll receive some kind of affiliate compensation. Still, I only recommend stuff that I truly love, use and happily share with friends and family. If you ever have an issue with anything I recommend, please let me know. Suzanne
5 Signs It’s Time to Hire an Assistant
Posted by: | CommentsIf you think it may be time to hire an assistant, give Sue a call at 608-838-4700. The post by Ali Brown below may help you see the benefits.
Posted on May 10, 2012 by Ali Brown
I often see my entrepreneur clients fall prey to a stubborn mindset: they strongly resist the idea of hiring help. Women entrepreneurs especially get stuck here.
But the truth is, trying to do it all yourself doesn’t make you a better business owner. In fact, it can hurt your business growth and throw your personal life off balance. An assistant can help you manage your business more efficiently, freeing you to focus on the big picture.
Here are FIVE tell-tale signs that you need to get help asap:
1. You forget to perform tasks, like updating your website or confirming appointments. Imagine how much better off your business would be if these routine tasks didn’t fall through the cracks. You’d stay above your competition, be recognized for your stellar customer service, and maintain a solid reputation in your industry. An assistant can easily be trained to help with online marketing and scheduling so that these business functions always happen when they should.
2. You waste time looking for lost documents or emails. Entrepreneurs’ inboxes are usually overflowing with correspondence with clients, industry newsfeed updates, e-zines, and more. If you find that you’re losing track of important items, like invoices and invitations, it’s time to have someone come in to help. An assistant can take these items off your plate, so you don’t miss payments or make costly administrative mistakes.
3. You don’t have time to see family or friends. When you find yourself missing out on brunches or birthday parties in favor of work, then it might be time to reprioritize. Hiring an assistant, even one who works just a few hours a week, frees you up to focus on what matters, like spending time with loved ones and experiencing those once-in-a-lifetime moments first-hand.
4. Your billable rate is higher than an assistant. Let’s say that you bill client at $100/hour and your assistant bills you $20/hour. Rather than taking time away from your paying clients to send out invoices or book appointments, pay an assistant her $20/hour while you earn $100/hour from your clients. Even after you pay your assistant, you’ll still bring in $80/hour that you otherwise wouldn’t have time to earn.
5. You’ve been putting off tasks that you dislike. Most of us have tasks we dread doing. Some people hate filing other people can’t stand writing promotional copy. The great news is, there are people out there who actually LIKE doing what you despise, so why not bring them on to handle these tasks with passion and dedication? All it takes is a little legwork to find someone you trust to get the job done.
Entrepreneur mentor Ali Brown teaches women around the world how to start and grow a profitable business that make a positive impact. Get her FREE CD “Top 10 Secrets for Entrepreneurial Women” at www.AliBrown.com
How to use your content and why you should transcribe it
Posted by: | CommentsSo you just held your first teleconference, interview, podcast or webinar OR maybe you have a lot of audio files built up but they are just sitting in a database doing nothing. Your VA (Virtual Assistant) can edit your audios into products, podcasts or maybe an online radio program. Most audios just need a nice intro/outro (music) and slight editing. Then you can sell these audios on your website.
Maybe you just want to have the audio file(s) turned into a Word or PDF document so you can use that content in an e-book, report, articles or blog posts for your website . You don’t have the time, expertise or equipment to do it yourself — what do you do? Let your VA transcribe it for you!
There are many benefits to transcribing your files. You can pass the transcribed file on to your listeners (as a freebie, added benefit or at an extra charge) or to the ones who couldn’t make it to the teleconference. You could package it with the audio and sell it as an info product.
You can also utilize bits and pieces of the transcribed document as blog posts on your website or create articles you can submit to article directories. You can create an e-book with some of this material to sell on Amazon for use on a Kindle e-reader (one of the hottest technology products today).
Things to know:
- Decide which format you want the final product in and share it with your VA; i.e., Word or PDF.
- Decide how you want the spacing and other formatting
- House your audios in one place like Audio Acrobat. You should do this so as not to accrue bandwidth fees on your hosting.
Word Processing Plus specializes in transcription. Just email Sue at sue@wordprocessingplus.com to get started!
Email Overwhelm
Posted by: | CommentsEmail driving you crazy? Why not delegate this to your VA? She can delete the spam from your in-box and respond to your customers regarding general support issues.
How? Give your VA access so she can go into your email in-box and delete the spam. By giving away this one task you could save at least 30 minutes every day. Provide her with documents which explain guidelines for answering your email such as, “Delete all incoming Facebook requests” or “Mark as important any emails from Harry.” Ask your VA to create response templates for the most frequently asked questions. This will save time in the future when responding to email. Give your VA a list of your VIPs and what topics are priorities.
Word Processing Plus can help you with the above. Email Sue at sue@wordprocessingplus.com.
Time Management Tricks
Posted by: | CommentsRecently I came across a great package of time management tools, including software (Action Enforcer), for a low, low price. It includes the following:
Productivity Booster #1: “How To Knock Out Your To-Do Lists With Quickness!” (PDF)
Productivity Booster #2: “The No-Nonsense Way To Reach All Of Your Goals, No Matter How Humongous!” (PDF)
Productivity Booster #3: “The Top 10 Ways To Get Things Done” (PDF)
Productivity Booster #4: “Ninja Gmail Tricks That Will BLOW YOUR MIND!” (Video)
Productivity Booster #5: “Enhance Your Creativity, Smarts, And ACTION LEVELS With Our Brain Booster Series!” (PDF And Audios)
HUGE BONUS: Action Enforcer (Software for PC and Mac) — this normally sells for $27 by itself
HUGE BONUS #2: Our Top 22 Productivity Tools! (PDF)
To get your own set, click on this link: http://bit.ly/gFlB3d
