Posts Tagged ‘productivity’

One thing most entrepreneurs never stop to think about is how their reading speed and comprehension affects their daily life. Think about how much you read each day. You may read technical manuals, trade publications, newspapers, résumés, performance reports, and of course for the online entrepreneur, websites, forums, and eBooks.

The average person has about a 60% comprehension rate, reading at approximately 200 words per minute. Top speed readers may reach 800-1000 words per minute with an 85% comprehension rate!

Why Learn Speed Reading?

If you could read four to five times faster and comprehend and retain more of what you read, how do you think that would help you? You could do research for your reports, articles and eBooks four times faster. You could absorb information from trade journals in record speed.

You could learn more in less time than ever before. So many entrepreneurs get bogged down in paperwork and research. They spend countless hours each week trying to figure out how to get through (or avoid!) the mountain of work on their desks while still accomplishing their goals for the week. It’s tough!

There are all sorts of books and DVDs available that can teach you speed reading skills, and you can also find classes on this subject at many schools around the world. Learning speed reading is generally best accomplished using computer software, because it allows you to be interactive. It’s a lot harder to judge your ability when you have to use a stopwatch to time your reading, and it can be even more difficult to gauge your accuracy and retention.

There are many skills an entrepreneur needs to reach peak productivity. Speed reading is just one more invaluable tool in an arsenal that can bring an average entrepreneur into a whole new world by maximizing productivity and efficiency.

Useful links:
Speed reading program

Speed reading software

It’s been said that golf is an 80% mental and 20% physical sport. It’s similar to the way Internet marketers build their businesses. The planning and strategic stages take a lot of time, while the actual task list is quickly implemented once a plan is in place.

Golfers have several strategies they have to put into play during a single round of 18 holes. They have their tee shots, fairway strategies, decisions to make around the green, and a way to sink the putt once they are close. Regardless of where they are on a hole, golfers know one thing has to remain constant – they have to follow through with the shot.

As an Internet marketer, you know how distracting this business can be. There are always new “secret ways to make money” popping up on the ‘net. It’s hard to stay focused on following through with what you’re doing because you’re anxious to make money, and if a buzz is circulating about something you’re not doing, you instinctively want to abandon your efforts and jump on the bandwagon.

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Golfers keep their head down and their eyes on the ball. They can’t be concerned about where Ted’s ball landed or if the people watching the game are admiring them or laughing at their stance.

You have to stay focused on your tasks as well. Don’t get tied down to trends and who’s doing what – all of that will be history tomorrow. You’re building your own business from the ground floor up, so you have to do it one brick at a time.

Create a detailed strategy for your business and then have a spreadsheet of tasks you need to do each day. For instance, you might have a column for your blog, one for your PPC efforts, and another for product development. Each column should be broken down into daily tasks, such as “conduct keyword research with GoodKeywords tool,” or “Split test headline on PPC campaign #1.”

If it helps, assign an amount of time and a timeframe for each task. As you finish a task, delete it from or cross it out on your to-do list and you’ll feel great about making progress toward your goals. If you don’t think this is how most of the gurus have made their mark on the Internet, then you haven’t done your research.

Imagine Your Success

When a golfer approaches a ball, takes a stance, and gets ready to swing, he’s not thinking about what’s going to happen if he flubs it. He has to think of where the shot is about to land – on the green or in the middle of the fairway.He pictures his swing as smooth-flowing, not one where he accidentally hits the ground two inches behind the ball and ruins a shot.

How do you imagine your own success? Are you waking up each morning to consider how much you have to do – overwhelming yourself from the minute your feet hit the floor, or are you looking into the future (even later in the day) to imagine how good it will be to accomplish everything you need to get done?

As you sit down at your desk to work, imagine the finished product you’re working on – the completed eBook, the 10,000+ membership site, or the #1 spot on the Search Engine Results Pages. Seeing it will help it come to fruition.

Don’t Let Fears Interrupt Your Follow-Through

Even professional golfers sometimes let certain things creep into their consciousness that cause their swing to falter. If they’re faced with an obstacle like a water hazard and are unsure of the club they should choose, it can make them swing differently, overcompensating for the mistake they knew they made when they picked the club.

Have confidence in your choices. If you make a mistake, stop and correct it instead of continuing in the wrong direction. You’ll know something’s wrong because your inner voice will be trying to get your attention and turn your focus toward a better choice.

Listen to that inner voice. As you move through your day, make sure you follow through on the tasks you have listed, the plans you have developed, and the success you are seeking.

Once you gain the confidence you need to make decisions you are comfortable with, you will start to notice that your success is becoming more streamlined and easier to achieve than when you were drowning in self-doubt.

Daydreaming and doing something toward the betterment of your life are two totally different things. One gets you places, while the other spins in circles within your own mind. Online marketers want to reach the rung of success on the  ladder they’re climbing, but some of them often get hung up on one of the bottom rungs.

Those that can’t move higher are the ones that get stuck in daydreaming mode.  Everyone has a tendency to ponder the “bag full of riches” they could have in their hands once they’ve reached success. It’s normal to see an opportunity and stop and think about what this could mean to you and your family.

Something you’re pursing might provide your child’s college education, help you build your dream home, or deliver peace of mind and financial security for years to come. It sometimes inspires you to take action.

There’s nothing wrong with daydreaming, but in order to reach your ultimate success and hold on to that dream, you’ll need to do something about it. Staying in thought mode won’t get you anyplace, but putting those thoughts into action and becoming a doer will.

Walt Disney himself once said, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” Walt Disney made fame and fortune with the Disney Empire we’re all familiar with today.

How do you suppose he got there? Did he daydream his way to a worldwide brand, or take action to promote and build a recognizable brand that would turn into a household name? In his case, it was a little of both – but the point is, he got out and made his daydreams come true.

Online marketers can reach the same success in their own way if only they would realize there’s a time and place for thinking, and a schedule for doing. It can be tough, since it’s easier to dream about success than it is to actually reach it.

Sitting around thinking about this strategy and that new tool or gadget won’t deliver profits in your pocket. Any successful marketer will tell you that they reached success by envisioning the life they wanted and then acting on it.

They concentrate on the strategies they want to implement in their business and find ways to make them work. After a lot of hard work and dedication, they’re then rewarded with the lifestyle they’ve always dreamed about.

Even a beginning online marketer can be side by side with the so-called gurus if they get themselves out of the dreaming stage that has them stuck in what can be like quicksand. All you need is a little motivation to get you going.

Put your dreams on paper and stick it where you’ll see them every day. Use those dreams as your goals, not as your distractions. Break those goals down into baby steps with specific dates of when you will accomplish them. Then you can cross that milestone off your list as you achieve it.

You can even use a chart with a picture of a ladder with rungs on it. Each time you meet one of the baby steps, you can move a token of some kind up one rung on the ladder you have on your chart.

For example, if your goal is to get 1 million visitors to your site, you would break that down into baby steps. One step could be to get a website up and running. When that’s done, move up a rung on that ladder.

Keep going until that token has reached the top rung, which would be your ultimate goal for your business. When you’ve reached the top rung of each of the ladders of your goals, then you can truly hold onto that “bag of riches” you daydreamed.

If you want to improve your business and make more money, self motivation must become an integral part of your life every day, with every thought you have. This is especially true if you are an online marketer and your ultimate success depends upon new ideas and the ability to rejuvenate yourself on a daily basis.

Here are some tips and techniques that will keep you motivated even  during the bad days(we all have them):

1. Set Goals and Review them Often – You have to know where you are heading in both your personal and professional life before you can plan how to get there. Set short and longterm goals and make them attainable. If they are too far out of reach, you will become frustrated and the goals will never be accomplished.
2. Reward Your Successes – Think of ways to reward yourself when you reach a coveted goal. Look at the way corporate world rewards: bonuses, lunches, days off, and promotions. You can do the same for yourself. Make the rewards larger and more extravagant as you progress from realizing short and then long-term goals.
3. Ultimate Failure – Failures are a natural part of the progression of life, but the trick is to learn from them. Havelock Ellis, British physician and social reformer once said, “It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.” Take the time to analyze your failures, but don’t spend too much time on them. Move ahead!
4.  Don’t Procrastinate – Procrastination can be a deadly blow to motivation. To avoid procrastination, have a clear idea of what the task is, gather what you need to accomplish it, and then complete the task before you go on to the next. Perform the small tasks on days when you are not as energetic, and save the more daunting tasks for days that you feel clear-headed and energized.
5. Answer Only to Yourself – If you quit a 9 to 5 job to concentrate on your own business, it will be easy to turn off the alarm in the morning and sleep an extra hour or two. If you find yourself slacking off on your pre-determined schedule, tell yourself that you ae the boss now and you must act like it. Don’t adopt behaviors that would get you fired from a traditional job!
6. Seek Personal Growth Along With Business Success – As your business grows and you start making more money, you will want to evaluate and set goals for your personal life as well. Do you need to lose weight, give yourself a makeover or improve your surroundings? By reaching your personal goals, you will find that you have more positive thinking and an abundance of energy to achieve your goals.
7. Persevere – As you climb the ladder of selfmotivation, you will discover paths to success that you never knew existed. Your personal life will be happier and more content and your business will prosper. You will become more aware when negative thoughts enter your mind, and with the selfmotivation techniques you have learned you will be better able to turn them around.
8. Have Fun – Having fun doesn’t have to be limited to a reward for reaching a goal. You can learn to have fun in your work and day-today life. Live your life like it’s a big adventure and you will stay motivated.

Consider self motivation as an important asset to your business and personal success. You’ll want to practice it every day to avoid waning enthusiasm and sluggish or non-existent progress of your life’s goals.

As you build a solid customer base, the hope is that each customer is satisfied and happy with your product. You can also hope that each and every customer is equipped with the savvy and drive to go through the purchasing,  downloading (or receiving), and the using process with very little trouble.

In most cases, you’ll find that as long as you’ve provided a good product and good, easy-to-follow directions for buying, downloading or receiving (by whatever mode), and usage instructions, all will go smoothly. In fact, when this works really well, you’ll get repeat business and referrals.

Thankfully, most customers are a joy to work with at best, or non-problems at worst. But as the saying goes, “There are a few rotten apples in every bunch.” You’re going to find a few troubling customers who, at some point, you may have to cut ties with. If it hasn’t already happened to you, it will. These customers buy your product and very quickly become problems –not withsimple issues, but with repeated complaints coupled with rude communication.

This can occur in a few different ways:

They have no clue how to use your product, and are unable or unwilling to follow the instructions and explanations that are included with your product.

They become demanding of your time and energy by emailing andasking many, many, many questions.

They begin to use the product and blame you if they don’t immediately have excellent results or accuse you of misrepresenting your product.

They continuously contact and badger you for no apparent reason.

At some point, a customer like this becomes a liability, a drain on your time and energy, and costs you much more than they paid for the product. It’s up to you to determine when it’s time to let the customer go.

In an effort to avoid what’s probably inevitable (that you will get a bad customer), ask yourself these questions and make sure you can answer yes to each of them:

Am I marketing to the right target market(s)?

Is my product fully explained – what it does, how it will help the customer, what format the customer will receive it in, guarantees, how to complete the purchase and receive the product?

Does the product come with clear usage instructions?

Does the product come with any mention of “help desk” time, if the customer is having issues?

Is the product good?

If you’ve answered yes to the above questions, you can feel confident that you’re doing your part to ensure a good, smooth transaction. If you’ve answered no to any of the questions, take some time to revise your product and plan so that you’re sure all of the answers are yes.

Once this is done, at least when a difficult customer disrupts your day, you’ll know you’ve done what you can to start them off on the right foot. Next, you have to determine just what you’re willing to do to help confused, frustrated, or otherwise upset customers.

How much time and energy are you willing to spend? What are the advantages and disadvantages of trying to go above and beyond the call of duty to keep this customer happy?

Create your own set of guidelines so you know just how far you’ll go in certain situations.

For example: Your customer seems either unable or unwilling to follow clear instructions that are included with the product. You may want to give this customer a certain amount of your time to help them figure it out.If they still can’t or won’t, it may be time to issue a refund.

Your customer is making demands that seem unreasonable based on the fact that they only paid you $17 or $47 or whatever the price was for your product. At some point, you’ll have to decide if you’re going to issue a refund and cut them loose.

After the refund guarantee expires, your customer is unhappy with his or her individual results and wants you to make things better for them. Do you give a refund in this situation, or adhere to the guarantee period?

Before cutting any customer loose, ask yourself if you can gain by doing anything and everything to make this person happy. If not, find out where your cut-off point is.

In every case, you should always treat a customer with complete respect, but  that doesn’t mean you should disrespect yourself by accepting ongoing wrath from the customer.

Always be polite and never insult your customer. When you get to the point where you know there’s no hope of salvaging the situation and keeping your sanity, tell the customer that you believe your product is not right for them and that you would be happy to offer them a refund.

If they argue this with you, explain that you’ve done everything you can for them, and that you’ll issue a refund. Stay firm with them once you’ve decided to remove them from your customer base. Give the refund promptly and move on.

With your Internet business, just the same as any business, your mantra should be “The customer is always right.” But you must add a caveat to that, remembering that sometimes the wrong customer has hooked up with the wrong product.

Certain customers will never be fully satisfied with your product – or anyone else’s for that matter – it’s rarely an isolated incident with terminally rude or unsatisfied customers. And some people simply aren’t savvy enough or willing enough to learn how to do something new.

Don’t let those difficult customers who come along once in awhile slow down your momentum. Learn how to deal effectively with them, don’t take it personally, and keep the ball rolling.

Although there are many factors that contribute to your success or failure, one of the most powerful elements is your productivity. The direct opposite of being a producer in life is to be a procrastinator.

Most marketers would love to be a producer, but sadly many procrastinate and put off their success. There are only 24 hours in a day. How many of those do you actually get something done?

Do you find yourself checking email, watching videos on YouTube, posting non-productive messages in forums, or engaging in other timewasting activities? You may not even realize how much of a procrastinator you actually are — until you begin looking at your sales and wondering why you’re not making the kind of money you we’re expecting to make.

Procrastination is derived from many traits. Some people are actually intimidated by the thought of success. Others have not mapped out a good direction for their business. Some simply have a bad habit that they need to tend to.

Sometimes procrastination crops up on someone who is usually a producer in life. It could be due to an increase in extreme stress, a crisis that has arisen in their personal lives, or even a psychological or physiological issue that needs to be checked out by a doctor.

Those who have low self-esteem often suffer from procrastination more than those who are more confident in life. Many consider them dreamers, rather than doers. They often procrastinate in order to avoid completing something they consider less-than-perfect.

A procrastinator is not a lazy person. In fact, a procrastinator will often find other tasks to absorb their time, such as cleaning a messy workspace. They often make excuses for their procrastination such as, “I can’t get my work done until my desk area is clean.”

Procrastination is not a conscious choice. Once it becomes a habit, a way of life, the person simply feels overwhelmed with everything they cannot get done. Procrastinators often have little self-control over their actions when it comes to workplace tasks. They may prefer to complete a small task, and enjoy the satisfaction, rather than focus on a larger, more difficult task.

From a physiological standpoint, many procrastinators have a different brain function from producers. They are more distracted by outside stimuli than producers. Many procrastinators have been diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). A producer, on the other hand, begins each day with a schedule that guides him or her on their quest for success. They know exactly which tasks need to be completed, and in which order. This organization is a skill that can be learned.

A producer knows exactly which materials they need in order to complete a task. They know how to interact with people on every skill level — whether it’s outsourcing to a freelancer or securing joint venture partnerships with another person who is a producer.

Skills and knowledge are very  important to a producer. They are always trying to increase their expertise in their area of business. Their attitude is flexible, allowing them to adapt to change easily and tap into their resources to achieve their goals.

Do you need help learning to be a producer and get rid of your procrastination habit? Here are some helpful hints to turn your life around and achieve more success:

 1. Choose your tasks carefully. Do not create a to do list that includes anything other than what must be done today.

 2. Map out your goals, and work hard to reach them. You have to know exactly where you’re going in order to get there.

 3. Start with the task that you hate or dread the most. If you wait until it’s last on your list, chances are you’ll procrastinate until the next day (and the next, and the next, etc.).

 4. Figure out what time of day you’re most productive. If you tend to get more work done between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., then set those as your  workday. Not everyone will have the same routine. Some people are more productive late at night.

 5. Have some smaller milestones in place so that you can feel proud of what you achieved. If you’re working on a 300-page ebook, make it so that you can mark off your smaller goals chapter by chapter.

 6. Buy an egg timer. If you have trouble focusing on the task for a certain amount of time, then get an egg timer and set it so that you can quit looking at the clock and work hard, while the timer counts for you.

 7. Give yourself a deadline. Procrastinators often find it hard to get work for themselves completed. You may have been working on a single e-book for nine months now, when a producer could have had it finished in just three.

 8. Delegate tasks to other people to help you get rid of your workload. You do not have to do it all yourself! In this day and age, there are freelancers and virtual assistants who can help you with almost everything having to do with your online business.

Being a procrastinator may seem easier, but it puts far more stress on you to hold off on tasks you know have to get done eventually than if you would just go ahead and become a producer instead.