As a busy entrepreneur, you've probably (like me), found yourself wishing for more hours in the day. Do you find yourself thinking, "hmm… if I just had another 10 or 12 hours a day, I could finally ! get my business and life where I want it to be?" I know I have. Though, despite all my wishing, I'm still working with the same 24 hours as everyone else.

I do know a bit about getting a lot done- and I wanted to share a strategy I've been working with for the past six weeks which is working really well for me. I tend to take on a lot of new projects all at once, which leads me to feel a bit scattered and uncertain about what to make progress on, first. The strategy I've been using is called the 3 tasks/3 buckets strategy (I made this up) and it's been helping me to stay on track and to be very productive.

Basically, you take the next three buckets (projects) that you want to or need to complete. Project A, Project B, Project C. These can be a mix of personal and business projects, though your business will grow more quickly if you focus on just business tasks during the workday. Anyway, so you take these three projects, and then you list, each day, what three tasks you'll accomplish for each project. So Project A, task 1, Project A, task 2, Project B, task 1, etc.

So, my list, lately has looked like this:

Authority Summit

Task 1: Contact Speakers about Teleseminar

Task 2: Promote Teleseminar

Task 3: Contact hotel about meeting room layout

Consulting Clients

Task 1: Set up program structure for client 1.

Task 2: Contact Sam to revise site

etc.

What I do, then, each day, is make a list of 3 actions I need to take, in each of these buckets/project domains. I've identified these as being most important, either based on deadline (The Summit is just over a month away), commitments (I made a commitment to my clients and need to help them first), or finances (items which I can complete to bring me cash immediately.)

This approach has been very helpful at organizing my massive to-do list, and has been working well at providing me a sense of completion and accomplishment each day. You can, of course, adapt this system to suit yourself.

If you try it out, or improve on it, I'd love to know how it works for you. And, of course, if you have any other suggestions for finding more time to complete everything, I'd love to hear those, too! 

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One of the biggest challenges of any service business owner is the balance between doing and marketing. Very often, the doing supercedes the marketing, until the client flow dries up, then the business owner quickly markets, trying to get clients, and the cycle repeats.

This is a very stressful way to build your business.

The difficulty of balancing doing with marketing is one of the most significant challenges business owners face, as it is directly responsible for the ups and downs in cash flow.

What are some ways to better balance doing with marketing? You could wake up earlier and try to cram more into each day.

You could forego some personally fulfilling activities so you can work harder.

Or you can find ways to provide the same (or better) level of attention, customer service, and professional services for the same (or less) effort.

Which way sounds better? I hope you picked door #2.

Here are some strategies I implement in my business to help me balance doing and marketing.

• Schedule yourself differently. Set aside at least 8 hours per week for marketing activities. If you can't do 8, do 4. Just do something. If you can't decrease your service hours, find ways to make each service hour double as a marketing activity. For example, you might leave "tell a friend" cards in your waiting room.
• Meet face to face with potential referral sources. Yes, it takes extra effort to meet for lunch. It can also significantly increase the speed with which you receive referrals.
• Leverage technology. When your time is the main source of money generation, you need to use technology to help your business grow. Use voicemail, autoresponder messages, and email text cut/paste to help you complete routine tasks faster and with less effort.
• Track your results. 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts. You need to know which 20.
• Package your expertise in many forms. Offer multiple delivery options for your knowledge. This will allow you to capture more of the market, with a one-time effort.

There are other strategies you might consider, but these should help you get started. Adding even just one of these to your business efforts will help you balance better between doing and marketing.

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A special request from me to you:

If you have questions or comments about growing your business, would you let me know what they are? I would like to take this information and utilize it to offer better advice and content here on the site. With so many new subscribers (welcome!), it is helpful for me to check in, now and then, and find out what you'd most like to know about. Lead generation? How to sell your services 1:1 or to groups? How to balance better between your professional and personal responsibilities? All of the above?

None of the above?

Please let me know.

You can leave a comment below, and for everyone who does, I'll have a special "thank you" prize.

Thanks in advance! 

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To get the most done, focus on one thing for a while and then another. Your business will be more profitable and more significant if you stop procrastinating and start finishing all your business tasks. It doesn't matter if you ever get them all done. What matters is that you take action to do so. You can even start with the easiest one first- this builds momentum. What are you putting off that you want to complete?

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Hi! Happy New Year! I'm back from a few days off and ready to blog my way into 2006. I have decided that this year will be the year of Maximum Profitability in my business, and, to make that happen, I've decided to focus on priority management. Priority management is better than time management. When you focus on your main priorities, you will automatically find the time to do the most important things first. For maximum profitability, the "most important things" are always those with the highest rate of return- financial AND personal. If you want to make more money and have more fun in 2006, start by ordering your priorities. When intention combines with action, success must happen.

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