Increasing Productivity and Profits in 2013

The CarrieThru ezine goes out every Tuesday.  What that means is that last week’s issue went out on Christmas Day and this week’s goes out on New Year’s Day.  I gave some serious thought to whether or not it was worth it.  Let’s be realistic…everyone’s busy, readership goes down, who’s spending time reading ezines?

Ultimately, I decided to go ahead and sent them both out for two reasons.  The first, and most important is you.  You, who are reading this and are spending a few minutes beginning 2013 with me, the second reason is for me.  Sending out my ezine is a commitment I’ve made and it’s important for me to honor my commitments. It’s also important to me to write frequently because even though writing is something I do well, it doesn’t always come easily to me.  I’ve been finding that the more I write the easier it gets (and hopefully it gets better too!).

There are a lot of things you must do in your business that might not come easily for you but you need to do it anyway.  Today’s article addresses some of the strategies I use to help me (and my clients) get through those necessary, but possibly more difficult, tasks.

1. Understand your goal. For example, my goal for my ezine is to communicate with you regularly.  I want to provide you with solid information to help you increase your productivity, improve your marketing and grow your business.  I also want to make sure you know about new programs or events that I am involved in.
2. Determine how “perfect” it needs to be. I want my ezine to be accurate and easy for you to read and understand.  I could edit forever, changing the phrasing or enhancing an example.  And of course, I want to make sure that it is grammatically correct and that everything is spelled right.  However, let’s go back to my real goal…I want to convey information to you.  I will do my best to send out a professional and well-edited ezine.  I will proof it and check the links.  I can tell you there will be mistakes; it is my hope that the content will make up for the errors and you will stick with me.
3. Decide how much time you will give it.  Isn’t it amazing how much time something can take form you.  My ezine could easily take a day or more to write.  I could labor over what to write about and edit forever.  I’ve decided that I give my ezine an hour a week.  Here’s the big take away…notice I didn’t say, my ezine takes an hour a week.  Instead of letting my ezine take my time I give it an hour. Give this a try and you’ll find that by doing this, you will put yourself in control instead of the task being in control of you.  The project will go faster and you will be forced to let it go when it is good enough.

Obviously I apply these strategies to my ezine, but I also use them on any project I am working on.  These strategies keep me focused and in control.  What can you apply these strategies to?  How will they help you profit in 2013?  Go ahead and share your ideas with me.