5 Activities that Yield the Biggest ROI on Your Time |  |
- 5 Activities that Yield the Biggest ROI on Your Time
- Sell Your Photos and Videos on SmugMug
- 4 Key Components For Social Media Marketing Success
- Twitter Updates App for Blackberry 10
- Motorola Unveils Moto X for $199
| 5 Activities that Yield the Biggest ROI on Your Time Posted: 06 Aug 2013 04:00 PM PDT
If you're like most small-business owners, time is your most valuable resource. Figuring out how and where to spend your time to yield the biggest payoff can be one of the most difficult and stressful things you do. But as with money, time well spent will return to you tenfold – and squandered time will leave you deeper in the hole. Below is a guide to five ways to spend your precious minutes and hours to yield major returns and get the best ROI (Return On Investment) for your time. Smart Time Investments for Busy Business OwnersToo often, small-business owners get sucked into the cycle of putting out fires, spending their days solving immediate, short-term problems that won't translate to any long-term gains. Consider this cautionary tale: A neighbor of mine had three children. She worked full-time and was always rushing to get them off to school, home from school, fed, bathed and in bed. At the dinner table, she'd cut their food so they could eat faster so she could get the dishes done and they could get to their homework. One day, she served chicken patties and her 11-year-old daughter waited for her to cut them. She was bewildered – how was it that an 11-year-old couldn't cut her own food? Of course, she realized it was her own fault: it had been easier in the short-term to do the work for her daughter, but in the long-term, she had the much harder task of teaching an 11-year-old to use a knife. While it's difficult to break the do-everything cycle, learning to delegate is the only way to free up your future time for pursuing long-term growth opportunities. Commit some time to at least one of these activities every day, and you'll soon find you have more time to spend on big-picture, business-growing projects. Ways to Yield the Biggest ROI on Time Investment1) Hire the Right PeopleWhen you finally have the budget to hire a new team member, it's tempting to find someone as quickly as possible and get them started. After all, chances are you've been in need of this person for months, and all you want is a break from the constant work. But rushing the process and hiring the wrong person will only drain your time more as you correct their work, explain your policies over and over and teach skills they should already have. When you invest time upfront in defining the role you need filled, creating a job description, networking and requesting recommendations, checking references, and interviewing, they payoff is huge: you find the right person for your team. He or she will understand your business goals, take the initiative to push projects forward, and generally help you grow. Best of all? You won't have to spend your time fixing his or her work. 2) Train Your TeamHiring the right people is key. But you also have to train them so they're aligned with your company goals and mission. Don't make the chicken patty mistake. Every project is an opportunity for your team to learn new skills. Over time, learning these skills will allow them to take on more and more of the work you do, which frees you up to pursue bigger and bigger projects. 3) Proofread Your Emails (And Ask Follow-Up Questions)How many times have you read and reread an email without understanding its message? How often have you replied with a clarification question or picked up the phone to ask for more details? More important, how often have you received an email asking for clarification about something you wrote? It's all too tempting to hit "Send" as soon as we're done dashing off an email. But failing to proofread is a surefire way to waste everyone's time – your team members will scratch their heads trying to figure out what you meant and either respond with a request for more information or (in the worst-case scenario) misinterpret your note and start on a counter-productive task. And miscommunications don't just happen over electronic media – in person, too, messages can be misunderstood. After passing along an important message to an employee, don't just ask if they "get it." Instead, ask them to restate the request or concept in their own words to make sure everyone's on the same page. This 30-second exercise can save hours and hours of frustration and needless work. 4) Evaluate Your RisksYour Internet goes out for a day. An overloaded circuit causes a power cut. You get hit with a $6,000 fine from Getty images because the blogger you contract with (unknowingly) posted copyrighted material without proper attribution. Any of these situations (and countless others) could leave your business scrambling to catch up. Luckily, there are ways to prevent what may seem like out-of-the-blue disasters. Investing a little time in assessing the risks of various projects you take on (e.g., double-checking the maximum electrical load of the outlets in your office or training your employees) empowers you to avoid any risks that are within your power to avoid. For those risks that are beyond your control (e.g., a storm-related flood), you can invest in business insurance so that you have the financial means to recover from unexpected setbacks. So how can you assess the various risks currently facing your business? Talk with an insurance agent who specializes in coverage for small-business owners in your industry. They're in the industry of risk management, so they know how to identify risk factors you may not have thought of. Alternately, consult with a business owner in your field who has more experience than you do. The SBA's SCORE offers such mentoring resources to entrepreneurs around the country. 5) Plot Out Employee BenefitsSmall businesses typically can't offer the same robust health insurance or retirement packages available at larger corporations. You have to make the most of those benefits you can afford to provide. The good news is that, because your team is probably small, you can ask them directly which benefits they'd most like to have. Whether your team wants flexible hours, work-at-home days, discounts at a gym, or more vacation days, invest time in identifying and meeting those demands as best you can. Showing your employees you value their lives outside the work they do will boost morale and improve their commitment to your company and your mission. In other words, happy employees are more efficient and productive, meaning they get more done every day. A Stitch in TimeThere's still truth to the old saying that a stitch in time saves nine. If you don't have time to mend those pants today, you definitely won't have time to mend a much bigger hole in three months. It may seem like a daunting project, but setting your business up for long-term growth by spending time now will save you time later. ROI Photo via Shutterstock The post 5 Activities that Yield the Biggest ROI on Your Time appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Sell Your Photos and Videos on SmugMug Posted: 06 Aug 2013 01:30 PM PDT
If you’re in the business of creating stunning photos, SmugMug promises to get you set up to earn revenue in about five minutes. Photographers can upload their images to SmugMug and begin selling them in a variety of ways. The photos can be sold and downloaded right from the site. This could be useful for photographers seeking to sell stock photos for use in marketing materials like brochures and websites. Customers can buy prints or gifts featuring your images too. SmugMug says it offers more than 600 products that customers can purchase from your site with your image. The site also allows up to 3 GB of full HD (1080p) video uploads. Website Gets a New LookSmugMug recently launched a new look to its dashboard that’s designed to make setting up websites fast and easy. The site offers four premium options for those seeking to sell photo and video downloads. These include:
Commerce plans offer a variety of site design options a user can choose to display their work on the Web and most of the uploading involves simple drag-and-drop tools. The accounts also have protections in place for your images to prevent users from copying them easily without paying for downloads. Business accounts have a few more perks than the Portfolio account, including more customization and personalization options as well as unique marketing tools. Photos are easily promotable and integrated with one-click social media sharing buttons. The post Sell Your Photos and Videos on SmugMug appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| 4 Key Components For Social Media Marketing Success Posted: 06 Aug 2013 11:00 AM PDT You want your business to be successful, right? Of course you do. In that case, you need to make sure you have an amazing social media campaign. Do you know what components for social media you need to make your social media marketing campaign reign? Key Components For Social Media SuccessSocial Media Accounts
One of the biggest components for social media success is the accounts themselves. And you need a variety of them. You’re not going to have tons of success if you only have a Facebook page. A Twitter account is great, but remember, it only allows you 140 characters per post. When you have a variety of accounts, you reach more people and are able to work in different mediums. The Perfect Audience
Let’s face it – if you don’t have an audience, you might as well go home. There’s no point in even putting the work in if no one is interested in your product or service. Luckily, there is always someone who is going to be interested. You just need to find them. When looking for the perfect audience on your social media accounts, you need to make sure that you are billing yourself correctly. If you are a business that thrives on a local audience, make sure that you are marketing toward your city. Getting the right audience will help ensure your success. You can have a huge audience and still fail if they are an audience of the wrong people. Creating Your Content
Social media is all about being social. If you never make posts, there’s no point in having the accounts. You need to make sure that you’re constantly creating content for your accounts. The content you create should be interesting, informative and awesome. No one wants to read boring updates. You also need to remember that no one is going to follow you if all of your content is about your sales or your business. Make sure that your content is actually something that your followers are going to enjoy. Offer different types of content. Link to interesting articles or other posts you find around the Web. Share jokes or quotes. Don’t be afraid to talk about your sales or offer information about your business. Just don’t make it the only thing you talk about. Stay Current and Relevant
One of the biggest components of social media success in the marketing world is staying relevant. You need to make sure that you are current. Depending on your market, this could mean that you are updating on a daily basis or even more frequently. Other markets may only require updates once a week or so. Either way ensures you don’t fall by the wayside because you aren’t keeping your pages fresh. The longer you let your social media accounts go without new content, the further behind you fall. Keep your head up. Even though social media marketing takes work, it can be a lot of fun. Get your business out there to the right audience, and you’ll have some amazing interactions with your customers. The post 4 Key Components For Social Media Marketing Success appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Twitter Updates App for Blackberry 10 Posted: 06 Aug 2013 08:00 AM PDT
Blackberry users, it’s time to update your Twitter app. The microblogging platform recently announced a new version of the app for Blackberry 10. You can download the latest edition, called 10.2, at the Blackberry app store. In an announcement on the official Twitter blog, Robin Tilotta of the Partner and Mobile Marketing Team wrote:
A Natural for BusinessOne of the most important features for business is probably support available for managing up to five different Twitter accounts. The Twitter team says the feature makes it easy to sign in and out of multiple accounts, helpful if you manage and update for yourself and several business feeds. The app update also enhances communications with partners and other connections. With the app’s Direct Messaging function, you can view, reply and compose direct messages through the BlackBerry Hub. Other features include:
Image: Blackberry The post Twitter Updates App for Blackberry 10 appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Motorola Unveils Moto X for $199 Posted: 06 Aug 2013 05:00 AM PDT
It’s been a long wait. But last week Motorola finally unveiled the long awaited Moto X. Previous reports have given us some hints about the new phone’s design. But, a year after Google acquired the company, it’s new flagship smartphone has some important features. The Moto X has a 4.7-inch screen and contoured body that fits easily into the palm of the hand. A 10-megapixel Clear Pixel camera is designed for faster daytime exposures and better low light level performance. The camera is activated with two twists of the wrist while holding the device. Best of all, those ordering online from the factory can use the Motomaker, software that allows you to choose the front, back, and accents of your phone. And that could even include various wood finishes by the end of the year. The Moto X will be available from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and US Cellular later this summer for $199 with carrier agreement. A Different Kind of Virtual AssistantFor small business owners one of the most important of the Moto X’s features may be its response to audio commands via Google Now. In a video from Engadget, we can see the phone responding to the question, “Who is Michael Jordan?” with a full audio run down of the player’s stats and other information. This is after searching for that information online in response to a question from its operator. More impressive is that asking for a single stat, like Jordan’s height, has the smartphone respond with only the specific information queried. You can even ask for directions to a specific location and Google Now will call up a map with full navigation instructions. See more features of the phone in the full video below. The post Motorola Unveils Moto X for $199 appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment