Focus On These 4 Things To Organize Your Business [and grab the checklist]

Are you overwhelmed by all the work it takes to build a new business?

Are you worried that you are setting yourself up for failure or missing some crucial piece to the puzzle?

Yeah – you and every other solopreneur!

Maybe it even feels like more work than a normal job… and you're not getting paid as you did in that nice cushy gig you escaped a few months ago.

Instead of saying, oh sorry – you gotta deal with that. Or – hey that’s the way it works… let's make things as simple and effortless as possible.

The only way I know to make something effortless is to create a system.

Why Systems Can Ease Your Business Headaches

Systems sound like they might be shackles or difficult to set up but they are actually little misunderstood habits that you can create easily – and keep using to make running your business a snap.  I've even heard systems called sexy recently, by James Wedmore.

Believe me – you'll find yourself less stressed and even (gasp!) enjoying work if you get some of your ducks in a row.

Instead of trying to convince you, let’s get started and un-complicate all those complex parts of your business.

4 Simple Systems To Help You Organize Your Business

Take each section and do at least 1 action each week (that equals 2 actions per week!):

#1 Get your tools in order

Here’s where you’ll go through all the tools that you use to run and manage your business and then start consolidating…getting rid of the ones that are taking up extra space.
Choose one to implement right now.

☐ Use one online calendar
☐ Make sure all your other scheduling tools link up to this main calendar
☐ Keep your social media in one spot – buffer, hootsuite, done
☐ Use 1 payment processor
☐ Consolidate your blog and your company website
☐ Decide on a posting schedule and stick to it
☐ Keep expenses on a spreadsheet in google docs
☐ Use an online service like Outright to track expenses
☐ Use one CC for business expenses
☐ Use 1 email address – forward mutliple addresses
☐ Keep all personal passwords in a document – wiki
☐ Keep all business passwords on the same wiki–create a separate one for your team

#2 Make a plan

Your plan is an ongoing guideline for your business. At the beginning the year or at least at the beginning of each quarter, take out your calendar and make a plan. Plan what content you will write, what products you will launch, which products you will promote, maybe any other goals you will have reached by the end of that quarter.

Tip: List the items out in the finished tense.  (example: Launch small group coaching program to 6 people… hint hint this one’s really on my list – details below!)

☐ Plan 1 launch at a time
☐ Create a Marketing Calendar/Schedule and stick to it
☐ Create a blog editorial calendar and stick to it
☐ Don’t offer every single product you can teach – offer the ones that you are passionate about
☐ Plan down time – during naturally slow times during the year

#3 Get a team

Don’t take this literally – you don’t necessarily always need a team.  You do need people to support you, people you can turn to when you need help. People who you outsource tasks to keep your days focused on the most important work.

Who choose NOT to hire is as important as adding people to your team.  It’s not sexy or in fashion to say, but you don’t always need a team.

☐ Set up account at oDesk.com
☐ Only hire someone when you become a bottleneck to your business
☐ When your business grows and changes, be prepared to hire new people that fit better
☐ Start with 1 person at a time and hire only when you discover a major bottleneck

#4 Create memorable communication

Every piece of communication you send to the world, should have a purpose and place…and should be a true reflection of you, your vision and integrity.  Wow – way to put the pressure on.

There are certain simple systems that you can put in place to bond with your subscribers, keep them in the know about what you offer, what message you have to share, and what they can learn from you.

These are crucial communication funnels to get in place now.

☐ Have 1 follow up sequence for new subscribers
☐ Have 1 customer sequence for all new customers
☐ Make sure your customer sequence has a call for testimonials
☐ Create templates for every type of page or regular communication you do for your business.
☐ Bundle 3-4 posts on the same topic into a resource page on your site

Bonus:

This is just a no brainer but I’m going to call it a bonus anyways – when it comes to simplifying and clearing out the BS of your life and your business.

We all have too many emails to read – open – and delete.

Unsubscribe from all the newsletters and random crap that fill your inbox. Next time you need to sign up for something – set up a dummy account to catch all the newsletters – and that’s it. Or you can sign up for the RSS feed of the site you want to keep track of – and read them all in Google Reader.

Ok  – that’s a long list…but it’s a starting point.

Remember – 1 or 2 in each area of your business each week.  Make 1 day of the week when you implement or update your systems.

Grab the PDF download and additional tools in my Launch Roadmap