In
today's break-neck world it seems that time flies by ever faster. And,
because of the complexity of "modern life" it seems that less and less
get's done! Information overload seems to be the norm.
I remember
three years ago when I first started Marketing online the learning curve
was incredible. I know all the "Guru's" will tell you that a $47 eBook
will solve all your problems and that you'll be earning $109,247 a month
yesterday (oh, and don't forget the 4 cents on the end)...but if we are
honest you and I both know this just isn't true.
In these
troubled economic times I am now more convinced than ever that moving
your business online is the answer. I read in the London Telegraph a few
weeks back, buried away in a corner amongst all the doom and gloom that
online sales grew by 30% in 2008.
I have a friend who works for a
major retailer. He told me that sales for his company up until the 3rd
quarter of 2008 were 9% down in the high street but 15% up online. It's
definitely the place to be.
But...Internet marketing is like any
other business. It's exactly that, a business and not a get rich quick
scheme. You have to learn how all the various facets of Internet
marketing work. And there are plenty of different techniques and tools
that need to be learnt, in some detail, before you can guarantee your
success.
So, when I made "that quality decision" online was where I
was going, how did I manage to "inwardly digest" all of the information
I needed?
Here' a few guidelines that may be able to help you
overcome that horrible feeling of information overload and the
"paralysis of analysis" that comes with it.
- Pick a day that you know is going to be busy (aren't they all?) and as you go through the day write down all of the tasks you complete and the time taken to complete them.
- Split the tasks up into generic task groupings. So, for example, all phone calls put in a phone calls list, all emails put in an emails list (you should break down tasks into their most basic actions).
- Work out how much of your day was spent in each task group.
- Split your day into "micro days" based on the amount of time you need to complete each function daily.
- Make sure you enter every "to do" task in the relevant micro day.
- If you don't complete all of the tasks in a given "micro day" the task is held over until tomorrow. Put more urgent items at the top of each micro day.
One variation that I have known to be hugely successful
is to have the start of the day allocated to the day's most important
task and not to do anything else until that is complete. This also
works.
