How to Schedue For Success by Cara Lumen

As someone recently said-even though we are metaphysicians there are still only 24 hours in the day! Don't you sometimes wish you had a magic wand to change that!

Here's the mistake many of us make. We don't actively schedule in the marketing and administrative time needed to grow our business.

If writing is one of my marketing strategies, I need to set aside time to write articles and post them on the internet. Otherwise I'm not working my strategy.

If giving talks is one of my marketing strategies, I have to schedule time to make the contacts and follow up and make certain my one sheet is what I want to reflect my work. And that's all without being sure I have my talk prepared!

If I don't actively schedule time for new product development I can't create a new e-book or teleclass.

And if I don't schedule marketing promotion time I don't make space to write the sales page and figure out a profitable joint venture for my new product or service.

When you begin to cluster your clients into specific days, schedule one morning for outreach and connection, one afternoon for simply sitting and thinking up new ideas, and perhaps a full day of creating, you will find your business flying forward.

Cluster your clients

One of the ways I have needed to help people who are deeply in service is to suggest that they set specific days they can see clients rather than making themselves available to the client's schedule. You'd be amazed at how much time is cleared by funneling your client sessions into specific days and time slots. If you need to schedule people every hour and a half starting at 9:00 AM, mark those slots on your calendar and move people into it. That way you see the maximum number of clients you can physically place in a day. Time zones are tricky. My 9 AM Pacific Time is Noon Eastern Standard Time. That's not an early start for them.

If you tell me you have to fill all your working hours with clients to create enough income, I will tell you that you'll stay stuck in that need unless you schedule time to create products that bring you passive income. You won't grow if you don't take time for a class that adds value to your services, or make time to follow up with your present clients with notes, and e-mails that continue to build trust and relationship with those who already know you work and are perfect candidates to purchase more goods and services. You must schedule development and application time. Even if you hire some of the administrative work done, you have to schedule time to tell them what to do!

Schedule a "Move it Forward" Day

Mondays are "Move It Forward" day for my business. It is the day I either write one of my two e-magazines, or post some articles, create another podcast, or even just set up interviews for my podcast. It may be a day I study my affiliate program to make it more effective. It is a day I look at what I accomplished last week, what I want to make happen this week, and perhaps look over my marketing plan to see how I am progressing. It is a day for setting up new joint ventures and a day for writing down new ideas.

I'm nearly always taking a new class-The Product Factory, Traffic School, Podcast Boot camp, 30 Days to Radio Success-some I have taken more than once. If you take a class you have to clear time to study and implement what you are learning. If you don't, you are wasting your money. You may only take one or two classes a year. Pick them with your business or personal growth in mind, schedule them and wrap time around them to immerse yourself in the new information and skills you will be taught.

Schedule a "Creative Day"

Saturdays are "Creative Day." Sometimes that spills over into Sunday because I really, really like to create. There is nothing more glorious than to know I can go into my home office and make something new happen. It may be a book cover, a sales page, a teleclass, an e-book or simply time to see how far I can develop a new idea. Having a clear day for creativity is a joyous gift to yourself.

Some things need a start up time-listing my podcast in the directories (there are 300 if I want to get carried away), creating an initial submission to a new article directory site, or figuring out how to optimize my blog all take additional time.

And sometimes I have to move everything over and let the new idea come into being.

Be flexible for sudden inspiration

An idea for an e-book came instantaneously one day. I made a cover. It was posted on my "Works in Progress" wall which is actually the door to my office-always in plain site as a reminder of my intentions. Suddenly one Saturday morning-a scheduled Creative Day- I knew it was time to make it happen. It needed to be both an e-book and a teleclass. I sat down and in 24 hours had the first draft of the e-book workbook completed, and a second and third draft of the sales page. I had contacted a person for a joint venture on her product in relation to the teleclass, put the new product in my shopping cart, figured out when to offer the teleclass, and wrote copy to begin announcing it in my e-magazines.

Cluster your clients. Set aside an entire "Move My Forward" day. Treat yourself to a regular "Creative Day." Make a realistic marketing plan that clearly defines the most productive use of your attention and time and follow it. Then watch your business take off.

Cara Lumen, MA, Your Idea Optimizer helps you turn your ideas into steady profit. As a business developer, content developer and educator, Cara helps you make money from what you already know. You can learn more about how to put your wisdom to work through her radio show www.blogtalkradio.com/passioantelyonpurpose and her Passionately On Purpose emagazine at www.caralumen.com