Staying focused during times of crisis is the most important lesson any business owner can learn. Having a daily plan and sticking to it as closely as possible is essential. Bills are piling up, deadlines are looming and you’re falling behind schedule, client’s are getting cold feet, they’re running out of financing, their family members are losing their jobs and they’re backing out of optimization and web design – the world is falling apart all around you and you’ve only got one choice: hang in there with a plan and keep working because that’s the only way there is to reach the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.
A lot of my friends and professional acquaintances had been owners of businesses that were around for fifteen to twenty years but had to close down over the past three years. The economy simply made it too difficult for them to continue. They cut staff, reduced their number of hours to lower utility bills, and generally scaled down on everything – but it didn’t save them. So what can you do if scaling back doesn’t work? I know what I did, and its working for me – maybe it will work for you too.
I discovered that putting out small fires all day long is meaningless. Don’t let small things distract you. Instead, stay focused on the big picture, and the way to do that is to make a daily To Do list.
Forget about keeping your To Do list on your computer – write it down on paper! I went out to Wal-Mart and got 6 of their cheapest fiberboard clip-boards and 6 yellow legal pads. Now I keep a master To Do list clipboard on my desk and leave it there. I keep another clipboard in my computer bag & take it with me wherever I go for notes and refinements to my main To Do list, and I update it every day. The other four clipboards are in two stand-up file holders near my bed with some pens and pencils handy for ideas I get while I’m lying down getting ready to sleep, of occasionally if I get one while I’m dreaming and I wake up. As I tend to misplace things (or let things run low) I have extra clipboards and pads in reserve.
Arrange your list as follows:
Write Pro Bono on the top of your To Do list above the words To Do and put down the names of people whose jobs you’re not getting paid to do. You know the ones. Peter who is broke & desperately needs your help to survive – Pro Bono. Veejay who got fired by his brother so now he needs a site but he can’t pay you. Pro-Bono.
Then, under that you have your REAL To Do list where you write down all your paying service jobs.
Now focus on these 100% of the time from the time you get up until you reach the end of your work day – and don’t let the small stuff interfere.
Now, underneath your To Do list you write Sales. (You’re not done working). You’ve spent more than 50% of your time working on service for your clients – now it’s time for you to take care of yourself! This is very important especially if you don’t have a staff. You need to list all of the things you can do to recruit and retain clients. That includes writing up better contracts, writing blog articles, sending out your invoices, calling clients who are on the fence or whom you haven’t spoken to in a while. It also includes working on anything else that will enhance your chances of picking up new business.
When it comes to service you have to excel. Just because you have clients now is no reason to assume that they will automatically remain loyal if all you’re doing is the same old thing, month after month, year after year updating their sites. Take part of your Sales time to offer them something else – online profiles, backlinks, a Google calendar – or something else to let them know you’re willing to do more. Let them know how much social media now influences the SERPs for businesses that participate. They will appreciate that you’re looking out for them and offering them options. Don’t ever treat a small client like a small client – treat them all like they are important. If one client only spends $90 with you every couple of months if you lose that client you’re not losing $90 but over two or three years you’re losing a thousand dollars.
So when things are slow on the paying end – in between contracted services, still take half of your time to provide service and half doing sales. Your existing clients will benefit from the added quality you’re providing them and your prospective clients will see better work from you and get better reviews of you and your work from your current clients.
If you’re like me and have sites that are not WordPress then you’ll need to go over your client’s links on occasion – make sure there are no surprises – no clickable images that go to old versions of their products, no removed pages that still show up in the site search because they haven’t been properly 301d etc. Keeping focused and ahead of the curve means that you’re more likely to be ready to jump on a job the minute you receive it and get it done more quickly. With a couple of good contracts created ahead of time you can more quickly cut deals with service offers, terms, limits and prices all laid out and ready to go with minimal revisions.
Things will still go wrong but keeping quality service as your only focus for at least half the day while you’re working and working on sales the rest of the time you’ll be ok.
After you’ve done everything you can for your clients NOW its time to perform your Pro bono work.
Good luck – Try it. It works for me.
I’m David Curtis, an IT professional from NYC providing home care for my 90 year old mom in Florida. I play “Driving Miss Daisy” for her and my disabled sister a few times during the week.
(I know this is stupid, but I’m having so much fun with it at the moment). I’m “King of the Road” with this link and nobody will ever take it away from me.
