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Obsessive Marketing Passion Leads to Success
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I knew my OCD would come in handy eventually.
One lesson I learned about time management ages ago was that you cannot implement any sort of strategy until you know yourself and how efficient or otherwise you are. This is why I now track everything I do, from blogging to sleeping, everything is tracked via an Android application called Time Recording Pro.
As I said if this sounds a little bit obsessive then if you have been following me on Facebook for any length of time, you will know that I have had to instigate an eat alarm as this is something that I all too often forget to do whilst I am in my zone and following my passions when it comes to marketing! This is a benefit of reducing your diets carbohydrate content, by reducing the severity of the sugar rush whilst you eat, you reduce blood sugar based hunger pangs. Of course when I do eventually eat, my stomach is like an angry women on the porch greeting her drunken spouse home.
But back to topic of time management.
This advisor that gave me that all important lesson also thankfully provided the second stage of time monitoring, or rather why you should bother to monitor your time in the first place.
If you do not know how long it is going to take to carry out an activity then how can you possibly plan your days effectively. As I write this I have my journal open which today lists my planned activities and their expected durations.
- Writing this blog, 60 minutes
- Writing the iGO Update, 60 minutes
- Planning The Blog email series, 45 minutes
- Blog hopping – igors aces, 45 minutes
- Forums, 30 minutes
Now if my maths is correct that all adds up to 4 hours of activity and this is based upon efficiencies derived from being hyper-focussed on each task.
For instance writing a blog post normally takes me about 90 minutes, as I often start without a topic to write about and thus rather than being written it evolves over time. My newsletter, iGO Update is now process mapped and by following this I can stay on track whilst ensuring the newsletter still feels light and friendly.
Yesterday I spent over 4 hours tweaking my Google Analytics account and making notes on the performance of my marketing. This session revealed that the follow up email series for the ebook, The Blog, was in need of adjustment. Although each was getting opened, the actual rate declined until the last one thus this series needs to be planned and focussed better.
Some call it back linking but having tried a black hat version that ripped my soul apart as I visited a kindergarten website in Australia. I vowed never to exploit sites in such a way again. After all what use is a link from a site that has no relevance to my interests, remember modern marketing is more about engagement than cold statistics. This is why I love blog hopping, as you are now engaging with those that share your interests but of course this needs to be balanced with those sites you visit returning the favour hence the name igor’s aces. A collection of sites where we are fully engaged.
Of course this engagement if continued consistently will perhaps lead to future partnerships and applies equally to the forums as well.
On that note I will leave to ponder how well you are engaging with others online for my timer is running out of sand.
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Wow! It all adds up, doesn’t it mate?
I must admit, I’d be scared to add up the time it takes to get tasks completed. You’re a brave man Igor
but I like your style.
BTW, did you attend the last meetup? I couldn’t make the last one, but I’ll try to go to the next one.
Des recently posted..Getting Your Foot Through the Door With Offline Clients
That’s great that you learned such a lesson from your experience. I think that it’s definitely true. And as about time management, then it’s always a problem for everyone to control it
BuySellWordpress recently posted..WordPress Themes
It’s very surprising where the time goes to! For me, sitting in front of my computer, blogging, reading other blogs and other stuff usually takes up most of my night, then I sit there thinking, “so where has my evening gone to?”
Karen recently posted..Why I Choose Not To Auto #FollowBack On Twitter
I know what you mean I have actually woke up at 3am and thought seeing as I am up…..18 hours later I go for breakfast, I kid you not. I walked into the kitchen, asked a fellow lodger what the time was and then changed breakfast to supper!
Business can get tough,sure.. but be sure you are not getting tougher on your body mr.Igor.
johnavery recently posted..ATV Salvage
You are of course correct, business can be tough and it is designed for the marathon runner who goes after the long goal rather than the short sprint to the next opportunity which is why as you point out, you need to ensure you have the energy and health for this long journey.
I haven’t heard about this time managing app before, but it seems to be very useful. Is there any similar app for the iPhone, too?
Unfortunately as many know I do not allow the Apple prison into my life and thus I have never used an iphone but I am sure there will be a similar app
Nope, couldn’t do it. This is one of those times where I don’t want to know because I’d start obsessing over the numbers. However, I have to do some things that you do concerning planning my time, such as setting an alarm for a couple of my meals a day and when to take my medication. I plan ahead way better than track what I’ve been doing unless I’m being paid for it.
Mitch Mitchell recently posted..5 Blogging Lessons Learned From The Harry Potter Series
Time management is more important and its a good habit to track the time.It gives a kind of guess that how much time we are investing and in which task also which task require how much amount of time.Its a nice habit.I am also doing but not so much obsessive about it..lol..Thanks for sharing your work and time management activity.
Thanks for the comment, this was something that always confused me about those top businessmen that when asked for a meeting always knew when they could fit them in. Of course as I now know this comes from having a good assistant but more importantly knowing how long each task realistically takes you, so you can plan your week and actually stick to the plan.
Which of course means I can fit you in for a 5 minute chat on Thursday at 4am, yhh