Right at the moment you’re reading this, I’m either having breakfast with some of the coolest ladies in aviation, or I’m running around the Atlanta Convention Center meeting some of my clients (and future clients) in person for the first time.
I actually wrote this article more than a week ago.
Clients often ask me how I manage to write for nine blogs, ghostwrite for more, get emails out the door, complete web copy, design and manage direct mail, manage trade show appearances and other handle other marketing projects without a huge staff.
Although it might not seem directly connected to aviation marketing, getting things done is often the biggest difference between success or failure.
Marketing tends to fall to the bottom of the priority list because your campaigns require regular attention.
Dealing with current customers seems more urgent than getting new ones. But when marketing tasks don’t get done, revenue falls off, and your business could quickly find itself in trouble.
We all need a little magic to conquer the piles of work we have to do. Automation is one of the most powerful “secrets” you can learn to getting things done.
Tim Ferriss’ book The Four Hour Workweek is a deliberately provocative book, and very entertaining if you ever find time to read it. Ferris recommends managing workload in this way (using the acronym “DEAL”)
Definition – Includes defining and prioritizing your goals consciously, rather than merely reacting to what seems “urgent” and letting the comfortable habits we’ve acquired over time dictate our schedule. For me, that means 1) selling products for our current clients, 2) keeping our current clients delighted with our services, and 3) acquiring new business. I’ve been told that our New Client Questionnaire is a great tool for businesses to focus their priorities and define their goals.
Elimination – Getting rid of everything that DOESN’T need to be done – that includes not jumping whenever the phone rings or an email comes in. If you call me right now you’ll probably get the machine, but you’ll also probably also get a personal response sometime today. I know some people who have an obsessive need to check the news and the stock market, even though they would be tolerably well informed with a quick check once a day or even once a week! Depending on our job, most of us can provide decent service and still eliminate the constant interruptions from at least part of the business day.
Automation – Using tools or outsourcing to get things done. I take issue with the semantics here, because outsourcing isn’t REALLY automating, but the point is to cut down on the number of things you PERSONALLY have to do if there is a more efficient way of getting it done.
I have people that handle some of the business bureaucracy, accounting and taxes because they do a better job of it than I can in less time. Many of my clients find that their time is better spent making software or managing their FBO, so they outsource their writing and marketing to ABCI.
Using tools would include InfusionSoft, SendOutCards, WordPress and Outlook to send material when I want it sent. (Hence, the “magic” of you reading this email more than a week after it was written!)
If you’d like to outsource or automate some of your marketing tasks – that’s our specialty!
Liberation – Making your work as independent as possible of time and place. Since most of the work I do is on the Internet, I can travel without impacting my clients. Many of my clients have the objective of making their businesses more self-sufficiently successful so that they can spend less time working and more time enjoying their families and favorite activities.
Getting things done sometimes doesn’t require more time or more hard work, it requires one (or more) of the techniques listed above.
Have you read the book? What did you think? What are your “secrets” for getting things done?
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