There are a lot of things to focus on when you run a business. It doesn’t matter when the workday ends; there is always something that could be done.

You could refine your marketing funnel. Reply to one more email. Reach out to a prospect. Tweak your site.

Knowing this, it’s so easy to get caught up in all the things that don’t matter instead of focusing on the hard tasks that will move our business forward.

The Things we Get Caught up in

Like a kid playing with a scab, we fiddle with our websites. Maybe changing the tag line will bring in more clients. Or we change the colour of a button because we decide that it must convert better.

While there is a basic level of form and function that your site should meet, it’s never going to be perfect. In fact, once you’ve achieved this basic form and function, you’re likely only avoiding other marketing work that feels harder.

You know you should be writing.

You know you should be going out to local events.

But those are hard things, so you stick with the comparatively easy stuff.

The Hard work we should be doing

When it comes to bringing in more leads, stop fiddling with your tagline. The fastest way to get more clients is to shake hands.

Write down the three things you can do this week to get as close as possible to shaking more hands. A phone call with ____. Better yet, a video call because it’s closer to shaking hands.

What events can you go to?

How many Chamber’s of Commerce are there that you can access?

Are there any other local business groups?

I know that we’re in a huge global world. Most of my clients are in the US. But don’t discount the power of getting out locally and shaking hands.

If you have to expand your network past the local prospects because you live in a very rural area, get out to conferences. Better yet, speak at conferences. Being a speaker at a conference automatically gives you a leg up in credibility. Clearly, the organizers picked you because they thought you were worth listening to.

Right now, stop. Write down what you did in the last few days. Which tasks were simply waffling around avoiding hard work? Which tasks were bringing in leads and revenue? Which tasks were helping you be a better business owner?

Now, focus on the good tasks and do less of the tasks that are wasting time.

Have an awesome day

Curtis

PS: If you need help organizing your time, I have a whole module in The 8 Week Business BootCamp on blocking your time productively.

photo credit: trevgrant cc