NetBusinessBlogWork from Home, Business Opportunities, Websites for Sale - Run an Online Business

If you’re like many business people, you want to be more efficient and save time. With so many things to keep track of in online business (content, link building, business relationships, emails, SEO, social media), time is a premium.

I’ve got 5 freelance gigs right now, so I’m always looking to save time. You may be juggling family and a corporate job while also building up your sites. So, how can we be more efficient?

One thing that’s worked for me is batching tasks. Batching tasks is doing the same tasks for an extended period of time without being interrupted by other tasks. Batching tasks increases efficiency because much of our time is lost from having to switch tasks. Every time we switch tasks, we lose focus. Every time we lose focus, we have to spend time to regain our focus. That’s why it’s frustrating to hear the phone ring whenever you’re in the middle of writing a 600 word article.

Here are couple ways you can batch the tasks of your online business.

Answer email once a day.
If you can get away with checking it less often, that’s even better. Email is quite possibly the biggest time killer for internet marketers. Many of us have that sound turned on whenever we get a new message. Save yourself the temptation and turn that thing off.

Write content in advance.
If you blog, this means “future posting” your entries. It takes me awhile to get into a writing flow. My first couple of sentences are pretty bad. But once I’ve been writing for 15 minutes, I’m writing a lot better. Take advantage of writing flow and knock out 3-4 articles/posts at one time. By the way, I got this tip from Ahmed Bilal over at Performancing (check the 4th comment).

Answer blog comments 3 times a week.
Of course, this only applies to bloggers. The principle is similar to checking email once a day. I’m sure your commenters won’t mind if their comments are answered a day or two later.

Market your site 2-4 times a week.
Whether it’s commenting on blogs, building links, or participating in a social media site, make sure to schedule time every week to do site promotion.

Do creative brainstorming once a week.
This is important because every site needs new creative ideas. I think one of the reasons why we don’t batch tasks is because it seems too mechanical. And being mechanical stifles creative ideas. If you feel this way, simply schedule an extended time each week for creative brainstorming. Also, if you tend to come up with good ideas at weird times, keep a pen and small notepad with you at all times. During your scheduled brainstorming time, you can review what you’ve written down.

Make a schedule for the week on Sunday and stick to it.
I got this great tip from John Reese of Income blog. John says efficiency comes from knowing what you want to do. He says after he makes his weekly schedule, he’s a robot the rest of the week. He looks at his next task on the schedule and does it. Be like John. Make a schedule and stick to it like a mindless robot.

Focus on one site at a time.
I know I’ve been writing about this a lot, but it is so important. Unless you’ve built a successful site, you probably don’t have the experience to juggle multiple sites. Remember most new sites take months to become serious money makers.

Not only does batching tasks work, but you’ll be more focused. You’ll cut down your multitasking and decision making time. This increase of focus should lead to better quality work.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to write my next 3 posts today. :)

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