Episode 5: Process…Process…Process

Our Three Big Topics:

Topic 1: From post-it notes to organized
When I speak, I have often been heard saying “my business has been held together by post it notes and peanut butter.” When I started my business (and actually until the last year) I had notes everywhere - post-its, napkins, a calendar, notes on my phone, google drive docs, ½ sheets of paper with ideas - an idea notebook. Folders in a filing cabinet of ideas. Folders in my google toolbar. Stuff was everywhere - most of it good - dare I say brilliant - but half the time I didn’t even remember where it was.

Listen to the podcast to hear my "not so funny" story about my GoDaddy Account!

What I do now:

I have standardized my day in a three ring binder - and I need to do is flip through it page by page each day to get my stuff done. Each page is a specific task that gets done every single day. It goes from the reading I do each morning, (Social Media Examiner), read through goals...manage email. As I move through the book I move through my day and I get to check off what I get done. This is the standardized stuff, not the daily stuff.
Next, I have a planner pad - you can go to PlannerPad.com to get one. I do not make a penny off of you doing this. Everything goes in my planner pad - schedule, calendar, what has to be done by area of my business that are one time events or tasks I need to catch-up on. I keep track of goals there as well as The One Thing I am working on for the week. Lately I have a small section of things to do on the plane since I have flown four times in the last few weeks, I like to keep busy and I’m leaving tomorrow for Orlando. I leave a big section (half of that top line for notes) - these are hair brain ideas that i am not ready to schedule right now and would normally stick on a list or post-it note somewhere. My Daily things to do list is the middle section - those activities that I am holding myself accountable to completing that day. My schedule is then in the bottom third of the page under appointments.
Lastly, I do have a journal - mostly it is what I want to write down in my book - Hot Mess to Great Success. As quickly as possible I take those notes and put them into the appropriate place.
Here is the link I mentioned from the woman who has a journal or book for everything in her life. This way I won’t seem quite so psycho.

Topic 2: Importance of a Procedures manual.

A procedures manual will help standardize what you do, keep you on track, and allow you to start projects and onboard clients & staff with ease. It should include every single thing that you do - one of my more successful friends even has a procedure for answering the phone in her office. Create it in a Google Doc with a link in your Google Toolbar to easily access. Keep the Table of Content nearby for when you want to jot down an important note.



Topic 3: Do you change your process for the client?

In the show I shared my very frustrating story with a client who wanted to dictate how I wrote their social media posts. I was hired to work on strategy and deliver content. I quickly learned that I had to follow a long list of ever changing rules that were in direct conflict with good social media.
The question I pose is - do you change your process for a client? I saw that if you have a very large client and are doing custom work you may want to develop custom communication systems. But you should NEVER go back on your unique brilliance.

So:

Think about what procedures you want to teach someone else. If you have a procedures manual have you looked at it lately?
Get rid of the post-it notes - create a system that gets you down to as few places as possible to record your notes.