Growing your home business when you have limited time comes with a unique set of challenges, on top of the often-steep growth curve every marketer already experiences.
It’s common to have feelings of frustration, even full-blown anger, when you feel like you could really make your business work and change your life…
If you just had more time!
In a moment, I’ll give you some simple tips and strategies to help you get the most out of your time.
But first things first…
NEVER use lack of time as an excuse for your lack of results!
It’s tempting to use time as a crutch, and in your your heart of hearts, you probably feel that it’s justified.
Well, here’s the truth…
It’s not.
I know countless Part-Time Marketers (including myself) who have learned to leverage whatever time they have, no matter how limited, to take super-focused action and get results far greater than many marketers who are working full-time in their business.
This is the bottom line:
The QUALITY of time you spend on your business is infinitely more important than the QUANTITY of time you have available.
So, while it’s easy to use time as a crutch, in reality it’s no excuse for not taking action and getting results.
With this said, let’s dive into the meat of this training…
Here are 7 simple tips to jump-start your business
…especially when you’re working part-time.
You’ll find that all of the following tips and strategies have two things in common:
- Leverage
- Focused action
Because when you learn to effectively leverage your time and take focused action on what TRULY matters to get results, time as a limiting factor melts away.
These tips will get you off to a great start today, tomorrow and years to come.
Starting with…
One of the cardinal sins of a Part-Time Marketer is to sit down at the computer without a plan of action.
When you have limited time, you MUST know which tasks and activities will have maximum impact in moving your business forward.
For a network marketer, the primary action to get results is without a doubt PROSPECTING.
Nothing will get results faster than showing your presentation to others.
For affiliate marketers, the primary action may be to create content (in the form of a video, blog post, and even an email) in order to MAKE AN OFFER.
If you only have 15-30 minutes to devote to your business, definitely use it in the most leveraged way possible.
YOU want to be asking this question…
“What can I do in the time I have that gives me the BEST chance to get a result today?”
What NOT to do?
Don’t sit at your computer and say to yourself…
“What should I do today?”
That, my friend is a recipe for disaster, especially if you’re part-time.
There’s one thing I’ve come to understand over the years working with very busy entrepreneurs – people almost always have MORE time then they think.
Most marketers waste valuable business time without even realizing it. I’m not talking about time sitting in front of the TV or watching videos…
That kind of time wastage is obvious.
I’m talking about the numerous 10-15 minute gaps in your day which could be devoted to business activities…
- Sitting in traffic during your commute
- Waiting in the car to pick up your kids from school
- Taking a 15 minute coffee break at work
- Sitting in the waiting room at your doctor’s office
These “nooks and crannies” of your day are perfectly suited to getting things done in your business.
What can you do in 15 minutes?
You could…
- Reach out to a lead or team member
- Do a Facebook Live
- Start a blog post
- Study a training webinar
- Read a chapter of a good personal development book
Most people have no clue that these bits of time in their day even exist.
The usual thought is…
“That’s not enough time to do anything productive.”
What they don’t understand is that four 15-minute chunks equal an entire hour of business time you’d otherwise waste.
Nobody said you had to sit down at your computer for a full 2 hours each night in order to grow your business.
You take what you get during your day and make it work.
Action step: Keep a detailed record of how you’re spending your time each day using the Notes app on your phone (you can also use Evernote or even carry a small pad of paper around with you).
Do this for an entire week.
At the end of the week, you’ll be able to identify several small chunks of time you can devote to your business that you never knew existed.
I don’t know where my business would be without technology.
Like most Part-Timers, I don’t have time to do house parties or cold call people from an old genealogy list.
Besides, why reach one person when you can reach thousands?
That’s what technology does for you.
It’s the difference between sending one email to a prospect vs. sending one email to thousands of potential buyers all at the same time.
It’s the difference between sending an article or video you made to one person at a time vs. having people find your content on their own and REACH OUT TO YOU.
Technology is essential if you’re building part-time.
Here are technologies you can use to make up for your lack of time:
- Email autoresponders
- Webinars
- Videos
- Group meetings
- Blog posts
- Social media (more on this in a minute)
While this may seem overwhelming if you have yet to embrace technology, keep this in mind…
At age 55, all I knew about technology and the Internet was how to write an email and do a search on Google.
That’s it.
Today, I have a blog, make videos, do webinars, write autoresponder emails, and even have an online FREE Bootcamp from a good friend, Ferny (see Tip 4)
It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t that hard either.
So embrace technology and start plugging it into your business, one step at a time.
Social Media has changed the game of prospecting and recruiting forever.
And for those with limited time to build their MLM business or Network Marketing, this is music to their ears.
Anyone who has ever spent hours to prepare for a home party, only to have just your mother and best friend show up understands the frustration that often accompanies this “old school” way of prospecting.
Anyone who’s experienced the feeling of despair when yet another friend avoids them, afraid of being pitched once more for a “can’t miss” business opportunity is definitely looking for an alternative to “hitting up family and friends.”
Imagine being able to find people who are interested in your product or service right from your computer any time of the day or night.
That’s what social media offers.
For the home business owner who’s long on enthusiasm but short on time, being able to find prospects on social media has been a total game changer.
While recruiting on social media isn’t hard, there are some tricks to it.
You can’t just spam groups or individuals with your company link, hoping someone might “bite” (although this is exactly what many marketers do).
It’s called SOCIAL media for a reason.
You need to find ways to interest others in what you have to offer in such a way that they come to YOU asking for more information.
Speaking of which, I’d encourage you to sign up for my good friend Ferny Ceballos’ FREE 10-Day Online Recruiting Bootcamp, where you’ll gain the knowledge to create a passive prospecting system to attract highly-interested prospects to your product or opportunity.
One of the most common questions I get from Part-Time Marketers is where to focus their time on social media.
While it’s tempting to try to “be everywhere,” it’s best to focus on one social media platform to maximize your efforts.
Facebook has been the platform of choice for most small business owners, due to its popularity and advanced advertising platform.
Recently, more and more folks have set their sights on LinkedIn, a large social media platform that is more popular with professionals and those interested in business.
Whichever social media platform you choose, focus your efforts to make best use of your limited time.
Growing your following on a consistent basis will serve you well when it comes to building your business on social media.
When your building your business part-time, there simply is no time to reinvent the wheel.
Taking time to create your own company presentation and graphics makes little sense when your company already supplies them, ready to use.
I’ve watched countless marketers spend hours and hours creating their own videos and graphics instead of actively prospecting.
It’s the old “getting ready to get ready” conundrum.
Until you reach a point in your business where you have thousands of team members and are bringing in $10K or more in residual income each month, your time is far better spent prospecting than trying to create some bigger, better version of what your company already provides for you.
Here’s one tip I learned from a mentor a few years back that will help you put your own personal touch on company tools…
Put yourself between your prospect and your company tools.
What does this mean?
It can be as simple as creating a short 1-minute video telling your prospect what they are about to watch (your company presentation).
You can introduce the speaker and let them know that he/she is part of your business team.
This strategy both eases the prospect in transitioning into the company presentation and puts you in a position of authority.
It’s a hugely powerful “tweak” that too few marketers use.
Make sure you are fully utilizing the tools your company provides with your membership. It will save you buckets of time!
When you’re busy working a full-time job and trying to build a business “on the side,” it’s very easy to put off attending company events in the name of saving time and money.
Don’t do it.
Why does attending events help your business and actually save you time?
A few reasons…
First, it helps instill in you the BELIEF that you can actually do this.
As you talk to others who have achieved results in the company you joined, your belief level will soar.
Hearing about results in a video and seeing those results first-hand are two very different things.
Second, attending events allows you the opportunity to meet new people and share ideas.
One idea or shortcut you hear at an event might save you hours of time in your business.
Lastly, if you don’t attend your company’s events, how can you honestly ask your team members to do so?
You must lead by example, and attending live events is a great way to foster that leadership.
Attend your company events on a regular basis. It will be a great investment in your business, I promise.
I sometimes get pushback when I tell this strategy to my coaching clients.
Most think that their marketing budget is way too small to make paid advertising work for their business.
They’re wrong.
Listen, if you’ve got absolutely NO money available for advertising, then you need to build your business using free marketing strategies.
But for most, that’s not the case.
The reality is that with social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and others, paid advertising is a way to extend your reach and get your message out to far more people than you can organically.
Learning how to do paid advertising in the most cost-effective way possible is definitely a skill worth mastering.
In fact, you can make paid advertising work for you with as little as $5-10/day if you know how to do it.
In fact, if you’d like to know the exact formula that turned a $10 test campaign into $141,246.30 in sales, check out this 100% FREE online workshop, hosted by none other than Tim Erway, the co-founder and CEO of Elite Marketing Pro, who’s responsible for generating over 30 million dollars in online revenue (and counting).
Pick a time that works for you to attend Tim’s traffic workshop right here.
Now, here’s something I want you to really consider…
Being part-time in your business is just a temporary status
…not an identity.
Never let someone tell you that you’re somehow less committed to your business because you’re not working it full-time.
That’s hogwash.
The key to growing a thriving business part-time is all about STRATEGY, independent of the amount of time you have.
Having a clear plan of action, identifying those activities that are crucial to your success, and leveraging technology and social media is far more important than the amount of time available for your business.
Now get out there and make it happen!
And if you found this content helpful, please share…okay
