Any entrepreneur running a small business knows the to-do list is neverending, while the hours in a day are finite. So unless you intend to work yourself to the bone forever, at some point you really need to start getting things off your plate.
You can absolutely do this by outsourcing (learn more at http://getstartedoutsourcing.com/). But maybe you don’t have the budget quite yet.
Luckily theses days there are loads of ways to automate all kinds of tasks, from online marketing and social networking to appointment scheduling, product delivery and more.
- Automatically have your blog posts go to your Facebook pages or other social networks. Do this using something like the Tweetmeme widget. Or on some social networking sites, you simply need to enter your blog’s RSS feed info right there.
- Automatically forward your Twitter tweets or social networking status updates to other social networks. Micro-blogging aggregators like hello.txt, ping.fm, socialoomph.com and hootsuite.com make this easy.
- Preset tweets or status updates using the aggregators above, and preset blog posts. While this isn’t total automation, it is “set ‘em and forget ‘em”.
- Let clients and prospects schedule themselves on your calendar. Sites like Tungle.me and timetrade.com are both good options that make it easy.
- Automate your product delivery online or off. Online, you can use preset autoresponders, download pages, shopping carts, or services like instantteleseminar.com to make this easy. For print products, save yourself a trip to post office and let Vervante.com print and mail for you.
Once you get a few things automated and off your plate, then you can put your time and energy into doing the things that really grow your business. And these days, that includes having a Website that does all or most of the lead generation and sales job for you.
But that’s a topic for another day. Or learn more about turning your Website into your #1 salesperson at http://www.smallbusinesswebsitebible.com/
Got more suggestions on ways to automate inexpensively? Thoughts on this article? Please do share by leaving a comment…
You are so right Stacy! Excellent suggestions – and they all work with a little bit of a learning curve and set up time – it makes all the difference. Thanks for continuing to inspire!