6 Ways to Be More Productive with Your Web Marketing

The year was 1997 and I had just received my acceptance letter from California Academy of Mathematics and Science (CAMS). I had prayed. I had cried. I had stopped eating, I was so nervous. The essays, letters of recommendation, and constant teasing of my peers for being a nerd was finally beginning to pay off...

I will never forget how I went from feeling on top of the world, to a gnat on a wall, in a moments time.

You see, at my small little Catholic school in Compton, CA, I was one of the smarter kids. Yes, I was dark, talk, skinny, and not so cute, but it didn't matter because I was smart! Even my enemies were friendly around test time. Seriously.

But walking on that college campus with so many other talented kids really shot me down. They had so many more things than I had, and so much more support (in my mind).

Little did I know that I was on a crash course with one of my passions, technology. I was also learning some valuable lessons about life and business.

Web marketing can be a similar experience. First, you have an awesome idea and a great plan. You may have even written a business plan and developed a very attractive website...

But there are MILLIONS of websites, then comes that defeated feeling. Well, here is how you GET OVER IT and start building your online presence:

1. You have got to recognize the unique qualities about yourself and your product or service, then write them down.

I am no expert at life or anything but I have learned that most things are won with pure persistence. It is not the smartest or the most talented that wins or succeeds, but the one who endures, continues, pushes, and overcomes.

Obviously, you will encounter a learning curve in your web marketing, but that does not spell defeat. You have got to keep at it and write down what makes you unique. If you have no idea, ask your clients or a close friend what they think makes you unique.

Every person on this planet is an original. All of us have something that is exclusive to us. You've got to find what that is about you and WRITE IT DOWN so you can reference it daily.

I would even suggest you record a memo of yourself speaking to yourself about your product or service. This will help you feel comfortable explaining it to others and identify weak areas that need improvement.

2. Be bold but humble. Have faith not fear.

While I do not idolize the late Marilyn Monroe, she said something that I agree with: "Fear is stupid." Truly fear is an illusion, and everything we want to happen will only happen on the other side of our fears.

In contrast, faith is knowing something to be true before you can see it. We all exercise faith daily in some way.

The late Steve Jobs was known for his boldness (among other things), and was even told that his ideas were impossible; too far out. Well, as we can all see - the naysayers were wrong.

Web marketing will have frustrating moments and it may seem your efforts are not working, but just as a seed must die first to bring forth fruit, there is a process involved. Some of your efforts will bring forth fruit immediately while others take time.

I find it very interesting that when we plant seeds in the ground, we cannot see what is happening, but we just know that something is happening. Farmers do not dig up seeds daily to check their progress either - they simply plant, water, and cultivate an environment for the seeds to produce a harvest - in due season.

Do not walk away from your web marketing efforts because you're not receiving the organic web traffic that so-and-so receives.

Remember Myspace and Facebook? One produced fruit early while the other took more time, but look at them now.

Humility will draw people to you while arrogance will repel them. It is wise to share your knowledge and experience, but not in a manner that makes others feel inferior.

Everyone has the ability to learn, and it is up to you as a teacher to bring out the best in those who come to your website or blog for instruction.

Not everyone takes well to condescension and / or sarcasm that some bloggers write with.

3. Clean Up Your Mess

If you're like me, you deal with a few symptoms of adult ADD. You start things and you get distracted or come up with a better idea, and so you start something else.

Stop this, please. Establish a daily routine you can live with. It's good to read what others have done, true, but remember that you are not them, you are YOU.

• Check all of your email accounts for softwares, logins, ebooks, and anything else that you have downloaded, bookmarked or otherwise set aside for your business. It is now time to get organized and get serious. 
• Create a spreadsheet for all of the web addresses, logins, and contact information for every site you can find. I do not recommend that you put your passwords on this document. 
• Clear the way for you to get back on track without incomplete profiles and information about your company online. Any site you find to be no longer useful, login and delete all account information. Remember that your clients will google you and be interested to find out anything they can about you - personal or business wise.
• Go through your bookmarks and delete anything you haven't visited in over a year. No matter how valuable you think it may be, if you haven't thought of it in a year, it's unlikely that you will use it for your business. 
• Clean up your hard drive and arrange things properly in folders. We all know how frustrating it is to look for a file because we haven't used the best organization skills when saving documents and photos. 
• Read your company mission and vision again, and make any necessary adjustments based on your experience. Put it on your desk or somewhere you will see it DAILY. It is amazing what this can do for your motivation. Do not count failures as mistakes but as teaching tools you can use for yourself and others. 

4. Get Organized

Ask yourself the following questions, then take action to make your daily working routine more productive:

• What applications are you using for your business?
•  Can you easily access them? Some of my favorites include Evernote, quite a few apps from Google Apps, the Pin It button for Pinterest, and Hootsuite to manage several social media accounts.
• Do you have a service or folder for your social media photos? Have you bookmarked any sites that you use to get quotes or other information (which you properly credit to the original author, of course)?
• Do you have a plan for those times you have to stop working for other duties? These can include a break when your children come home from school, or anything that is necessary. This does not include time wasted on any activity that is not profiting your business. 
• Have you created folders on your toolbar for websites you visit often, or contribute information and/or articles?
• Do you have alerts set up for your Google documents when a response comes in? These notifications are not automatic and can cause you to lose leads if you aren't checking them regularly.

Truthfully, the above questions are just ideas I have come up with to help you begin to think of the things that you need to do for your business. In no way is it exhaustive.

It may not even be relevant to you, but my hope is that it will be a useful tool in helping you get organized for your business. 

There are few things more frustrating than wasting valuable time on tasks we do daily because we have not properly put them in order. 

5. Read the expert opinions, but do not override your own unique ideas. 

Your audience appreciates your voice. Be confident in the solutions you have developed for your target audience as long as they are profitable and solve the problem you aim to solve. 

Resist the urge to jump on the new trends that you read about unless there is reliable proof that it will enhance your operation or make it more efficient. 

Sometimes switching the way you do things is more time consuming than seeing your strategy through. Weeds pop up overnight, but seeds that produce real fruit take time. Think about that.

Remember, that what works for your friends hairstyle blog may not produce the same results on your business blog. 

6. Develop a routine & Be consistent. 

This can be very difficult to implement when you are the only person responsible for all the duties your business requires. I would suggest that you start off with the most pressing duties first, and allot yourself a time slot to work on that issue, and then move on to something else. Sometimes, frustration can set in and if you do not move on, it will seep into your whole day (know this from experience).

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggests taking care of the smallest tasks first in order to be accomplish more. I'd say he's a reputable source.

You will know your deadlines and what is most important, so feel free to operate in the most productive way you see fit. Just be careful not to work on one task all day and end up with little to show for how you spent your time. You will at least need to work on marketing, financial, social media, and then your core business, so make sure you write down what needs to be done the day before so you can transition easily from task to task.

You can also head over to Fiverr for things you just don't want to do or don't have the skills to do. There are many other ways you can outsource routine tasks to a consultant, virtual assistant, or part time worker to give you more time to focus on your business.

It is better to give your customers something that they may not expect than to promise them something you cannot and will not deliver. We have all had those moments of inspiration when we have an idea that we want to try, but be wise before sharing a definite date to your clients and / or readers. If you are struggling with making the decision of whether you should focus on your blog or your newsletter, focus on only one in the beginning.

Bonus:

There are certain leaders in your field that you should definitely cyber-stalk and consume everything they produce. I would suggest following them on twitter, liking their Facebook pages, and signing up for their newsletters and blog alerts.

When it comes to marketing, I suggest you cyber stalk the following companies / people:

1. Hubspot
2. Backlinko
3. Neil Patel
4. Drip Email Marketing

No matter how busy I become, or how many emails go unopened in my inboxes, I do not pass over these. The information they provide will definitely decrease the learning curve for you. Hubspot gives you a myriad of resources like eBook templates, free stock photos, and so much more.

Request a quote today to see how we can help you with your web design, social media campaigns and business writing.

Keep going! You're closer than you were yesterday and learning more everyday!