Website Automation

I completed my QuickBooks integration. They had to teak the system slightly but all in all the process went great. This integration will save me at least 12 hours of work per month.

This week, website automation hits the top of my priority list. I want website inquiries to opt-in to my services and the prospect information entered directly into my contact management system. Once I complete this, prospects that opt-in will receive a series of e-mails to lure them into inquiring further about our school.

I started writing e-mails that the opt-in prospects will receive. I completed three e-mails so far. I have the first day, two week, and one month completed. I want to add a three day and one week e-mail.

The American Millionaire and the Fisherman

I just finished a book called The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss. After reading this book, I realize that Americans work way too hard for our paycheck. Our buying habits and thinking makes us almost prisoners for the American way of life. Did I mention that we live this life at the expense of our poorer countries in the world?

The book relays a great story that really hit home for me.

The American Millionaire and the Fisherman

An American businessman took a vacation to a small coastal Mexican village on doctors orders. After a phone call from home that upset him, he walked out on the dock and saw a single fisherman in a small boat with several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the fisherman on the catch.

The American inquires, "How long did it take you to catch the fish?"

The Mexican answers, "Only a little while."

"Why don't you stay out longer and catch some more fish, returns the American."

"I have enough for my family and to give to some friends," the fisherman said as he unloaded the boat.

"Then what do you do with the rest of your time?"

He smiles and says, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll the village in the evening while I sip wine and play guitar. I have a full and busy life, senor."

The American laughs. "Sir, Im a Harvard M.B.A and can help you. You should spend more time fishing so that you can buy a bigger boat and hire a crew. Before you know it, you can buy more boats and increase the haul."

He continues, "Instead of selling to a middleman, you could sell directly to customer,then you could expand the enterprise.The best part is that you could eventually sell the business stock as an IPO and become a millionaire."

The fisherman asks, "How long will that take?"

The American replies, "15-20 years, 25 tops"

"Then What?"

"Then you would retire and move to a small coastal fishing village, where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll the village in the evenings while you sip wine and play guitar with your Amigos..."

The moral of the story is living your life now, not for some long-term goal that may or may not happen.

This book gives very practical advice on how to reduce the number of hours you work and still enjoy the same salary. I think its a-must read for everyone working too hard for the American Dream.

Integration from Contract Management Systems with QuickBooks

This month, I said the theme of this month is automation. I made my first step in automating my systems by integration my contract and contact management system with QuickBooks.

The service costs about an extra $81 per month, but I feel this is well worth the cost.

Why?

Because… Currently, I am entering everything into QuickBooks myself. This takes at least 12 hours of time every month. Now, I hit a button and my system synchronizes with QuickBooks and bam, I’m done. The alternative would be to pay an accountant to enter the data. My books were getting more and more complex so I think that I eventually would have needed an accountant to sort out everything. Therefore, the integration was a wonderful and relatively inexpensive solution.

I save time, money, and heartache all in one.

Next Automation Project

My next step in automation is to write ten letters that I can e-mail on a weekly cycle to new prospects. I started to discipline myself to ask new prospects for their e-mail address.

Why do I like e-mail campaigns better than mailed campaigns?
1. I write the e-mail once and my contact management system sends them automatically. For mailed campaigns, there is prep work and expense each time.
2. E-mail allows the prospect to opt out. Opting out is a great indication that the prospect is not interested in your service any more. Mail generally does not give that kind of feedback.

Okay, I am off to writing.

October Results and November's Theme

Our October results were great. We set a goal of $9,000 and we exceed it with a final tally of $10,041. Our goal is to sustain this amount for November.

Monthly Themes

I decided each month to work on a monthly theme to remain focused. November’s theme is AUTOMATION. I am going to work on anything that will automate my daily tasks. I already have many ideas for automation and will speak about it through the month.

Possibly the Best Business/ Career Advice You’ll Ever Receive!

Because some of my freelance writing through e-zines and my blogs, I received several e-mails from people asking for some business advise. The six months ago, I begin really stretching myself way outside my comfort zone personally and professionally. Now some people noticed and asked me for advice.

The main question is “how do I make more money?” I must say I am very jaded in my opinions about this – almost a renegade. Every time I talk about business matters, people tell me that I am crazy. I have heard so many people say that “I can’t do that” or “It won’t work”. Only to find that it does work.

So what is the secret?

Don’t think about making money – think about creating more free time.

Yes, it’s that simple. What most people are looking for is not more money but more time. We think that more money will equate to more freedom and time. Not so!

The problem, you see, is that most people have a 9 to 5 attitude towards making money. To make X amount of money, I need to work X amount of hours. This is far from true. When I worked as a Customer Service Manager, I discovered that people tend to grow into their day. I know that to perform most mission critical activities at work takes about 2 hours and they fill the rest of the day with meaningless activity so that the boss will think you are a good worker.

How to free up more time and make more money

• Refused to perform useless daily tasks
  
• Concentrate on the most important tasks – I can almost guarantee that the tasks you avoid are the important ones. Discipline yourself to do them first… especially if they are money-generating activities.
  
• Set time limits to perform the important tasks – jobs seem to grow exponentially according to the time limit set. I prefer setting small time-limits for completion and break large jobs in the small task possible. For example, write a 400 word article in 30 minutes
  
• Automate everything – anything that you can put on autopilot, do it today.
• Turn off your e-mail - E-mail tends to manage your priority instead of you. E-mails stuck you into urgent but unimportant requests. I suggest turning off your e-mail while working on the important tasks.

Freeing up time will not only give you a piece of mind but it will also force you to make more money. I know this works because my business income continued to rise higher as I seem to work less.

Do you think I am crazy?