If you’re an entrepreneur, you can always use tips and techniques that are simple to implement and don’t take up much time, yet give the edge you need to boost productivity. Below are six I’ve culled from blogs and articles on productivity that I find particularly helpful for me.

1. Know your prime time

Do you do your best thinking at five in the morning? Or eleven at night?

Research suggests that whether you’re an owl or a lark may be hardwired in your brain. Instead of fighting your inborn tendencies, schedule your work around your natural rhythm. For example, if you’re a lark, get up early and go straight to work on your most important task.

Figure out your most productive time of the day. Use that peak time for whatever work taxes your brain the most. Block out that time for solid, uninterrupted work. Whether it’s two hours or four, you’ll find that you can do more in those few hours than you can the rest of the day.

During your non-peak times, work on minor tasks like making phone calls.

2. Remember Freud’s pleasure principle

Living organisms—i.e., humans—move towards things that are pleasurable and away from things that cause pain. This principle holds true even for people who are seemingly able to tolerate a great deal of pain and hardship.

If there’s a certain task you always seem to avoid, investigate! Find out what the pain is and see how you might reduce or eliminate that pain (by delegating?) or add pleasure. As Mary Poppins says, “Find the fun and snap! The job’s a game.”

3. Nix the “To do” list

How? By calling it an action list instead of a to-do list. The brain reacts to even subtle nuances. The simple act of renaming can transform a laundry list of dreary, I’ve-gotta—but-don’t-wanna with a thrilling, motivating action list. It works like an instant call to action.

Even if you have a flow sheet for the week or the month, it helps to write out your action list before going to bed. Look at it first thing in the morning and revise it if you need to.

4. Remember the Pareto principle

Also known as the 80-20 rule. Named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 80 percent of the land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. You can apply this rule to anything. They say that 80 percent of your sales comes from 20 percent of your clients.

Similarly, 80 percent of the value of any task you engage in comes from 20 percent of the effort you expend. Figure out what that is, (Inquiring minds and all that…) and focus your energy on the critical 20 percent. As they say, work smart, not hard.

5. Time boxing

I picked up this concept from self-development guru Steve Pavlina. (Check out his blog http://stevepavlina.com for some great tips on improving your life. But be forewarned, he’s a somewhat unconventional thinker, and not everything he proposes may suit your lifestyle.)

Decide on a fixed time period like 15 to 30 minutes to tackle a task of your choosing. Set the timer. Then immediately get to work on the task. It works great if you’ve been procrastinating on something. Once you make a dent in the task, you’ll be more motivated to continue. If you’re fired up, you can keep working in fixed time intervals until you finish the job.

6. Hyper timer

This is adapted from a trick used by the intrepid Internet marketer Tellman Knudson to help the ADD (attention deficit disorder) sufferer focus, but anyone can use it. It’s similar to Time boxing, but kicks it up a notch.

On a sheet of paper write down from three to seven projects that you intend to work on. (You might want to first break down projects into discrete tasks.) Number each one.

Set the timer for between ten to fifteen minutes. You can adjust the time later to better suit your own pacing.

Choose one task to work on, then focus on that until the timer goes off, then immediately go on to the next task until the timer goes off. Continue down your list of tasks until you tackle each one at least once, or until you really need a break. Set a timer for your break, too.

Repeat the cycle after the break. I find that I’m the most productive when I use this technique.

So, what are some of your favorite ways to get more done?

Tags: blogs, boost productivity, entrepreneur, Freud's pleasure principle, Pareto principle, peak time, prime time, Steve Pavlina

According to an article in the February 18^th San Francisco Chronicle, every business with gross receipts over $100,000 has to register with the Board of Equalization by obtaining a use tax account by April 15th, even though the business is not required to hold a seller’s permit or certificate of registration for use tax. The law came into effect in July 2009, but they had no money to advertise the fact so it may come as a surprise to many self-employed consultants like us!

According to the Board of Equalization, you must obtain a use tax account if you meet all of the following conditions:

• Receive at least $100,000 in gross receipts from business operations per calendar year. Note: Gross receipts are the total of all receipts from both in-state and out-of-state business operations
• Are not required to hold a seller’s permit or certificate of registration for use tax (under section 6226 of the Revenue and Taxation Code)
• Are not a holder of a use tax direct payment permit as described in section 7051.3 of the Revenue and Taxation Code
• Are not otherwise registered with the BOE to report use tax

This is to collect use taxes on supplies purchased out of state (usually over the Internet). Since 1930, it’s been up to the business and individual to pay use tax on items purchased out of state even though the vendor does not charge you sales tax.

They are requiring that businesses go back three years (2007-2009) and pay any use taxes that they neglected to pay for those years. However, there may be a penalty for the late 2007 and 2008 taxes and an investigation if the Board feels that there was intent to defraud.

For more info:

• SF Chron article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/18/BUVQ1C33I3.DTL
• BOE FAQs: http://boe.ca.gov/sutax/useTaxRegFAQ.htm#usetax31
• BOE Registration: http://www.boe.ca.gov/info/reg.htm (I was told I had to fill out form BOE-404-A Use Tax Registration and mail it into the local field office).

Tags: California business regulations, consulting business, Running a Consulting Business

6. Sending automated posts

Whether you send automated tweets about your recent blog posts or any other messages, anything automated is a real turn off for many people.

You can, however, preschedule messages to be tweeted later. That’ll save you time. It’s especially handy if you know you’re going to be tied up in a meeting. But don’t lie and pretend you’re right in the middle of doing something you’re not. While you’re otherwise engaged, you can set up posts containing interesting bits of facts pertaining to your field.

Tweetlater http://tweetlater.com is the perennial favorite for prescheduling messages. To set up an RSS feed of updates so you don’t miss anything, try TwitterFeed http://twitterfeed.com

7. Posting only links with little or no explanation

You can’t expect, and you certainly won’t, entice people to click on your link if you don’t tell them what it’s about. A few words of explanation will suffice. For a personal touch, add your comment. It’s also helpful if you indicate whether the link is a [video] or a [podcast].

8. Sending automated direct mail (DM) messages

As mentioned above, it’s best not to send automated messages. My inbox is flooded with automated “thank you for following” tweets, but this is a practice discouraged by many. Why? It’s tedious and time-consuming for people to have to read thank-you messages. You can show your appreciation in a better way, by engaging in conversation with them or retweeting them. Besides, too many people add links to their products or blog posts in their thank-you messages. Be aware that some people will immediately unfollow you if you send such DM’s.

If they’re personal, non-automated messages, there’s nothing wrong with sending DM except that some people just don’t read them because their inboxes are overflowing with sales pitches disguised as thank-you notes. So, if you send a DM and you don’t hear back, better type the @ symbol, followed by your recipient’s Twitter name, and write a message.

9. Misuse/nonuse of the @reply function

Periodically check to see who’s either trying to converse with you or mentioning you in their tweets. Be especially alert to what your clients may be trying to tell you. And I can’t stress enough the importance for businesses to keep an antenna out for what’s been said about them. In twitterverse, tweets can propagate at hypersonic speed!

If the message is directed at you, then do respond in kind. When you do, add a little bit of context to your reply because many people write multiple tweets, it’s not always possible to tell which tweet you’re referring to. Sending a reply like “Cool!” or even “I like your idea” are meaningless without some context.

10. Legal problems

When it comes to legal problems, I like to avoid them. You should think twice before you mention real names, particularly if your comment is negative. You could find yourself sued for defamation.

Similarly, privacy and copyright rules apply to Twitter. You need to respect people’s privacy. If in doubt, play it safe. In terms of quoting poems or articles, you may think that you can’t get into trouble with copyright rules with only 140 characters. But if you share an entire poem that belongs to someone else through a series of tweets, you could be infringing on their copyright.

And if you’re tweeting a haiku (which easily fits into a single 140 character tweet), either take one from a famous dead poet, or else get the poet’s permission first!

For ideas on how businesspeople twitter, and to find and follow business executives, check out Exec Tweets: http://exectweets.com

And now, on the lighter side, for a cartoon by “The Oatmeal” on “Ten Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About,” go to: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/twitter_stop

Tags: DM, twettlater, twitter, twitterfeed, twitterverse

By now virtually everyone knows that social networking needs to be a strategic part of marketing. Twitter is a quick and easy way to get started. You can get work leads, increase your customer base and enhance your reputation by better serving your existing customers, and connect with potential partners. But it’s not without its pitfalls.

When using any social media, the cardinal rule is: Don’t antagonize! Creating hostility is most decidedly NOT the way to brand yourself or market your services or products.

Below is a list of the most common practices that I see your followers may find objectionable:

1. Spamming

You may think that you’re not spamming, but if marketing is all you ever think about, you just might be perceived as a spammer. Even if your ultimate goal in using Twitter is to promote your business, you’ve got to shift your attitude. Stop marketing, stop pitching, stop selling. Customers want to interact with you and with each other—they don’t want to be sold. Instead, think about how you can be part of the community and benefit others. Refrain from tweeting too much about your company and the services you offer.

2. Using an inappropriate photo

I’m sure you already know that you must have a photo on your Twitter site or no one will take you seriously. It’s best to put up a picture of yourself rather than your pets or something abstract. (I confess that I have a picture of my cat on my Twitter site, but I’m promoting my cats, not myself.) Use a professionally taken, close-up photograph of yourself. I see too many pictures where I can barely make out the person. Is it a bird? A horse? A human?

You can also use your company logo as the icon instead of a personal photo if that’s what you’re promoting. If you want to add a personal touch, you can also put a picture of yourself on the sidebar. In fact, that’s a prime piece of real estate for including more details about yourself or your company.

For some examples of highly successful Twitterers, see: http://twitter.com/savvyauntie (about 12,300 followers) and http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan (some 123,233 followers).

3. Sending ho-hum tweets.

You don’t have to write scintillating prose, but you do want to your tweets to be interesting, fun, or valuable to your clients. If your tweets are consistently boring, people will tune you out.

How you tweet depends on whether you’re representing your company or trying to brand yourself. Either way, do use a distinctive voice. With Twitter, you can sound casual, even a bit playful or offbeat. But remember, even if your tweets sound light and spontaneous, don’t forget that anyone can read them.

4. Sending mostly one-way “broadcast” tweets.

Remember that you’re supposed to be engaging in conversations. I remember one amusing spoof video clip on Twitter that made the rounds a few years ago. It showed a young man traipsing up and down the streets yelling out his thoughts and opinions about everything, while completely ignoring everyone around him. It was amusing in that it’s exactly how some people behave on Twitter. Don’t be like him; don’t add to the noise. Listen to the conversations around you. See what people are interested in. Be a resource. Try to answer some questions in your field of expertise. Offer tips, useful information, and third-party links.

That doesn’t mean you can’t tweet promotions or information about your organization. You just have to make sure that you have a good mixture of tweets. Include occasional personal updates as well. Revealing little glimpses of yourself  helps people feel connected and authenticity to your voice.

5. Using the default Twitter background.

So this isn’t a cardinal sin. But surely you can do better than that. An extremely successful consultant I know uses one of the free backgrounds that Twitter offers. That’s enough to get you started. But there are so many options out there, why settle for that? Give your site a little pizzazz by customizing it. You can use free resources like Twitbacks.com and www.twitdom.com. Others, like www.twitterbackgrounds.com offer both free and custom-designed backgrounds.

Tags: consultant, network Twitter, social media, spamming, Tweets

I just heard last night about a California state proposal to begin to require companies to withhold three percent of all monies paid to 1099 independent contractors.  MANY organizations are opposing this for the following reasons:

• Extra costs for local governments to enforce the withholding
• Extra costs for businesses to administer the withholding
• This is not incremental revenue for the state…just accelerated revenue

These are some good reasons…but I have a few more that impact me personally…

• I use subcontractors and pay at least 10 subcontractor invoices each year…I would need to do accounting/reporting/payment on each of those to the state (monthly? quarterly?)
• This is a double-hit since I would be receiving three percent less on all of my own project invoices, even though I’m already required to pay 70% of my estimated state taxes by June 30th for at least the next two years

Any of you who are independent contractors and 1) pay estimated taxes and/or 2) hire subcontractors/1099 resources will also be impacted.

The California Chamber of Commerce, California Special Districts Association, and others are encouraging anyone in opposition to this proposal to write letters to your California Senators and Assemblyman.  See this link to get the info you need to identify who to write to, including their mailing address.  See a sample letter/template to inspire your creativity (you’ll need to ‘make it your own’ since this is a template for businesses/CEOs to send).

Hearing about this proposal makes me realize that I need to stay much more informed about legislative issues that impact my business…good sources of information for small businesses and independent contractors: California Chamber of Commerce, National Association for the Self-Employed, and National Association of Women Business Owners.   We all need to stay informed!

Tags: consulting work, independent contractors, legislation, Running a Consulting Business, taxes, women in consulting

Recently, in a spurt of ‘abundance thinking’, where I was convinced that 2010 is going to be a MUCH better year than 2009 (I can’t afford to think otherwise, can you?!), I decided to do an inventory of people/resources I can turn to when my workload is too heavy to do it all myself.

Like many fellow consultants, I can perform every function needed to support most client projects myself, but have found it very wise to outsource certain portions of my research projects when I have a heavy client load in order to ensure that my time is spent on the things that are: 1) high value activities, worthy of my $100+ hourly rate and 2) things that only I can do based on my unique talents or the client relationship.

In an effort to streamline the process when I need to turn to other resources, I created a spreadsheet that provides me with a quick glance at the resources I’ve qualified and established relationships with over the past 10 years.  Some of the features of the spreadsheet:

• Every row is a different person/resource
• The first few columns include contact information, notes about the resource and their specialty
• The rest of the columns are categories of resources such as Interviewing, Analysis, Recruiting, Panels/Lists, etc.
• I put an X in each column/category that a given resource can help with

Having this quick reference allows me to rapidly scan a given column when I have the need for support in any given area.  When I meet/qualify new resources, I add them to the spreadsheet, which ensures that I think of them when the need arises.  This saves me a LOT of time and helps me make sure I make the right choice for each project, which helps ensure high quality results for my clients.

Let’s all think ‘abundance’ for 2010 and do a similar inventory of our resources…and if you don’t HAVE back-up resources, be sure to find some…WIC is a great source of qualified people who can partner with you to help in almost any element of your work.

Tags: collaboration, consulting work, Growing a Consulting Business, organize, organized, resources, Running a Consulting Business, secrets to a successful consulting business, subcontractors, successful virtual teams, Top Consulting Tips

We created a new Women in Consulting member benefit late in 2009, the WIC Mentoring Program. Our successful six-week pilot run ended in mid-October.

The pilot included seven mentees who agreed to help us test the new program. These were WIC members who were interested in the program, but also ready to invest some time (and do some homework!) in order to apply the information we shared with them to help improve various aspects of their businesses.

Desiree Lehrbaum (Lumen Consulting) and I (J. G. Richards Consulting) worked together as a team to mentor the pilot group. We’ll also lead the spring session, which runs from March 24-April 28.

Desiree’s mentoring focus is on marketing and business development of mentees’ businesses. I lead the vision-setting, action planning and “optimizing your business operations” parts of the program.

Once again, the spring session will use a webinar format once a week for an hour, supplemented by a 30 minute 1:1 mentoring call between each mentee and each mentor in the final weeks of the program. We hope to hold our kickoff session as a group, in person.

So how did the pilot go?

I’ll let the Fall, 2009 mentees speak for themselves. Here’s some of their feedback, provided on the anonymous feedback survey we sent them soon after the pilot was over:

“The content was awesome! I can’t imagine it being better.” (This came from a participant during our follow-up call a month after the session ended).

“Not only did I learn specific skills, but I felt more focused on my business and more motivated to actually get past hurdles and get things done.

“A very practical way of approaching the steps of marketing for my business, and identifying and confronting issues holding me back.”

“The program was extremely well thought out, structured into a business development focus with actionable tips and tools to take my thinking to the next level.”

There are more participant quotes I could share, but I think that gives you enough information to know if this is a program that sounds right for you, too.

If you’re interested in the Spring, 2010 WIC Mentoring Program, send me an e-mail at jan@jgichardsresults.com to let me know. We’re finalizing the Spring 2010 Mentoring group soon.

Tags: consultant learning, consultant learning and development, consultant learning resources, Growing a Consulting Business, mentoring, Running a Consulting Business

Does your email inbox have 3,000 emails in it?  Do you lose important emails because they are buried deep in your inbox?  Don’t let email overwhelm you.  Take control of your inbox with these easy steps: 

Clean Out Your Inbox Daily – The best way to avoid email overwhelm is to clean out your inbox daily.  The only emails that should be in your inbox are those emails that are pending action. 

Delete, delete, delete – When you receive junk mail, advertisements or duplicate information… delete them.  If you have emails that have nothing to do with you, are trash or not worth your time…delete them. 

Take Action – When you receive an email that will take 2 minutes or less to deal with, than take the necessary action immediately.  Then delete or file the email.

File It – If you need the email for reference in the future and this information is not available anywhere else, than file it in an email folder.  Be sure that the folders you set up are easy to understand so you can find the email later when you need it. 

Clear Out Email Backlog – If you have 3,000 emails in your inbox, then start taking the steps to clear out the backlog.  Start with the most recent emails first and work your way back.  Each day spend 15 minutes working on this project until it is completed. 

Create a Junk Email – Use this email address to order things online or sign into random websites.  Once this email address starts to get overloaded with spam, you can shut it down and create another junk email address.  This will help contain the junk email so it won’t take over your real email.

Tags: emails, inbox, junk, organize, overwhelm, spam

I love finding nifty tools, those little gadgets, programs, and the like that make life easier. In fact, when I redid my aveconsulting.com site recently, I added a section in the Visitor’s Toolbox where I list some of my faves. I’ll definitely add this newest one to the list.

If you use subcontractors — or you frequently (or infrequently, because it’s free) send documents that you need signed — you need to check out EchoSign.

Beyond Simple to Use

• EchoSign notifies the recipient via email that there’s a document for them to sign
• The recipient goes to the secure page, fills out the form, signs it digitally, and clicks a complete button
• EchoSign then sends a PDF of the signed document to the signer and the original requester

I just experienced the process from the signer end (W9, Contractor Agreement, Direct Deposit Form), and it was absolutely the most painless on-boarding process that I ever experienced. No printing. No faxing. No scanning. In about 10 minutes I was done (and that was only because I needed to read the agreement). I will hands down use it when I have docs for people to sign, as I’ll get them faster and keep my contractors happy.

Easy on the Bottom Line

As for the cost, if you send five docs or less per month, the service is free. After that, there are tiers based on usage. There are other nifty tools, too, like Zoho Writer, which “enables you to collaborate with partners, employees, and customers on documents and then send them out for instant digital signatures.” You can also use it to store forms and templates that you use again and again. There’s currently no charge for Zoho Writer, and it may be used with any type of EchoSign account.

If you’ve used EchoSign yourself, I’d love to hear about your experience. If you try it after reading this review, I’d like to know how you like it.

NOTE: I have no association with EchoSign whatsoever and in no way benefit from this recommendation — other than to make other consultants happy, which will hopefully reflect positively on Women in Consulting (WIC).

Tags: digital signatures, online forms, Running a Consulting Business, subcontractors, Top Consulting Tips

Anyone who knows me is probably wondering how I could be writing a post on work-life balance. This year has been full of days that start at 6 or 6:30 and don’t end until midnight or later and working weekends. In fact, I’ve found little time for one of my favorite stress relievers: exercise. NOTE: this post isn’t about the benefits of exercise.

I love the endorphin rush I get from a good walk in our hilly neighborhood while listening to some of my favorite music — another top stress reliever. However, after getting to bed at midnight or later, the last thing I want to do is drag my you-know-what out of bed to exercise. Heck, even when I was a fitness fanatic that wasn’t my favorite hour to break a sweat. The result, I find myself feeling less than stellar for my lack of movement and determined to do something about it. Little did I know all that I’d get out of it.

Lesson # 1: Put a stake in the ground.  My situation wasn’t going to change anytime soon, so I decided to find a new time and claim it as my own. At least four times a week, 5pm is my time. Period. I owe it to myself and my business. I think clearer, and I’m more pleasant–both business-building benefits. And I owe it to my family–I’ll be way more enjoyable to be around.

Lesson # 2: Be open to new possibilities. A key component to my walks’ ability to improve my mood and outlook is the opportunity to lose myself in music and my thoughts, totally on my own away from all responsibilities. However, the second time I was getting ready to go, my eight-year-old daughter asked me to go. This meant no music, no opportunity to mentally escape, no time just for me — three components that make these walks such a stress relief. Yet, this was a chance for free, uninterrupted time with Ashley, to show through my actions that I love being with her, and to encourage her to seek out physical activity.

So instead of resenting the loss of my one hour of “me” time, I chose to welcome this wonderful opportunity to share my walk with my daughter.   

Lesson # 3: Small changes can make a big difference. When we set off on our walk that first day, Ashley put her little hand in mine and started to chat away about her day. We talked about all sorts of topics, from school to vacations to why people litter to friends to the cows and other animals that surround our neighborhood and more. We laughed. And we just plain enjoyed each other’s company, sometimes daydreaming and not saying anything.

The decision to go on my walk with Ashley — and how I chose to view it —  has had a huge impact on how I feel, more than just a walk by myself would do. I still get the endorphin rush and the calming effect that I get from music, but it’s different. Different in a good way — and being open to new ways has a lot to do with that.

Do I miss my solitary walks? Sure, but I can do those when she’s otherwise occupied. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to welcome what the universe has to offer instead of fighting it — or at least try. I’m certain that’s another great stress reliever.

Lesson # 4: Feed two birds with one seed. (I never liked “kill two birds”; I like birds.) I’m a great multitasker. But I don’t typically advocate being a multitasker when it comes to relieving one’s stress. Kind of defeats the purpose, if you ask me. Yet, sometimes feeding two birds with one seed is more rewarding than tending each bird separately. Walking with Ashley gets me moving and outside with nature (another stress reliever that I recommend), and it increases the time I spend with my daughter, time that isn’t spent doing homework or cleaning or running errands. I would call that the best type of multitasking there is.  

There are other lessons of course, but you get the idea. One little walk (or whatever helps you deal with stress and brings you joy), combined with a better attitude and a go-with-the-flow approach, can “keep the doctor away,” give you the feeling that there is some balance in your life, and teach you a lesson or two along the way that you can use elsewhere in your life.

Tags: Running a Consulting Business, startng a consulting business, work-life balance