Effective time management is key to success in online marketing. It is a struggle to complete all the necessary tasks associated with traffic building and still have time to write new posts – two ingredients that can not be substituted or sacrificed. I’ve said before that time is more valuable than money because you can’t buy more, yet millions of people, including myself, are guilty of wasting time.
Oh, it’s not done on purpose – but it happens nonetheless. It happens because when we sit down at our computers to complete our blogging/affiliate related tasks, we unknowingly enter a state of what is called “flow”. Flow is a heightened level of engagement in a task – so much so that we lose track of time. It happens because we are so focused and engrossed in answering emails, posting comments, checking traffic stats, checking Adsense stats, tracking sales stats, installing and reinstalling stubborn widgets. . . I think you get the idea. Before we know it, hours have passed and we have accomplished relatively nothing.
One moment it is 6:00pm and the next we look up, it’s 12:42am – and we still feel like we’re just getting started. We’ve spent over six hours, not drinking any liquids, not talking to our family members, and it was probably only the call of our bladder that broke the spell and called us back to reality then. Yes, people, that is flow.
Don’t get me wrong, flow is a good thing, it means we’re passionate about what we’re doing. However, without proper planning and focus, we often end up aimlessly clicking from one link to the next; from one impulse task to the next. We often emerge from six hours of flow without having even accomplished the most important task of all – writing new content.
A more focused approach is necessary. Get a planner; and don’t just write a “to-do” list. Treat it as if it’s an appointment – because it is. Your appointment with success awaits. . . ! If you pencil in “Compose New Post” at 11:00a – do exactly that! Prioritize which of your tasks are most important and do those first. In the case of this blogging business, writing and traffic building are interwoven and must be your top priorities. Devote an hour (or more) for posting. Creating engaging content that contains your embedded affiliate links is key. What good is traffic with no new content or affiliate links to click?
Next, devote another thirty minutes to an hour completing traffic building activities. Start with the traffic building activities that have the most impact, like article marketing as explained in Segal’s free ebook (you can find this book in the “Free Resources” section at: http://affiliate-helpdesk. blogspot. com in addition to other effective traffic building strategies. Check out ezine directories for venues to submit your content. Other important traffic building activities should include submissions to blog carnivals. Be sure to spend some time posting and following related sites. But stick to a time limit – this step is problaby best implemented if broken down into chunks – Limit your posting time to ten minutes per site (time yourself – kitchen timers are great!) or you can devote more time to each site by developing a rotating schedule – one day spend 20 minutes each posting at sites A, B, C, the next day post at D, E, and F, and so on. . . Save checking stats for last or better yet, don’t check them at all – wait until the end of the week and schedule some time then. And notice I said “schedule”.
A lot of people over look this next important task: scheduling time for training and research is the one task that differientiates between affiliates who succeed and affiliates who give up. You must never stop learning – technology and the internet is constantly changing. So you have to give yourself some time to stay up to speed. Devote at least one or two hours a week (that’s only 20-30 minutes a day) to your education. Do some research for content, read some other experts on your topic, browse new affiliate programs to promote. . . in other words continuously educate yourself on your field. So put “Continuing Education” in your 12:30 pm slot and stick to it!
Treat this as if it were any other 9-5 – the way the economy is going, it just might be. If you say you want to work four hours – schedule your tasks, stick to your time limits for each task, and work for those full four hours. Try to live by this rule: if you didn’t schedule it during those four hours – don’t do it! Following these steps will alleviate the negative effects of flow that end in hours spent on unnecessary tasks. If you are staying up too late doing affiliate related activities how much money are you really making while you sleep?
About Author Kiesha Easley, English Composition Instructor; Affiliate Marketer. Click HERE to find out how I get 25-50 visitors to my blogs for free!
