The other day I was talking to a fellow marketer and after telling him about all the successful projects and consulting ventures that I’m currently running, he said “How do you do it all?”
The easy answer is to say “I stay focused when I’m working”. I get my work done and then do the other things that I enjoy doing afterward.
But, truthfully it’s the organization more than anything and the dynamic routine that helps me more than anything.
One of the MAJOR traps that I notice a lot of newer (and even some experienced) marketers get into is spending too much time socializing on forums, gossiping on AIM and endlessly reading articles.
Here is how I counteract that and balance my days so that I can read everything I want, socialize all I want as well as get all my work done and make money.
I like to read several blogs on a daily basis and see what everyone else is talking about, just like everyone else. It’s very common for someone to inspire me or give me motivation to try something that I may not have otherwise done. For that reason I read several blogs & RSS feeds on a regular basis.
I use Google Reader for my RSS feeds, so that I can access them on any computer at any location all at once. And I don’t have to worry about software or what operating system I’m on. This allows me to read them all quickly without having to load 15 separate URLs. I just pull up DailyConversions.com and Google.com/reader. Simple as that and I have all my RSS blog posts at my finger tips.
I’ve done you a favor and pulled the RSS feed URLs so you can insert them directly into Google Reader and have everything ready to go in 5 minutes. Just jump on your Google account and click over to Google.com/reader and you’ll see an Option to “Add A Subscription” right on the top left corner of the page. Add the following RSS feeds and this will give you a good base of feeds to read on a daily basis, you can expand as you go. A good source to find more is AFFBuzz.com
Here’s the list of Quality RSS, Twitter and Faceebok URLS (just to name a few)
DailyConversions
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DailyConversions
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dailyconversion
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/DailyConversionscom/103341103032800
Jonathan Volk
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JonathanVolkInternetMarketingBlog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jonathanvolk
Facebook: http://facebook.com/jonathanvolkdotcom
PPC.bz
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/PPCBZ
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ppcbz
Ian Fernando
RSS: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/failurestosuccess
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianternet
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IANternetMedia
CashTactics
RSS: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/CashTactics
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cashtactics
Justin Dupre
RSS: http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=justindupre
Twitter: http://twitter.com/justin_dupre
MrGreen
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/mrgreenam
PPV Playbook
RSS: http://ppvplaybook.com/blog/feed/rss/
Profit Addiction
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/profitaddiction
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/profitaddiction
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Profit-Addiction/357755759303
All in one convenient spot so you can just go through and add them all at once. Don’t forget to add the Twitter and Facebook’s as well. Stay connected and do all of this at once, one time per day (ok maybe 2 or 3 if you are like me). But honestly, having an RSS reader setup is a much more efficient way of checking all of these sources and you’ll save hours per day if you’re like me and want to read everything that’s going on in the industry.
My business consists of numerous ventures and time management is a very legitimate concern. Take the time to setup your RSS Reader so that you can go to these all at once and not get caught up in visiting 25 sites multiple times per day. Pick a time each day that you’re going to do your RSS reading, maybe that will be 1, 2 or 3 times per day. Set a time limit. It works, you’ll end up saving time by not endlessly getting caught up in reading as an excuse not to do your own work. Don’t forget to come to DailyConversions.com directly though, I give bonuses and special content which is not available to RSS Readers. If I’m forgetting any really important blogs feel free to leave a comment.
lol yea blog reading can be addicting
got to resist those strong urge by limiting 1-2 times/day.
same goes for emails.
Brian – Thanks for the mention, and I agree 100%. I have all of those blogs on my RSS already!
Brian,
Thank you for posting. It is refreshing to read a blog that is easy to read and understand.
-Jody