Productivity
As marketers, we know first-hand the importance of using effective software. Powerful tools enable marketing teams to increase the quality and timeliness of their marketing efforts. Consider, for instance, how project management software can help you coordinate cross-functionally and ensure all team members have visibility into the tasks required to get a campaign off the ground. Leveraging the right tools also enables you to determine whether your marketing efforts are working. A CRM that integrates with a project management tool can empower each team member to become a better, more data-driven marketer. Best of all, the right integrations help to ensure your organization isn’t duplicating work and wasting time. In challenging economic times, it’s never been more critical for business leaders to avoid costly duplication efforts. In 2022, one out of every five businesses reported they pivoted from their established plan due to the potential recession. Supportive, integrated tools can ensure your
If you’re sitting at your desk staring at your to-do list and you have no idea where you should start, you need to apply the Pareto Principle, otherwise known as the 80/20 Rule. The Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 Rule, is a common principle used across various industries and businesses to help determine the highest priority tasks that yield the most impact. When you’ve identified the high-impact tasks, you’re guaranteed to increase your productivity and your profits. In the early 1900s, Vilfredo Pareto recognized this occurrence when studying Italy’s wealth distribution. Pareto observed that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by only 20% of the population. Pareto also noticed this same 80/20 occurrence in other things, like the productivity of the pea plants in his garden. It is important to understand the 80/20 Rule is not a mathematical formula. Instead, it is an observation explaining the correlation between effort and
You need an email account — whether it’s for networking, job recruitment, downloading resources, transferring files, setting reminders, meeting with colleagues, or something else. Even with the rise of office chat platforms, you still depend on email for a surprising number of things. But unfortunately, not every email service is completely free. And even the free ones might not be the easiest to use or have all the features you need. It can be a challenge to find an email service provider at no cost that balances the right features with usability. To help make your search easier, we put together a list of the different types of email accounts you can set up, followed by the best email service providers you can host your account on right now for free. Types of Email Accounts There are two main types of email service providers to choose from: Email clients and…
As a marketer, you’re busy. And, even though you probably already know that automating tasks and workflows can free up a lot of time, it takes a lot of focus to set up, right? Well, not necessarily. With all of the marketing automation tools at your fingertips, it’s simpler and speedier than ever to streamline your workflows. To maximize your automation strategy, we’ve compiled some of the best marketing tasks that you should automate in your workflow. 35 Marketing Tasks to Automate Email Tasks 1. Delivering Content Downloads One of the most effective areas of your marketing strategy to automate is email. As one example, you can set up automated emails to deliver content opt-ins such as reports, ebooks, and free templates. This can be instead of (or as well as) triggering the download in the person’s browser. It also has the added benefit of enabling you to add a…
The more billable tasks you complete, the more money your agency makes. The less time you spend on admin and non-billables, the more you can spend on valuable client work. Productivity equals profitability. But being productive is easier said than done, especially as you scale your agency. To help you out, here are some of our favorite productivity hacks for digital agencies to get more done in less time, whether your agency makes money from digital marketing, SEO, web design, or other skills you’ve turned into a business. How to Make Digital Agencies More Productive 1. Delegate tasks that someone else can do better. Many agencies start this way: you’re a lone consultant monetizing your skills, and business is good. In fact, you’re bringing in too much work to deliver yourself. You either have to turn down clients or overstretch yourself unsustainably. But eventually, you decide to distribute the workload…
“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley,” wrote Scottish poet Robert Burns. Even the finest, most well-thought-out plans sometimes have to be set aside for reasons outside of your control. During times of uncertainty, one of the most important traits for any business to have is flexibility. With a willingness to adjust plans, divert from the original strategy, and make small or large pivots, your business can be more resilient during stormy weather. If your business is facing uncertainty and the road ahead is unclear, here’s how to add more flexibility to your plans, projects, and strategy to help you get through it. How to Make Your Business Flexible During Uncertainty Accept what you need to postpone or change. If the landscape your business exists in has suddenly changed, you will need to make changes inside your organization, too. That’s especially the case if you…
You’ve decided to become a freelancer. You’re the boss of your own time, your business, and the projects you choose to work on. There’s a lot going on, from finding new clients to managing your workload. The truth is… you kind of have to do everything, especially when you’re just starting out. To maximize your chances of success, one of your first decisions as a freelancer is how to manage your processes – especially your invoices, accounting, clients, and projects. To find, retain, and receive glowing reviews from clients, you need an efficient and scalable way to stay on top of invoicing, accounting, time tracking, and client management. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to neglect the billable tasks that build your business and always be playing catch-up. After a lot of testing, here’s our pick of the best freelancer apps to manage your business and prime your freelance career for…