It’s an entrepreneur’s problem, typified by statements like “It’s just faster if I do it myself.” Which is something I hear a lot. And my response usually is, “is it?” I can say that, because I’ve both suffered from the perfectionist (and economical) drive to do it all myself. And I’ve dealt with supervisors who would suddenly offload – or try to – a huge project with an unrealistic deadline that they’ve suddenly run into.

And because of my own personal proclivities, I usually all but kill myself to try and relieve their emergency. But that’s a discussion for a later time.

As David says later in the podcast, “There’s only so many hours you can work in a day, or a week or whatever… You’ve got to be able to hand off the things that keep you from delivering your best value.”

I’m going to repeat that last phrase again… “delivering your best value.” You see, I think that most entrepreneurs and small business owners really do believe that they’re responsible for giving the best value to their customers. But at the same time, they often lack the perspective to see that they’re unable to do that. They’re spreading themselves too thin, trying to do too many things – and things they are not best at.

Expect the Ineffectual

Next week, I’ll talk about the specter of opportunity cost – and the cost of lost opportunities. But today, let’s look at an old analogy from John Maxwell. Or maybe it was Warren Buffet. Doesn’t matter. What’s important is the lesson, not the teacher.

Suppose that your earning potential is $100 per hour. You’re working from your home office and go to refill your coffee mug. Suddenly, you notice that the lawn is getting a little too high. Or the laundry basket is starting to overflow. Or those dishes need to be done. Maybe it would be good to run the vacuum…

Now for me, those tasks have the added “advantage” of being easy procrastination techniques that make it appear as if I’m being productive, while I’m just avoiding the work I should be doing. But that’s not why I’m bringing them up.

Now, if I spend an hour washing the dishes or vacuuming the house, that’s $100 of earning potential I’ve just thrown to the wind. Or – I can hire a maid to come in for 3 hours, pay them $75 and focus on the things that make me and my company money.

Now, instead of dishes, suppose I’m spending time tweaking the design on my website or posting social media posts. Or maybe minor accounting and spreadsheet work – things I am not very good at, which inevitably take more time to do than writing – which I am damn good at – and could outsource to a capable, qualified professional for a lot less than my hourly rate.

You’d balk at spending $100 an hour for a landscaper to mow your lawn – but you’ll spend 2 hours doing it, essentially wasting $200. That’s kind of the definition of “cutting off your nose to spite your face.”

“Investments” Past the Point of no Return

As much as it pains us to delegate, outsource, let anyone else touch our stuff – and maybe screw it up – we have to look at it as an investment. We have to look at a cost-benefit analysis. I’ve discussed it many times before, but it’s relevant to revisit the Pareto Principle here.

The Pareto Principle, simply stated is this – 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort. So which parts of your work are you spending the most time focusing on? Are you earning less because you’re spending too much time on things that don’t yield the greatest income?

Let’s put it this way – if your greatest skill is your ability to close potential clients and bring money into the company coffers, why would you reduce the time you have available to do that? You have an already honed skill – an advantage that cannot, so far, be replicated within your business. But, instead of closing customers, you’re spending an inordinate amount of time trying to learn a different skill. You’re struggling with a learning curve. Maybe you’re frustrated by the lack of progress from your efforts.

You’re putting off meeting with potential clients because you’re trying to get better at attracting new clients.

Of course, you’d never do that – except I see it happen every single day. Business owners put off the things they are super skilled and talented at, to focus on learning whatever the next new thing is that supposed to help their business.

Now, shiny object syndrome is a real thing – but I’m saying even proven techniques like writing and publishing a consistent content blog can be a waste of valuable time if you haven’t got the skill. And many entrepreneurs don’t.

Time is Money is Time

Let me use a simpler example. Suppose you launch your business and a large part of the daily activity is fielding incoming calls. Is it more cost effective for you to spend your $100-an-hour-value answering those calls – including the ones that will never yield customers or income?

Or would it be better to pay a secretary $20 an hour, plus benefits, to take those calls, freeing you up to create and develop the business? The only time you’re on the phone is for valuable tasks that yield $100 or more income per hour you spend on them.

Going back to the beginning of this article – there’s only so much time in the day. I’m an employee of Grow the Dream, so my hours are paid. But because I’m in California, I can work while David sleeps in Florida. And he can quickly prep things for me in the hours before I’m awake, so I can hit the ground running.

By using employees and freelancers in different time zones, Grow the Dream as a company is working 18-20 hours per day. David is talented and probably gets less sleep than he needs (I know I do), but he can’t consistently be working 18-20 hours per day, 5-7 days a week.

Neither can you. I don’t care how motivated and talented you are as an entrepreneur or small business owner, our bodies run out at some point. Are you limiting your success? Are you hurting yourself and your business (not to mention your significant others)?

Successful business owners leverage their time and resources.

If you want to be one, you will too.

Entrepreneurial Fulcrum

For more than 20 years, we’ve taught small business owners how to leverage their digital marketing efforts. Ignoring “conventional wisdom” about search engine optimization, and focusing on a strategic approach has led to faster than normal success. And the rest of the world is catching up to our methods, as Google and Facebook algorithms increasingly hamstring the old approaches. I’m not going to belabor that here.

But one thing we realized as we taught is that there was a need to assist small business owners with some of the more skill-based marketing efforts. A lot of entrepreneurs who went through our courses embraced the principles! But they lacked the ability or time to execute them most effectively.

So we pivoted a bit. We began offering our clients the option to not only learn the techniques – but also help implement them. We started with developing our unique model buyer personas. Other digital marketing services have adapted or ‘borrowed’ our methods, but didn’t focus as clearly on the specifics. Our clients get extremely detailed profiles to use for targeting their ideal customers – the ones that are a win-win for the client and their customer.

Then we went one step further. We offered clients who needed it the writing and graphics services we already utilized in house. Some clients have us write their content blogs. Some have us edit their writing into a clearer, more focused presentation. They leverage our highly-skilled, capable, talented staff for their benefit.

Which is more cost-effective… Spending valuable time learning a new skill, or utilizing a team with nearly 100 years of combined experience writing compelling copy targeted at a unique audience? This isn’t calculus. By taking advantage of what we do best, those small business owners were freed up to focus on what they did best.

“Automate” by Delegating

David is fond of telling our clients that our motto is to “train our clients til we’re out of a job.” And we do try to do that. But it’s irresponsible to not consider additional options when you need skills and talents that are outside your area of expertise.

Your business is your passion. But can you explain that passion or educate people on the necessity of your product and service effectively? Passion and speaking passionately go a long way. But at some point, you need to adapt or adopt captivating, effective communication techniques – especially if you’re doing it on paper.

Your passion is evident in your voice, your body language, your enthusiasm. But is that conveyed on the page? In my experience, often it’s not.

My passion is storytelling – and conveying it on the page. Words are my stock and trade. I know how to evoke visuals, emotions and engage readers. So does Betsy Dane, our other talented senior writer. She’s also top notch when it comes to grant applications and some of the business writing I find more mundane.

I can tell you, ‘you need to write consistent, targeted content posts,’ til I’m blue in the face. But if you don’t know how, or worse, are one of those people who hold off until it’s precisely perfect, but never published… that’s not doing anyone any good.

We may not be working our way out of a job – but we do want you to have the best chance of success. If writing or editing frustrates you, you’re less likely to do it. Hiring us to fill in that gap is not only a good investment, it may be a necessary one.

In this way, you can automate the important – by letting us help your business grow.

Areas of Expertise

The best way to grow your small business is to focus on the areas of your expertise. I know that’s hard when you’re just getting started. Even if you’re not a solopreneur, everyone in your business is likely wearing multiple hats. And that’s great when you’re getting started. For some, it’s that excitement that drives them.

That’s great if you want to be a serial entrepreneur. But what if your business idea isn’t one that Microsoft or Google or Facebook is going to pay millions of dollars for? What if you don’t want to start over and over and over again? What if you do, but recognize the value in having a strong business to sell off to the highest bidder?

Whether you want to create one awesome business that serves the world and eventually offers you more freedom, or if you want to create multiple world-changing entities… You still only have so much time.

Don’t you owe it to yourself and your family to leverage the best means at your disposal? Our services aren’t for everyone. But we are the best at what we do for the people we do it for. We have market proof of growth for our customers’ businesses year over year. Proof not only of the success of our strategic approach – but also success of the content we write for our clients.

We’re so confident that we’ll give you 25 minutes free of charge with our top consultant to see the difference. Just reach out and test the waters. We’ve built our business helping small businesses expand – and we can do the same for you.

Let’s Grow the Dream together!

While this may seem like an odd thing to talk about from the perspective of small business strategic marketing approaches, in reality it’s very much on point. People with ADHD are approximately three times more likely to start small businesses. And the numbers skyrocket when you look closer at serial entrepreneurs. I alluded to this a bit in my article on goal setting for entrepreneurs.

The Yerkes-Dodson study of 1908 found that more stimulation was required to perform difficult tasks. Stress normally escalates to a certain point where optimal functioning occurs, and that’s the best time to do the difficult tasks – unless you have ADHD. While almost all entrepreneurs and small business owners thrive and need more dopamine than “normal people,” persons with ADHD appear to lack even the standard ‘complement’ of dopamine.  Which is why instead of amping them up, amphetamines actually help them level out.

I could go into much more detail about how this all works – in theory. People who have never even heard of the Yerkes-Dodson experiment refer to ideas generated by it as gospel, such as the concept that early morning is the most productive time. People whose circadian rhythms classify them as night owls, for example, have struggled to adopt or rebel against those prejudices for generations.

Past is Prologue

As I sit here typing this, with both knees bouncing, I know some of you are still uncertain as to why or how this analysis might be helpful. So I’ll simplify and get to the point. Dana and David both sometimes joke that persons with ADHD are unemployable. Because of the struggle to focus, or the inattentiveness to detail – ADHD symptoms express in a variety of ways – it is sometimes hard for people with ADHD to hold down a “normal” job. And sometimes, even if they could, it doesn’t provide them the stimulation they need.

So persons with ADHD tend to seek out and launch new businesses in larger numbers than neurotypicals. And while we didn’t identify ADHD as a specific parameter for Grow the Dream’s ideal customer profiles, many of the key aspects highlighted do fit within an ADHD diagnosis. Since we strive to do what we teach and target our ideal clients with our content, there’s a good chance that if you’re reading this article, you fit this profile. Now, I’m not saying you’ve got ADHD – and likewise, don’t jump on Google and try to self-diagnose. Just consider it might be a possibility.

All this to say, today’s article will hopefully be a help to you – regardless of whether you have ADHD or not.  

Bound for Home

David and Dana were launching the podcast right as everything came to a head last year and various health officials asked us to stay home from work and school in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. David and Dana decided to do an early episode highlighting some of the codes Dana had established in her professional life. The idea was that adopting these codes that keep many people with ADHD on track might be useful for all folks working from home.

Looking back, we had no idea how long that staying home period would last. Or that corporations would find value in shifting to a working from home mode and encourage it to continue, in whole or part, as an aspect of the post-pandemic “new normal.”

If you’re struggling with staying focused, making your home office feel like an office, or wondering if you can ever embrace this new model, here are the standards Dana uses every day to be successful in her professional life.

The Environmental Structure Code

You may not have even noticed how your work structure supports your productivity. I often tell aspiring screenwriters who struggle with writer’s block that one of the best cures is to just sit down. Get at your computer, in the “writing position,” and write. It doesn’t have to be good, or great. You can type random things, or stream of consciousness like you’re journaling. One of my writing mentors, when he first started, would sit down at the typewriter and retype a famous screenplay. Our minds and our focus can often be transformed by actions.

So if your environment doesn’t feel like a work situation, transform it – your body will develop muscle memory that then drives your inspiration and action. If you can get started on a task, sometimes that’s enough. The hardest hurdle is behind you. You’ll be working before you know it.

The Office Hour Code

Just because you don’t have a commute doesn’t mean you don’t have a schedule. It is essential that you define what time you start work, what time you take a lunch break, what time you end work. And stick to it.

It is SO easy to start late or just keep working. And like I referenced back at the beginning of this article – you don’t have to make it an early morning. I am most definitely a night owl. So I do my 8-10 hours – starting at 10am. It used to be later, but I’m subject to peer pressure too. Even though the other folks in my house rarely say anything about it, most of them work earlier, and I feel compelled to not waste the day. And it’s easier to socialize when they return home from work.

But whatever your office hours are – define them and stick to them. It will greatly reduce your stress and increase dopamine to know when you begin, and not feel guilty when you end. Or when you take the weekend off – and you can take the weekend off. Or another day during the week. Not to get all spiritual, but the Sabbath that God decreed for the ancient Hebrews isn’t just a religious thing. Doctors tell us it’s actually good for the body and the soul.

If you don’t have an end time and at least one day off, work will consume all of you. And that’s not a good thing. You need to stop, spend time with your loved ones; you need to relax. And yes, it’s okay if you’re putting out the occasional fire – but it cannot be a constant thing. As the meme says, if you don’t take time for routine maintance, the machinery will take it for you.

The Corral and Control Code

In this case, of course, that machinery is your body, in case that wasn’t obvious.

Never getting distracted is NOT the goal. All that will accomplish for any of us is devolving into a shame and blame cycle. It not only doesn’t help – but it’s its own distraction.

A better goal is to try and catch, as fast as you can, when distractions arise. Don’t criticize or “should” all over yourself, but as soon as you notice you’re getting sidetracked, acknowledge it and shift back to what you need to do.

Notice and redirect.

A helpful tip when you’re getting started – set a timer. You’ll generally want to set it for sometime between 10-30 minutes, repeating. When the timer goes off, you ask yourself two questions, and you take an action.

• What am I doing?  
• What did I intend to be doing?
• If the answers aren’t the same – get back on track.

Again, no shame, no guilt – just pivot back to the task you intended to be doing. The more you practice, the easier it will become – just like environment, you’re building muscle memory.

The Chores Code

It’s easy to get diverted with chores while at home. The dishes need to be done. The laundry’s piling up. The floor needs to be vacuumed… and that’s just off the top of my head. I’m sure I could organize my pencils, water the plants; organize my tools… Oh! I could walk the dog!

But ask yourself, “Would I do this if I were at the office?”

It seems obvious that the response would be ‘of course not,’ but don’t qualify it because, well, I’m at home, and this stuff wouldn’t be at the office. But do you go into the breakroom and wash everyone’s dishes? Go around emptying the trash? Maybe grab and distribute everyone’s mail? Okay, maybe some of us might – but it’s not our job, and it’s far less likely.

If a task or chore is not one that you would routinely do as part of your work day, then save it intil AFTER your work day is complete.

The same is true if friends and family try to “take advantage” of your being home. My working from home doesn’t mean I can run to the store for you or pick you up at the airport. I have specific tasks I’m supposed to be doing for work each day, and those need to be my priority. Just like they’d be at an office job.

The Dress Code

Uh, oh. You might already see where this is going. And it’s something I fall into too. Unless it’s a special event, you’re not wearing your pajamas to the office or sitting at your desk in your underwear. And really, when was the last time corporate America arranged Toga Day for Spirit Week?

How productive you are correlates to how you are dressed. One of the transitions I had to make early on in the pandemic was making my bed. The apartment I was in at that time was smaller than I had in the past. And if I didn’t straighten the blanket on the bed, I was more likely to lay back down in it, or just putter around without getting anything accomplished. And I’ve worked from home for years.

Get up, get dressed, brush your teeth. Do whatever you would normally do to get ready for work, thank God you don’t have the commute to stress you out, and get to work. Dress like you’re going to a meeting. For me, it’s casual Friday every day, because that’s my dress code. Dress as if you’re still going into the office and you’ll feel more like working. Which leads to…

The Embarrassment Code

Would I be embarrassed if the doorbell rang and I had to go answer the door – looking like I do now, wearing what I’m wearing now?

It sounds like a silly thing to be concerned about. Until I tell you about my pregnant friend who opened the door to the UPS driver with her robe open, exposing herself. And she didn’t realize it until she’d signed for the package, stepped back inside and closed the door – catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was mortified and now worries every time the doorbell rings that it’ll be that UPS driver again.

Needless to say, she’ll never repeat that mistake. And you can learn from her humbling experience.

Coding Your Conduct

So hopefully you’ll find these 6 codes invaluable for your continued working from home journey. Here’s a pro-tip – they work for your kids too! So everyone can stay more on track while working from home. And if you’re a business owner or serial entrepreneur, the codes are a great way to stay on track and build your business faster and more successfully. Think of them as strategy for your mind.

If you want to learn more about dealing with ADHD as a business owner or entrepreneurial professional, check out Dana and David’s weekly podcast here. And if you need any help with your marketing strategy or developing content for your strategic business marketing, please reach out! We’ve built our business helping other small businesses expand and thrive.

Let’s Grow the Dream together!

But how does this affect you as an entrepreneur? Simply put, the continued rise of podcasting can benefit businesses that know how to take advantage of it, just as much as Hollywood does.

Numbers Don’t Lie

If you had any doubt, a recent report by Edison Research shows that interest in and listeners to podcasts are both continuing to rise, nearly exponentially. There’s a reason iHeart radio stations remind you once an hour that their app has podcasts (40% of people who don’t listen think they have to pay).

About 32% of the United States population listens to a podcast once a month. That’s about 90-million listeners to draw from. The breakdown of listeners by gender is almost perfectly 50/50. Ages 18-54 make up 75% of listeners. Podcast listeners are more highly educated and earn more. Some 41% of monthly listeners earn more than $75-thousand a year – almost twice the national income numbers. And the number of people who sample podcasts and convert to monthly or weekly listeners is increasing, while people leaving podcasts behind is sharply declining.

I’m not going to go into all the numbers, but I encourage you to check out the full Infinite Dial report. They didn’t do a follow-up survey this year. But if you consider the balance of people’s additional free time at home versus those who listened during their commute, I’d wager the numbers stayed the same.

Story Works

Additionally, we know from other market research that in today’s world more than ever, consumers want to know and have a relationship with companies they do business with. And nothing builds relationship faster or more efficiently than story.

There’s a joke in my household that DJ Khaled’s only contribution to projects is coming in and shouting his name. But much like the Kardashians, he has built a brand just on being himself and people being drawn to his personality and transparency. He is his story – authentic and real. Whether you’re a fan or not, you know exactly who he is.

One undeniable key to success is to embrace and tell your story – just as consistently and authentically as DJ Khaled and others. It’s one of the reasons Tik Tok took off here. Instagram and Facebook may have started and branded “stories,” but Tik Tok defined the way people share their lives and stories.

But I’m not here to talk about social media. Hopefully, if you’ve been reading this blog or following our #StrategyStream, you know that content is king. Podcasting takes that content – those stories of you and your business – and jacks them up to the next level.

Content Capitalized

Blog posts are great, essential and can convey story brilliantly. But the human voice can convey much more meaning through tone and inflection than the printed word ever can. One of the other reasons Hollywood is drawn to podcasts over original screenplays is because they don’t have to read them. They can hear them. If they lack imagination, the written word might not convey the emotion of the story. But when they listen, it comes through without even trying.

The same thing is true for your content. Whether you’re working B2B and speaking to other business owners, or B2C and reaching consumers, most of them don’t have time to read. The exception being those who are looking for answers to specific questions, which is why we target them. But as listeners, they hear the emotion, inflection, passion in your voice. And that’s worth a month of posts – especially if you’re doing the podcast weekly or more frequently. Another bonus – podcasts also help build your search results.

You already know the stories to tell. You’ve been writing about them. You’ve built them into the DNA of your customer interactions. If you did our recommended strategic work, you’ve already found ways to integrate who you are and who you serve into the story of your company. So share it.

And no, it doesn’t matter if you feel like you’re repeating yourself. Many people who listen to podcasts do so because they lack time or interest in reading. And if your story is compelling, you can tell it many times over without boring anyone. In fact, doing it on a podcast, again allows your passion to bleed through into their ears. And little is more compelling and attractive than passion.

Learning Curve

I have some good news for you. If you are one of our clients, or just have been following along and doing the strategic work on your own, you are ahead of the game. One of the biggest hurdles many new podcasters face is what to talk about and who their audience is. You already know that. And if you don’t, check out our past #StrategyStreams or drop us a line. We are here to help.

Technology is the other hurdle you may be facing. Both I and our fearless leader, David G Johnson, have a background in radio. So it’s easier for us to talk about and institute podcasting. While we aren’t recording new episodes, you can always check out the past episodes of The Grow The Dream Show. Or, if you’re like many entrepreneurs and suffer even a little ADHD, you can check out David’s current podcast, Kick Some ADHD.

But if you don’t have that background, you can check out these posts on Launching a Podcast for less than $200 and How to host your Podcasting files for low cost. For newcomers to the podcasting world, I recommend you sample a few. Listen to how they structure their podcast, figure out how you want to go, and dive in. The enemy of procrastination is action. Which is why I’m going to bring this article to a close and go work on my personal podcast.

Podding Along

However you slice it, storytelling is an essential for business success. And podcasts can be a part of that story telling strategy – and help hone your storytelling skills. Brevity is the soul of wit, as Shakespeare can tell you.

Podcasts can promote your business, and help establish your credibility and your value in the business world. The stories you tell give you a leg up on the competition. After all, even if there are 100 companies out there that do what you do, your story makes you unique. And people need your uniqueness.

If you’d like help getting your podcasting off the ground, or would like to improve your strategy and content game period, I hope you’ll reach out. Small businesses are the key to our success and we’d love to help you with yours!