Five Productivity Life Hacks for Digital Marketers & Virtual Assistants
Let's be frank, if you want to grow your digital marketing agency or online services business you’re going to eventually need to do a deep dive into how you’re spending your time & identify the parts of your processes that may not be as efficient as they need to be.
Part of that deep dive is probably going include checking in on your boundaries when it comes to managing client comms as well as ensuring that your sales process includes clear expectations & exclusions....hard to draw boundaries if you're starting off on the wrong foot with your new clients!
1. You need to get your email notifications under control
Juggling emails are reported as THE biggest time suck for women in online business second only to scrolling social media. There are a few different (and free) apps to better manage your emails, but a word of warning, the best software in the world doesn’t replace solid boundaries and clear communication with your clients on how best to contact you.
The first option is simple - set an out of office/vacation reminder letting your clients know when to expect a response. Whether that is a 48hr response time for non clients or flagging that you only read your emails twice a day, communicating your boundaries when it comes to emails is crucial.
Next is Gmail extension called Boomerang - this allows you to streamline your email content, pause your inbox notifications, send emails at specific times - perfect for night owls who don’t want to encourage clients to email at all times of the night but who like to clear their inbox at unsociable hours. It even predicts your typical email style and can offer suggestions for common responses.
A paid option (and one I use) is the software Shift. Shift is a multi tab work space programme that allows me to have multiple gmail inboxes open with their own notification settings. It comes with an inbuilt browser which means I can log in to work specific websites and largely ignore Chrome, creating a clear work space versus non work space. If you are juggling more than one email address then this is the software for you - and comes with a free trial. You can even buddy Boomerang up with Shift and get the best of both worlds!
2. You need to be able to disconnect sometimes to get work done
If you’re a Google Drive user you can disconnect from the internet and still work on your files - check out the Google Drive Offline Chrome extension and feel free to throw that WiFi connection in the bin. This is handy when working rurally or in areas with patchy reception as well as when you need to focus on the task at hand.
You should be able to find offline apps or settings for most cloud storage options just give it the old Google search, here’s the one for OneDrive
3. You need to be able to find important stuff
I noticed during training sessions that most of my Clever Social clients bookmark everything we work through, but at our following sessions are often unable to locate the specific bookmark they’re looking for. Replace your bookmarks with a visual grid of your go-to websites loaded on your browser home page. Speed Dial 2 is another free Google Chrome extension that creates a new home screen with your go-to websites - and it’s visual rather than a list
4. Practice what you preach when it comes to social media planning
Digital Marketers, Virtual Assistants & online services professionals can be some of the worst at fitting in their own social media content around their client work - but it makes sense right? We are so busy growing our client’s social media presence we neglect our own - this blog by Auckland Agency Brandsitters offers realistic insight into why social media professionals often don’t have great engagement on social media...but it can be done given attention & resource.
Perhaps you personally don't require your social media to generate a lot of leads, but not showing up consistently online can be a sign of burn out, poor planning & over commitment, so make sure you are practicing what you preach using scheduling tools like Sked Social to post to Instagram, LinkedIn, Google & Facebook.
5. Carve out regularly time to work on your business - and protect it!
Having ring-fenced time to work on your business each week is the best way to ensure you consistently show up online. This might mean proactively blocking out your diary in advance and sticking to it, holding firm to the fact that your business is important too!
If you have communicated your availability & preferred contact methods to your clients as part of your proposal & onboarding processes then you should feel empowered to stick to that!
This may mean setting up auto responses on Facebook & Instagram, out of office emails in your emails, and leaving messages unread so you can focus on activities that continue to grow your business online... it can feel a bit hard ass at first, especially if you have made a point of being constantly available to your clients but it is so important.
If you’re struggling to implement these simple life hacks it can be a sign that you need to dive deeper into your digital marketing or online services business to get to the root of the issue.
Grab a FREE 30min strategy session with me and let’s figure it out together.
