When it comes to time management, many business owners fall into the category of trying to do everything themselves, including me. Building a business whether it is a small or large business is very difficult as it is but when you, the owner try to complete every task on your own can become very overwhelming, and increase your chances or burning out.

I know what you are thinking, “How can time management relate to internet marketing?”

When it comes to SEO, there are many different aspects of Search Engine Optimization that need to be focused on in order to have a successful internet marketing campaign. You alone can’t do this nor should you have to.

And trust me, once you think you have it all down pat, Google throws and wrench into the equation and you have to start all over again. Read my post about the “Google Panda Update.”

Take A Systematic Approach..

Time management is the key to the success of any business and by taking a systematic approach will help with your internet marketing goals. Think about it, you’ve heard the old saying “Time is money right?” Well that quote is so true because without having a system in place, your business won’t grow. Here are a couple of ways to help with time management but also how you implement a systematic approach to help take the burden off of your shoulders so that you will have more time to get the important things done that will make you some money.

1. Use A Journal – This is probably one of the most easiest and most effective steps to improving time management but many business owners have too much going on to even have time to purchase one. One of the best things about having a journal is that you can document everything to help you remember what is going on in your business but other important events as well such as:

1. Set a List Of Personal Goals On A Daily Basis
2. What Tasks Are Costing More Money Then The Profit They Bring In
3. Can Some Tasks Be Delegated?
4. Can Some Tasks Be Automated?
5. Document Business Growth
6. Track Daily Profit And Loss & Lead Generation From Marketing (PPC, CPV)

Documenting all your daily business goals in your journal will literally force yourself to keep on pace to make sure the tasks will be done on schedule. As time goes on, if you see yourself doing the same tasks over and over again, you will realize that if you delegated these tasks or automated this tasks, you can focus on more parts of your business that make you more money.

2. Project Management – The main factors for successful project management are to hire a dedicated project manager and also purchase a project management software. The project manager will be your go to guy when it comes to managing your SEO teams. If you have an idea or a system of daily SEO tasks for your team members, your project manager can schedule these tasks for each member using a project management software.

The project management software will document each task, when the tasks are due, and more importantly, you can store all login information of your hosted websites so that team members can have access when they need to complete their tasks. A huge bonus is that you and your project manager can hold employees accountable for their work and see which SEO team is more productive and which team member may have to be let go due to their tasks not being completed  on a timely basis. You will be able to see which team member is valuable to your business and which ones are carrying dead weight.

3. Outsourcing – I know some people frown upon outsourcing but this is huge when it comes to improving time management. Even more important when it comes to internet marketing. Like I said earlier, SEO takes a lot of work each day and only once person can’t possible improve their internet marketing strategies by themselves.

Technology has created a new way of running a business and setting up important teams that can be delegated to handle certain SEO tasks by the way of the “Virtual Employee.” Many small business owners have their whole teams of SEO experts as virtual employees. Communicating and having daily meetings through Skype, yahoo messenger, and AIM.

Pros

A huge advantage to hiring virtual employees is that they are very cost efficient and can lower your employee payroll cost per month giving your business more profit to either invest in the business marketing needs such as PPC marketing and other advertising medias.

Cons

Although virtual employees have their advantages, there are also some disadvantages as well. Make sure that you find the right virtual employee for your business. Unfortunately, like any other business, there are always some employees that like to take advantage of the employer. The only way is to test out these employees to see if they fit into your business plans. You will know within a week if the virtual employee will work out. After a week if you are not 100% sure they will help the future of your business, then let them go. You will find that “diamond in the rough” type of virtual employee in time.

Outsourcing Venues

If you are looking for some outsourcing venues that provide exceptional virtual employees, you can check out the websites below:

Agents Of Value – I have used AOV and still have virtual employees with us for over 5 years. You can choose from a list of candidates that you think will fit into your system. They provide detailed information about each candidate including skill sets, their strengths, and more importantly, writing skill scores.

RentaCoder – Rent a coder is a great place to look for website, graphics designers and a wide variety of other types of programmers. They offer all kinds of other areas of expertise and come in handy for finding programmers quickly if something on your hosted websites needs to be fixed. They have a rating system for each potential virtual employee to see if they are right for your business.

Odesk – Odesk has pretty much every type of service needed for SEO from writers, programmers, link builders, and programmers. Our programmers that we hired are from Odesk and they have been with us for over 3 years and counting. One of the best things about Odesk is that each virtual employee gets a random screenshot of their daily progress at any given time. This is also a great way to find out if they are working for the time you are paying them or surfing on the net. Another advantage is that you can set up a virtual interview with your prospect to see if they fit into your plans as well.

Don’t Kill The Dream – EXECUTE IT!

This is one of the best quotes I have ever heard and is a basis for everything I do each day. Now that you have your internet marketing teams in place, your project manager and software ready to go, the only thing left to do now is to EXECUTE your plan. Once of the best things I have learned that is if you have a goal or an idea for your business, you write it down in your journal because if you don’t write it down it is not a goal but considered only a thought.

Although these are only a few ways improve time management by taking a systematic approach, you will find that once you start executing your goals, delegate more of your ideas and tasks to your project manager and internet marketing teams, you will start to see your business goals being achieved quicker and you will not feel so overwhelmed. Take everything by salami slices and your first slice should be time management.