As I’ve been ramping up projects in the new year, I’ve been looking for ways to improve my productivity. And I have a few secrets that I’ve kept tucked away in my back pocket for just this kind of moment!

Many years ago, I listened to an interview with Brian Tracy, who, I think we can all agree, is a mega-successful human being. This past week, I  looked back over my notes from that interview and the concepts are just as relevant today as they were back then.

I’ve turned the thoughts Brian shared back in that old interview into five questions to ask yourself- and once you answer these questions, you’ll be able to dramatically improve your productivity (and simplify your life, too!)

Question #1: Are You Ready to Make A Decision?
Let’s face it- if you make a decision, whatever it is- that you’re going to be successful, bring in more clients, learn a new skill- then the first step to making it happen is to make the decision.

The word “decide” comes from Latin for “to cut off,” and that’s what you have to do when you make a decision: you cut off all other possibilities. If you decide to be successful, you have to decide to cut off the possibility of not being successful- more than that, you have to cut off the possibility of being anything but successful.

So, the first question is, “Are you ready to make a decision?” The decision can be about anything you want, however small. But the secret is to make a decision. It all starts there.

Once you’ve made your decision, you’ll want to take a pause for a little strategy:
Make a list of everything you do in the course of a week or a month. If you look at that list carefully, you’ll find that there are three things on that list that are responsible for 90% of the income you create. If you could do only three activities from that list, which three would contribute the most value?

Sometimes the three things on your list that generate the most value won’t be things you enjoy doing. But you really can simplify your life greatly by doing more and more of the three things that bring you the most income- and over time you’ll get better and better at these things and you won’t dislike them so much. Also, remember that often the things we like doing the least are things that bring anxiety, fear or stress. Do more of those, and the anxiety will decrease (tune in next week when I’ll talk about courage in business). So now that you know the strategy to find out what things bring you the most value, let’s get back to the five questions.

Question #2: What should I do more of?
What things count the most? This is where the three most valuable things from your list come into play. What are the three things you should spend more time on? Once you know the answer to that, it’s not hard to start culling your schedule and your “to do” list down to the most essential and profitable elements.

Question #3: What should I do less of?
What things aren’t productive? When you look at the list you made, this is the time to ask yourself which things on your list are things that you don’t have to do- what can you delegate or outsource or just minimize?

Question #4: What should I do that I’m not doing now? 
Now is the time to ask yourself what you’re not doing that you should be doing. Should I go to this conference? Read this book? Should I listen to this audio program? There are so many things you can do to improve and increase your business and we forget a lot of them. This includes things like continuing education, expanding your range of knowledge, and connecting and networking with other business owners. What else could you do that you’re not doing?

Question #5: What should I stop doing altogether?
This was the biggest one for me, because I am the queen of distraction. And working from home, I can be distracted by music, television, a phone call from a friend inviting me to lunch when I should be working, errands, laundry, you name it. However, it’s good to remind yourself that every minute you spend during the day not working on your business is a minute you’ve lost money. I encounter entrepreneurs every day who forget that equation. But keeping that concept firmly in mind makes a huge difference, and when you start to shift your thinking in this direction, you’ll see how much more productive you really are.

All strategic planning starts with abandonment. If you’re anything like me, right now your dance card is full. You can’t do something new without stopping something old. You can really only get your time under control by stopping something that doesn’t count toward your goals in order to start something that really makes the difference. And remember that when you weed out something old and ineffective, you create a vacuum to let a new opportunity come into your life.

This past week in LA, I hobnobbed with some of the most successful people in music at the major industry event of the year (okay, well, more like I saw most of them, but I did meet David Meerman Scott!) . Having talked over the years with mega-successful entrepreneurs about what success really means, I decided to share some of their success tactics with you.

Mega-Success Tactic #1: Define Success For Yourself.

Consider this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“To laugh often, to win the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!”

Think about it- what is your definition of success? Is it freedom, financial independence and wealth, international travel, a happy, healthy family, physical health, doing good for others in the world…what does it mean to you to be successful?

This one can get a little tricky- sometimes we want things because we get the idea we’re “supposed” to want them. As my friend Dixie says, “Do you want what you want or only what you WANT to want?”

For example, when I do the Lifestyle & Business Planning Analysis with clients, one of the areas of the questionnaire focuses on what material things you want. I see a lot of answers- cars, boats, vacation villas in Tuscany. And I think we’ve been trained to believe that’s what success is. We see wealthy people on TV with their conspicuous spending and outrageous purchases and think that’s what we’re supposed to want.

But when it really comes down to it, when you soul search and go deep, when you close your eyes and take a deep breath and envision your perfect life, what do you want?

Once you know what you really want, it’s easy to implement the remaining four tactics:

Mega-Success Tactic #2. State your goals in positive terms.

If you believe in the Law of Attraction, you’ve already heard this message. But even if you haven’t or if the Law of Attraction isn’t your “thing,” your brain receives messages in the same way the universe does. If your brain hears, “Avoid creating problems with clients,” what it actually hears is “create problems with clients.” The brain also hears a negative word, “avoid.” This creates a negative state of mind that follows you around. If, instead, your brain hears, “Create a pleasant and positive relationship between company representatives and clients,” it hears a positive and clear message and knows exactly what to do. This kind of positive message breeds a positive, upbeat state of mind that follows you around. (And thank you to Kat, one of my Facebook pals who recently reminded me gently of this tactic when I said my mantra was “I’m not getting sick!”)

Remember, too, that your brain needs clear messages. “Avoid creating problems with clients” tells you what not to do, but it doesn’t say what you should do. There are lots of possibilities that aren’t “creating problems with clients,” but which is the alternative that you want?

Mega-Success Tactic #3. Define your goals in measurable, time-sensitive terms.
Once you’ve stated your goals in positive terms, you need to come up with a way to determine if you’ve achieved your goals. How do you know you’ve achieved your goal? By when do you want to achieve it?

Using the previously mentioned goal, you can change “Create a pleasant and positive relationship between company representatives and clients,” to “Create and maintain a pleasant and positive relationship between company representatives and clients, as evidenced by quarterly customer satisfaction surveys.” Here you’ve created a measure of your success in the customer satisfaction surveys and you’ve said that you will initially create and then maintain your goal, which shows you what you need to see in those surveys- an increase and gradual leveling out in positive ratings. You’ve also made it time-sensitive by stating that the surveys are to be done quarterly.

Setting measurements and timing for your goals keeps your goals clear and attainable instead of wishy-washy and vague.

Mega-Success Tactic #4. Plan ahead.
Sometimes business owners experience what I like to call “post-success laziness.” You have a goal, you achieve your goal, and then you take a break, resting on your laurels and, yeah, let’s face it, you get a little lazy. This happens when you don’t plan ahead and set your next goal before you achieve the first one.

Creating a roadmap of goals does a couple of things. First, in creating a series of goals, you assume you will achieve the closest goal and the next one and so on, and that’s just smart, positive thinking. Second, you avoid the post-success laziness because you’re already working toward the next goal before you achieve the first. You do want to take time to celebrate achievements, but don’t let yourself get so bogged down in the celebration that you forget to keep moving forward.

Mega-Success Tactic #5. Follow through!
The single most important tactic to achieving success is the ability to follow through. If you create goals and then don’t set up systems and structures to follow through on your goals, you’re not a mover or a shaker- you’re a dreamer.

Don’t get me wrong- there’s nothing wrong with dreaming. Being a dreamer is a wonderful, important thing, actually. Dreamers can be extremely successful people, but not without follow-through. So find ways to follow through on your dreams- and if you need help, find it! If there are things you don’t know how to do, learn how to do them or delegate them. If you struggle with time management and accountability, hire a coach. Because once you figure out where you’re going, all you have to do is figure out how to get there and follow through.

So, start by  deciding where you’re going and how you’re going to get there, and then build a plan to follow through. With this plan, you’ll find success on your own terms.

We entrepreneurs have a way of turning into workaholics. It’s so easy to do. When you’re first starting out, there’s so much to do that many new entrepreneurs feel a compulsion to work until it’s all done. And when you love what you do with fervor, sometimes it’s hard to stop!

Usually I spend the month of December relaxing with family, preparing for the holidays, and doing my annual year-end assessment and pre-year planning. This holiday season was a little different. Since most of my clients were heading out of town or focusing on their own holiday festivities, my calendar was light enough that I decided to conduct my first ever group coaching program.

Boy, did I discover some things about balance while trying to do it all! Here are some of the lessons I learned the hard way:

1. Set regular working hours and keep them

The entrepreneurial lifestyle is often appealing because of the promise of flexible working hours. Sure, in many businesses, you can work whenever you want, but that doesn’t always mean that you should.

I set my working hours based on two factors: when I work best and when my clients are working and want to meet with me. There’s balance to be found here. If you happen to be a night owl, there’s nothing wrong with working when you’re at your best, but that doesn’t mean you should expect clients to show up for appointments at 3 a.m.

Regardless of what your working hours are, creating a structure and using self-discipline to stick to your structure will almost always help you to become more successful.

But remember, this works both ways- you have to stick to your structure and not become a workaholic. I myself have workaholic tendencies, and when my husband and I got married, I promised I would stop working each day at a certain time and I wouldn’t work on weekends, and I’ve kept to that…mostly…which has kept me sane and kept my marriage on track (though Leo is super-understanding when I’m on a deadline or working on a launch).

2. Make sure others in your family know your plans.
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that if you don’t make it clear when you’re working, you’re likely to end up getting interrupted a lot. It’s better to make sure everyone knows you’re working, whether you actually say, “I will be working until 3:00,” or post a sign on a closed door.

3. Create a plan for work.
Especially at the beginning when you’re just starting your business, there are a million things to do and it can get overwhelming. If you create an overall plan for where you are and where you’re going, then it’ll be easier to prioritize and know where you can outsource. Once you’ve got that overall plan, start chunking your goals and tasks into manageable pieces, then plan what needs to get done each day.

4. Outsource.
I’m a huge fan of outsourcing, and today, the thriving virtual assisting field makes it easier than ever to find someone to take on tasks that you don’t like, aren’t particularly good at, or just simply don’t need to do.

Outsourcing is economically beneficial, and since it frees up your time, you can use that time for more revenue-generating activities, or you can use it to spend more time with your family.

5. Create a plan for play.
For some entrepreneurs, it’s useful to structure “play time” just as you structure your work time. Many of my clients with workaholic tendencies feel guilty if they take time off and don’t do anything, so we create a plan for their time off as well. That way, they don’t waver around, trying to find something to do. Instead, they designate certain times for certain fun activities.

But be careful that you don’t treat your fun time like something you’re checking off of your “to do” list. Play time should feel like play time. Allow yourself to relax and enjoy it.

6. Sleep.
You simply can’t overestimate the value of a good night’s sleep. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, it’s time to restructure your day and analyze your habits and your sleeping environment so that you get enough sleep and are rested, refreshed, and rejuvenated. This will help you stay on top of things, keep your mind working optimally and your passion high.

If you’re anything like me, your brain has a hard time shutting down, so carve out a 15-30 minute block before bedtime for yoga and/or meditation so that your brain will slow down and let you get some sleep!

7. Stay healthy.
Another thing one can’t overestimate is the value of exercise and staying healthy. If you’re eating badly, it’ll affect your brain and that means low creativity. As an entrepreneur, your creativity is one of your most powerful allies- so feed your brain with healthy food! Eating healthy and staying fit means you’ll have more energy to devote to your business.

The balance between work and home/play is a critical part of your small business success. Pay attention and make sure you include fun in your business plan!

Getting organized. It’s something most of us struggle with. But it’s also something that’s paramount to achieving the next level of success in your business. As a disorganized business owner, you’re likely to be late paying bills, forgetful of client details and projects, and overwhelmed with time pressures. You’ll waste time looking for documents and you’ll waste money in late fees charged for paying bills after the due date. And don’t get me started on how well your brain can function in a cluttery space. How do I know all of this?

Hi. I’m Susan, and I used to be very disorganized.

That’s right, I’m not perfect. Now, don’t get me wrong — today I’m surprisingly organized, but in my time, I’ve paid my share of late fees and lost my share of paperwork.

Luckily, two things happened that helped me get my “clutter bug” in gear. First, I started my efforts a few years ago when I hired a professional organizer to come in and help me overhaul my home, and it really paid off. She taught me a ton about organizing and that made it easier to maintain (and reinvigorate when I fell off the wagon).

Second, last summer, as my business went green, in an effort to minimize even more paper than I already had, I organized my computer files and my e-mail accounts so that locating any document was simple and easy. I can’t even begin to tell you just how many hours it saved me to have my computer files and e-mails organized well.

In fact, I recently discovered just how much time it saved me when I made the switch back from PC to Mac, and left my e-mail files behind on the other computer…suddenly, instead of having everything at my fingertips, when I need an older e-mail, I have to run back to the old computer to get it. This has really shown me just how well-organized I’ve become!

As we become more and more digital and less reliant on paper, you’ll want to factor in organizing your computer files, too!

Here are some quick strategies you can use to get organized in an afternoon:

1) Check out Julie Morgenstern’s book, Organizing from the Inside Out.

Order it from Barnes & Noble or Amazon or borrow it from the library. This book is the definitive guide to organizing these days and has tons of amazing recommendations, suggestions, and strategies for organizing your home, your business, and your life. I’ve implemented many of Julie’s strategies myself over the years.

2) Organize your computer.
With over 20 years’ worth of e-mail floating around different accounts and files from over seventeen different computers over the years, a few years ago, I realized I needed to organized more than just my paper files- I needed to organized my computer files, too.

These days, I keep a running “Stuff I’m Doing” list on my desktop. On my hard drive, I have folders for various kinds of media (photos, videos, etc.), a folder for business files and a folder for personal files- that’s it.

Within the business folder, I have one folder for each of our businesses, and within each individual business folder, I have administrative folders, folders for web files, folders for client files, and other important business documents. Many of my business files are also housed in a GoogleDocs account, so that my assistant has access to files she needs to send clients.

In my business e-mail account, I have folders for the appropriate business, a folder for each client (which cuts down on searching for specific e-mails), a folder for affiliates, partners, bills (for later accounting purposes), invoices, etc. My personal e-mail accounts are similarly organized, so that each family member has a folder, confirmation e-mails for online orders go in another folder, etc.

I keep my Inbox fairly empty- anything left in the inbox is something that I need to take action on within the new 24-48 hours. There are currently seven messages in my Inbox. By tomorrow morning, however, it’s likely that a couple hundred more e-mails will arrive. Luckily, I have filters to manage most of those e-mails. The filters send the majority of my e-mails into the appropriate folders for me (if only I had a paper fairy who could do the same!), plus my assistant will handle quite a few of them, so by the time I get to my inbox, I’ll only have to manage around 30-40 e-mails tomorrow morning.

3) Conduct an official purge.
The best thing you can do is simplify, and that means getting rid of stuff! Leo and I are usually in the midst of some kind of household purge or another. We’re always trying to pare down and have a standing account at our local auction house. Our local Goodwill practically knows our name by now.

When it comes to the office, it’s just like the rest of our home- I have three different bins: trash, recycling, and shredding. But I don’t waste time shredding my own stuff. In the long run, I find that it costs me less time and money to have a local shredding company to do my shredding for me. Once we have a bunch of bags, we call the big shredding truck to come to the house and shred it all. it’s tons of fun to watch the big jaws of the truck eating your old papers and stuff, and if you’re really nice to the shredders, they’ll let you push the big red SHRED button. If you want to know how long to keep financial documents, check this handy reference.

4) Create a plan for future clutter.
Julie Morgenstern says that the reason clutter accumulates is that we don’t have systems and strategies for managing the stuff that becomes clutter.

In my house, 95% of the clutter used to come from the mail. I did pretty well bringing the mail in and tossing unwanted catalogs and junk mail into the recycle bin, but there were always a few things that fell into the “I need to do something with this” category, and that’s what ended up in the cluttery piles.

So I created a system so that now I have a place to put things that need to go up to the office to be filed, and a place to put catalogs to be looked through while I’m on the treadmill, etc. Your goal is to think about where and when you want to take action on your clutter items and then put them where they need to be.

5) Know when you need help.
Sometimes, the job is just too big for you to handle on your own. For me, it was moving from a two-bedroom apartment into a five-bedroom house and consolidating my belongings with the things my mom left me when she passed away. Going through all of that stuff was emotionally difficult and physically draining.

But with the help of my professional organizer, I was able to let go of things that wouldn’t serve me and make the best use of things that I loved. Sometimes it’s just better to have someone in the trenches with you, helping you when you get stuck, making things manageable so you don’t get overwhelmed, and keeping you accountable for making progress. My organizer liked to give me “homework” to do in between her visits so I maintained momentum, and it really worked!

My dad used to tell me, “A cluttery space makes for a cluttery mind.” I’ve discovered that the tidier my workspace (including my digital workspace), the clearer my thoughts and the easier it is for me to work. Being cluttery and disorganized is a challenge to conquer, but once you’re organized, you’ll free up the massive amount of time you spend looking for documents and trying to get your head together. Do that and you’ll have a lot more time to spend on revenue-generating activities in the coming year, and you’ll find yourself feeling much more at peace in your new, organized spaces.

The end of 2011 was a mixture of absolute holiday perfection and complete technological mayhem for me. When last we left the story of my laptop disaster, Lenovo was sending a technician with a new motherboard in mid-January.

However, the very next day after I posted my story about “How A Laptop Meltdown Forced Me to Create Balance,” I received a phone call from Lenovo’s tech support saying that “middle of January” had turned into the middle of February.

Once I stopped alternating between hysterical laughter and mild crying (LOL) I decided that enough was enough and initiated return proceedings for the Lenovo laptop that was supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Moments later, I had ordered a new Macbook Pro and was driving to the Apple Store to pick up a new iPad (upon which I’m writing this post, as I await the new laptop). I’m starting the New Year right!

How can you start the new year right? Follow these three steps:
1) Forgive yourself for everything and give yourself permission to succeed in 2012.
Before you head too far into 2012, forgive yourself for anything that didn’t go the way you wanted in 2011. Learn whatever you can from past mistakes, and then let them go so you can move on. Then, give yourself permission to succeed in 2012.

2) Toss out whatever isn’t working.
Your purge should include outdated systems, inefficient tactics, and underperforming strategies. Look at everything- your marketing, your products and services, your customer service, even yourself. What’s not working that you can either improve or get rid of?

3) Work some new stuff into your structure.
At the end of each year, I take some time to look over the past twelve months and see what worked and what didn’t, but at the beginning of each year, I come up with new stuff to work in. For example, this year, I’ll have a new radio show, a new web site, new products, new training programs, and I’m even working on some new time management strategies I’ll be testing out.

Over the years, I’ve discovered that there’s a fascinating split between those who, like me, embrace a new year as a fresh start and a new beginning, and those who see January 1 as just another day.

If you’re one of those who don’t see the point in New Year’s Resolutions or in making the new year a starting point for an exciting time in your business, I’d like to encourage you to give it a try and experience what it feels like when you give yourself permission to wipe the slate clean at the beginning of this new year.

One month after purchasing my mega-laptop, a Lenovo Thinkpad T420s that, once it arrived, had delighted, amazed, and amused me, it died. It was a sudden death, apparently caused by a fried motherboard, which is apparently a known issue with this machine (note to self: search for “known issues” next time).

These days, when you call technical support, you never really know what to expect. Will my problem be solved or will I walk away frustrated and confused? You never really know.

And indeed, today, I was left frustrated and confused when I learned that a) the motherboard on my brand-new, 29-day-old laptop had died, b) there were no motherboards in stock, c) there was no estimated arrival time for the motherboards, and d) any further assistance had to be found in a completely different department, which wouldn’t even have my case information until “at least” tomorrow.

So of course, I called that other department anyway, because I don’t believe in accepting “no” as an answer. And the kind of support I received at that department was quite different from what I expected.

The shipping/receiving customer support guy, Larry, patiently explained the entire process to me. Because I paid for priority, on-site technical support (for exactly this reason), I’m at the top of the list for the first motherboard they find. They might find it today, in which case, the tech will come tomorrow and fix my computer. Or maybe they won’t find a motherboard in all of North America, and I’ll have to wait until after the first of the year.

Larry’s probably the best customer support guy I’ve ever talked to, actually. He was unquestionably the most patient, and answered every “what if” question I had with one of the kindest, most soothing voices I’ve ever heard.

When I’d exhausted my list of questions, and finally sighed and said, “Larry, I’m just frustrated. I have work to do,” Larry said, “I know. I’m really sorry there’s not more that I can do. But the motherboard will arrive soon. Maybe there’s a reason this happened. Maybe you needed to take today off and clear your head.”

If anybody else had said that to me, I might’ve found it kind of presumptuous and a little offensive. But from Larry, with his calming voice, I found it pleasant and actually felt supported by customer support. And I have to admit that when I came into the office to work this morning, I felt reluctant.

It’s snowing for the first time this season and my family is downstairs, snuggled up on the sofa with the Christmas tree lit and a fire blazing. There’s talk of a snowball fight later. Truth is, I wanted to be with them today, but I have client meetings coming and prep work to do, plus a whole lot of writing to catch up on, so the pressure made me tear myself away from my family to get some work done.

But you know what? Maybe Larry’s right. Maybe I do need to take some more time off and clear my head. Would the start of the new year be easier if I had all my files and could spend a few morning hours working this week? Maybe. But for now, I can reschedule client meetings and the writing will be there when I have the laptop back.

So today, as I write this and can hear my husband and stepdaughter giggling in the snow outside, I choose to see things as Larry suggested. Maybe there is a reason my laptop isn’t working today. I’m going to go find out.

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Every year, I’m surprised by how many people don’t make them. I love making New Year’s Resolutions, and I even have a strategy for keeping them. Mostly, my strategy involves making sure I keep my resolutions visible in my office and check in monthly to see how I’m doing in terms of making progress with those resolutions…and I could talk today about how to make resolutions you’ll keep. But instead, today I want to talk about the most powerful resolutions that can not only transform your business, but multiply your profits within 2012.

Resolution #1: This Year I Will Think Of My Business As A Business.
You wouldn’t believe how many times clients come to me for our second meeting, after doing their “homework,” only to tell me they’re shocked to discover that they never really thought of their business as a real business.

To be successful, you must have a plan- it doesn’t have to be a big, formal business plan that a bank would require to give you a loan (unless you’re seeking venture capital or loans), but you do want to plan the future of your business and start looking at how you’re going to get there. Believe it or not, once you change the way you look at your business, you’ll be much more likely to take success actions that will increase your profits.

Resolution #2: This Year I Will Improve My Time Management.
One of the biggest factors that sucks away your profitability is poor time management. You can so easily fritter away a day thinking you’re being active and productive, only to get to the end of the day and realize you haven’t really accomplished anything.

To increase your profitability, make every working minute count. Remember that every second you’re spending on Facebook “noodling” around, you’re essentially stealing from your business. You wouldn’t want an employee doing that to you…so don’t do that to yourself.

Resolution #3: This Year I Will Invest In My Business.
For many entrepreneurs, one of the hardest things to do is to invest in your business. Especially if your business has suffered during the recession, even more so if you’ve been “taken” by so-called business coaches and gurus who don’t really have much actual business experience, you’ll find it difficult to part with your hard-earned money, even if it could really help your business to grow.

This kind of fear is understandable. But if you want your business to grow, you do have to invest money back into the business. Invest in an improved web site, work with a business consultant who can give you the direction you need to get your business growing, invest in  a new marketing campaign, a PR campaign, or something, but also make sure you know the likely results of whatever you’re investing in. There are no guarantees, but good research can give you a solid sense of how well you’re betting. If you put money into something, know what it is and how it’s going to help grow your business, and then take action.

Resolution #4: This Year I Will Stop Worrying About Motivation and Take Action.

Many entrepreneurs get so caught up in trying to get motivated that they spend most of their time learning from others and attending webinars and teleseminars and live events in the hopes of finding that one thing that will motivate them that they never take the next step to action. In fact, do you know how many people buy books and products and never read or use them? Fully 85% (or more!) of the people who buy personal growth and business books (including e-books and products) never even open them up!

This year, commit to finding your true fervor, that which you love doing and get excited about, so that you can stop worrying about “getting motivated” and just start doing.

Resolution #5: This Year I Will Trust Myself and Relax.
So many micro-entrepreneurs think they have to be doing everything to grow their businesses. What I mean is, I talk to people every day who receive five, ten, or twenty (or more!) business e-mails every week, and think they have to do everything that’s been recommended to them. They get one e-mail saying, “You should have a viral video,” and they scramble to get that set up. They get another e-mail saying, “You should speak from the stage!” and scramble to start doing that. They get yet another e-mail saying, “You need to be invested in social media!” and think they need to figure all that out. Next, an e-mail comes talking about blogs, articles marketing, e-zines, podcasting, internet radio shows, public relations….

It’s overwhelming. It’s too much. And it’s okay for you to relax a little bit and take a step back to think about what’s best for you, your business, and your target market.

When all else fails, trust yourself. It took me ages to trust myself and to listen to my gut instincts, but when I did, that’s when my confidence as a thought leader and as an expert really grew.

So this year, relax, stop trying to do everything, and trust yourself to know what’s best for you and for your business.

This time of year isn’t just about making resolutions that stick, it’s about making resolutions that can kick your business out of a rut and into profitability. And that’s what your 2012 should be all about. Happy New Year!

Last week I talked about Step #1 of successfully delegating: deciding what to delegate. The next two steps are to find qualified, reliable professionals and to delegate the work to them. But…how?

Step #2: Choose Qualified, Reliable Professionals

When you delegate to professionals, you have to choose the right ones- people who you can trust to do high quality work on time at a reasonable price. You’ll want to look for people who you can work with personally, who you like and find pleasant to work with. You’ll want people who meet your needs professionally. It’s important that they are able to meet your standards, time constraints, and price requirements.

I have a database of pros I’ve been working with for the last fifteen years, people I know I can trust to do great work on time and within set budgetary requirements. I’ve been sharing these folks with my clients exclusively for years, but what if you’re not one my clients yet? In 2012, I’ll be providing you with an option to access my database of amazing pros, but for now let me say that there are few guarantees when you work with someone for the first time, so protect yourself by getting excellent referrals and references, preferably from sources you know and trust.

Step #3: Delegate to Your Team

Now let’s talk about Step #3, the how of delegating. When you delegate a task to someone, you must remember that you know how to do it- they don’t. Of course there will be some things you’ll offload that are tasks your assistant or web developer handle regularly, but much of the time, your tasks will be unique to you and your business, at least in some way.

As you move forward with delegating, focus on the following:
a) Breaking down your tasks into easy-to-follow steps.
Every task can be broken down into steps. And even if you aren’t quite ready to delegate something, it’s never too soon to start creating a “manual” for each task- you never know when you might need or want to have someone step in and manage something for you.

In the book, The E-Myth, Michael Gerber talks about creating a manual for each part of your business. For every job that you do, create a manual that would allow someone to take over that job at any time. And when someone takes on the job, it becomes their responsibility to keep the manual updated with any changes or new procedures. This makes it easy to promote people or replace people, when necessary.

b) Writing clear and concise instructions for each step.
When you write instructions for someone, start by assuming the person reading your instructions has no idea what the job is or how to do it. Write down every single step, even if it’s something that seems obvious to you. Remember, what seems obvious to you may not be so apparent to someone else.

c) Answering questions before you get them.
Sometimes, including an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section in your instructions can be useful. That way you can head off spending a lot of time answering things you might already have answered previously. Check through your sent e-mails for answers to questions you’ve had in the past and re-use the answers in the FAQ. And again, this is a great place where the person you’ve delegated to can take over- let them manage and update the FAQ section as needed.

d) Being available as any questions you haven’t anticipated come up.
As you delegate to others, you’ll find that you want to be sure you have a little time set aside to reply to e-mails and phone calls as your new assistant has questions about his/her new tasks. there are always questions that need to be answered and fine-tuning that needs to be done, so plan ahead and make sure you have the time to manage the transition.

I’ve been thrilled with delegating various tasks and the time (and headaches) I’ve saved myself. There’s always a transition, but it is relatively painless and the reward is almost always worth the effort. A year ago, I delegated the management of one of my online stores to my assistant. There was a substantial learning curve- it took about two weeks before he felt comfortable managing the stores on his own, and during that time, we were e-mailing back and forth several times a day and talking on the phone at least once every couple of days. But once that transition was complete, I was free to spend my valuable time working on other, more profitable tasks, while he managed the day-to-day updates and operations of my store. I saved both time and money and was able to start a whole new business as a result (which he now also manages for me).

Don’t be afraid to delegate. It may be one of the best decisions you can make for your business!

This is how fast my Sony Vaio seemed.

I’ve had a Sony Vaio laptop for three and a half years now. I used to turn technology over faster, back when I was doing more web development and technical stuff, but these days, most of what I do involves writing. Still, I’m what’s known as a “power user” and tend to overtax any computer I use, and the Sony Vaio is known for overheating and shutting down at random without notice…which is not cool when you’re doing something important and haven’t had a chance to save your work yet.

I decided it was time to make a decision: do I sent the Sony in for service (again) or break down and upgrade to something new? The answer came when I remembered a lesson my husband, Leo, shared with me, something he learned when he was a young musician. Leo is a drummer who has played professionally in bands around the world, and he told me that when he was starting out, he would only invest in equipment that could be used to generate income that would pay for itself and then some. The way he phrases it, “When you invest in your business, it always comes back.”

When I remembered him saying that, I realized that my laptop is an essential tool for my business and right now, the machine I had was holding me back- not helping me and certainly not paying for itself anymore. It’s time to move on and invest again in something that will “come back” again.

There are many ways to invest in your business. Making sure you have the right tools doesn’t just refer to technology, but also to projects like web design, consulting, and coaching. The question to ask when you’re evaluating a business purchase is, “Will this pay for itself and bring more money in?” If so, that’s an investment you should make, if you can.

Want to learn more? Why not come to my webinar, “The 7 Lessons of Mega-Successful Entrepreneurs” on November 29?