A quick entry for you to ponder as you sip your morning coffee or map out your day.

Whenever you are asked to get involved in a project, pay close attention to the potential return on time invested (ROTI) because that’s your most precious resource … time.

Be Honest

As business owners, we need to be honest with our clients and ourselves when it comes to project selection and how we allot our time.  Too often we allow ourselves to get distracted or swayed by our:

• Empathy for the person requesting our help/participation
• Over eagerness to make a difference
• Ego telling us that nobody can do the job better

Who Else Can Do a Similar Job for Less?

If something will take you 40 hours that would take someone else 60 hours yet the quality of work wouldn’t suffer greatly and deadlines get met, it’s worth it to outsource that work even if it cuts into your profits somewhat. Obviously, you don’t want to go upside down but taking on projects that may become massive “time sucks” prevent you from doing your best work for those willing to pay you what you’re worth that also allow for a high ROTI.

It’s much better for all involved for you to work 30 hours on a $3,000 project than to spend 100 hours on it especially when the results and outcomes are the same. You’re going to be fresher, more enthusiastic about the work, and your production will be far greater.  The client will be more appreciative of the work, and you’ll have enough in the tank to climb the next mountain.

The reason for mentioning this is because recently a project was completed where the results were excellent and expectations exceeded yet I was WAY upside down in terms of ROTI which likely cost me some new business in the process because the time and energy just wasn’t there. The project should have taken about 1/3 the time it did, but minutiae and intricate details bogged things down.

While always grateful for business and the confidence demonstrated that accompanies it, it would have been better to outsource/delegate the initial part of that project to get a greater ROTI while opening the door to accept additional business.

It Ain’t All ‘Bout Money

Finally … just because someone is willing to pay you good money doesn’t mean they’re a qualified or a high quality client. There’s far more that goes into win/win outcomes than just money.

Live & learn, right?

Have Something to Contribute?

Do you have a similar story to share? Go ahead and let ‘er rip in the comments below.

Thanks to Debbie Allen‘s “shameless promotion” on my radio show last Thursday, I’ve had the privilege to attend her “Maximizing Success” seminar in Sedona, Arizona this weekend. The seminar runs three days (Friday-Sunday, November 9-11), but I’m leaving after Saturday’s session to return home to attend to some loose business ends.

First off, Arizona, as a whole, is beautiful! I had a trip out here slated to happen next year, but I guess the law of attraction is working its magic already. Those that know me fairly well know that I intend to live out here someday down the road. That or have a winter home in Scottsdale.

Anyway, here’s a recap of the first day of the seminar and some of the topics covered.

The seminar kicked off Friday morning with Dave Dee talking about “how to keep your phone ringing off the hook with hot leads.” The main crux of his story centered on a client (beautiful single mother named Alexis) that made $117k on one teleseminar call and how those in attendance could do the same. He talked about marrying offline and online marketing and how many of the top online marketers are also doing a lot offline even though they don’t tend to talk too much about that aspect. E-mail marketing is still effective although not as effective as it used to be–the key is to inject some of your own personality into the message.

Next up in the seminar was Joel Christopher who talked about “how to triple your online list and increase your profits in 99 days or less.” Joel is a super nice guy, and you could pick this up immediately during his presentation. A lot of SEO was touched upon throughout his presentation, and that made me feel validated that what we’re doing at SMB Consulting is high quality. Most of the recognized “gurus” preach many of the same things we’re doing.

My rhetorical question to myself after Joel and Dave’s presentations was “why am I not up there telling people how to do many of these same things?” So look for some of that in upcoming weeks–it’s time to get out there and kick some knowledge around.

Next up was Bill Walsh, not the deceased former football coach, and he really had a high quality presentation. Bill is a genuinely good guy who ended up buying us dinner later in the evening, but I digress. He imparted that we must have belief in our vision when nobody else does–how true! He also talked about the importance of having high quality materials for marketing (including suggesting visiting http://pkgraphics.com). “Always map out tomorrow, today” was one of Bill’s quotes and part of what he deems the “daily method of operation” or your DMO. Some other things Bill talked about (and I’m purposely being as brief as possible) included social networking, SEO, media relations, marketing plans, magazine ads (visit http://mediabids.com), and ask for the REM slots when trying to find low budget television and radio advertising spots.

Bill also talked about investing in your mind with daily positive content; starting a mastermind group (something I’m planning to do upon returning from Sedona); read books; attend workshops (if for no other reason, like minded people will be there). Also–surround yourself with successful people; always strive to provide 10X the value; perception is projection; auto-pay your favorite charity.

To wrap up the day, 14 time (something crazy like that) bestselling author Barbara DeAngelis spoke to the group. This was one of the most powerful speeches of the day, and it really seemed to move a lot of people within the group including me.

Admitted pigheaded stance pre-speech: I had to remind myself to open my mind because I was prejudging Barbara based on her “Men Are from Mars, Women are from Venus” work with Dr. Gray because their relationship didn’t workout so it always seemed rather hypocritical even though that’s a dumb and narrow view on things. The advice and how to apply it matters more than the source, and I got over my stupidity very quickly into her talk.

Barbara is a dynamic speaker that has a message that will truly impact you if your mind is open and in the right place. She talked about how “the time is now,” and we’re seizing it. Many of the group has been experiencing what she calls “divine discomfort” where you know you’re supposed to be doing more, but you’re not quite sure what it is. Or maybe you have internally realized what it is you’re supposed to be doing, but breaking free to accomplish it is messing with you. We need to surrender control and let go–we’ll figure it out as we go. “You’re being prepared for greatness” Barbara told the group, and I’ve felt like this has been happening to me personally for about six-eight months now. Something internally is going on that I cannot explain, but I feel as though my life finally has purpose and I’m on a path to something tremendous. Barbara also said something I’ve found myself saying lately in that sometimes “we need to get out of our own way.” Amen!

This has been one very interesting day in beautiful Sedona. I am not sure what will come of me upon returning home, but I don’t believe I’ll be 100% the same. This has already been an incredibly enlightening experience. I can’t wait to see what Day 2 brings!