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Working Behind the Scenes Making the Most of Downtime © 2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com

Working Behind the Scenes

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Eight ideas for building your business during downtime.

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  • 1. Working Behind the Scenes
    • Making the Most of Downtime

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com 2. What do you do when you dont have billable work?

  • Work seems to come in waves.
  • How can you build your business when you dont have work in hand?
  • Here are eight ideas.

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com 3. 1. Take Time Off

  • Recharge your batteries, enjoy your life, and take some time for yourself. This is important for staving off burnout. A little R&R can be just the mental and physical refresher you need to come back with renewed energy and vigor. Its not a crime to spend a day goofing off, especially if you have the time in your schedule.

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com 4. 2. Clean and Organize

  • Did your work space get cluttered up? Left the filing until you had a moment? Clean and organize your office space and come back to work with a fresh slate! Purge your email inbox, clean up your hard drive, catch up on the filing. Hang that artwork, vacuum, dust, take out the trash and recycling, create a supportive space for your work

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com Bonus Tip:Dont just clean up, implement that new filing, contacts, accounting, or databasesystemyouve been thinking about. 5. 3. Paperwork

  • Get caught up or even ahead of yourself. Need to update files? Transfer handwritten notes to disk? Catch up accounting? Update log files? Its never too late to get caught up or get a jump-start on the year-end paperwork you might need.Especially important : Start inputting everything you need to generate some current financial information. Getting your paperwork up to datenowsaves you time and frustration when taxes are due.

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com Bonus Tip:Get an accurate picture of your business finances and spot where you can make more money, cut expenses, and grow. 6. 4. Set Some Goals

  • If you have updated your paperwork (especially finances), you probably have a good picture of what the last year, quarter, or month in your business looked like. Now is a good time to set more yearly, quarterly, and monthly goals for you and your business. Stretch a little! Write the new goals down, so you can track how well you do. Dont wait until the end of the calendar year to set goalsdo it now!

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com 7. 5. Learn Something

  • Downtime is a terrific time to break out CDs or MP3s, find some books and online training, or read that pile of magazines. Its important to stay current in your field. Youll have the timeso open up your mind, and get ready to learn some fabulous new techniques and ideas! Load up your e-reader or your iPod, or go to the library. If you dont have a pile of stuff waiting for you, go online to professional associations related to your business.

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com Bonus Tip:Keep a notebook handy when reading so you can jot down hot ideas to implement. 8. 6. Update Your Online Presence

  • Downtime is a great opportunity to make major updates and changes in your social media presence (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). Write those new pages for your website like you have been thinking about, update your profiles on other sites, add more content and features where you can.

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com Bonus Tip:A tool like Hootsuite allows you to schedule status updates in advance, across many kinds of social media. 9. 7. Get Writing

  • Downtime is a great opportunity to let your creative juices flow. Write some blog posts, newsletters, articles, speeches, even books. When you make your expertise available, you establish yourself as an authority in your subject and offer valuable content to potential customers and clients.
  • Tip:Many blogging platforms allow you to schedule the release of your blog posts in advance.

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com Bonus Tip:Many social media platforms will link to your blog for automatic updates without having to copy and paste entries by hand. 10. 8. Renew Connections and Make New Ones

  • Reestablish your professional connections and make new ones. Have lunch or coffee with colleagues and strategic partners. Go through that pile of business cards and connect online and in person. Follow up by calling or sending a hand-written card. Find some networking groups to visit and meet new folks.

2010, Archer Coaching. www.archercoaching.com Bonus Tip:When you receive a business card, always write a note on the back: how you met, key conversation, when to follow up.