017 Blog Comments, Outsourcing and Eliminating the Excess Crap

Update: I'm flying out to Columbia for 3 weeks to be with my family. My dad is in the hospital and my mom is staying nearby.

I think it's very important for me to be there for them like they have been there for me.

I MIGHT have more time to work on my online business while down there because I won't be at work, but I'm not 100% sure how things will be while I'm there.

I will definitely be keeping up with my podcast because that's a commitment I made to you and I don't want to break that.

Listen to This Episode

Questions and Answers

Question from John from AskJohnEnglish.com – Why do I and other bloggers use systems like Disqus and Facebook comments instead of the native WordPress comments?

First of all, I want to talk about why comments are so important:

• It allows your audience to communicate with you
• Gives you feedback on what your audience likes/dislikes
• Helps you to build a community
• Provides social proof

The goal is to make the commenting process as easy as possible, and to get the biggest bang for your commenting buck. Using systems like Disqus and Facebook comments allows your visitors to:

• Comment using the social media profiles they are used to using
• Not have to fill out a form
• Share their comments with their Facebook friends and twitter followers

Disqus allows multiple profiles, which is a benefit in that they aren't limited to one. However, Facebook is really amping up their commenting feature and making it so that it can help your blog post go viral as a result of the comments that are left.

I've been having issues with Facebook comments, but I do plan on setting them up on my blog again.

Question from Tai from Traveltostlucia.com – When should you consider outsourcing?

First, let me talk about why outsourcing is important:

• It allows you to focus on the High Value tasks that you are good at.
• It allows you to get more done
• Gives a significant amount of leverage if done correctly

The problem with outsourcing: Having more people working inefficiently is an expensive way to get nothing done

Assuming that we see the benefits in outsourcing, there are two ways to look at it:

1. I should outsource as much as possible from the beginning, so that I can focus on what is REALLY important in my business.
2. I should learn the ins and outs of my business first, so that I can know exactly what needs to be outsourced, why, and when. Bootstrap my way until I need to outsource.

Which works best?

Depends on the person. I personally choose to go with #2, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that I love technology and I'm relatively good at it. Also, I like to know what the job entails so that I can know when it's being done well.

However, there is a significant amount of merit in #1. Pick one, and make it work!

The end of Time Management and Having a Low information Diet.

Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action. – Page 75

One of the problems in life today is business. Everybody is constantly going, constantly doing, never having enough time, and not getting much done. We've fooled ourselves into believing that we need to be constantly going in order to be effective.

This is FAR from the truth, and as Antoine de Saint-Exupery says it…

Perfection is not when there is no more to add, but no more to take away.

The 80/20 Principle (Pareto's Law): 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs

The Goals:

• To focus on the 20% of the inputs that are producing the 80%
• To eliminate (or limit) the 80% of the crap that is producing only 20% or not producing at all

What's the 20% for me?

• Content Creation: (videos, podcast, articles, products)
• Networking with others in my niche

What's the 80% for me?

• All of the tech stuff
• Transcription
• Checking emails many times during the day
• Watching TV
• Chatting on Instant Messenger
• A bunch of other things too numerous to mention

This is the hardest part for me because it's stuff that I'm used to doing. However, I know that it's things that I HAVE TO do so by putting it out there, I'm counting on you guys to keep me honest.

Steps I'm currently taking

• Every night, I will make a list of the 3 things I need to accomplish the next day. These things will be the highest value tasks.
• Every day, I will focus on those 3 things alone without multitasking
• I will set specific amounts of time to work on each project each day.
• I've set an alarm on my phone to alert me at 11am, 2:30pm and 6pm with the following question: “Are you inventing things to do?”
• I'm going on a 1 week media fast starting today. No reading (besides my devotions in the morning and the 4HWW, no news websites, no television, no web surfing unless it's to help me accomplish my tasks for the day).
• Whatever free time I have will be spent with my family

What I'm NOT doing

• Getting phone numbers (you'll have to listen to the episode to know what I mean by this, or read the book).

Question for today

What things give you the most bang for your buck, and what wastes your time? Leave a comment below or, even better, call in your answer to that question.

If you are interested in joining the mastermind group, head over to LWLmastermind.com for more info. The hotline, as usual, is (888) 835 – 2414