There are things that you can do that will make your return to work a smoother transition. The next time that you are going on vacation, try using the systems below to prepare for your absence and create a stress free return.

System to Leave

Prior to leaving:

Delegate Tasks

Ease the load that you will be returning to by delegating specific tasks that can be completed in your absence to your team or business associates.

Point Person

Designate specific people to respond to any urgent phone calls or emails that are received concerning the different projects that you are working on. This ensures that if any problems do arise, there is a person that can help without your vacation being interrupted.

Forward your Information

Change your voicemail greeting and turn on your email autoresponse. This will let people know that you will be unavailable and set the expectation for when you will return their call or email. During your email or phone message, you can

• Request that they call/email after you return
• Give an alternate name and number of someone that they can call for assistance
• Give a specific date stating when you will return their call
• If you have an assistant, forward your email to them. Alternatively, give them access to your email so they can review and prioritize your email.

Schedule an Admin Day

Schedule yourself to be back in the office a day before people are expecting you to return. This will allow you to get refocused before you have to hit the ground running.

Once you return to your office, use the system below to help make your transition back easier. Take a deep breath and work through everything a little at a time, always remembering to set realistic expectations for yourself.

System to Return

Below are some common tasks that you will need to work through on your return:

Phone

1. Check your voice mail and write the messages down in a notebook
2. Prioritize the calls that you personally need to return
3. Return the urgent calls first
4. Delegate calls to other people on your team (as appropriate)

Email

1. Turn your email autoresponse off
2. Check emails – sort by date and review your emails from the oldest to the most current. Work through your emails quickly by responding to the emails that will take 1 minute or less.
3. Forward and delegate emails (as appropriate)
4. Flag emails that you will need to return back to in the next couple of days

For more information and helpful tips on email management click here.

Schedule

1. Review your upcoming schedule, re-prioritize and make a plan for the week
2. Block out chunks of time to return non-urgent calls and flagged emails

Social Media

1. Log into your social media accounts and review any notifications, messages, and direct communication via the social media page.  Respond as needed.
2. Post updates and add a picture from your trip to add that personal touch.

By implementing this system, your return home from vacation can be a pleasant and peaceful experience.

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

Expand your Online Presence

There are a number of popular websites that allow customers to post feedback about their experience. Listing your business on these sites creates an easy way for your customers to post reviews about your business. It also allows potential clients to quickly find and read reviews about your business. A few of the sites that we recommend using are Google Places, Yahoo Local, Yelp, and Angie’s List.

Monitor

It is important to read the comments and reviews that are being posted about your company on the web. By reviewing this information, you can identify problems with your service or product and when necessary, respond to the feedback.

A quick and easy way to track the comments and reviews that are being posted about your company is to use Google Alerts. This free tracking system can be set to notify you when certain words are posted online about your company. Google Alerts

Respond

A quick response to a negative posting is important. Recently a local bakery had a posting on their Facebook page from a customer that had a complaint about the problem that they had encountered while parking illegally at the business. In response, the company posted their company’s parking policy. This response ultimately communicated to other customers (who may read the disgruntled customers posting) of their reasonable company policy.

In some cases, it may be appropriate to also respond to positive reviews. This response can be focused on adding information or on building a stronger relationship.

Promote

Amplify your successes and make the most out of the great comments that others are posting about you. Use the comments and reviews by reposting them on your social media site, adding them to your company’s website, or by including them on printed materials. Make sure everyone knows about them!  Use them strategically for proactive reputation management.

Note:  Many like to offer a small gift to someone for taking the time to write a review about their company; however the FTC monitors such activity. If someone receives compensation in any form for a testimonial, it must state that in the review. Read more HERE

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

To overcome this problem, we suggest that you create a third document, a Group Task List. Creating this document for your team will help guide everyone working on your project in a focused direction. It also enables you to efficiently use your scheduled meeting time to discuss the matters that need to be addressed, then separate and have a clear understanding of what each individual in the group is going to accomplish.

To help you increase your project efficiency, CEO Systems has outlined the simple system that we use to create a meeting task list.

1) Create a Meeting Agenda

Decide the order of the discussion topics. Create a timeline that indicates approximately how long each topic will be discussed. You may also want to schedule a few minutes for each attendee to speak about any concerns or updates.

2) Utilize your Agenda

Have a copy of the meeting agenda available for every attendee when they arrive. After you start the meeting, ask if anyone would like to add to or change the agenda. During your meeting, use the agenda to guide your discussion through the different topics.

3) Document the Meeting

If you can, designate someone to take notes during the meeting. They should summarize what was discussed during the meeting and document any tasks that are given to the individuals in the group.

Create a Group Task List

Using your agenda and your meeting minutes, create one document.

1.  Open the original meeting agenda on your computer (it outlines all of the different topics that                were discussed)

2.  Review the meeting minutes

3.  Add relevant information that was discussed at the meeting next to the agenda topics on your                agenda

4.  If any tasks were assigned to individuals, add their name next to that task

Individual Task Section

1.  Under the above section, create a new section and title it “Tasks”

2.  List everyone in your group

3.  Under each person’s name, list the task that they have been assigned and the date that that                   task is expected to be completed by.

Email the Group Task List

The Group Task List can now be emailed to all of the individuals that are working on the project, referenced at a later time, and reviewed by others.

A properly arranged group task list gives all of the members working on your project direction and structure. For this reason, it is important to create a group task list every time that you hold a meeting so that the necessary action steps and expectations are clearly defined.

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

A blog can have many purposes and can be used a variety of ways. Below are four reasons why we often recommend a blog to our clients:

1.  Search Engine Traffic

The top reason we encourage our clients to add a blog to their marketing plan is the ability to gain new people to learn what you have to offer. When someone goes to a search engine, such as Google or Bing, and types in words to a topic that you have written a blog entry about, they may be directed to your article and introduced to what you offer.

2.  Website Integration

It is best when the blog is incorporated into your website because search engines traffic will be directed to your website to read the article. From there, they can visit other pages on your website, sign up for your email list, and you now have a new prospective client.

We also recommend that you use a different word than “Blog” for this website page – perhaps Articles or Resources. One reason for this is that some people visiting your website may not be familiar with the term blog and not click on this page of valuable information.

3.  Social Media Content

Another tool we recommend to automatically feed your blog entries into a Facebook business page is Networked Blogs. This is an application that is added to your Facebook page that will automatically pull the new blog entry information and post a link onto your page.

Additionally, when you need content for posting updates on your social media sites, it is easy to visit one of your blog entries to take some content from there. You can also post a link to the entire blog or article on your social sites; again, this will drive traffic to your website.

4.  Store Your Content

Although we are big proponents of social media, we also know that we cannot control what changes may occur in the future with the format and structure of social sites. By adding your content to a blog, you will preserve the material you have and it can be used a variety of ways.

As you can see, incorporating a blog can be powerful for gaining traffic from search engines, adding new content and visitors to your website, linking your blog articles to your Facebook page and an easy way to preserve your content for the future.

Tip One: Define Your Social Networking Purpose

Will you offer products to your networking base or focus on offering advice? Define the purpose that social networking will serve for your business in advance. This will allow you properly choose the right sites for your needs and tailor your posts to achieve your goals.

Tip Two: Don’t Join Every Social Networking Site

Only join the social networking sites that you are able to commit your time to. Remember, joining a networking site and only “showing up” once a month does not reflect positively on your business. It is important to set aside a few minutes each day to log into the social networking sites that you have chosen and post a statement, answer direct messages, and interact with the connections that you have made. This will allow you to build a continual presence and achieve your goals.

Tip Three: Keep an updated Personal Profile

A personal profile is linked to an individual person.  Even if the primary reason you are joining Facebook is to gain visibility for your company, it is still important to keep an updated personal profile. Doing this allows you to build relationships with fellow executives and potential clients. Keep your brand in mind as you add pictures, post comments, and interact with people through Facebook.

It is important to note that your personal profile is not the place to sell products or services. If selling occurs frequently, your profile may be shut down by Facebook.

Tip Four: Create a Business Page

A business page (formerly referred to as a fan page) can be set up for a business or an organization. The public can openly view the page and you can link this page to a website, newsletter, or other marketing venue. You can also post updates, promotions, and announcements to your page to keep your growing database informed.

Additionally, when someone “Likes” your page or comments on one of your posts, your information will link to their profile and may be seen by their “friends” to see, allowing your company to be seen by a larger network of potential customers.  Best of all, it is free and fairly simple to do!

Tip Five: Establish a Group

Establishing a group for your company allows you to easily send information to group members, share documents, and announce events. Groups may be public or private. If they are private, a group admin, or creator of the group, must approve group members. Invitations to join the group can be only sent to friends that are in your existing network.

Keep in mind that most social networking members are extremely online savvy and they smell blatant advertisements from miles away. For that reason, the most effective social media marketing campaigns focus on creating conversations and relationships with their members. Use the tips above to create a solid marketing platform and let the conversation begin.

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

We at CEO Systems have developed the following system to assist you in creating a more effective meeting strategy.

Daily Check In

Daily check in meetings should be quick.  These meetings should be used to share the top priorities of the day and re-delegate any tasks that have not been completed.  It is important to keep daily meetings on track. Any topics that create discussions that last over five minutes should be set aside to be handled in a one-on-one meeting or scheduled into the weekly meeting.

These check in meetings are most effective when they are held at the same time and location every day.

Weekly Focus Meeting

The weekly focus meeting is an opportunity to hold topic discussions, review statistics for the company, and resolve issues. These meetings are the most effective when they last between 60-90 minutes. People are busy and if the weekly focus meeting regularly drags out for 3 hours, people will find reasons to miss them.

It is important to not over-pack the agenda of a weekly focus meeting. Create a simple agenda that allows time to touch on each important topic. If there are large events or projects coming up that need further discussion, a committee should be formed to work the details out. A committee representative can then summarize that discussion at a future weekly focus meeting.

Monthly Meetings

Monthly meetings can be used for many purposes. These meetings may last for 2-4 hours and when they are planned correctly, they are critical to a business’s success. This type of meeting is great for strategic planning sessions, involved discussions, and review of company goals.  Someone should be designated to facilitate the meeting as well as a timekeeper assigned to keep the group on track.

To make this type of meeting effective, a detailed meeting agenda should be created and emailed to every attendee prior to the meeting. The meeting agenda outlines the structure of the meeting. When you have a properly arranged agenda, it can help guide your meeting in a focused direction. It enables you to efficiently use your scheduled meeting time to discuss the matters that need to be addressed. For more information on creating an agenda click HERE.

Quarterly Meetings

We recommend holding Quarterly meetings off-site. These meetings may last from one to two days.  We recommend using these meetings to review your company’s business plan, analyze yearly statistics, look at market trends, and improve team dynamics. An agenda is a must for a quarterly meeting.  Your agenda should chunk your meeting times into several smaller 2-hour segments. This helps to ensure that your team does not get burned out.

These quarterly meetings are also a perfect opportunity to schedule some social time with your team. That may include a golf tournament, river rafting, or dinner out.

The business world is full of meetings. Many of these meetings are not only a waste of time, but money as well. If you are paying employees to sit in meetings, you know that it is important that those meetings make a positive impact in your company. Most meetings fall into one of four categories, daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly.

Different types of meetings serve different purposes. By implementing the technics listed above you can improve your company’s meeting management and strategy.  Doing this will increase your team communication and improve your company’s efficiency.

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

When our clients find themselves in this situation, we recommend that they fix it by scheduling time that they can dedicate to sorting and responding to their emails. In most cases it is necessary to schedule several blocks of time over a few days to work through all of the emails. We have found that scheduling 30 minute purging sessions usually works the best. Determine the time frame that fits in your schedule and use the system below to efficiently purge through your email inbox.

The CEO System:

1. Block out small chunks of time in your schedule that can be used to purge through your email Inbox

2. Begin the email purging process by sorting your emails by sender. To learn more about this efficient sorting method, click here

3. Scan each email and do one of the following:

• If the email can be dealt with in less than one minute, send a response immediately. If you encounter any delays such as a slow opening link, go to the next email. When the window is finished processing, go back to the original email and continue your work.

• If the email represents a project or task that needs to be completed, transfer the action to your task list. Doing this will help you to remember to complete the task and allow you to delete the email. See tips for task management in our article “Using an Electronic ‘To Do’ List.”

• If the email requires no action, but needs be retained for your records, it should be moved to the proper subfolder

• Delete the email if no further action is needed and the information does not need to be retained for your records.

Email Management Tips

Once you have reduced the number of emails in your email inbox, implement these tips to ensure that your inbox stays organized.

Subfolders

Check to make sure that all of the folders that you have created are still active. If you have folders listed that you no longer need to access, create a folder titled “Archived” and move the inactive folders to that location. Doing this will allow you to access the file at a later date and clear up space for your active email folders.

Set your incoming email to be automatically moved to a subfolder

Set your incoming emails to be automatically assigned to designated subfolders based upon the sender’s email address. This tool is especially effective for eliminating clutter caused by email subscriptions because the emails are automatically sent to a folder instead of stacking up in your email inbox.

Create a separate email account

Create a separate email account that you can use when signing up for online offers or for social networking notifications. Doing this will help to eliminate unwanted spam and “junk” mail in your business email inbox.

Spam Folder

Once every few weeks, quickly scan through your spam box to make sure that you do not need to read any of the emails that have been sent there. If an email you want was accidently sent to spam, move the email to your inbox and mark the sender as a “safe sender.” Once you have removed the emails that you want, empty or delete your spam folder.

Properly managing your inbox is essential for business success. Set aside time to purge, and use this system to respond and organize your email inbox. Set a goal, make a date, then reward yourself for following through.

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

SPRING

S –Schedule

P – Purge

R – Retention

I   - Integrate

N – Nightly Tasks

G – Goals

Schedule

It can be extremely difficult to organize your office during the work day. Inevitably an interruption will occur and any scheduled office organization time will get put off for another day. For the best results, we recommended scheduling your office purging session on a non-work day. Stick to your plan and don’t let any excuse, sports game, or any other fun offer let you miss this appointment.

Purge

When forced to face the stacks of paper that have been accumulating on and around your desk, it is understandable that the task of purging through it all can seem insurmountable.  We all start with the best of intentions, ready and willing to face the mess.  We block out time, close the door to the office, and start sorting through the piles. Then the phone rings, we get hungry or one of any other million things happen so that our office never gets organized. The next time that this happens “Stick with it!” Having an organized office will enable you to be more efficient and make more money.

A few helpful tips:

• Try to reward yourself for making progress along the way

• Implement 15 minute purging timeslots with small breaks in between to help you overcome the paper overwhelm!

• Know when to ask for help

Retention

Document retention can be a very complicated subject. Every business is responsible for ensuring that they store their business records for a certain amount of time. Unfortunately, the amount of time a document needs to be stored can vary from industry to industry and from situation to situation. Knowing the rules for your industry allows you to feel safe about purging your documents. When in doubt, check with your accountant or attorney before disposing of any important documents. At CEO Systems we use a generic document retention schedule to help our clients determine what documents they need to keep and what they can shred. Click here to downloaded this helpful document retention schedule for free.

The business records that you need to keep should be stored in file boxes and kept in a separate area from your work station. Each box should be clearly labeled with information about the specific documents that are being stored in the box and the date the box can be destroyed.

Integrate

Many executives hate to file and will go out of their way to avoid this task. They try to hire others to file for them, allow files to pile up on their desk, and stuff documents into boxes when their office becomes too messy to be able to efficiently function.

During the course of each day, every executive must access and work on documents. If you do not have a proper filing system in place that will allow you to file your documents as you work, papers can be misplaced, opportunities can be missed, and a great deal of frustration can occur.

The solution is to implement a filing system and integrate the action of filing as you work into your daily routine. We recommend implementing “The CEO System: The Executive Office Filing System.” This booklet contains detailed instructions on how to implement a filing system that will enable you to efficiently file your papers, follow up on business cards, and keep track of your business receipts. Click here to download our executive filing system.

Nightly Tasks

To ensure that your office stays clean and organized, block out fifteen minutes at the end of each work day to put away the files that you have pulled out and prepare for the next morning. Schedule this time on your calendar and do not allow yourself to skip this appointment.

Suggested nightly checklist:

• Re-file any existing project folders that have been left open on your desk
• Make new files and folders for projects that you have started
• File any loose paperwork in its proper file
• Recycle or shred any documents that you no longer need
• Enter new tasks in to your Outlook or task management system or update existing tasks to reflect any work that you were unable to complete
• Review your schedule for the next day and mentally prepare for it
• When necessary, confirm appointments and make changes to your schedule to avoid any time conflicts

Goals

Setting goals will help you to stay on track when life seems too busy to stay organized. Take the time to set your own personal organization goals and post them in our office. When your office starts to feel cluttered, use your goals to motivate yourself to get things back in order.

Suggested goals:

• I will keep my filing cabinet organized so that at the end of next year I can easily pull out last year’s tax documents and file my taxes
• I will keep a clean and organized office space so that I am not embarrassed to have visitors
• I will dedicate the time that is needed to keeping my office organized throughout the year

The time that you invest in organizing your office will be returned to you through efficiency, productivity, and increased profits. We encourage you to devote the time that is needed to organize your office. With a little perseverance, we know that you can have the organized space that you always imagined.

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

When you are developing your content, it is important to provide your subscribers with information that they will find valuable and/or coupons or discounts that they would be interested in hearing about. Below we have listed five tips that we share with our clients to help them efficiently develop a successful internet marketing campaign that creates immediate results.

Tip 1:  Target Demographic

A valuable time saver that will increase the effectiveness of your campaign is to research what your target demographic is interested in hearing about. The simplest way to gather this information is through an informal survey or by asking your current customers what they would be interested in hearing about.

Tip 2:  Connect with your Readers

The content that you provide can be used to deepen your personal connection with your subscribers. When appropriate, increase the expressiveness in your writing and allow your personality and passion to come through. Additionally, being transparent and sharing personal stories to illustrate the subject matter is a great way to personalize and connect with your readers.

Tip 3:  Conversation

To make your newsletter more interesting and to engage your audience, create a platform that produces a conversation with your customers. This can be accomplished by answering subscriber’s questions or by asking for feedback. When you have an open dialog with your subscribers, you can easily receive feedback and restructure your newsletter according to your audience’s needs.

Tip 4:  Structure

The structure of your newsletter will vary based upon your email marketing goals. Begin by creating a basic template for your email marketing campaign.  Consider the sections of content that you would like to offer and create space for each section in the template.  Once you have created your template you can then easily insert new information into each publication by using copy and paste tools.  You may want to consider including the following content areas in your newsletter:

• Feature Article
• Upcoming Events
• Testimonials
• Recommended Products
• New Services Offered
• Photo Gallery
• Specials or Coupons
• Contact Information
• Quick Tip
• A question and answer section where you invite readers to ask questions relevant to your business or service and you have the opportunity to provide solutions for your readers

Tip 5:  Get Help

If you find that writing your own content is challenging or too time consuming, you may find it easier and more convenient to work with a “ghost writer”.  These professionals have the ability to capture your ideas and transform them into a well written copy. Additionally, you may want to seek assistance with choosing the content and structure of your newsletter, creating a template, or sending your newsletter electronically.

Providing quality content, being consistent, and having the proper structure will keep your subscribers interest and generate continued enthusiasm towards your email marketing campaign.  Your readers will look forward to receiving your emails rather than looking for the easiest way to opt out.

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.

Over the last few years we have found that many of our clients struggle with implementing a plan to build their email marketing list. It has become such a popular problem that we decided it would be beneficial to outline the different list building sources that we most often recommend. Keep in mind that the best approach is to build your list by gathering contact information from many different sources. Do not be afraid to use trial and error until you figure out what combination works the best for your business.

The CEO System for List Building Success

Website
To successfully market to your online visitors it is important that your website features an opt-in or “subscribe”box that allows visitors to join your email marketing list.

To get visitors to become subscribers:

• Offer a solution to their problem
• Have a privacy statement so they understand you will not share their information with others
• List special discounts or offers that are available only to subscribers
• Give something away. Create an offer that you will give away when they join your list. This may be a report, e-book, or product on a solution that your company offers.

Follow Up
A great way to peak the interest of new subscribers is to set up a series of email messages that they will receive at a scheduled pace. These messages can be used to welcome new subscribers as well as inform them about the different services or products that you have available.

Physical Location
It is important to gather the contact information of the individuals that visit your place of business. To easily collect your customer’s information:

• Post the benefits that subscribers receive in a noticeable location
• Have a sign-up sheet available
• Ask clients for their email address during the sign in process

Content Driven Interest – Forward to a Friend
It is true that word of mouth is one of the best ways to gain clients. Yet, I would contend that a forwarded email is almost better. When you offer your subscribers content that has value, chances are they will pass that information along to other people by forwarding your email. These referrals will help to keep your list growing and increase your business’s profits.

Social Marketing
Post updates about the benefits that subscribers receive to encourage your social marketing friends to join. Make a routine effort to invite your social networking connections to join your email list.

The time that you invest into building your email marketing list will pay off through an open line of communication with your past, current and potential clients. We encourage you to invest some of your time into implementing these systems and building your email marketing list. Once you have this done, your email list will continue to grow with very little effort and your email marketing possibilities will be endless.

© Copyright 2011 CEO Systems. All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.