Productivity

How To Send Multiple Freebies Using Just One List In MailChimp For Free

by 11 Comments

3-Steps To Send Multiple Freebies Using Just One List In MailChimp – For Free.

For all of you in the early stages of business, saving the moula is pretty important.

MailChimp has a lot to offer you for free, but I know many of you aren't quite sure how to get the most out of it so here's how I hope I can help. Many people believe that you must create a separate list for every email opt-in you create when using MailChimp, but this is not true.

Here's how most people create a freebie using MailChimp

  1. Create a cool freebie like a helpful excel template!
  2. Go into MailChimp and create a list for this freebie and call it Excel template freebie
  3. Create a welcome email with the freebie download so anyone who joins that list gets the download with their welcome email

And this is totally okay! But once you have more than two or three freebies under your belt you soon find having so many lists a pain. It's not easy to email everyone on all your email lists when you send newsletters and it becomes more difficult to manage than it has to be. Fortunately, there is another way.

Input form fields in MailChimp

The internet is full of forms! We've all used them and likely your humble email opt-in form could be working a lot harder for you than it currently is if you're using MailChimp.

HTML Forms are made up of fields & buttons.

Form “fields” collect information like Email, Name, Address, Phone Number and “buttons” are responsible for confirming you entered in all the information requested and sending that info to your email system like MailChimp.

I have two freebies below that each deliver their own freebie. With MailChimp, I can track which page you downloaded my freebie from. You can already be on my list and download all my freebies and I don't have to create a new list for every freebie I offer.

Fields and buttons

Website forms are used to collect all kinds of information for us. We use them as Opt-In forms that collect names and email addresses, we see them in survey tools, they are used whenever we are asked for information online. They are little powerhouses!  Your Opt-In Form can do more for you than you think.

In the example below, we have 2-fields and a button. Fields come in various flavors. Most of us use text fields.

Text fields are INPUT fields in forms and this just means that people can “input” information into them in a text format. Your name and email form fields collect text so they are text type input fields :)

Most freebie opt-in forms have 2-3 things max:

  1. A Name
  2. An Email
  3. A way to submit the info (A Button)

Let's see how code looks for the example below:

This is the name field

<label for=”mce-name”>**this was left blank in the example below**</label>
<input type=”text” value=”Name” name=”name” id=”mce-name”>

This is the email field

<label for=”mce-name”>**this was left blank in the example below**</label>
<input type=”text” value=”Email Address” name=”email” id=”mce-email”>

Notice how there is nothing in the label space in this example. If this form had labels, you would see that info outside the form box. This form is using the form values as labels helping us know what info to put where. When we enter in our own Name and Email Address, our values will replace the default values put into the form code as placeholders.

This basic understanding of what your opt-in form input field code is doing will help you understand what I'm going to ask you to do next!

Step One: Create your freebie opt-in form in MailChimp

Follow these steps in MailChimp to create your form, and add a new text field.

→ Go to: Signup forms then Form Builder to create your new freebie form code
→ Create a new TEXT field: Add a filed -> then choose text
→ Field Label = OPTIN
→ Field Tag = OPTIN
→ Make that field VISIBLE (and change it later)
→ Default Merge Tag Value = Name-Of-Optin (I used “testfreebie” in my example below, this is where you put a name for each opt-in with no spaces)

Step Two: Grab the code MailChimp gives you & pop this into your website to edit it

→ This time head back to SignUp Forms and click EMBEDDED FORMS
→ Copy the code :)
→ Now paste this code into your website where you want your opt-in form

–FIND YOUR NEW TEXT FIELD IN THE CODE YOU PASTED INTO YOUR WEBSITE. IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS–

<div>
<label for=”mce-OPTIN”>OPTIN</label>
<input type=”text” value=”” name=”OPTIN” id=”mce-OPTIN”>
</div>

–CHANGE IT TO THIS—

<div>
<label for=”mce-OPTIN”>***leave a space here***</label>
<input type=”hidden” value=”testfreebie” name=”OPTIN” id=”mce-OPTIN”>
</div>

→ Save this page as a draft until you have created your opt-in download email ;-)

Step Three: Create the automation in MailChimp that delivers your new freebie!

{Check-out the video below that shows you how this looks}

→ Go to Campaigns then click on Campaign over on the right
→ Choose Email then Automated
→ Then Subscriber Activity, Welcome New Subscribers
→ Name your campaign and then **choose your main email list** & click “begin”
→ Now click “Change Trigger” top left next screen
→ Then click on List Management
→ Click on “Changed list field to value” – then on the next screen under “settings” select the “Opt-In” field you created
→Still on the same page, In the “value changes to” box put the name you used for your freebie when you created your form (needs to be exactly the same, no spaces)

❤︎ And that's it! Do this once and you can repeat these 3-Steps easily.

Any Q's always happy to help.

Looking for some done-for-you support? If you're over the DIY for now, I can just get it done for you with techy-webby support, websites created with solid foundations you can manage with ease to grow your business & just-in-time consultations for the information Google can't give you

For Holistic Business Coaching that can help you achieve business goals in a way that works for your unique needs and who you are today, head over here.

If you found this content helpful, please subscribe to my email list. I'd be so honoured to have you.

Are you on Instagram? Follow me for quick messages of support and inspiration for that calm we all need in today's busy world.

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Posted in ,

Val Cline

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in ,

Val Cline

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in ,

Val Cline

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in ,

Val Cline

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in

Val Cline

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

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Val Cline

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cami says (Edit)

    Thank you so much for this!!!! It was SUPER helpful! One question, when I enter an email to the form that is already on the list, it says that it is already subscribed and is not working. Do you know how to get around that? Thanks!

  2. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Cami -thanks for the comment and YES you are so right. I've contacted MailChimp and there specifically said that subscribers cannot sign up more than once to your list, but they did say their new landing pages could make this possible. You'd have to use that as your signup form and I didn't get any more detail for how that would work. I will be looking into that soon and will post what I discover. Alternatively, you could offer a freebie password protected area for subscribers or put a small note with all your freebie sign-up forms letting current subscribers know to just email you for a direct link. Just ideas. Hope this helps.

  3. Mansi says (Edit)

    Nice…so many details for a beginner!!

  5. Tasha says (Edit)

    Hey there! Since this blog was written have you figured out how to do it with landing pages? I have a weebly website also and found another blog post showing how with landing pages but WordPress. Trick is that landing pages in mailchimp don't accept HTML code so you can't change anything :( confused gal over here

  7. Gabby says (Edit)
    This is exactly what I've been looking for! Thanks so much for sharing!
    I do have a question though … when people optin for the freebie, will they automatically get added to the automated sequence I've set up for general newsletter signups (custom event workflow)?
  8. Val Cline says (Edit)

    Hi Gabby -thanks for the comment!

    I'd have to have a peek at how you have your systems setup to be sure but, yes I believe they should get a welcome sequence if you have one setup.

  9. Rabea says (Edit)

    Finally a way to do this without creating tons of lists! And you can even create another welcome email sequence that starts 1-3 hours later, but the new subscriber still gets the right freebie first. Thank you soooo much, I'm 100% gonna try this!

  10. Kat says (Edit)

    I'm so glad I found this! Been searching on how to do this! As for people who've already subscribed, I just send them the direct link in another email to my subscribers! Thank you!!

  11. Tansy says (Edit)

    Short, sweet and simple instructions.

    I've got the problem that the email that is sent to confirm sign up continues to have another download that I created for my list (the generic one I have for website signups).

    Do I have to remove this for this to work? That is create all my downloads this way?

    Thanks.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Posted in

Val Cline

Hey there, I'm Val. Teacher, creator, and uncomplicator. More than websites, productivity apps, small business productivity, and management systems. I'm at least 25% cat toes and coffee.

Essentialism for business: How to have success doing less (book review)

by 1 Comment

Essentialism The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Guilt Doing

This is not success.

As soon as this is done, I'll take a break and do some yoga, clean the house, start that painting or maybe see some friends. As soon as I finish this thing I’ll get back to my life.

One more thing, one more hour, one more task.

Forcing productivity in one area of my life at the expense of others, was not making me productive. It was making me unhappy and unhealthy as well. In a world that can over value the illusion of busy, fill offices with warm bodies sitting at desks between the hours of 9 to 5 and praise the “first one in” and the “last one out”, it takes consistent discipline to make different choices for your happy, productive life. And when you own your own business it can be scary to trust, that if you get up from your desk and chose to spend a day creating art, that your business won't crash and burn because of it.

The model of putting in the time, plowing through and sacrificing balance just doesn’t work. I think we all know this deep down.

Was I familiar with this lesson? Yes. But I still need a cosmic 2 x 4 every now and then to remind me I am the one making the choices here and to choose wisely.

I've got a book to share with you today and I think you'll like it. It has a lot of wisdom and practical advice to help you continually choose what's right for your success and happiness. This book will help you develop a disciplined habit of choosing to do less for success, every day.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeowan.
essentialism: the essential pursuit of less Greg McKeowan has written a book packed with practical advice for living a purposeful life full of choice. The best part is he shows you how to do this by choosing to do less! Declutter your life, your mind and your business with these tips.

You won't look at your todo list the same. Let's get to the details.

The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials Lin Yutang

McKeowan believes we can achieve more by doing less. We can end burnout and take control of our life choices to ensure the essential needs we have for a happy life are met. He wants to help us know what the essential tasks are for our businesses and our lives so we can focus only on what moves us forward towards our goals, today.

Is it any wonder why I like this book?

Essentialism is more than tips and strategies for a more purposeful and successful life.

Essentialism is a mindset we develop for a purposeful, productive, successful life.Click To Tweet

Here are the big ideas found within.

Enjoy.

16 Big Ideas From Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Essentialism VS Non-Essentialism
Essentialism (as McKeowan defines it) is not about how to get more things done it’s about how to get the RIGHT things done. By investing in fewer things, we make progress in the things that matter most to us. There are essentialists and non-essentialists. Aim to be an essentialist.
Non-essentialists: Essentialists:
want to be all things to all people,
feel everything is important
want to fit everything into their lives		 do less but better
choose to do things
know only a few things matter
ask what the trade-offs are of choices
An undisciplined pursuit of more, rather than a disciplined pursuit of less is the key difference between an “essentialist” and a “non-essentialist”.

#1 Celebrate your power of choice

When we forget the ability we have to choose, we learn to be helpless. Don’t become the function of other people's choices. Celebrate your power of choice. When you surrender it you give others permission to choose for us!

#2 Most tasks are unimportant

Choose the few things that work fantastically well and have a tremendous impact. Do less. Think more. I swear, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve not taken breaks and spend hours on something only to arrive at an impasse. If I go outside and take a walk, I always complete it faster.

#3 Distinguish between the trivial many and the vital few tasks

Not all opportunities are equal. In order to discern the vital few tasks, you must explore many options. The non-essentialist is so busy pursuing all their ideas that they end up exploring less! The only way to know what is vital is with exploration. Take your choices seriously. Think about them. Explore them. This big idea really hit me. Love it.

#4 Embrace tradeoffs

When you choose, choose deliberately and celebrate your choice. When you don’t choose others will choose for you. Make your choices thoughtfully, strategically and deliberately so you understand the tradeoffs and embrace your choice fully.

#5 Enjoy the perks of being unavailable

focus is something we doFocus is not something we have, it’s something we do. Create space to think and focus. Make space to escape your busy life.

Create space to escape and explore in life. In order to have a focus, we need to escape focus. We need space to design our lives, deliberately explore what’s essential and separate that from the many non-essential distractions in our lives.

#6 Use exploration as a method of tuning in to what really matters

Don't forget how important it is to continue to explore in life. It might be the only way to really tune in to what really matters.

It's in the doing and being where we connect with our truth.Click To Tweet

Clarify the question

What problem are you trying to solve? Once you are clear on that, you know where your focus lies. Stay curious. Ask yourself often: what problem am i solving right now?

Play

playImagination is the source of every form of human achievement. The author defines play as anything we do simply for the enjoyment of it and not as a means to an end. Studies have shown that play improves health, relationships and leads to brain plasticity, adaptability and creativity. Play is essential and not trivial or an unproductive waste of time. It’s an anecdote to stress, helps us see possibilities, make connections and opens our minds. Play is expansive and comes in many forms.

A journal is a storage device for backing up our brains faulty hard drive [where] the faintest pencil is better than the strongest memory.

Journaling to connect with what really matters

Journaling is one of my essentials.

TIPS

  • Write less than you feel like writing -then the task is never daunting and you will keep the habit restrain yourself from writing more until you have this habit down -if you fall off
  • Start small -less is more, until you have the habit
  • Read your journal every 3 months and look for your themes!
  • Take Action. Just plain get out and take action for the things you feel compelled to, that your heart pulls you towards. Life’s answers lie in the doing
  • Look for patterns. Keep your eyes peeled for the patterns in your doing -what do you love, hate, want to do more of, what are your observations, how do you feel?, All these patterns, details and observations are clues to what really matters to you for your happy, productive life

#7 Look for what really matters

Look for what really matters, each hour, each day and for your life. This is a practice. The more you do it the better you will get at knowing what’s most important for you. Patterns and trends will reveal themselves in your life. You will start to see the larger issues that really matter.

#8 The 90% rule

I love this. If your highest priority is to protect our ability to prioritize, this makes everything easier. You can remove indecision if you only accept choices that meet 90% of your criteria or higher. Forget the almost good enough thoughts. Don’t purposely choose 70 or 80 out of 100. If you have an important choice to make in life, go for 90 and up! Of course, you need to understand your criteria first in order to make this choice.

Our highest priority is to protect our ability to prioritize.

In order to say YES to the top 10 percent, we need to make decisions consciously and rationally rather than impulsively or emotionally. If it isn’t a clear yes then it’s a clear no!

#9 Living with intent

Create a statement of intent

When you create a statement of intent for anything it needs to be meaningful, memorable, inspiring and eliminate “a thousand later decisions”. Ask yourself, “If I could only be truly excellent at only one thing, what would that be?” Then ask yourself, “How will I know when I’ve succeeded?”.

Here is an example of a statement of intent for an organization called “Make It Right” created to help people after Hurricane Katrina.

“To build 150 affordable, green, storm-resistant homes for families living in the Lower 9th Ward”. That’s a concrete statement of intent that eliminates a thousand later decisions!

Clarify your purpose

Clarity of purpose will help you achieve your dreams! You can create declarations of intent for your week, quarterly, for your business or your life. Consider using a vision board for each month or each quarter. It doesn't have to be complicated -any directed focus for something that is important to you is better than undirected choices. Don't overthink it.

#10 Say No

Understand the tradeoff of saying yes vs no. Set your boundaries with a graceful "no" and you will gain respect by demonstrating time is valuable to you. It takes the strength of conviction to say no and if we don’t have that we can’t get the things we say we want in life. Other people end up making choices for us unless we take action and choose. Say no to the non-essentials.

Limit your availability

Technology can make setting boundaries more difficult. People expect us to be available more and more, blurring the line between work time and personal time. Understand your limits. Once you understand what's essential to you, it becomes clear what you need be saying yes and not to.

If you have limits, you will become limitless

Set your rules in advance eliminating the need for a direct “no”

Know the difference between your problems and the problems of others. You can have empathy, but when you choose to take on the problems of others, you are not choosing what’s essential to you.

Edit your life

Start getting comfy with saying no to things that are really good, but get in the way of what’s essential. With writing and living, editing is an art. What confuses your life, distracts a reader or produces endless potential decisions can take you away from your focus, your purpose and what’s essential.

#11 Make it simple to choose what’s essential

Make it easy to choose what's importantWhen it comes to managing large technical online projects with budgets in the millions, success is pretty dam essential. I am very good at forecasting and evaluating risk and developing a plan for success. We can manage our lives so the essentials are easy choices by using some classic project management skills.

Know the value of buffer time and the ability to evaluate scenarios.
When something is essential, you do have to plan ahead. Planning gives you space to allow choices and without the ability to chose your life, life is not yours to choose.

Add 50% to your time estimates

As a project manager, I can tell you this is the truth!

Most of the teams I got to know would estimate their time to complete tasks at least 50% below the time it actually would take. Fortunately, after 20 years working in digital media, my risk assessment skills were pretty sharp and my ability to estimate accurately just as stellar. It's unaccounted for tasks and scenarios that take the time that's often not included in an estimate. This is what can more than double an estimate.

For example, if you plan to get to a movie by 6 pm and you know it takes you 30 minutes to drive, do you plan to leave 30 minutes before the movie starts or do you build in time to find parking and pay for it? What about traffic? If your life depended on getting to this movie on time you might make a plan that accommodates road closures and long detours well!

Life is easier when you have a plan for the unexpected

Tasks break down into details that take time and these details take time like clearing the snow and ice off your car, digging yourself out if you get stuck, road closures, traffic accidents and finding parking. Understanding the details even in a broad sense will increase your odds of success and decrease your stress. No matter how good you are at estimating time, you can never account for every possibility so make it simple to choose what’s essential

#12 Remove the obstacles

I’m partial to this tip. I’m a firm believer in doing no harm, and it's the first thing I do when working with clients. It can be the simplest task with powerful results. In fact, this is a recurring theme in my life that I find applies to most everything. For me, removing harm is my primary value with regards to healthcare, the care of our planet and businesses strategy. Start with what's not working. Often this is the only thing you need to do to improve a situation drastically.

#13 Celebrate small wins

Start small and celebrate often. If you aren’t able to celebrate regular small win’s ask yourself the following:

What’s useful and valuable for the essential task I am doing? What is the minimum I can do right now to prepare?

Done is better than perfect

Celebrate progress visually so you consistently see your progress. Find a way to track your progress visually to keep up the momentum. Starting small can help us achieve more and when we always reward our progress, the process becomes more enjoyable.

#14 Design your routines around what’s essential

sleepWithout a routine, the nonessentials can overwhelm us and distract us. This is where I am right now.

Construct your routines around your essentials. These will become your habits and then you can function on autopilot. Meeting the needs of your non-negotiables in life become easy and second nature when you build them into your daily routines. Exercise, sleep, business tasks and anything else that you know are essential can be part of a routine.

Remove obstacles.

Remove obstacles and consider what habits you currently have that are not productive. What can you stop doing? I can stop watching Netflix after 8 pm and go to bed and read. I used to read before bed and found it nourishing. Since I've been up late watching Netflix, I haven't slept well, and I've missed reading.

Use triggers to change the non-essential routines you have

For example, if you decide your health is essential, but you have a routine already that includes a chocolate bar every day when you get on the subway, use that trigger to grab an apple instead.

Start extremely small when creating new routines

If you want to start a morning journaling habit, stop before you need too. Start so small that you can’t ever feel you don’t have time to do it until you form the habit. Write only a few sentences for example and then close your journal and don’t pick it up until the next morning. Do the same and continue it until you’ve developed a habit of morning journaling for a month.

Start with the most difficult task first

Use this tip with the concept of triggers. Pick something you already do every day like drinking coffee. Next, decide to tackle your most difficult daily task every morning when you drink your coffee.

Mix it up. Routines don’t have to be the same each day!

Routines can be boring. Why not have one routine for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and another for Tuesday and Thursday? Mix it up. I use Time Blocking in my calendar like this. I block certain days for Blogging and others for market research. Every day is not the same and I do build in buffer time.

Make only small changes

Don’t create several new routines all at once. Introduce one thing at a time and make it subtle. Consider only one change to your daily routine at a time. Then celebrate your success!

#15 Focus

Focus on the present, enjoy the moment and tune into what’s important right now. There is only now so get the future and the past out of your head.

    • Ask yourself what might you want to do someday as a result of today?
    • Make a list of what’s vying for your attention and cross off anything that’s not important right now
    • Prioritize your list

#16 Be

The more you can fully embrace the idea of essentialism and embody it, the easier it is to live it and become it. Essentialism can become a way of life. Many of us who are entrepreneurs are living this life because we discovered that we were at one time not living according to what we knew to be essential. Choosing to focus on what's essential takes practice. An essentialist lifestyle can give us more clarity, more control and more joy in life.

The essential life is living a life that matters to us. A life that has meaning. Look inside yourself and answer the question “what’s essential” and eliminate everything else.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeowan.
I very much enjoyed the wisdom of this book and feel I'll need it's reminders often. If you don't have it I highly recommend it. Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Do you have any others you would recommend? I'd love to hear from you, let me know below.

Bye for now,

Val xo

Check out the books in my resources section here!

Why complex tools and systems aren’t the best for productivity

by 1 Comment

bad workflow

How many of you have worked in jobs where you wanted to tear your hair out due to ridiculous, convoluted processes and workflows.  Processes that actually seemed to prevent you from doing a good job.

My hand is up.

Way up.

Inefficient Processes Sabotage your Business Productivity

Complicated workflows and inefficient processes are a sure fire way to suck the passion out of your work. They block human potential, stunt creativity, create tension with those you need to collaborate with and mire you in self-doubt.Click To Tweet

And like so many forms of sabotage, I don't think we always know it's happening. If we do, we aren't really aware of the potential damage.

Find the efficiencies. Remove harm.

Do no harm.

Have a look at the way you currently do business. What's working right now and what isn't. We want to remove the "harm" and look for how we can make things more efficient. Sometimes that means that we shouldn't be doing a task at all.   Where do you struggle, what do you dislike doing and why? Take a look at your business processes right now.

When you evaluate what's working and what isn't, you can create a workflow that is efficient and will help you:

  • Save time
  • Save money
  • Reduce risks
  • Ensure consistent client experiences
  • Evaluate best practices
  • Outsource work

Brain Dump all the Tasks for a Workflow

Grab a pen and paper right now. From beginning to end write down all the steps you need to take to complete a common task. What needs to happen from beginning to end to complete a process?

A Sample Coaching Client Workflow

Intake Call
Client Wants Coaching
Setup client folders
Collect Name, Skype, Address
Send Client Pre Session Questions
Send Welcome Package & Coaching Agreement
Signed Coaching Agreement is returned
Client Pays for All Sessions
Client Books 90 minute Session
Client Books 5 60 minute Sessions
Final Session Complete
Feedback Survey & Testimonial Sent
Feedback Survey & Testimonial Received
Client Review Notes - Lessons Learned Documented
Client Service File Closed and Archived
Follow-up 30 days

Outsource, Automate, Template, Evaluate.

Now for each step in your current workflow ask yourself:

  • Would outsourcing this step make me happy?
  • Can I automate this step by using a tool, how?
  • Can this be templated (documents, emails, checklists, folder structures)?

Then ask yourself: How can I make this better?

Perhaps once you look at your list you decide that adding a "Lessons Learned" step would be a great way to make your process better! Then you decided to always follow-up with past clients 30 days after your program ends as well.

Document your workflow

You don't have to get fancy. You can use a spreadsheet or a document. Check out the tools below.

These "checklists" become your best practices. When you follow them you know a certain standard of care and work will be achieved. You can now use these checklists to easily outsource work and know the same care and standards are met.

Clean up your folder systems

Create file & folder templates for everything you re-use. Depending on the workflow you've nailed down -now create the folder structure you need to complete the workflow complete with the template version of all necessary documentation within the appropriate folder.

Now when you need to say work with a new client for a particular coaching package you simply copy and paste the folder template, rename it and all the appropriate folders and document templates are already inside for the full process.

Tweak as necessary, but you get the idea.

Use Project Management Tools

Consider that all the work you do for your business and your clients can be called "Projects". Part of tidying up your processes and workflows is getting a grip on how you manage your projects. Here are 2 Ah-MAZING tools you can use. If you've never used a PM tool before start simple. Make it work for you and build from there.

Asana

For now, Asana is a powerhouse for free and it just got an amazing upgrade.
It's cloud-based. Just sign up for an account and you are off.

Choose from one of their pre-made templates or create your own as a "New Project" and save it with the Name and the word "TEMPLATE" at the end ie: New Client TEMPLATE. Then whenever you need to set up a new "project" to use this workflow just select the "New Client TEMPLATE" project and chose "copy" via the drop down by the title.

Basecamp

Basecamp is a paid service and is worth the investment if you have projects with teams or clients with a lot of information and files.

I love Basecamp for small projects. No tool is perfect. For small businesses and solo entrepreneurs, Basecamp is a great choice. One of the many things I love about Basecamp and its ability to streamline processes and workflow is its ability to template the whole project process including documents, tasks, due dates and team members.

Not simply one workflow or set of tasks. See this quick video as an example.

If you've tried all these tips you are set up to streamline your workflow, evaluate and outsource your tasks. They can save your sanity and free your soul if you tend to them.

If you are a coach or service-based entrepreneur just starting out you might like this.