The Value Of Time

Hi Russell,

Great information. Time is really important to us. Really outsourcing is really an important part of the business or else we will be end up doing everything by ourself.

Thanks For this great info.

John
www.millionairesecretexposed.com

Hi Russell; :D

Though I've been reading your material for awhile, I've never left any comments but I had to thank you for this excellant letter on the value of time.

While I'm working on my website and the subsequent advertising, etc., I am helping a friend with his site by taking calls and doing other office type jobs.

This is ok but everytime I have to spend HOURS researching a product, I get aggravated because I don't get paid anything unless I MAKE A SALE and it's paid for.

Therefore, if a prospect doesn't buy for whatever reason, all that time is wasted. No moulaa for this chic! :-( I haven't decided how to handle this...I may just chalk it up to "experience" so as to not mess up the relationship between him, his wife (one of my best friends) and I. But, I certainly will make a copy of this letter to keep visible at all times and start implementing some of your ideas immediately.

I'll let you know farther down the road on how things are going.

Thanks again,
Maribelle Wersen

I thought your comments where interesting.
Thanks Robert

hello Russell

Wonderful. I agree time is the most valuable thing and available in abundance for the right user.
Thank you for the excellent letter on Value of Time

The best bit of information I have heard in a long time

This is an EXCELLENT article. Must read every single internet marketer.

Great advice Russell, I fully agree that email is the biggest time waster of all. I was wondering how to tackle it and your advice has a lot of promise.

Thanks Allan.

WOW,

thanks for those info,
as an freelance article writer,

i'm really consumed with my time and rarely have time for myself,

after reading this, it really woke me up.......

hmmmmm.....maybe it's time to step down abit and plan for the replacements......

Thanks Russell

Hey Russell,

WOW! Fantastic post!

You know, I'll be the first to admit that I leave my email open 24/7 and check it many times every hour ... a huge mistake because, as you say, it really does sidetrack us and keeps us from focusing on the the project at hand. I also started using kayako.com for my customer service support tickets recently - a great piece of software (highly recommended). My next step is hiring somebody or outsourcing my customer service to help free up a solid 60-90 minutes of my time per day. Anyway, just wanted to thank you again for some great informational posts.

Erik James
http://www.ListBuilderPro.com

Russell, y
You are right. Time is precious. When I do full time consultation work I used to charged 200/hr.

Now I work on my own website so that I could stay home with my children and found that I spend much more time with much less income, and much less time with the children!
What a mess. Too many emails! so I just sign up for another email, such that when I can afford to source out, I can have one for private group only.

Salmah

Hi Russell from sunny England! (Actually it's raining, but I like to keep things positive!) :D )

Many of us have been on some sort of time management courses and most of what we hear is common sense. But we keep going as we all need reminding every now and then.

Your letter does a lot more, and is inspiring. I have recently started changing my perspective on business, finally taking the outsourcing plunge so I can take on more new business, grow faster and be able to 'replace myself' (great phrase!) in more areas quicker.

Today I am even more determined to ease my work burden and make people appreciate - and pay for! - my time. I am very familiar with Maribelle's predicament and one always wants to help people. But first you have to build the business that pays you when you're not working - that way you can help as much as you like!

Thanks for the e-mails and ideas.

Arthur

Hi Russell,

Boy oh boy. Great tips.

Now that I've read jvwithrussell.com I'll make sure to not bother you again :-)

Hope your doing amazing!
Take Care,
Joe Lavery

Hi Russell :D

Still being in a full-time job, having just become a dad to little Jasper, and growing my business at the same time, has made efficiency one of the most important goals in my life right now.

I guess the two basics are:

1) automate everything
2) when it can't be automated, outsource it

So lead generation, follow up, sales and product delivery can all be automated.

Customer support, product creation and coming up with new marketing material and ideas can be outsourced.

But networking, ah, that one you have to do yourself.

Sincerely,
Sten
How To Memorize Anything

Hi Russell,

Interesting comments. It is the key to success as the bottom line is how much free time you really want to obtain at end of the day or end of the project. Allowing a business to really consume you 24/7 isn't a life, but a job when the goal is to be earning residual income. And one does have to be careful how they charge their time. The more expertise they have, certainly they can charge more for what it's worth. But charge too much without being able to show for it and it will fail. Another key is integrity and that's where success becomes you.

Gary

Absolutely right. I already do all this. For my physical products I use a family business to order them in, take payments and ship them out. At the end of each month they give me a check for %50 of the profits. The shopping cart is automated. (I used to do ALL this stuff by hand!) My eBook web site is also automated. And my web site email form sends messages to a guy whom I pay just $300 a month. He handles all my technical enquiries. That leaves me completely free to look for new products, write more books and training courses and concentrate on marketing.

Once again Russell,

You have provided some great content and it makes you think. :wink:

Joe Gilharry

Hi Russel,

It was nice to read your letter on the Value of time. From now on I have started calculating the value of my time and as far as possible to outsource the mundane jobs. You are quite right! We could do some more productive work by concentrating more on the business research how to make more money within the available time. I welcome some more tips on such useful topics

Thanks and regards,

A T ARUMUGHAM

Hi Russel!

I do appreciate your time writing the 'Value of Time' for us.You took a bit of your valuable time to remind us to appreciate every single time that we got to use it wisely either for business, ourself and for our beloved family.

Time always going forward!

Don't be too late to realise it!

Thanks.

dxpro
www.internetmilliondollars.com/in/dxpro

Russel, you've done it again! We all know most of this, deep down inside, but it doesn't stop us from frittering away our precious time on stupid stuff like email: one of my biggest time killers!

You've given me the incentive I needed to make a resolution: no more time wasting until my first info-product is actually on sale.

Hi Russell,

Excellent.

Terrence

Hey Russell,

Yeah, that's a big one all right! Time is the one thing we all have the same amount of.

No one is born a time millionaire, yet it can be so easy to squander it all and end up broke!

Great article Russell, and now I have to get back to work or I won't have time to...

Russell Hallonquist
UltimateRightsEmpire.com

Hi Russell,
I want to thank you for sharing your wisdom so generously. I think it is great that you value your time as time is certainly precious.It is also very kind that you share your wisdom on this site at no charge. I assure you the universe will not be outdone in generosity and what you give out will come back to you.You can be a role model for us to find ways to share ourselves without giving our time away. Again I want to sincerely thank you for the great work you are doing and passing on your insights.
Do enjoy each moment with those precious twins and wife.
Love and Blessings
Karen

On that same note, I spent most of this past weekend objectively looking at all of the newsletters I had signed up on in recent months. Although I am an old-timer on the web and in business online, I am relatively new to internet marketing as a science.

I unsubscribed from all of the newsletters that had proved of little or no value to me in recent weeks, and in almost every case they were nothing more than "me too" emails that were just trying to sell me every new thing that came down the pike with some canned text. On the other hand, the two or three that survived had provided information and/or resources of real value on a regular basis.

Well put Russell!

Two things people miss...most come online and start a business which is really:

Trading Time for Money

but what they should be aiming for is autopilot sites that make money while they are not here. Preaching to the converted I know but well worth saying here. Its better to go online and build a business then get a job.

Also, one of the things most of us MUST do is include time in our plan. Its often taught by gurus that you should detail plan your business but no one talks about planning your time.

Most people building their business struggle with two issues. One is how to best use their precious time, what steps should follow to use their time most effectivel. Two they struggle with knowing when to hire out, who to hire to minimize the training time (just more pull on time) and how much supervision time is required.

Essentially, time management is HUGE in this business. Throw in that no one has a boss anymore, you now have to manage your own time and make your own deadlines....time is the most important asset any one of us has!

Susanna
Affiliate Support
http://www.banabu.com

Russell:

Great article - to be successful one must put a high value on their time. Make sure you don't waste it. Time is the most valuable asset there is - everyone has the same amount of time in a given day - often times the difference between success and failure is how people manage their time.

Thanks,
Jeff
InsightBridge - Ask the Experts

Hi,
I like the replacing yourself part very much...Afterall that is why we working so long infront of our computers to have free time to do what we love in future. Great piece.

KS
http://www.homeincomessite.com
http://www.homebizstudio.com

Excellent Advice Russell!!

Straight and To The Point!

Derek "The NicheCloner" Tomei
http://www.SecretSuccessWarriors.com

Hi Russell,

Wow... profound. This really made me think again about the subject.

I have been valueing my time too little for far too long.

Even a copy writing buddy I meet last March kept saying, "You got to charge more for your time!"

Until a few days ago... my running rate was just $50 / hour. I finally increased it to $147 / hour and feel a lot better about that figure. :D

About a year ago I started using a helpdesk... and it really does help I believe. Just need to decrease / outsource my email and turn my chat software off more often.

Thanks for this reminder Russell. :)

Regards,

Frank Bauer
www.GoTo-Pro.com

Hi Russell,

It's Great information. Time is Gold, and it is really important to me but to us. Outsourcing is really an important partime of my life or else we will be end up doing everything by ourself.

Russell, I've always placed a high value on my work time(not up to 1000/hr yet but working on it), cause yes, the time with kids is worth everything. A lot of days I'm up at 3:30am getting work done so I can go on field trips and school activities with them. Many times I'm the only dad there. All the others are slaving at their "job". I'm still trying to get better at outsourcing-do you have any recommendationsfor those of us on a budget?
Thanks, Ron
http://personal-sport-nutrition.info

Russell,
The time cluster idea really makes sense. I didn't realize how much time I spend on Emails thinking that they HAD to be answered first. Good article. Very helpful.
Regards,
Jim

Thank you for the advice Russel. I intend to do so as soon as I get going.

With just 4 short paragraphs, you've answered some of my most burning questions about how to scale my business and my time for the future.

Thanks for the excellent resources, and for squaring the real deal on 'time'!

PS: I've just worked out that if you read this post from me in 5 seconds then it'll cost about $1.38 in your time - you should put a paypal button on your comments form...! :lol:

Great tips as always. And I agree that time is precious in every way.

Excellent advise Russell!!

I come from a sales background and find it hard to trust my work to others. I feel that it is impersonal.

However, it is extrememly important to be able to delegate tasks.

Lawyers do it all the time. They have work to do but all the copying, phone calls, scheduling, etc, are all taken care of because they designed their business around what they do.

Personally, I like to work. I like selling and making sales calls....however, I hate scheduling, shopping for home office supplies, figuring out how to make my office equipment work properly :evil: You get the picture.

I guess the point is....do what you love to do and figure out how to outsource the rest. If you don't figure out a way to get the other tasks done, you will spend less time doing what you love!!

Great post. Keep them coming!!

A great article, just wish I had the time to read it! Just joking :D

One of the greatest consumers of my time is people who think that advice should be free - explaining to them that this really is a business just like any other.

Hi Russell,
Your description of the value of time
have make me realised as an
entreprenuer i should be paid for
rendering services instead of just
because today i'm feeling good it's
free. Being professional in our trade
is important. Thanks .

CHEERS
Hassan Eunos
Singapore

Thanks Russell for your well thought out insight on time management. I am an overworked working mom with a Cardology practice to manage for my husband, a 25 year old multimply handicapped son in a wheel chair, a 16 year old high school golfer and my 75 year old mother who lives with me. It is really not more than God feels I can handle but I have not handled it properly as far as my time. I tend to give out too much free time and advice so your message is extremely timely for me! When I learn to follow your advice I will get so much more done that is waiting on my LIST!
Thanks again!
Sunita

Hi Russell,
Thanks for the tips, especially #4.

However, I have found it can at times be detrimental to charge by the hour as there are only so many hours in the day, week, month, etc. Therefore hourly rates create a ceiling on potential revenue earnings. I've found charging a flat fee by project (or results) can be very beneficial to the client & more lucrative for my company.

Paintings for example, are valued on many factors excluding the actual number of hours it took the artist to produce the masterpiece.

Another factor with equating time in dollars that worries me a bit is that we miss the value of time in terms on non-monetary gains: joy, achievement, learning, etc.

Russell, I know what your saying in your article, thank you, you're absolutely right and it's a good focus to have. I just wanted to add another dimension to this thread so we don't forget to smell the roses along our entrepreneurial success journeys.

Thanks for the 2 x 4 alongside my head Russell! It occurs to me that many of us never have thought enough about what you've skillfully written here. Thanks!

I'm currently reading the EMyth Mastery book you mentioned and I highly recommend it to anyone who has not yet read it.

Seasons Greetings,

Dave Perkins
HotCatalyst.com

Great Info Russell

The email is my killer as each one of my sites has its own email address and it seems that you can spend forever just surfing through the spam. This doesn't include actually answering the good emails.

:D Nicely recapped, This was all taught many years ago to me, thanks for the refresher on a few of the items that I have strayed from. You will be seeing these in action on the upcoming projects noted below.

Coming Soon....
EarthBrilliance Module
TheSelfmademoneyWay Module
DiamondDiscount, in J/V Partnership with Hafiz Industries & As Seen on TV Group

You and your friends are right. It is very important to get high productivity and enjoy every moment of our life.

Great info Russell as always, and I have one question. If I do away with my email how will I get these alerts when you update your blog?

I'm constantly checking my email to see what's new but I scan through quickly and just read what's of immediate concern. Everything else I either ignore, delete or pass until later.

As far as outsourcing I have several people who have done things for me for the experience and I've rewarded them with free upgrades, or helped them fund their payment processors to pay start up fees for a program they wanted in.

BTW..let me know the next time you need yardwork;)

Russel, these are very good pointers. I'm guilty of doing so many things at the same time that I sometimes lose focus. Thanks for the reminder.

Hi friend,

Time management is well known topic among the management and personal development discipline.

People are willing to pay for time saved, a concept heavily exploited by entrepreneurs.

The best book ever written on time management is by Dr Steven Covey. He called it first things first, and differentiate between what is important and what is urgent. More....

http://soontongkiong.com

Great article Russell! Thank you for this! =D

-Curtis

Interesting perspective -- I totally agree with the basic principle of valuing your time and using it wisely to be productive. But I wonder how you process the fact that relationships with customers and associates are key to building and maintaining a loyal and productive team. Building relationships takes time and a personal touch. If someone you do business with cannot reach you and feels put off by the gates you put between you and them, how does that impact their loyalty and the likelihood of a long term productive relationship?

========
From Russell

Great comment - It's impossible for me to keep personal touch with over 5,000 customers and over 100,000+ subscribers.

So the way I build the loyal and long term relationship is with my personal touch through ways like this blog, my email lists, my telemseminars, bootcamps, seminars, etc...

I put myself out there as much as possible, but direct phone or email support is impossible.

I've found with the things I've been doing above that I've been able to build great long term relationships with my clients and subscribers.

I hope this helps.

Hi Russell,

I definitely agree with you about the part on email being a killer loss in time and productivity. I'm currently in the process of trying to unsubscribe from many emails that I am receiving now, as I'm getting almost 100/day and half of them are promoting the same thing.

Not only that, I also have to deal with checking each email that is associated with each of my sites.

Get my email sorted and more time efficient has become one of my main goals for 2007.

And as always great info!
Thanks
Mike

WOW...this is just what I needed. I wake up in the morning and think I have to check my email first thing THEN 6 hours later I've read ezines, how-to articles, you name it, and then I find I've not done nothing I set out to do. I'm definitely going to take your advice!!!

Thank you,
Jolene

hi Russell-----
Great article . It was all for me. I want to be fr.ee not tied to my computer 24/7
Still can't figure a way to sort e-mail so it doesn't take half my day. Need to skim through in order to catch orders, personal comments, newsletters etc. It is all crowded and surrounded by junk and spam :-(

I really liked what you said. :D :D It is hard to turn your email off when you do PTRs, PTCs. I have turned off all the time I spent playing arround with PSP, but I miss it sometimes.

100% Flat

Exactly what we supposed to follow. But Question how many going to follow it.

At least I am not 100% sure that I will be doing all these in atleast next few months, but yes target is to achieve it.

Thanks RB

Valueing ones self is the most difficult when starting out.
My wife often usually under estimates her worth. It has taken me years to get her to charge a reasonable amount for the courses that she has written and tutors.

I often found if you request a donation it gets abused, if you charge a low fee people think you can't be very good.

If you place a higher market price on yourself then people will buy. This I have found by experience.

You are right, time is a valuable commodity so we must use it wisely.
:wink:

Hi Russell,

This is a very good and very interesting article. Time is something that most people tend to overlook as having no value, but it really does have a value.

Does this mean that we should be charging you to read your articles? After all, it takes some of our time! lol.

Have a great day.

Dear Russell, How ironic that you would use my email address to advise me to drop all email correspondence. It is the very lifeblood of your enterprise, isn't it?

======
From Russell

All email correspondence except those from me of course. :)

I agree with the basic premise of what you're saying, Russell. I'll have to make this quick because it's costing me time to write and you to read it.

I don't believe, however, in defining everything in terms of money.

If a client or potential client wants to speak to me, then I am available to them - at times of my choosing. Business IS about people, and I hope you don't forget that while you're calculating how much it would cost you to get on the phone with someone.

I apologize in advance if I'm not reading you right.

Again, your points about email are very well-taken, as well as the general issue of the value of time.

As long as you give your time freely to the wife and twins!
:D

Health & prosperity,
Esti StraightArrow Allina
Leading With Purposeful Passion to Create Abundance

I agree with Russel, but we need to remember... we are salesmen and if we arent theere to hold the hands of our clients we may find ourselve in a position of no clients...

Russel is in a unique situation.. he's made it beyond a mom and pop operation... he has graduated to the corporate level... most of us havent gotten there just yet...

Those of use who have staff.. have no choice but to restrict access to ourselves...

go to any of my websites.. try to find a my phone number...

do a search.. if you do find it... guess what.. voice mail...

I've done that for years for all the reasons Russel and other have stated...

I was glad learn about the billing service Russel uses..
I'll be setting one similar today..

the only reason I havent charged for my time was i didnt have a way to get paid before the phone rang... thanks for the tip.

JOe

Hi Russell,

Time management is something I have always used.

Thanks for teaching me a couple of new management skills: Desk software and Ether. These will come in handy.

Thanks for some more great ideas.

1) Thanks for the "GREAT Reminder" about the Real Value/Significance of TIME..., Russell! Yup,in practically any endeavor, especially in business, time management should be given a top priority...Since it's one of the things which we can't manipulate (i.e., extend nor shorten), we should learn how to structure our activities within a certain timeframe and be productive in the process... Need I say "Time Is Gold", indeed?!

2) I like the idea of "outsourcing" or what others say "sub-contracting". I think it's a superb way of delegating things which others can do for you or your business. It doesn't only give you the freedom in terms of time (i.e., what you would like to do with it, etc.), it also provides you the freedom in terms of money (i.e., less dealings with money matters for purposes of payroll, workers' benefits, office/store/shop space maintenance & improvement, utility bills, etc.). I have to say, though, that hiring employees is a necessity in some instances... depending on the type of business especially...

Maria
http://www.CreateRichness.com/
pips.html
http://www.CreateRichness.com

excellent.

i truly agree with you on the importance of time management. Putting a value on the time makes one realise the importance of not wasting the valuable time available and make the best out it. Certainly makes it alot more interesting by putting a specific rate on the hour, like the highlighted example of $8 an hour, which means by calculating the productivity based on hours and translating it into the amount received or passed makes one rethink and analyse whats important and not.

thanks alot

makes me value time alot more now

Malvindran
http://positiveprogress.blogspot.com

Hi Russell,
You've make it clear to me now. I'll re-think some plan by taking "time factor" into my consideration.

Thanks.

Waken
http://netbizsimplified.com
http://the-best-membershipsite-ever.com/

Thanks Russell. I've been trying hard to build credibility by answering questions, replying emails, all for free.

I've just realized how much time I've wasted and fortune I should pursue at the first place.

thanks for the enlightenment these are the goals that I'm setting out to acheive , and you have this goal seem so much attainable . thanks again

Hello Russell,

I am very impressed with the wisdom and foresight you have at your young age. I am only just learning how I can maximize myself through the time-saving tools you suggest. I only wish I had not been so stubborn way back when I first had an Apple 2E placed on my desk and my IBM Selectric was taken to the dump. I ended up having my 10-year-old son (at the time) teach me how to turn on the computer and begin to use it.

Yes, I'm a 'Boomer' and proud of it, but keeping an open mind and playing the 'sponge' for as long as I live. There is always something I can learn from someone. -And to everyone who is adding their comments, thank you too. I learn from all of you. Keep it up!

Yours truly,
Christine Till

Russell

That was an awesome newsletter, thanks for sharing it :)

I outsourced my e mails to an assistant a few months back and it has been a blessing :)

I love your ideas and I'm all about getting them to use. I was just about to start doing my web sites again until reading this, now I'm just gonna hire a new web designer :)

Thanks again!

Best,

Zach Even - Esh

http://REALManFitness.com

http://UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

Hi Russell

I have never heard anybody talk, as much about outsourcing as you and that’s a pity. After following your advice it has freed time I now get to spend with those I love and after all that’s who we do it for.

Thanks

Michael Molloy
www.steps2victory.com

Thank you Russell for your great article on the importance of time and time management. It is the only thing we have in very limited supply and can never get back so how we spend it should be well thought out. It reminds me of Oscar Wilde's remark on youth being wasted on the young.

If only I'd known what he meant by that sooner...hey ho..

Russell,

Thanks for that great advice. The value we place on our time is what separates the truly successful from those who never seem to get ahead.

Just one rant: If time is so valuable, why do marketers such as yourself make sales letter SO LOOOONG!
Here's my vote to establish a new trend in the industry: the elevator sales letter (like the elevator sales pitch). If you can't convey the benefits in a letter that takes less than 30 seconds to read, then the pitch is not compelling enough.

Best,

-Gene

www.toplinebids.com
Ebay Insider's Library

Russel,

I like your content. Thanks for the great ideas. Keep em coming.

Kevin Norby

www.herfortnorby.com

VERY NİCES ARTİCLE.