As a business owner, I often wake up to a giant list of to dos for the day, and if I’m not careful, I end up doing the busy work that doesn’t actually move my business along. It doesn’t usually hold my business back either, as most tasks need to get done at some point BUT what I find is that if I don’t prioritize a Power Hour every day, then I put the big action tasks to the bottom of the list. I’ve come to realize that the reason that I do this, is because typically my Power Hour is full of the tasks that tend to scare me the most.
You see, it’s fun for me to come up with an idea, build a website, write blog posts and curate my social media. And all of those things are really necessary and do need to get done. I prioritize those things as well, but I no longer prioritize them at the expense of my Power Hour. So what exactly is a Power Hour? I’m going to share with you what I do every day. I know there are a lot of variations of Power Hours out there but this is what’s working for me and I aim to do these 6 days a week.
I am a working mom from home who has days that are packed full of many things, just like you. With this method, I can easily squeeze in a Power Hour and if I need to, can even use the corners of my day. So basically I have no excuses to NOT do a Power Hour. My formula is not complicated. It was taught to me two years ago and revolutionized the way I prioritize my day, and also helps me to effectively teach and mentor my team with this little tool to help them reach THEIR goals too.
You can work this into your day and formate to fit your specific needs. These are the 3 basic simple parts of what you should do inside your Power Hour every day:
- 3 follow ups
- 3 new contacts
- 3 social media posts
Let’s break this down because it’s simpler than you might be thinking.
First I start with following up with 3 people in my business. Whether it’s customers, people I’ve talked to before about doing business with me, or reaching out to people who haven’t responded to me, I make time every day to do at least 3 follow ups. If I have time to do more I will but since every day looks so different, I aim for three different follow ups every day.
Follow ups are easily forgotten and so that’s why I prioritize them FIRST. When you have a rapidly moving business, it’s easy to lose track of all the people you talk to. If you keep a simple spreadsheet or someway to organize who you’re talking to, and then track your follow progress, it makes this task much less daunting. I LOVE these Day Designer Notebooks as I think they are adorable and a great way to keep track of follow-ups. If you need something a little simpler, this Chaos Coordinator is wonderful too. Of course you can always use an app on your phone, but I LOVE me a cute notebook or journal. Who doesn’t??
Ok back to follow ups. Following up with customers and potential clients is really an important part of running your business! It shows those people that you care, that you value their business and that you are interested in how they are enjoying what you have to offer.
Second, is I reach out to three NEW contacts every day. These are people who you’ve never talked to about your business before, even if you already know them. This can happen organically or you might have to create the contact. I am NOT suggesting you cold message a bunch of people. Some people are still teaching cold messaging but I personally think this is really old school and really ineffective. When you talk to people about your business, you want to reach out with an offer that would be beneficial for THEM. An offer where THEY are receiving more of the value than you are, at least at first. How can you serve THEM? Not, what can they do for you.
It doesn’t mean, reach out to three people and find some way to get them to join your team so you can build your network. It means to BUILD your network. Actually take time to show someone what you offer but how it can greatly benefit them. Offer them something for free. Compliment their business. Be interested in their services. Make 3 new business connections every day, and think of how you can help them more than they can help you, and set out to serve and be a blessing with your business.
And the last step, is 3 social media posts.
“Whoa whoa whoa Jess. I’m NOT posting to Instagram three times every day. ” (Is that what you’re thinking?) 😉
Well that’s good because that’s NOT what I’m suggesting. Take a deep breath on this one and realize that I’m asking you to post 3 times, in 3 different areas. So once on Instagram, once on Facebook and once in your stories. Change up the method depending on what social accounts you use.
Basically? Be SOCIAL on social media. Be active. Share behind the scenes of your business. Share your life. Share your business. Share some of your products that you offer (these are a few of mine!). Be vulnerable and authentic. Do it consistently every single day. Don’t feel like you have a lot to share every single day? I bet you have more to share than you realize. Step into WHO your target audience and then share aspects of your business and life that will speak to their pain point. You have solutions to problems that they have. And you are absolutely qualified to speak to these things and to help them.
Even if you only have 200 people following you, that’s still TWO HUNDRED PEOPLE! Imagine if that amount of people were all in a room and had showed up to come hear you speak? That’s essentially what’s happening every day since they hit that Follow button and bought in to what you are offering, even at a first glance. Don’t let the following you currently have sit there while you stew in silence unsure what to share. Show up, agree that you have something worth sharing, and step into sharing it.
There are SO many other things that I do to run my business daily, but a Power Hour is essential to me. On days that I’m running short on time and since I work from home where hundreds of other tasks abound, this is how I ensure that I keep my business moving no matter what else happens during my day.
And the best part? I can do ALL of it from my phone! On the days that I have full work hours available to me, I do my power hour and THEN I move into writing podcasts, blog content, scheduling social media out for the month, laying out the magazine, mentoring my team members, updating my branding and design ETC. I feel MUCH more productive when I have a good Power Hour behind me. No matter what else happens, I always feel like I’ve got some good foundational work done inside my business if I can at least get that one hour in. All other tasks seem to follow suit after that, and it truly does all get done.
So try it today! Organize your day so you can get your Power Hour in every day. Even if you’re not an entrepreneur full time yet, you can work your day job and then get home and squeeze in a Power Hour that can significantly help run your side hustle in powerful ways. Maybe you want to focus on being a mom full time and only want to work part time. The Power Hour is perfect to do during nap time! Do your Power Hour, get a work out in and you’ll be ready and somewhat refreshed once your kids get up.
How ever you need to fit it into your day, a Power Hour can be implemented by anyone in any business situation, and is an essential tool for building a business or a side hustle. Give it a try for a week and see how it goes! I can probably guess that if you truly do it correctly and if you are consistent, at the end of the week you will have seen significant movement in your business. And that’s because you’re prioritizing the most challenging parts of your business for most people, to the front of your attention. And when you do that, you are more productive and then create more room to do the things you love more!
Have A Stellar Day,
Jess xo
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