Hey Diva,

We had an amazing weekend at the “Ignite conference” last week, hosted by Damsels In Success founder Lucie Bradbury. I could probably write ten blog posts right now on all the cool stuff we learned but I will keep it stored safely and drip feed over the coming weeks so not as to overwhelm you!

One of the biggest business lessons we took away with us was very simple, yet so profound and it was actually shared with us by Dan Bradbury (Lucie’s hubby, in case you didn’t put two and two together LOL!)

So here goes!

In YOUR business, you need to be using this formula. It’s called EAD so lets break it down..

Eliminate

Do you find that you are working too hard IN your biz as opposed to ON your biz? If you have ever read any of the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” books by Robert Kiwosaki, you will know how important it is to take you from employee/self employed to business owner and then finally investor level. The more you work IN your business, you are at that employed/self-employed level. Sarah and I did this a LOT in the beginning of our Social Media Management side of the biz, because we were working non-stop running campaigns.

To build a REAL business and move closer to leverage (working smarter not harder), you need to start eliminating the things you shouldn’t be doing, so that you can then focus on the things you should be doing. To do this, you need to figure out what is important right now and what can be done at a later date. Most people focus on building the structure – which is still very important, but if it’s not bringing in the dollar pretty much immediately, you need to think about which bits don’t matter right now (e.g. business cards) and focus on the things that will get you earning straight away.

Quick exercise:

To help you eliminate tasks you don’t need to be doing, answer the following questions:

#1: What parts of your business MUST you do to make it work?
#2: What one thing can you do right now to approach potential clients/customers?
#3: What one thing are you doing now in your biz that can be eliminated?

Automate

You’ve heard of money on autopilot right? I’m sure you’ve seen one of those clever marketing videos which shows you how you can make money at the click of a button and your bank balance fills up while you sleep? Nice thought hey? Although the marketers totally over-hype how it happens, the truth is you really can make money on autopilot IF you have the right system in place. Just like we have with Social Diva School. You need to start putting systems in place for YOUR biz so that you can begin to free up some of your time and work on other areas that you really care about.

Quick exercise:

To help you to automate your biz, answer the following questions:

#1: What is taking up most of your time in your biz?
#2: What element of your biz can be systematized?
#3: How can you leverage your products and services?

 Delegate

This is our favourite!  Forget the saying “if you want something done properly, do it yourself.” This is so 80s dahling! Lets change it to the Diva way “if you want a successful biz, get a great team around you and give them all the hard work!” Seriously, this is the most important thing you can learn and we get better at it each week, although since Dan highlighted it, it is something we will be doing a LOT more!  ALL successful business owners have mastered the skill of delegation. We are human and we don’t know everything. But even if you do have every skill under the sun, it doesn’t mean you have time to do it all yourself!

Quick exercise:

To help you start delegating in your biz, answer the following questions:

#1: What are you not so good at in your biz?
#2: What are you doing right now that someone else can do better?

We have already started eliminating and delegating more areas since the conference and have complete knowing that it will help the business to grow smoother and faster than ever before.

As always we love to get your feedback so please leave us a comment before and share with us how you are going to put this formula to work for you.

Have a beautiful day!

Lots of love,

Carly T & Sarah B x