Our program 80/20 Productivity Express launched 2 months ago today. You went through it.
How’s your productivity? Is your life working better? What do you still want to improve?
Talk to me – post your comments and stories below, I’ll read every one:
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
30 Comments on “80/20 Productivity Express – 60 Days Later”
I’m thinking and re-thinking the part about out-sourcing.
Is web maintenance one of those tasks I should bring back to myself, at least until business picks up, because it is so critical to what I do? Yet I outsourced in the first place because I don’t have a lot of skills in the area, so I would need to learn.
This comes up now because of a website critique, and I want to implement some changes to my site.
Specifically technical web maintenance is a $10-20/hour skill. The only web skills you need to have are the ability to quickly put up a new web page because you need to, and little else. Not do CSS or wordpress plugins or any other involved projects.
I have written and re-written this several times. Then this evening the muse sat beside me.
NINE MONTHS
It was in June 2011 and listening to Perry scorch a landing page. If he was holding back he wasn’t telling. Whatever it was, I looked and thought “hey, that’s a spot that could do with dealing with too” and Perry then went on to mention it. This happened three times before I realized that I understood him.
That was nine months ago. Oh, and a week.
So where does the 80-20 course come in? Well I am still very much the beginner. My company was dissolved in September and that hit me hard. Not just because of the crude manner in which it was implemented. Let me just say that I had no qualifications for the job. They could not read on a piece of paper that I could cut a piece of wood or paint a six inch gloss. I had insufficient “business skills”. They said I must close*. That I closed after four years with more business skills than I started with is neither here nor there. In their book it should not have started at all. Their loss.
Okay, that business was one that was going anyway. I didn’t like the dust and dirt of furniture making. I did enjoy making clients happier and bouncing ideas around with them. I love the smell of wood dust and the pattern of the grain as it comes out of the planer. I especially liked doing it for someone that appreciated it. I have pages of references that attest to this. Which is where the 80-20 comes in. I did learn to kick out the emails. But I learned much more, and something that really set me on my way. I learned through my friends and my references what my real strengths were. I sort of knew what they were anyway. But that one little trick turned me in a direction that it would have taken me years to find for myself.
Perry, when I had finished the course I was pleased with it. You know that from the reaction you got from me. It has taken this long for it to ferment in me, bubble up and give me the inspiration to do something that I really can enjoy. Something that is as true to myself and my way of being. Something that is in tune with myself and way of being.
Something that I would do if I had to pay people to allow me to do it for them.
This is a thankyou to you, Perry, for your generosity. Between you and Howie, I have been able to embark on a way of life that is truly thrilling.
Perry, it was briljant. Thankyou. It was worth a million times the price I paid**.
*Sometime I will write about a funny co-incidence on my blog. But there is a webinar in half an hour, and I don’t want to miss it. Sorry, folks.
**I couldn’t afford what I did pay. But that is another story. Sometimes worth has no fiscal value.
It was a great course, Perry and company – I still need to circle back and get all of the notes put into one place.
Although I still feel like I have way too much to do – and that I’m doing most of it – I have hired a SEO guy to work on one site that got hammered by the Google Dance back in October. In addition, I’ve hired a tech team to outsource tech stuff to – I figure if I’ve spent an hour or so and still haven’t learned it, it’s time to outsource!
The Kolbe test was very enlightening – and I’m sharing with my local BNI chapter the things I’ve been learning about productivity. Although I’m still not writing as much as I feel I want to / need to – at least now I’m aware of that and I think it bothers me more (which might be a good thing!)
One thing I KNOW is true that was said on one of the trainings – if you are determined to take your business to the next level, you WILL encounter resistance. To put it mildly!
Thanks again.
Hi Perry,
I absolutely loved the course. Especially liked the idea that you can only ever do $10,000 per hour work if you are cristal clear on your core values and what really motivates and excites you. A huge relief to know that not only do I not need to to be doing stuff I don’t enjoy, but I can be more productive if I focus on the stuff that that I’m giften at!
Still implementing a lot of the material but so far I am benefiting from:
1) Every morning to so list and putting the big rocks in first.
2) Get really clear on my values, mission, vision and goals
3) Only checking emails and phone twice per day!
4) Getting my assistant to do more and more of the admin stuff I would normally do and not feeling guilty about it or like I should be good at it.
When I use these 4 together I get a multiplication effect not an addition. By prioritising the stuff that is in line with my values and giftedness I spend more time in the zone and less time wasting time on emails etc.
I am definitely more productive right now than I have ever been in my life and there is still a lot more I can implement.
Thank you!
Michael
So many breakthroughs. I knew all the principles from GKIC world but this really helped me apply them. Just some of the shifts..
£1k + focus on my real value and the 6 words
Doing this for my senior team
Kolbe insights
Stacks of email canned
I’ve hired an outsourcer to take the £10 per hour activities
..and many more
My biggest a-ha in the course was the outsourcing, something I had always feared, as I hated the thought of relinquishing control over any aspect of my business.
Your presenter made it seem markedly less scary. I posted an ad for a motion graphics position, garnered responses, interviewed my top candidates, and will be evaluating their performance on a small test assignment (thanks for the tip on auditioning your contenders).
And then, for the first time in its 8-year history, the company headcount will grow by at least one. VERY excited.
Hey, quick question. I got a call to schedule my 500K consult session. I was packing for a trip, and asked the gentleman to circle back to me, but thus far he hasn’t. Would love a chance to bounce some ideas off a qualified listener, so I hope he’ll get in touch soon to schedule.
cheers, Daniel
Hey, are you the Camtasia Daniel Park?
If so, I loved your v5 book, which I bought a few years ago.
Cheers.
I am indeed! Thanks so much for the kind words.
The book is all-digital now, and I’m now leveraging it as a low-cost, high-value means of getting folks into my sales funnel. I’m working on some video-based products for teaching people how to train and market with screencasts and other video…
best, Daniel
Thanks Perry, Bryan, Jack and team!
I did start using an outsourcer in The Phillipines through this course. She is doing $10 work I was fussing with. She is fast and helpful. With so many job losses in our region of Canada though, this has been a little hard for me to feel “all good” about. I may try to find someone closer.
I also find I am analyzing priorities much more. Like a previous comment, as we have listed out website enhancements (read massive spreadsheet relating each one to a “quantifiable succes point”) I see ones that we are doing now that are not priority and ones that should be worked on that will fund the other dozens.
Still falling into email-checking-mode… So much of my work is there… But this review through others comments is rekindling my fire. THANK YOU all!
Definitely better organized with email management but the big win for me was the Kolbe test.
I have a better understanding of why I do (and don’t do) things and that’s helped me manage myself better.
I came back from a conference yesterday and my mind was racing with things I “had” to implement. I realized that it was just my “QuickStart” mode kicking in, and in fact those things didn’t need to happen immediately. Taking a bit more time with them is OK and will likely lead to better results.
Kolbe has also helped understand my employees better. I haven’t had them take it yet but having a feel for why they do what they do is good.
Finally got around to reading the Strengths book sitting on my shelf and took the test. So impressed bought the 2.0 book and took that one too. Took the Kolbe which was well worth it. Nailed me.
The personal USP results were also illuminating.
Was able to understand at a much deeper level some things I knew about myself already but only at a surface level.
You may recall I market and sell exotic imaging technology (we spoke in 2010). No wonder why I would not play around with the equipment no matter how much prompting my German partners gave me. Kolbe clearly states I’m the designer not the builder. I live for ideas, concepts, strategies. I do not touch machinery! Knew this already but what was interesting is I realize more clearly now why I have gravitated toward or away from certain things in my business life. And why my professional challenges have involved going against my profile and victories were based on playing to my inherent strengths. I see the low scores in my profile now not as weaknesses and not casual likes or dislikes – but personal DNA.
Started the course late and am still working through it. More to come.
Jay
I remember listening to a course introduction where you talked about knowing that some of your subscribers will never implement anything, some will implement a few things and some will take the information and drill down. I realized that I was in the second category and my Kolbe score told me why. It was a huge relief. I had been beating myself up because I started projects and didn’t finish them. I felt like I “should” be in the third category and if I could just overcome something wrong in my psyche, I would get over that tendency and things would be better.
Taking the Kolbe gave me permission to acknowledge my strengths and look for an assistant who was strong in areas I was weak. My natural inclination would have been to hire another person like me as Perry said he had done previously. Armed with the Kolbe I looked at my current assistant, asked her what she was good at and gave her more of the jobs I had been doing myself and took back jobs that I did more naturally than she did. That one change hugely increased my productivity and hers. She is much more meticulous than I am and takes pride in following up and getting results. Now fewer things are falling through the cracks and I’ve had time to follow-up on some low hanging fruit that generated immediate revenue.
In addition, I gave my assistant the job of reviewing my email daily, archiving weekly and sending me an email with what I must handle. That small adjustment has saved me tons of time.
Additionally, one of the projects that was the most impactful was using your system for prioritization. When I ranked my projects by time to completion, assets, income potential, certainty of income potential, etc. I was surprised that the project that I had arbitrarily decided to concentrate on was number 4 on the list of priorities. I had two projects that I had decided to shelve that were several weeks shy of completion. By completing them now, I was able to get some immediate revenue and immediate feedback. The extra money I generated I could then be used to fund other projects. Exactly like Brian talked about in one of the sessions.
Finally, the other project that I learned a lot from was sending the email to my friends and family to get their feedback on my strengths. Many of the comments were ones I had heard from them in passing over the years but having them all giving similar comments at the same time really resonated.
Felicis
Had been using a number of the tactics recommended in the beginning of the course. I had done the Kolbe profile a few years ago, and revisiting that topic was helpful, as it explained precisely why one of my partnerships had been going nowhere.
The material in the first 2-3 sessions left me with more questions than answers, but I see it as a positive. It made me consider a number of things I would otherwise have glossed over/dismissed/not thought of at all. As a result, I know I’ll be making better decisions in those areas.
It also prompted me to explore some of those issues in depth, which led to the discovery of additional resources that have really pointed me in the right direction.
It’s really a shame there isn’t more interaction between the participants, though.
I took away several major points from the 80/20 seminar which I have implemented:
* I now only check email 2 – 3 times per day which helps me focus on key business-building activities;
* I’ve hired a new part-time assistant who starts next week. This will take a lot of administrivia off my desk;
* I LOVE the Kolbe profile, asked my best admin person to take it, who turned out to be almost my exact opposite. Had my top candidate for the new assistant take it and she’s almost a perfect match to my best admin, so have high expectations for her.
* Just got through an avalanche of activity for the past 90 days, so will go back and review the 80/20 audios and presentations to take my productivity to the next level over the next couple of months.
THANKS for a great course!
Perry,
Thanks for the 80/20 course, it helped me to get my head in the right place concerning a few things such as the need to hire an assistant and even regular employees.
I now respond to emails once in the morning and have batched some of the daily paperwork/processing tasks I have which has really streamlined things.
Also, during the course my wife and I made the decision to hire a contractor to build us an office detached from the house so that I can make much more efficient use of my working hours due to less distractions. Previously I would have built it myself (or pushed it off and never started which is more likely) and it would have taken me about a year, they’ll be done in 2 weeks. This will also make it more comfortable to hire an assistant in the next couple months since that person now wouldn’t have to work right inside my home (home based business).
And thanks to the personality exercise I now know exactly what type of person I should hire. I really learned a lot about myself sending out those emails to friends and family!
We’ve also hired a tax professional so my wife doesn’t have to stress about the taxes and he’s already made suggestions that will save us more than he costs us.
Letting go of a little money to free my mind up and relieve my wife of her stress has already resulted in her finally starting on her own business which she’s been putting off for over a year. (And it’s got even more potential then my business!)
Honestly during the course I didn’t think I picked up anything too earth shattering and wondered about the value of the course vs. the price. Now looking back (and typing this out) I see the effects it had on my mindset and the changes that resulted.
Thank guys for the course, keep up the good work and I look forward to hopefully meeting you all this year!
Fred
Perry:
I was able to hear some of the seminars live, and listened to all of them. There is A LOT here, and I am trying to pick something, run with it, and then go back to listen again for another nugget. I am a “do something” type rather than a “waiting for the time to do everything” guy. Which of course never comes.
These seminars, like the Niche Celebrity series before them, are really helpful, especially for some of us who maybe don’t fit into the core target market for the topics that are central to the Mastermind Club. Yet.
I appreciate the effort that went into this product, it was a great value, and look forward to your next offering.
I enjoyed the course, although I did not find it as “focused” in terms of progression as I had expected.
I have started to implement some ideas — particularly some outsourcing. I am training a person and I think he will be able to handle his tasks from next week.
My current issue is as I was doing the course, my business was busy doubling in size and I also took on the directorship of a non-profit, so it is a bit tricky right now to go “all out” with implementation.
Part of this is seasonal, so what I plan to do is to revisit the materials in early summer and implement more then.
Hey Perry,
Still going strong from the productivity training. Several areas have been key for me.
1. Email management
I am doing the inboxzero thing. I tell all my clients and friends about it and they look at me like I am crazy. I tell them that my email box is empty at the end of every day and I literally only spend a few minutes a day managing it. They don’t believe me!!
This has allowed me to focus so much more on important things and get more done.
2. Delegation
I had been on track with getting more work outsourced in a variety of ways. Getting more of that done and refining that more and more. This is still a learning process for me but I am finding ways to make this work.
3. Creativity
I am finding more time and intentional time in my schedule to allow for creativity and new Ideas to flow. This has been interesting to see this happening. The thing about this with there I am at right now with building a team is that if I do have an idea and decide it is good way to go I have the pieces in place to make it happen.
My message to my brain is just don’t be stupid and this will all keep working and you can grow this thing into something very significant.
I also like what you talked about with the “lizard brain”. For those that didn’t take the course this is the part of our brain that wants to go surfing on YouTube, or things that don’t matter, or things that you just shouldn’t be doing at all. Calling it the “lizard brain” has really help me recognize when it comes up and to shut it down.
I have also noticed that when some work I need to be doing that is probably important it is met with more resistance by distractions and lizard brain things then if its trivial type work. I have been able to identify this and say “this must be really important since everything is working against it”. Then I know I need to buckle down and focus and get it done!!
I like the Kolbe index very much as well. That was very helpful in how I look at what I do and what pieces of my team I need to have in place.
It has been worth every penny and will keep paying off for a long time.
Peter
Perry,
Loved the class. If I had more time I’d write a long comment, but since it’s tax time I’ll bullet point what we’ve done:
* added zendesk
* hired $16/hr paper pusher
* hired $20/hr bookeeper
* hired $45/hr lawyer
* hired $150/hr lawyer
* moved office to 5 mintues away from house
* wife is now open to a babysitter to help us out
* phone calls are answered 8-9 am and 7-8 pm
* Personal Assistant is instructed not to bother me unless it’s a “VIP” client.
I’m sure there is more, but I can’t remember right now.
thx again!
Got your mail piece & your letter. Great guns!
glad you liked the newsletter. I’d bet money that if you added masculine and feminine attributes to your tactical triangle, it’d increase the potency of it.
ahhh…
…remembered a couple of more.
* Spent $1,500 for program that reads tax documents and imports them into tax program.
* Clients can now make their own appointments online: http://adamlibman.com/appointment
* Follow-up is now integrated with infusionsoft for email/fax/diret-mail stuff
Nothing earth shattering has changed.
I do try to delegate/outsource more, though I did just get bit by an outsourcer who installed a virus laden update to my web server – that was less than productive.
This has made me gun shy on outsourcing…especially to other countries.
Like most things, outsourcing is easier said than done.
Outsourcing, and its less glamorous counterpart, delegation was my big take away from the course.
I’m listening to the webinars again and I don’t think I’ve heard delegation actually mentioned, but assuming you have a staff that works for you, that is what you are doing when you hand off your work to them.
I have not finushed It as I started late but …. Great program which delivered from the very beginning. Always failed at these types of processes and just thought There was something missing. After the tests I now know I am simply not wired that way. I now focus on what I am best at and my productivity has gone through the roof.
Can’t thank you enough.
80/20 Feedback: Ironically and embarassingly, I have been so swamped I was not able to attend any of the 80/20 calls, and haven’t even checked out the recordings yet. I am probably going to have to cancel my membership because i can’t keep up.
May I humbly suggest that you need to stop the insanity, listen to the recordings, and regain control of your life?
I always find it interesting that the clients who say, “I don’t need this (product/service),” are usually those who need it the MOST.
Now… how to communicate that to the clients in ADVANCE?
Hmmmm….
It’s all about incremental steps…The email filtering, plus the better daily task list, and using Screensteps for documenting for other team members has probably gained me an hour a day. It’s a great first step.
I’m sorry to hear that the 80/20 Lab isn’t happening. Bummer! I was ready to dive into these things in more depth, plus get more into Kolbe.
Perry,
I can’t tell you how much the 80/20 Productivity Express has helped me out! I used to keep my email program open and constantly refresh it, making it one of my priorities, alongside my actual tasks. We receive so many leads and emails throughout the day that I didn’t think checking my email twice a day would work for my application, so I now check my email every 2 hours and the amount of extra time I have JUST FROM THIS is amazing!
I now keep my cell phone on silent and have removed all pop up windows for new emails and instant messages. All staff now communicates via instant message first, then phone and (if absolutely critical) we walk over to someone else’s work space. This has helped remove quite a few distractions and improve not only my productivity, but also my colleagues.
Last, but certainly not least, I have been using the 80/20 principle for a while now, but now I am 80/20’ing my tasks and then 80/20’ing my top tasks from that and so and so forth…so effective!
The willingness to change is all it takes. I help others have found as much value in this as I have.
Thanks again!
Chris Belote