10 Ways to Maximize 20 Minutes or Less in Your Business -

Have you ever felt frustrated because you have a big project or a few that needs to get done but only a few minutes in the near future. Or perhaps you have felt the reverse. You are in a position where you have about 10, 15 or 20 minutes.

Not enough to work on the impactful projects in your business, but you still need to utilize that time on business.

Here are a list of things you can do in 20 minutes or less:

1) Read a blog post or article in your niche and comment on it. This is a business related and business boosting activity for a few reasons. First, it is a great networking tool. There is no better way to get on the radar of someone influential in your niche than to comment on their blog posts. Secondly, blog commenting is a known search engine optimization strategy as it helps to build backlinks to your blog.

2) Brainstorm future blog post ideas. We all know that feeding the content beast can be challenging. Sometimes you can get ideas from surfing the net, article directories and more. Other times it is helpful to step away from the computer with a pen and notepad in hand. Either way, it is good to be proactive and brainstorm ideas ahead of when your next blog post is due. Once you do this, you can schedule the release of your new blog posts.

3) Outline your blog post ideas. This goes back to how we learned to write essays in school. Start with an outline. This may also help you to finish your blog posts quicker when you finally do sit down to write.

4) Social Bookmarking Build backlinks to your blog by bookmarking your blog post links. This practice helps to optimize your website for the search engines and builds traffic by exposing your posts to other networks besides your blog itself. Some of my favorites are: Stumbleupon, Delicious

5) Schedule Tweets/Facebook Status updates You can schedule positive quotes, blog posts or other evergreen content for weeks in advance. Some tools you can use are SocialOomph.com, Hootsuite.com, Postling.com

6) Rework and submit your blog posts to article directories This should be an ongoing task. Article marketing helps to build your credibility and visibility and is great for search engine optimization. However, you want to strive for at least a 20% difference between your blog post and an article you post on Ezinearticles.com, Selfgrowth.com, Goarticles.com and other article directories. It just takes a few minutes at a time which is perfect for this exercise.

7) Record a ‘tips’ podcast on Cinch.fm Here is one I did a few weeks ago: http://cinch.fm/wwwstephanietreasurecom/284625
This is another way to reach your market. A multi-media approach to your marketing is great for web traffic and reach. Cinch.fm is free and easy to use. Give it a try and you can connect with me there too.

8) Catch up on your reading. Yes, this contributes to the growth of your business. Reading grooms you to be a great writer and speaker so this should be a daily priority. Ideally, you should have a scheduled block of time for reading each day. For instance, I do some of my reading 30 to 60 minutes before going to bed. However, if you find yourself with some free time while waiting at the Doctor’s office or some similar situation, you can use the time to get some reading done.

9) Make a ‘to-do’ list of items that need to be done that takes 20 minutes or less Organize a list of things you need to do but never really take the time to do even though it just takes a few minutes. Some ideas are: Update your blog’s plugins, write or record a screencast tutorial for a virtual assistant, set up a feedburner account for your blog feed, customize your Facebook Fan Page. Once your list is complete, print it out and place it above your desk. Then whenever you find yourself with spurts of 10 to 20 minutes, you can go through your to-do items and utilize your time effectively.

10) Format and schedule your email newsletter If you are building a list, you should be sending resourceful emails on a consistent basis. Even if you have not finalized the content for your next email newsletter, you can format now then fill in the blanks when you have more time.

So how do you spend those spurts of free time that pop up during your day? Wisely I hope. If so, I would love to hear some of your specific tactics to utilize this time. Or you can implement some of the items above and let me know how it went.