The quote above is one of the funniest and one of my favorites quotes from the 90’s… What are we going to do tonight, Brain? The same thing we always do, Pinky. Try and take over the world. It runs in clear juxtaposition to the Dolly Parton song 9 to 5, which laments… Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living, barely gettin by, It’s all takin and all giving.
As I’ve gotten more inspired to make Bedford Street Marketing, LLC a viable and successful venture, I began examining my habits. I used to get up, go to work 9 to 5 and then get home and waste time.
Why would I say waste time? Well, we have another 7 to 8 hours after work to make our dreams come alive. Most people tend to either veg out in front of the TV or go out with friends and spend idle time doing nothing. What a waste of a perfectly productive 8 hours!!!!
Additionally, science has shown that working at night and late hours are usually a sign of intelligent people and when creative ideas are most likely to happen.
Here are some tips I’d like to share on how to use these hours to maximize your productivity:
Blog about something:
Much like I am doing right now, use the evening hours to blog about something you love!!! Setting up a blog site is relatively easy and it’s a great way to make passive income. First, it gets you in front of potential partners and prospects. When people read your blog and interact, it is the first step in creating a bond with a whole new potential market. Be creative and have fun with your blog. Make it silly, insightful, sad, meaningful… make it an extension of your personal and business brand. The written word is a window into the vision you present to the world.
Additionally, most blog sites will allow you to serve ads on your site. This is normally a Pay Per Click (PPC) deal – but if you can build up a decent following and serve the right ads, it serves as a nice little income stream on a monthly basis.
Another benefit is guest blogging on other sites. This is also a way to earn income, as well as get your message out to a larger audience – call it brand expansion!!!!
Build a B2B or B2C Database:
When you’re starting out as a start-up business, you need a list of business or consumer contacts to introduce and promote your products and services to. And as we all know, the cost to procure data is on the expensive side. Most list managers have a minimum for lists under 1,000 names – and it’s usually north of $500/F. When you don’t have a viable income stream yet, these expenditures are usually not possible.
Here’s an idea (and one I am working on) – use the free resources available to build your own database. Visit your local Chamber of Commerce website and there you will find a plethora of local businesses.
Start by setting up an excel sheet that captures such fields as Business name, address, website, phone number, Primary contact and primary contact email address. Yes, it’s time consuming to data enter and research these companies – but like I said, you have 8 hours a night and over 40 hours a week (including weekends) to do this. Then using a program like Access – you can create a company database that can be used for promotional campaigns.
The benefit of this is learning about the prospects within a 10 mile radius of your business. If you categorize each lead, then you have sub-sets of contact – that you can create different messaging and different creative packages for. Knowing the lay of the land and what your most likely targets are – gives you a leg up on the competition.
An added benefit is the sharpening of MS office skills. Learning how to build formulas in Excel to better automate the data entry and learning how to build a database in Access are skills you can sell to potential clients. So, not only is it a way to find new customers – it’s a way to increase the skills and services you bring to the table!!!!
The best part of everything I noted – it’s all free. All it costs is a little bit of time and energy.
Build a website/landing page/ email promotion/etc:
Years ago, you needed to know HTML to build a website or design an email campaign. In 2018, the amount of FREE tools to accomplish these ends are amazing. Sites like Wix.com or GoDaddy.com offer website building tools and a way to find the perfect URL. Building a professional website is easy and takes no particular HTML or coding skills. The same goes for landing pages – there are free platforms that allow you to design them and launch them. As I noted above – all it takes is time and energy.
Want to run an email campaign? Well, visit Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. Set-up your account and the tools are in place to easily design email campaigns and track your results. It’s honestly an easy set-up and once you start designing email campaigns, it becomes addictive!!!
Additionally, Constant Contact, Go Daddy and other sites offer affiliate programs – where the platform gets white labeled with your brand and you get commission for any sales. This is another great passive income stream!!! Time for a shameless plug – visit Bedford Street Marketing Webbuilder…. if you need a URL or Website!!!
Create and grow your Social Media sites:
Instead of going out, take the time from 5 PM to 2 AM to set-up and grow your social media sites. There are plenty to choose from Youtube, IG, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter… to name a few. Work on the blurb that describes your services and brand. Perfect the brand image you want to portray to the world. Again, all it takes is time.
For instance, before I go to bed, I always visit this day in history and the national day calendar sites. I find at least 4 to 6 topics I want to post about – and a corresponding image. I plan my social media posts the night before, so I know that I have content waiting for me.
Also, take the time to respond to comments and messages you receive. Sure, some are junk – but there are also good leads the come in via social media. So, this is the time to vet them and see if you can’t find a diamond in the ruff!!!
Learn Something New:
As I noted before with the building of a database, the late night hours are a great time to learn new skills. Google business accounting and learn the most effective practices for a small business. Maybe you want to learn how to run Google Ads – well, now is the time to do that. While Game of Thrones is on in the background, take a gander at AdSense or Adwords. I even got certified in Google Analytics and Google Adwords online.
We are never too old to learn something new and especially something that can help us realize our dreams.
So, that’s it my friends – I hope that you start tonight plotting to take over the world and making your dreams come alive!!!
Bedford Street Marketing Insights 