Depending on where in the world you are located, last week might have been the first week of spring for you! Regardless if it's spring or not, when's the last time that you cleaned up your business?
It is that time of year when you spring clean your house from top to bottom! We clean out closets, getting rid of the old to bring in the new, wiping everything down to make it shine, and reorganizing. But how much time do you spend cleaning out your computer, website or social networks?
Clean up your business today to make room for more new business tomorrow.
Here are a couple tips and tools to tidy things up!
YOUR GADGETS
- Did you know that your smart phone is dirtier than a toilet seat? EWWWWW! GROSS! Clean that baby, front and back, using a microfiber cloth with some rubbing alcohol on it. I also recommend throwing that microfiber cloth in the washing machine after cleaning your dirty, nasty smart phone.
- Have apps that you haven't opened in months? Delete any apps that you are not using. Any apps you have purchased will be saved in the Cloud on your account so you can download again if you ever need it.
YOUR COMPUTER
- Spring clean your files by going through them and clearing out what you have that you no longer need. Are you biting your nails at the thought of hitting delete on files? Create a folder and move the files there, if you don't need them for 6 months to a year (whatever you feel comfortable with) delete the folder!
- Are you running tight on space? Do you have a virtual team? Then consider using Dropbox to store files online and easily share folders with your Virtual Assistant. Dropbox is the easiest way to save, sync, and share files online.
- Make sure all of your software programs are all updated with the latest version. This is crucial in keeping everything running smoothly. However, check compatibility if you purchase any updates.
- If you no longer use a software program, uninstall it! I have downloaded programs specific for clients or projects and then I no longer need them. This is a quick and easy way to free up some space.
- Unsubscribe!!!! Clean up your email easily by unsubscribing to those ezines and people that you don't read! Its a waste of time to continuously delete emails that you are NEVER going to read. There is an unsubscribe button for a reason, use it. { Just make sure you stay on my list so you don't miss a thang! } Consider looking into UNROLL.ME to easily manage these subscriptions.
- Update all of your forms or documents that you use for your business. Do you have a Welcome Packet that you send to clients when they sign up? Make sure you look over these types of documents at least once a year to be sure they have accurate information in them.
- Make sure to clean your keyboard, mouse, and go ahead and wipe down that phone, again! You really should do this weekly...
YOUR WEBSITE
- Go through all of your pages and content and take an inventory of what you have. If you have old pages up or content that refers to programs that are over, remove it! A huge mistake entrepreneurs make with their website is leaving old and outdated information up! This is just as tacky as leaving your Christmas lights up until Easter.
- If you are running off WordPress, make sure all of your plugins are up-to-date along with your theme. If you still are running an HTML website, look into switching to WordPress. Staying current with the latest technology can be overwhelming but switching to WordPress is essential for your online presence. Plus, it allows you to do ALL of your content updates yourself without having to depend on your website designer.
- Update your testimonials and ask for new ones! This is a great time to update your testimonials on your site. This is your social proof of how much you rock! Make sure that you have current testimonials from new clients!
- Update your headshots and images on your website. While you are cleaning things up, why not get new, fresh images to add to your website. (be on the lookout for mine... they are coming soon!!)
- Make sure you have social networking links on your site. Don't be left out in the dust! This is a quick fix to your website. Do a Google search for free social media icons and link them to your social network pages!
YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKS
- Go through your bios and about sections on ALL of your social networks and make sure they are updated. Don't neglect this area! Make sure that your information is current and up-to-date.
- Clean up what friends show up in your news feeds. We cannot control what people post online as their status updates but we can control if we see it or not. Lately, I have been cleaning up my news feed by hiding those who post negative comments or anything that might take away from my energy while I am online.
- Clean up Twitter by creating list to keep track of your tweeps (twitter peeps) and unfollow those you no longer wish to follow or those who are not following you back. There are several tools out there to help you with this process. You can use Untweeps to unfollow those who don't tweet enough or you can try ManageFlitter too.
- Clean up Pinterest make sure your pins on all of your boards are still valid. Check links and delete any pins that don't make sense, are invalid, or no longer work.
- Maximize your social online presence with an updated Twitter background, Facebook profile images, and a custom landing page to capture email addresses on your Facebook Page.
And don't forget about...
Your filing drawers or your vision board. While you are clearing away the clutter with your computer, make sure to do it in the office too!
- Update your vision board with new visions, goals, and key words that will inspire you the rest of the year.
- Box up taxes from 3 years ago and store them outside of the office.
- Clean up client files just like you did on your computer.
When you clean out the space where the old was, it allows for clear space for the new to come in! These are just a few suggestions to tidy things up!
Out with the old and in with the SHINY & NEW!
Here's to you and your business success!