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Do you use checklists in your marketing business?

September 3, 2008 by John Dilbeck
Filed under: Checklists, Marketing

Stoney deGeyter has published a list of over 400 items you should think about when marketing online.

This checklist, The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!, is heavy on what, but light on how.

He says he’ll be addressing some of that over the next couple of weeks:

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll provide some additional explanation and insights to the lists below. And since this list is always a work in progress, any additional thoughts and insights are welcome. I’m always adding and removing things as I see fit. Which brings me to one more note: many items are included here based purely on my own preferences and by no means constitute an absolute truth or necessity.

So, of course, I printed a copy of his list and I’m studying it in some detail.

For a long time, I’ve had a task on my to-do list that I just haven’t gotten around to doing: Create checklists for building a website, lens, marketing funnel, autoresponder series, etc.

Now, it’s a lot easier to put that phrase on a to-do list than it is to actually take the time to do it, so I applaud Stoney for actually doing it.

His checklist will not be directly applicable to what I want to do, but it is a great resource to help me identify what I think is important and what should be done.

That brings up the question…

Do you use checklists in your marketing business?

If you have checklists, or know of any online, I’d love to hear more about them.

When I get my checklists completed (one of these days), I’m going to make them into PDF reports you can download.

Over time, maybe we can develop some useful resources so we can do more planning and less flying by the-seat-of-our-pants.

I’m looking forward to your comments and any resources you want to share.

Act on your dream!

Tags: Checklists, ecommerce, planning

Comments

2 Comments on Do you use checklists in your marketing business?

Pat on Wed, 3rd Sep 2008 9:16 pm

I have created several lists. I just don’t know where I put them.

John Dilbeck on Thu, 4th Sep 2008 11:16 am

Hi Pat,

I have a big grin on my face right now, because I’m in the same situation. I’ve created a couple of checklists and misplaced them.

So, now, I’m doing things a bit differently.

Instead of printing them out and adding them to one of the overflowing piles here in the cave, I’m keeping them as a file on my computer.

As you probably know, I’m a Mac user and I have my computer set up so that I can log in to one of several accounts, depending upon what I’m going to be doing. Each account is optimized for particular tasks. When I log in to an account, I have it set up so that certain applications automatically load and my text editor, TextWrangler, automatically loads certain documents.

So, if I’m going to be working on traffic exchanges, for example, I’ll be working in an entirely different environment than if I were going to post to one of my blogs. This helps me keep focused and provides easy access to just the tools I’ll be using during that work session.

As time goes by, I’m going to be adding new accounts for doing things like working on my CafePress store, writing articles, etc.

One of the reasons I’m starting to focus on checklists is so I can optimize the use of my time and do a better job of promoting what I’m doing. If I come up with something that improves my workflow and helps me build my business more efficiently, I’m going to be happy to share it here.

I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants for so long that I have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to do, but I think I could improve my efficiency and productivity if I had a customized checklist for each major task I do during the day – or, more likely, the night.

So, now, I’m going to concentrate on starting and maintaining these checklists as I go through my daily routines.

In fact, I’m going to start doing it right now…hang on a second…comes back a few minutes later…Okay, done.

I don’t have any items on these new checklists – yet – but I have several new documents created and set up so they will automatically load when I log into this account. It’s a start.

As soon as I have something worthwhile to show, I’m going to start a series of posts on this blog about particular checklists.

Of course, not all I do relates to affiliate marketing, so they may not be appropriate topics for this site. I’ll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I have a new policy. For every one item I bring into the house, 10 items have to go to the dump. 20 would be a plus.

Eventually, I may be able to find the important things I print out and keep for reference.

Pat, if you find any of those lists and care to share, I’d love to see them. You don’t have to make them public if you don’t want to, of course.

BTW, why aren’t you linking to one of your sites when you make a comment? If nothing else, you could link to your blog on the Tea Room or Squidoo Marketing and get a little link juice. This blog is set up so that Google should follow the links.

If you link to a blog or site with an RSS feed, CommentLuv will try to link to the latest thing you’ve written. I don’t know for sure, but it may even work with your Squidoo lensmaster profile page.

Thanks for the smile! It’s always good to hear from you.

Act on your dream!

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