As an entrepreneur who is working in a solo situation, the most precious commodity you have is that of time. Many people who work for themselves find it difficult to achieve all their goals and cross off items on their task list simply because they feel overwhelmed and disorganized.
Instead of trying to overhaul your entire life in one go, it’s often better to integrate a series of micro habits that can gradually improve your systems as a whole and move you further toward achieving the success you have always dreamed of.
You may think you need to devote hours each day to make real progress. But even 15 minutes of focus on one area can have a major impact over the course of many weeks.
By applying the following micro habits in your business, you will be building momentum and seeing consistent improvements over time.
Start Every Day With a 15 Minute Money-Making Task
It’s tempting for many home-based entrepreneurs to start the day with logging into Facebook or another social media account.
But reading news and opinions won’t make you a dime.
Others like to start the day by reading and answering emails. While that’s better than the previous task mentioned, it is still not going to earn you much money.
You need to start every day with a task that makes you money.
Here are some examples…
- Go on Muncheye.com, WarriorPlus or JVZoo and find a product or service you feel comfortable promoting.
- Send a broadcast email to your list with an affiliate link and recommendation for a product or service you use.
- If you don’t have a list, post a quick video on Youtube reviewing a product or service, and include your affiliate link below the video.
- Place an ad on Facebook, Youtube, Google or Bing.
- Take a survey or plan a mystery shop.
- Complete a gig on Fiverr or set up a new one.
Heck, anything that makes you even a few dollars is better than wasting time on social media.
Once you have a money-making task under your belt you can take a break, or move into another one of these 15-minute tasks…
Spend 15 Minutes Furthering Your Knowledge
As a niche leader online, it will be your responsibility to guide your subscribers and followers with good information. To do that, you have to consistently conduct research in your niche.
You can spend 15 minutes a day increasing your knowledge as an expert by reading as little as one page of a book, flipping through a trade or consumer magazine, watching a simple 15-minute YouTube video, etc.
There are also things that you will need to know for your business that are not necessarily conveyed to your target audience. For example, there may be times when you buy a tool, such as a page builder, and the learning process requires you to devote a certain amount of time.
Instead of stressing yourself out and trying to do it all in one day, give yourself just 15 minutes at a time to apply to the process. You will consistently make progress toward your goal of being able to use your new tool and it won’t detract from the rest of your to do list.
Create Content for 15 Minutes at a Time 
Content creation is a huge part of all online entrepreneurial business models. Whether you are operating as a digital info product vendor, an affiliate marketer, a PLR creator, or something else, you will need to create text, audio, image, and video content.
Some people get overwhelmed at the thought of sitting down for hours at a time to churn out relevant content for their site and social media accounts. You don’t have to do it all at once.
In fact, many people work better when they divvy their content creation up into 15-minute increments here and there. Instead of having to focus for 60 minutes at a time, you have a lesser amount to gather your thoughts and convey them.
Of course, depending on how much content you need and how fast you can create it, you can duplicate your 15-minute content creation micro habit if you need to throughout the day. But that may depend on your niche and business model as well.
This fifteen-minute technique will result into something of your own to sell in a few weeks’ time!
Set Aside 15 Minutes for Networking with Others
Another thing you will need to do as an online entrepreneur is network with others to help grow your business. There are three main types of people you will be networking with.
The first are your customers. You want to be able to build a rapport with the men and women who are following you as their niche expert. The networking you do here may be in the comments on your blog, in direct emails, or on social media comments.
You don’t have to spend all day interacting with people. Just 15 minutes here and there will do the job just fine. Another type of person you need to network with are colleagues who are also online entrepreneurs.
These are the people who will be your friends and acquaintances, who can answer questions whenever you have any about your business, tools, courses, strategies, etc. They say that no man is an island, and this is especially true when you’re working for yourself in a new type of career.
Another type of individual you will want to network with are affiliates. If you have products of your own, you will want to spend some time recruiting and catering to the needs of your affiliates to get them onboard for future launches.
In fifteen minutes I can recruit a JV partner or two via email or Facebook messenger, it’s easier than you think.
It doesn’t take much time to reach out to someone in a private message and share a link to your joint venture page, write a brief one paragraph explanation about the product, and let them know why it may be a good fit for their list.
Give Yourself 15 Minutes of Freestyle Brainstorming 
It’s important that not everything you do in business is structured. As an online entrepreneur, you are already showing signs of being creative in your endeavors. Therefore, you need a certain amount of time to free your mind and let it explore the possibilities ahead of you.
For example, you can set a timer for 15 minutes and allow yourself to freely brainstorm info product ideas, business models, niche slants, and more. During this time, you can use tools such as a mind map, or even a simple pad of paper and a pen that you can doodle on as you explore ideas.
You can make lists, brainstorm titles, consider what a hybrid business model or niche would look like, and more. When you engage in focused, freestyle brainstorming, make sure you are not spending that time analyzing your thoughts, but instead simply getting them down on paper.
Carve Out 15 Minutes Daily for Planning and Prioritizing
Every great solopreneur has a to-do list. Many use daily to-do lists, weekly lists and monthly list. Some even plan things out months or a year in advance.
Whether it’s at the beginning of the day or the end, you’ll need to carve out 15 minutes a day for you to plan your business. You may be planning the next day’s tasks, a new business model, or an entire year’s worth of projects.
Once you have an overview of your plans in place, make sure you take the time to prioritize them as well. If you need an additional 15 minutes to do this, take it. But you may also be able to do both the planning and prioritizing all at once.
The planning and prioritization process can take place on pen and paper or digitally. You just need to have a way to track what the next steps are for your goals so that you don’t veer off in another direction.
Wishing you massive success,
James King