12 Things You Can Work on For Your Business When You have Downtime

We are hearing so much about COVID-19 and everyone is freaked out right now. Here at Eco Modern Concierge we are still very much in business as long as everyone is healthy and continuing on with our scheduled appointments. If you are a business owner and forced not to work try to find the silver lining. I thought I would make suggestions of some things to work on for your business in your downtime. This is also great for other times when you may have some downtime in your business. This stems a little bit from things I would love to work more on if I had a ton of downtime and some of it I either stay on top of or try to on a regular basis as a business owner.

1. Write blog posts. Do you have a blog or have you been wanting to start a blog? Now is the time to come up with blog ideas and get started with it! Write about what you know, tips you have related to your industry, etc. 
2. Schedule social media posts. I personally go through periods where I like to be on social media and times when I do not. The times when I do not, I often wish I had things scheduled so I could still stay current. I often know my limits and know it is ok to take social media breaks and do a social media detox. Scheduling posts is great for times when I don't feel like being on social media.
3. Take an online class. I am part of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) and the National Concierge Association (NCA) and they offer various online continuing education classes. This is great to help you expand your knowledge in a certain areas or work towards some type of certification. Or research other online classes that pertain to your specific field. 
4. Update your website. Have you been wanting to update your website and just haven't? Why not try to tackle it while you have some time. Or research website professionals in your area that 
5. Prepare your taxes. The dreaded taxes come every year and if you haven't already done your business taxes or started on various components for them, now that you may have downtime would be a great time. 
6. Renew memberships. There are several memberships and organizations that I am a part of and require me to update them and renew memberships and for some reason they mostly seem to fall in the March & April months. 
7. Join a new professional organization or networking group online. Is there a professional organization you have been wanting to join? Now is great time to do the research and send an email with any questions you may have for that particular organization. Also, there are so many different online networking groups that could help you with your business or that are related to your particular field.
8. Update online profiles. Have you been wanting to update your online profiles like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Yelp, etc.? These are often profiles we forget to update regularly especially if something has changed in your business.
9. Make lists. Make lists of all of things (or most of the things) you want to accomplish with your business and make those things happen. Or at least take the baby steps to make those things happen. 
10. Make videos. Have you been wanting to incorporate more videos into or for your business? Make several videos, edit them or not and get them out there. Let people know about your business, tips you want to share, products you love, etc. 
11. Follow up with past clients. Now is great time to follow up with past clients. Check on them and see how they are doing. Often times with I do this clients hire us to come back out and help them. 
12. Reach out to colleagues or vendors. Reach out to people in your industry or vendors you use in your industry to just chat, see how you can help each other, see if they are offering any new products or services. 

Photo by STIL on Unsplash

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Eco Modern Concierge on Padron Marketing Podcast #StandingOut

In July, I was interviewed by Katrina with Padron Marketing about business for her podcast. In August, it went live. Go check it out here -----> http://bit.ly/2fsdmql Also, check out the other podcasts on the site from other business leaders.

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Photo by: Padron Marketing

10 Things I Use on a Day to Day Basis For Eco Modern Concierge

• Car. I use my car for everything, especially since Houston does not have a good public transit system.  I use my car to go to meetings, visit clients, run errands, etc. etc.
• Computer. I use my computer for so many different things to write emails, send invoices, research, write blog posts and the list goes on and on. 
• Phone. This is how I communicate with others. I receive calls from potential clients, current clients, business calls, I use it to text, send emails, and once again, the list goes on and on. 
• Internet. This is a must as you know to send emails, invoices, etc.
• Company Debit &/ or Credit Card. Having a company debit or credit card is a must because it helps you keep your business and personal money separate. I use it to purchase client items if needed, business lunches, supplies, etc. 
• Cash. You never know when you will need cash for parking, to tip valet or a server, go to cash only places, etc. 
• Phone Charger. I need my charger with me because my phone dies so quickly, especially if I am on Snapchat, Insta stories or taking some type of video. 
• Planner. I write most of my appointments, events, to-dos, etc. in my planner. I much prefer a paper planner to an electronic one because I can make notes in it with stickies and I am a visual person so I retain more. 
• Notebook / Pen & Pencil. I am constantly writing things down. Like I said I am a visual person, so I retain more when I can write it down. When I meet with new clients and current clients I will more than likely write, write, write so I don't miss anything.
• Food. Throughout the day I will sometimes forget to eat and then I get really bad hunger headaches. I try to always keep snacks on me, so I can remember to eat and so I don't have to spend a whole bunch of money going out to eat.

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2014 Goals

Wow I can't believe that it is already 2014. This past year went by crazy fast. Wow what a year it was. 

I'm usually not too big on resolutions, but this year I have personal and business goals that I hope to accomplish. These are all things that I think I can accomplish without setting myself up for failure.

Personal Goals:

Be more positive. I think in general I am a pretty positive person. I can be very positive for other people when they have situations, but when it comes to my situations I am hard on myself. There is always a silver lining in everything. 
Buy a home. This is something that Bryan and I have wanted for a long time. Last year when we went to get a mortgage, 2 different mortgage people told us that Bryan needed to be in his job for at least 2 years. Since his previous career was in construction and he is now in oil and gas. This was a little disappointing, but that just gave us more time to save. This is our year to buy a house!
Travel somewhere new with Bryan. Bryan and I love to travel and I hope to explore a new city, state or country with Bryan. This year we are going to California for our aunts wedding, which is my first time in California, but not Bryan's so hopefully we can go somewhere together we both haven't been yet.
Cook new recipes often. I cook a good amount at home and love to cook, but we often default to regular things that we like or that are easy. I love cookbooks and have so many, so we are going to try new things. Our first food adventure is going to be using our pasta maker we got for our wedding over a year ago. 
Try new things. I love trying new things and 2 things that have been on my list for years are learning the piano and perfecting my spanish conversation and writing skills. I hope to do either or both of these things this year and try something new like taking a calligraphy class or some other classes. The calligraphy class I really want to take is with Blue Eye Brown Eye, but the class offered in Houston for one day booked up within the hour and I was too late, so I am hoping to take a class from them somewhere else in Texas this year if I can't in Houston.
Continue to date Bryan and go on new adventures. Bryan and I love trying new things and going on adventures. Recently we have been trying to go to museums and attractions around Houston that we haven't been to. In September we went on a coffeehouse tour (although I don't drink coffee) to coffee places we haven't been to around Houston. We constantly go to new restaurants around town and we have been buying Groupons for various things to see all of what Houston has to offer. 
Shit or get off the pot about getting my Phd. I have been tooling around with getting my Phd for years now, but I am not sure if I want to take on that financial burden, extra stress and endless writing right now. Plus, Bryan wants to go back to school and I already have my masters, so it's his turn. I need to make a decision this year because I know if I keep putting it off I will never do it. I need to take the GRE and apply for fall 2015 admission. I took the MAT for my masters, which was actually tougher than I expected and I hear the GRE is pretty tough too. I have to apply in fall 2014 for fall 2015 admission.

I was very fortunate last year to accomplish several business goals that I had wanted to accomplish like getting the new site up and running, new logo and working with new clients. This year I have other goals I want to accomplish.

Business Goals:

Blog more for Eco Modern Concierge and for my personal blog. I hope to blog at least once a week or more. My business blog is just a mish mosh of things that I am interested in from eco to organization to products I love. My personal blog is mainly for family to keep up with where Bryan and I are at and what we are up to. 
Reach out more to expand my business. Whether this is to other businesses, individuals or organizations, I want to reach out and expand my business. 
Don't let fear get in the way of trying new things. There are times (not too often) that I don't give my full potential because of fear. This can be fear of failure, fear of being intimidated, fear of being rejected etc. I hope to overcome this more this year.
Finish and reevaluate my business plan. I started and basically finished my business plan years ago, but I really want to take a look at it again and rethink some things and finish it completely. 

What are some of your goals for the new year?

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Gaining New Knowlege

I am constantly reading and talking to others in order to gain new knowledge. I find it very important because we never know everything and it is good to get new ideas from various sources. Take advantage of all the free sources that you may have in your area, whether this is small business centers, chambers of commerce, library, etc. This is also a great way to meet other individuals in various industries and network.

Been too long.....

I know that it has been too long since I last posted a blog, but a lot has happened. As many of you know I was finishing up my Masters degree and graduated in December 2010. Much of my time the last few months was focused on school.

I hope to continue posting on a more regular basis now. So stay tuned.....