You probably haven’t noticed, but 2 months ago I added two links to the bottom right corner of this blog. One for the Web host I use and one for the WordPress theme I use.
Nothing special. Just small links that, again, you probably never even noticed.
Baker actually suggested I do this a good 6 months ago, but I just never got around to it.
In the past 2 months, those tiny links that almost nobody notices have resulted in an extra $600 (ok, something like $570) in affiliate commissions. Not extravagant, but wow, pretty amazing for something that took 5 minutes. They’re both products I’ve used since Day 1 of this blog so I can feel good about recommending them as well.
And this got me thinking.
Where else can we make tiny improvements in business and life that will produce massive results?
If you’re familiar with the Japanese philosophy of kaizen, you know how important small, consistent improvements are.
Following are 17 ways we can massively improve our businesses and our lives.
Business
1) Send just one e-mail per day to somebody you respect, but have never connected with. Nothing crazy, just a few sentences saying “hey, I really like your work.”
2) Schedule Skype chats with people you’ve connected with via e-mail/twitter. I’ve done this so rarely it’s sad. Especially because I always come away from these chats incredibly energized.
3) Test a new sales page headline.
4) Test out a new place to advertise.
5) Create more quality content. This could be a whole list unto itself. Maybe a future article? :)
6) Form a mastermind group to bounce ideas off of and to have people who will hold you accountable.
7) Read a new (or classic) business book and take action on what you learn.
8) To get noticed by someone “out of your league” send them a lot of traffic or make them a bunch of sales. (If you’ve listened to the HTLA interview with John Reese you already know this.) If you don’t already have a big audience you can do this with paid advertising (like Google Adwords or Facebook Ads). I assure you it will be worth the tiny investment.
9) Write one really good guest article and send it to somebody with a huge audience.
Life
10) Say “hi” to more people. In actuality, and I’m guilty of this, most of us probably go days (weeks? months?) without introducing ourselves to someone new. You can start small. Say “hi” to one person and see what happens.
11) Eat at least 1 piece of fruit/veggie with every meal. That doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a lot more than most people eat.
12) When you’re bored read a book instead of turning on the TV. If you’re not sure what to read, check out the awesome comments here.
13) Remove one cause of stress from your life. Maybe it’s a messy desk. Maybe it’s a toxic friend. Whatever it is, removing the stress will make you feel better.
14) Put yourself on a 30 day trial. Maybe you’ll stop drinking alcohol? Or maybe you’ll exercise for just 1 minute every day. Or maybe you’ll write in a journal. There are countless things you can test out for 30 days.
15) Stretch. But I don’t mean physically. I mean do something that makes you a little uncomfortable. It could be something small like going to the movies alone. Or maybe you’ll be brave and sing karaoke for the first time. You don’t have to do this every day, but regular stretching will do you wonders.
16) Scratch something off of your bucket list. If you don’t have a bucket list, do something you’ve always wanted to do but, for whatever reason, haven’t yet.
17) Relax.
What other small improvements can we make in our businesses and our lives?
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