So far, we are at 21 hours and counting… Now, lets look at marketing and random stuff to get our grand total!
Marketing
- Networking. I don’t do this as much as I used to, but when I first started out I would spend 5 hours in a typical month attending networking events.
- Google Adwords. These mostly run themselves, but I do get in there sometimes and tweak things. Time estimate: half hour per month.
- Website. I spend about a half hour a month keeping it fresh. (Yes, I maintain my own website. Wouldn’t want it any other way!)
- Social Media. I estimate I spend about 4 hours per month reading and posting articles to my business Facebook page. I also maintain a LinkedIn account and a business Twitter page. Time estimate: 5 hours per month. (It’s probably more…)
Total time per month spent on marketing: about 11 hours.
Employee (that’s me!) Training and Enrichment
I estimate I spend about 6 hours a month reading articles on psychology, consulting therapist forums, attending trainings and conferences, consulting with peers, exploring new technology solutions, etc.
Random stuff
This is all the stuff that doesn’t fall into the other categories. It includes:
- Figuring out rent amounts, how to interpret landlord’s financial statements, etc.
- Buying office supplies.
- Informing landlord of various problems such as the windows need to be cleaned or the front door is locking too early.
- Computer glitches, or stuff generally going wrong. (The buck stops here!)
- Finding office space, moving or finding someone to sublet the space.
- Changes in interfaces, i.e. the bank changes its website.
Total time estimate for random stuff: 2 hours a month.
Grand total: 40 hours per month, or a little over 9 hours per week.
Was this more or less than you imagined?
Yours in the Joy of Knowledge,
Dr. Barb LoFrisco
