(Cross your T’s and dot your I’s)

If you own or work in a small business, chances are you wear multiple hats.  And chances are you have too many items on your To Do List, and wish you could clone yourself in order to get them all done, while maintaining some much needed sanity.  Since that's never gonna happen, inevitably some things get pushed to the back burner. When you come back to them, it’s hard to remember where you left off, which can result in accidental misses and oversights.

Many times, we see that marketing pieces fall into this category.  I mean, hey, you’ve got paying clients to keep track of and potential ones to call back, right? Who has time to worry about that pesky new collateral piece?  It’s waited a month, what’s another week?

If you absolutely must put it off, don’t fret!  Use a handy dandy design/project checklist to keep track for you.  Spend 5 minutes on a Wednesday afternoon asking yourself “What needs to be checked, proofed, edited, and set up before this piece is final and ready for use?”  Turn your answers into a checklist, print off a stack of ‘em and set them on the corner of your desk. The next time you print something to proof, staple a checklist to the front.  You can date it, write in the name of the piece at the top, and check off the things you’ve already done.

Then, if you have to set it aside or pass it off to someone else for help, you both know what’s left to be done.  It’s not as good as cloning yourself, WWWC (We Wish We Could!), but it’s a darn good alternative!