Steal This French Chef Secret

Now that you’ve freed up time to work on your business (last issue) let’s discuss how to make the most of it.

Before we dive into the secret of the French chefs, here are a couple of other tips I’ve picked up over the years.

Tip #1: Block off time in your calendar. 

I schedule a "Power Hour" every morning. Some clients prefer to dedicate most of their Mondays to this work. Pick a time that works for you and stick to it—consistency is key.

If you want this to work, you must treat this appointment as if it were with your most valuable client. This means:

• No last-minute cancellations because something “came up.”

• No phone calls, walk-ins, or other interruptions.

• Always conclude with a recap of action items and next steps.

Tip #2: Eliminate all distractions. 

I touched on this above, but it bears repeating. The two best ways I know to do this are:

• Schedule your time early in the morning when fewer people are around to interrupt you. Late at night if you’re a night owl.

• Go somewhere away from your office.

Tip #3: Mise En Place - the Gamechanger 

Now, here’s the secret of the French chefs I mentioned earlier. It has been a game changer for me and my clients. 

Roughly translated, mise en place means “gathering” or “putting in place.” Here are the five steps of mise en place:

1. Read over the entire recipe and develop a plan.

2. Prioritize your work.

3. Collect tools and prepare equipment.

4. Gather recipe ingredients.

5. Prepare and measure ingredients.

6. Set up your workstation.

To me, this means separating preparation from the actual work. 

Instead of spending the first 5, 10, or 15 minutes of your Power Hour gathering materials, research, or other information, prepare everything the day before. 

Try it. I’ll bet you double the amount you get done in an hour.

Bill

913.962.9261

State of Marketing

HubSpot recently released its 2025 State of Marketing Report. Highlights include AI innovation, changing consumer expectations, and smarter, more human marketing. I opted in, so you don’t have to. Grab the pdf here.

More Talking Robots

This week in Keeping Up With The (AI) Joneses, Anthropic (Claude.ai) announced plans for a '2-way' voice module. Here’s the announcement from OpenAI that they are playing catch-up with.

Marketing Automation Myths

Worried about possible negative effects automation could have on your small business? This article may help. My favorite Myth/Tip is #4 - it’s where you’ll find the real leverage.

SEO Reports Looking Wonky?

This could be why Google is blocking search result scraping, which is how many SEO ranking and keyword tracking services get their data. Apparently, it is not affecting all providers - yet.

And this…

Progresso launched Soup Drops, a chicken noodle soup-flavored hard candy, complete with an upsetting tagline: “Soup you can suck on.” Watch the story here.

Featured Picks

📚️ Featured Book - The Slight Edge

Jeff Olson’s The Slight Edge is one of those deceptively simple ideas that can have a huge impact on your business and personal life. Grab your copy here (Amazon link).

P.S. - I have some additional resources related to this - email me if you are interested.

🛠️ Featured Tool - Fyxer

Fyxer is an AI Executive Assistant that promises to free up one hour every day. Its unique feature is that it automatically crafts responses to your emails. A free trial is available.

📷️ Featured Image

The Florida Welcome Center wants to make sure Kansans feel right at home 😉

Like this newsletter?

Let me know. Just hit reply (I read every reply), I’d love to know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

Bill

913.962.9261

P.S. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your business.

1) Connect with me on LinkedIn

I'm on LinkedIn primarily to grow and support my network. Connect with me and let me know who makes a good connection for you.

2) Get a Second Pair of Eyes

If you have a piece of copy (email, ad, webpage, etc.) that isn’t performing as well as you’d like, I can help. To learn more, reply with “Improve It.”

3) Work with me One-on-One 

Want to work with me to build out the assets in your Core 4 Sales & Marketing Toolkit? Just reply, “Let’s Talk,” and I’ll send you the details.