10 things you can do in 10 minutes each to boost your business

I am writing this from the airport at 7:03 pm. My goal is to finish by 7:13 pm and schedule this post. I have 30 minutes until my plane boards and I can complete three small tasks to move my business forward if the tasks can be done in 10 minutes or less each. Here are some ideas:

1. Write a quick blog post and promote it.

Jot down some random thoughts about something useful to your readers. Try a top ten list (like this one!) or a top 5 list. You can polish it later and use it as an article, in your newsletter, for a podcast, in a video, etc. Take the time to tweet your post and add it to your Facebook status. If you are using network blogs, it will tweet/update for you.

2. Write some thank you cards or emails.

I have brought cards with me on this trip to send handwritten thanks to some of my clients who have been with me for years (some over 5 years, and close to 10!) and who constantly refer clients to me. It only takes a few minutes, but it’s nice to get a thank you in the mail. If you don’t have thank you cards or don’t like to write by hand, try Send Cards, which lets you choose a card to send and personalize it, and then send it to you by regular mail. Or send a couple of quick emails or eCards.

3. Pick 2-3 blogs to comment on and leave a thoughtful comment.

Choose blogs that you want to connect with and be known by authors, or that reach your target market. Please leave a comment to let them know that you appreciate their content, or that it sparked ideas or helped you in some way.

4. Hop on Facebook and go on a super fast liking/commenting spree and updating your status.

Within 10 minutes you can like and leave short comments on many posts. Update your status and fan page status while you’re there.

5. Use HootSuite to schedule tweets and status updates for the next few days.

With HootSuite you can schedule your tweets and status updates and set what time you want them to be published. Great way to stay visible on social media without being chained to your computer.

6. Send a short note to your email list recommending a great resource.

What have you recently found (especially free or low cost) that would be useful for your mailing list? Write a quick review about how it has saved you time, money, frustration, or energy and share it with them. People love to be connected to useful tools and services.

7. Pick a person you’d like to meet and send a short, professional email introducing yourself.

It is not necessary to ask for anything or have a specific project in mind. Just a note to let them know you appreciate their information, blog, articles, whatever you want, and send it.

8. Connect people.

Think of someone you know who could help another person you know and introduce them. Within 10 minutes, you could find multiple groups of people to connect with.

9. Go answer questions in a niche forum.

There are always people looking for help on the forums. Look for some who have questions that you can answer and help. Save those responses – you can reuse them in articles, blog posts, etc. later.

10. Take action on something to build your business.

Find a blog post, article, ezine, or anything else you’ve archived or bookmarked that had a great idea you wanted to implement but forgot about. Implement it! Most of the small adjustments and action steps take very little time, we just have to focus and carry them out. Quick action!

And there you have it! It’s now 7:16 pm, which means it took me 13 minutes to write this. But to be fair, I stopped halfway to eat half a Hershey’s bar from the airport vending machine and was interrupted several times by kids wanting my iPod to play. So close to 10 minutes for me.

Your turn! Take 10 minutes and go implement one of these ideas. You’ll feel great when you’ve done it. Positive action in our businesses always feels great!