Hi Reader,

I woke up 30 minutes after my alarm went off the other day.

After wolfing down some porridge, I dropped my five-year-old son off at a karate sports camp at a school across town.

He says he’s training to be a ninja.

Back home, I made an Americano, opened my MacBook, and…

I spent the rest of the morning watching the women’s and men’s triathlon races in the Paris Olympics.

I’m training for an Ironman in Portugal later this year, so I wanted to pick up some race tips!

While I watched the race, I faced…

No emails from an angry boss or unhappy client.

No toxic social media comments.

And no urgent Zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings.

I can only do this because I’ve built a writing business that works for me rather than the other way around.

If I had slacked off like this back when I was an in-house corporate copywriter, my boss would have fired me.

That won’t happen today.

You see…

I’ve set up systems to ensure my business runs even when I’m slacking off!

Two employees work on the business.

They maintain my content websites, manage my email, and schedule content across social media for me.

I thought about hiring more employees to scale up, but I want to keep my operation lean.

Now…

I still keep a checklist of my daily must-dos.

These are the things I can’t or don’t want to outsource.

Here’s an example:

• Write a daily email (you’re reading it)
• Write a post for LinkedIn
• Repurpose this post for a few other networks
• Reply and engage with followers
• Make an offer to some potential clients
• Work with a few clients

This afternoon, I spent just two hours working through my checklist.

Then, I picked my son up and enquired about his ninja pursuits.

It helps that Summer is a quieter time for coaches and consultants.

At other times of the year, I could spend the day working through my checklist.

But if I follow my daily checklist, my business runs even when I take time off to watch the Olympics.

I work like this because only 20% of what I do drives 80% of my business’s results.

I’m all for working harder, but why waste effort?

My daily checklist represents that 20%.

If I’m going to push like an Olympian, it’ll be on that 20%.

(Triathlon training taught me to conserve my energy for when it matters.)

So why am I telling you this?

Well, you can build a business like mine by sweating your 20%.

Then, ditch everything else.

Here’s an example:

1. Create a simple content strategy that attracts the right clients to your email list
2. Commit to writing a daily email like this one
3. Write a Google Doc that converts subscribers into high-paying clients WITHOUT sales calls.

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If you need help putting your coaching and consulting offer together, reply to this email with “Slacker”. I’ve three spots open right now.

Write on,

Bryan Collins