These are those things which simply must be done and use up time which might otherwise be spent on something more enjoyable, such as scrapbooking, brainstorming new product lines, or hanging out with the family.

The good news is that many of these daily, weekly or monthly time-suckers can be kept to a minimum with a little time spent up front planning the most efficient approach to getting them done.

Here are a dozen tips & tricks to help you make the most efficient use of your valuable time…

• Save time formatting your WordPress blog posts that have the same style from one post to the next by using the  WP Duplicate Post plug-in. With this plug-in, you can create a new “duplicate” copy of any of your existing draft or published posts, including the post categories, tags, and other settings, with just the touch of a button. Add your new content and/or tweak the old… and you’re done!
• Create standardized checklists for tasks you do every week or month. Not only will this cut down on list-making time, it will also help ensure that you don’t forget anything from one month to the next.
• Take some time to organize your workspace in a way that gives you easiest access to the items which you use most frequently.
• Schedule several banner ads or other linked images on your WP blog ahead of time using the Ad Buttons plugin. For instance, if you provide a free download each week, you can easily create and schedule a button for each one to appear in your sidebar. Set up several at once far in advance of when they will appear and then don’t worry about it again until they run out.
• Easily insert words, links or phrases you repeat often into your blog posts, emails or other documents using an app created just for this purpose, such as the TextExpander Mac app recommended by Izzy Hyman during this Paperclipping Roundtable podcast.
• If the TextExpander app is not an option, create text documents for the items you find yourself repeatedly writing and save them all in one easy-to-remember place for easy copying & pasting when you need them.
• When completing tasks that are not done frequently, such as redesigning a blog, installing & setting up new software or planning a special event or marketing campaign, write down the steps that you take as you go along in a special notebook or file created for this purpose. This way you won’t have to re-invent the wheel or relearn everything the next time you need to complete the same task.
• Get in the habit of taking a few minutes at the beginning or end of each day to jot down your top 3-5 priorities for the next work period. Design or download a daily planning sheet to help with this process, or set up a notebook or clipboard just for this purpose.
• Take advantage of the ability to automatically create Twitter and Facebook status updates each time you post new material on your blog. While you don’t want this to be your only activity on these social networking sites, it can take care of that daily task if you generally post those links by hand. There are many WP plugins which will allow you to accomplish this. There is also a setting in Feedburner which will automatically tweet your link if you use it for your RSS feed. (Look under the Publicize tab while in your Feedburner account and find your options under the Socialize setting.)
• Seek out Photoshop/PSE actions for tasks you repeat often when creating layouts or products. For instance, instantly prep and resize your completed scrapbook layouts for uploading to galleries by using this free PS/PSE action from Paislee Press.
• Set up filters within your email client to sort messages you receive regularly but don’t need to deal with immediately, such as newsletters, blog feeds, etc. and then handle them all at once on a less regular basis.
• Learn to use the batch processing tool in Photoshop (File:Automate:Batch) in conjunction with your PS actions for completing repetitive actions, such as resizing images, saving as a new format or anything else that could be automated. Google “Photoshop batch tutorials” for a wealth of help learning how to use this feature. Here’s just one to get you started. If you are not a Photoshop user, check your software manual for a similar feature.

Do you have a time-saving tip to add to our list?

Please share through a comment below!

Stay in the loop… SUBSCRIBE to our email list and receive notice each time we publish a new post!

It is these talented folks who pour their heart, soul and stories into creating beautiful sample layouts from the designer’s products… often doing so without any kind of financial compensation beyond free access to product.

Additionally, team members often actively promote the designer and her/his work throughout the scrapbooking community via social media, their own blogs, active participation in forums, display of their layouts in multiple galleries and by glowing referrals.

There’s no question that without the active involvement of a great team, the designer’s reach (and sales) would be much more limited.

As more and more scrapbooking product designers enter the field, it becomes increasingly difficult to find and retain committed team members. That’s why I like the question posed recently in a neighboring forum, which asked members of Creative Teams what they want most from their designer and team experience.

Judging from the responses to that post…

Creative Team members want:

• A designer that is friendly and accessible.
• Strong organization with good communication … knowing exactly what is expected and when it needs to be done with sufficient advance notice.
• Genuine enthusiasm and feedback, including within gallery layout comments.
• Enough time to get assignments completed and early information about upcoming release dates, deadlines, etc.
• To feel like their relationship with the designer is important and valued.
• A designer who follows through on what they say… or at least communicates what is going on when plans go awry.
• Inside information… they want to be included and involved in what’s going on, including the planning stages when possible.
• An opportunity to offer suggestions, feedback and other input.
• Comments in the galleries from the designer for every layout the team member creates for them.
• Opportunities to communicate with and get to know other members of the team.
• Flexibility and options. For instance, the opportunity to choose which kits and assignments they will take on.

What do YOU think?

Do you agree with these points?

What would you add to this list?

 Stay in the loop… SUBSCRIBE and receive an email each time we publish a new post!

I have not shared the specifics before now, but the launch of Scrap Assistant seems to be a great reason to shine some light on this community so many of us love to call home.

Here are some highlights from the Scrapbooker’s Survey, conducted in May 2010 by Log Your Memory:

Of the 205 individuals who participated in our survey…

• All but one answered “yes” to the question: Do you scrapbook?
• 40% were a member of at least one Creative or Design Team in the scrapbooking industry and 7% were in charge of such a team … of those on a team, 9% were on just 1 team, 6% on 2, 4% on 3, 6% on 4, 7% on 5, 1% on 6, and 6% were on more than 7 teams… all at one time!
• 12% were scrapbook product designers
• 52% were digital scrapbookers, 20% paper and the remaining 27% hybrid
• 88% had purchased scrapbooking supplies online within the prior three months
• 59% posted scrapbook layouts in online galleries on a regular basis
• 64% read and/or subscribed to at least one scrapbooking magazine
• 45% read and/or purchased scrapbooking idea books
• 31% just start scrapping without any kind of plan in mind beforehand and 20% start with a sketch or template designed by someone else
• 74% of the designers surveyed maintain a file of ideas (online or otherwise) for future products

Do any of these results surprise you? As a member of the scrapbooking community, do you think these figures have changed over the past year? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Just a reminder… our special Charter Membership Rates for our online Scrap Assistant Online Workspaces will end on Wednesday, August 31st! Act now… before they’re gone!

If you’ve been following along with the birth and development of this site, you know this day has been a long time coming… a lot longer than I had anticipated! But here we are and I’m anxious to begin sharing all of the goodies I’ve spent all these months getting ready for you! If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to make Our Story your next stop so you’ll have a better understanding of just why we’re here and what we hope to achieve.

There will be lots of time in the coming weeks and months to share more details about this site… for now, I’d love for you to just do a little poking around yourself and see what you think! I will take a moment today, however, to share my plans for this part of the site… the blog.

I envision this corner as a great place to hold all kinds of discussions related to the needs of scrapbooking team members, leaders and designers. Rather than just posting my own ideas every week, instead I plan to pose questions that hopefully will spur some conversation and allow all of us to share our combined knowledge and resources for the good of everyone who visits. I’ll share my own thoughts, of course, but I definitely hope for lots of comments and feedback along the way.

So that’s the plan, starting in September! Until then, feel free to pop in here and post your questions or comments as you look around… all you need to do to participate in the discussion is take a quick minute to register… for FREE! You can do that HERE.

Thanks again for stopping by!