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Accountability Partnerships: A Solution to Online Business Productivity and Success

September 8, 2008

Tags: Accountability Partner, Accountability Partners, accountability partnerships, Affiliate Marketers, Affiliate Products, Andrea Goodsaid, Blinders, Buddies, Business Insurance, business productivity, Call to Action, Commotion, Dali Burgado, Endeavors, finding an accountability partner, focus, Gileana, Human Communications Institue, Information overload, Internet Information Overload, internet marketers, Internet Marketing Products, Internet Network, Little Time, Marketing Strategies, Michael Bernhoff, Network Marketers, online business success, online productivity, online success, Point In Time, productivity, Throwing In The Towel, Time 2
Posted in: Habits of Entrepreneurs

Most Internet Marketers, Affiliate Marketers, or Internet Network Marketers, suffer at some point in time from information overload . It seems as though there is always too much to do and so little time to do it.

There are so many:

• Social media networking sites to participate
• New affiliate products to promote
• Internet marketing products
• Online marketing strategies to implement

Oftentimes we feel overwhelmed because we lack focus and clarity.

We don’t know where to begin.

Sometimes we just like to be involved in every online conversation and get sidetracked from our primary goals.

It can be quite challenging to weed through all the Internet information overload and commotion and put the blinders on to focus on your primary projects.

A while ago I felt that very same way.

Fast forward 6 months…

Today I feel very accomplished and productive in my online endeavors thanks to my finding and accountability partner.

An accountability partner is someone who plain and simply holds you accountable to what you say you will do during any given day. He or she will listen to your goals and your “to dos” and help you prioritize and strategize ways to plan your day effectively.

Ideally, accountability partners speak every work morning and discuss their plans for the day. That evening, or following morning, the accountability buddies check in and report what they completed or did not complete.

Here’s what having Accountability Partner does for you:

1) Motivates you when you feel you are going through a challenging time.

2) Encourages you to continue when you feel like throwing in the towel.

3) Inspires you to be more focused, especially when you see your accountability partner achieve something they set out to do – It inspires you to keep up your momentum to do the same.

4) Provides that accountability you rarely keep to yourself.

5) It is like your business insurance ; if you don’t get something done and forget about it, you have someone to remind you of what’s most important.

The first time I experienced the joy of working with an accountability buddy was with a program called “Call to Action ” at the Human Communications Institute , founded by transformational and motivational speaker, Michael Bernhoff. I had the pleasure of working with one of Michael’s assistants – Gilena – who was my accountability buddy for a full week. I was incredibly productive - so productive that in one week, I completed what I would have done in what seemed like three months worth of work.  (By the way, if you call Gileana and tell her Dali Burgado referred you - she’ll have a cool surprise for you).

I now have an accountability buddy I have the privilege to call a good friend - Andrea Goodsaid .

I have noticed the changes we both have made in our online business productivity.

When we began our partnership, I helped her decide on her most pressing project; we began to brainstorm ways to help her get going and what to complete before moving on to the next project.

Once she became focused things took off and she got the ball rolling on something she had been meaning to do but didn’t quite get around to doing it.

I’ve also noticed great changes in my activity.

Now I don’t focus on filling my days up with any type of work or activity, I’ve become somewhat of an Online Productivity Geek

Today I tend to avoid getting side-tracked by time-fillers.

I also find myself completing tasks a lot faster.  The neat thing is that our accountability partnership turned into a Joint Venture Partnership.

Now this is all fine and Dandy, Dali, But How do I find find an accountability partner?

I’m glad you asked!

Here are some tips on Finding and Choosing the Right Accountability Partner for You

1) Think of people who are motivated and success-driven . You’ll want someone who is reliable and who will really hold you accountable. A great place to find accountability partners are on online forums or social networking sites.

2) Think of someone who might compliment your skills set . i.e. a savvy Internet marketer who has some experience in marketing that you don’t yet have. It is nice when you can exchange marketing tips and mutually benefit from each others’ experiences.

3) Find someone in your niche. Your accountability buddy doesn’t have to be in your particular online business or network marketing company. I met my partner on an online forum. We shared the same philosophies and had several things in common. We also connected on a personal level before we decided to be buddies.

4) Make sure you are both participating equally. Effort must be shown on both sides to make the partnership work.

5) Meet often. Ideally every work day will assist you to be more consistent and productive in your business.

6) Talk about personal goals too. You will both want to make sure you create balance in your personal lives in order to be successful in your business because what affects you personally will affect you in your business.

7) Your partner should be someone you can trust . In the event you have things going on personally, you should feel comfortable speaking to your buddy about it – not necessarily at length, but on a level where they know you are not at 100% that day.

Don’t forget to Have fun – Having an accountability buddy also makes your journey to online success a lot more fun. You will begin to see how two people can co-create awesome experiences by brainstorming and keeping each other on task.

Having someone to connect with on a daily basis who shares your concerns and experience really gives you the added fuel to remain productive and consistent in your business. It’s like having your very own accelerated program for online success.

Do you have an accountability partner already?

Do you have tips on how to make accountability partnerships more productive? Share them with us!

I appreciate you!

Your Partner in Online Success and Prosperity,

Dali Burgado

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