Scale Up Strategies: The Business Podcast for Coaches, Consultants, and Speakers
Virtual Assistants: The Game-Changer for Business Productivity and Success
May 21, 2024
Laura Bashore and Mary Fain Brandt
Unlock the ultimate productivity hack we've all been searching for – making the leap into outsourcing with virtual assistants can revolutionize your business!
The truth is it doesn't matter how big your business is - if you run a business, you need a VA. Don't worry, Laura and Mary are here to share their journeys, tackling the common anxieties that come with delegating tasks.
They don't just tell, we show. It's not about handing over the reins; it's about weaving new threads into your business that magnify your efficiency and catapult your success.
Venturing into the world of virtual assistants doesn't have to feel like stepping into the unknown. Let Mary and Laura guide you through the labyrinth of sourcing top-notch VAs, from the vast talent pool on Upwork to the untapped potential at your local university campus.
The conversation doesn't end with just finding help; we equip you with the essentials for doing so with confidence – keeping your sensitive info on lockdown using tools like LastPass and vetting for the perfect skill set.
So grab a strong brew, and let's get ready to amplify your business acumen together!
BuzzSprout Thinking about starting your own podcast or leveling up by switching hosts? Use our code: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=2110162 Receive $20 through BuzzSprout's Refer a Friend Program
Unlock the ultimate productivity hack we've all been searching for – making the leap into outsourcing with virtual assistants can revolutionize your business!
The truth is it doesn't matter how big your business is - if you run a business, you need a VA. Don't worry, Laura and Mary are here to share their journeys, tackling the common anxieties that come with delegating tasks.
They don't just tell, we show. It's not about handing over the reins; it's about weaving new threads into your business that magnify your efficiency and catapult your success.
Venturing into the world of virtual assistants doesn't have to feel like stepping into the unknown. Let Mary and Laura guide you through the labyrinth of sourcing top-notch VAs, from the vast talent pool on Upwork to the untapped potential at your local university campus.
The conversation doesn't end with just finding help; we equip you with the essentials for doing so with confidence – keeping your sensitive info on lockdown using tools like LastPass and vetting for the perfect skill set.
So grab a strong brew, and let's get ready to amplify your business acumen together!
BuzzSprout Thinking about starting your own podcast or leveling up by switching hosts? Use our code: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=2110162 Receive $20 through BuzzSprout's Refer a Friend Program
Mary Fain Brandt:
You're listening to Scale Up Strategies, the business growth podcast for coaches, consultants and speakers. We're your hosts and business coach experts Mary Fain Brant and Laura Bas hore.
Laura Bashore:
We're sharing all our insider tips from 20 plus years in business, including how we successfully scaled our businesses without losing our minds or our husbands.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Sure, you can piece it together and try to DIY your way to success. Or you can listen to us every week and learn the shortcuts, because we promise they're really awesome.
Laura Bashore:
So grab your favorite cup of coffee, tune in and let's start the show.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Hey Laura, you know what I wish I would have done sooner, when I started my business. What's that? I wish I would have hired a virtual assistant, but I was too afraid. I was too afraid to like. This is my baby, this is my business. How can I possibly like hand over parts of it to someone that I don't even know and give them access to email and social media? Like it's just really scary right.
Laura Bashore:
Yeah, I think so, because, especially with the business that we're in, you know, when you're coaching or consulting or public speaking, so much of what we do is based around our brand and we kind of get stuck in a fear of what. If someone misrepresents our brand, then what?
Mary Fain Brandt:
Yeah, and our business is us, right, it's. It's me, mary Jane Brandt. Like here I am, I am the business. I am not, you know, like Google with a team right. So handing over, or even you know, ace Hardware or something, handing over parts of my business, is really scary. Plus, I didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't know how to go about it. I had misconceived ideas. I thought it would be super expensive and that.
Mary Fain Brandt:
I'm going to have to hire this person for like 20 hours a week. I don't need someone for 20 hours a week. Right, there was just so much.
Laura Bashore:
At the beginning you're like I don't have enough work to support someone for 20 hours a week. Why would anybody want to work for me? Not realizing? Vas work for multiple people and that's how they are consultants.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Exactly, it's the. I didn't know what I didn't know. So one thing that I really wish I would have done earlier on is hired a VA. Outsourcing is a productivity productivity hack. So if you think of it that way, like it just really helps you be more efficient and get things done.
Laura Bashore:
And I think if I were to give advice from someone like starting their business, maybe a couple of years in let, I would be like let's look at your business and let's decide what you can outsource and what you should keep. What do you think about that? Yeah, you know, I actually heard that same advice when I was listening to the audible of the four hour work week.
Mary Fain Brandt:
What is that, tim or Tom?
Laura Bashore:
Ferris Sorry, I know I got the first day wrong. Tim Ferris yeah, that's exactly what he said would start out immediately. That's the first thing that you should do and I have to agree with you. You know, I wish I would have done this years ago, at the beginning, and just kind of, even if it was for one or two hours a week. I just started the process.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Yeah, so if you're listening to today's episode, this is all about outsourcing as a productivity hack and we want to give you some tips and tools on how you can start outsourcing the things that you hate to do. So, for me, I do not like editing video. Now, there's a bunch of cool tools, but to put the overlays and you know just all the fancy stuff. I give that to my VA and she's made some really cool videos for me, because I why I love tech, Laura, I don't want to sit there and fight with it on certain things. You know what I mean.
Laura Bashore:
Absolutely. You know, even for our podcast. Shout out to my hubby you know he does our editing on Camtasia and what's kind of funny about that is he went to school for soundboarding and for editing and so for him to just look at Camtasia, that doesn't look overwhelming at all. He's able to figure out, it's in his wheelhouse, exactly so I'm married into my productivity hack for now. There you go.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Exactly so. I'm married into my productivity hack for now. There you go.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Well, I'm not married into a VA system or anything, but I am going to share some experiences that I've had, because I've had a VA for, uh, I think this year, I know so at least six years, um, and I did things wrong in the beginning because I didn't know any different. And I did things wrong in the beginning because I didn't know any different. So a couple tips to those listening a um, what you want to do is you want to test the VA, you don't want to just hire them, even if your business bestie, laura here, says, oh Mary, I've got this great VA. Well, are they the great VA for you? So one um item, that some one task or test that someone told me, jenna Soar, she's like you hire a VA, you give them a project that should only take them 60 minutes and it should come back 85%, right? Okay? So if they can't get it done in time, right, and I asked them to do it at no charge you need to prove yourself to me that you can actually do this on time, right, with minimal errors. Do I expect it to be a hundred percent? Absolutely not, they don't really know me yet, but I expect the product or the task to be done on time and with 85 to 90% done accurately. So that's one thing.
Mary Fain Brandt:
And let me tell you guys, I'm on my third VA. Okay, because the first two I didn't do this. I didn't test them with a task, my last one. We've been together six years and I did test her and I hired her. The other thing, you guys, with hiring a VA, they aren't one size fit all and VAs are typically niched down just like we are as business owners, right? So email campaign versus social media strategy, those are typically two different VAs and there's nothing wrong with that because you don't have to hire them full time, right?
Laura Bashore:
Yeah, I think that's the major tip right there, you know, is understanding that hire them for what they're great at, and then you're going to get the most out of your money as well as the time that is spent into it, you know.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Yeah, so hire a social media strategist or an email strategist, or you know someone. I know that you use your VA for some different things. What I don't use my VA for Mine is for email and social posts. Not so much creating the social posts, because I still do that, but I also. I'm going to rattle off you guys 12 things that you can use a VA for. Number one newsletter A VA can help you be consistent with producing a weekly newsletter. Number two email A VA can help you produce email campaigns or just being consistent and sending out a weekly email.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Social media I wouldn't say that they're a social media strategist unless you hire just a social media. I wouldn't say that there are social media strategists unless you hire just a social media strategist. But for posting, like, getting it all scheduled and creating images, yes, hire a VA. You can hire a VA for a website for research, video editing, design we both talked about this, right Workbooks, speaker pages, assets and then you have your VA organize your tax records, handle your memberships and pull reports from CRM for campaigns. That's something I wouldn't have thought about. So how did you discover that your VA could do that? Or did you have a list Like? Did you like? I want a VA that can do these 10 things.
Laura Bashore:
Well, so the person that I hired. I brought her on under my second business, though it was a franchise business that I purchased, so I'm a franchise owner and it deals with memberships, and so in there we had structures of what we do. Now she actually works for the corporate of this, but her and I hit it off really well when I went down to do training and she said you know, if you're looking for someone to help you out with this, I know those systems. I could do that. So what's been great is what I did was figure out what she did, what was in her wheelhouse, and then, as we've been growing together, I send her ideas. For here's something that I want to do. Can you do this? Does this work for you?
Laura Bashore:
So, for example, we just started using Eventbrite fully for all of our meetings, and because Eventbrite just rolled out that you can do reoccurring events with them. So if you're somebody who has events into your business, listen up to this. If you're not using it already, you can schedule out all of your reoccurring events. It's a once a month fee, but so what I do now is I went through and created everything using AI and then now I have her managing the people who register. So we have 13 standing events that happen weekly for all of my different chapters when people register. Now what she does once a week at the beginning of the week is she will send out to each of my 13 different chapters everyone who's registered who should be attending that meeting. And then now what she'll be able to do from that is pull all of our order forms and upload them because they export as a CSV, export them into our CRM system too.
Mary Fain Brandt:
So, she's saving you a lot of time and frustration, because is that something you want to do? Laura, pull all that information, put it in the serum, like Absolutely not, absolutely not, no so um, yeah.
Mary Fain Brandt:
So the whole point of outsourcing is the things that you don't want to do and you're not good at. It doesn't come naturally to you. Those are the items you outsource. So, tip number one write down a list of the things that you don't like doing, whether that's Excel sheets, scheduling, social media, creating graphics, video editing, managing memberships or CRMs. Write down a list of what you don't like to do. It's not in your wheelhouse, and then write down what kind of VA would be good for that right. So, like I said, email campaigns are different than CRM memberships, so there's different levels of VAs and there are VAs that specialize in different things. My VA was an email marketer. That was what I hired her for initially, and I hired her for two hours a week. Why? Because I couldn't afford anything more. That's the other like myth, like I was just telling you before we started. Recording is my whole thing is people say I can't afford to hire a virtual assistant and my response is you can't afford not to hire one. Start with two hours and then grow.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Exactly.
Laura Bashore:
Oh, balloons, we're celebrating, okay.
Mary Fain Brandt:
We're recording this on video, so balloons just popped up, yeah.
Laura Bashore:
So you don't have to hire.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Yeah, you don't have to hire a VA for you know 10 hours, Start with two hours and start with something simple and then grow with them. How long have you had your VA now, Laura?
Laura Bashore:
Since I took over in 2023, so a little bit over a year and we just got to a point because I was so in with starting up this business and getting everything going.
Laura Bashore:
Now we finally just got to a point where we put the official list of SOPs together for her. We have things that we tightened up, like putting in deadlines and working on our newer projects together. I asked for her input because I know her more now and can trust her to say okay, you understand this as much as I do. Is this accomplishing what I want it to? Is this a good use of your time? How should we tweak this? And it's been able to where I can get back into the planning and strategizing and being the face of what I need to be, because I don't have to do these behind the scenes admin tasks that, frankly, would take up just way too much of my personal time and space, and so that's been really freeing to do. And, to your point, mary, now that I figured out what my marketing strategy needs to be, because a VA is not usually your strategist they are the executor.
Laura Bashore:
Now I can take my strategy and hand it off and have somebody help me out with the marketing side now, which may not be my current person. I may hire somebody specifically for the social media marketing part of it.
Mary Fain Brandt:
And I love that you understand that. So the VA is usually the executor, not the strategist. So you know, have that strategy, have your SOPs, have a job description and hand that over to the VA. But I think really important. So start with the VA for a couple hours. Make sure you hire the right VA for the task at hand.
Mary Fain Brandt:
So the email marketer she's great at she schedules my social media, but I write it all Like she's not writing it. That's not her cup of tea. You need to identify your brand voice, your client avatar, you know, before you hire your VA, so they can help you with that. And just I just want to say that remember that your time equals money and the most valuable thing I feel that we have is time. I can, I can make more money. I you know I can't make more money. I mean, I can't make more time, I can't borrow time Right, and so time is the most important thing we have as humans and as business owners. You know we're wearing so many hats, so what can you outsource to give you back a little of your time?
Laura Bashore:
And that's a great point too, because one of the things you have to understand is that most of us who are business owners, we are not coming because we're like, oh, we went to school for this, you know, I woke up and was like I'm going to be a business owner. Many times when we're coming to being business owners, it's because we did something well and realized I could do this on my own. I don't have to be under the umbrella of somebody else's methodology or you know what their brand is. So in order for you to be able to stay creative and in order for you to continue to scale your business, you have to have downtime. You cannot find the right downtime to be creative, and that doesn't even mean like doing creative projects, because you have to be creative to think about how you're going to scale your business, too, and to do your strategy. So you need to create downtime for yourself. You can't have downtime if you are doing everything in your business.
Mary Fain Brandt:
Outsource, outsource, outsource. So real quick, I talked about, like, how to test them, what they can do. One of the questions I get asked is how did you find your VA, mary?
Laura Bashore:
One of the questions I get asked is how did you find your VA, mary? So my VA.
Mary Fain Brandt:
I used Upwork so I paid through Upwork. I'm not paying her directly. Her hours are logged so I can see how many hours she's worked. I can adjust my hours as needed, right the other great way to hire a VA.
Laura Bashore:
Huh, oh, a thumbs up came up on your screen. Now too. You've got to hook my side of this up. I want the balloons and the thumbs up and the celebrating.
Mary Fain Brandt:
you know, I know I'm sorry, I don't even know how I did that. I did some upgrade thing and boom. So how to find a VA? Upwork is where I got mine, but also my friend, jeff J Hunter. He has a VA agency VA staffer and they run out of VAs. They're so good Like people are always hiring and he has all different levels and the great thing I love about his company is they're all trained in AI. So I love that he personally went and trained them all in AI, because that is the future and so his story. You know him. It's different, but Upwork or, I would say, va staffer, would be the top two places to go. Don't just go to Facebook, you guys, and get an ad and start hiring a VA. Do your due diligence, ask your colleagues.
Laura Bashore:
And I would also think you know, if you're at the place where you're kind of nervous about a VA and you're like I can't do this yet, why don't you do a trial run with maybe a local university or community college where they're doing some type of internship? So if you're already part of like a local chamber, great place to ask them and say, hey, what university or schools do you know are partnering with us? Who are doing this? Another thing to think about is looking at nonprofits. There are a lot of nonprofits who specialize in training those who are just coming out of high school or who are in college into these type of marketing spheres or VA spheres. So they're teaching them these skills. So there's some more outside the box. I mean, I would always think first to go to like Upwork or Fever. Those things are just more processed. But if you're kind of at the point where you're like I don't know that I could do that, take a different approach and think about it that way too, that person might not stay with you the entire time, but it will help you kind of get your feet wet and see if you understand. It could help get you organized get some assets done.
Mary Fain Brandt:
And lastly, one tip when you're hiring a VA because this just killed me last week when I was working with a client you need a password manager. You do not give your password to your VA. Do not give your password to your VA. You share it via a password manager. I use LastPass and I love it. There are several out there but please do not give your passwords to your VA.
Laura Bashore:
Nope, it's the number one way you're going to get your information stolen, get locked out of things and if you have cards tied into any of your platforms there you go, so do not give your password.
Mary Fain Brandt:
So recap of today's episode is hire a VA sooner rather than later. Test them out by giving them some attacks. That'll take like an hour and it should be 85 to 90% correct. Do not give them your password. Use a password manager and hire the right VA for the job. So that might mean that you're going to hire two different, two or three different VAs to really do the job well. If you enjoyed the podcast, show us some love. Please rate, review and subscribe to our podcast, and if you have any feedback, go ahead and share that with us too, because we want to hear from you. Until then, stay focused, stay motivated and stay caffeinated.