Spelade
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If you’re like me, then you’re juggling so many tasks and projects that it’s hard to keep up with where to actually spend your time. You likely feel overwhelmed too.
Learn More: https://www.cloneyourselfu.com/workshopsWell, I have good news for you… FreeeUp.com is going to be your solution to getting your time back!
In fact, FreeeUp’s name says it all… their mission is to “FREE UP YOUR TIME!”
BEFORE YOU BEGIN...
Now, please don’t just go to FreeeUp.com and start posting a bunch of jobs for VA’s.
Remember, everything we’ve discussed in the previous pods. Specifically, go back to episodes 7-11 where I outline all the steps you NEED to take before hiring your first Virtual Assistant.
If you’re ready to hire, then here’s what you need to know about FreeeUp.
FIRST, the biggest reason why I prefer FreeeUp over any other VA sourcing agency is because they listen to your needs and MATCH you with just 2-3 VA’s that will help you with your struggles.
A lot of agencies are more of a job board, and after you post your job request - you’ll get 20 to 50 to even up to ONE HUNDRED or more candidates. Who has time for that?!
I know you and I don’t have time to sift through dozens of applicants. I’m not really sure who would have time for that.
And for that reason that I am so grateful for FreeeUp and how they take the time to understand my struggles then match me based off of those struggles…. And I only have to interview 2-3 candidates. On top of all that, FreeeUp will send you candidates within 24 hours if you need it quickly!
SECONDLY, FreeeUp is a smaller agency. They are big enough to count on them and small enough that if you ever need to talk to the owners you can easily get ahold of them by email, skype or even on the phone. This is so important to me when choosing partners I do business with.
I’m not a fan of online chat… although online chat is way quicker than just sending an email to support. It’s nice to know that FreeeUp cares and that the owners will speak with you if needed.
LASTLY, the FreeeUp interface is so easy to use.
It seriously can take less than 5 minutes to fill out a job description. I do recommend brainstorming your job description before logging into FreeeUp and posting it. In episode 9 of Clone Yourself I gave you a link to my template job description. As a reminder, that link is CloneYourselfU.com/JOB.
ROI of a VA
My VA’s actually created an online calculator for you so you can SEE the actual return on investment. You can check it out on the Clone Yourself website by going to CloneYourselfU.com/ROI. Play around with it - the calculator is an amazing tool that will reveal how much money you’ll actually save by working with VA’s!
To hear the full podcast, head on over to Spotify, iTunes or any other pod player to listen to the full podcast!
LINKS & RESOURCES
Freeup https://buff.ly/2YotRYY Go here if you need to hire reliable VA’s. (you’ll also get a $25 coupon PS. It’s free to sign up!)ROI Calculator (Use this quick tool to see how much you will save by hiring a virtual assistant)FREE Guide (In this guide, I offer a few suggestions on easy tasks to outsource and a canned template to instruct your VA how to do the t -
Re-Keying of information:
How many times in your day to day do you find yourself saying, “I can’t believe I’m doing this, this is such a waste of time”. You know what I’m talking about… these are the tasks you do while you’re multitasking. While you’re watching TV.
Learn More: https://www.cloneyourselfu.com/workshopsFor example, writing a blog post is extremely subjective. That’s something we should do ourselves.
BUT, when it comes time to post the blog to our website - now that’s a whole other story.
We login to our site, then find the page to add a new post, copy and paste the blog etc.
This whole process is such a waste of time! Not only that, but I don’t know about you… but I post my blogs to Medium AND as LinkedIn articles (and share on social media). All of this takes a ton of time. Well, luckily for us we can hire a VA to help with this process because it’s an objective project.
Here’s how it would look with a virtual assistant.
First, write your blog in a google doc.When finished, be sure to give your blog a title and maybe some keywords at the bottom.
Second, hire a Virtual Assistant on FreeeUp.com using the job description from CloneYourselfU.com/Job. You’ll want to be clear on the expectations - that you are simply asking your VA to copy/paste something from a G doc to your website as a blog (and wherever else you put your blog - for example maybe you’ll ask them to post to Medium and a LinkedIn article if that’s something you do anyway or want to start doing).
Next, interview your VA’s. For more tips on interviewing your potential new team members, check out the previous pod #10 all about interviewing VA’s.
After you interview your VA’s, decide whether you will move forward with 1,2 or 3. Sometimes I like to hire 2-3 VA’s at once, give them the same small task then only move forward with the one that jelled best with my work style and the criteria I’m looking for in a new team member. Other times, I can just feel that one of them is a better fit than another. More on this in the previous pod..
So, after you’ve made your decision and you hire your VA you’re going to want to turn this project into a bite sized sample rather than just give them the whole thing at once. This is what I call tiny tasks which lead to big projects.
You know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed, let’s ease our new team member on and just give them a small project.
Example Template to Send
“Hi VA NAME,
I’m so excited to work with you!
Like we talked about I’m going to ask you to upload my blogs into Word Press and Medium. Here is your first task. This link contains my most recent blog post complete with the title of the post and SEO keywords to use as well.
Please go to (insert your login info to Word Press here) and put this new blog post in my website as a draft.
Please do not spend more than 30 minutes on this task. If you need more time, then just reach out and let me know where you’re at.
Can you complete this by “insert date you want it done by here”?
If not, then when?
Once completed, please send me the draft page you made.”
To hear the full podcast, head on over to Spotify, iTunes or any other pod player to listen to the full podcast!
LINKS & RESOURCES
ROI Calculator (Use this quick tool to see how much you will save by hiring a virtual assistant)FREE Guide (In this guide, I offer a few suggestions on easy tasks to outsource and a canned template to instruct your VA how to do the task)FREE Worksheets (these -
I want to remind you about the mindset shift we need to make BEFORE even thinking about hiring a virtual assistant.
Learn More: https://www.cloneyourselfu.com/workshopsSAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
OKAY, so here are some questions.
Take them as is or tweak them and make them you’re own… you can find all of these in the show notes of this podcast as well.
Can you tell me a little bit about your experience in doing something similar to this job position?Why are you interested in this position? How many clients do you currently work with and how do you manage your time?What times of day will you be available to work on my projects? I prefer to communicate by (fill in the blank - whether email, skype, slack etc) - what is your preferred way of communicating? If you start to perform a task, and realize you have questions - how would you handle that?I might at times overwhelm you with assignments - how would you manage all of the tasks handed to you to keep them organized so that you can complete each on time? Tech issues happen - if you lost power, your computer crashes or the internet is just down and you’re on a deadline - what’s the first thing you’d do?What are some of your favorite tools to use to work efficiently? (think trello, slack, etc)To hear the full podcast, head on over to Spotify, iTunes or any other pod player to listen to the full podcast!
LINKS & RESOURCES
ROI Calculator (Use this quick tool to see how much you will save by hiring a virtual assistant)FREE Guide (In this guide, I offer a few suggestions on easy tasks to outsource and a canned template to instruct your VA how to do the task)FREE Worksheets (these will help you to uncover objective tasks to outsource to VA’s)Job Description & KPI TemplatesUncover Tasks to Delegate to VA’s!If you have any questions at all, hit me up! Email is [email protected] and you can schedule a time to chat with me by going to Calendly.com/CLONE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to invest in yourself and your business now… your future self sipping drinks on the beach is already thanking you!
To Interviewing,
Sam AKA SwagSamP.S. Are you ready for my full blown process? Are you ready to take the leap and actually get the transformation you know you need? If you’re ready to learn my step-by-step process on how to scale your business by working with VA’s so that you can work less while making more, then check out my upcoming workshop! Forget about the overwhelm, in this workshop I’ll be guiding you every step of the way to ensure you have success and can begin to breathe again. Learn more by checking it out on the link here.
LET’S BE SOCIAL
Join the journey — whether you hangout on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube!JOIN THE PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP:
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In this second episode of the Clone Yourself Podcast, my aim is to open your eyes to who a VA is as I walk you through how they can help you in your business. Learn More: https://www.cloneyourselfu.com/workshops
First of all, it’s who is a VA and not what is a VA.
Remember, virtual assistants are people that we need to build relationships with…
We need to make a mindset shift… to trust and the understanding of needing to be okay with letting go. After all, we’re only going to be able to GROW OUR BUSINESS after we let go of the tasks that are just straight up wasting our time!
A virtual assistant is someone who works as a freelancer remotely to assist in growing your business. The skills of VA’s are as creative as you can imagine. If you can dream up a task, you’ll be able to find a VA to help!
Patience is Key!
You need to be patient, expect some mistakes as you get used to working together and you need to onboard them properly. Remember, you’re in this for the long haul!Change your mindset about those tedious time consuming tasks and learn to work less and play more when you hire a VA!
Some Quick Thoughts:
Where Are They?Often times overseas, but not always… If they are overseas, then they’ll be working while you sleep! You’ll be waking up to completed work and it truly does feel like you’ve cloned yourself so that you’re always working.
Another Mindset Shift: View as EmployeesThinking of VA’s as employees as opposed to just outsourcing. Actually treat them like your employees (THINK: new hire feeling / training program, onboarding, reviews etc.)
Differences of Employees & VA’sI think of VA’s as mercenaries (or specialists)... They have a specific skillset you are hiring for whereas employees are often jacks-of-all-trades.
Low OverheadNot paying for their supplies in the office (laptop etc), you don’t even need an office. Instead of having a 5-10 person team in an office, everyone can work remote.
Working with VA’s prevents burnout since you are no longer doing all the work yourself.Focus on your Strengths (the most value you bring to your audience) and revenue driving tasks as opposed to time-sucking tedious tasks.I'm always ready and here to guide you. You can schedule a FREE 15 minute strategy call with me by clicking the link here.
Before I let you go…
ACTION:
Grab your FREE getting started guide by going to the link here: CloneYourselfU.com/3WaysAND Remember, it’s a marathon - not a sprint!
To Getting Started,
Sam AKA SwagSam--
LET’S BE SOCIAL
Join the journey — whether you hangout on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube!JOIN THE PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cloneyourselfu/
UPCOMING Workshops & Online Courses:
I have a series of workshops and online courses for my fellow Entreprenuers, Content Creators and Side Hustle Masters designed to teach you how to "Clone Yourself" (by working with VA's).
If you can relate to feeling overwhelmed by the number of projects and tasks you take on..
If you would label yourself as a workaholic, and if you ever wake-up in the middle of the night thinking about WORK…
THEN these workshops are for you!...
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In episode 3 of Clone Yourself, we’re focusing on visualizing our lives with Virtual Assistants because the truth is … VA’s will not only free up your time but also help you to increase your revenue!
See, the thing is when you free up your time you can now focus on the actions that directly relate to bringing in revenue as opposed to time-sucking tedious tasks.
Learn More: https://www.cloneyourselfu.com/workshopsWith that, let’s go ahead and first talk about the types of Virtual Assistants.
Types of VA’s
There are 2 main categories of VA’s and I like to think of it as the “workers” and the “visionaries”.
1. General VA (LowLevel)They take on the daily tasks and processes that are important for running your business but not necessarily focused on growing it. The tasks that you would delegate to a General VA tend to be technical and repetitive in nature, such as managing your emails or travel schedule, scheduling your appointments, data entry, research, scheduling posts on social media, and so on.
2. The Specialized Virtual Assistant (Mid/High Level)
A Specialized Virtual Assistant is someone that has a very specific skill set and is better suited for owning and/or overseeing a very specific process in your business. They tend to be more expensive than General VAs because they already have a specialized skill set and will require minimal additional training from you. Tasks such as customer service, bookkeeping, video editing, and project management, for example, are better suited for a Specialized VA.
The 4 Tasks in Your Business
Now that we know the different types of VA’s, we need to look at the four types of tasks in our business so we can begin to separate what we could be doing and what our low to mid/high level VA’s could be doing.First, there are the tasks you NEED to be doing. These are the high level tasks that you excel in… these are your strengths … what makes your business excel - it’s your secret sauce!
Secondly, there are the tasks that you shouldn’t be doing. These are the time-sucking tedious tasks like rekeying of information.
Third, are the tasks that we just don’t want to do.
And finally, the fourth type of task are the ones that we actually cannot do because we lack the knowledge on how to execute the task (for me this would be video editing).
Make sure to listen to the full podcast for a more in-depth overview with examples of what VA’s can actually do for you to grow your business!
ACTION:
If you haven’t already, snag your FREE getting started guide by going to the link here: CloneYourselfU.com/3WaysAND remember, you can do this… it will take some upfront work now but your future self will be thanking you! I work less than 4 hours a day and it’s because years ago I did the upfront work to get my VA team in place!
To Shifting Your Mindset About VA’s,
Sam AKA SwagSam--
LET’S BE SOCIAL
Join the journey — whether you hangout on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube!JOIN THE PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cloneyourselfu/
UPCOMING Workshops & Online Courses:
I have a series of workshops and online courses for my fellow Entreprenuers, Content Creators and Side Hustle Masters designed to teach you how to "Clone Yourself" (by working with VA's).
If you can relate to feeling overwhelmed by the number of projects and tasks you take on
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In this episode I’m going to go into the details of how to start a podcast with VAs. I want to help you succeed, so if you haven't listened to my earlier podcasts, go back and listen first. This will help you get the most of this episode!
To hear the full podcast, head on over to Spotify, iTunes or any other pod player to listen to the full podcast!
ROI Calculator (Use this quick tool to see how much you will save by hiring a virtual assistant)FREE Guide (In this guide, I offer a few suggestions on easy tasks to outsource and a canned template to instruct your VA how to do the task)FREE Worksheets (these will help you to uncover objective tasks to outsource to VA’s)Job Description & KPI TemplatesUncover Tasks to Delegate to VA’s!
LINKS & RESOURCESASK SwagSam ANYTHING: Email is [email protected] and you can book a FREE Strategy call with me by going to Calendly.com/CLONE.
THANK YOU!
To Gettin Goin,
Sam AKA SwagSamCOURSE COMING SOON:
P.S. Are you ready for my full blown process? Are you ready to take the leap and actually get the transformation you know you need? If you’re ready to learn my step-by-step process on how to scale your business by working with VA’s so that you can work less while making more, then you’ll want to join the online course!
Forget about the overwhelm, in this workshop I’ll be guiding you every step of the way to ensure you have success and can begin to breathe again. Learn more by checking it out on the link here.
