Tune in or read the blog version below!
Quick Links
✧ Join The Wanderlover Coaching Group
✧ Follow The Wanderlover Podcast on Instagram
Wanderlover Community Updates
Welcome back to the podcast (or blog in this case!). This past week we started making some massive changes within the business to better support all of you and realign with this new chapter in my life and business, one of which is consolidating and streamlining all of our Facebook group.
A lot of my programs have a community aspect. I think community is so important when you are a digital nomad, when you are an entrepreneur traveling full-time or working online, you really need other people to bounce ideas off of and you need that life coaching. So I was showing up in numerous Facebook groups and what happened over time was that it’s harder to manage, but also less people were showing up to the calls and I felt resistance.
Recognizing Business Resistance
When I feel resistance in business, it is a sign that something has to change. I hope sharing this will also help you in case you ever experience something similar or if you are experiencing something similar right now. Whenever you feel resistance, it means that there is an easier way. That has always been my mantra. Do what feels easy. You do not need to feel like you are pushing a boulder up a hill in your business. You are allowed to make it easy, and so we launched the Wanderlover Coaching Group. It is the only place online where I will be hosting live coaching, and it is the one place you can connect, support and learn from other digital nomads, entrepreneurs, coaches, creatives, all in one place, 24/7 business support.
And what is just so magical is when you start sharing what you’re going through in business, you do not feel alone. Every single person in the group can relate to your struggles, and we have all experienced it at one time or another. And the entirety of today’s episode was inspired by one of our members because she had a question she asked, and she can receive coaching directly from me and other members growing their businesses. She said, “I must outsource website management because my socials and brand collaborations are taking off. I also must balance a full-time job and I need guidance on how to outsource certain tasks”.
So today we’re talking about one of the biggest shifts you’ll make in your business journey, how to hire freelancers and build your dream team.
Hiring Is Your Best Investment
When you first start your business, it’s just you. You are the CEO, the marketer, the coach, the creative, the designer, the accountant.
And it reminds me of this old video game that I used to play called Diner Dash. You have one character and you are running an entire diner by yourself. You are the chef, you are the waitress, you are the cashier, you are the manager, you are the accountant. And then you start managing more and more tables and things start falling apart, right?
Like you can only take so many customers at once before you forget to bring their check or your burgers are on fire and you just see like in the end when it’s too much for one person to handle, everything just starts going up in smoke. That’s what running a business reminds me of in the beginning because if you stretch yourself out too thin, everything will go up in flames. You either get burnt out or your business will struggle, or you’re going to start losing money. And so as your business grows, you’ll realize that doing everything yourself is just not sustainable. It holds you back so much from scaling and from your full potential. So let’s dive into how exactly you can start outsourcing and hiring your dream team.
To be completely frank, hiring feels so hard at first because of the belief that you can do everything yourself. If you are a part of my community, I have a feeling you are an overachiever. You want to make sure everything is perfect and you think that you can do it all yourself. Maybe in the past you’ve asked for help and things were delivered, not up to your standard, or maybe you have trauma from your past of giving control over, and then just being completely disappointed.
A lot of you may be thinking that outsourcing is an extra expense that you can’t afford. Maybe your business isn’t generating enough revenue to even cover your day-to-day expenses or your business expenses, and you’re like, why should I be hiring someone else? I can just take an extra hour to do it myself.
The reality is hiring is an investment to give you back your peace and to give you back your time. Hiring the right help frees up so much of your time to focus on the money-making, creative, and strategic parts of your business that are required from you. Those things you cannot outsource. There are things within your business that must come from you, and so you have to really hone in on what those activities are because the more time you dedicate to those activities, the more money you will make and you can outsource the parts that don’t make you money or that ultimately drain you. It is not a cost. I repeat again, it is an investment.
If this is your first time hiring, I definitely recommend starting small and specific. You don’t create your dream team overnight, and most of the time you don’t need to. If you are running an online business, I actually do not recommend starting with full-time employees, likely way too much time for what you are needing right now.
How to Find and Manage Freelancers
Start really small and project-specific. This will help you identify those tasks that either drain your energy or they just take way too long for you. So back to our member example with websites, that is super specific. We need to come up with very specific tasks for the website manager and make it project-based so you can have a trial run with the freelancer.
Maybe you can start with editing and publishing blog posts, things that take up a lot of your time and the tasks that can be repeated. So you are tasking yourself with delegation, but also you are seeing if the person you hire is fit for your team. And then you can add on the deliverables from there. Maybe it can be editing podcast episodes or creating Pinterest pins, scheduling emails or repurposing content.
Doing things that are repeatable will make it a lot easier. Bonus points, if you can write everything down in an SOP (in a standard operating procedure) so that you can have the task in an easy-to-understand step-by-step manner, no matter who you hire can just read and execute. That will make it so much easier for you going forward as well. If it doesn’t work out with the first freelancer, you are able to hire more without having to repeat the process of training. You have it all in a standardized document and in the future you can even delegate different tasks to different people.
Finding freelancers also does not have to be hard. There are so many platforms online that I recommend, like Fiverr, Upwork, or even referrals within your own network. So if you post an Instagram story or if you send out an email to your email list, you can also ask other people within your niche, within your industry. See if they can recommend someone. What matters most is creating a clear job description and communicating your expectations. Again, start with a smaller project before committing long-term.
I have an amazing VA who I’ve been working with for years. We started with one project and she’s just helped me so much. She’s taken on more and more tasks, and during my maternity leave, I could fully trust her to handle everything because she had been doing it for so long. I’ve used and recommend Ripple VAs for anything virtual assistant based, but if you are looking for something like website management or social media content, I recommend checking out Upwork or Fiverr.
Creating Culture In A Virtual Business
From experience, when you are bringing people onboard virtually from different time zones around the world, you want to make sure communication is crystal clear. You have everything in writing and you want to think long term. So what kind of culture do you want to promote as part of your business? Even if your team is scattered around the world, you can still create culture and it’s going to help you have a more productive working relationship.
Make sure to check in regularly, give feedback, celebrate wins and treat your freelancers and your team with respect. I love having catch up calls. I love treating people on my team like their family. It’s about aligning your energy. Even if you’re not with them physically, they still want you to succeed and you want them to succeed.
If you think about this, it makes for a really great long-term working relationship so that when you are ready to hire your first full-time employee, you have so many people to choose from, and you don’t have to start from scratch with all the training, with all the onboarding, only to realize it’s not going to work out.
Embrace Delegation
And finally, when you do onboard someone, you need to learn how to let go of control. One of the biggest aha moments was recognizing that other people, when given the freedom to do things to their standard, as in you hired the professional, they will probably do it better than you in a different way. And that is the beauty of having a team.
It doesn’t have to be done your way. You can give directions, but things won’t always be done exactly how you would do them. That is okay. And that is so beautiful, especially when it comes to things like editing. So video editing or colors or branding, give it time before you reply with criticism, perfectionism keeps you stuck, and once you learn how to trust others, especially others in your business, you free up your capacity to lead and grow.
Honestly, once you see the freedom that comes with delegation, you’ll honestly wonder why you didn’t start any sooner, and you’re gonna recognize that it was you all along. As always, holding yourself back.
Remember guys, progress over perfection. So if you have a task that you are willing to outsource today, go on Fiverr. Go on Upwork. Go on Ripple VAs. Find yourself someone to work with. Give them that task by the end of the week, I know that you can do it and you’re going to learn so much from doing it.
I hope this episode was helpful. If you would like to join us in the Wanderlover Coaching Group, here is the link. This is going to be the lowest price it will ever be. It is founders pricing for the rest of the month. We have our first live Clarity Catch Up Coaching Call scheduled in events. I would love to see you there.
And of course I’ll be recording videos, recording podcast episodes, helping you on your journey so that you can take the next step. Thank you for tuning in, and I will see you in the next episode. Have an amazing week, my loves.
If you enjoyed this episode please take a moment to rate us on Spotify or leave a review on Apple Podcasts so we can get this message out to those who need to hear it the most.
Pin On Pinterest
Read Next
How to Set Quarterly Goals: My System for Massive Success
My Sales Process and Discovery Call Script
How to Create an Online Sales Funnel
Motivation Tips for Entrepreneurs
How to Overcome Shiny Object Syndrome
2-3x Your Business Revenue Using These 5 Strategies
How to Price Yourself: Tips, Tricks, and Common Mistakes
When and What to Outsource in Your Business
Why You Should Sync Your Business To Your Period Cycle
