How to grow your business by outsourcing and hiring a virtual team

Today's topic is like a hidden gem… I’ve come across many entrepreneurs who tend to complain about how busy they are all the time… and they wish they had more time…

And when they say all the things they are doing, obviously they are going to focus on what really matters in order to generate more leads and sales…

But why are they so busy?? Because they are multi-tasking all the different jobs in their business…. They are the finance person, the designer, the admin, the social media person… So today I want to give my chronological list of hires, so that you can learn to delegate work and free some time….

So let’s hit it!

As you already know, your time IS valuable, and we all get the same amount of hours in a day, and when you’re starting a new business learning to “delegate” is key if you want to grow your business.

And inside your “work,” there are so many responsibilities and tasks that consume what we need to do.

Although you may know me as a Marketing & Business Strategist, this is actually a service I provide to my more seasoned private clients, which is to help them be better business owners and have an organized business.

So, I created a fun and easy guide on how to post a job post for your perfect freelance/ contractor. You can use these job posts as templates and make them your own.

Plus I’ll be giving you useful tips on what their specific tasks should be at least in my business, the skills they should have, what type of questions you should be asking when they submit their CV’s .

So if you’re listening to this episode, with your freebie in hand, it's much better so you can follow along… or if you’re listening now and you’re getting curious, right below where you’re listening this episode you can find the link to download this guide - Outsource your business so that you focus on what really matters or you can simply go to the my website and look for Freebie library, and sign up now to get access to this guide + so many more guides.

So, I know it's not easy when you’re starting a new business to ask for help, but i tell you if you want to be sane, and get things done you need to find a way to learn to delegate your work.

So, This is the chronological order of who you should hire first.

Virtual Assistant
Designer
Editor Video/Podcast
Social Media
Copywriter
OBM (Online Business Manager)
Business Integrator

1 Virtual assistant

Now I start with the VA because that is the first person that can really take away most of the workload when it comes to Scheduling Emails, organizing drive folders, designing, social media, admin, etc.

I hired my first VA through Upwork.com - I will say, I like very much upwork because they do a vetting process before they allow people to become part of the upwork freelancers… so to me they are already doing great work there…

So when it comes to my first VA I want to give you an advice, here… the mistake i made with my first VA, is that I gave her too much to do...she was so overloaded with work… She was my finance, my designer, my social media person, she was doing everything….

And the truth is that you should hire a VA to take the workload not to do everything...she wasn't all those things i mentioned… but VA usually get into this line of business because they want to help others….and my VA was helping soo much that in the end she felt burn out...so for that not to happen to you…

I suggest you either take a 2 VA or better yet hire the expert that can do the job you need for that particular job…

Now if you’re following the guide I will not go into detail what are the skills they should have, or the qualifications… because it is well explained there…

Now your 2nd hire should be a designer...

After you have someone like the VA helping you with admin tasks, I would suggest that if your VA does not have designer qualities…

The designer is your second choice, especially if you’re posting regularly on social media or at least I really you’re… lol

I don't want you to confuse a social media designer with a website designer… These are completely different people…

This designer is the person that will create your social posts, your stories, they will be able to make your slides, they should be able to curate your branding, and also they could design your videos…

Now, you may know or not this about me… but at some point in my life I managed over 250 websites… I managed many designers… but the type of designer you want for your social media doesn't need to know acrobat or anything fancy… What's most important is that they have good taste… and i know that’s a very subjective word… but you should like the way they design… and their taste is incredibly important when it comes to design.

Always ask for previous work, and if you really like them, then they can work for you… don't settle for the first designer because of what they are charging you… you want to be able to spend less time deciding font and colors, because you want to be able to trust their judgement and design style…

You will never be able to change a designer's style, they can try… but they usually have a particular aesthetic, they will always design like that always…

Your #3 hire an editor whether it is for audio or video… I will say in my case the editor came in 2nd place… because I started very early to need that… I believe that if you’re getting into podcasting or video creation like youtube videos, your second choice should be the editor, but because I know many of you don't have that sorted yet, that’s why I put the designer in second place because that is as time consuming as being an editor...

I remember when I first recorded my first video and saw myself editing for 2 straight days… is when I realized that I need help… I hated every minute of doing that… getting frustrated to the point of tears… I wanted to do so many things to that video… that it was like a never ending story…

So if you see yourself editing and getting nowhere, then you know it's time to get some to help you… and I must say, this task is pretty easy to find, and cheap… You can find editors in Asia for very little money up to 5 euros an hour and they do a very good job!!

My editor is from Argentina ( hey cristian) and he is the best! Of course my audios and videos are not elaborate so he gives me what I need!.

Now your #4 Social Media person this is a tricky one…

You could give this job to a VA, but in the long run it wont work… because you want your VA to really complete the tasks you have… you don't want them to be distracted doing social media, when they could be invoicing.

Now, I will confess that being a SocMed person is tricky… because a lot of people say they know about SocMed… There is a huge difference between using Social for personal use, and then really knowing what each platform requires you to do and how it works…

No matter what it is not enough for them to know how to post… they need to know how the algorithm works… if we talk about IG they should really understand the # not simply using random # stories should have a strategy…

Now for example on linkedin they should know what the # strategy there, how to increase your engagement by commenting on other people's articles and posts… Pinterest is another beast… what type of Pin ideas you should post, on which boards they should share the content, what’s catchy what’s not…

Your social media expert should know all these things… because what you dont want is to hire someone that simply posts but they know nothing about the basics of each platform.

Also your social media person should know what type of copy should work on each platform… which brings me to...

# 5 the Copywriter if your VA and social media are not very good at copywriting then I suggest you get someone to help you.

To me this is one of the trickiest jobs to do because it's not easy to write like your business or like you…

What I’ve learned over the years is that your copywriter needs to understand who you’re as a person, you need to have regular meetings with them at the beginning for them to understand your point of view…

It's so easy to write, but it's not easy to communicate what you want, because you’re the expert of your business…

And when you hire a copywriter it's so important where they have worked before, what type of businesses… because they could be too technical for your audience…

They need to understand very well what your business messaging is and what your brand message…

I always say, a good copywriter is the one that gives feedback but also has the ability to quickly adapt what the brand needs.

They are the voice of your business, and you should have a hand always in what goes out…

Even if they write all the content in the world, that content needs to have your personal touch, your expertise and know;how….

I know of so many businesses that hire copywriters and let them dictate what their business message is… because they don't have time to check their work…

If you’re going to hire a social media person to write or a copywriter to write about your business, your hand needs to be there, or better yet… your brain and know how it needs to be reflected.

Which takes me to #6 OBM Online business manager or Project Manager this is what some would say that it's a fancier word for a VA…. when in fact they actually are ranked up…

Your OBM or PM… is a person that plans, organizes your team, delegates and manages them on your behalf…

They are responsible that your projects are done on time…. Maybe right now you may not need one, but the moment you begin to grow in your business, having an OBM or a PM can alleviate the workload…

They have more responsibilities but also they are able to manage with certain clients as well…

In the guide you’ll see how I present to you the job post in a fun and different way, because you want to be sure they understand what you want from them and they feel identified with this job!

And the last one, which I many of you may not know about this job position is of # 7 the integrator - so let me explain this job position a little bit this job position. .

The integrator is the person that makes your dream come to life… so in the online world on in business where you provide services there are usually 2 main characters

In the old days people would call them general manager and operations manager…

Today in the online world these 2 people have their respective titles however you want to call them but their functions can vary…

Usually the business owner is the visionary because they know where their business wants to go… they have the vision of the business, you can call them maybe the dreamers of the business, the cretatives… and when you’re a creative person or the visionary it's hard to be the integrator… because their natural nature is to be visionaries…

The integrator what it does is that they organize and put in place the structure of the business for the visionary… they manage, delegate, create the strategy of what needs to happen, set the deadlines and it really hands on with the day to day business…

You can say they have the pulse of the business…. They could be more “operational” but some operational managers sometimes are too involved in little tasks within the business that they lose what an integrator can be… some operational people can be project managers… and not have the ability to foresee other aspects of the business because they are too buried in tasks that they shouldn't…

What I like about the position of the integrator is that this position could be a business partner that you already have…

I swear if I had to do it all over again, I would have started my business with my integrator and me… and I would have added people that would do the tasks we could not do…

To me the integrator of a business is as important as the visionary… and you can hire them…

I guess you could hire them through upwork but I suggest trying a headhunter agency…. I feel this position needs to live and breathe the business as much as you…

Well my dear, don't forget to download your guide right here below in the description, or through the website where it says freebie library. In this guide you’ll find the position job post for you to use as templates and make them your own for what you need in your business.