Shownotes
In today's episode of the Freedom Entrepreneur podcast, host Lindsay Sutherland discusses unique strategies for building a team in your online business. As an experienced online entrepreneur, Lindsay emphasizes the importance of knowing when and how to bring on team members. She introduces her newest team member, Elysa Austin, who brings a wealth of expertise in virtual assistance and freelancing. Together, they delve into key considerations for solopreneurs looking to expand their operations, highlighting the significance of clear expectations and measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) for effective team management.
One essential aspect highlighted is the diverse array of options available for building a team. Lindsay and Elysa explore various methods, including trading services, bringing on interns, and implementing profit-sharing arrangements. They shed light on the pros and cons of each approach, encouraging online entrepreneurs to consider creative alternatives beyond traditional hourly payments. Moreover, they stress the significance of open communication and delineating boundaries, emphasizing that clear expectations are crucial for fostering successful working relationships.
The discussion also touches on common mistakes made by online entrepreneurs when building a team. Lindsay emphasizes the need to strike a balance between patience and decisiveness, knowing when to set boundaries and make tough decisions. She encourages entrepreneurs not to let early setbacks discourage them from seeking out valuable team members who can ultimately contribute to the growth and success of their online businesses. Overall, this episode provides invaluable insights for online entrepreneurs seeking to scale their operations through strategic team-building approaches.
Connect with us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lindsay_sutherland24
Download your free PDF 5 ways to earn $5K with Passive Income by texting PIE to 33777
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Transcripts
Welcome to the Freedom Entrepreneur podcast.
Speaker:I'm your host, Lindsay Sutherland.
Speaker:I'm excited to have you here today.
Speaker:Content creators looking to build a business.
Speaker:We have an interesting topic for you today, and that is one that I see a
Speaker:lot of people struggle with, whether they're working for themselves from home,
Speaker:building a brand, or They've already got a business cooking and they need to grow.
Speaker:And that is when to hire people, when to bring on team.
Speaker:And I want to start by introducing my newest team member, Elysa Austin.
Speaker:Welcome to the show.
Speaker:Thank you for having me.
Speaker:Definitely.
Speaker:And I'm excited to have you be a regular part of the show, because one of the
Speaker:things that we've kind of gone back and forth on as we started talking.
Speaker:Um, we're like, Oh man, that'd be such a great podcast episodes.
Speaker:You guys are going to get a treat listening to the two of
Speaker:us go on and on about different things, but relevant things.
Speaker:So, excited to have her here now and on future episodes.
Speaker:But, um, essentially, you know, I was thinking right before we got on
Speaker:the podcast, Elysa, you know, it'd be a good time to talk about how to
Speaker:expand team, especially because it's a really poignant moment also to bring
Speaker:you on the show and to talk about.
Speaker:Our relationship, um, and how this kind of evolved, uh, but we've known each other
Speaker:just so you guys know, listening in, we listen, I've known each other for about 10
Speaker:years, we've been, we've been friends, but actually we, you started out working for
Speaker:me, you were my nanny and then just became part of the family and we've stayed in
Speaker:touch very closely over the last decade.
Speaker:My kids are very close to Elysa as well.
Speaker:Um, she's more like an aunt, I think at this point.
Speaker:Um, but I, you know, it was recently that I was really starting to expand
Speaker:my brand and build out an agency where I knew I needed to have team.
Speaker:I was in my own space, making lists of people that I needed and wondering, you
Speaker:know, what was the right next step for me?
Speaker:And as it turned out, Elysa was also on her own path, uh, with a virtual
Speaker:assistant freelancing type of a business.
Speaker:And the two just came together so perfectly.
Speaker:It was so divine timing.
Speaker:It just was like, couldn't have asked for a better, better situation.
Speaker:Um, and that's when we really started getting this rocking and rolling.
Speaker:I mean, that was what.
Speaker:40 days ago, 50 days ago.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Something like that.
Speaker:And so much has happened since then.
Speaker:I mean, look how much we've gotten done in just that short amount of time with
Speaker:our, with our new partnership, I suppose you could say like our connection.
Speaker:It's been amazing.
Speaker:So today I just want to talk about, this is something that I know a lot
Speaker:of business owners struggle with and I want to break it down for those of you
Speaker:who are really solopreneurs right now.
Speaker:You know, you're wearing all the hats, you're doing all
Speaker:the things in your business.
Speaker:And today we're going to talk about not just some ideas for you
Speaker:on how you can get team, but also some of the mistakes people make.
Speaker:We're going to have an open discussion period.
Speaker:So stick around to the end so that you make sure not to make some of the mistakes
Speaker:that we've seen and made ourselves.
Speaker:So Elysa.
Speaker:What, what are some key things that people can do just in general?
Speaker:Let's just bullet point some, uh, in general to bring team on?
Speaker:First I would say be clear on what you.
Speaker:absolutely need for your business to run, um, get clear on what you do, because
Speaker:that's going to come into play when you do your pricing, and what you're looking
Speaker:for say, You are editing a podcast and it's taking you a lot of time and you just
Speaker:want, you don't want to do that anymore.
Speaker:Um, but it's still making you money.
Speaker:Someone's paying you to do that.
Speaker:What you would do is evaluate your pricing and make sure to sell it at a
Speaker:price and have somebody already in mind.
Speaker:Have someone you already know who can take on that project and know
Speaker:their price because then you're just adding to what you're doing.
Speaker:Yeah, I mean, that was a lot of information, but like, I think what you're
Speaker:saying is to just start by making a list of what you want to outsource sometimes
Speaker:that's outsourcing things that we are not naturally good at or don't love to do.
Speaker:Sometimes it's outsourcing because literally we don't have the time to do it.
Speaker:We might really enjoy it, but it's just not something we can actually do.
Speaker:It's not earning us an income.
Speaker:It's taking up our time.
Speaker:And also what, who do you know that could be put in that role?
Speaker:Or if you don't know somebody, you can leave it blank, but just
Speaker:having a general understanding of, Where you want to grow your team.
Speaker:And that actually is exactly what I had done before I talked to you.
Speaker:I knew the people I needed on my team.
Speaker:I just didn't even know yet how I was going to put them all together.
Speaker:And that's kind of where I got stuck is I needed to grow my team really quickly.
Speaker:And I needed like another person to interview and to meet
Speaker:people and to connect with them.
Speaker:And that's where you came in because that's already something you enjoy doing.
Speaker:Um, but now for people listening to this that are like, okay.
Speaker:Should I hire a general VA to maybe check my inbox or manage my DMS versus, you
Speaker:know, selling, because this is something I know I've gone back and forth on.
Speaker:I would say for the most part to focus on income producing activities at first.
Speaker:So this let's talk about how to do that.
Speaker:So if you're a coach, Or you're a, you've got a membership community.
Speaker:Your best bet is to either a focus on somebody who can like
Speaker:drive traffic to your funnel.
Speaker:If you have one, if you don't, we should talk.
Speaker:Cause that's what we do.
Speaker:We build funnels for people.
Speaker:And, um, if you do great, get them on there, get them, you know,
Speaker:being in charge, like put them, give them a sense of ownership.
Speaker:And I got to say, like, to me, this is the hardest part is finding
Speaker:that person who's going to take it.
Speaker:To that level that you would take it to and having, and that's where Elysa, what
Speaker:you were saying was so valid because, you know, having clear expectations
Speaker:of what you need, what you're wanting done and having a clear system of how
Speaker:you're going to measure their results.
Speaker:I have to say, like, I totally made that mistake early on because.
Speaker:I was like, Oh, well, they're freelancers.
Speaker:These are people who do this for a living.
Speaker:Obviously, they're going to be responsible, but
Speaker:that isn't always the case.
Speaker:And then you're left being really bummed because it didn't work out.
Speaker:So I think having those really clear expectations and communicating
Speaker:them, communicating them clearly from the beginning is so, so
Speaker:valid, which you're really good at.
Speaker:You're really good at laying that out.
Speaker:So maybe, maybe you could chime in about.
Speaker:Some of the things that since we've been building this team, um, what have
Speaker:you done to help make communication easier and to make it more clear
Speaker:on what our expectations are?
Speaker:Um, so I break everything down into, I start broad and break
Speaker:everything down into narrow.
Speaker:And I personally like doing categorizing everything and organizing.
Speaker:That's my specialty background stuff.
Speaker:Um, but also analytics.
Speaker:And so everything has to have a K P I set up.
Speaker:I want to make it measurable, no matter what the task is.
Speaker:So before I give out a task, so if I give out sales or lead generation, I
Speaker:would already have my KPIs, what I want to measure, how many people they're
Speaker:bringing in, what the ROI is, what, um, how many people that they may contact
Speaker:with, things that I want to look at.
Speaker:And I already have it in line so that I can say, okay, our goal
Speaker:is to contact a hundred people.
Speaker:And I want to see how many conversions you get that way.
Speaker:I get like a solid base of where I might estimate how much time it takes for
Speaker:those a hundred contacts and then expand.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:We made a hundred contacts in two hours.
Speaker:Let's try 200 and give us a four hour block, like something like that.
Speaker:So I can expand, but essentially focus on already having that KPI laid out.
Speaker:Already having everything written out so that that person
Speaker:knows exactly what I expect.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:And so for anybody who doesn't know KPI is a key performance indicator,
Speaker:which as a business owner, you get to decide if you want the KPI to be the
Speaker:quantity, you're going to outreach to a hundred people, whether that
Speaker:takes you an hour or three hours.
Speaker:What's actually really clever about that idea is that you can
Speaker:also pay based on a project.
Speaker:And guys, this is something I want to tell you because.
Speaker:Some people don't realize this, especially if we've been in a W 2 world for a
Speaker:while, we think in terms of hourly.
Speaker:Oh, well, that person worked for 10 hours.
Speaker:I should pay them 10 an hour or 15 or whatever.
Speaker:But that isn't always the case, and it is an angle for you to negotiate.
Speaker:So, what you can actually do then is say, Hey, I'd like to experiment.
Speaker:I'm trying to grow my business.
Speaker:I'm looking for somebody who can do outreach.
Speaker:Here's what I'm looking for.
Speaker:Would you be willing to do, uh, reach out to a hundred people
Speaker:for, you know, 3 per outreach?
Speaker:And That's, you know, 300 or you do a dollar in outreach.
Speaker:You can you could put it on that level because you could even say to
Speaker:somebody like some people will reach out to people and it'll take them,
Speaker:you know, one hour to reach 25 people, somebody else, it might take them one
Speaker:hour to reach 50 people, because some People put a lot of thought into it.
Speaker:And then there's another level.
Speaker:You need to be clear about what you're expecting.
Speaker:Like recently, I was doing outreach for a client on LinkedIn, and I noticed when
Speaker:I did a search phrase that I thought was a really legitimate search phrase,
Speaker:I was getting a lot of people who were employees and not business owners.
Speaker:And after I reached out to about 50 of them, I thought, Oh, okay, I need to it.
Speaker:Be more targeted with this.
Speaker:And so having some background and what you want and then being clear about
Speaker:that communication, giving the person permission to come back to you and say,
Speaker:Hey, this is what's happening, giving you feedback and inviting that feedback and
Speaker:making decisions based on that, you know, like having this relationship with them.
Speaker:But yeah, I guess just to say, you don't have to just pay hourly for everything.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I would also add that.
Speaker:A lot of people don't like when I work with other people for outreach
Speaker:or whatever, one of the biggest things is they like that I'm prepared.
Speaker:Like it did take me time to prepare what I want, but as a business
Speaker:owner, you should, you should take the time to know what you want.
Speaker:Um, To teach them because they don't want to make mistakes
Speaker:in someone else's business.
Speaker:It does hold people back, but being open like relationship wise and
Speaker:letting people know that you are totally open to what their expertise
Speaker:are and fostering that relationship.
Speaker:Growing it is makes it so much easier and they're willing to put
Speaker:more effort in for you as well.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:That's really good perspective.
Speaker:Like from the freelancers perspective, going through, I see that a lot
Speaker:with people where they ask a lot of questions and I'm like, as a
Speaker:business owner, I'm just thinking like, well, don't you already know,
Speaker:or isn't this your zone of genius?
Speaker:Or I don't know what information I need to give you.
Speaker:Is there something I'm missing?
Speaker:And then they're like really shy about asking me for, I don't know what
Speaker:reason, but I mean, that's good to know.
Speaker:And so I think opening up that line of communication, not just from
Speaker:the expectation, but to say also.
Speaker:Please talk to me if you have questions or if something doesn't feel right, or
Speaker:you think there's a better way to go.
Speaker:I'm open to that dialogue like that's really important.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So when it comes to finding these people, and, you know, we talked about paying
Speaker:on a project basis versus paying hourly.
Speaker:There's another couple of things that I've seen people do to Some effect.
Speaker:And Elysa, I think we should do some pros and cons on these.
Speaker:So like, for example, trading, I see this a lot in Facebook where it's
Speaker:like, Hey, trade threads where, what can you offer and what do you need?
Speaker:And so somebody, in fact, I met one of my very best friends doing this.
Speaker:I did a mapping session for her a couple of years ago, and it
Speaker:has led to so much business.
Speaker:And a friendship because she was so wowed by what I did that she's referred
Speaker:me so many people since and vice versa.
Speaker:She helped me get clear what her expertise was, was a business,
Speaker:um, organizer, I guess in a way.
Speaker:And so she helped me get really clear about my systems and my
Speaker:processes and writing them out.
Speaker:And so we, and I did marketing and it was a great, it was a great trade.
Speaker:So what do you, what have you, have you ever done a trade
Speaker:with somebody on that level?
Speaker:Uh, yeah, so I, what I trade personally is I'm more of a manager type organization,
Speaker:processes, systems, analytics, um, and what I really need help on.
Speaker:Is like graphics and content.
Speaker:I'm not all that there with, with those things.
Speaker:Cause they're just not the way I think.
Speaker:Um, so I've done trades where someone's helped me do like logos or content
Speaker:and I've just looked over their things and done audits or whatever
Speaker:I needed to do for their systems.
Speaker:And I like it.
Speaker:Um, the only con is sometimes it feels like a lot of work.
Speaker:It takes your time.
Speaker:Um, and you're not getting directly paid.
Speaker:You're getting in directly.
Speaker:So sometimes it doesn't feel as, uh, I don't know the word for it is motivating.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I hear you.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:I think that there's, there is, it's a good way to get started.
Speaker:I definitely think that.
Speaker:And I would also say.
Speaker:Both of you should expect a testimonial from each other on that note.
Speaker:I think if you get that as a final a, it completes the job.
Speaker:Like, you know, the job ended and you're going to provide a testimonial feedback.
Speaker:I think that is very valuable.
Speaker:Um, so trading is 1.
Speaker:Definite way to do that.
Speaker:And trades can happen as like a one off, like you were saying,
Speaker:or they could be more ongoing.
Speaker:Like I've got one lady who's a bookkeeper.
Speaker:I do her marketing and her website design, and she keeps my
Speaker:books up on a quarterly basis.
Speaker:And so it works out really good because we both need this ongoing help and
Speaker:we get to be there for each other.
Speaker:So we don't have to keep trying somebody new.
Speaker:So there is some pros and cons depending on how you set it up.
Speaker:What about an intern?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I hear people say this all the time, like get an intern and I can tell
Speaker:you right now why I've hesitated.
Speaker:There's one fundamental reason is because I think to myself, like, I don't
Speaker:have the patience to train somebody from zero and that's my own flaw.
Speaker:That doesn't mean that it shouldn't be true for everybody,
Speaker:because one of my clients uses an intern for his video graphic.
Speaker:Uh, video editing for his podcast and his socials and it works out really well.
Speaker:However, he was telling me that he has to switch like once the intern
Speaker:kind of moves past intern phase into business phase and they're ready to
Speaker:either get a job or start a business, he has to start over with a new intern.
Speaker:So there is definitely some pros and cons there because you're getting free labor.
Speaker:You have to spend a lot of your time to train them on what you want and allowing
Speaker:them to use it as a portfolio too.
Speaker:I would expect.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So I don't know.
Speaker:I, I, I've never personally felt like that was the right move for me.
Speaker:I like to bring people in that I feel like I can build a
Speaker:relationship with longer term.
Speaker:I don't know if that's true.
Speaker:Yeah, I think that would be a pro would be like, Okay.
Speaker:Inexpensive trade off where a con would be that it's not fostering
Speaker:that long term relationship.
Speaker:However, if they're ready to start, they might be willing
Speaker:to give you a deal or priority.
Speaker:Um, and it does build up maybe later on and networking once they get.
Speaker:Big enough to like really take on projects.
Speaker:Um, I would say though, once you have training already outlined, it wouldn't
Speaker:be a big deal to keep having people come in, especially if it's something that
Speaker:you've had down to a tee, got to work out the kinks with your first intern.
Speaker:I don't think it would be as troubling to bring in a new one.
Speaker:But see, that's because you think so process oriented.
Speaker:I really like what you just said.
Speaker:Can you give the audience like a quick example of one thing they could do
Speaker:to make that training more seamless?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So when you're going to do a training, you're going to go through all your steps.
Speaker:You want to make your step list or a guide or a loom video of you doing it.
Speaker:Something that they can watch again and again, if they need assistance for it.
Speaker:Um, I would have some kind of system either in a sauna notion, some kind of way
Speaker:to give a task that has to be completed.
Speaker:Um, because people, especially who are learning need to check off that
Speaker:they're doing everything in order and no amount of information is little.
Speaker:I used to be a teacher and I can tell you that with students, you would
Speaker:think something would be a logical jump, but there is never there is no
Speaker:such thing when someone is learning.
Speaker:For a logical jump because they're learning the logic.
Speaker:Uh, so outline everything.
Speaker:And what I would do is I would put it in a folder that says training, but
Speaker:it's whatever specific training that's marketing training and it's marketing
Speaker:training, that's podcast, editing, podcast, editing, make sub folders for
Speaker:each thing that they would have to, and that would be their own little folder.
Speaker:It'd be something to go through checklists that they have to reference.
Speaker:So they're not always going to you.
Speaker:And then.
Speaker:Whenever they send you a question, I'd have a place to brain dump and put that
Speaker:question for you to update training and just update it until it gets perfect.
Speaker:That's fantastic.
Speaker:And so explain so well.
Speaker:And so it's so true.
Speaker:I totally skipped over that stuff.
Speaker:And that's, and isn't that interesting though?
Speaker:Like just on a side note, how we sometimes will just.
Speaker:Assume something isn't going to work because we just know like,
Speaker:oh, I could never I don't want to spend all that time training.
Speaker:But like you said, it's not that big of a deal.
Speaker:You're going to need to do that anyway for an employee.
Speaker:I guess in my mind, I always thought that the training would time would
Speaker:be less if it was somebody who already had some foundation of.
Speaker:Basics like they already are a graphic designer to some extent.
Speaker:You just want to teach them how you want it done in your system and your flow
Speaker:versus graphic design from the beginning.
Speaker:I guess that was my thought on that, but I like your style.
Speaker:That was really good.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Couple other ones, um, that we, that I've done is profit sharing.
Speaker:So rather than just hiring somebody, like if you really need a lot of
Speaker:help in the beginning, you might.
Speaker:Want to profit share.
Speaker:You just set it up so that you have a certain percentage of your
Speaker:proceeds going to the other person, or you pay them per project, like.
Speaker:That's another thing we already talked about a little bit, but if
Speaker:you're looking at a lot of work, it's a little bit easier to control your
Speaker:expenses when you have a baseline.
Speaker:So you're not really putting yourself out because everything
Speaker:is measurable when defined by a percentage relative to your overall.
Speaker:In other words, if you only bring in.
Speaker:You know, an extra client this month.
Speaker:Well, then you're only gonna and so instead, let's use the
Speaker:example of outreach, right?
Speaker:So instead of saying, I'm going to pay you this much for 100 people outreach.
Speaker:How about I'm going to pay you this much for each new person
Speaker:who I get a booking with.
Speaker:So you might pay more for the booking.
Speaker:But it might take them, you know, 200 people to get one booking.
Speaker:And then after they get the hang of it, it takes them 50 to get that one booking.
Speaker:So there's an opportunity for them to like collapse their time and output.
Speaker:But you're only paying for the tangibles that are potentially lead generating
Speaker:or revenue generating for you.
Speaker:So that's another way to look at it too, is that, is that, um, project base or
Speaker:profit sharing type of a situation, which.
Speaker:Could be very similar.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So let's have a quick discussion because we're getting short on time
Speaker:here about some of the mistakes that we've seen people make.
Speaker:Well go I mean I just clearly explained one myself like skipping
Speaker:over a really valid opportunity.
Speaker:Just because I just assumed that it wasn't going to work for me, rather
Speaker:than asking myself how could it work.
Speaker:I was like, Oh no interns not going to be my jam right so you know
Speaker:being open minded I think is one.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:One idea, and that kind of also goes back to that whole hourly conversation.
Speaker:Like, we don't have to treat everybody as an hourly employee.
Speaker:We can have creativity and how we help get people on our team.
Speaker:I think that People who are so used to that nine and five forget that flexibility
Speaker:that's needed because the business grows, expands, and has to be adaptable
Speaker:because we're in a society and in a place where everything is constantly
Speaker:changing, especially with the amount of technology that we're constantly getting
Speaker:access to, um, and limiting oneself just because it's not what you're used to.
Speaker:I feel like my way to combat that is I read a lot.
Speaker:I'm constantly devouring information on different things, techniques, people's
Speaker:perspectives, um, that are just not from my background, specifically
Speaker:like that is something I actively do.
Speaker:Um, because everyone's made mistakes and if they're at least open to
Speaker:talking about their mistakes and you can learn without having to make
Speaker:that That's actually one of the benefits to having team in general.
Speaker:I think that's been a huge benefit to having you helping me is the way
Speaker:you think differently about things.
Speaker:Like, for example, when it came to outsourcing team for the agency,
Speaker:you really hit it home for me.
Speaker:You're like, Lindsay.
Speaker:It's got to be project based, not hourly.
Speaker:And I was really stuck in that hourly mindset.
Speaker:Like, Oh, well, people are used to getting it.
Speaker:And if you talk to VAs, you'll get a strong majority of them
Speaker:that want you to pay hourly.
Speaker:They will, Oh, we want you to pay 10 hours up front.
Speaker:I really don't like that method.
Speaker:It's been one of the things that deterred me from hiring virtual
Speaker:assistants is because I think, okay, well, it's going to take you
Speaker:5 hours to set up a Facebook group.
Speaker:I know I can do it in 30 minutes.
Speaker:I don't think I should pay you 50 for that.
Speaker:However, if my mindset was.
Speaker:I charge you 50 to set up a Facebook group.
Speaker:I would say, okay, like, I don't know why that matters, but then you brought up a
Speaker:really valid point, which was like the benefit though, is there for the virtual
Speaker:assistant or the freelancer, because.
Speaker:For those of them that are gifted and really doing their zone of genius,
Speaker:they can get it done a lot faster.
Speaker:And maybe for things that are new to them, they're going to take longer, but
Speaker:they want to learn that skill and the business owner shouldn't pay for that.
Speaker:So it's, it was really insightful and it changed my whole paradigm about.
Speaker:That mindset and in essence, it was really good.
Speaker:So I think like you said, having that thought of like thinking of
Speaker:people that you can bring into your wheel space, who think differently
Speaker:to offer a different component to your business is really important and
Speaker:not doing that is costing you money.
Speaker:That's the mistake people make.
Speaker:Another one that I've seen too is, Giving too many chances.
Speaker:Like this goes back to my management days.
Speaker:I.
Speaker:Would say I was probably one of the most forgiving people.
Speaker:Of course I worked in the car business.
Speaker:It's not a very forgiving industry anyway, but I really believed in people and I
Speaker:really wanted to see people succeed.
Speaker:But then there just comes a time when you want it more for that person
Speaker:than they want it for themselves and knowing when that boundary lies and
Speaker:when to set that like line in the sand, I think that just says like, okay.
Speaker:I'm willing to give you a chance, but now you're crossing the line and doing
Speaker:it obviously delicately, but clearly I think is really important because.
Speaker:You know what happens when you let it go and you let it go, it's
Speaker:just, it's just like festers.
Speaker:It turns into resentment and irritation and it can spoil your joy.
Speaker:It does.
Speaker:It takes the joy.
Speaker:One of my favorite things about having a team is the
Speaker:relationship I have with my team.
Speaker:It's more than just the work and getting it done.
Speaker:Like I, I want to work with people I enjoy.
Speaker:And so I think if I'm feeling.
Speaker:Jaded because I feel like someone's taking advantage of me, or I, I'm not
Speaker:getting what I think I was expecting.
Speaker:Either my expectations were off, or I didn't clearly communicate
Speaker:them like it's definitely about me.
Speaker:And I can fix it.
Speaker:So, I think that's the thing that I would say is.
Speaker:Understanding that line in the sands and then acting on it.
Speaker:And also I would say those who are hesitant or this is really hard for
Speaker:them because, you know, being a people pleaser like that is something that
Speaker:I struggle with is that firm no.
Speaker:I would say I have more authority now that I'm able to place a
Speaker:boundary and you, you don't owe or.
Speaker:They, no one should be entitled to your help or information, no matter
Speaker:how much you want them to succeed.
Speaker:And it's the hardest thing the first couple of times you put that boundary,
Speaker:but once you continue to do it, it really.
Speaker:It just makes you feel more confident and more like this is the healthy part.
Speaker:It's a business transaction.
Speaker:Business wise, you are in a business.
Speaker:Now, you can take on the role of friend or family, but the problem is a
Speaker:business transaction is transactional, where a friendship or family is a
Speaker:relationship that needs to be built.
Speaker:And at the end of the day, you have to figure out which one it is for you.
Speaker:Well, and I think there's a fine line.
Speaker:This is another thing that I see.
Speaker:I is where, um, people get to a point where That line gets crossed and then
Speaker:they want to quit or give up on the idea of having people that you know
Speaker:Like you you get jaded that one time and then you're like, well, it was a bad
Speaker:experience I don't want to do it again.
Speaker:And so then you get stuck back in that rut of doing it all for yourself But it
Speaker:is hard to let go, especially for somebody who's a solopreneur who maybe is working
Speaker:in like a really condensed timeframe.
Speaker:So sometimes it'll take me one hour to do this thing or it'll take me one hour
Speaker:to teach somebody else to do this thing.
Speaker:I'll just do this thing myself.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:But really, it's not about the one hour.
Speaker:It's about the future hours that it's going to save you by
Speaker:having the other person to do it.
Speaker:So letting go of some of that control.
Speaker:However, when it doesn't get done the way you want it, Having that expectation that
Speaker:it's going to get done the way you want it done that first time, that is so hard.
Speaker:I think, to be honest, and especially for content creators, because a lot
Speaker:of times our business is our brand.
Speaker:It is us.
Speaker:And so when people on our team are not, um, you know, giving us the
Speaker:The results that we were expecting because it's how we've been doing it.
Speaker:I mean, it's, it's easy to want to throw in the towel and
Speaker:say, Oh, no, it's just faster.
Speaker:If I do it, it gets done, right?
Speaker:I don't have to deal with this trial and error.
Speaker:I don't have to check up on their work.
Speaker:It's a whole new level of dynamics.
Speaker:Like you think you're offloading a certain amount of time, but then you really.
Speaker:Are not yet.
Speaker:And that's a whole nother like level, but don't quit.
Speaker:That's my biggest.
Speaker:I think my biggest takeaway is like, don't just give up on the
Speaker:idea of having a team member.
Speaker:I think having a start learning to ride a bike.
Speaker:Did you give up the first time you fell?
Speaker:I know I felt quite a few times before I could ride.
Speaker:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker:And just getting back on and, and, you know, getting more clear, just
Speaker:getting more clear in your expectations and, and growing into that role.
Speaker:I, I think one big takeaway that will save everyone is no one's going to
Speaker:love your business more than you.
Speaker:I know that we kind of touched on that, but It's so true.
Speaker:It's nobody.
Speaker:It is up to you.
Speaker:Like you are going to lose people.
Speaker:There's going to be turnover.
Speaker:There's going to be people coming on board.
Speaker:Once you start growing a team and getting that work, that's just
Speaker:part of what the business is.
Speaker:And you will not find a single person who's going to be as
Speaker:passionate or as knowing of your business and brand than you.
Speaker:And you might get lucky and find a couple people who are passionate, but
Speaker:evaluate your expectation on that.
Speaker:And that will just change when you realize that it is you who, who's
Speaker:going to have the most passion.
Speaker:It, it makes you not as harsh on people who are working for you, which makes them
Speaker:feel appreciated and more willing to try.
Speaker:I guess it's just kind of a domino effect.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you know what else that I'd like to do that I think is important
Speaker:is have a mission statement.
Speaker:You know, we have a vision for our business and we know
Speaker:where we're headed in our head.
Speaker:But if we're not communicating that to the people that we're bringing on board, it
Speaker:can be a little bit disjointed and people may not really understand the vision.
Speaker:But I think having your vision written out, having a clear
Speaker:mission statement of who you serve and how you're helping people.
Speaker:And so they know that they're part of something bigger than just,
Speaker:Oh, I'm just creating content or I'm just a podcast editor.
Speaker:No, you're on a, you're a part of the mission.
Speaker:You're here to help.
Speaker:Take my message and reach the world like this can't happen without you and
Speaker:when they feel like they're a part of something, then they're more willing to
Speaker:a want to get it right and be want to be a part of it for the long term, which I
Speaker:think is the hardest part is the turnover, you know, dealing with the turnover.
Speaker:So lots of good things here to really think about.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:And then one thing too, is with your mission statement, as
Speaker:well as avatars, avatars will change throughout your business.
Speaker:But your mission statement should be something that is crucial.
Speaker:Um, it doesn't change, but things that do change, like I would have a clear list.
Speaker:What isn't going to change about your business, your core values, your
Speaker:mission statement, what makes you, you versus things like your avatar, your
Speaker:offers, your products, those things might change depending on demand.
Speaker:Um, having a clear distinction.
Speaker:That's so good.
Speaker:That's funny.
Speaker:I was just talking to another podcaster this morning and we're
Speaker:having this similar discussion.
Speaker:She said, you know, I've just over the years, I've let my
Speaker:brand evolve as I've evolved.
Speaker:Like when I have a self growth.
Speaker:Leap it affected my brand.
Speaker:And she's like, I'm at a point now where I want to treat my brand as
Speaker:the entity that it is rather than an extension of me, it's a business I
Speaker:need to be able to grow and evolve.
Speaker:And my brand doesn't have to grow and evolve just because I did.
Speaker:She's like, I was looking at Brenda Burchard and Jenna Kutcher and all
Speaker:these big names, and she's like, their business is their business.
Speaker:Who they are is who they are.
Speaker:Like they're separate in a way.
Speaker:And I think that's a really dynamic takeaway.
Speaker:I think it's a good, a really good point to leave like bullet point to end on,
Speaker:because it ties right into what we're saying, every trickle effect down, like
Speaker:to hire team, your team member is helping you execute your thing, but they are not.
Speaker:Your brand.
Speaker:Your brand is your brand.
Speaker:It stands alone.
Speaker:Like that is so awesome.
Speaker:And having those in place would really, it just helps it have
Speaker:them in place, regardless if you're going to hire someone.
Speaker:And once you do those things in place, having those systems, the
Speaker:mission statement, everything just makes training that much easier.
Speaker:So, so true.
Speaker:All right, guys.
Speaker:Well, if you were looking for help in your digital marketing, whether
Speaker:that's podcast editing, social media management, blogging, etc.
Speaker:Our company, Cheerfully Digital, is here to serve you, uh, content creators who are
Speaker:looking to make money with your content.
Speaker:And this can go into a lot of different ways, but it starts with a strategy
Speaker:session, which by the way, right now you can get one for free, where we
Speaker:can talk about your brand, talk about your vision, where you want to go,
Speaker:and how you can convert your content.
Speaker:Into a moneymaking machine.
Speaker:You can connect with me at Lindsay Sutherland.
Speaker:com.
Speaker:Um, you can book the appointment right there and we will do a
Speaker:business breakthrough strategy session for you at no charge.
Speaker:And then we can discuss what it would look like to work together.
Speaker:If you want to help, if you would like help facilitating, um, actually
Speaker:executing on those strategies.
