It doesn’t matter who I hire to do X, they never do it the way I want!

or

I’ve tried to get my VA to do X right, but she never does as good a job as I do.

When it comes to delegation, one of the big challenges is being able to let go… this is a toughie for many business owners, myself included.

So when I hear this kind of frustration coming from a business owner it occurs to me that maybe they are holding on too tightly to certain elements of their business.

That’s not too say that there could be some other issues at hand - are there good systems in place? Does your team have clear instructions and deadlines? You want to ensure those are in place in your biz.

But if this is an ongoing frustration regardless of the above then it may be time to dig a bit deeper as the business owner and ask yourself - am I being too picky here?

My business partner Andrea Lee talks about the quarter million dollar speedbump - it is pretty common for solopreneur based businesses to stall or get stuck somewhere around the $250K mark. Part of what needs to happen to get over this speedbump is to get yourself out of the ‘thick of things’ - get your team in place (if you haven’t already) and delegate everything that doesn’t *require* you as the business owner to take care of it (so you can be free to focus on leadership and growth.)

In order for your business to grow, you have to get out of the way!

This type of relentless delegation process can be tough for some business owners - you may not feel ready to delegate certain things in your business or might not be clear on how to do so. It also means letting go and allowing your team to do things their way - which may not be exactly how you would do it!

The key thing to keep in mind is the end result. Different people might take different routes to get there - but so long as the end result is achieved all is well.

Loved this analogy that my colleague Carrie shared the other day. It’s like hiring a maid service to clean your house… they might not clean in exactly the way that you would do it, but so long as your house is clean and comfortable, is it that big of a deal? (And really, do you want to take over the cleaning again just because they aren’t doing it “right”? No thanks!

An example I know hits home for me is when I review email responses that our team has sent on behalf of the biz. In some cases i’ll read their response and think “I totally wouldn’t have done it this way, they should have said A, B, C instead!”. Yet the key thing is, did the email do it’s job? Was the recipient of the email happy and satisfied? In most cases the answer is yes, and i’ve learned over the years to just let it go vs. trying to ‘fix’ the way every single email is written just because I would have done it differently (draining for both me and my team!).

So if you are feeling frustrated ask yourself - is this something that truly needs to be fixed or am I just being too picky?

Again, the answer lies in the result. If the result was achieved then leave it be. If not then yes, jump in and tweak/adjust for next time.

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(on the beach pic just down the street from Andrea & Mike’s house)

Anyhow, I had a bit of a ‘duh!’ moment while on vacation…

On Wednesday morning we were driving in two separate cars to Nanaimo about an hour away - I was in one car alone and Andrea & Cindy were in the other car. I was ahead of them and knew we had a turn off coming up to take the exit to the highway. I saw the exit ahead and right at that moment my cell phone rings (my cell phone is my business #)… I answer thinking it is Andrea or Cindy confirming this is the exit to take.

It wasn’t Andrea or Cindy… rather it was a man who I believe was calling to inquire about coaching services. The fact that it wasn’t who I thought it was totally threw me off, and in between trying to take the right exit on the highway I was confused and essentially came across quite rude on the phone. One of those moments where i’m not quite sure what I said (something like ‘what are you calling for, i can’t talk right now, i’m on the road, etc) - i’m sure I sounded like a jerk to put it mildly! Needless to say the gentleman ended up hanging up on me, and can’t say that I blame him one bit. Nor was I able to get his name or phone # to call him back and apologize.

Lesson learned - don’t answer my business phone unless I am able to have a professional conversation at that time!

We had a good chuckle about it later, because that is really quite unlike me to be so rude on the phone and the timing of the call was spot on (a minute before or after and I would have either been able to have a proper conversation or let it go to voicemail and been able to call back.)

But I can’t help but recognize as well that this was a potential client who was interested enough to call me and now will probably have no respect for me or my business. Not a good thing.

Lesson learned indeed! And to the gentleman who called me, if you do happen upon this post please accept my apology.

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So what do you do with that list once you have it?

The key thing to remember is that the value of your list is not based on numbers but on relationship.

You need to stay in touch with your list on a regular basis in order to build a strong relationship. 

Why is relationship so important? People buy from those they know, like and trust - and in the online world one of the best ways to build this relationship is simply by staying in touch.

If you don’t keep in touch with your list then it is basically just a group of people who don’t know who you are, and who won’t care when you do finally reach out with a promotion or new product.

As I like to say - I would much rather have a targetted list of 1,000 people who I have a strong relationship with, than a list of 10,000 people who don’t know me at all. Guaranteed I will make more sales with the first list than the second.

Some ideas for keeping in touch:

• Send out an ezine/newsletter on a regular basis - this may seem obvious, but many business owners struggle with this. An ezine doesn’t need to be a big production - keep it short and simple, and hire a VA to help you if need be.
• Do a free teleclass - invite everyone on your list to join you for a free teleclass on a hot topic of interest for your market. Even if you aren’t promoting anything right now, you can still do a call for the purpose of building relationship.
• Setup a blog and post to it on a regular basis - make sure that you setup RSS feed and email notification options for people to subscribe to get new posts.
• Invite people to join you on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn - assuming that you are active on these (and other) social media sites, this is a really great way to share fun stuff, quick tips, ask questions and just have fun. (Here’s my Twitter page, follow me?)
• Do a podcast or online video - a great way to connect with people in a new way, especially if you want to breathe new life into an old list.
• Ask for their opinion - people love to share their own ideas, thoughts and make a contribution. Do a quick survey, or setup a ‘quick question’ email as part of your subscription process.

There are of course hundreds (thousands?) of ways you can keep in touch with people. Just remember to do it authentically - provide good value to folks and that will come back to you in the form of increased sales and long term clients.

Have other ideas for how to build the relationship with your list? Bring em on… comment here on the blog.

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She shared her Top 10 Systems Needed To Get More Done With Less Effort, and let me just say it was one heck of a call!

We were joking that most business owners find the idea of systems to be boring - some are downright afraid of systems and let’s face it, creating systems isn’t the sexiest thing in the world right? I beg to differ when you consider…

There are two types of businesses - those with systems in place and those without. Those with systems in place are able to take time off from their businesses, as they have clear tools, processes and a team in place to take care of things in their absence. Which means you - the business owner - can take time off from your business without the whole thing falling apart.

Could you take a month off from your business if you wanted to? If the answer is no, my guess is that you don’t have enough or the right systems in place. Systems = more time off, that’s pretty sexy in my books!

There is another equally important consideration that Beth shared, and that is the fact that putting systems in place can actually find money in your business.

An example is having a good billing system in place. It’s actually surprising to me how many businesses don’t have a billing system in place, one that makes sure everyone is billed properly and money is collected. Beth gave the example of one of her clients who, after putting a billing system in place, actually found over $100K in outstanding payments that were still owing to them. Yowza! I don’t care if your biz is big or small, that’s a good chunk of change.

This made me consider - we spend so much time working to find clients, build new business and bring new money in the door. But are you actually losing any of that money once it’s come in the door?

If you have a membership program, do you have a system in place to follow up with monthly payments and take care of any declines?

If you are a service provider, do you have a system in place to track your time/projects easily and invoice your clients each month? (I’ve actually had to ask contractors to bill me months after they’ve done work for me… yes, I want to pay you but you need to bill me first!)

Is there anywhere in your business where you might be leaking money?

Serious stuff, and could have a big impact on the ole bottom line. For more info on getting your systems setup check out Beth’s Outrageously Effective Systems and get instant access to the 3 systems every biz needs.

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When faced with lowering revenues or rising expenses it can be easy to think “oh, we have to cut back!” However I like to look at it another way - what can we, as a business, do to increase revenues quickly?

This is the topic of one of my favorite chapters from our book Money, Meaning and Beyond (co-written by moi and my biz partner Andrea Lee).

What is your fastest path to money?

This is an important question in any business - so much so that i’m including the whole chapter here for your reading pleasure. It’s a short little PDF, quick read I promise.

This question is just as important for the Online Business Manager to consider on behalf of their clients. Where is your client’s business struggling? Where is their business thriving? What can you do to perhaps shift a bit of focus/energy to the areas that are flowing right now (and maybe let go of some projects/etc that are really stuck).

As an OBM we do our client’s a disservice if we don’t consider their business from this angle as well. Our client’s look to us to be able to ‘think on behalf of their business’, and this is a prime example of that. It could be that they aren’t seeing the struggle in the same way that you are (and likewise may not be seeing the opportunities that naturally arise). Being involved in the day-to-day activities of the business gives us (as OBMs) a different perspective that the business owner may be seeing, so don’t be shy in sharing your insights!

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I’m not quite sure what it is… I just find myself getting tired of certain aspects of the ‘wide world of social media/marketing/networking’ (whatever you like to call it).

I’m tired of getting random invites to stuff that I don’t really care about.

I’m tired of feeling like I *should* be doing more with my social media efforts when it comes to business building activites…. but I don’t want to go overboard and become all promo-ey.

I remember signing up for my Facebook account a couple of years ago, at which time it was all about personal relationships - connecting with old high school friends and such. It was fun to catch up with folks, see what they were up to, etc. Simple stuff.

Then the buzz became all about ‘using social media to build your business’ and it became a very different landscape. Alongside my friends I was now starting to connect with business contacts/colleagues online (which I am picky about as per my facebook friending rule)… this brought a different feel to the whole thing. Having to think twice about what to post, what to share, etc.

If I post something about my business will it turn off my friends? (most of whom could care less about what I do). If I post personal stuff is that a ‘too much information’ scenario for my biz connections? (who probably don’t want to see pictures of my kids).

Gets confusing at times… hence my tiredness.

That being said, tomorrow I will probably get over it and tweet my head off, LOL.

You? Are you loving the social media or getting tired of it as well?

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This is so very very true! I’ve seen it time and again… business owners struggling and complaining that they aren’t getting what they want. When in reality, they haven’t defined the parameters of what they want in the first place.

One of my favorite questions when a coaching client tells me that they want a new website is to ask them:

“Great - what action do you want people to take when they visit your site?”

Seems like such an obvious question, and yet many times they have no clue what the answer is. And so we work together to figure that out first before they get anywhere near hiring a web designer to start on the site. Otherwise it can be REALLY easy to go down the road of spending loads of money to get something that isn’t going to serve their business.

And I can tell you from the perspective of someone who has worked as an online support professional for years now… it can be really frustrating to not get clear direction up front. Nine times out of ten the client will end up dissatisfied or even upset! So for all of us on the ‘providing services’ side of the coin - if you aren’t clear on what someone wants dig a bit deeper, insist that they get specific and if they can’t that suggests to me that they aren’t yet ready to hire you (or anyone) at this point.

Don’t assume that the business owner ‘knows what they want’ because they might not. Don’t assume that they want what ‘you have to offer’ as it may be way off track. And don’t be afraid to turn down business and suggest that they figure it out before you can start working with them - less headaches for all concerned and really, that is part of being a professional imo.

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A sure sign of being a geek is when finding a new system just makes you want to sing out loud in glee! I will admit that I am a geek, and have recently ’sung out loud’ about the (relatively) new membership management system Wishlist Member.

We’ve been using Wordpress to manage our membership sites for years now - basically just piecing together some stuff in the blog to make it work. Well Wishlist Member takes a regular Wordpress blogsite and turns it into a full fledged membership system. Tres cool!

What makes it so great? Let me share a few of my favorite things…

• As per any great membership system, it allows you to setup separate login accounts for each member vs. doing the ‘one login for all’. So you can give/remove access for people as they come and go in your membership. REALLY important.
• It connects to the 1ShoppingCart system - so people can automatically get access to your membership site when they join the membership vs. having to load them manually. And it will also remove access for people who fall behind on payments.
• You can email members direct from this system - which I love! It’s super quick and easy to send messages to members vs. sending through the cart (which can be slow at times).
• You can have more than one level of membership setup in the same Wordpress blog. So people will get access only to the stuff that applies to them, and not those areas that they aren’t a member of. This really opens up some pretty cool opps for expanding membership offerings!
• It’s really easy to add a nice ‘login’ box in the sidebar of the blog. Makes the site looks so professional and is of course easy for folks to know how to login to the site (which can be surprisingly hard to find on some sites.)

Want to see a sample of Wishlist Member in action? We recently implemented Wishlist for the Thomas Leonard Success Strategies program - click here to check it out. Unless you are a member you won’t be able to access the material of course, but you can see the overall flow/layout of this membership site.

There are many other cool features in this system beyond my favs, go to the Wishlist Member site to learn more.

Want to learn how to use Wishlist? Or get someone on your team up to speed?

 We are offering a brand new course for VAs and online support professionals on how to manage memberships using Wishlist Member. Be sure to check it out - early bird registration is in effect until May 29th ($100 savings).

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• someone on your team just doesn’t seem to listen and did ‘it’ wrong again
• you can’t get something to work and have spent hours trying to fix it to no avail
• your website is down right before a big promo
• you are having a misunderstanding with one of your clients

You know, the kind of day where you just want to scream, yell, perhaps chuck your computer out the window? This happens to all of us, it’s just a fact of life imho. My question to you is:

What do you do when you feel that way?

You know how volcanos always have a little bit of steam seeping out through the cracks? I don’t know the exact science behind this but I believe that the volcano is releasing a bit of steam to ease up on the pressure building up inside -  so as to prevent an eruption!

Same thing applies to us - we need to find ways to release a bit of steam now and again so we don’t errupt! (which can be damaging to us and our biz relationships).

I really do think it is necessary to vent now and again - in business and in life. Quite often just releasing a bit of ’steam’ will go a long way towards fixing the problem (and may even dissolve the problem altogether). The key is to do it in a constructive way. A few ideas:

• Have a venting buddy - I’m quite fortunate to have a few close biz colleagues that I can call up when i’m annoyed, frustrated, angry and just VENT! And I will actually say that, “i’m so annoyed by X, just want to vent… yadda yadda”.
• Use your anger ’energy’ in a constructive way -  do something physical like go for a run or clean the kitchen. Do something creative like write an article or paint a picture.
• Get out of your environment - I find that I will get frustrated and angry much easier when i’m super busy or just plain tired. Sometimes just taking a break can make a big difference, get out of the house, go for lunch with a friend and most importantly, leave your computer behind!
• Talk to the person direct - if you are having a challenge with another person, your best (only) way to fix it is to have a conversation. Don’t start the conversation when you are angry or frustrated, best to wait and let things diffuse a bit first if need be.
• Get help! - if it is a technical or ‘how-to’ problem find someone who can help. Just yesterday I was beating my head against the wall trying to figure out something wierd with a new ezine tempalte… and finally decided to ask a super smart colleague if he knew how to fix. He did, and if I had asked him sooner it would have saved me a good hour of time and frustration. 

What do you like to do to vent? Do tell.

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THE THINK BIG MANIFESTO:
Think You Can’t Change Your Life (and the World)?
Think Again.

Grab your copy here
And yes, there are some extra goodies for those who buy today.

Michael sent me an advance copy of the book and it is a gem of a read - short, sweet and VERY powerful stuff. It’s not your typical LOOOOOONG boring business book or overly rah-rah self help book - had enough of those to last a lifetime!

The Think Big Manifesto is about all of us coming together as a society… as individuals who want to create change. It’s about being involved in a movement… a revolution—- the Think Big Revolution.

We all want to do big things in the world. We all want to leave our mark.

Thinking big isn’t about accumulating possessions, gaining fame or influence. It is about building a life where we can do more together than we ever could alone.

And really, what is more important than that?

Here’s that link again, be there or be square: www.ThinkBigManifesto.com

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