Getting Help Sooner Rather Than Later – 5 Steps to Take When Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Getting Help Sooner Rather Than Later – 5 Steps to Take When Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Getting Help Sooner Rather than Later – 5 Steps to Take When Hiring a Virtual Assistant

One way to make progress in your business a lot sooner, is to outsource some of the tasks that other people can take off of your plate. When you focus on the things only you can do such as work with clients, run your programs, show up on video and expand your circle of influence, you will feel less stressed, more productive and can actually earn more money.   

But how do you get started when it comes to hiring a virtual assistant?

In today’s episode of The Wellness Business Podcast, you’ll discover…

  • The 5 steps you should take when hiring a virtual assistant that will set that working relationship up for success right from the start
  • A list of questions you can ask past references to get a feel, ahead of time, if this virtual assistant is a good fit for you
  • Our very best pro-tips that you should consider when hiring a virtual assistant whether they will be filling an ongoing support role or taking care of one-off tasks for you

Karen and I both use multiple virtual assistants in our businesses. If we didn’t, we would never be able to keep up with the daily and weekly tasks that are demanded by our businesses.

As an example, for this podcast alone we have a podcast editor, someone else that posts our weekly episodes to the podcast blog, and then we each have our own VA’s that post our weekly podcast episodes to our individual websites, as well as we each have our own social media managers that create our podcast graphics and schedule our posts accordingly. That’s six virtual assistants between the two of us just for the podcast.

To be transparent, in the beginning of our businesses we both waited way too long to get virtual support. Knowing how that negatively affected our businesses and health we felt it was important to give you these 5 pro tips so you can hire help sooner rather than later.

Here are 5 Steps to Take When Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Step #1 – Determine your business needs – While it would be great to outsource almost everything in your business there are some things that only you can do. The flip side is that there are certain tasks that should be outsourced because your time is better spent elsewhere.

To figure out where you should begin, start by making a list of day-to-day or one-off tasks that you would like support with. This will not only help you get clarity about where you want help, it will also help you decide if there is overlap between tasks so one person could handle more than one thing.

Step #2 – Set clear objectives – In order for you to establish a win-win relationship with your virtual assistant, you need to set clear objectives from the start. When we first began our journey in hiring a VA we tried to find someone that could do it all for us. The idea of having one person that knew the ins and outs of our businesses felt like a dream come true. But we quickly realized that not only is it unrealistic to expect one person to be an expert in all things, it also set the virtual assistant up for failure. Not a great way to kick things off.

Now, when we hire someone, we look for someone that specializes in a certain area that meets the needs of our objectives. The clearer you can be about your job description, due date, and pay structure the more likely all of your objectives will be met.

Step #3 – Check their communication skills – Searching for virtual support is now a global opportunity. You have the ability to connect and work with people from anywhere in the world. That is a tremendous opportunity as long as there is clear communication between the two of you.

One of our favorite ways to make sure we’re a good match for a virtual assistant is to do a test project. As an example, when Karen was searching for a new social media manager she posted a job description, went through the applicants previous work history as well as the portfolios they submitted and then she chose her top 3 candidates. She reached out to each of them and asked if they would be willing to create 3 social media posts and graphics for her Instagram account. She offered to pay them 1 hour of wages based on their preferred hourly rate from their application and she gave them a due date.

Believe it or not, one gal missed the due date and never reached out to Karen. When Karen contacted the VA the next day, she offered a reason why she was late so Karen set a new due date for her. Once again, she missed the deadline. When she did finally submit her posts and graphics, Karen already knew that she was not a good fit because she could not meet a promised deadline. Communication is key and at no time did she take the initiative to let Karen know she was going to be late in submitting her posts. Not a great first impression.

Maria on the other hand, went above and beyond. She researched Karen’s social media and her website. Her trial posts and graphics were ideal client specific, and incorporated her marketing message, so she was hired. 

Step #4 – Ask for their portfolio and/or references – One of the easiest ways to find a great virtual assistant is to ask your colleagues. Karen and I have shared our virtual resources with one another for years and it’s always been a great fit.

If the work you want done is something visual, like social media graphics, pdf creation, or video editing, then it’s easy to ask them to provide a portfolio that includes multiple examples of projects they’ve completed in the past. If they are truly a professional virtual assistant they will already have this created ahead of time which means they can supply the link easily.

If you’re looking for general virtual support with things like email management, calendar bookings, organizing Dropbox, customer service replies, etc. then that’s not as easy to put into a portfolio. This is a great opportunity to ask for references. References are people that you can reach out to that have worked with this person in the past that will share their feedback about what they think of your potential hiring candidate.

Being prepared with a few questions ahead of time that you can ask the reference will make this process go more smoothly.

Here are 5 sample questions you can ask:

  1. How long did you work with the virtual assistant and what tasks did they perform? This question will help you understand the length and nature of the previous working relationship and the tasks the virtual assistant has experience in handling.
  1. Can you describe the virtual assistant’s communication skills and responsiveness? As communication is a crucial aspect of any remote working relationship, this question will give you an idea of how well the virtual assistant communicates and responds to queries and requests.
  2. How well did the virtual assistant adapt to new tasks and challenges? This question will give you an idea of the virtual assistant’s problem-solving skills and ability to handle new tasks and challenges.
  1. Can you describe the quality of the virtual assistant’s work and attention to detail? This question will give you an idea of the quality of work that the virtual assistant delivers and whether they pay attention to detail.
  1. Would you recommend this virtual assistant to others, and if so, why? This question will give you a sense of the reference’s overall impression of the virtual assistant, and why they would or would not recommend them.

Step #5 – Start small and build your skills as a project manager – In any good employer / virtual assistant relationship, both people need to bring their A-game to the table for it to be a win-win. I’ve found that oftentimes, the quality of the work being delivered to me is determined by how well I’m doing my job as the business owner and project manager. That’s why I like to start with smaller projects and progress from there over time as we build a relationship.

Here are some things to think about when hiring virtual support:

  • Are you clear in what outcome you want to receive by providing examples, clear specifications, due dates, pay structure, milestone check-ins, etc.
  • Are you meeting any expectations put on you by the project such as delivering sample screenshots, brand colors, user names and passwords for necessary platforms, etc. If you aren’t meeting deadlines you’ll be showing your virtual assistant that you do not put a priority on deadlines so why should they.
  • Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will the relationship you have with your virtual assistant. It takes time to build trust on both sides so starting with smaller projects, getting great results, course correcting as needed, and moving forward in incremental steps is a recipe for success.
  • If your working relationship with your new virtual assistant is going to be ongoing, rather than a one-off project, let them know up front that you’ll start them off with a 90-day probationary period. After 90 days plan to have a meeting to see how things are going on both sides. Is it a good match? How’s the communication? Is there anything you can do to make their job easier? Great communication works both ways and this is a great way to set clear expectations and parameters of the first 90 days.

What is one task or project you can start outsourcing in the next 30 days? Once you get started with outsourcing, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sooner!

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Managing Your Energy Vs. Managing Your Time

Managing Your Energy Vs. Managing Your Time

Managing Your Energy Vs. Managing Your Time

When it comes to your business, there is a lot to do. You are likely already busy in your personal life, so managing it all can feel a little overwhelming sometimes.

We are all familiar with the concept of time management, but there is also something else to consider which is managing your energy. 

When you’re conscious and intentional about how you’re spending your time and you’re aware of what is draining your energy vs what makes you feel happy and energized, you’ll notice a big difference in how you feel – your mood, your productivity and enjoyment of what you do.

Today, we are talking about managing your energy vs managing your time, and we’re having an open and interesting conversation to give you some ideas on what you may want to implement or try. 

In order to manage your energy, it’s important to start with the things you know tend to drain you, vs what doesn’t. Things that drain you can also be things you enjoy doing, but because it takes mental or emotional energy, you have to limit how much you do in a day or a week.

Kathleen: For example, I enjoy doing livestreams in my Facebook group, but after 30-40 mins, I need to take a break. I could not do livestreams every day or probably not even every week, and I’m aware of that and I schedule accordingly.

Also, because I know I will feel tired afterwards, I know not to schedule other appointments or tasks that take a lot of brain power. So, after doing a livestream, I wouldn’t plan to outline a podcast episode or do something that takes a lot of creativity.

Another thing that helps me manage my energy is not overbooking my calendar.  I spread out appointments during the week – whether it’s lunch with friends, doctor appointments, interviews, recording podcast episodes, I’ve learned that if I overbook my day, it wipes me out.

Karen prefers to work in longer blocks of time, so she can power through and get the most important things done by noon. 

We have some helpful tips to share to help you better manage your energy, and we’re going to cover 7 of them:

  1. This is obvious, but still important to point out – get enough sleep. If you don’t prioritize sleep, you are going to start your day feeling tired, and it goes downhill from there. 
  2. Tune into what gives you energy, so you can incorporate that, such as exercise, meditation, spending time in nature or whatever you enjoy.
  3. Arrange your schedule whenever possible to focus on maintaining your energy rather than overbooking and overscheduling yourself. If you notice you are wiped out by 3 pm each day, it’s a good sign to listen to your body and take a break or end your workday then if possible. 
  4. Take mini breaks during the day. This could be doing something as simple as stretching, doing some breathing exercises, stepping outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air and sunshine or it could be going for a quick 5-10 minute walk.
  5. Limit multi-tasking and focus on completing one task before moving to the next one.
  6. Limit distractions as much as possible – this means leaving your phone in the other room when you’re working or turning off push notifications.
  7. Look at tasks that you can outsource to free up more of your time and protect your energy.

When we focus on managing our energy, managing our time tends to fall into place because we will likely get more done while feeling better. 

Tune into the things that deplete your energy and decide how you can work around it, delegate it or break it up during the week.

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3 Common Facebook Group Mistakes to Avoid

3 Common Facebook Group Mistakes to Avoid

3 Common Facebook Group Mistakes to Avoid

If you have a Facebook group for your health coaching business but it seems like an uphill battle to get members to engage (and sign up for your programs) it could be that you’re making one or more common mistakes. 

The good news is that you can turn things around pretty quickly.  Once you know what mistakes to avoid, you’ll have more of the right people joining your group, and you’ll also have more members enrolling in your paid programs (instead of them only consuming your free content).

On this episode we’re sharing 3 Common Facebook Group Mistakes to Avoid, and here’s what you’ll discover:

  • The #1 reason why people are joining your group but not becoming clients
  • Tips for naming your group to attract the right members
  • One of the first things new members will look for as soon as they join your group, and if you don’t have this in place, you are missing a huge opportunity to build trust and connection
  • How to lead people to the next step to working with you in a non-salesy way

Let’s dive in!

Mistake #1: The group name is not directly aligned with or related to your niche.

One of the common mistakes made with groups is that the group name isn’t clear about who it’s for. This is a problem because if your group is pretty generic about health and wellness, you may have a lot of people joining, but they won’t necessarily be your ideal clients. This means engagement tends to be low and people won’t be enrolling in your programs because they aren’t a good fit for your particular area of expertise and your offers.

One way to know if your group name is specific enough is can people self-identify that this is an area where they need help and is it very obvious who the group is for.  Will people see the group and know right away if it’s for them or not?  Remember, you only want your potential ideal clients joining your community, so be bold about claiming your niche and go all in on it.

See if you can spot the difference in these two names and see which one is very specific:

  1. Abundant Health and Energy
  2. Thrive Through Menopause

The first one is general and could be for anyone – men or women at any age with any issue or problem. The 2nd one would be an option if your niche was helping women with menopausal issues, and the right people will be interested in joining and the wrong people will scroll on by, and that’s exactly what you want.

When you look at your group name, is it specific enough?  You can always fine tune it a bit to narrow it down more. 

Mistake #2: No welcome video pinned to the top of the group.

This is a really important element to include in your group because when people first join your group, they come in and take a peek around. They want to know who you are as the host of the group and the expert. When they see a welcome video from you, they instantly get to connect with you and get a feel for your personality and what you’re about.  Think about what you do when you join a new group – you want to see what’s going on and find out if it’s going to be a helpful community – or not.  By having a short 1-2 minute video pinned to the very top, it’s usually one of the first things new members will check out, and when they feel like they’re in the right place, they are more likely to come back the group, post questions and engage.

Mistake #3: No (or very few) calls to action to work with you. A call to action to work with you could be to book a discovery call or join your paid program. It’s easy to post content in your group, but it’s important that members know how they can take the next step to get support from you.  People are busy and they don’t want to have to dig around to find out what you do and how you can help them, so you want to post about it from time to time.

There are several ways to do this and one of them is during your livestreams in your group. You can share a story about a client and what problem they were having when they came to see you and what the result was after they implemented what you recommended.  This creates interest and curiosity about working with you. During the livestream, mention that you have a few spots open for discovery calls this month and how they can schedule one. 

Another way is to post occasional direct invites in your group to book a free discovery call. Be sure to include who it’s for and a link to your online calendar to make it easy for people to take action. 

Need more ideas for your Facebook group?

Be sure to download your free Facebook Group Audit Checklist, so you can audit your own group to help troubleshoot any issues you’re having and get the best results possible. 

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BEST OF: 10 Hacks To Increase Productivity and Skyrocket Results

BEST OF: 10 Hacks To Increase Productivity and Skyrocket Results

BEST OF: 10 Hacks To Increase Productivity and Skyrocket Results

It can be tricky to transition from being an employee to a health coach and wellness business owner because you now have total control over what you do and when you do it.  While this can be a really good thing, it can also lead to feeling overwhelmed with no clear direction on how to prioritize tasks and projects because it feels like there’s so much to do.  We’re here to help! 

We’re bringing back a popular episode we did a long time ago, and we’re sharing ten invaluable hacks for doubling your productivity and skyrocketing your results.

Tune in to this episode for a breakdown and examples of each strategy, so you’ll know how to implement what we share.   

  1. Start with a 30-day plan and break it up into weekly goals and action steps. 
  2. Know the number of hours you can spend on your business each week.
  3. Limit distractions and turn off social media notifications.
  4. Tiny progress each day, week and month results in big wins.
  5. Skip the bells and whistles until you have a solid working model.
  6. Get an accountability partner who will hold you accountable.
  7. Get away from the house to work in two-hour blocks (coffee shop, library or your favorite spot).
  8. Don’t do anything else, until you complete the 1 big thing each day that moves your business forward.
  9. Use Single focus instead of multitasking
  10. 10.Set expectations that are obtainable rather than focusing on a big end goal.
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4 Easy Ways to Grow Your Facebook Group with Your Ideal Clients

4 Easy Ways to Grow Your Facebook Group with Your Ideal Clients

4 Easy Ways to Grow Your Facebook Group with Your Ideal Clients

Today, we’re sharing 4 simple and easy-to-implement ways for you to grow your group, but before we share the strategies, we want to point out that having the RIGHT people in your group is critical if you’re using your group as part of your marketing strategy. You don’t just want anyone joining your exclusive community, right? You only want people who are interested in your area of expertise and who could become a client at some point.  It’s easy to get hung up on the number of members you have but focusing on the quality of your group is the most important thing, so you have a group people who want to return to it every day and some of them will become clients. 

One way to get the right people in your group is by screening them before you approve them. In the area in your group of requested members, you can screen people there since it will tell you how many groups they belong to, where they work, etc. 

Here are a few tips on how to do this, so you can avoid adding fake or spammy accounts:    

  1. Only approve people who have a profile photo.
  2. Look at their profile information – do they look legit (or does their profile look suspiciously salesy, spammy or questionable in some way)?
  3. I don’t recommend approving people who belong to hundreds of groups, and you can see the number of groups someone belongs to (and the names of some of the groups) when they request to join your group. This is up to you, but when people belong to over 100 groups, the chances of them even seeing your content is pretty slim, but it’s totally up to you.
  4. If your group is only for women, don’t approve men (and vice versa). For example, maybe your group is about menopause, so it doesn’t make sense to let men into the group. It’s your group and your rules, so you get to decide who you let in. You want to protect your members and the integrity of your community.

If you aren’t sure about approving someone to join, you have the option to message them and ask them a question.  I’ve done this before where I’m not sure if they are really a health coach, but it seems like they might be but there is something that seems off, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and I’ll message them something like “thanks for requesting to join my Health Coach Biz Support Facebook group – you didn’t answer if you were a health coach, so I wanted to reach out and see where you went to school. Thanks so much.”  I’ll give them a couple of days to answer, and if I don’t hear back, I delete the request. They can always request again if they want.

Let’s dive into 4 ways to grow your group with your ideal clients, so you can build a cohesive community that looks to you as the expert.   

  1. Social Media: There are several different ways to use social media to invite people to your group, and you can switch these up each week to have some variety.    

When you’re promoting your group, be sure to include who it’s for and what’s in it for them.  Do you do monthly or weekly live demos, trainings or something else?  Be sure to mention that if you do, to give people an enticing reason to join.

Here are 4 ideas to get you started:

  • Use Instagram stories and instruct people to click the link in your bio to join your group or include the link right in your story by using one of the story stickers. 
  • Use your Instagram BIO – or use linktree for multiple links you want to display, including a link to join your group
  • Static image posts – You can do this to invite people to a livestream you’re doing in your group, so there is some urgency to join, so they don’t miss out.
  • Reels – This can be done to highlight a topic you are covering in your group and a call to action to join to learn more. 

Get creative and test different formats to see what works – have fun with it!

2. Use your follow-up email series. After people opt-in for your free offers, include an invitation to your group in the first email that goes out to your new subscribers.  Your new subscriber has just taken a step to learn more from you by signing up for your free resource, so this is a great opportunity for them to connect with you on a deeper level in your group.

3. Email your subscribers when you are going live in your group – either a training or demo on a topic, a live office hours Q and A or a guest. I’ve tested this and here’s what I have found to work best for me:  I send an email 3-4 days before I’m doing my live office hours, I send email #2 1-2 hours before I go live, and then a 3rd email right when I’m going live. I know people get busy and have other things going on in their lives, so these reminders have made a big difference in the number of people who show up live. At first, I wondered if it was the time I day I chose, but once I added in the reminder right when I was going live, attendance increased.    

4.  Put a tab on your website that says “Join my Facebook Group” or “Facebook Group” and link it to your group, so people see it when they go to your site (just make sure your group opens in a new tab, so visitors can quickly get back to your website). This is a great set it and forget it strategy that can be working for you behind the scenes, 24/7, so whenever someone goes to your website to read a blog post or check out something you have to offer, they’ll see you have a group.  Maybe they aren’t ready to work with you just yet, but by joining your group, they have the chance to get to know more about you and how you may be able to help them. 

There are many ways to grow your Facebook group, and the more you can build a community of people who get to learn from you and connect with you on a regular basis, the easier it will be to turn some of those members into clients.

If you would like more proven strategies that work really well, Grab my FREE CHECKLIST with 10 Free Ways to Build Your Facebook Group, so you have even more options for growing your community. 

If you want a step-by-step blueprint for setting up, growing and running a FB group that leads to paying clients, check out my Group Accelerator mini course. I walk you through everything you need to know, including how to set up your group the right way, how to increase engagement, how to grow your email list inside your group, how to get clients, how to not give away too much for free in your group and more. The great news is that it’s 50% off right now.  If you have a FB group and you aren’t happy with your results, you need this mini course. I’ve audited dozens of health coach groups, so I have some inside scoop on common mistakes and what to do instead to make sure your group isn’t just a destination for people to hang out, but that it also leads to people enrolling in your programs. 

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Running Your Business as an Introvert or Extrovert

Running Your Business as an Introvert or Extrovert

Running Your Business as Introvert or Extrovert

It always amazes me how many health coaches say they are introverts, but I know there are also plenty of extroverted wellness business owners.  Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, you can build a successful health coaching business. The good news is that there are many ways to run and grow your business and you can use your strengths, preferences and personality traits to do just that.

It’s important to determine where your tendencies lie, what you’re good at, and work from there. Focus your time and attention on the things that you’re good at and that bring you joy. If you’re an introvert you’ll need blocks of time for solitude and recharging so be sure to build those into your schedule. Knowing the types of situations and environments that fuel your energy or drain it, can be incredibly helpful to be aware of, so you can spend more of your time and focus on the things that make you feel your best.

If you’re an introvert, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t push yourself to have extroverted moments to further your business growth. Things like doing live video, hosting a wellness workshop, or leading a wellness challenge are necessary components to owning your own coaching business. Just because something takes you outside of homeostasis it’s okay, it’s important that you forgo your comfort zone temporarily to promote your business. The key is having built in recovery time immediately following one of those events to recharge.

On the other hand, if you’re an extrovert you may spend the majority of your time looking for group interactions to soak in all the energy that you can. Your tendency may be to avoid moments of solitude and quiet because you need the high-vibe environment of lots of people to feel satisfied. The challenge with this scenario is that you are often putting off the projects and tasks that need to be completed to make your business a success.

In this scenario it is extremely important to block off time in your calendar to do the work. You can train yourself over time to systematically get things done but more than likely for you it’ll take many small blocks of time with group or family interaction in between to get your energy rebooted.

Based on our experience after working with thousands of health coaches we’ve observed that…

  • Introverts are often more comfortable teaching group coaching programs rather than taking on one-on-one clients.
  • Extroverts tend to thrive either in a one-on-one coaching or group coaching. They enjoy both.
  • Introverts prefer to hide behind their computer and be continuously checking tasks off their list as a way to avoid showing up in a leadership way in a video, challenge, or workshop.
  • Extroverts love the spotlight and lean into live video, running a challenge, or hosting a workshop but find it difficult to complete all the tasks necessary to bring these to life because they are distracted by social engagement.
  • Introverts and extroverts alike are excellent coaches in their own way and tend to attract the clients that either need the calming nature of an introverted coach or high-energy support from an extroverted coach.

The key takeaway here is that you can be successful no matter what your personality type. Acknowledging and understanding your tendencies is the most important step to building the time blocks into your calendar that suit you best for productivity and rejuvenation. Be intentional with your time and challenge yourself to do the things that take you outside of your comfort zone.

Upon deeper reflection you may find that you are somewhere in the middle. You aren’t 100% introverted or extroverted and that’s a great place to be. You can focus on the strengths of each personality type and design your business perfectly for you.

If you’re an introvert and want to learn more, back on episode 61, we covered: Building a Thriving Wellness Business When You’re an Introvert. In that episode, we did a deep dive into being an introverted business owner (because Karen Pattock and I are both introverts). We also include a link in that episode to an online quiz that will help you figure out which type of personality type you are as well as a list of 8 ideas for how to run your biz as an introvert when you’re starting out.

Tune in to find out how to use your strengths to your advantage and where you may want to stretch out of your comfort zone a bit as a business owner.

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