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Podcast episode number 18 is now live on iTunes. In this podcast episode I interview Chris Ducker an entrepreneur and expert on using virtual assistants in your business.
In my own professional and personal life, letting go and hiring on others to work on my business has given me more free time and helped me dramatically grow my business which is precisely why you’ve gotta hear what Chris has to say in this podcast episode.
Chris also recently released his book Virtual Freedom that I highly recommend you buy if you own a business and keep trying to do everything yourself.
Limited Time: Chris is also doing a huge give away on his blog here Expires Friday April 4th in the evening.
Items Discussed In This Episode:
Intro: ChrisDucker.com, VirtualStaffFinder.com and his new book Virtual Freedom
– Number one reason why I wanted to have Chris on the podcast (1 minute)
– The insane hours Chris used to work on his business (2 minute)
– What Chris did to free up time and become a virtual CEO who works only 4 days a week (3 – 5 minutes)
– Why Chris changed Virtual Staff Finder over to a general VA service (7 minutes)
– What a general VA is and how they can help you (9 minutes)
– How to get over super hero syndrome (11 minutes)
– How to create your three lists to freedom (13 minutes)
– Chris’s advice for my problem with way too many emails (17 minutes)
– How to use Last Pass to share password information with your general VA (21 minutes)
– What the primary objections people have to hiring VA’s (24 minutes)
– The average time spent laying out a blog post after it’s created (27 minutes)
– How to simply teach a VA tasks you’d like created (28 minutes)
– How much money it costs to hire a general VA (30 minutes)
– Why Chris doesn’t use time tracking software for his VA’s (32 minutes)
– The one strategy Chris likes to use to train VA’s (35 minutes)
– The myth of the super VA (38 minutes)
– Thanks in part to what Chris shared I’m actually hiring even more people to join my team as well – inquire here (closing part of show)
Want to get Chris’s Book – Virtual Freedom?
I mentioned in the very beginning of the podcast episode that hiring others to help me grow my business was the single most important thing I ever did and this action (along with how to execute it) is so important that I wanted Chris to come on and share his experiences.
If you’re tired of doing everything yourself and want to grow your business you’ve gotta check out Chris’ book:
Virtual Freedom book on Amazon.comHow To Get The Podcast:
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via RSS to get future episodes automatically
Download the podcast MP3 here (Right Click + Save As)
When You’re Done Listening To The Podcast Please Review It
When you’re done listening please leave me a review on iTunes – I really appreciate it and it helps to get more people to listen to the podcast.
Dude, love what you do here. Lookin forward to reading more posts and listening to your podcasts. Hit me up sometime 🙂
Rob
Thanks Rob
While it’s rarely mentioned in such forums, as a business is starting out, having a Virtual Assistant build your business processes and procedures manual can be an invaluable asset. There are times when you partner with a fantastic Virtual Assistant and later separate, not even on bad terms. Either you no longer need as much support or you now have someone in-house (perhaps a family member is now helping with the business) or your VA might be moving on to something else.
One of the biggest time drains is having to retrain people to do what was done well before. Having a manual with all those procedures laid out and saved in Dropbox or another cloud can make things so much easier.
And I greatly recommend getting away from the *standard* manuals that we’ve seen for many years in larger corporations. Forget the big words and footnotes. Use images, screenshots, links to video when necessary. Your manual can be your company’s Bible for everything from how you post on social media accounts, where you get high-quality royalty-free images for your blog posts to where you get the best deals on office supplies. Of course, it can be as casual or corporate as you prefer.
Once you’ve got a great VA there are many things that just get done that you don’t even think about anymore. Make sure you’ve got things well-documented to keep your business running smoothly as your team grows and changes.
Also, one other point worth mentioning. I see a lot of this talk about *training * Virtual Assistants. While I understand education and background is varied in any profession, none of my clients have ever had to train me. My background is in IT, I am a Microsoft Certified Professional and when clients come to me it is often because they have problems they need solved and I develop procedures and resolutions to get it done most efficiently and effectively. I just cringe at the idea of having to train someone virtually and then having to spend time monitoring their steps for any length of time. Any money saved in hiring a VA at that level of expertise will likely be expended in time, frustration and restarting with someone who can do more with less hand-holding. To this day I occasionally have clients call me and we brainstorm on some of their ideas. They go out and make more money and I find out how to get the other balls rolling. That’s not the level of service that everyone is looking for but beyond website design, copy writing, social media, etc. many Virtual Assistants are integral to their clients’ teams!
Cordially,
Patricia Nixon
Nixon Virtual Strategies
http://www.nixonvs.com
The Power of Delegation
recognized by Forbes
Chris
After listening to this podcast I finally bit the bullet and hired in outside help. Very impressed with the results- wish I’d done it sooner!!
Thank you for finally giving me the push I needed
Keep up the good work
Ed
Nice Ed, good luck with the hire. I’m a huge fan of hiring others to help me out. You can only grow so big before it’s too hard.