Ask the Expert: Anastasia Olson Windsong Business Services helps us delegate Podcast tasks!

Michelle Abraham: 00:00:03

This is amplify you the podcast about you discovering your message and broadcasting it to the world. If you're a coach, author or speaker, you'll want to tune in. If you're looking for the best return on your time investment, to get your message out to the world in a bigger way, we're giving you full access behind the scenes look of how we're running our podcasts, how our clients have found success, and what you can do to launch your podcast today. The world needs your message. I'm Michelle Abraham, the host, join my family as we unleash your unique genius and find the connections you need to launch your venture today. Join us and let's get amplified.

Michelle Abraham: 00:00:44

Hello, hello amplify your family Michelle Abraham here your host, and I'm excited to bring you this ask the expert interview today with my dear friend Anastasia Olson from Windsong business services. So we are going to be talking about all things that you should not be doing. So just because you can do it doesn't mean you should be doing it your business and how when you have some support, you can do things a whole lot better. And you can focus on what you are a genius at and not what you are not like for example, podcast editing, right? Nobody wants to do that. Because you're not a genius in that we are. Just let us do that. So anyways, we're gonna talk about that with Anastasia today. And essentially, let me say hi, first, how are you doing?

Anastasia Olson: 00:01:26

Not too bad, Michelle, glad to be here.

Michelle Abraham: 00:01:29

I'm so glad you're here too. So let me share with our audience a little bit more about you. And we've been seeing each other and meeting with each other working with each other in different capacities over the last few years. And it's so great to have someone like Anastasia around because she sends me emails all the time says Michelle, this link doesn't work. Michelle, this is still wrong. Michelle, you need to fix this. And it's like, man, yes, I do need to hire you. Which is great, because I love that because i The details are not my thing. So glad someone else's is that. So Anastasia is a consultant working with business owners who feel like they're spinning their wheels, because they're spending too much time and energy working in their businesses instead of on it. She takes care of the things in the background. So her clients have the breathing room to focus on what they love as well as who they love. She specializes in online community management and podcast support. They always servicing their behind the scenes, takes her to tasks to her and it says clients free of many hours each week to focus on growing the business. And she's a grammar nerd extraordinaire that every entrepreneur needs just like I said, she can find your spelling mistakes so easily. Which is awesome. So glad you're here. And Anastasia is are also one of our community managers over at our inner circle community, which is great, where we communicate with all of our clients. And, you know, one of the things that I learned not soon enough is that I should not learn how to do everything in my business. And I did try to learn everything in my business. And it was a lot it was a lot of headaches. So what are some things that you're seeing entrepreneurs do these days that like they really shouldn't? Well, I

Anastasia Olson: 00:03:15

think I'm one of the big mistakes that I see a lot of entrepreneurs making is, like you said, thinking that they have to do it all themselves. And of course, in the beginning of a business, you know, obviously you don't have a lot of extra cash lying around. So you might need to do it all yourself right at the beginning. Not a bad idea to actually know how to do that stuff yourself, just in case. But you know, once you've been, you know, in your business for a while you're, you're at a good income level, there's really no point to keep doing it all yourself. Because that is going to stagnate your growth potential. You know, then, you know, I see entrepreneurs ending up spending more time working in the business instead of on it. And, you know, like you said earlier, just because you can do it doesn't mean you should, um, you know, thinking about, you know, another thing is, you know, thinking about outsourcing as just an expense with no return on investment. So if you're thinking of it as just money going out of your bank account, you're never really going to see the value in it. So instead think of it in terms of how much more time you'll have to spend on your income generating activities. Right?

Michelle Abraham: 00:04:47

Yeah, like I mean, for our podcast management services, we figured out that like, people were spending about 20 hours a month on podcasts management where if you actually spend 20 hours a month doing podcasts or doing like your Inc producing activities, your business, you sure as heck could make a lot more money in those 20 hours than what it costs to hire us to do that, right. So I totally agree with that. It's a, it's an interesting concept. But I feel like sometimes our as business owners like we, we want to, we feel like we need to do it all. And we have this, like, Control Freak kind of thing going on. For some of us, right? We want to do it all, we want to learn it all. And I mean, to be honest, I love learning all of it. Like, I think it's so fascinating. But like, when I started realizing that there's people that can do this way better than me, I was like, Oh, this is Yes, something I need to let go.

Anastasia Olson: 00:05:42

It's sometimes difficult to, you know, let go of that, feeling like you need to control it. But once you sort of let go of those reins, and just relax into it, I guess you could say, you know, if you find yourself, just, you know, able to concentrate more on those activities, that will actually put more money in your bank account, you're able to spend more time on your networking, your actual client work, the things that people actually pay you for, you know, what a concept. You know, sir, you know, if you bring somebody on like a virtual assistant, you have to spend some time training them on how you want all your stuff done. Because they, you know, obviously, they're new to your business. So you have to teach them how you want things done. But once they're on board, the time that you gain is exponentially more important than the money that you're paying them. Because they're worth basically more than, you know, more than they're worth. Or that's That doesn't even make sense.

Michelle Abraham: 00:07:00

Your time is worth more than their than their paycheck, right?

Anastasia Olson: 00:07:03

If there was more than those, that the the dollars that you're paying them, right? So here's a simple math problem. If it takes you two hours to train somebody to do things that take you 10 hours each week, those two hours could save you 520 hours in a year. So how much extra revenue? Could you earn with those hours?

Michelle Abraham: 00:07:26

Whoa, that's a lot of extra hours and a lot of extra revenue. 520 hours, like oh, my gosh, if you work 40 hours a week, that's like what, like my math is not good. 160 hours. So that's like almost like three or four months. Like that's crazy. I mean, you can even just take that time off to like, that sounds good. Wow. So I think one of the things that people will there, I think there's a couple of different things. I think one thing that people it or at least in my experience, was once I hired someone, it's like, how do you keep them busy? Or how do you how do you work with them like an efficient way.

Anastasia Olson: 00:08:04

So the first thing that I do with a new client is literally figure out what their biggest time sucks are the operational tasks that they're doing in the background of their business, that have to get done, but are not directly tied with those revenue generating activities, the things that people are paying them for, you know, and we focus on the largest ones that are just taking up too much of their time. So otherwise known as working in your business, rather than on it. And then what I definitely recommend people do is create standard operating procedures, otherwise known as SOPs, for every repetitive task that happens behind the scenes in their business, so anything that they do on a regular basis that can be written down in a step by step format, you know, do this first do this second, third, fourth, fifth, you know, it doesn't have to be an elaborate document or diagram, but just getting those repetitive tasks written down and what needs to happen. That way, you can just pass that off to a virtual assistant or an online manager, Community Manager, whatever, and they can get up and running much faster. So that also cuts down on the amount of time that you have to spend training them. If you've already got those SOPs in place, then a it makes you more efficient. And then it automatically makes them more efficient because then they don't have to go fumbling around in the dark basically, you know, trying to figure out you know how You do what you do in your business?

Michelle Abraham: 00:10:03

Right? Well, that makes a lot of sense. And I think, you know, a couple of things come into mind. Like, if you're scheduling guests on your podcast, like, you know, what is the process for that? Do they get an email before they come on the show? Do they get the headshot and bio sent to you? You know, what's the follow up? Do you send an email afterwards, and I know that's something that you help podcasters with as well. You want to share a few more with a jazz around around that, that you that it comes in? Like, it seems like it's a good idea to to have, like, I know, we have an SOP for like the editing and publishing and stuff of things. But also that follow up to I think, is really good.

Anastasia Olson: 00:10:42

Yeah, so once the interview is published, obviously, you want to share it with your audience. And then also should, you know, help the host out by encouraging your audience to check out other episodes of that particular podcast. Remember to tag the host, whenever you share your interview out there. You can also repurpose the interview, you can create little snippets of content for social media, you can create blog posts, email newsletters, audio content. And if you don't know how to do that, you get somebody like me to create it all for you.

Michelle Abraham: 00:11:23

Right, yeah. And that's great. So having those things in place is just a little things that you do in your everyday business, I mean, some of the things that I just had, you know, our team do was like, actually take my inbox in my email and email addresses from 37,000, emails down to 600, which feels very good. There's so many things that you can get someone to help you with in your business. And that takes you away from doing the things that are the most important thing, most important things in your business. So let's talk a little bit like community community management, because I know for those of us that have a podcast, like a Facebook group, that can be like a huge time suck for someone to so what are some of the things that you you've just started helping us with our community? And what are some things that you can help others with around you know, managing a community?

Anastasia Olson: 00:12:16

Yeah, I mean, managing a community for the community owner, or let's call them can be a full time job, depending on how large it is. And we can talk about, you know, Facebook groups, because that's how people these days often think of communities, online communities, it's sort of a familiar thing. What I do, might, if the community isn't really set up yet, I can help set up what I call the gateway questions. And that can include asking for an email address, which is obviously something that you're kind of wanting to get from people that are entering your community, because you know, you kind of want to talk to them and on more platforms than just Facebook, because as everybody should know, you don't own that group, because Facebook owns it. So the only thing you really own is perhaps your website, as long as it's not on a proprietary platform like Wix or something like that. It's self hosted, you mostly own that website, then you also own your email list. So you want to you want to collect those email addresses. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn't let you download any of that info. So you have to take screenshots of all of that, anytime you let somebody in. So that would be something that I would take care of. Once people are in the community, welcoming them. And I also, you know, just sort of make sure that people are playing nicely in the sandbox together. Make sure that everybody is following the group guidelines. You know, not posting things they shouldn't be spamming the board, and you know, all of that fun stuff. And just generally making sure that everybody knows what the group is all about answering questions that people have. If there's something that I can't answer, then I'll either tag the my client or let them know behind the scenes, so and so is asking this question, you might want to pop in, you know, basically, I'm just the right hand person, or the first officer so to speak. I feel

Michelle Abraham: 00:14:48

like it's really good to have someone whose eyeballs are there like all the time, so maybe like the group or the group owner is busy, you know, servicing their clients or doing podcast interviews or whatever they can't like You know, sometimes hours and hours go by without something being answered. And unless that's like admission in less than set up and the expectation of the group, people expect, especially in this day and age where we have our things everywhere they expect quicker responses to Right.

Anastasia Olson: 00:15:14

Exactly, yeah. So my role in particular in a Facebook group is to, you know, poke my nose in there, you know, maybe, depending on what the client's needs are, might be once a day might be a couple of times a day, it also depends on how busy the group is. Just make sure that any questions are being asked, you know, they're being answered in a timely fashion. And then, you know, just helping with engagement, scheduling posts, it can also involve getting an email newsletter out once a week, whatever the client really needs. Yeah, just generally being helpful.

Michelle Abraham: 00:16:04

Yeah, being like the first recycling, like the first response response teams, though, that they, you know, you can put out any fires really fast you right? So now, I'd love to, I'd love for you to share some tips for business owners who are like, starting, like, don't have anyone helping them right now, like, what would be a tip would be some a few tips that could really help someone start going from not having any help to like, then working with someone in those first initial like, stages, like when they were trying to let go, what should they let go first?

Anastasia Olson: 00:16:38

Um, well, like I said earlier, it's generally what you need to do is keep it keep track of the things that you're doing in the background of your business. Yeah, that are that are basically a waste of your time. If you're doing too much on the admin side, the operational side, just sort of keep an eye on that. And first figure out how much time you're actually spending on it. Because, you know, a lot of people will think, oh, you know, this one task, you know, I don't know, posting on their Facebook page or sending their email newsletter out, oh, it only takes me a few minutes a week. But does it really

Michelle Abraham: 00:17:31

need to set up that easily?

Anastasia Olson: 00:17:35

You can just thinking, oh, I need to do that. Right. But you know, and people say, oh, you know, I'm only spending a few minutes on that. I don't need to outsource that. That's a, you know, it's a waste of money. But the actual time if they actually kept track, when they start that email newsletter to when they have clicked that schedule button, and it's, you know, it's off the radar now. I guarantee you, it's a lot longer than a few minutes. Guaranteed, it's easier than you think it is,

Michelle Abraham: 00:18:11

right? Oh, is this a quick little task? No, never is.

Anastasia Olson: 00:18:15

Even something that does only take a few minutes, all those little bitty things add up. And it usually ends up being at least a couple of hours a week? If not, you know, much more. Right. And as I said earlier, if you've got repetitive tasks, create those standard operating procedures, because it's much easier and faster to onboard a virtual assistant or an Community Manager, if you've got those documents in place, because then they don't have to bug you with oh, you know, how do you want this done? Or how you want this done? It's all right there. And they can just sort of take, you know, take a look at that and then

Michelle Abraham: 00:19:07

run with it. Right? And how, what are some suggestions for people that are now like working with a virtual assistant? What are some things that they can do to ensure they're hiring the right person or like sure, they're finding the right person, because there's lots of different services, lots of different V's out there and lots of different like skill levels of VAs to write, you're going to have a VA that you've come in, that you are going to have to train in, you're going to have to like teach them how to do something and then you've got people that are at the level where you're at where you already know how to do all these things. You just need to come in and do them. So what are what are some suggestions like what are you? What are some things that an entrepreneur needs to look for when hiring and making sure they're hiring the right person?

Anastasia Olson: 00:19:53

Um, a lot of it comes down to personality. You need to don't get along with the person that you're hiring. Because if you have a personality conflict right at the beginning, yeah, it's it. I mean, not even nine times out of 10, it's like 10 times out of 10. If there's a personality conflict, it's not gonna work out.

Michelle Abraham: 00:20:20

All right? Above all, I mean, I always hire for personality, people think I'm crazy, I hire for personality, and some skills can be taught, personality skills cannot be.

Anastasia Olson: 00:20:33

There you go. Yeah, because you can train somebody, you know, even if they, you know, they might have a great skill set, they just don't have that one little piece that you need, you can always train that. But if you don't actually get along on a personal level, it's just going to be butting heads all the time.

Michelle Abraham: 00:20:53

Right? Yeah. So first, you gotta get along. So hiring, so actually having like a face to face and a conversation or Zoom conversation with someone that would obviously be the first step in like a hiring process? Because, one, if they can't communicate with you, or show up on camera, like a lot of people these days, you know, you know, that's a big part of like, doing business together virtually online.

Anastasia Olson: 00:21:17

Yeah, and what I prefer myself is to work with people that I've been referred to by other people. So through various networking groups, just connecting with people directly, and, you know, meeting them in a group and, you know, suddenly it's like, okay, yes, we're working together. I mean, obviously, it doesn't happen that quickly, usually, but you know, but also, you know, as you're going through your networking meetings, and you know, talking to the people in your, your personal circle, if you are looking for somebody that you know, like a virtual assistant, ask the people that you know, and trust, if they can recommend somebody, especially if they are the people that you're talking to are at the same level as you are, or a higher level.

Michelle Abraham: 00:22:24

And especially great if they've been working with that person, too, is if the average versus virtual assistant or business services company has multiple clients that they work with in in on their client. Roster, right?

Anastasia Olson: 00:22:36

Yes, exactly. Most virtual assistants have anywhere from three to 10. Clients, it depends on how they run their business. Some do you know, like time block packages, some do rotators some do a combination? Just depends on how they work. I recently heard of somebody that had, at one point about 50 clients, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, my limit is about eight, then you one time, right, you

Michelle Abraham: 00:23:14

still need to have a life in their team. Other than you need to start hiring an assistant to help you do your business as well. So it's interesting, because I think, you know, I think the strategy when you're looking at hiring, like your first person to help you would be to like hire for like a small project first, and to see how that goes. And then you can add more projects or expand higher, or start with smaller amount of hours first, just to see how it goes. Would you recommend that as well?

Anastasia Olson: 00:23:43

Yeah, I often will start with like a five hour package, just to you know, work on a small project or a portion of a larger thing. And then at the end of that, decide, you know, and it works both ways, obviously, needs to be a fit for both people. So you have a conversation at the end of that, you know, do we want to continue working together? No, okay.

Michelle Abraham: 00:24:14

Yeah. opportunity that like you're not hiring employees, so committed to that, like trial period, and then probation period, and then obligations and you can't let that go. Unless there was something this gives you the opportunity at the end of five hours to just say, Oh, thanks, that was great. Or whatever else that you need, right? And maybe like sometimes, it's also I think they're there as much as the business owners training the the VA, the other the than, or the assistant. Oftentimes, you're also going to be able to training for the business owner to to know how to work with someone properly or how to how to let go of some of the tasks and how to how to get going and it takes a little bit of time to get used to a

Anastasia Olson: 00:24:57

little bit yeah, a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, so it's a matter of, you know, prying the fingers off a little bit sometimes. And just, you know, getting to a certain comfort level. Yeah. You know, just to, you know, it's okay, you can let go know. Exactly. Your baby is in good hands.

Michelle Abraham: 00:25:22

Yeah. And there's different levels of that too, right. Like, right now in my business. There's things happening that I don't even know about. And I'm like, Oh, my God, that's crazy. Like, I don't even know that, that we're doing that right now. Like, how we've come a long way from being a control freak around having to know every detail of everything that's happening.

Anastasia Olson: 00:25:44

Yeah, that's what happens when you've got a good team that is, you know, operating like a well oiled machine. And, yeah, so you know, obviously, at the end of a five hour trial, you know, obviously, it would be great if it was a good fit, and then you just sort of you continue and, and figure out what that's going to look like, ongoing, whether or not you know, whether somebody just needs little projects done once a while, or if they're looking for ongoing support on a long term basis.

Michelle Abraham: 00:26:19

Yeah, that's great. I like that ideas. Starting small starting small and building from there always seems to be a good, good strategy. Awesome. Well, Anastasia, thank you so much for sharing all their insight with us and the behind the scenes of, you know, how to do things properly, and certain letting go with little pieces of our business so we can get more time back and, you know, amplify your listeners, like remember that equation, of how many hours of you take two hours to train someone to do something that free though 10 hours of your time. Oh, my gosh, you're gonna win back a couple of months worth of your time. That's insane. So I love that analogy. Because it's, it's one that I've heard before. And it's been in my head for a long time ago. But how it's like you're you're spending a little bit more time a friend, but you're gaining a hold of your time back. Now, I do have one tip before I let everyone go today in that one tip is that don't fill that time back up with other stuff. Because that was one of the things that I was struggling with, I free up the time. And then I find other things to add to it. So these are recent, we're filling up that data, we're decreasing the amount of things on my calendar. So I like to hold the space now.

Anastasia Olson: 00:27:31

Keep that extra time for those income generating activities.

Michelle Abraham: 00:27:36

All right, any last words to anesthesia before we let you go today?

Anastasia Olson: 00:27:40

Mmm hmm. Okay, so I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes about that. It's from Groucho Marx, outside of a dog. A book is a man's best friend inside of a dog. It is too dark to read.

Michelle Abraham: 00:27:59

I like it. That's a great and you can see that how it relates to entrepreneurship. So well. Awesome. All right. Well, thank you so much for joining us today amplify you listeners, make sure you reach out if you need some support. You want to get to some hours to get off your plate to open up your schedule, and have some more free time back in your life. And we're someone to help you organize all the SOPs in your business. And they should reach out to Anastasia and we'll talk to you again next week.

Anastasia Olson: 00:28:30

It was great to be here.