As I continue on my business building journey, I’m reading and exploring what it is that experienced coaches need to keep growing their already successful businesses.  A couple weeks ago, I stumbled upon an amazing new take, written by Melanie Benson-Strick.  If you don’t know Melanie, she is the “Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach.”  Melanie has some awesome resources on how to build an effective team and she’s very experienced at working with coaches to help them build successful businesses.  Let’s face it, who DOESN’T want a million dollar coaching business?

Anyway, let me get back to the point.  Melanie has written a new “The CEO Factor Manifesto” that is extremely valuable for any coach who is looking to build a 6 or 7 figure business.  As I read through this manifesto, I noticed all the permissions it gave me to be creative, do what I want to do in business, and keep building my business “as if” I was already at that 6 or 7 figure mark.  Not only that, she gives some great ideas on how to build a team that is effective for you, where you can sit back and do what you want to do, instead of spending all your time managing.

My favorite part is that Melanie really gets to the heart of structuring a business to support your lifestyle and who you are.  It’s so important that we remember life comes first and business comes second when we are so passionate about our business and it’s so close to our hearts.  I really love the way Melanie takes the idea of outsourcing and helps you grasp the mindset needed to create an effective team.  I will probably read that pdf 100 times over.  Honestly, I think any virtual business owner needs to read this manifesto.  Go download it at http://www.theceofactormanifesto.com.

Let me know what you think!  I’d like to hear what you, as a coach, gleen from this incredibly helpful piece of information!

My colleague (and project management resource queen), Kim Beasley, has inspired me to write about building a team using social networks. Kim (http://twitter.com/kimbeasley) asked her Twitter Network about their experience using social networks to build their virtual teams.  Of course, I jumped right in, as I’ve built my team MOSTLY through social networks.

As a virtual business owner it’s important to bring in team members that I can relate to, work with, and who ALSO have the required skills.  Social networks allow me to find out a lot of information before I even interview the candidate.  Here’s the deal!  Social networks are “social.”  So, I get to know who a potential team member is, as a person, before I approach them.  I listen carefully to what they say on social networks.  If I agree with their advice to others, I know that we have a lot in common.  I also learn about their skill sets.  You see how this is a valuable place?

There comes a point in every coaching business where you need some help with the backend work of your business.  As your business grows and changes, there’s a second level where you need more advanced help in your business.  It’s no longer just about the skill level of your team.  It’s also about how much responsibility your team is willing to own.  It’s about whether they can take initiative and do things without asking. Many will turn to fellow coaches for referrals, which is a great place to start.  Even if you have a referral, it’s good to do your own legwork, because what works for one coach may not work for another (I’ve seen that mistake all too often in the coaching industry…it’s killer on the pocket book).  So, I suggest you get on your social networks and start doing your research.

Relying on social networks to learn about your potential team member can answer your questions.  If this candidate is answering advanced questions about simple topics then you have a pretty good clue that they know the skills.  Then listen for the moments when they start talking about overall business concepts…do you agree?  Are you connecting with this person?  Ask some very pointed questions of this candidate through the networks.  USE your social networks to screen your team BEFORE you get them on the phone.  It’ll make that interview process a lot simpler and you’ll know by the end of the call whether you want to hire that person or not.

Kim asked her Twitter network 8 questions and has created a whole blog series around those answers, so I suggest you also read her blog posts to gather more information about building and managing your virtual team.  Start with the first one at http://www.projectmanagement411.com/using-social-media-to-build-your-virtual-project-management-team-part-1/.

What are your thoughts on social networks and team building?  Do you have any questions?  I’d love to hear form you.

A wonderfully positive article was published about virtual help in Entrepreneur.com last week.  Did you see it?  If not, you can visit it at http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/operations/article197822.html.  There’s a lot of information mentioned about what virtual help can do for you.  It even mentions several known companies (like mine).

What the author doesn’t tell you is how to make sure you DO get a high ROI (Return On Investment) when working with a virtual team.

“The smart profit formula for lots of successful entrepreneurs (whether they’re a firm of one or many) involves a little front-end investment for maximum returns.” Patti Simone, Entrepreneur.com

I agree with this statement, wholeheartedly.  Here’s the concern I have in the coaching industry.  Coaches know they need to invest in getting some virtual help, but many don’t know how to turn that investment INTO maximum returns.

Here’s the thing.  Most coaches have their virtual team do the grunt work of their business.  In my case, we do much of the routine, ongoing, marketing.   We help with newsletters, article marketing, podcasting, blogging etc… These things take time to create a return and it’s not immediately monetary.  The return is more on list-building and gaining credibility within your market.  All of which eventually provides a monetary return but can take 6 months to a year to start doing so.

It’s up to the coach to create those maximum returns!  As a coach, your maximum returns come from coaching.  Whether it’s group coaching, paid Teleclasses or one-on-one coaching, THAT’s where your biggest income is earned.  It’s also where you will succeed the most.  If you are spending 80% of your time on the grunt work and 20% of your time on coaching, what kind of return are you getting there?

Now, it does take time to get your business to a place where there are clients to fill those maximum return activities.  So, when you ask for help, do it wisely.  Invest SOME of your income in your virtual team and spend as much of YOUR time doing as many maximum return activities as you can.  This will create a high return on your investment.  If you are a high-earning coach, you can afford to hire a high quality, full-service marketing team (like mine) that can keep your pipeline full.  As a new coach, you need to start smaller and think about what fits your budget, while continuing to spend your time coaching (high profit maximum return).

The purpose of hiring virtual help is to fr*ee up your time, so you can focus on income generating activities.  Remember that the next time you are looking to add virtual help to your business.

What if you instantly had to pick up and go away in an emergency.  Who would call your clients?  Who would reschedule them?  How would invoices get out for the month?  Or do you plan to shut down for a week or two until you can get back to work.  What if you need more time?

Of course, we don’t like to think of these things.  Life happens and being prepared can be useful in tough times.  How can you prepare for something like this?  Put together a business operations manual.  It has all your business processes.  All the routine parts of your business are in a file and printed out for someone to take over when needed. 

Keep your processes up to date.  Have your VA keep an updated copy and send it to you once a month or so.  Talk with your Lawyer about having a clause in your client contract that allows someone to come in and take over if needed. 

An operations manual is great for emergencies, for training your VA’s, and for keeping those who work with you up to date on your vision.  Be prepared and organized.  At the point you need help, it will be easy to ask for it and not worry about whether you have all your ducks in a row.  You’ll KNOW. 

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a virus on your computer.  I went through a week and a half of trying to remove a virus from my computer.  I first tried to remove it myself using my anitivirus software.  Then called the software company to get help from them.  After 3 days of phone calls and tech support, it was still there.  I called a local place who would need my computer for a couple days - my business is totally online.  Giving up my computer was out of the question.  How did I get the virus OUT of my computer?  I finally broke down and paid the bucks to have The Geek Squad come to my office and remove the virus.  A week later and I’m still virus free!! 

I’d like to share with you what I learned in this experience:

1) Backup System - I learned the importance of having a file backup system.  I spent 4 hours backing up all my files onto CD-R so I’d have them if we had to erase the hard drive.  I was talking with a techie person and they recommended “offsite” storage (like Carbonite).  You’ve seen the offers for secure online storage of your files.  That’s what I’m talking about.  Find one that has a way to flag the files you always want to back up and then you just login and click a button to back up your files.  Another option is “onsite” storage.  Like an external hard drive.  I now have a Maxtor external hard drive that I schedule to back up every day.  Offsite is recommended, just in case you have a fire or some other disaster … your files are still accessible.