Patty is interviewing one of her business besties today. Jen Lehner is joining the podcast today and they are talking about being the CEO in your business.
The topic is how to hire a VA that helps you make money. This is a shift in mindset from looking at support as an expense rather than a resource to help you increase revenue.
The highlights:
- Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. We’ve heard this before and Jen shows you how to change that dynamic.
- Patty shares how hiring a VA from day one helped her launch her business quickly.
- Jen explains how you can afford a VA if you hire well and understand how to leverage their support.
- Find out why hiring from the Philippines is beneficial for you and for your VA as well.
- Not a great marketer? Jen explains how your VA can help create consistency which leads to consistent revenue.
- Find out how to make your VA a partner in your business.
- You don’t have to know all the things to train your VA. This is a huge shift that will make things much easier!
Stepping into the CEO role means having systems and space to be the visionary in your business.
Resources:
Transcript
00:02):
Welcome to the wealth and purpose podcast, where people who are led by their hearts come to learn the secrets to creating wealth in a way that feels really good and live their purposefully in the process. I’m your host, Patty Lennon. I’m an ex type. A corporate banker turned intuitive business coach. I’m also a wife, a mom to two. Pre-teens a professor girl scout leader. And well, Hey, you get it. Like you are aware a lot of hats, whether you’re looking for inspiration to get started or strategies to get growing, I am here to help you create abundance in every area of your life and business. Welcome
(00:40):
Hey there, welcome to this episode of the wealth and purpose podcast. I am your host, Patty Lennon. And today I have my favorite guests generally are here. She is so many things to me. She’s a mentor, a friend, a colleague, gosh, she’s one of my closest business, best ideas. And she is what I consider to be the gold standard among digital entrepreneurs. And what I mean by that is people who have a presence digitally, which I think at this point should be all of us. She just sets the gold standard when it comes to what she puts out, the way she trains the quality, all of it. If you’re looking for how to do it, right, how to build your foundation on concrete and not on sand. Jen is the person I always point to. She is an adjunct professor. She’s a digital strategist. She just knows so much about the tools that put people in the front row of their businesses.
(01:43):
Meaning she makes sure that you are seeing that you are understood to be the expert you are, and she knows how to make the bright light shine around your business. So with that, Jen, welcome. What did I leave out? What do you want to share? Oh my gosh. That was like the best intro ever. Yeah, not that I’m just so happy to be here and right back at you. Um, I think you’re the gold standard too. So it’s a treat for me to be with you here on this awesome podcast again. Thank you. Okay. So today I swipe, this was very last minute. I was like, Jen, can you, can you hop on? And we record a podcast because Jen and I just, I just hosted Jen in my community to talk about how to hire a VA. And today I want to take it even deeper and say how to hire a VA that makes you money. Because really that was one of the main juicy points that came through the training is that Jen’s approach immediately set you up so that if you’re bringing a VA on, or you already have a VA and you’re not using them the way Jen teaches through her systems on how to use a VA, when you come at it from the perspective of being a CEO, what you can do is really take either the support you have or more importantly, bring support on that can immediately
(03:00):
Be turning a return on investment for you. And that was what was so fascinating to me was one of the people on the training said, Oh my God, I was just about to let my VA go and hire a Pinterest specialist. And now I realize I just wasn’t using my virtual assistant properly. And that was like such a big high. And she was just so thrilled with that result. And there were so many people on the training. So Jen, at a really high level, can you kind of talk about like how you got to the point where you really feel so passionate about teaching people, how to become CEOs of their business because of your own journey? Yes, basically I was in business for two years and I was definitely busy, but I never really seemed to be getting any traction and I knew all the things that needed to happen.
(03:55):
And in fact, I also had a strong skillset when it came to duct taping, all the things together, you know, me, I love tech stuff. I love, I love all the widgets and the gadgets and all that. So, you know, setting up a webinar and connecting that to convert kit and the tagging and then lead pages and, you know, follow up, like I knew how to do all that, but that was almost like a handicap for me because in my mind it was like, well, if I can do this, I should do this. Why would I pay someone else to do this? But what I saw, thank goodness. It was two years, enough, five years. Cause PS, I know a lot of entrepreneurs who are still in this place five, six years later. And that is like busy. You’re staying afloat. Maybe you’re breaking even maybe a little better than breaking even, but you really aren’t seeing that growth.
(04:46):
That traction, what I realized was that I had to hire someone I had to bring in help. Otherwise I was going to be the one doing all that stuff and not the stuff that was truly going to grow my business. I mean, that’s the short answer. I love that. And then, um, you know, I kind of want to share a different angle on my story if that’s okay. I know I invited you on, but I don’t know. We all love to hear you, Doug. So that’s true, but I know you will because when I was talking to my list and my community about, you know, why I want you to come on and teach us because I’ve taught this before, like, you know, hiring, I just think you do a much better job of it. And when I feel like I am no longer the best teacher for my community, I always want the best, but I’m equally passionate about it from a different perspective because unlike you, I’m not good at any of that stuff. And I knew it, you know, like programming a VCR clock would have been like next level skill for me. So I, that is part of it was I knew I had to, but part of it was just coming from
(05:58):
The background I came from hiring, didn’t have this same problematic feeling in me. Like I knew how to hire. I knew how to interview. So right from the get go, I hired a virtual assistant. I had went onboard from the beginning, but I didn’t really have a real business. I was working on it. I was developing, I mean, I was working with private clients coaching, but I hadn’t developed a strong website with a value proposition and a brand and my virtual assistant. And I ended up at a big conference in New York city. I bought a ticket with her, for her so that we could go together and they offered an opportunity for three of the hundreds of us that were there. Three of us would get to go up on stage and pitch our business proposition and get feedback on the pitch with these experts.
(06:49):
And I put my name in and I got picked and I thought, wow, this is a great opportunity. And I just pitches if my business existed, cause that’s, I wasn’t intending to draw business or business partners. I was really trying to get a better, stronger value proposition. So I got up there, I gave the pitch. I actually got a lot of good feedback. I got helpful feedback, got back to my seat was feeling really good about myself. And then Jan, my VA nudged me and she was like, look at this. And she showed me the Twitter feed. And there were so many tweets of all these people that were trying to get on my website. And they were like, we are ready. Cause I pitched it as looking for partners to help me grow. And they were like, we’re ready to help you. People were passing me notes across this huge conference room.
(07:35):
You know, I want to help you. I can help you grow, but we can’t get on your website. And I was [inaudible] because I felt like such a small being amongst all these cool entrepreneurs. And I’m like, Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed. Like just, you know, that feeling you get in the beginning when you’re growing your business, like everyone just knows more as better. And you don’t, you should not be out here, like crawl back into your hole. And I was like, Oh my God, what do I do? And then Jen, my awesome VA said reply back to them and say, we don’t know why it’s doing that. And that your virtual assistant is going to look into it. And she got her bag and she left the conference and she went home and she built that website. And by the end of that conference, I had 10 really strong partners to help me launch my business. That’s amazing. That’s such a good example. And yeah. And then, and I never would have, and I launched my business six months early with bigger partners. I then I ever would have had, because I had a virtual assistant that could help me pivot on the opportunity available. And yesterday when we were on the training, you and I, a couple of times you referenced like just off the top of your head, like a resource you used or like a link. And each time I went to Nica, your virtual assistant said, Hey, Jen, have an affiliate
(08:56):
Link for this. I want to at least get credit. Or like, Hey, do you have this resource? Jen’s mentioning it all the time. Like each time I asked Nika, she had the resource, they are right for me while we were live on the training. You’re saying you were reaching out to my VA who was there to give you whatever you needed. Yeah, exactly. And so that was the thing that sort of came alive to me is that we’re heading into this time where everyone’s seeing all these like lost opportunities or everything’s getting dismantled or just feels different. And as much as it’s easy to focus on, what’s going wrong. You and I both know environments like this create huge opportunities, but you have to be able to pivot very quickly or jump on an opportunity very quickly and rarely can you do that by yourself?
(09:50):
Exactly. So I think what holds people back is I can’t afford it. And you really helped people understand how to get that person on board and be making money from that time immediately. So explain to people how to do that. Yes. Okay. So first of all, like what I like to say is you really, just, once you see the math, you’ll understand that you can’t afford not to that anything else is futility and it’s like trying to run your car. You know, you could drive your car without oil in it, but it’s going to drive a lot better if you add the oil, right. It’s going to make things optimal. You’re going to optimize performance. So basically the model that I share, first of all, it’s really geared towards the small entrepreneur or, you know, start person just starting out. So maybe you’re making money, but you’re not, you’re not making a significant amount of money consistently or it’s feast or famine or it’s, you know, launch, launch launch, then nothing, nothing, nothing, and then launch and so forth.
(10:55):
So what I did, and it was just happy luck was that I ended up hiring my amazing virtual assistant five years ago from the Philippines. And the thing with the Philippines is that you can leverage the exchange rate. Okay. So you can offer a very highly skilled, skilled fluent in English, dependable, loyal virtual assistant with usually a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, starting out at about four $55 an hour. And people are like, what? Usually when they hear that, they’re like, Ugh, that’s gross. Let’s you’re somehow that, you know, you’re taking advantage or that’s not fair to the VA or whatever your immediate thoughts are, or maybe that’s not really possible. But I want to tell you that recently, and I showed you this Patty on the training. We, you know, we recently broke it down and, uh, both of my VA’s with help of a, of an accountant there.
(11:55):
So somebody who really knows their numbers, how to look at numbers, what through realistic expenses in the Philippines right now, and looked at $4 and 50 cents an hour, $4 and 50 cents an hour for 40 hours a month or 40 hours a week over the course of a month, what would that buy for a virtual assistant? And it was really unbelievable. It was basically everything, including private school tuition for two kids at high school, utilities, mortgage, all of that food, sort of like everything you need to live. Plus it was like 2,830 pesos left over for savings. Now I don’t recommend staying at that low rate forever, but the idea is that when you are able to do this and I recommend doing what you did, Patty, which is like kudos to you for an understanding that you needed to start your business with help, not to wait until you got to this mysterious place where we all think we need to be before we can justify it.
(12:59):
Um, and so that was, that was really smart on your part because from the minute that you start your business and let’s say you’re a coach, okay, let’s say you’re a coach. And you’re going to start taking clients from the very minute that that happens. There’s so much process behind what you’re actually doing, but besides that one hour, while you’re actually coaching someone, there’s three or four hours behind that for every single client in processing the invoice, creating the contract, chasing them down to sign the contract, the marketing that has to go, you know, for all the marketing, you have to put out there to get the one client, you know, all the things. And so from the minute that you step into your business, you are doing things that really you’re going to make a lot more money. If you, if you pass that on onto someone else.
(13:47):
So for example, let’s say, you know, you’ve got Sally, Sally is a coach and Sally, we’re going to be conservative and say, she spends two days, two hours a day doing things like processing invoicing, and messing around on CAMBA to do graphics and that sort of thing. She takes those two hours. She hires the VA for two hours a day. She hands those two hours to the VA and let’s be really generous and say that she’s paying a VA $10 an hour, which is not necessary, but let’s just say she’s paying $10 an hour. So 20 hours she spends, I mean, $20. She spends for those two hours, she shifts her focus during those two hours. And she makes sales calls for two hours. So let’s say she gets, she could do a lot more than this, but let’s say she does four sales calls in two hours and she closes one client for a thousand dollars.
(14:43):
Right. So she’s just made a return of what, in those two, in those two hours, what was her return on her investment? Damn, that’s a $20 divided by a thousand. I don’t know. Well, so she made 900. I mean she made $800. Yes, no, $980. Cause she’s $980. Yeah. Hello, we’re a math genius. I mean, this is why I’m a marketer and I’m not a mathematician, but anyway, yes, she made, you made a $980 and $980 return on your investment and PS, this is truly, this is realistic. I mean, I was being very conservative there and fill in the blank, you know, fill in the blank coaching calls with, you know, writing your killer webinar, where you’re going to pitch your new, your brand new course or creating your signature talk that you’re going to do from stages everywhere. You know, it’s, whatever those two hours are, but that’s just an illustration of like, of how to look at this.
(15:51):
You would not start your business. When we started our business, we got business cards, we made sure we had wifi, electricity, a space to work in. But somehow we think this is like this brass ring that we have to reach this really, you know, we have to have some number to justify hiring someone. It’s a six figure launch. It’s six figures sitting in savings. It’s whatever, but that’s actually, we’re just not ever going to get liftoff or any real traction until we learn that we have to do this. And by the way, once this happens, you can start creating systems in your business and then everything becomes smoother, easier, faster, more efficient, more consistent. Yes. And I think I just want to slow down for a second and then ground this for, for you listening, especially if you’re that person you’re like, yes, I hear this.
(16:47):
And I’m still feeling resistant about this concept. The thing is, I think more than having a hundred thousand dollars in the bank, what I find most people are waiting for is a consistent income. You know, even if I could count on $2,000 coming every month, if I could count up whatever it is, it’s the consistency. It’s the BA the predictability. And that’s the thing that I think is so critical to having a virtual assistant, because it’s consistent marketing. That gets you consistent income because marketing is what drives sales. The only thing that makes you money is sales. So however you make sales call, you know, a sales page, whatever it is, that’s how you get sales and the way you get people to buy to know that you’ve got something to sell is marketing. And so it’s those two things have to be happening consistently for you to have consistent income and the likelihood that you can manage your business consistently putting out marketing, which drives sales without having someone run the backend stuff that sucks the life out of you is so close to 0%.
(17:59):
Like that likelihood is so limited. It’s so true. It’s so true. And it sort of spins back to what you said in the beginning and that it changes the way you show up in your business. Because consequently, when you do have someone working with you, you have to show up, you have to show up in a different way in your business. Right? And that’s scary for a lot of people because the thought of like, Oh my gosh, like, I don’t even know what I’m doing on a day to day basis. How am I going to show up and be responsible for another person? But it’s a natural fear, but I mean, at least the way that I teach it, it’s very systematic. And, and, and there’s a process for doing this so that you mature very quickly in this relationship that you, that you build.
(18:40):
And the other thing is when you talk about marketing, you know, I bet there’s a lot of listeners that are like, yeah, well, that’s my problem. I don’t really know how to market on Pinterest. And I’m not really a great marketer. And that is, that is another real benefit having a virtual assistant, because you don’t have to know all the things to teach to your virtual assistant now. Yeah. I mean, you need to go out there and you know, you have to make the sales calls only. You can do that. You need to present the webinar, but in terms of like the social media marketing and getting it out there, the mechanics of it, all, there’s so many good courses, you could purchase a $12 course on you. To me. I just did this recently. We wanted to make Pinterest more. We wanted to use Pinterest more strategically in our business because it’s a great way to drive traffic to your website.
(19:28):
I don’t have time to learn Pinterest. So I purchased a pinch S course I gave it to my virtual assistant and she watched the course learned how to implement everything. Came up with a plan for us now, not only is she, not only is she going to do this for us, which is awesome, but she gets to take ownership of this project because people are really hardwired to learn and grow. Your VA included. This gives them an opportunity to do that. They’re adding to their own skillset. And also in this brings me back to the pay. So this is a benefit for them to be able to learn. I mean, if you hire the right person, they’re going to look at that as a benefit like, wow, this is an awesome Pinterest course. I get to learn Pinterest. Uh, so there’s that. And then just the satisfaction with coming with, with being able to see your ideas come to fruition, but then there are other things that you could do while you’re paying this very low a rate.
(20:22):
Initially, as you’re growing, there are other things that you could do. For example, guaranteeing 10 hours a week or 20 hours a week is a huge benefit to the virtual assistant because this means he or she doesn’t have to go and secure new clients. They know that they can guarantee on the consistent income of 10 20, and then very soon you’ll see 30, 40 hours, 40 hours a week. The other thing is like you can offer profit sharing or other sort of goals like, okay, we’re going to launch this course. If we sell X number, you’re going to get 5% of the gross sales or net sales or whatever you want to make it, or you can make it a flat amount. Or you could say, um, we’re going to try to grow our email list this month. If we get this many emails, you know, then we’re going to, you’re going to get a bonus of whatever.
(21:07):
And this just gives your virtual assistant a sense that they’re a partner in your business. They’re not just, they’re not just a contractor that you’re throwing tasks at. And that is the difference between just going to Upwork or whatever, and hiring a COO or Fiverr and just getting a contractor, which by the way, it is sometimes necessary to do. And we still, we still will hire one off contractors like that. But what, what I like to teach is how to find your perfect match virtual assistant, who is going to be with you for years, who is going to grow with your business. Who’s going to feel like a part of your business who has your back, the way that Jen had your back, when you were on stage, you know, who is going to be autonomous in situations, think for themselves, give you suggestions to make the business better.
(21:54):
And it’s really a wonderful thing. And I, you know, that brings up the other thing I remember that came with really big, like aha, when for the people that were on the training yesterday was a lot of people said, they thought they needed to, like, they felt, they just didn’t know enough to even train their VA and they felt lost. And what they understood then was, Oh, I actually not only do I not need to know how to do this, she can, or he can learn how to do this and implement it and also hold me accountable for getting the pieces I need to get done done. So this feeling like all of the weights on my shoulders, and I have to like, kind of keep myself in a straight line, moving forward. If you have the right virtual assistant, you can tell them what you want to accomplish.
(22:45):
And they can kind of be your task master in terms of just reminding you, Hey, we need to have this done by now so that I can do X, Y, and Z for you and create this. And just having that relief of someone else, having your back on that level, like having a vision for where you’re headed collectively together, a relief is the, is the keyword. There is such a relief. It’s what we all yearn for really. It’s just, it’s it really, it’s, it’s really wonderful. And it’s very attainable. That’s the thing I know. I try and keep these to 30 minutes. So I don’t want to go too long without saying that. Now you’re probably like kicking yourself and saying, I wish I had joined the training when Patty told me about it last week. Cause I did on last week’s podcast at the end, but the training’s over.
(23:33):
So you can’t see that. But Jen actually has a really, really strong video series out right now. And the video series is, um, running. It’s all the videos dropped as of the time where you guys are listening to this podcast. So if you want to get this information that, and really let it sink into your pores, you can go binge, watch it. I have a link up on my site, Patty lennon.com forward slash CEO. You’ll get linked right to that training. And what will they get in that video training Jen? Well, first one of the things, the first thing people tell me is like, I don’t even know what I would give to a VA. That seems to be like the number one thing that people say. So they’re going to get a list of 160 plus things that they can assign to a VA. And I find that people’s like light bulbs go off like crazy, like fireworks when they see this, because suddenly they get ideas of how they can work with the VA in their business. So I think that’s really valuable. And then there are other, for each of the trainings, there are worksheets and templates that are going to take you through a process of really seeing where you can shift things in your business to make money with a virtual assistant, like from the jump. So, no, that’s not how you say it. You say from jump.
(24:56):
Yup. I should from the get go. That’s what you say when you’re 51, you say from the get go, you don’t say from the job. All right. Let’s not try and pretend that we’re younger than we are. Yeah, no. My 16 year old, if was listening would just totally be cringing right now. Okay. Okay. The training is going to walk you through that help you wrap your mind, right? Like how you can shift things in your business to make space for a virtual assistant and to really see yourself as a real CEO in your business. Cause I know that, you know, we all run around saying we have a business, but do we believe it? Do we deep down, we just say that at cocktail parties or do you know, and, and you are a CEO in your business, you just have to step into that role.
(25:39):
And it’s, and, and this is the way to do that because you must have systems and you must have space to do the thing that you started is to do, to begin with, right? Like you had this great vision, how you were going to have an impact. And yet you can’t, you can’t bring that vision to life. If you are stuck in Canva. And if you are trying to figure out webinars software, you just can’t. Yeah. I mean, I hear people all the time saying I’ve heard, I need to work on my business, not in my business, but like they can’t get out of the, in their business enough to work on it. And that’s really what John teaches those sort of like the crux or the, the fulcrum of all of it is having other people in your business to do. I was trying not to be explicit on this one, but you’re not good at that drained. You, you know, all those things, you can’t be a CEO without having other people supporting you, at least one person. But there’s the mindset of a CEO has to shift to like you have to start see your business
(26:44):
And see how you operate as a contractor in your business and learn how to move out of that freelancer contractor mentality into that CEO mentality. If you not just want to grow, like I’ve heard people say like, I don’t need to make millions fine. That’s that’s fine. But do you want to take weekends off and not think twice about your business? Do you want to be done at three o’clock and not think twice about your business, that all comes with being a CEO? You know, that’s all part of it. Absolutely. And Jen’s training is amazing. And the reason she’s doing that training is because next week, front row CEO starts that’s her signature program where she teaches everything super in depth. We won’t go into detail there. The cart’s not open yet, but if you’re watching the video training again, you can get a Patty lyndon.com forward slash CEO.
(27:38):
The cart will open, meaning you’ll be able to join starting on Thursday. And if you watch a video training, the link to join will be right below it. So you can join there. I said this on the training that I did for my community. This is one of the few courses that I will put my own name on. Meaning I stand behind this training as much as if I created it myself, if you purchase it, just know I am telling you, it is one of the most amazing courses programs, and it doesn’t even give it justice to call it a course. Most amazing programs. It runs live. I’ve taken it. I’m taking it again, live because even though I know how to do this, the way that Jen Jen’s energy and vision and insight, um, moves me along personally is just different than if I was to do it myself. And I have learned the hard way that it is way easier to do it with the support of a visionary than it is in my own little like Hubble. So thanks Patty. Yeah. You’re welcome girl. Like you are, you’re like a, B I think whatever. The only people, if not the only person left that I give my, uh, my seal of approval to stingy stingy with it these ways.
(28:56):
Okay. So I feel like I, there was one last thing I wanted to share. Oh, I know if you are running a business and thinking of putting something out into the world that like markets your business well, for that reason alone, I suggest you check out what Jen puts out in the world. Because when I say she’s the gold standard, I mean, she tells me I’m the gold Tanner and that’s nice. I think I’m the gold standard when it comes to be a heart centered person in your business, but when it comes to what she puts out and what you put out in the world, if you just look at what Jen creates, it’ll really just lift you. It’ll elevate who you are in the world, and it will make you be better just watching it when you see what someone’s willing to do an offer for free.
(29:42):
Because if you’ve taken free courses before or free trainings and they were just nonsense and you thought all of it has to be nonsense. It doesn’t like go watch a gem puts out and you’ll see that there is a completely different way to do this. Wow. Pam, the plan. Wow, you got it. Alright. So Patty lennon.com forward slash CEO, you can binge watch that training. It goes down on September 1st, because again, front row CEO, the full program starts on September 2nd. And then again, if you’re like, why do I even give my VA that’s one of the bonuses that Jen gives with the training. So that’s worth its weight in gold, right there. Anything else you want to share with them anywhere else you want to send them down? No, I mean, I think that’s going to be plenty because there’s activities there that I’d love for them to complete.
(30:33):
And, uh, of course you can tag me tag Patty, if you have any questions. And, and I would just say that, you know, we aren’t born as teenagers or toddlers, right? Like we it’s, we’re, we’re born as babies and we gotta take one step at a time. But these steps that you’re about to take are going to get you to, you know, adulthood really quickly. Yes. Oh, such a good point. Because like, I think so many people think some people are just good at hiring and managing and some people aren’t. And even to that point, even if you grow into a teenager and no one taught you math, you wouldn’t just know math because you’re a teenager, right. Or an adult, like someone has actually teach you math. Well, you can be taught all of this and Jen’s amazing at it. Okay. Awesome. Thank you so much, Jen, for being here. Thank you, Patty. It was a blast. All right. Have a great day day, everyone. Jan, you have a beautiful day. Nucleus waiting. Hey, thanks for listening. And if you know someone who needs to hear this message, please share this podcast with them. And if you’re feeling really generous, I love for you to leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. It helps us reach many more people. And it, my heart was so much joy. When I hear you had to say about what you heard, I am cheering for your success have been amazing day.
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