OnlineBusinessManager.com

For Virtual Assistants, Freelancers, Project Managers, Online Marketing Specialists, and Admin Professionals

Project Manager

Is it Time for a Change?

By |

There came a point in my business.. where I simply new it was time for a change. As I talk with prospective Online Business Managers there is a recurring theme I hear about WHY they are ready to make a change in their business. In this video I talk about these themes and what can be done about making that change.

Also I wanted to invite you to a call with
Tina Forsyth and I on Thursday 8/16 :

The Bare Naked Truth of What it Looks
Like Behind the Scenes at Team OBM

Click Here to Get more details

 

OBM Tip of the Week – Defining Positions

By |

Defining the team is taking a look at the business needs and identifying what kind of help is needed. This is where your expertise will come in, as you need to know enough about the process of doing business online to know what kind of help you need to hire. It is VERY VERY important to know exactly what you are hiring someone to do, so as to prevent confusion down the road on both sides.

For example, say you want to create a video for your client to put up on their homepage. Does the person you’re hiring need to do everything from A-Z (identify the content, create the content, produce the video, edit it and coordinate with your web master to put it on the homepage)? Or will your client record the video with their webcam and you just need someone to add an intro and convert it into a format that you can put online? There’s a big difference between those two jobs.

Once you are clear on the needs of the business you can look at putting together job descriptions for people you need to hire. Don’t be intimidated by the terminology – it doesn’t need to be a standard corporate 5 page job description – you just need to outline the skills, abilities and availability that you are looking for. It is also a good idea to define how much you are willing to pay as contractors rates can vary.

 

OBM Tip of the Week – Providing Solutions Not Options

By |

In our Online Business Manager Certification Training one of the Certification projects will be to layout a plan for a brand new project.  Start to finish.. the systems, software, team, timeline ect.  Many times we see from Certification trainees brilliant ideas, honestly, info we hadn’t even considered for that project (there are some VERY creative OBM’s out there).  But what will draw a red flag from the Certification Committee is when we see options being presented but no actual solution.

Let me explain if your client comes to you and says “Hey, I would like to do a webinar series offer and record it live then set it up on a drip systems to be continually purchased after the live program”.  At that point we (the OBM) will need to create a project plan to see this webinar series come alive.

Many times we will need to research various software or systems for anything from live componants to recordings to the platform we need to deliver on after the live event.  Many moving parts, many decisions to be made many options to choose from.

Once the options are compiled we then need to determine the best route in which to run this project (including budget for any new software, systems or team members) and offer that plan to the client… what does NOT need to happen is a compiled list of “well we could or these are the options’.

Here’s why:  OWNERSHIP!  Once the client has given you the ‘I wanna’ we need to respond with ‘We will’… this will give the client the since of partnership and freedom they need to continue being creatively brilliant and confident their team can handle the direction they are taking their business.

So don’t provide options to your client provide solutions..

OBM Tip of the Week – Driving the Bus – Part 1

By |

(an excerpt from Chapter 5 in Becoming an OBM)

Planning

Before starting any project you want to make sure you plan before you start. This is SO important in order to prevent frustration and wasted time and resources along the way.

Let’s look at an example. Your client has just written a book and needs to get a sales page “live” so he can start selling the book.

The first step is to plan the sales page, which means getting really clear on what exactly your client wants.

  • Is there an example of a sales page that he really likes?  Which elements does he like or not like? I always like to work from an example, especially if your client is new to sales pages or really wants to try something different.
  • Does he want a short/sweet style sales page or a longer/harder sell page?
  • What domain name does he want for the sales page?
  • Will you need to hire a copywriter to write the page?
  • Do you need a 3D graphic of the book to put on the page?
  • What look (colours, graphics, layout) does he want for the page?
  • Does he have testimonials ready or do you need to collect some?
  • What price will the book sell for? Is it an e-book or print book?
  • Are there any bonuses to go along with the purchase?Is there going to be a special launch price/offer?
  • Does your client want an upsell as part of the buying process (e.g., Buy the book and workbook for a discounted price)

As you can see, in order to effectively plan this project, you need to have a strong understanding of all the elements of setting up a sales page. If you don’t have experience in this yet, then I suggest finding a few sales pages and studying each element of the page.

You will also want to consider the cost of each piece of the project so that you can a) have a good idea of what the overall cost will be, b) prevent last minute surprises and c) have a guideline for keeping costs in check.