Preneur Marketing Blog – Pete Williams | Author Entrepreneur

Thought I should share this video on the blog.

A few days ago, I got an email asking for some advice regarding outsourcing and working with Virtual Assistants.

Rather than, just responding to the email… I thought I would throw together a quick video covering my Top 5 Implementable Tips + Techniques for getting the most from your virtual assistant team and outsourcing.

Email Template

In the video I talk about a daily email I require all my VA’s to send… Given the response this has gotten when I’ve mentioned it in the past.. I’ve put it here for you to cut-n-paste.

[[ Please Take The Last 5mins Of EVERY Day To Complete The Following 5 Questions & Email Them To Me Before Your 'Sign Off' ]]

i. What was the plan for today?
What was on the to-do list at the beginning of the day + how long do you estimate the task to take

ii. What was achieved today?
What tasks from i. were actually completed today + how long did they actually take to complete.

iii. What wasn’t achieved today, and why?
It’s OK if you don’t always complete the objectives for the day – some tasks take longer than a day, some times things are out of your control etc etc.
But, if you don’t complete a planned task, I would like to know why AND what you did about it…
i.e. Couldn’t login in to X site, and send a support ticket | Waiting on X for a response; but left 2 messages etc

iv. What do you need from me [Pete], and BY WHEN?
If you need answers, input, feedback, other stuff from me to continue working on a project; please note ALL the details in this section. So I can get them too you.
Please order these in ‘due date’ – so the stuff you need first from me, should appear at the top of the list
Also, please leave the ‘tasks’ on this list until they are completed by me.
[It's only fair that I am accountable to you as well]

v. What’s the plan for tomorrow?
This is simply an overview, of what you have planned for tomorrow + an estimate of how long each task will take.
This will obviously, become the list for point i. the next day.

That’s it, 5 questions.. 5 minutes – 1 email.

Hope this helps you grow your business…

Pete

P.S. 3 other blog posts from the inter-webs on outsourcing worth reading are:
http://lifehacker.com/5488130/fiverr-outsources-your-small-jobs-for-5
http://imsimple.com/12-tips-on-outsourcing/
http://thelifedesignproject.com/outsourcefreelance/

Not sure about you, but I use a tonne of email auto-responders in all my companies – and not just the online businesses. The sequential, set & forget marketing from the email auto-responders are killing it for my biggest real world company Infiniti Telecommunications

See, I’ve been looking for a way to implement the same automated follow-up marketing offline via direct mail for about a year, and not a single direct mail print company (in Australia or USA) offered a solution. They all offered the ability to do a mail merge (variable data) print run, if I wanted to arrange a once off promotion, but nothing that even resembled an automated follow up sequence of post-cards and/or greeting cards.

Anyway, a friend ‘pitched’ a card sending business model to me over a year ago, which I completely blew off. It was an MLM business-model and he used the standard network marketing pitch as well – I had too many other projects on the go, didn’t want another income opportunity chewing up my time, and felt that I’d have to sell ‘snake oil’

BUT, then after helping him out in a completely unrelated area, I got one of these cards as a small thank-you note… and the thing that stood out for me was:

The cards (and envelope) were printed in his own Handwriting – With a Local Postage Stamp !!

Yep, the platform they use to print these cards allows customers to fill out a form and have their handwriting uploaded as a custom font — blew my mind ! Just imagine how high the ‘open rates’ of these cards are – 98%+ ? (Puts the open rates of even the best email copywriters to shame.)

So, after a quick conversation I also learned that the platform allows clients all over the world, to not only send out single cards, bulk mailings, birthday/anniversary cards on pre-set date (which is cool in itself) …

BUT you can set-up an auto-responders style sequence, where clients can get a ‘thank you for buying’ postcard immediately, 17 days later a ‘hope it’s all going well’ two-fold card, then a ‘it’s probably time for a refill’ postcard 45 days later etc etc etc.

As I talk about in the ‘Preneur Hierarchy’ section of the book, the easiest people sell to are your existing customers, right ? Well, this is that follow-up, stay-in-touch, up-sell, back-end real-world marketing program on auto-pilot.

The thing that really annoys me, is they don’t really ‘pitch’ the auto-responder feature of their service – They are more focused on people sending one-off thank you cards to friends and family.

The other amazing thing is that it costs a lot less than $1 per card… and that includes postage!! (You won’t find hallmark anywhere near that price – and the quality is identical to me)

There library has over 10,000 card designs, but you can obviously upload your own designs (in under 2mins) for custom promotional mailings.

This is one of the best direct response marketing services I’ve ever seen…

Now regarding, the often dirty term ‘Multi-Level Marketing’ – Firstly, let me say:

You can become a customer of their service WITHOUT joining the MLM structure.

I wanted to make this clear again, because I am not trying to pitch you on ‘joining my downline’, I really do believe the direct marketing service they offer is a powerful one.

If you want to also have a opportunity to make some (good) coin along the way, great… They offer some very healthy sign-up commissions, plus a (residual income) $% of every card printed and sent from people (customers) in your downline. But, that side of things is all explained on a video over at their site.

Either way, I really encourage you to check out their direct mail services.

I’ve arranged a 7 Day Free Trial, so you can send 2 or 3 one-off cards to friends, customers or even yourself (to see the quality first hand) and trial their direct mail marketing platform.

Just visit http://bit.ly/7DayCardTrial, ignore the crappy site layout, and click the big banner at the top of the page, then follow the simple sign-up process.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to shoot me an email anytime – I’d really love your thoughts and feedback.

That link again is http://bit.ly/7DayCardTrial

Speak soon.

Pete

P.S. Did I mention that once you’re a client they upload your OWN friggin handwriting as a font – and include a couple of signatures too !!!

P.P.S. Direct Mail Auto-Responders = No Spam Filters + Really High Open Rates + Less Competition (no one get’s “handwritten” mail anymore, unless it’s a bill)

P.P.P.S. Go and visit http://bit.ly/7DayCardTrial

P.P.P.S. And yes… given that it’s an MLM model, when you sign up for an account and implement this offline auto-responder service in your business, I will make a few bucks. But if you join their entrepreneur program I’m more than happy to ‘coach’ and help you grow your MLM business.

Happy New Year Folks…

From Denmark to India, from college students to retirees, from yoga instructors to engineers, over on Tim Ferriss’ blog there a bunch of awesome lifestyle design case studies based on the Four Hour Work Week methodology.

Like Tim’s says “These videos represent a real-life crash course in the many paths and practicalities of lifestyle design. I hope you love watching them as much as I did…”

Check them out at: Cold Remedy: 15 Real-World Lifestyle Design Case Studies (Now It’s Your Turn)

The video I posted in my recent 30DC vs 4HWW post has made the cut, and Tim is looking for the ‘best case study’, so I would really appreciate your vote over at Tim’s Blog… and in return please hit me up on twitter [@preneur] and let me know how I can help you implement your 2010 resolutions/goals/ambitions (whether it’s emailing you once a week to make sure you’re on track OR coming to visit you in person if I win the trip)

As a ‘fun entry’ I also asked Em, one of my virtual assistants to post a video entry as well…

i am sure I’m not telling you anything new when I say “By strengthening your guarantee and removing your customers risk it will not only bring you new customers but also reinforce the relationship you have with your existing clients.”

But before we get into the link between Bartercard and Guarantees, I want to delve into the importance of a guarantee. If you are not currently offering, or verbalizing, a guarantee with your products or services you need to start doing it right away!

The challenge for the majority of businesses is believing enough in their products or services to offer a guarantee, let alone announce it to their customers. Most businesses are fearful of offering a powerful guarantee because they are worried about being taken for a ride.

Offering a powerful guarantee boosts your credibility and takes the risk off the buyer. By taking the risk away from the customer it gives your prospect no reason not to buy from you and motivates them to take action. It appeals to their logic, as they can feel secure that they are not going to get value for every dollar spent with you.

Some of the worlds largest and most successful companies offer powerful and effective guarantees so there is no reason you shouldn’t either:

Dominos Pizza: ‘Hot Fresh Pizza Delivered To Your Door Step in 30 Minutes Or Its Free.’

Video Ezy: ‘Get It First Time Or Get It Free’

Now lets look at how BARTERCARD CAN STRENGTHEN YOUR GUARANTEE.

As you would be aware, most guarantees are based on a ‘refund’ system, where if the promise is not fulfilled, the customers investment is refunded. That’s fine and effective, but obviously effects your cash flow if there is a need to honor your guarantee.

The most effective and creative guarantees offer the customers something of real tangible benefit. So lets get creative, involve Bartercard, and offer your customers something a little different. Here are some examples of how you can use your trade dollars and substantiate your guarantee:

A Carpet Cleaner could employ the following guarantee: “If your carpets are not looking like new after our professional clean we will pay for you to get out of the house for a weekend. Yes that’s right we guarantee our service and stand by it 100%, so if you are not happy we will send you to Mildura for a weekend getaway while we reclean your carpet, valued at $149.95.”
– Obviously the accommodation package would be purchased on trade, thus not effecting the business cashflow.

Tradesman, who are renowned for being late, could offer the following: “Unlike the majority of tradesman who turn up late for appointments and keep their customers waiting I respect and value your time. So if I ever keep you waiting by being late, without rescheduling, I will refund your wasted time by not having you need to cook dinner. That’s right I will send you and your family out for dinner at one of a selection of local restaurants – to the value of $60.00”
– Again, this meal voucher would be purchased on trade.

A Jumping Caslte Hire company could offer : “a free carpet clean if his amusements are not so appealing that it keeps the kids out of the loungeroom and in the backyard”

A restaurant could purchase on trade and “give away a free bottle of wine if the meal was late, cold or had a fly in it”

By employing some creativity when designing your guarantee you can create an offer that still reduces the buyers risk while not effecting your cashflow.

Using BARTERCARD TO STRENGTHEN YOUR GUARANTEE, your CASH prospects will be motivated to take action and use your services – if and only if, you are prepared to commit to using this idea in your business… starting today.

If you’ve read Tim Ferris’ Four Hour Work Week you’d be well aware of the “allure of outsourcing”… Sit back and relax why a team of India’s finest do everything for you…

Unfortunately for most people, when they first throw their hat into the outsourcing ring it doesn’t go according to Tim’s plan;

This is because they haven’t OutSourced at all… They’ve OutTasked.

It’s a big lesson that I finally learned after chatting to a friend of mine Marc Lindsay one day.

When it comes to outsourcing, I think Daniel Turner and Marc Lindsay are the most experienced guys I know; and have a very systematic approach to the whole thing…

So what makes these boys an “authority” on the subject of Outsourcing?

* They’ve had over 100,000 unique pages of content (yes that’s 100,000 articles) written for their businesses
* They’ve had written over 80 niche ebooks (and the salesletters, sites and everything that goes along with it)
* They’ve spent well over $100,000 (I think it’s more like 200-300k) in software development
* They’ve has his team complete more than 500 site designs across HTML, Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, and a range of other CMS, LMS and E-Commerce Systems
* They’ve built a 30+ person traffic team that work on their various sites

So… last Friday I got Dan on Skype and grilled him about all things outsourcing… in particular why most people are OutTasking; when they think they are Outsourcing.

Download MP3 File Here

Referenced in the Interview:

In the interview with Dan we make mention of an interview Dan did with the founder and CEO of Rent-A-Coder; one of the leading outsourcing portals on the web. You can grab a copy of that interview over at The Outsouring Method

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