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/

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…

With the release of Tim Ferriss‘ newly updated Four Hour Work Week; I wanted to answer a question I’ve often been asked:

“What’s the difference between the Thirty Day Challenge and the 4 Hour Work Week?”

Before I jump down this rabbit hole, for those who are not familiar with the phenomenon that is Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week…

The 4HWW in a nutshell talks around the acronym DEAL (coined by Ferriss) which stands for: Definition, Elimination, Automation, and Liberation.

The book (like the acronym) starts with Definition; figuring out what you really want for your lifestyle, and doing the sums to figure out what it will really cost to get there. It’s amazing how much it doesn’t cost to live like a king in Argentina.

Elimination is all about time management, or rather about not managing time. In my opinion this is the main take-away from the book; and is achieved by applying the 80/20 rule to focus YOUR time only on those tasks that contribute to your goal; and leaving the rest to an outsourced team (by taking advantage of geo-arbitrage)

The thirst section of the book is focused on Automation; and is about building a sustainable, automatic source of income. It’s here that the similarities with the 30DC appear.

Finally Tim ties everything together with Liberation; the goal of the ‘new rich’ = successful automation of one’s lifestyle and the liberation from a geographical location and job.

As I said above, The 30 Day Challenge relates to only one element of the 4HWW D.E.A.L. – the Automation component.

It’s in this section of the book that Tim does a great job of giving an overview of the ‘online business building’ process in the context of the entire ‘new rich’ philosophy, and making the process look achievable for everyone, because it really is.

This new rich philosophy, presented in the ‘Definition’ section, really drives home the ‘why’ in ‘why should I be doing this’ …

And it’s the WHY which is missing around the current 30DC format, which in my opinion, is one of the driving factors behind us putting together our own book (due out mid 2010) – Although Ed try’s to set the context during the pre-season and Day 1, the book will give us an outlet to give a much more detailed, detached and objective commentary on the 30DC philosophy, what it takes to create a successful business online, and our definition of ‘WHY’

Having said that, there is only so much step-by-step you can cover in a book – and where the 4HWW is weak the 30DC is strong (stronger than any other online training program period. Paid or Free) The 30 days of the 30DC is a lot more detailed on the ’steps’ you need to do it get your ‘muse’ off the ground and make your first $1 online.

Tim provides links to some great ‘tools’ in his book, but can’t go into a lot of detail on ‘how (and why) to use these tools’, which leaves the reader fending for themselves – and this is the void which the 30DC fundamentally fills.

With over 20 hours of free step-by-step (screen capture) video tutorials, the 30DC is the best partner for implementing the ‘Automation’ section of the 4HWW, and making a dent in that automated income goal.

… but more than simply being a online course (library), the 30DC is as much about ‘testing a niche’ as it is about starting a business – but more on this in the upcoming book.

So… What’s your take on the 4HWW and the 30DC – and how have either made a difference to your life? [Leave a comment below]