What It DOESN’T Mean When You Hire An OBM

There seems to be an epidemic in the OBM community where business owners onboard them and then ghost them or expect them to figure out the path to success. 

Newsflash: Hiring an OBM is not a permission slip to peace out your biz. It’s not a mark of “I made it.” 

You STILL have to show up as a CEO. You STILL have to make decisions. You STILL have to invest in doing what only you can do (aka your craft). 

Your OBM is there as a partner, team player, not the coach, nor the team, itself. With an OBM onboard, you now have the ability to have a “partner” in your biz and continue to grow and expand your ideas with someone who is all-in on your biz, just like you. They are an added strategic voice, but not the ultimate decision maker. 

The Driver

Think of it this way, when you hire an OBM, you’re essentially hiring a driver. 

And when you hire a driver, you can’t just get in the car and go. You have to tell the driver where you want to go (i.e. your business goals), give the driver directions (i.e. what you’re launching, who will benefit from it, and what the results will be), and check in with the driver to make sure there’s enough gas to get there without stopping, and the road is clear, etc. (i.e. team meetings to assess and adjust).

Your driver gives you the luxury of time to not focus on getting from point a to point b to point c. They allow you the ability to sit in the back and get 7x more work than you would alone. And the work you’re able to get done while your driver is driving is the work that only you can do in your business.

But this is not about productivity. This is expansion.

And expansion can’t happen if you don’t give your driver directions, they could end up “lost” along the way. 

Ultimately, you have to step more into the CEO mindset. 

Give the direction and vision to the OBM to work. Let them, then, come back to you, along the way, for feedback and approvals. This way, you’re working together as a team...not your OBM doing everything while you simply check out. 

Commit. 

Commit to still showing up. Commit to sharing goals. Commit to the path to success. Together. 

Don’t force the load on your OBM and expect them to be driven and motivated to do BOTH your job and theirs. 

Give your driver their directions and let them go do their thing...while you go do yours.

What IS your job? Strategy. Figuring out what your people need. Discovering what you best bring to your clients. Becoming the best at what you do. Being the face of your business. Meeting people. Every. Single. Day.

Connect. 

See eye-to-eye on the vision. Share the passion for making it happen. Inspire each other to carry out your roles together. 

Because as a team, there’s nothing more important than the shared vision of success and the road to get there (see what I did there with the driver analogy??). 

Check-in daily for immediate to-dos. And weekly to set the course heading for your journey for the week ahead, as well as to assess how the journey’s gone so far. 

You Are the CEO

In the end, you are STELLAR at what you do, which is why you hire an OBM to do the things that you are not as proficient at. And, together, the two of you can make an unstoppable team that skyrockets to success, if you’re both focused on doing those things you do best. 

Now, go forth and accept your role as CEO, make the decisions, and do your share of the work to see your business explode.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

Stuck? How to Re-Energize your Business

When we are excited about what we do, we get that whole “YES!” vibe that people crave doing business with.

Likewise, when we are tired and overworked, overwhelmed, stressed out, people feel it. And that whole “Ew!” vibe makes people scroll past our posts or just say no to our services.

They need to feel drawn to us. And that’s nearly impossible when we’re tired and worn out. I promise, they feel it in your messaging just as much as you do in your life (cringe).

If you’re getting that “I don’t want to get out of my PJs” feeling, it may be time to re-energize yourself and your business so you can thrive and attract the clients you want to work with again. 

But how can you take that “OMG-if-I-have-another-call-today” feeling and flip it around to “HECK YES! LET’S DO THIS!” so people come running at your business with money in hand? Take a look at the steps below, then go take action!

1. Take Time Off

I know you may think this is the last thing you need or can do right now. But it’s the single thing you HAVE to do. The number one way to refresh is to walk away, take time to breathe, and come back, refreshed.

Go to a beach, a mountain, a cavern in the hills of Ireland, or even your bedroom for a 3-day nap… It doesn’t really matter. Just block off the time you need and take it.

Your business will be able to run without you. And if it can’t, then you need a better system in place (https://www.katelynehamilton.com/systemswithspeed).

All you need to do is set up your email to let people know you’re out or have your OBM or VA take care of managing your inbox while you're away.  

Let your clients know you’ll be away and who will be around to handle their needs, take care of any fires that your VA needs you to handle before going, and mentally prepare yourself for this break. Remember, your business will survive for a week or two without you in it! 

2. Vision board/goal planning for the year 

Knowing what you’re building helps you keep focus. Because you want to be really clear on the business and life you want, and WHY you want these things. Even when things get tough.

You can do this in a couple of ways. Setting goals, or creating a vision board, will help you map out exactly what it is you want, and what you're working towards. I want you to think beyond just "make 6-figures this year." Sure that can be a goal, but what will setting that goal do for you? How do you want to feel once you reach that goal? Why is this important for your business or your life? Then HOW can you start to cultivate those feelings NOW, along the way? 

Those feelings won't just magically appear when you hit that goal - it's all a part of the process, or the journey. So when those PJs days hit, they don’t hit hard or long. You take your break and you get back on course because your goals are leading the way. 

3. Revamp your service offerings 

Sometimes you just need to look at your business with a fresh set of eyes. If you’ve been consistently adding new products and services and have a ton of offers all across the board, it may be time to niche down to just 2-3. Take a look at all your offerings and evaluate what you enjoy doing and what your target audience NEEDS from you. Maybe you combine a couple of offers into 1 NEW offering. Not only will you give your people something fresh to devour, you’ll give yourself a renewed sense of purpose.

Create 1-2 flagship programs that really resonate with your audience and let the rest go. That singular heading will feel light and empowering. Re-energizing you fully and giving you so much less dead weight to carry.

4. Outsource more to team 

If you do not have a team, build one. The right team members not only make work light for you, but it also allows your business to thrive because you are focused on doing the things only YOU can do.

If you are proficient at helping people create change in their lives, but not proficient at graphics, you may waste an hour creating a beautiful graphic (yes, even in Canva! Have you tried digging through all those options??) that your designer could do in 5 mins. That’s an hour of your time that could have been spent connecting with your ideal clients over social or even in session with current clients.

Likewise, a team can do the posting to social, emailing your list, managing your inbox, sending invoices, setting up workflows and more efficient systems, etc for you. This ensures that you always have a consistent flow of clients coming in, and are extremely visible online, while you're taking care of serving those clients and leading from your zone of genius.

Having a team you can trust also means that you don’t get burnt out doing the tasks that you shouldn’t be doing. It means you get to take more time off because there are people to do the things you can’t do efficiently. 
Don’t let overwhelm and frustration zap energy from you or your business. Put these tips to use and discover how much you truly do love your work and the clients you work with...again. 

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

How Workflows can Transform your Business

I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of the “set it and forget it” mentality. I appreciate it when I can set something up once and trust that it’ll work for me again and again. I look for things that are recurring tasks in my business that I can automate whenever possible. One way I’ve been able to do that is through workflows in one of my favorite platforms, Dubsado. Dubsado is a business tool that can function as a CRM, and/or a great onboarding platform for your business. I help many of my clients set up Dubsado because while it's not the most intuitive platform in the world, it’s so helpful for creating automations in your business.

So what does setting up Dubsado do for you?  It saves you time, and in the long run, that’s what saves you money. By setting up a workflow in Dubsado,  you don’t have to worry about the back and forth, or remember what you did the last time to create the same experience the next time. You are truly focused around creating standard processes for your business.

Here are four ways that workflows will transform your business:

1. Standard offers equal simplicity. 

Identify the standard offers you provide in your business. For example, if you are a business coach, maybe you offer one-on-one business coaching, courses, intensives or VIP days, etc. If you are a service provider, such as a VA or an OBM, I’ll use my business as an example, maybe you do a standard monthly hourly package, one-off projects, and an intensive. If you’re not currently offering “standard” services, meaning you instead customize each proposal for your clients, I would highly recommend you identify at least a couple of offers you can make standard. If you're constantly needing to create a new proposal or come up with new pricing for whatever your offer is, it won’t simplify anything in your business, and will in return create a lot more work for you, and not to mention the time spent in the backend of your business. I usually recommend two to three offers that are your go-to, that you can talk about and share, and really have those fine-tuned for your potential clients. Why do I believe in standard offers so much? If you don’t have standard offers, you can't do as much with automation. And what does automation do? It gives you some simplicity in your business. 

2. Save time with automation by the push of a button. 

If you have standard offers, such as business coaching, hourly services, and intensives, you can create workflows for each of those three things to help automate these processes for your new clients. So where do you start? Start thinking about from the time somebody wants to connect with you, to the time that they're onboarding as your client. What does that look like? For example, say we get on the phone, they say yes to working with me, I have this automation set up, it's called a workflow in Dubsado, where at the touch of a button, all I have to do is put in their information, including their name, their business name, their contact info, and click start on this automation. The first step in the automation includes sending them their contract and their invoice. Once their contract is signed and the invoice is paid, it automatically will send them an email with the next steps to book their first call with me, as well as a link to fill out a questionnaire. I don't have to worry about going back and forth with the client to do that. I don't have to remember what I said or go find a previous email to copy and paste. I don't have to go back and forth with the time to schedule a call. I also don't have to follow up with them for future invoices. I have it set up for say a six-month coaching client to send them a reminder to pay their next invoice three days before it's due. And then another email to go out if they don't pay it two days after it's past due. All of that is done for me at the touch of a button. A similar workflow happens for my other offers. This really simplifies the onboarding process for both you and the client.  

3. Positive Client Experience. 

Workflows create a positive client experience, as it feels seamless and easy to your new client. Your new client is not waiting on you to create the invoice or to send it over once they sign the contract. This is particularly important if you're in different time zones, or maybe they sign your contract at night after you've already stopped working. This way, they don’t have to wait on you to send the invoice over and waste another day before getting paid. It creates the ability for them to do the next step in the process on their time versus waiting on you. If this is the first time they're working with you, they're going into this relationship seeing how smooth the process is, which makes them feel good about the relationship moving forward. Creating the simplicity for them will make them feel more confident in their work with you. 

4. No need to reinvent the wheel. 

Every time that you onboard a new client, the process is the same. You're not coming up with a new way to do the same thing. You're not having to think about “Oh, what did I do last time?” You don’t want different workflows based on different scenarios. Instead, these workflows should be your go-to, every time you onboard a client. You don't have to make it harder than it already is or needs to be. It creates standards for your business and frees up space to focus on delivering kick-ass results to your clients.

As you can see, workflows are truly transformative for your business. It saves you time, and you probably don't realize how much time some of these things are truly taking you. When you sit down to create this standard, it will create that space in your brain to not have to worry about it anymore. You can also outsource some of these things, such as the onboarding of a new client, to a team member because you’ve put this standard into place which will allow you to be more productive in other areas of your business. 

If you have any questions, you can always feel free to reach out to me on Instagram. If this does feel overwhelming to you, you can also book a system and systems intensive with me. My Systems with Speed intensive is designed to help you run through this process, figure out what this looks like in your business, and I can set up Dubsado (and potentially another platform in that same intensive) for you to truly transform your business. If you are more of a DIYer, check out my course, Automate Everything, that will assist you in getting Dubsado set up on your own.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

3 Must Do’s when Starting your Online Business

When I first launched an online business 3 years ago, I struggled most with figuring out where to start and what to do first to actually “get” clients. I think most people have an idea of what they want to do, but they don’t have the business experience to know how to build a successful business.

There’s so much more that goes into running a business than the actual work that you wanted to do in the first place. It’s why so many people don’t actually make it in the entrepreneurial world. They don’t know about or think about the other things that you need to do to actually be successful.

If you’re just getting started in the online space, or you’re looking to start an online business, here are three “must do” things when just starting out:

1. Get Clear on your Service Offerings, Messaging & Ideal Client

Clarity is oftentimes one of the hardest parts of building your brand. I get it. You “can” do so many things, but that doesn’t always mean you should. Start out by asking yourself what you WANT to do vs. what you CAN do and really focus on those 1 to 2 things in order to not confuse your audience. Then, create a persona or avatar for your ideal client. Know who you want to work with and then your messaging will become much more clear. While your service offerings can always evolve, it’s nice to start out with a smaller focus to draw your audience in and communicate who you are and what you do easier.

2. Set up Foundational Systems and Processes

It truly amazes me how many people do not have any sort of systems or processes set up in their business. I have come into so many 6-figure and 7-figure businesses where there is nothing truly set up or documented for how they do things. So can you be successful without them, sure can, but I promise you that if you set them up from the start you’ll actually save yourself so much time and stress in the long run. So what systems and processes should you establish first? My top 3 are: Asana for project management and process documentation, Dubsado for contracts/ invoicing and overall client onboarding (and hello automations!), Acuity for calendar automation and scheduling. For more of my top recommendations and details, click here.

3. Show Up Consistently 

If I could give you one tip, and only one tip, it would be to be consistent. Show up EVERY SINGLE DAY. Show up on social media, show up to work on your business, show up for your clients, and most importantly show up when you think no one is watching. Contrary to what social media and “society” may lead you to believe, building a successful business does not happen overnight. It takes the relentless hustle of showing up day in and day out for people to start to notice you, build trust in you, and want to hire you. Keep going when it feels hard, and keep showing up when it’s easy. Deliver massive value and I promise you will be on your way to having the successful business you desire.

If you’re willing to do these things, you will see success in your business. It may take time, that’s why consistency is probably the most important of them all. But I promise you will get there. If you want additional support in your business, I strongly encourage you to hire a business coach. They’ve done it before and they can help you work through the strategy AND the mindset blocks that come with owning your own business. If you’re interested in learning more about coaching, book a discovery call with me here.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

Hiring: Who to Hire and When in your Business

Congratulations! You’re growing your business and hiring a team for support. That is definitely the way to scale and grow to continue to take on more clients and expand your service offerings, not to mention giving you the opportunity to make things more efficient in your business. When you’re just starting out, you’re doing ALL THE THINGS, right? The accounting, the backend management, the content, the sales calls, the programs, the coaching, the courses, etc. As you grow, you have the opportunity to outsource more of the things you don’t want to be doing in your business to allow you to focus on the things you love, and the things that can grow your income.

The big mystery question when it comes to hiring is WHO do I hire and WHEN do I hire them?

A lot of people make a lot of mistakes when hiring. They hire too late, they hire the wrong person, or they hire without a strategy. I’ve worked in many 6 and 7-figure businesses with teams of 30+ people, as well as hired a team of my own, so I’m here to share with you WHEN and WHO to hire to help your business thrive.

Hire BEFORE you’re ready

The hardest thing to do is hire when you’re desperate for help. This will cloud your judgment because you’ll just be looking for SOMEONE, ANYONE to help take the load off your plate. Hiring takes time, so it’s best to hire before you’re ready. As soon as you start to feel the strain and not enough time to get things done, consider looking for that next hire. The hiring process consists of more than just bringing someone onboard, you have to write the job description, post the job, review applications, conduct interviews, then, onboard and train the new team member. It’s a full month-long process. You want to make sure you’re dedicating the right amount of time to finding the right fit for YOU. 

Hire the PERSON over the resume

Hire QUALITY. You can always TEACH people things, but if you have the wrong person in place just to fill a role, your team and business will suffer. Sometimes yes, it may be best to hire someone a little more experienced that can jump right in, but other times you want to hire someone you can mold and train, someone that doesn’t have “set ways” that you can groom to do things the way you want them done. Determine the values you want in a person and the role and then hire based on the person you liked best. This is why interviewing on the phone is SO much more important than just picking someone out of a stack of “resumes” or emails. The person that is going to be the best fit for you and your team will be worth so much more to you in the long run.

Hire a generalist FIRST then a specialist by niche

One of my most common questions I get is who do I hire first? If you don’t have any support in your business yet, you’ll want to hire a generalist. This is someone who can do a little bit of everything. Schedule emails and social content, engage on your behalf, update reports, manage your new client onboarding and invoicing, etc. Now, don’t expect them to be a MAGICAL UNICORN who has expertise in all things -- like content creation, graphic design, video editing, etc. but just some GENERAL SUPPORT on the backend will help take some things off your plate. THEN, once you get some things off your plate, you can hire the “specialist” when ready to make the next hire. Maybe you suck at graphic design and want someone to create kickass graphics for your IG and social content. Or you really need some tech support for your website and email funnels. Or you want to launch a podcast and need a podcast editor. Or you need someone to manage Facebook ads (because FB Ad Manager is overly complicated for no reason hah). You get the point, first hire general support and then hire in the niche that you spend the most time in, but either don’t love doing or aren’t great at it. This formula right here will 10x your income in a heartbeat.

Hire a kickass OBM to manage your team

Hiring support comes with added responsibilities. Make sure you have someone to support you in managing your team and responsibilities. The last thing you need once you outsource is to fill that time with managing the people you outsource the work to. Hiring an OBM or project manager to support you in managing your team, responsibilities and workflow will truly give you the amount of time back you want and need in your business.

Following these simple reminders when hiring support in your business will allow you to be more efficient and scale your business faster! Support is critical for continued growth and success, but it can also hold you back if done poorly. This will save you time and money in the long run.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

Scaling your Business with Dubsado Workflows

Dubsado is hands down my favorite platform. Okay that’s a lie, I love Acuity. And Asana. Dang it, I just freaking LOVE systems!! You’ve heard me say it before, but I’ll say it again, systems are what scale your business. Without them, you’re doing a ton of manual work, wasting man-power when a robot can do the same thing, much quicker, and without wasting any brain-power!

One of my favorite things about Dubsado in particular is their Workflow feature. It truly is what sets it apart from other systems. Workflows have the power to automate your entire client process. You can automatically send forms, contracts, invoices, emails, calendar invites, etc. to your clients. You can simply walk a client through their first contact with you as a lead, through a successful on-boarding process, all the way until you off-board them as a client.

I’m going to walk you through all the parts of the process of setting up a simple workflow in Dubsado.

Lead Capture Forms

Lead forms are such a time saver. Think of this in the same way you’d think of an email capture form for your email list. The difference is, these lead forms are specific for people wanting to work with you, join your program, buy your product, etc. For example, say you’re launching a new group program. You can embed a lead capture form on your landing/sales page. A person who’s interested in your program will fill out the form (I usually keep it simple - name, email). This will bring them in as a “new lead” in Dubsado and label them whatever you choose (i.e. New Lead - XYZ Program). Now, the cool thing about lead forms is, they can trigger a workflow to start. So when that lead comes in, a workflow can be triggered to automatically send that person a personalized email, contract, and/or invoice for your program.

Choosing an Action in a Workflow

Actions are what you want the workflow to do. For example, you can send an email, send a contract, create an invoice, create a form, schedule a call, etc. From here, you have the ability to decide how that action is “triggered”. Maybe it’s when the workflow starts, or maybe it’s once the contract is signed by the client. If you want to send a client an invoice for your new group coaching program once they sign the contract, you would select “after contract is signed by client.” You can specify if you want this to be sent right away, or if you’d prefer a time delay.

Pausing / Approving / Automation for a Workflow

The great thing about workflows is the automation element. Once you hit start you can simply rest easy knowing that everything is being taken care of automatically. BUT, if you wanted to set everything up but set an “approval” action along the way, you could do that too. For instance, if you send a client your scheduler to book a call in one step, the rest of your workflow may be set up assuming that they say yes to working with you (I’m all about the added confidence here). You can add in an “approve first” for the next step in a workflow - say sending an invoice or contract for example. All you would need to do is press the approve button in the workflow and it would continue down its course.

Triggers in a Workflow

There are many different triggers that can start the next action in the workflow. For example, once a contract is signed, once an appointment has been made, once an invoice has been paid, etc.. This can be extremely helpful if you want to give clients access to say book a 1:1 call with you, or give access to the online portal or email them with next steps, but don’t want to do this until you’re certain they’ve made payment. You can trigger the next step once they’ve done the said action that you’d like them to make. 

Canned Emails

Canned emails are a lifesaver/timesaver. If you find yourself sending the same welcome email to a client with each new client you onboard, do yourself a favor and set up a canned email. But Katelyn, what if I personalize all my welcome emails? Girl, you’re wasting some serious time. There are still ways to personalize with automation and canned emails, but in order to reduce your overall time, generalize as much as you can and find ways to add the personalization later (maybe sending a welcome gift, or sending them a note after they fill out their onboarding questionnaire relating to something they shared, etc.). Examples of canned emails include: getting started/welcome email, contract, and invoice, booking an appointment, the process for your work together, etc). 

PREP your Workflows 

What do I mean by PREP? Get all the things you need ready before you start the workflow. This means, set up all those canned emails, set up your packages, set up your payment plans, add in all your relevant forms (think contracts, questionnaires, lead forms, etc.). Otherwise, you won’t get very far when starting to put together your workflow. You need all of these “set up” pieces in place and done first and then putting together your workflow should be a breeze.

Write Out Your Process First

When I do my “pre-intensive” call prep one of the first things we do is write out the flow of how they want things to go from start to finish. It’s here you typically realize you’re missing a step, or need to iron out a piece of your process. It’s better to do this up-front than mid-workflow. Trust me, a lot less frustration and time spent “redoing” or reorganizing your workflow. Think through every single step you want your client, or potential client, to take and what’s needed for that (forms, questions, copy, graphics, links, etc). 

Once you go through all the steps and set your workflow up, make sure you test it out! 9 times out of 10 I find an error in the workflow trigger or have something that needs to be adjusted, added or removed. I set myself up as a test client and run through the entire process just as a client would. Then you can be confident in your process and your client’s experience. Workflows are such an amazing way to create efficiencies in your business. While they do tend to take a few hours to set up, they will ultimately save you so much time and frustration. 

If you need additional support in setting up your Dubsado account, check out my Dubsado mini-course, Automate Everything, where I take you through setting up your entire Dubsado account. Click here to access and enter the code COVID19 to get 50% off! If you’d prefer more 1:1 support, I do offer a done-for-you intensive called Systems With Speed where I can set up your account for you in just 4-hours. Learn more here. If you’re new to Dubsado, get 20% off (either your first month or a full year purchase) using this link and the code katelynhamilton at checkout.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

The Biggest Mistake Even 6 and 7-Figure Business Owners Make

Over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work in the backend of 6 and 7-figure businesses. There’s one common theme I see repeatedly with each client I work with. This mistake is costing them hours of time in their business, and therefore money left on the table.

The good news? I’m here to save you a few steps.

So what’s the number one mistake? Lack of organization.

You can have all the sales plans, the best content, and prettiest graphics, but if the backend of your business is disorganized, you’re holding yourself back from that next level of success. 

The number one thing a lack of organization affects - your energy.

When your business is disorganized, you’re constantly working from a reactive state of mind instead of a proactive state. This is where things are missed, and mistakes are made. A lack of organization reduces the likelihood of everything running smoothly. Of course, even with the best-organized plan in place mistakes happen, but they happen far less when you’re organized. The result of constant reactive action? Drained energy. You end up spending more time on the backend tasks instead of engaging with your clients or target audience and doing the things you love in your business. 

The number two thing a lack of organization affects - your time.

Not only are you mentally drained by the reactive process, but you’re losing so much time. Whether it’s fixing mistakes, or writing content or searching for things last minute that you don’t know where you put them, this is valuable time you could be spending with your clients or doing business-building activities. If you’re not doing so already, track your time. See how much you’re spending in the backend of your business. Once you get organized, you’ll spend much LESS time searching for things and re-inventing the wheel and so much more doing what you love.

The number three thing a lack of organization affects - your mindset.

It’s so hard to have a GROWTH mindset when you can’t even think about tomorrow because you’re so frazzled with today. When you’re disorganized you often feel overwhelmed which leads to a lack of mentality instead of a growth mentality. You’ll find that when you get organized, you’ll think so much CLEARER and have less clutter filling your brain.

So the real question is, how do you get organized? The first thing I recommend is to use a project management tool like asana, learn more about it in this post here. This will help you stay on track with deadlines, deliverables, and team support. The second thing I recommend is Google Drive. Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT just dump files in there. Organize it by folder -- i.e. content folder, graphics folder, program folder, admin folder, etc. Then write down your processes for things. Onboarding, content creation, launches, etc. That way you don’t have to go digging for things down the line or re-create the wheel. The final thing I would suggest is to outsource. Some people (like me) are wired for organization, and others just aren’t. That’s 100% A-OK. I promise it’s worth the investment to hire out someone to get your business organized and functioning at a higher level. The investment is WELL worth it. If you’re looking for more tools and systems to get organized, I list them out in this blog post here.

There you have it. You’re not alone, as this is a common issue affecting so many business owners. I promise if you take the time to organize your business and set up the right systems and tools, as well as hire the right team, you’ll not only be saving yourself money but also increasing your energy and gaining back valuable time in your business.

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

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How to Maximize your Content

Oftentimes writing content feels overwhelming. I mean, it’s taken me over a week just to sit down and write this blog post. So we want to make sure we are maximizing all we can out of that one piece of content so it serves us for more than just “one post”.

How do you do that? Repurpose! That’s the name of the game. There’s actually so much you can do with one piece of content, one idea, and maximize its exposure and value to your audience.

Here’s how:

1. Break down your blog posts to smaller social posts

Content looks different on different platforms. On social media, there’s not always space or the attention span to write long-form content like you would for a blog. In order to maximize your content, break it down into smaller, bite-sized pieces for people to quickly read and understand. You can use your blog to pull content from so you don’t have to recreate the wheel.  

2. Bank your content to save for later use to re-share 

Once you create a piece of content, save it for future use. Just because you write one piece of content does not mean that its shelf-life is done. You can save that content for future use to sprinkle it into other content you share or offer it up as a value-add to those looking for information on a specific topic. This “content bank” will help you when you’re either not feeling motivated to write new content — plus, unless it’s a timely topic, I am sure a lot of your content is considered “evergreen” and you can use it for years to come. 

3. Use the same piece of content to share to your email list 

Another way to maximize content exposure is to take the same piece of content you wrote for a blog and share it with your email list. You want to keep your email list engaged and provide them with valuable content they can use. The goal here is to not share all of your content but just a snippet that will bring people in and engage them and direct them to your website to finish reading. Once on your website, they’re likely to browse other tabs, or check out other blog posts and continue to build that know, like and trust factor with you.  

4. Create a video of the content you wrote use and share again or on other platforms 

Video is so powerful and becoming an increasingly important piece to your content strategy. The best thing about it is that you can take a simple blog post and create short, easy video content that will feel like you’re engaging with people in a totally new way. Then you can again maximize your exposure as you’re saying the same thing just delivering it in a new way. Some people prefer to watch video over read content, therefore you’re reaching even more of your audience. This also lets you add a little bit of your own personality and infliction through video to maybe convey your message/content a bit differently than you would in writing.

5. Share the same content you broke down for your social platforms to Facebook groups 

Facebook groups are a great way to build the know, like, and trust factor with your target audience. There’s a Facebook group for EVERYTHING you can think of and a really targeted way to grow your audience. Share your value-add content in these groups. Engage on others posts. This is a really great place to gain exposure to your ideal clients. I’ve gotten numerous clients from simply posting in Facebook groups - whether they then followed me on Instagram, or if they got a referral from a friend - they knew my name.

The goal of content repurposing is to yes, increase your content exposure, but also to simplify things for you and make things feel less overwhelming. There are so many ways to maximize content exposure and repurpose your content. Video, blogs, podcasts, interviews, etc., all offer opportunities to use that content and share it in different ways across your platforms. If you feel like you’re saying the same thing on every platform - you are, but remember, people will not consume your content on every platform. They may not see all your social posts or go to your website to read your blog, but instead, they enjoy your weekly email. You want to hit people in a variety of places to meet them where they’re at and serve them up content in a way they prefer to digest it. 

Do you have a content repurposing strategy you love?

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

How your Email List will Earn you Money as an Entrepreneur

What would happen to your business if Facebook and Instagram shut down tomorrow and you lost all of your followers?

Would you panic? That 10k, 50k, 100k+ followers don't seem so important anymore, do they? The thing is, Mark Zuckerberg actually owns all of your followers. But guess what you own?

Your email list.

This is the most important piece of your business to focus on growing and nurturing. This list is going to get you sales. This list will earn you money. I’m going to teach you how to grow it and use it to build relationships, position you as an expert in your field, and generate sales.

1. Give Value Up Front

People don’t just give out their email freely anymore. Those days are long over. They’re tired of their inbox being cluttered with sales pitches vs. the content they truly want to consume. You have to give them a reason to want to be on your list from the get-go. To do this, you’ll need to give them something in exchange for their email address. This is called a “freebie.” What can you create and turn into PDF form, video, or a 5-day series that will solve a problem and get a quick result for your target audience? This will give people a reason to share their email address with you - think of it as an exchange. This will get them on your list to continue to give value to (and sell) down the line, but it creates a favorable first impression.

2. Nurture them along

You want your audience to feel nurtured and not forgotten about. You want to continue to help them, serve them, and let them get to know you. This is where automation comes into play. Set up a sequence so that once they sign up for the freebie you’re offering they’re not just delivered that freebie, but instead they’re delivered a series of emails over a couple of weeks that gives them a better idea as to who you are, what you do and how you can serve them. Pop into their inbox every couple days for those first couple weeks to stay top of mind.

3. Share a vulnerable story to relate

People relate to people. Share your story. Give people a peek behind the curtain as to who you are and how you can relate to them. Did you struggle with the same things? What led you here today? Emotion paints a beautiful picture for people and allows them to see a piece of themselves in you to form a true connection. Use this in your welcome/freebie series, as well as periodically in your campaign emails - and especially when selling a program, course, or new service offering. Guess what? Emotion sells. 

4. Make them feel like a VIP

Give them early access, discounts, and special bonuses just for being a part of your list. You want it to feel like they’re part of an exclusive community, and you want to give them a reason to stick around. The goal is for them to be excited to see your name in their inbox, not think “ugh another email from YOUR NAME HERE”. Again, tap into their emotions and make them feel so special. Plus they’re the ones showing up for you by giving you access to their inbox, and you want to take care of those on your list first and foremost.

5. Find your “hot” market

Analyze your list. Yes, this means looking at your analytics, and segment based on engagement. Who’s active in the last 7 days or 30 days? Who consistently opens your emails? Who clicks on all your links? These are the people that are on the verge of a sale if they haven’t purchased already. Segment them into their own list and market to them even more specifically.

Finally, I want to encourage you to be consistent with your emails. Show up in your audience’s inbox frequently. Deliver value, don’t just ask for the sale. Use all of the tips I mentioned above and watch your list grow and your income grow. You can apply these tips to almost any email platform, but if you want my recommendation, I love FloDesk. Use this link to get 50% off.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

How to Launch your Online Business During a Pandemic

Deciding to start an online business is easy. It’s actually launching it that can feel scary and intimidating and bring up a lot of feelings of self-doubt and uncertainty.

How do I know this? I’ve been there. I remember launching my online business, while not in the middle of a pandemic, it was a moment in my life that felt very similar. I was let go from my safe, corporate job. I struggled for about 5-6 months in trying to figure out what was next for me while searching for yet another “safe” option. But it just didn’t feel right to me. I dabbled in entrepreneurship a bit by freelancing through connections I had in the marketing world.

For some reason, it felt safer to call it “freelancing” than pursuing entrepreneurship.

Once I did finally DECIDE to launch a business, I had no clue where to start or what I needed to do. So I created a website by paying a guy on Fiverr $160 for some design help and I felt official.

The thing is - you don’t need to do that to launch an online business. All you need to do is decide, and then start promoting your business.

This is where a lot of entrepreneurs get caught up. The HOW. There are SO many things to learn. That’s the beauty of it - we were all there once and we all have just figured it out. To save you some time, stress, frustration and anxiety, I’m going to share with you some tips to launching your business, during a pandemic nonetheless.

1. Show Up Every Day

Consistency is KEY. Show up relentlessly for yourself and others. Join entrepreneurship Facebook groups and comment on posts, get your name out there. Also, show up for your business. So many people get analysis paralysis and over-analyze, or fear, taking the wrong step in their business. Stop worrying and just take action. Do SOMETHING to move the needle forward in your business every day whether that’s engaging, building relationships/networking, building out your first course, writing a bunch of content, etc. Just start showing up for yourself and your new business every single day.

2. Get Clear on What You Do and Who You Serve

Clarity is imperative for long-term success. No, you don’t need to have it all figured out right now, but get clarity on who you want to serve and what you want your focus to be in your business. You want your target audience to know what exactly you can help them with and if you are offering social media management services alongside website design and graphic design, they’re going to be CONFUSED. Pick one thing, and define your target audience. Remember, you can ALWAYS pivot later on. 

For example, when I first started my business I came from the corporate marketing, PR, advertising world, so naturally, I started a full-service marketing agency. I did what I knew, marketing for small corporate clients.

As I became more invested in the entrepreneurship world, I realized I would be a kick-ass OBM. It was so much of what I was already doing in the account management world of marketing, just needed a little bit more knowledge of digital platforms to add to it and BAM I realized how marketable I would be to people knowing I had this sort of knowledge alongside my marketing experience.

Now, after growing my OBM business over the last 18 months, and finding success in my first marketing agency (Fast Follow Co), I’m confident in my ability to grow successful businesses and my ability to share that knowledge with others to help them grow theirs -- in comes business coaching to the mix.

So no, you don’t have to have it all figured out day one, it can evolve. Just start somewhere and get really good at what you pick first.

3. Give Lots of Free Value

You have to build that know, like and trust factor with your audience. To do that, you need to give a shit ton of free value to warm your audience up to you. It takes people on average 7 times before they actually convert to a paying customer. So during those 7 interactions, you need to not only be pitching your services but also providing them with information to solve their problems based on the types of services you offer.

I suggest my clients set up a simple funnel. Create a downloadable “freebie” to give value and grow your email list. Then share with them your story and expertise to get to know you a bit better, give them some more value, give them a discount on a service you provide to get them in the door and then funnel them to a higher-priced offering.

Free value is important throughout the lifetime of your business, but even more when you’re just starting out. I traded my services in the beginning for things and to obtain testimonials to help me promote my business as well.

4. Set up Systems and Processes to Create a Strong Foundation

I wish I knew what I know now about systems when I first started out. Man, it would have simplified SO much in my business. There are a million and one different systems out there. They help you to create a strong foundation from day one where you can feel organized and professional. The ones I highly recommend figuring out how to use in your business include:

• Email Marketing Platform - you want to grow your email list from day 1. I recommend FloDesk or ActiveCampaign personally.

• Business management tool - Dubsado. There really is no other comparable option in my mind. I even have a super simple, and crazy affordable minicourse that will help you get it set up. Learn more here.

• Automatic Scheduler - Acuity, Calendly, Satori, Dubsado. I love Acuity but I also get it for free as I was grandfathered into a plan. If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend just using Dubsado’s scheduler for convenience and not having to learn another platform

• Website Platform - I am a huge proponent of Squarespace. So easy to use and integrate with other platforms.

• Social Media Scheduler - Later.com or Planoly. These are so easy to set up and will allow you to schedule your content in advance. 

• Project Management tool - Asana, Trello, ClickUp. All great resources and will help you to keep track of your to-do lists and manage your clients with ease.

5. Invest in Yourself Before You’re Ready.

Give yourself this permission. It will feel scary. Especially if you don’t have many (or any) clients yet. Investing in yourself reaffirms that you believe in yourself and your business. You have skin in the game. It helps to keep you accountable and learn faster than if you wait until you think you’re ready. Because the truth is, you’ll never 100% be ready.

Hire a business coach. The ROI is WORTH IT. Think about it, would you rather spend 10x longer trying to figure it out on your own, or would you prefer to have someone who’s been there before guide you. This will save you time and earn you money FASTER and you’ll see a huge ROI on this investment. Not only will they help you with the strategic and logistical side, but also your mindset which is so fragile when starting something new.

Personally, I invested in 2 courses within the first 6 months of my business, a business mentor the second 6 months into my business and a year later a business coach. All have been instrumental in my success as an entrepreneur.

If you’re ready to launch your business, stop playing it “safe” (this pandemic has proved that nothing is truly safe anymore) and follow your passions to create the freedom in your life you long for, let’s chat!

I’m offering an introductory coaching rate of $500/mo for a 3-month coaching program. In those 3 months we will get your business set up, launched and bring in money consistently, growing your client roster.

Book a free coaching consult here.

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.