One year ago, I was struggling to try to figure out what I wanted to do with my business and my life. I launched my corporate marketing agency, Fast Follow Co, and had some great clients, but it wasn’t 100% what I wanted to spend the rest of my career doing. Over the past 8 months or so, I had found “my people” in the online space. I loved connecting with and working with other entrepreneurs. I knew that those were the people I wanted to serve, but I wasn’t sure how my past experiences in marketing, account and project management, PR and media relations would translate to working with entrepreneurs. Until I discovered the role of an online business manager.
It was then that it all clicked. I started looking at other respected OBMs and realized there truly was a lack of OBMs in the market and my unique background and expertise in marketing would set me apart from other OBMs as well. So, I hired a brand and website designer, Oliver James, launched my business and hired my OBM mentor, Sara Wiles. These investments alone were worth every penny in getting my business up and running.
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to serve so many amazing, successful clients and allow them to continue to grow their businesses. I also have learned so much about my business, just about reached the 6-figure mark, have become fully-booked out and hired a VA and SMM. It’s incredible to look back at all the changes and growth in the last year alone..
To celebrate a year in biz as an OBM, I wanted to share with you some tips for creating more efficiencies in your business from other OBM’s and VA’s around the world.
“Time Block and plan content out in batches”
Noelle Campany, Social Media Manager and Virtual Assistant
“Use a task management platform like a bible!”
Sara Wiles, Online Business Mentor
“Don’t discredit the power of content repurposing and how much time it can sae you on a weekly basis.”
Claire Elizabeth, Executive Virtual Assistant
“Document every step that's taken to complete a task. This exercise is two-fold:
1. Seeing the entire process written out will often lend itself to being able to visualize where the inefficiencies are so you can make adjustments
2. Having your process documented lays the foundation for creating SOPs, which help you (and/or your team) perform the task consistently (and efficiently because you're not having to try and remember what the next step is - you just follow the steps without having to think through it)”
Sarah Leigh Day, Workflow Strategist
“Repurpose your content. You can take one thing that you do and use it several different ways. For instance, Write a post, then make a video saying what you said in the post, send out an email to your list, post the info on your website, in your group, etc.”
Bonnie Hardie, Rock Solid Social Media & Virtual Assistance
“Get really clear about those time suckers. I find a lot of people think they know where there time goes but when they spend a week tracking... it’s actually really eye opening for them!”
Stephanie McIntyre
What piece of advice do you find most helpful?
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 soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two 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.
