Outsourcing guide

Outsourcing Guide

Disclaimer “This publication is intended to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is distributed with the understanding that the publisher, author, and all contributors are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal, tax, or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.” This book is intended for instructional purposes only. Every effort has been made to reflect the applicable laws as of the date of the publication of this book. However, this is a dynamic field of endeavor in which new laws are enacted, old laws revised and/or reinterpreted on a continuing basis, and where statutes, rulings and precedential case law are constantly changing. Readers are advised to proceed with the techniques described herein with due caution. Neither the author, printers, licensees, nor distributors make any warranties, expressed or implied, about the merchantability or fitness for any particular use of this product. Reproduction or translation of any part of this work without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful and strictly prohibited. FreedomSoft LLLP 1208 E Kennedy Blvd Unit 621, Tampa, FL 33602-‐3523 www.freedomsoft.com [email protected] © Copyright 2013, FreedomSoft LLLP

** You can also find this document in DOC and PDF format inside FreedomSoft. After you login, go to “Classroom,” “Virtual Assistants,” and click on “Download.” Enjoy. **

It wasn’t going to look quite like this.

Originally, the FreedomSoft Outsourcing Guide was going to be a set of videos that you could hand to your Virtual Assistant (VA) so that they could login to FreedomSoft and run 90% of your business for you.

A dream for you, indeed! And actually much less time-‐consuming for us than writing this Guide.

But after multiple brainstorming sessions between Preston, Pete, Justin, and me (I wish you could sit in and observe the back-‐and-‐forth creative power & hilarity of one of these sessions, by the way), what we realized is that it would be impossible to produce something like this. The FreedomSoft investor family spans all 50 U.S. States and 13 countries around the globe.

Too many varying market conditions.

Too many individual real estate business models.

Too many different personal objectives to consider. How do you record a video for an investor who simply wants to replace their $5,000-‐per-‐month income that also applies to one who’s shooting for a multi-‐million-‐dollar business?

But there’s a more important factor than the complex diversity of the FreedomSoft family. A set of plug-‐and-‐play videos are simply not what you need.

We’ll still give you plenty of templates, videos, and a clear plan for outsourcing a large percentage of your business (thereby freeing up more of your time & accelerating your financial return) a few pages from now, but we’re going to start somewhere else.

We’re going to start with your thoughts.

“Huh?” you ask.

Consider this: Your thoughts determine your actions, and your actions determine your results. Different results, therefore, begin with radically different thinking.

Read that one more time:

Your thoughts determine your actions, and your actions determine your results.

By “results,” I’m talking about:

• More time so you can actually enjoy weekends with your family rather than slaving behind your computer.

• More mobility so you can take the month-‐long South Pacific cruise you’ve dreamed about, working just one hour a day while you’re there (without your business or your cashflow skipping a beat).

• More money so you can buy that new Range Rover you’ve had your eye on. Or so, when a natural disaster like the Haiti earthquake happens, you can actually afford to do something significant about it.

I’d wager that any result – any “reason why” – you’re working toward falls into one of these three categories. And achieving these results (rather than the crappy results you may currently be getting out of your business) begins with radically different thinking.

Different thinking about yourself, your business, your time, your money.

Are you willing to start here?

Say “heck yes!”

Go ahead. Say it out loud.

Good.

We’re going to start here, whether you like it or not. :-‐)

And we’re going to talk about VAs – where to find them, what to outsource to them, & how to maximize your return on time & money – in a way that actually produces lasting results in your life. I hope you don’t mind.

Let’s get into it…

The Meaning of Life, and Why Outsource?

Let’s be clear about what we’re doing here…

The goal of this Guide – and from a bigger picture, the goal of FreedomSoft and the goal of outsourcing in general – is to give you freedom. Financial freedom, sure. Freedom to live a mobile lifestyle, absolutely. But most importantly, freedom to do anything you wish with your time, the most precious asset you have in life.

That’s where we’re headed with this. It’s our destination.

Let’s call it __<your name here>__ ’s Freedom Island… a magical land of milk & money, where all your dreams are realized. It’s not that far off, you know, and the directions for getting there aren’t as complicated as you think.

We’re going to create the road map together.

But before we can do so, we need to make sure we know exactly what this destination, your personal Freedom Island, looks like.

So just stop for a second and tell me why you’re a real estate investor in the first place.

Why the heck did you choose THIS route instead of what everyone else and their mommas – and their mommas’ mommas – are doing… twiddling their life away for 40 years, taking the occasional “keep-‐it-‐short-‐or-‐get-‐fired” vacation, trading their time for paychecks, saving for a retirement that may or may not come, and having no real idea for what to do with themselves if & when they can retire?

Because it’s easier to go with the grain, you know.

So why are you an investor? What is your “reason why” for doing this?

More time? More mobility? More money? More FREEDOM?

Probably all of the above. But what – specifically – will you do with the freedom that FreedomSoft and outsourcing to Virtual Assistants give you?

We need to start here and work backward.

Take a minute & write down your “reasons why,” in the form of short term goals (benchmarks of immediate freedom; 1-‐3 months), medium term goals (major lifestyle upgrades; 6 months to 3 years), and long term goals (the destination; 5 to 10 years). Be extremely specific.

“When you find yourself on the side of the

majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

-‐ Mark Twain

TIME – Freedom of Working Hours

1. Short Term Time Goal (most “realistic” & “achievable”, a benchmark of immediate freedom)

I want more time in the short term so I can ___________________________________________

2. Medium Term Time Goal (signifies a major lifestyle upgrade)

I want more time in the medium term so I can ________________________________________

3. Long Term Time Goal (the destination; your big, hairy, audacious “reason why”)

I want more time in the long term so I can ____________________________________________

MOBILITY – Freedom of Location

1. Short Term Mobility Goal (most “realistic” & “achievable”, a benchmark of immediate freedom)

I want more mobility in the short term so I can ________________________________________

2. Medium Term Mobility Goal (signifies a major lifestyle upgrade)

I want more mobility in the medium term so I can _____________________________________

3. Long Term Mobility Goal (the destination; your big, hairy, audacious “reason why”)

I want more mobility in the long term so I can _________________________________________

MONEY – Freedom of Finances

1. Short Term Money Goal (most “realistic” & “achievable”, a benchmark of immediate freedom)

I want more money in the short term so I can ________________________________________

2. Medium Term Money Goal (signifies a major lifestyle upgrade)

I want more money in the medium term so I can _____________________________________

3. Long Term Money Goal (the destination; your big, hairy, audacious “reason why”)

I want more money in the long term so I can _________________________________________

Your Freedom Island as the end result, where your time, mobility, and money goals are the reality of your life. Along the way, we have layovers at short-‐term land and medium-‐term land, which are pretty cool places in their own right.

By the way, we included money in the above exercise, but it’s not money you’re working toward. Everyone tends to think so, but they’re wrong. And falling for this misconception – pursuing money for money’s sake or for the things it can buy – will get you lost, never to find your personal Freedom Island.

Money is not the end goal. Freedom is.

Freedom to live the lifestyle that you dream about and to actually do something lasting & meaningful in this world that extends beyond your years.

Money is important, but freedom is infinitely more so. Don’t forget that.

Freedom materializes in your life when you’re able to increase the amount of money your business generates, while at the same time decreasing the amount of time you actually spend in your business (at least on the unimportant, outsource-‐able tasks).

The farther apart your time & money get – as your work-‐time heads south and your income heads north – the more freedom is created in the middle.

Makes sense, right?

But just a second… it seems like something is fundamentally wrong with the equation.

“Work less, make more money?”

How is it possible to increase the output ($$$) while decreasing your personal input?

It doesn’t seem possible, especially if life has been conditioning you that no matter how hard you work, you can’t seem to achieve any meaningful results. And indeed, very few real estate investors ever figure this out.

The more logical and more commonly accepted work-‐money equation is “work harder (i.e. work MORE), make more money.” Plainly put, what most people believe is “if I work 8 hours a day and make $50,000 a year, the only way to make $60,000… $80,000… $100,000 a year is to work harder.” This means either taking on another job, working longer hours at the job you’re in, or both.

The math is easy and entirely possible, but the whole equation sucks.

Freedom = Time

Money

Working much more than 8 hours a day is unsustainable, and it’s been known to cause failed marriages, regular mental breakdowns, and/or premature balding. Not good.

Working harder to make more money is, well, hard. Unnecessarily so.

But it’s what 99.9% of investors try to do because they’re ignorant to the alternative. They end up working 16 hours a day, burning themselves out in 60 days, quitting real estate, and going back to 9-‐to-‐5 servitude within the oppressive confines of their cubicles.

But not you.

You’re aware of the alternative, now. More money, less time. It’s entirely possible. Guys like Preston and I are living proof.

Now you just need a clear plan for achieving it yourself, and a clear plan for what to do with your time when you have more of it.

The plan for getting there starts with a change in thinking. It starts with you seeing yourself as a business owner, rather than a real estate investor.

What I mean by this is that you own the pie shop. You don’t bake the pies yourself.

You’re the owner of the football team, watching the game from your luxury suite. You’re NOT the quarterback on the field.

0

5

10

15

20

25

$50,000 $100,000 $500,000 $1,000,000+

Work Hrs/Day

Income

The Masochissc Plan

The Freedom$ot Plan

Keep in mind, the goal is not to give you “more time than you know what to do with.” Only boneheads don’t know what to do with their time.

We’re talking about more time, with a clear plan for EXACTLY what to do with it. Your short term time & mobility goals are a start.

Most investors see themselves NOT ONLY as the quarterback, but as the running back, wide receivers, entire offensive line, head coach, and cheerleading squad as well. Trying to play every position on your own is a recipe for disaster. You look bad in a cheerleading skirt anyway.

Your responsibility within your business is to draft star players and architect a championship team, not to play the game yourself.

Your business needs you in this role of architect. Of business owner. Working on your business, not in your business.

But to become the architect, you’ll need to free yourself from the shackles of repetitive, tedious, unimportant tasks that drain your time every single day like a leak in a gas line.

Mastering the art of “elimination” is a critical piece of the freedom equation, and architects continually look for patterns that enable them to eliminate and simplify their lives.

We’re going to contract your daily to-‐do list from 1,000 items to two or three, all the while increasing your income.

We’re going to define the critical tasks in your business – the select few that actually require you. Everything else, and I mean everything, can and should be outsourced.

We’re going to create freedom in your life (increase your income while decreasing the time required to get it) by replacing you with systems, automation, and outsourcing.

Until we have robots that physically walk door-‐to-‐door negotiating with sellers, analyzing deals, signing contracts, and depositing checks on your behalf, FreedomSoft goes farther than anything else out there in giving you the systems and the automation.

And while personal robots may not be far off, for now there’s still a human aspect to the real estate buying and selling business. The thing is, this human aspect doesn’t have to be complicated, labor-‐intensive, or time-‐intensive. It can be simplified through outsourcing.

You need to outsource, and outsource fast. I mean today.

I can hear your objections & smell your fears (and they stink) …

Your responsibility within your business is to recruit star players and architect a championship team, not to play the game yourself.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

– Leonardo da Vinci

• “Where do I find an assistant who I can trust? The Answer: We’ll show you.

• “I’ve never done a deal… how am I supposed to train someone else to run my business?” The Answer: We’ll help you with the plan.

• “No one else can do things as well as I can.” The Answer: You’re probably wrong. But even if you were right, if someone could do it 90% as well as you and it saved you 6 hours of work per day, would that be worth it?

• “I can’t even afford to pay myself right now, let alone hire anyone else.” The Answer: You can’t afford NOT to. And we’ll make it as cheap as possible, just so you feel better about it. You’re so high maintenance sometimes, my friend.

FreedomSoft has provided you with a gigantic leap forward in terms of systems and automation. The one thing left to figure out is outsourcing.

And your business needs you… Your family needs you… YOU need YOU to figure this out.

“If your business depends on you, you don’t have a business – you have a job. And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic.”

Creating Your Outsourcing Plan

So what exactly should you outsource?

What are the repetitive, tedious, and/or unimportant tasks that someone else should be doing while you focus on the essential?

Before we can sort this out, we need a frame of reference. So let’s take another quick step back.

How do you see the dollar value of your time? What price do you put on your most valuable asset?

$10 an hour? If so, there are alternatives for you. Like being a virtual assistant for someone else’s business.

$25 an hour? May be enough to replace your current job.

$50 an hour? That’s $100,000 a year for a 9-‐to-‐5’er.

$100 an hour? $500 an hour?

It’s hard to do this arbitrarily, so let’s run a quick calculation. Fill in the blanks:

$ ___________________ (your target yearly income)

÷ 52

÷ ___________________ (your target working hours per week)

= $ ___________________ (target dollar value of your time)

It doesn’t seem so far out of reach when you break it down like that, does it?

Now that you’re aware of the target value of your time (TVT), it’s easier to determine whether any daily task is worth your time. Say your TVT is $240 an hour ($500,000 income-‐per-‐year on a 40 hour-‐per-‐week schedule).

• Is reading the news for an hour in the morning worth $240 to you? • Is checking & responding to email a $240/hr task? • Is commuting to work (rather than working from home) worth $240? • Is driving around to put out bandit signs for 4 hours worth $960 (4 hrs x $240/hr)? • Is licking, addressing, stamping, stuffing, and mailing envelopes for your probate campaign

worth $240/hr?

Side Note (Literally)

In case you haven’t picked up on this pattern yet, frequent “stepping back” is a common trait of the architect.

Several times a day, stop and ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. Get some altitude on the situation.

Does what you’re doing have an immediate, measurable impact on your desired results?

Is what you’re doing the highest & best use of your time?

If so, proceed. If not, stop and delegate it to someone else.

For most of the things you fill your time with each day, you’ll find the answer to be “no.”

For some of these the answer may be “yes,” but also remember that there are mental and emotional costs to some of these tasks as well. Putting out bandit signs for 4 hours may certainly be worth $960 to your business, but is it worth the stress of waking up at 4am to do it? Of not having a clear head when analyzing deals later that morning? Of not spending that time with your family instead?

These are the questions you should be asking yourself all day.

Does what you’re doing have an immediate, measurable, positive impact on your desired results?

Is what you’re doing the highest and best use of your time?

If so, proceed with the task. If not, stop and delegate it to someone else.

With practice, it gets easier to make these decisions. Soon, for each task that presents itself during your day, you’ll be able to determine in a split-‐second whether to do it, delegate it, or dump it.

And just remember that every time you say “yes” to one task, you’re saying “no” to another (one that may have a more direct impact on your desired results). As an architect – a business owner – “no” should be your default answer to most things that demand your time.

You’ll need to master the art of delegating, eliminating, and simplifying. This is critical to reaching and exceeding your TVT.

Granted, in reality, there’s probably a big difference between your TVT and the current value of your time (how much you’re making right now). But simply having your TVT as a frame of reference is important when prioritizing and delegating tasks throughout your day.

It helps begin to create the gap between your time and money. The gap that means freedom.

Outsource-‐able Tasks for the Savvy Investor

Regardless of your TVT, what are some of the tasks that may not be worth your time or the mental/emotional effects (stress, frustration, tediousness) they have on you?

Below are some suggestions. As you’re reading each task on this list, ask yourself if it’s worth paying someone else $2/hr to do it for you…

• Marketing for Sellers o Go to the county courthouse (or log onto the courthouse’s online subscription service)

weekly to pull the newest probate, divorce, eviction, pre-‐foreclosure, & incarceration leads, and then input them into FreedomSoft or generate mailers

o Post classified ads on Craigslist, Backpage, Oodle, Vast, and Kijiji directing sellers to your FreedomSoft seller lead generation website

o Screen Craigslist, Backpage, Oodle, Vast, and Kijiji daily to look for deals, and then input good leads into FreedomSoft

o Screen FreedomSoft Instant Leads properties to look for good leads, and then saving them for your review

o Put out bandit signs at $1 per sign o Lick, address, stamp, stuff, and mail envelopes for all your seller direct mail campaigns

• Marketing for Buyers o Post classified ads on Craigslist, Backpage, Oodle, Vast, and Kijiji directing buyers to your

FreedomSoft buyer lead generation website o Screen Craigslist, Backpage, Oodle, Vast, and Kijiji daily to look for potential landlord

buyers, and then contact those buyers o Screen FreedomSoft cash buyer leads, and generate mail campaigns twice a month o Lick, address, stamp, stuff, and mail envelopes for your cash buyer mail campaigns o Use FreedomSoft’s Property Syndication Wizard to blast your listing across the internet o Post properties for sale on Craiglist, Backpage, Oodle, Vast, and Kijiji o Send broadcast emails to your buyers list

• Lead Capture and Analysis o Take inbound phone calls from buyers and sellers o Make outbound phone calls to buyers and sellers o For each of your leads, put together an analysis package for your review:

§ Go to your county website, find the property, take a screenshot of the property information, and attach it to the lead inside FreedomSoft

§ Go to 3rd-‐party comparable sales sites, take screenshots, and attach them to the lead inside FreedomSoft

§ Capture images of the home (either physically or virtually) and attach them to the lead inside FreedomSoft

§ Run preliminary comps and note an estimated ARV • Making Offers

o Make offers on leads that match your specifications, and meet a minimum criteria of offers made daily (“5 offers a day and we’re on our way!”)

• Administrative o Monitor your buyers list for bogus email addresses, and cleaning your list regularly o Regularly re-‐send confirmation emails to buyers who haven’t confirmed their

subscription to your list o Manage your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and other social media accounts o Update your blog o Coordinate your paperwork and closings o Run reports and send them to you weekly o Screen your email inbox and eliminate clutter (you’d be amazed how much this

simplifies your life, mentally)

What do you think?

See a few things on this list that you’d rather not do yourself?

“Yes. All of the above, and more?!”

I know you said it. :-‐)

Good. Let’s outsource…

College Grads Who Work For $2/Hour, Love The Work, and Love You

The “virtual” in virtual assistant doesn’t have to mean “overseas.”

It simply means that delegated tasks don’t require face-‐to-‐face interaction between you and whoever is doing them. And in the Internet age, this describes most tasks.

In fact, it’s amazing the extent to which the Internet makes virtual business possible.

Eben Pagan, a guy who’s been a mentor to both Preston and me, runs a $25 Million per-‐year business out of his Los Angeles condo. He has 109 employees. All virtual.

Real Freedom Properties just transitioned out of our physical office in Tampa, and now our entire staff works from home. This business is thriving.

FreedomSoft LLLP is run by 4 partners in 4 different states (Hawaii, California, Florida, & South Carolina). Our developers are in Oklahoma, North Carolina, Lithuania, and China. Our support team is in Texas. Some of our repetitive, administrative tasks are completed in India.

Virtual business is entirely possible, and I believe the complete book is yet to be written on exactly how to run a business like this (and I may just write it!).

Granted, with a real estate investing business, there are a few tasks where you need feet on the ground in your market. Putting out bandit signs, taking property photos, dropping off paperwork to a seller… all require a physical presence. It just doesn’t have to be yours. In the next 30 minutes, you could use Craigslist to find a personal or virtual assistant to do these tasks for you.

But the majority of your business – most of the tasks listed above – can just as easily be run by Virtual Assistants in the Philippines for $2/hour as they could by you or a local $25/hour employee.

Objections for hiring such a VA are usually Amero-‐centric and include:

• “I worry about English communication issues” The Answer: Filipinos experience English from a very young age, and most speak it better than you’d believe. English is MUCH more prevalent in the Philippines than it is in India, China, Pakistan, and other countries that are commonly recommended for outsourcing.

• “$2/hr seems like slave labor” The Answer: Minimum wage in the Philippines is $0.79 an hour. Most virtual assistants with college degrees and real estate experience are happy to work for $2 USD an hour. Older virtual assistants with a higher level of experience are typically $3 to $4 USD an hour.

Especially in the current global economic climate, whether at home or abroad, good talent can be had for less. Much less.

And in going overseas, to the Philippines specifically, the English and the economics simply work. It’s the perfect outsourcing destination for an American real estate investor.

Recommended Sites for Hiring Virtual Assistants

www.elance.com

We’ve used this site with moderate success in the past. Search “virtual assistants,” “personal assistants,” and “executive assistants.” Use the client feedback reviews to help you find the vest VAs. Costs will range from $4 an hour for international VAs to $25 an hour for American VAs.

www.craigslist.org

One of the Top 10 most visited websites in the world. Provides local classifieds and typically quick response for anything you’d like to outsource.

www.protmc.com

Great service that provides dedicated closing coordinators to manage your transactions from contract through closing. An incredible time & energy saver.

How to Hire

Keep the hiring process as simple as possible. In fact, if you have a husband, wife, friend, or current employee to do your initial applicant screening and just give you the top 3 candidates, do that. Hiring can be a huge time-‐suck, so remember your TVT.

My typical hiring process (for a site like Elance) goes like this:

1. Post An Ad Something to this effect:

Parts of this ad may seem ridiculous, but the point is to be yourself. You want to weed out people who think it is ridiculous. It’s almost more important to hire a VA who has energy, a sense of humor, and “gets” you as it is to hire one who looks good on paper but who you don’t necessarily click with. This is the exact reason why Jake picked Vienna on the last season of The Bachelor instead of Tenley. Tenley was the total package & was clearly America’s favorite, but Jake just felt that intangible spark with Vienna. I know you know what I’m talking about. :-‐) Also, notice I don’t list all responsibilities. I just picked out some of the most tedious and complicated. If they can do the hard stuff, they can do the easy stuff. If you mention all the easy tasks (monitoring your Facebook account, for example), applicants may latch onto those things and stamp themselves qualified, despite the fact that they have no idea how they’ll complete some of the more challenging tasks.

2. The Responsiveness Test Also notice I left out a few other things out of the ad, like compensation. This is intentional. Say I put out an ad and get 50 applicants. I can think of about 900 things I’d rather do than go through 50 résumés trying to determine which applicant is most qualified. So the very first thing I do is have one of my other VAs email all 50 applicants with a quick response (if you don’t have someone to do this for you, you can do it yourself… doesn’t take long). The email can be short:

Wanted: Bada$$ Virtual Assistant with Real Estate Experience

I’m a looking for a full-‐time VA to help with my real estate business.

** Responsibilities Include ** Screening buyer & seller leads daily Addressing, stamping, and stuffing batches of 100 mailers on a regular basis Running comparable sales and determining value Understanding my buying criteria & recommending a course of action Receiving inbound calls and making outbound calls (I’ll provide the call script) Coordinating paperwork and closings

** Must Have ** Hawk-‐like attention to detail Dog-‐like dependability Ox-‐like work ethic Cat-‐like reflexes

Please respond with your availability, samples of past work, and favorite ‘80s movie.

Thanks for responding about our VA opening! We’re going through a ton of applications & we’ll be making a decision this weekend. When can you start, and what rate do you bill at? Their billing rate is important, but I don’t really care how they answer my questions at this point. We can negotiate the rate later. What I’m watching for here is simply responsiveness. I want a VA who gets back to me within 20 minutes. Anyone who responds after 18-‐24 hours is immediately eliminated from consideration. This little exercise will cut your applicant pool from 50 to 15. You’ll be shocked. And you’ll save hours that you would have spent sifting through 35 extra applications from people who are slow to communicate.

3. Final Cuts At this point I, another VA, or one of our lead developers (depending on the position we’re hiring for) will cut our list of 15 down to 3 top candidates, and I’ll either communicate with those 3 via email or phone. Don’t worry about responding to the other 12 either. They’ve probably applied for a handful of other VA positions besides yours, so it’s not a big deal if they don’t hear back from you. Remember, your time is the most important thing here. I like to jump on the phone with the final 1-‐3 candidates because I want to see if I get a different vibe from any of them over the phone than I did via email. Picking up the phone is just a personal preference; you don’t have to do it. I’ll make these phone calls to no more than 3 candidates for no longer than 10 minutes per call.

4. Trust Your Gut! Again, I usually hire more on gut instinct than I do on their paper qualifications. Not saying it’s the best strategy in the world, but it works for me. Remember, if you mis-‐hire a $2 an hour employee (even a $10 or $15 an hour employee), it’s usually not the end of the world. You’ll be able to tell quickly whether your VA has what it takes or not. Keep your other top candidates in your back pocket just in case your first hire proves to be a flop. If I’m hiring a $60 an hour developer, I’ll spend a little more time on the hiring process. But not for a Virtual Assistant.

It may be wise to have your VA sign a Non-‐Compete/Non-‐Disclosure Agreement. Sometimes I ask for this, sometimes I don’t. If it gives you peace of mind, do it. You can download an agreement for free from www.docstoc.com.

If you’re really into this hiring process, or if you find yourself repeatedly mis-‐hiring, I recommend reading “Topgrading” by Brad Smart. It’s an awesome book that will streamline your hiring process, help you separate the wheat from the chaff, and – bottom line – nearly eliminate mis-‐hiring from your business.

Now that you’ve got your A-‐Player, it’s time to generate some A-‐Results…

Training

Good training is essential.

Bad teachers can’t blame their students for failing. Bad parents can’t blame their kids for being ignorant. And bad business owners can’t blame their VAs for incompetence.

Let’s be clear here. Good training requires that you know what you’re talking about.

It’s extremely difficult to train someone on how to do something you don’t know how to do yourself. And you can’t shortcut the acquisition of knowledge or experience.

What you CAN shortcut is the transmission of your knowledge, and we’ll help you with that below.

In general, outsourcing a task involves:

1. Recognizing a Repeatable, Duplicable Process in Your Business 2. Documenting that Process (either written or by video) 3. Transferring Documentation to Your VA 4. Ensuring that the VA Fully Understands & Completes the Process Correctly the First Time 5. Eliminating that Process from Your Mental To-‐Do List & Replacing It With a Task of Higher Value 6. Receiving Periodic Reports from Your VA to Ensure the Task Continues to Get Done Correctly

In the following pages, I’ll provide you with sample documentation you can tweak and utilize in your own business. Feel free to copy and distribute within your business to your heart’s desire.

This documentation is meant to serve as a starting point. A template and guideline to get you started creating a Virtual Assistant Training Guide for your own company, with an overview of your business and instructions for each of the specific tasks you’d like to outsource.

Virtual Assistant Training Guide For <Your Company Name>

Virtual Assistant Training Guide

About Us

Welcome to <Your Company Name>!

Let’s not waste any time…

First, it’s important for you to understand the full scope of our business, why we do what we do, and some of the important tools that you’ll be using on a regular basis.

We are a real estate solutions and investment company located in <Your City & State>. We’re in the business of buying, managing, and selling houses, and the great thing about what we do is that we’re able to help a lot of people in the process. In our area today, houses are typically on the market for 5 months – and can sit up to a year or more – before being sold! For someone who needs to sell fast, a better solution is needed. By purchasing properties fast at a reasonable investor discount, we can help save a homeowner:

• Agent Commission. This amounts to thousands of dollars. • Repair Costs. We buy all houses in as-‐is condition. • Time to Show the House. No need to schedule multiple showings every week and have their

house ready on-‐demand. • Negotiation Process. This can typically take days or weeks as offers and counteroffers are

communicated through agents. We make a firm win-‐win offer and close fast. • Stress. We can typically get a house under contract within 24 hours.

We create solutions where everyone wins. We’re the perfect option for many people, but to continue growing our business and assisting as many people as possible, we need help. That’s where you come in! FreedomSoft We run the majority of our business in an awesome web application called FreedomSoft, which you’ll be utilizing daily. Make sure you memorize this login information: http://my.freedomsoft.com Username: <Your Username> Password: <Your Password>

Go ahead and login now.

After logging in, the first screen you’ll see is our FreedomSoft dashboard. We’ll need you to familiarize yourself with the entire FreedomSoft interface, but…

… First Things First


We need to make sure you understand the full scope of what we’re trying to accomplish, and the best way to do that is to read a short digital book written by my mentor, Preston Ely.

It’s called “No BS Real Estate Investing,” and you’ll find it at http://freedomsoft.com/101.

You can either read the digital book or listen to the audio version. Again, this is important because it lays the foundation and provides the context for everything you’ll be doing.

Our business essentially follows the model Preston lays out in his book. After you’re finished reading it, please let me know and ask me questions about anything that’s unclear.

Up To Speed With FreedomSoft

Next, please watch the FreedomSoft Quick Start Video. You’ll find it in the Classroom Section under Training Courses.

In this video, we walk you through getting started with FreedomSoft.

It’s best if you follow along and do the same steps we’re doing in the video. Go ahead. You won’t break anything. :-‐)

Watch the Help Desk Videos

Next, please go through the Help Desk Videos.

You’ll find this at http://helpdesk.freedomsoft.com/.

Please go through all the videos.

Virtual Assistant Training Guide Virtual Assistant Training Guide

These videos will walk you, in-‐depth, through FreedomSoft and provide further detail on our business. Again, as you’re going through the videos, feel free to follow along in FreedomSoft.

It’s important that you know FreedomSoft inside & out, but don’t feel overwhelmed! You’ll find that much of the app is self-‐explanatory.

Once you’ve watched all these videos, you should have a great understanding of our business.

That’s basically the initiation process. I know it feels like a lot at once, but trust me, the hard part is over! Let’s talk about your regular tasks…

To Be Completed Daily

Screen Online Classifieds for Seller Leads

• Go to the <Your City> Craigslist site then click “Real Estate for Sale” • At the top, search for keywords that signify motivation such as “great deal” or “must sell”

(include quotes around the keywords) o The best leads for us are:

§ By-‐owner, not by-‐broker, but we’ll still look at by-‐broker leads § ULTRA-‐motivated sellers (“moving out of state” is motivated… “moving out of

state because mom is dying and I’m going bankrupt” is ultra-‐motivated) § Single-‐family homes with 3 bedrooms, around 1200 square feet, block

construction • When you find a potentially good motivated seller lead, go to Properties > Add Property in

FreedomSoft and add as much information as possible about the property • If you have time or are unable to find enough quality leads on Craigslist, feel free to use

similar sites such as Backpage.com, Oodle.com, Vast.com, or Kijiji.com

To Be Completed Weekly

Post an Online Classified Ad to Generate Seller Traffic

• Post an ad on Craigslist, Backpage, Oodle, Vast, and Kijiji in the “Real Estate for Sale” section directing traffic to our seller lead generation website at <Your Website>

• Do not post this ad on the same day you post the buyer ad

Post an Online Classified Ad to Generate Buyer Traffic

• Post an ad on Craigslist, Backpage, Oodle, Vast, and Kijiji in the “Real Estate for Sale” section directing traffic to our buyer lead generation website at <Your Website>

• Do not post this ad on the same day you post the seller ad

To Be Completed Monthly


Generate Cash Buyer Mailers

• Inside FreedomSoft, go to Marketing > Cash Buyers • Run a search for all cash buyers:

o In <Your City> o Sold Date range should be last month o Radius of 20 miles

• Sort the results table by Owner Name • Go through the entire list and select all records, but exclude any banks and duplicate mailing

addresses • Click the “Create Campaign” button • In the Direct Mail Generation Wizard:

o Select the “Cash Buyers” campaign template and click Next o Select today as the delivery date and click Next o On the final step, click Finish

Clean Our Buyers List

• Inside FreedomSoft, go to Buyers > Search • Go through all buyers who registered this month and make a note of buyers who seem to

have bad email addresses (e.g. [email protected] or [email protected]) • For each buyer with a bad email address, view their buyer profile • If we don’t have any information on the buyer besides the bogus email address, simply delete

the buyer

Re-‐Send Buyer Confirmations

• Inside FreedomSoft, go to Buyers > Search • Click Awaiting Confirmation • Go through all buyers who registered this month, view their profiles, and re-‐send the

confirmation email

Time & Priorities

Feel free to set your own schedule. The most important thing is just that we’re making a minimum of 5 offers daily.


I’d recommend creating a calendar now with your daily tasks for the next 30 days.

How to Contact Me

I typically check email twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Please feel free to email me at <Your Email>. No question is too novice!

Closing Thoughts

Now’s the time to outsource.

Post a job ad or start screening applicants at yourvas.com right now.

Start finalizing the VA training guide for your business now. Remember, you only have to create this once.

Start placing a higher value on your time now.

Start simplifying your life and creating freedom right now.

You’re in this business for freedom, and this is how you create it. No more excuses, just do it!

I hope this Outsourcing Guide has given you more than a few “a-‐ha” moments and that it has opened your eyes to creating freedom through systems, automation, and outsourcing. More specifically, through the tremendous leverage that FreedomSoft and Virtual Assistants give you with your time.

Finally, I’d like to leave you with a short article I wrote in mid-‐2009 and posted to my personal blog.

“How To Find And Keep The Perfect Virtual Assistant”

Working intimately with so many entrepreneurs, I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about virtual assistants. Tales of mis-‐hiring, terrible work quality, overbilling, identity theft…

I even heard one story about a new VA taking off to Central America never to be heard from again.

(Okay, that one actually happened to ME!)

I’ve been through it all — good & bad — but I’ve actually worked with the same incredible VA, Christiana, for almost 18 months now. And honestly, having her has changed my life.

VERY few entrepreneurs can grow their businesses & thrive as lone rangers.

There’s a point where you simply HAVE to start exercising only your strengths & outsourcing all your weaknesses if you want to grow.

Anything short of that & you’ll be bleeding productivity every day.

Two advantages of going virtual are:

1. Cost-‐effectiveness. As applicants compete for positions on a global platform, small businesses win. .

2. You can choose the best talent on the planet without being limited to your local pool. If you think about it, very few tasks actually require face-‐to-‐face anymore.

Instead of trying to figure out exactly what we’ve done right and wrong in order to find Christiana & provide her with an optimum employment situation, I asked her to write the following piece.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“How to Find & KEEP the Perfect Virtual Assistant” By: A Perfect Virtual Assistant

One of the most important things to finding & keeping a great virtual assistant is running a business with integrity. I know you may not put that in your blog because it seems like a given, but many people/companies do not.

I would like to thank you for being a person with integrity and running your business the way you do.

Here are 8 specific keys that are critical to finding & keeping the perfect VA:

1. When you hire, decide the type of work you would like them to do and be very clear about your expectations. This will guard against a VA who is going to “balk” at new assignments. If you need a VA who loves variety, challenge, and new assignments, make that clear up front. .

2. Decide how much time is needed up front. This goes along with the above, just to let the VA know what is expected of them. Clarity of expectations is crucial to a happy VA. .

3. Work closely with VA during the first few weeks to iron out kinks and predict potential problems. This is also important for you to get an overall idea of how the VA works and the VA gets a good idea of what is expected from him/her. When I first started working for you, I have to say I had never had another employer pay so much attention to my work. In the beginning, I thought you were going to be over involved ;-‐) But as it turns out, the close involvement made me feel more confident in the work that I was doing for you and, when the time was right, you pulled back and left me on my own. I think this time was crucial to the work relationship that has developed. .

4. Don’t throw a lot of last minute work at your VA. I think some emergency work should be expected, but throwing 8 hours of work at a VA and saying “I need this tomorrow!” is a bit much. If this is something that should be expected, make it clear upfront. .

5. Set up regular tasks and systems they can count on. .

6. Keep a manual on how to run your business. A good VA can manage this once she has a grasp of your systems. .

7. Pay your VA on time. “As requested” sounds like I could ask you to pay me at anytime and you would have to comply! Setting up a payment schedule and sticking to it definitely breeds trust and loyalty. .

8. Show appreciation to your VA. This one is necessary to keeping a VA happy. It doesn’t have to be monetary, though the bonuses and thoughtful gifts I’ve received are a nice reminder of your appreciation; a simple “thank you for all you do” once in a while really makes a difference. You have been great about that and I’d like to say “Thank you, Andy!”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So there you have it.

At this point, we’ve reached a level of trust where I’m completely comfortable with Christiana managing PR, running customer support, and paying herself bi-‐weekly through our Paypal account.

It takes time to reach that point, but it rocks to be there.

The bottom line, I would say, is that perfect VAs emerge when you’re the perfect boss. Work on yourself & your company culture first, and good assistants will not only come, but they’ll thrive under your leadership.

And in return, you and your business will thrive.

Documents

Outsourcing guide