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Episode 33: Stacey Krolow - Hiring a Virtual Assistant or Administrative Assistant
149 Plays6 years ago
Today’s guest is Stacey Krolow of Pepper—a business admin outsourcing company for creatives.
We have personally found that outsourcing different tasks has made us more productive, efficient, and has freed up our time for other things that we enjoy spending time on. So I figured it was about time I record an episode on outsourcing.
I chat with Stacey more specifically about the benefits of hiring a VA or administrative assistant. We cover how to get over my fear of giving up control, when you know you’re ready to hire a VA, what you should expect to pay, and how to make sure you set up the relationship for success.
Head on over to Davey & Krista for the show notes and more resources.
Recommended
Transcript
Struggles of Creative Entrepreneurs
00:00:05
Speaker
You can be the most talented photographer and not have a sustainable business because maybe your marketing isn't very good. Maybe your business admin isn't good, which also includes your client care, which is so important.
Introduction to Brands That Book Show
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome to the Brands That Book Show, where we help creative service-based businesses build their brands and find more clients. I'm your host, Davy Jones.
Outsourcing for Creative Businesses
00:00:36
Speaker
Today's guest is Stacey Krollo of Pepper, a business admin outsourcing company for creatives. We've personally found that outsourcing different tasks in our business has made us more productive, efficient, and has freed us up to spend times on things that we actually enjoy spending time on. So I figured it was about time I record an episode on outsourcing.
00:00:55
Speaker
I chat with Stacy more specifically about the benefits of hiring a VA or administrative assistant. We cover how I need to get over my fear of giving up control, when you know you're ready to hire a VA, what you should expect to pay, and how to make sure you set up the relationship for success.
Engagement Through Giveaways and Feedback
00:01:12
Speaker
But before we get to the episode, if you're revisiting your website this season, head on over to giveaway.davianchrista.com for a chance to win one of our show it website templates. Again, you can find all the details about that at giveaway.davianchrista.com
00:01:28
Speaker
Be sure to check out the show notes at DavianKrista.com for the resources we mentioned during this episode. And I'd like to hear from you about what kind of content you'd like to see on the Brancetbook podcast as we move forward. I'd also like to know what episodes have you enjoyed most so far and why. To leave your feedback, head on over to the DavianKrista Facebook page and send us a message.
Trust and Efficiency in Hiring VAs
00:01:47
Speaker
Now on to the episode.
00:01:57
Speaker
This is an episode that I'm really excited to talk about because we're talking about outsourcing and we're talking about getting help for people in their businesses. And I have serious trust issues, but you know, it's taken me a while to get to the point, you know, we just hired employees. That was a whole process, but it's taken me a while to get there. So I'm excited to dig into some of this with you and hopefully get people to a point where if they are swimming in work, maybe they can trust a VA or administrative assistant to take on some of that work for them.
00:02:27
Speaker
I love it. I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah. And so we were connected by a mutual friend who thought that I needed to talk with you about the subject. And I do think it's just such an important subject to talk about because time is so valuable. And at some point in your business, you're going to realize, hey, I'm doing tasks that really aren't worth my time right now that could be outsourced to somebody else. So I'm excited to dig into this.
00:02:52
Speaker
I think I can jump right in with that. So here's the thing. I think when you're a creative entrepreneur and you've really gone all in and the first couple of years, you love what you're doing so much, it energizes you. Like if what you're doing, your career, whatever service or trait that you are, it feeds you. You can do it 24 seven for those two years. And by the end, you're like, I'm still loving my life. And then year three rolls around. You're like, okay, well, I still love what I'm doing, but also maybe I want a boyfriend.
00:03:20
Speaker
Maybe I want to do something else, you know, as well. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe I haven't been the best friend, the best sibling or parent or whatever relationship you have in your life. Maybe you feel like you've been slacking a little bit on those. Okay. Well, those are also going to be fulfilling in your life and you want to spend some time on those things too.
00:03:41
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Well, I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves diving into this too soon because I want to know a little bit about your background and what brought you to this point where you're now starting.
Stacey's Entrepreneurial Journey
00:03:50
Speaker
You just started a company and it hasn't even officially launched at least at the time of recording this podcast. And we're going to have details on it by the end here. But Pepper is the company name and you're providing business admin outsourcing for creative entrepreneurs.
00:04:06
Speaker
So I want to talk about how your background in photography brought you to founding Pepper. So where did your entrepreneurial journey start?
00:04:16
Speaker
A few years ago, a friend of mine asked me to photograph her son's wedding. And first I said no. I said no. I take photos for fun. I don't know what I'm doing here. And I ended up second shooting that wedding, fell completely in love with it. It was so much fun. Just kept getting asked to shoot more and more and it all happened really naturally and organically.
00:04:40
Speaker
And then after a couple of years of doing it on the side, and really by the second, the second year, it was more than a side gig. It was like having two full-time jobs. And I was loving it so much, I decided to take the plunge. And then year three comes around, and just like I was saying before, I was feeling stressed. I'm still loving what I was doing, but thinking, how is this going to be sustainable for me? How am I going to keep up with all this work? I'm busier than ever. It's so amazing. I feel so much gratitude, but also I'm exhausted.
00:05:10
Speaker
Yeah. I think we all get to that point too. Something interesting that I've observed, especially with wedding photographers, and I probably made this observation because we used to shoot, we used to be wedding photographers, is that everybody wants to get to that 25, 30 weddings a year. That's a big goal. Then they get there and they realize, oh my gosh.
Challenges in Wedding Photography
00:05:31
Speaker
I think in our peak, we shot just over 40 weddings in a year.
00:05:34
Speaker
Yeah, and then you get to that point and you're like, oh my gosh, on some level, this isn't sustainable, at least with how I have the business set up. So really interesting. I think that's a really interesting observation. It's probably true across the board, I think. Everybody wants more work and then they get more work and they're like, oh my gosh, how do I manage all of this work?
00:05:55
Speaker
Exactly. So the thing that feeds you as a creative, like for us, for example, is being a photographer and shooting those weddings and engaging with our clients. The thing that weighs you down and the thing that makes you tired is the business side. And you can be the most talented photographer and not have a sustainable business because maybe your marketing isn't very good. Maybe your business admin isn't good, which also includes your client care, which is so important. You can provide the most beautiful photos.
00:06:24
Speaker
But if the overall experience isn't good, those people may or may not recommend you. Yeah, I think that's so true. I think there's so much that goes into business beyond just delivering an exceptional product or service. And I feel like if you stop and look around, we all have this experience on almost a daily basis where whatever product or service that we just paid for, maybe we get exactly what we paid for. But for whatever reason, it's lacking because of the experience. I recently wrote a blog post on
00:06:52
Speaker
this cheap webinar light that I got. And it came in about 100 pieces with no directions. I just thought to myself, don't get me wrong, it was an inexpensive lighting setup that I just used for recording these podcasts and stuff like that. But I was just thinking to myself, how easy would it have been to enhance the client experience here just with a quick tutorial?
00:07:13
Speaker
You know, like just a quick little, I mean single, not printed on nice paper but just piece of paper with some instructions on how to set things up. So, I think that's very insightful as well.
Realizing the Need for VAs
00:07:25
Speaker
I want to dive into how you started Pepper though. So, at what point did you end up hiring a VA and realizing like how amazing that was? You know, what led you to start Pepper?
00:07:36
Speaker
I looked at hiring a VA. So the first thing I did is I outsourced my social media. And I felt a little bit scary, but it was so incredible. I can't even imagine taking it back. So certain aspects of it, like the posting and some of the captions, any interacting is still me because that's still important to me, but just not having to select photos and arrange them.
00:07:58
Speaker
was amazing. So I did that, and then I thought, okay, well, maybe I'll outsource editing, but I'm really attached to my photos. I'm one of those. I'm one of the best photographers. I get it. Because for me, a photo is just maybe a drawing, and then my edit is the painting. It's the final project. So it's a part of my creative process. So I'm like, oh, I really don't want to get that up.
00:08:20
Speaker
Well, you know what really slows me down especially slows me down to editing are my emails and my client touch points and my workflows and I need to be doing all these things and I'm just not or if I am it's just like it coming in my mind like has that questionnaire been sent out is it a month before so and so and so is wedding and I find that really stressful and I kept taking me out of my editing zone so then I started looking at hiring an assistant and
00:08:44
Speaker
And I looked at Upwork, I looked at hiring someone in person and maybe sharing that person with some fellow photographers. And then I looked at some other VA companies and I came to realize I felt like they didn't get me. I looked at these other companies and I looked at these different options. I'm like, do they, will they understand the client experience? Like, will they understand my brand? Like what I'm about, what it is to be a creative entrepreneur? Are they going to be a really great asset to my team?
00:09:12
Speaker
And I wasn't sure. And then also looking at other VA companies and what they do, they offered so many services. It gave me anxiety looking at it. It was confusing to me, like, should I be doing all these things? Like how much is this going to cost me? And just trying to figure it out was instant no for me. Like if it's not clear and simple and easy, if they don't already get what I need, it's a no. Like I'm just going to go back to my maintenance mode and just struggle through another year and I'll figure it
Trust Issues in Outsourcing Communication
00:09:38
Speaker
out later.
00:09:38
Speaker
I think that's one of the – I've had the same experience, especially in hiring a VA. I think one of the big questions is, are they going to care about my business in the same way that I care about my business? And maybe that's too much to ask, at least in a comparable way as I care about my business. And so that's been one of the biggest hurdles for me to get over, especially when it comes to hiring a
00:09:56
Speaker
Any sort of contractor, I think, but I didn't mean to cut you off there. So if you had something more, yeah, that's great. Yeah. Yeah. I guess my biggest question there, and I just want to, I want to tackle this at the beginning, you know, how should I get over that fear? Because we've hired people, we have to,
00:10:12
Speaker
fantastic designers, but they're employees of ours. And so, they care about the business because they're a part of the business, right? How do I get through this fear of hiring a VA, this idea like, okay, I'm going to trust somebody with my emails? And not that I'm sending super top secret stuff, but I like those private correspondence, right? Occasionally I get an email from
00:10:36
Speaker
You know, an industry friend who's also a close friend, you know, and so how do I I want to know how do I get to that point where I can trust somebody with my work? I think I think a couple of things. First, I would say if you were inquiring with Pepper and you asked me that, I would tell you.
00:10:51
Speaker
that we only hire really awesome people that really care what they do, and they're professionals at what they do. You are professional, let's say, I'll say you're a professional photographer, and what you do is photography, and you're awesome at it. People hire you to be a photographer. Well, people hire Pepper to be administrators, and we are just as awesome at doing that. And yeah, we really do care. And we're going to be faster at doing your admin than you will ever be
00:11:15
Speaker
because this is what we do professionally. I would see that for fun. And then two, I think it's also just realizing I really need this in my life. I really need to outsource. I really need help with this. And you just have to take the plunge and see how amazing it will be and how much your life will be better with it.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm guessing that there's some sort of professional relationship in the way of a contract or an agreement where confidentiality and things like that are respected. Yes, absolutely. Without even said, absolutely. Yeah. And maybe that's it. Maybe kind of like you when you hired your social media manager and just the relief that that brought, you know? Yes.
00:11:54
Speaker
And it's not as scary as you think. Like we build it up in our mind, like, yeah, whether maybe they won't reply to my clients, like I reply to my clients. And that's a fair question. And what I say is we're not replying as you. We're replying as one of your team members.
00:12:07
Speaker
As far as your clients know, your assistant is your employee, like is on your team. They're not pepper. They don't know you can exist. We are there for you. Like that person is your dedicated assistant. They're going to know you and your business and your brand and your workflow and your client care. And they're going to care about your business as much as you are.
00:12:24
Speaker
Yeah, this sounds pretty incredible. I think I'm almost sold on this. But anyways, moving beyond that, let's talk about how somebody knows that they're ready to hire a VA and then what kind of work they should outsource. I think, again, one of the overwhelming things as we are looking for VAs and looking at the kind of services they can provide, they can provide so many things
00:12:45
Speaker
And I think that's one of the traps of hiring in general, whether it's an employer or whether it's a contractor. It's just this vague sense that you know there's a lot that needs to be done, but not concretely understanding, okay, what can this person do that's going to bring value to my day? In terms of maybe freeing me up so I can tackle other things. This is something that I've talked with Nancy Ray about. Nancy Ray is
00:13:09
Speaker
photography teaches about hiring. She was on this podcast last year. I guess we're recording in 2018, but this is going to go live in 2019. Technically, at the time of recording it, she was on the podcast this year. How do you decide? One, I'm ready to hire somebody, and then what kind of tasks should they take on? What should I expect from the VA?
00:13:33
Speaker
Okay, so we only offer so many services. So we don't offer a whole bunch of different things you can like, do I need this? Do I need that? Because almost too many options will give you anxiety. That's what happened to me when I looked at it. So you would see what we offer. And the services we do offer are fairly basic, but so integral to your business. And you would have a concept called with us and I'd be like, Hey, Davey, how's it going? What can I do today? That would make your life easier. And I bet you the first thing you'd say is emails.
00:14:03
Speaker
For sure, for sure. I think email is like one of the standard ones on
Core Services for Outsourcing
00:14:07
Speaker
there. But these lists, like you said, some of these lists are like 50 items long. Yeah. And like you look at that, like, am I even doing all these things myself? Am I failing already and I haven't even hired someone? That is not the feeling you want, right? So what are the core services that you feel like these are easy wins if you outsource?
00:14:24
Speaker
Easy, easy wins. Emails, workflow, which includes your contracts, your invoicing, questionnaires, and the things with questionnaires, even if you want to blog, it's okay. Well, these are all the vendors that I'm working with, and I need the tags for them. I need their websites or who they are on social media. So when I do go and do that, I have all that information already. So it's the things that you do for every single client that you book.
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, and that are repeatable, I guess. Yes, exactly. Yes, exactly. And then we would work those for you. So you would have this client, you would know what wedding date it is and all the work that goes ahead of that, we would do it for you. And even any post work like client touchpoints, happy anniversary, or even a really great one that we love for a client touchpoint is three months out from your wedding, hey, go on a date, love your photographer, don't talk about your wedding. Here's a GC, go for a beer.
00:15:18
Speaker
Go to old-fashioned movie theater and hold hands. Yeah, that's great. And so, a VA, I guess, could do all of these things. How is that even set up in terms of email? Do they just have access to your email account so they can send these emails? Yes, exactly. So, we would sign into your email.
00:15:34
Speaker
We would look through it, anything that's a newsletter maybe you're signed up to or something that's obviously personal, we would leave it. We would answer any of your client inquiries or questions and we would respond to them. It would go into a folder that says Pepper completed. So any work that you don't need to see, like anything that we do that's just done and you can look at it if you want. And then another one that would say follow up. So anything you need to follow up on and we would let you know, but we don't delete any of your emails.
00:16:01
Speaker
Okay, so I guess the second half of this line of questioning would be around how to set up a system to maintain a good working relationship with your VA. So I also think that that gives me a little anxiety too. In terms of just accountability, and I'm not talking about accountability between
00:16:21
Speaker
between a teacher and a student, you know, necessarily. But just this, you know, here are the expectations, right? And here's how we make sure that you're following through on those expectations. So what's an ideal setup with a administrative assistant or a VA on maybe a daily, weekly or monthly basis?
00:16:40
Speaker
Yes. So you'll be hearing from your VA if not daily than every other day, depending on how busy you are and how busy your inbox is or how much client care that you're going to require. We would have a weekly check in and we would let you know, hey, hey, Davey, these are many hours that we've used.
00:16:57
Speaker
out of your allotted time this week for your whole month. And at the end of the month, there'll be a spot where we can do one of these, like a video call. And at any time you can request an appointment to have a video call with your VA and just talk things out, get to know each other. And then yes, at the end of the month, we're going to have a system that you let us know how we did.
00:17:16
Speaker
Any suggestions or feedback you're like I love this and this and this but I feel like this could have been a little bit better and we take that seriously and we really want to know because we want it to be the best service possible and I know that maybe for you it's different than for the next creative and what you need and what they need so really is so personal but we do really want that feedback and we want you to be honest and We're just gonna keep getting better and growing with you. Yeah, so for the first month also I should say the first month that you sign up you get five additional hours for free and
00:17:46
Speaker
Okay, just as I guess the extra training that goes into getting on the same page with your VA. Yes. I mean, I'm not going to lie, there are probably going to be a few like back and forth and figuring each other out because we're both human beings and it would be like that for any employee or any kind of working relationship. And we realize that that's going to happen, but we want the inconvenience to be on our side.
00:18:07
Speaker
Walk me through this. If I were to sign up with Pepper or just the expectation I should have, even if I were to hire a VA just in general, what kind of expectation should I have from the beginning or what kind of expectations should I set from the beginning so that it's successful? Are you talking about task-wise or relationship-wise? We're just making sure that they understand. For instance, I'm sure that VAs work with a bunch of different people and each of those people have different voices in different styles.
00:18:33
Speaker
You know, Krista loves to send a lot of emails with exclamation points. And I always tell her that an exclamation point can't possibly go at the end of every sentence, right? Whereas, you know, I know. And that's the thing is that it's so fun. And we have this debate all the time. Whereas if I get you get an email from me, like it might have one excellent exclamation point where where I say, Hey, have a great weekend or have a great day. You know, so so what are the ways that you know, I guess if you have any tips for setting up the relationship from the beginning,
00:19:03
Speaker
so that that person understands like, here's how I typically respond, here's when I typically respond, that sort of stuff. Okay, I get where you're going. So what we do is after the consult, you have access to, we do it through Google Drive right now and you have your own file. And in there, we'll ask you
00:19:18
Speaker
for any canned responses or responses you already give your clients or any phrases or words that you use or what your vibe is. And even though we're responding as your assistant, we're not responding as you, so we won't be you, but we can still respond brand appropriate.
00:19:36
Speaker
Sure. So that is our goal. Absolutely. So with you, with your clients, if you're more laid back and easy going and more calm, but still like friendly, we can definitely get that vibe, but still respond as us. So you don't have to feel like my assistant doesn't sound like me. You can feel like my assistant gets what I'm about and how I interact with my clients. And then let's say Krista, if she was like, yeah, like this is awesome. I almost swore on your podcast.
00:20:00
Speaker
I can't wait. It's going to be great. We know that we can totally respond with high energy and we're super stoked and that kind of stuff. Yeah, definitely. It'll be tweaked for every person. So about how much time have you found that a creative entrepreneur would need from a VA or an administrative assistant on a weekly basis? I think that's one of the harder things to gauge too because some weeks like this week leading up to Christmas seems like
00:20:30
Speaker
It's just so busy. It seems like I have a thousand emails just because everybody's wrapping stuff up so that they can go enjoy Christmas and New Year's and have a little bit of a break. Whereas other weeks, maybe it's just lighter. So, how does that work? Is there a sweet spot in terms of somewhere to hire a VA, they should be looking for somebody to do 10, 15, 20 hours a week?
00:20:51
Speaker
I would say depending on really how much help you need. Cause here's the thing, like maybe you're an entrepreneur and you're even starting your business. And the way you're setting up your business is, you know, if I want my business to be sustainable, I'm going to start outsourcing from the beginning and I'm going to budget for that. So maybe you only need 10 hours a month because really you think about it. How long does an email take?
00:21:11
Speaker
How long? Like, oh, right, few minutes. And it would probably, you know, and it's funny because it would probably be shorter, you know, it would probably take less time coming from a VA than it would from me myself because I'm gonna sit there and think about it for, you know, 30 minutes or whatever. Right. And then end up sending the same email I drafted with. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And like, that was like me. I would be editing and then email and I'm like, oh, I'm not quite happy with that. So I'll go back to editing. Oh, I haven't sent that email yet. So I'll go back to that. Yeah. And your assistant is going to be focused on those tasks one at a time.
00:21:40
Speaker
Yeah. And then you get them done so quickly.
Building Trust Through Basic Tasks
00:21:42
Speaker
So I would say, like to kind of answer that question, I would say start with our base package, which is 10 hours a month. If you're not, if you have no idea, you have no idea how much time you need. And then you can always add more hours or you can increase the next month. Well, 10 hours is a base, but.
00:21:57
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's pretty good advice. Just in general, even when we were about hiring people, starting at a level where we know we could provide enough work. And then if we need to provide more work, then we can just increase. Exactly. Instead of starting with 40 hours a week or whatever, and then having to take away hours.
00:22:17
Speaker
That would give me so much anxiety if I did it that way. I would just do the base. Just do the base and think, okay, what are my critical pain points? What really slows me down? What really causes me stress in my business? And I think immediately, for almost everyone, it's going to be the emails and workflow.
00:22:35
Speaker
And then start with that. And then next month, after you have worked out the kings, you get to know each other. You're like, yes, I really love my assistant. This is already making my life better. I'm going to give them client touch points. I'm going to give them some of my bookkeeping. I'm going to let them submit to blogs and publications for me. Yeah. And there's probably, I imagine, at least, and maybe I'm projecting here just because of those deep-seated trust issues.
00:22:56
Speaker
I would also imagine too like if you give somebody if you say hey I'm gonna start with something like 10 hours a week and I'm gonna give them these tasks and these tasks are fairly benign in the sense that like you know something like email that just has to be done on a daily basis but it won't be the end of the world if there's like a mistake you know I mean for the most part right?
00:23:14
Speaker
And it's just a good way to build trust with that person. And then, you know, if they, you know, for me, it'd be like, okay, well, they can handle that. So, you know, I might as well give them something like, you know, my bookkeeping or my, you know, contracts and invoices or whatever. I think it's really interesting because obviously you're a very organized person. I can tell.
00:23:33
Speaker
Mostly, you know, it's funny, like I am, I guess a sidebar to a certain extent, but Krista is the Krista is like on another it's like she's from another planet as far as like organization comes, you know, so I think it's like, in part, like I've just been trained, you know, it's like somewhere along the ways of being married for the last nine years, Krista has trained me into this person that has, you know, canned emails and schedulers and things like that, all things that you know, you went through even in setting up this, this podcast and stuff like that.
00:24:02
Speaker
But yes, I would consider myself fairly organized. Amazing, amazing. So I've already interacted and we've gone through beta testing. And we're just wrapping up our first round of beta testing and the creatives that we worked with, you wouldn't even believe how crazy talented they are, how much they are influencers in our industry.
00:24:20
Speaker
But they were unorganized with when it comes to workflow and or maybe not even are aware like what a workflow is. Sure. So I see like just a creative mind, like a creative person that does all these things, but they're so disorganized when it comes to their business. If they were to come to Pepper and be like, I'm doing all these things and I need help and I don't know what I need.
00:24:39
Speaker
And if we were to say, hey, Davey, you need this and you need that. You need all these different things that we offer because this will make your life so much better. Just the thought of having to organize those things in their own life would be so stressful. Yeah. So just even going back to like, yes, just get the basics. Get the basics for that first month, maybe two, and then just build on that. And it takes the stress off you as well.
00:25:00
Speaker
Yeah. And that
The Cost of Hiring a VA
00:25:01
Speaker
makes sense. And I want to talk though now about pay. You know, I think that's what it, you know, that's what all comes out. This all sounds great. I'm sure there's a lot of people listening to this. I'd be like, yes, I need somebody to take some of these things. I need my emails taken off my plate so that I can focus on content creation or whatever it is that they love to do. And but really, what should somebody expect to pay when it comes to hiring a VA or
00:25:24
Speaker
And I'm sure the rates out there vary. And I know when I was looking, the rates varied and I got different advice on like, hey, if someone's not charging at least this much, then you want to avoid that person. However, if somebody's charging this much, then for whatever this is, that's outrageous. So can you give some guidelines at least when it comes to figuring out what we should be paying somebody or what we should expect to pay somebody if we want to start outsourcing some of this stuff?
00:25:52
Speaker
So our base package for 10 hours a month is 350, $350. And the more hours you buy, the rate goes down per hour. And that's pretty industry standard. Okay. And that's pretty much competitive with kind of what's out there. So you start out at 350 a month, right? Yeah.
00:26:11
Speaker
And then the more hours you add. So it sounds like it's by package. So if you went up to the next package, it would come down. It's not by hour. So if you added an 11th hour, it's not like the rate comes down, right? Right. You can even add. We do have a data top up option. If you just want an extra hour, it's $40 for that hour. OK.
00:26:34
Speaker
For a little top up and then we have a 20 hour and a 30 hour package and then we have a custom. So if you feel like you're going to need more than 30 hours a month, you can contact us directly and we'll work something out special for you.
00:26:45
Speaker
Okay, awesome. I've heard that around $35 an hour for virtual assistant work. I do like this concept though of a sliding scale where you add some more hours, you can guarantee some more hours on a monthly basis, then maybe that rate comes down a bit. That's good to know. I should mention too, it's not official yet, but we're going to also be having a special projects section.
00:27:08
Speaker
So your assistant won't be doing things like copywriting, newsletters, blogging, any kind of graphic design like client PDFs. But we are going to be bringing on someone just for those special projects. And that'll be its own kind of like a la carte item you could purchase. Oh, wow. Yeah.
00:27:23
Speaker
And oh yeah, and this we're working on this right now. It's really exciting as we're starting a client touch point store. So if you don't have any systems already in place for your client touch points, if you don't have your own packaging for thank you cards or surprise print gifts or things like that, we will have them for you. You can just purchase directly through your assistant and we'll take care of everything.
00:27:43
Speaker
Oh, so it's like a drop shipping, you know, a client gift, let's say. Yes, exactly. And those are just purchase on demand. And we will and we would do everything for you. You don't have to go buy anything, source anything, ship us anything for us to take care of. It is literally all through Pepper.
00:27:58
Speaker
So I do want to talk about just kind of the behind the scenes of starting pepper here a little bit more before I get to that though. So and we've talked, you know, you've been talking about this entire topic of hiring a VA from the perspective of pepper, which I think is, you know, insightful for anybody thinking about hiring a
Pepper's Creative Niche Focus
00:28:15
Speaker
VA.
00:28:15
Speaker
getting kind of an understanding of and get some context for maybe how much they should pay and what services they ought to outsource. But I guess one of my questions about is going to, this is a question about Pepper specifically. You all are based in Canada and what sets your service, your VA, and I said agency before I was talking about this.
00:28:37
Speaker
I think you can call it an agency. Yeah, VA agency. What separates your VA agency from kind of what's already out there? We are in creative niche. We're already going to know about the creative industry and what it's like to be a creative entrepreneur because I have been there. And we just even going back to how you interact with your clients. So if you are a VA and you're interacting for lawyers, accountants,
00:29:03
Speaker
realtors is going to be completely different than how you interact with a creatives client. And also already knowing the basis of your workflow and the things that you already need to do and already aware of what probably your most critical pain points are, our assistants are already going to know those things.
00:29:21
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that's, you know, I just as you talk about some of these things, I think that's one thing that really stands out is it's nice, you know, when you're when you're looking to hire somebody, hiring somebody that's already familiar with your industry on some level, you know, because it is different, like you said, than hiring somebody that's going to be, you know, administrative assistant for an accountant, let's say, you know, they're gonna have very different interactions.
00:29:45
Speaker
Even your interaction, not just the VA's interaction, not with your clients, but with you. So if you hire an assistant that loves something creative as well, or can interact with you on that level, or understands that, it's going to be so different than someone that they're like, oh, I don't really care about the creative industry, but I will do your emails.
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah, and even on the level of some of these special projects, if you hire a VA that's not necessarily niched into your industry, then they're probably unable to do some of these special projects that you had just mentioned just because they're not going to have any context for getting them done. So that is really interesting. We're excited to hear more about your launch. And before I pivot here into talking about some of your learnings from starting a second business,
00:30:29
Speaker
Oh yes. I definitely want to hear about that. You launch officially on March 1st. Yeah. You can sign up on, it's meatpepper.ca. C-A, all right. Yeah, we're Canadians every year, right? We have a Canadian who works for us and we love her, so. Oh, good.
00:30:46
Speaker
Yeah. So meetpepper.ca. You can go, you can sign up to be part of the waiting list. You will get special three month pricing, right? If you sign up to be part of the waiting list and you decide to go with Pepper. So just throwing that out there, all that stuff will be in the show notes. I do want to change gears here. And I want to talk about what you've learned from starting a second business. And, you know, I guess just in general, what that experience has been like. And here's the reason I ask is because
00:31:13
Speaker
I feel like every year I'm starting another business. Some have failed, some have worked out. And I feel like it should always be easier than it is. Because once you've built a business, when we built our photography business, it's up and running, it's profitable, we're getting clients, things are going well. And so you just seem like, I've done this before, I'm going to go build another business.
00:31:33
Speaker
But I always forget, I guess, the hustle that's involved in those first steps. And I always find myself or reminding myself in those situations like, man, I really have to go back to the basics. You know, like, I'm talking developing a new client avatar, some things that I skip over because I think like, oh, I've, you know, I've done this before, right? Yes, I that is what I've discovered as well. Like, I was trying to think of an answer to that. I'm like, well, like, I feel like it's going really well, and I'm not feeling too stressed about it.
00:32:01
Speaker
And that's okay. Just because you've taken the proper steps, you don't have to tell me this has been harder than it's been just so that I feel better. You touched on that one point. I feel like I intuitively know so much that sometimes explaining it to someone else, I have to actually take a step back and be like, yes, this person can
00:32:24
Speaker
read my mind and they haven't they don't have all the experience that I have so like a teammate for example and we're working on the business development and I could look at them be like oh yeah I actually need to explain this to you because you don't know this part yeah it's that yeah because you've already done that you've already gone through that process with a previous business and you're you've just gone through it already in your mind for your next one
00:32:46
Speaker
So just in preparing for the second launch for this new company, what are some things that you went through to ensure that this is going to be successful?
Market Research and Community Engagement
00:32:55
Speaker
I know, I mean, just from observation, it sounds like you've done maybe a couple rounds or are doing a couple rounds of just beta testing. Just getting people in, understanding what their needs are, maybe where pain points are, and I'm sure iterating on that.
00:33:08
Speaker
The first thing I did is just talk to other creatives. That's like the number one thing that I did and just interacting with my industry and asking them what they're feeling and what they would need help with. And it came up over and over again, the base services that we are offering, that those are the things that almost everyone is struggling with. So even just having an idea of like, I need an assistant. Okay, well, what do you like?
00:33:33
Speaker
What other people need do they feel the same way as me is I'd say that was the number one thing to really do some Really good market research and on the ground research face-to-face and then definitely beta testing. Absolutely. We had a Zoom party that we didn't intend to have Which was part of the testing so yeah, definitely that's important
00:33:53
Speaker
Yeah, so getting people actually through and experiencing your product before you release it to the public. Just teeny tiny little details. Can I ask about some other things that it seems like that I've noticed you do, right? But you haven't mentioned, is that okay? Yes, absolutely. So one thing is just the email list, just having a place where people can go and sign up and say that they're interested. Yeah. So why have that? Oh, then you really know. You really know how many people are interested. You can have this great idea, but if you don't have a concrete list or a concrete number,
00:34:23
Speaker
then how do you prepare for that? Yeah. And I think that's kind of what I was hoping you would say because when you go and ask people during that market research phase, if you go and ask people like, hey, would you be interested in this? It's really easy for people to say, yeah, sure, I'd be interested in that. But it's not until the rubber needs to meet the road and somebody needs to raise their hand and say, no, seriously,
00:34:47
Speaker
I'm interested in this. I think an email list is that first signal that when somebody's willing to subscribe to that email list and be kept up to date on the service and how it's developing and when it's going to be available or wanting details, I think that's the first signal that somebody's actually interested in the service.
00:35:07
Speaker
And really, you think about it when people sign up to your newsletter. It is actually such an honor because we're, especially us, like we're on social media and we're interacting. There's so much of us going out and things coming to us. Like if you sign up for a newsletter and you're inviting more into your life, more information, I feel so honored.
00:35:25
Speaker
Adding more emails to that inbox that we need managed by somebody. Yes, exactly. But as a business owner too, it's so valuable because it's a way for us to actually follow up with that person as well. Whereas with social media, whether they see the post or they don't see the post, there's no really accountability. If you show up in somebody's inbox and you ask them a question, there's a burden on them almost to say yes or no. Whereas with social media, you can scroll through a post, see it, but not engage with it at all.
00:35:55
Speaker
So that's one of the first things that I wanted to point out that I think is just a wise move, even in advance of your launch. But the second thing is, is you've sought out some coaching, right? Yes, I have. Yeah. Oh, yes. Yes. Jessie and Becky, idealist. I love you guys. Yeah. And so they've been, they've actually been guests on the podcast as well. And I just like bringing that out because I think, again, it's so important to have an outside perspective speaking into your business at every level, you know?
The Role of External Coaching
00:36:25
Speaker
Huge. Yeah. And coaching is something that I invest in. And I just think it's really important for somebody who's outside your business that isn't blind to the same things that you're blind to, to be able to say, really, why are you doing that? Explain that to me. And I've just found that so beneficial. So I just wanted to point those things out as well, in addition to what you had mentioned earlier, because I think anybody who's starting a new business could benefit from those things as well.
00:36:50
Speaker
I think it was so important to have them, but they really keep me honest and keep me on track as well. Jesse especially, which I love, and I love that. I love that. But they really do help you set your mindset. And even the fact that you're hiring a coach, it means you really do care about your business and what you're doing and trying to do it the best you can. And I think I probably could have gotten to where I am if I didn't have a coach, but maybe years later.
00:37:18
Speaker
Sure. I think on so many levels, one of the biggest things about hiring a coach, beyond somebody that can call you out on some BS occasionally, is just the accountability. Often that accountability is them calling you out on BS because you say, I'm not saying you, but in general, we can make up excuses as to why we're not progressing forward with this idea. They can say, no, really, that's not an excuse. Like, hey, you need to get over whatever this fear is and just go do it. I think that's
00:37:47
Speaker
you know, value enough to pay for a coach. And then of course, you know, they do a good coach does tend to provide some great insight beyond that as well. I was going to say like, just guidance and seeing things differently. I mean, like, Hey, have you thought about this?
00:38:03
Speaker
Yeah, it could be a huge could be a game changer like those light bulb moments are they happen all the time when I work with them? Yeah, and I think there's light bulb moment if that's why that's why an outside perspective is so valuable because there's it's those outside ideas, you know, it's somebody who's looking at a problem, the same problem you are. But because they have different experiences, and maybe they're in a different industry, they can speak into it and you're like, Oh, yeah, you know, why didn't I, you know, why didn't I see that?
00:38:30
Speaker
And they see so much. We could talk about them all day. We obviously both love them. Sure, yeah. And just coaching in general. I just wanted to bring that up in general. I think it's such a valuable investment for people to make. So, where can people learn more? How can people get on this email list to figure out, maybe even get involved with some testing, although doors might have already been closed on that. But even just to learn about these services and potentially outsource to Pepper.
00:38:56
Speaker
You can find us on Instagram at meat.pepper.
00:39:00
Speaker
Our website is www.meatpepper.ca and you can find us on Facebook as Pepper Your Badass Business BFF. Awesome, awesome. Good deal. Well, Stacey, I'm so glad that we got an opportunity to talk about this. Again, outsourcing, I think, can be such a game changer for people and their businesses because it just allows them to free up their mind, focus on the things that are more important to them, and also hopefully by freeing up their mind allows them to be more creative as well.
00:39:30
Speaker
So thank you so much for taking your time and sharing your expertise with us. Thanks for having me. It's been fun. Thanks for tuning in to the Brands That Book Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving a review in iTunes. For show notes and other resources, head on over to davianchrista.com.
00:40:01
Speaker
you