#26: The Power of Virtual Support and Outsourcing with Chris Ducker

On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, I interviewed my good friend, Chris Ducker. This interview came at a perfect time, because the evening after completing the interview, I got on a plane to the Philippines to speak at Chris' event, Tropical Think Tank. This was an exciting trip for me because not only is this my first trip to the Philippines, I also had the opportunity to speak with some some really fantastic people, including Pat Flynn, John Dumas, Greg Hickman and Natalie Sisson, and of course Chris Ducker himself, so it was a lot of fun. On today’s show, we are talking about the power of virtual support and outsourcing. This is an important topic for me, because I recently learned a valuable lesson, something I did not believe for so long until I finally experienced it personally in my business. So many successful people I look up to have told me that it is possible to work less and make a bigger impact, which includes bigger profits. That was hard for me to believe because it went against everything I knew about hard work paying off. However, on episode 23, I talked about how I experienced this very thing in 2013. I tell you this because with the right support, you truly can do less and make more. That’s why I think the topic today is so valuable to anyone building a business online. I’ve actually had Chris on the show before and so today we are going to dive a bit deeper into this topic. For those of you who do not know Chris, Chris is a serial entrepreneur, virtual staffing expert, blogger, podcaster and author of the new book Virtual Freedom (which is a FANTASTIC book and one I highly recommend.) In this episode, right from the start, Chris gets personal about a recent experience he had with burnout - and how his burnout did not effect his business AT ALL. Also, Chris dives into the mindset and mechanics around expanding your team with virtual support. The mindset requires a different way of looking at your business and your role in your business, seeing the value of letting go of some of it, and leveraging it by entrusting certain aspects of it to someone else. The mechanics include specific strategies and tools you can use to maximize your outsourcing experience. In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover: Mindset and the mechanics of expanding your team The value of letting go and leveraging Chris' burnout, and what he did about it The importance of taking care of yourself and switching off regularly What entrepreneurs should do with the time they save by outsourcing How a virtual team kept Chris' business going in the midst of his burnout The importance of entrepreneurs going off the grid from time to time What super hero syndrome is, and how to overcome it The impact of ego on your business What will defeat the benefits of your outsourcing efforts How you can make more by working less How to counter the feeling that you can do things faster yourself than telling someone else to do it The biggest problem when training your virtual staff How to throw little curve balls to your VA, and why you should Why you need to take care of your team ahead of all else Whether you should outsource locally or overseas The 3 basic ways Chris communicates with his staff The point where a lot of businesses begin to fail and how to avoid it And so much more! When training your virtual staff, the biggest challenge you'll run into is yourself [Tweet This]