HIRING RESOURCES
I would love for you to watch our Masterclass on Building Our Remote Team. We talk about the hiring process in here, but also some really great advice around building a team culture and strong onboarding systems.
https://bbcourses.com/remote-team-masterclass/
Post-masterclass additional insights and guidance from Shay:
- Yes, I definitely think sharing this company overview with the team will be really great. We want to always make sure our team members are on the same page as us as that leads to everyone being on the same page about expectations as well. I love giving my team members the opportunity to share their thoughts on any new changes I’m bringing into the company or updated ideas/concepts. This allows you to get their perspective also get them “bought in” to your team culture and company mission. I think some personalities (like myself) love being able to read documents and come prepared prior to calls so I think sharing the doc ahead of time is a great idea.
- I like the idea of having them evaluate their current role, this will give you such a great perspective into if they are truly on the same page as you. Instead of sharing first your expectations or descriptions of the role and then they just parrot that back. I think it’s a great idea to have them present to you first what they think their role is and how they contribute to the company. When creating KPIs I think also allowing them to share from their perspective too what do they feel makes sense as a KPI for their role, of course this decision is ultimately up to you – it’s so helpful to know what they think before you provide your thoughts. This again fosters clear communicated expectations as well as you can see the areas where possibly they are not aligned with your view of their role and your expectations. Always have them speak and share first, I’ve found it immensely helpful to understand my team members better this way.
- This is a good question and something I’ve tried many different variations of. I’m going to share what has worked best for me. I like to start with a 3 month trial contract and this is where the majority of training and reviewals happen before I hand off ownership. After those 3 months I should not be involved on a nitty gritty level in their work (this is based on the book Clockwork). My preference to to then sign 6 months, but if I still feel that I’m not 100% sure if the long-term fit is there or expectations haven’t been fully met yet, but I want to continue investing time with them because I see potential – I will only do another 3 months. I like 6 months because I really enjoy growing team members in their roles, moving them up the ladder, and having the same team members stick with me for long periods of time. That’s a part of our team culture I would say. 1 year I do, but only after they’ve been with me for at least 1 year or longer and they are invested in truly growing in their role, going above and beyond, very invested in staying within my company for a long time. I like the stability of being able to forecast my expenses for the year which gives me financial stability as well as it gives them job security and financial stability (these 1 year contracts are all retainer contracts so almost like salaried work). I do want to say that a lot can change in one year in a business and if they are not continuing to hit their KPIs a year is a long time to be locked into a contract together.For pay raises I only give them if they ask for them. They have to be with our company for at least 6 months before I would even consider a pay raise pitch. They have to pitch to me why they should receive a pay raise and I would base that on their KPIs and other qualitative things they bring to the table. But it’s on them. They are not salaried employees, they are their own entities and therefore I’m not going to give them a raise based on length of time worked for me. It’s not on you to give a raise, it’s on them to ask for one. And my team members know they need to be consistently hitting their KPIs for at least 3 months before I will consider hearing a raise increase pitch.Regarding contract renewal, I meet with my team members 30 days before the end of our contract together and usually on those meetings is where we discuss another contract and the terms. If they no longer want to work with for us (so rare because our team culture is so strong and my expectations are well communicated) then we part ways at the end of the contract, but that gives me 30 days to replace them, which I’ve found to be more than enough time.
- Totally feel you on documenting SOPs and such, but to affirm your mention of a google folder for each team member… that’s what I’ve always used. I have a folder for each team member and inside I have a Google Doc called their Growth Trajectory doc to keep notes on performance, meetings, their growth plans, my growth plans etc. I also keep their contract and job descriptions/role outlines in there as well. So I think you’re totally fine with just having google drive folders for team members. You can create more resources for yourself as you’re implementing, but I don’t think time is best spent on creating those beforehand – an OBM is someone who can do that for you when you need someone else to manage your team. For now, just keep team member folders for everyone
MARKETING + COPYWRITING RESOURCES
Freedom Filled Podcast with Kelsey Formost: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/016-how-to-master-your-copy-foster-deeper-customer/id1586545449?i=1000600704921
Copywriting Course we recommend (Ashlyn Carter’s course): https://ashlynwrites.com/
Ashlyn’s Copywriting Masterclass inside the Collective: She was a guest March 2022 here.
Linkedin Lead Generation Academy Course:
We have an awesome resource to share with you today! Cassie has a connection to a paid marketing agency that created a Linkedin Lead Generation Academy course. They’ve given us free access to this course so you can check it out for implementing LinkedIn Sales Strategies.
Quick note: We have not personally taken or fully reviewed the course, but the company who shared this course with us is fully booked out with clients and they’re a successful company so the content I’m sure will be helpful to those of you who are looking at using Linkedin for sales.
Login info:
Login Page: https://cleverly-marketing-academy.teachable.com/courses/enrolled/1518901
Username: cassietorrecillas@gmail.com
Password: XvFZS7q!9ejp$ws
SOFTWARE RECOMMENDATIONS
Organizational Software: https://airtable.com/
Quiz Software: https://www.tryinteract.com/
Client Management Softwares:
- Dubsado
- Honeybook
- I would look into Honeybook recurring payment option, it looks like it might need a 3rd party extension, but let me know what you have in your backend for recurring payment options (https://www.honeybook.com/online-payment-software)
CONTRACTS, LEGAL, & FINANCE RESOURCES
Destination Legal 1:1 Services Contract Template: Here is a link
- Additional advice: This was created custom from Sarah because we have her on retainer, but I’m sure her templates are similar to this, this is my standard contract for all team members for you to take a look through.
International Tax Lawyer: Kathleen (Kathy) from Wanderers Wealth
https://www.instagram.com/wanderers.wealth/
Accountant we recommend (reach out to Shay for a personal introduction): https://www.steadfastbookkeeping.com/
Accounting Softwares:
I wouldn’t go with the Freelancer plan because when you need to upgrade your bookkeeping to one of the other plans, it’s not easy to upgrade because they have it set up differently than the small business accounts. With the revenue you’re driving and the plan to potentially expand your team expense – I would go with the one of the small business plans.
Additionally, I’m assuming your business is registered as an LLC or essentially anything other than “self-employed” right? If so, definitely go with one of the small business plans as they will have the reports you need. The Freelancer plan is basically the same as manually tracking and creating reports in my opinion
You connect it directly to any banks you use and it will auto pull in statements/transactions. You then set up rules on which expense or revenue accounts to attribute those transactions/deposits to.
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
I wanted to recommend this book we just read inside the BB Collective, it’s a super easy read and I think gives some super solid advice for how to to show up as leaders in business/careers. Lots of great points and advice she shares in really digestible storytelling format – thought of you ladies while I was reading it. I was taking away gems I want to apply too!
This is the book: The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You by Lydia Fenet (https://amzn.to/3Chf5WJ)
PODCASTING
The Freedom Filled Life Podcast:
I’m booking my next round of podcast interviews for our Freedom Filled Life Podcast and I would love to interview you! If you want to join me on the podcast you just need to book a time in my podcast calendar here and then I’ll follow up via email for the next steps.
INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES
International Phone Plans: T-Mobile is the provided we use in the USA
International Tax Lawyer: Kathleen (Kathy) from Wanderers Wealth
https://www.instagram.com/wanderers.wealth/
GUIDED MEDITATIONS
Hey ladies, I mentioned on today’s call that I wanted to put together a visualization meditation for you to help with this current season of life. I’ve landed on a theme centering around cultivating joy, lightheartedness and gratitude.
Here is the audio meditation for you…
Go on this journey as often as you need.If you can, I recommend listening to this one lying in the grass outside or within reach to touch a piece of nature with your hands or feet. That could even look like sitting next to an indoor plant and placing your hands on the leaves or soil gently.
Download the audio file here: https://bbcourses.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cultivate-Joy-Guided-Meditation.m4a