246 - What Contractors Want You to Know About the Hiring Process - An Interview with My Team

On today's episode of the podcast I chat with five members of my team about what my team looks like and tips for successfully onboarding contractors. 

Lili Enriquez - Lili is a general virtual assistant whose role has varied while working for me. During her time with me she has completed a variety of tasks including managing my Pinterest, uploading my podcasts to YouTube and still continues to edit and upload my podcast to its players. 

Shandra Cornelia - A wedding planner and virtual assistant, Shandra joined the team as Customer Support Manager after being a former student in Branden’s course. She works with Braden on student calls and answers customer emails. 

Emily Rochotte - A social media manager and content writer for creative small business owners, Emily manages Braden's social media, pitches him for guest spots on podcasts, and oversees calendar integration for Braden's involvement in summits, bundles and other speaking events. 

Juliet Peay - Juliet is a copywriter writing emails, sales pages, and websites for people with strong personal brands. For Braden, Juliet writes Braden's weekly emails and launch emails throughout the year. When Braden was hiring a copywriter he asked select candidates to write test emails that they were compensated for at their hourly rate. If you’re going to offer a test and will possibly use their work, you need to have them sign a work for hire contract and pay them for their work as you may use it in the future.

Connie Hurlburt – Connie is a virtual assistant and she welcomes members into Braden’s Besties Facebook group , answers their questions and directs them to resources.

The team shares with Braden what helps them feel organized in the business, especially as part of a multi-person team.

SOPs – Having standard operating procedures in place help team members to know that if they are taking time off and someone needs to step in to complete a project,

Project Management System – email can be tempting, but keeping all info in a place that is accessible to everyone will be increasingly helpful as your team grows and other members need to reference information or see what stage in the process other members are on for projects multiple members are working on.

Voxer – Have a communication tool in place so you know the best way to reach your client/contractor(s)

In Profit Rx we talk about micro and macro organizers when it comes to creating systems for your business. Braden is a macro organizer – he has a few project boards on Asana with details under it versus micro organizing Asana into a ton of projects.

Shared calendars – Organize your launches and content in a calendar that your team can see 

The team shares their tips for business owners when hiring a contractor:

• Know if you need a contractor or a part-time employee
• As a contractor, make sure to update your contract as scope of work changes. As a client, know that your contractor will update their contract from time to time
• If you are outsourcing from another country or time zone it’s important to understand turn around times and how time differences impact that and to give significant advance notice if you need the contractor to be available at a specific time
• Have a good onboarding process
• Equip your team with the information they need to easily access during their work time when you as the client may not be available to provide it to them such as passwords that allows your contractor to feel empowered to do the work they need on their own
• Keep communication streamlined in one place as opposed to spread out across multiple apps if possible.
• Don’t be afraid to start small – hiring for a 5 hour a month project is okay and you want to hire someone you know can give you the most quality work in that time
• Know what the contractor specializes in. For example, just because someone is a copywriter does not mean they write sales pages, blogs and social captions. Know what their strengths are and hire based on that.
• Have a very clear idea of what you want to hire someone for so they know your expectations
• Hire carefully – know that the person aligns with your values and what you stand for
• Respect your contractor’s boundaries. Follow the contract, especially any time element laid out there, and deliver what they need to do their job on time or they will not be able to deliver it back to you on time.
• If you are someone who frequently changes their mind, make it clear to your contractor when you are ready to move forward with a set idea
• Set an agenda for your team meetings so contractors know what to expect

To learn more about systems and how Braden runs his business, check out Module 9 in Profit Rx

Get in Touch with our Guests

Juliet Peay: Connect with Juliet on LinkedIn
Emily Rochotte: Follow Emily on Instagram or Connect with her on LinkedIn
Lili Enriquez: Check out Lili's Upwork profile or Send her an email 
Shandra Cornelia: Send Shandra an email
Connie Hurlburt: Follow Connie on Instagram