I have to say I’m SO excited about today’s episode. This podcast is a result of a lot of thinking that I have been doing.I have to say...I know there are so many things that might stand in your way of outsourcing your tech. You may some assumptions about what happens with you get out of the realm of DIY and into the realm of Done-For-You. BUT… are those assumptions true? Today we’re going to debunk the stigma of outsourcing your tech and other aspects of your business.
Here’s the thing, all business to business service providers provide a service that could technically be done yourself. Whether it’s your copywriter, your graphic designer, your bookkeeper, your executive assistant or your ads manager. You could technically do these tasks on your own. These are all roles that we could technically do ourselves, BUT for the benefit of our clients, our sanity, and the health of our businesses we outsource them. It’s even easy to justify outsourcing building your initial website or setting up your email marketing platform. So WHY do we find it so much more difficult to outsource the implementation of a new tech tool?
I think it boils down to the marketing messages from the companies that create these tools! And while I firmly believe that their tools will make your business run better and have more profit, it’s sometimes hard to know if implementing that tool is going to take you a reasonable or unreasonable amount of time. And then if it’s going to be truly an asset in your business for you to know the intricacies of that piece of software or just simply know how to make the most of it.
Which camp were you in when you last added a new piece of technology to your tech stack? Was it the “I’m sure it’s not that tough…” or “I’ll just get the bare minimum done and outsource the full implementation later” or was it “I am going to hire an expert to get this done right the first time?”
Really think about those questions. Read them carefully! If it was the last one, then kudos to you! You fully understand that the best place for you to spend your time in your business is on only what you can do. And by embracing that, you have equipped yourself with the greatest tool any business owner can have – self-worth! Seriously, that’s a bold statement – your self-worth is so much more valuable than a DIY badge or learning something outside of your wheelhouse because you’re not sure how to outsource it.
Well… that’s really what we’re talking about today! How in the world do you outsource implementing tech so that it can truly work for you? **I’m going to use ThriveCart as an example again because it’s just a really good piece of software and is extremely relatable to this conversation.
This particular tool is not one that most entrepreneurs implement at the outset of their business because it’s usually more than what they need. So it’s truly an “add to the tech stack” software. The ultimate goal when implementing ThriveCart is to have a fully built out checkout process which may include affiliates, bump offers, upsells and downsells, and integrations with other tools like course platforms, membership sites, email marketing platforms, fulfillment services and others.
The platform is relatively easy to use once you know your way around. It’s one of those platforms that is extremely beneficial to outsource and get setup right the first time. At the same time, there are a lot of nuances to it – depending on what other online tools you’re using.
I just recently learned that ThriveCart when integrated with Infusionsoft passes all purchase data over so that the purchases can be tracked in the CRM. I haven’t found that in the documentation anywhere. However, now that I know it, I’m able to draw on that knowledge to make it easier to ask the right questions during setup and configuration.
Similarly, since ThriveCart has native integrations with some tools and relies on Zapier for other integrations, sometimes adding ThriveCart isn’t just adding ThriveCart. It’s also getting Zapier working properly to fully implement the desired functionality. And this opens up a whole new subset of learning opportunities, there are, at the time of this recording, 25 ThriveCart triggers in Zapier!
Let’s ask ourselves, is it beneficial to the sustainability and profitability of your business to be able to setup ThriveCart yourself? Or, would it be a better use of your resources (both time and money) to outsource the initial implementation and setup? I’m not saying that when we outsource a new tech tool setup and initial implementation that means we can never DIY the tool. In fact, many times when I do this type of setup for my clients, I include documentation, walk-through videos, and use cases and strategies for using the tools themselves going forward.
When we’re bringing on a new software tool, it’s often in conjunction with a new initiative or project. And that’s just one more reason that outsourcing the tech has so much value. It gives you the space and conserves your energy so that you can be fully present for your audience, students, tribe or what-have-you. I find that most of the stigma around outsourcing tech implementation comes down to perception. By perception, I mean the perception you may have of yourself. Things like:
How are people going to trust me for 6-months of coaching if I can’t even implement ThriveCart?
How is it going to look to my peers when they find out that I didn’t build my own website?
What happens if I don’t know how to reset a student’s password on Thinkific? Is that student going to cancel their membership?
Let’s turn those questions around and make you look like a Rockstar! How awesome is it that I can fully support my coaching clients and know that their payments and related communications within the backend of my systems is all flowing beautifully?
How amazing is it that my website looks so professional and completely reflects my core desires and core offers?
I’m so lucky that I have a reliable platform that makes it easy for my students to be successful and manage their own account!
There is power in outsourcing your tech implementation. In fact, there is so much power in outsourcing your tech, my entire business is built upon it – and I love it. Even if you’re not worried what someone else might think, there are other stigmas that go along with outsourcing tech implementation. It’s time to dispel those now!
One of them is feeling confident in your technology. Without knowing a tool intimately and having had lots of contact with support, watching hours of YouTube videos, being active in the private FB group for the tool, how is it that you’re going to trust this particular tool to truly do everything the sales page said it did?
Oy!… there, a bit of Yiddish for ya! I don’t pull that out very often, but this one is super easy to dispel. Those gray hairs and sleepless nights aren’t going to give you any greater amount of confidence in the tool. In fact, they have the potential to make you weary of your decision to use a given platform.
I had a client last year who wanted to build out her membership site on Thinkific. While she could have used the bundle function and built the membership site and maybe gotten into the LIQUID programming to pull elements out to make the site fully envelop her vision, she likely would have spent a lot of time and energy going back and forth with the support desk. She also would have gotten a minimum viable solution that she would be okay with opening up for her audience. Instead, she chose to trust the software and trust her team to make sure that the platform would then in turn support her students. This created a better experience across the board! And my client was able to develop significantly more content for promotion and the membership site than she would have had she been DIY’ing it.
What membership site would you rather be a part of? One that was cobbled together by a coach who had to split her energy between the content and the build out or one that was outsourced to an expert and where the coach was able to dedicate far more time and energy to the content and your experience in their program?
Another stigma that goes along with outsourcing is the whole “I should be able to figure this out” stigma. OK, so yes, you’re a freakin’ brilliant business owner who delivers amazing results to your clients, but really? What evidence do you have that you should be able to figure this out? This can go one of two ways.
On the one hand, you might see a lot of people who seem to be just like you who are using the software. It may appear that they all did it themselves, but who’s to say that is true? Or that their business didn’t suffer because they spent so much time on implementation? Or that you have the same skillset as they do?
On the other hand, there’s the marketing and the tutorials that make it seem like anyone can pick it up. But then we get back to if it’s truly the best use of your resources. There are a lot of things that experts can do that even the most gifted DIYer will never be as successful with.
At the top of the episode, I said that there is less stigma that goes with outsourcing CREATIVE aspects of business like graphics and copywriting. There is also less stigma in outsourcing FUNCTIONAL aspects of business like bookkeeping. But that there is more stigma around outsourcing something that is sold as easy-to-use, plug-and-play and for-everyone.
I’m going to wrap this episode up with a reality question that comes up a lot in people’s minds when they are trying to justify to themselves that it’s okay to hire someone to just do it for you. Are you ready? Imagine having a tool that would take you 30 - 40 hours to implement including the actual implementation, the research required, and trial and error. And that you have 10 work hours available in the next week to complete this task. hTe remaining time would carve out of non-work time blocks.
Next imagine that you charge $200/hour when working one-on-one with your clients, for simple math purposes. This means that if you could fill those 10 hours this week, you could bring in $2000.
What if I charged $2000 for this exact work? And I could complete the job in the timeline you need it complete. Think about it:
Wouldn’t you rather save the 20 – 30 hours of non-work time that you would need to cut into?
Wouldn’t you rather spend the 10 hours serving your clients and working in your zone of genius rather than scouring support tutorials?
What if you could increase your hourly rate to $300/hour? Why? Because you’ve continued to hone your unique gifts and increase the value that you bring to your clients? (Because frankly, you’re not getting distracted by the new tech implementation rabbit hole!)
What if you just stopped getting in your own way?
And there we have it! Let’s put an end to the stigma of outsourcing tech implementation in your business and let your brilliance shine!
Know someone who needs this message today? Share this episode with them directly from your podcast app or send them to https://techofbusiness.com/078/ !
Connect with Jaime: Instagram: @techofbusiness
Twitter: @techofbusiness
Facebook: @yourbiztech
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimeslutzky/
Email: jaime@techofbusiness.com
Comentarios