Work Smarter, Not Harder – Part 2
I hope you started working on becoming great at delegating (and strategic too).
Just in case you didn’t start yet (or you missed it today)… CLICK HERE to do it NOW.
Remember – this week’s assignment is coming up with at least 10 ideas… for a different question in the process – each day.
- Did you give the process a try?
- Do you have any question about the process?
- Did you get stuck anywhere?
This is your opportunity to ask any question related to this week’s implementation assignment – to make sure you get the maximum out of it.
It’s also a golden chance to help someone else – by reading their question in the comments below – and offering them an answer, an idea, an encouragement…
If you have any question regarding this week’s implementation assignment or you need some support – let me know in the comment box below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
If you can offer an answer or support to anyone – please reply to their comment below.
Top Commenters – last 30 Days
Work Smarter, Not Harder – Part 2
I hope you started working on becoming great at delegating (and strategic too).
Just in case you didn’t start yet (or you missed it today)… CLICK HERE to do it NOW.
Remember – this week’s assignment is coming up with at least 10 ideas… for a different question in the process – each day.
- Did you give the process a try?
- Do you have any question about the process?
- Did you get stuck anywhere?
This is your opportunity to ask any question related to this week’s implementation assignment – to make sure you get the maximum out of it.
It’s also a golden chance to help someone else – by reading their question in the comments below – and offering them an answer, an idea, an encouragement…
If you have any question regarding this week’s implementation assignment or you need some support – let me know in the comment box below, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
If you can offer an answer or support to anyone – please reply to their comment below.
I am looking forward to celebrate your progress and results on Friday (I’m curious to hear what solution you’ll come up with).
Until then…
Live fully, stay awesome,
Nisandeh
105 comments
Hi Nisandeh,
My question is:
The last 3 months have been the slowest of me making animations for 8 years: almost no new assignments, way too little work and too little income. (While december 2021 was my best month ever.)
Delegating or automating is the last thing I want to be busy with. First I need to just get work in again.
So doing this course and coming up with these answers is now more feeling like a burden than of any help, since it does not fit to what I need, right now.
Or is doing this kind of work never convenient? And do I just have to push myself doing it anyway?
Or do I say: sorry, this is not helping me, I am going to focus my energy on actions that do help me (on the short term)?
718 comments
Great question, Paul…
First of all… we’re going to move to building expert position as the next block (starts in 2 blocks), after that to ideal clients, and then online visibility… so everything you WANT to deal with is coming up.
I put the Working Smarter Not Harder block first for 2 reasons:
1. This is what the total majority of the group indicated as the most important AND urgent in their business.
2. This is, in my opinion, essential to free your time, mental space and other resources to do the rest of the work.
Of course, in your unique situation, you have more time on your hands than you want to.
But as I mentioned to you in your Business University personalized curriculum - there’s a lot you can do right now - in order to make sure that when the program gets to the more “interesting” blocks for you - you’d be ready.
Also, since you’re lacking in clients - why don’t you make a list of all the actions you need to do in order to find, attract and close new clients and choose to use the delegation and automation assignments to fulfill some of these tasks?
Just some food for thought.
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Thanks for this extencive answer Nisandeh.
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Ik zit mee dat ik een business hebt die loopt en ben daarnaast iets nieuws aan het opzetten omdat ik mezelf dat niet lang meer zie doen.
( Fietsenmaker (reparaties en onderhoud aan huis)
De andere plannen brengen me naar waarom ik hier ben.
Ben ik voor meer van de wereld van betekenis.
Nadeel het levert op niks op en dagelijkse kosten en afbetaling van schulden laten me nog niet de keuze geven om focus volledig op de nieuwe stap te richten.
De plannen zijn veel en groots (ik ben ze nu aan het uitschrijven)
Omdat ik niet helder heb wat nu de juiste koers is en het huidige werk zorgt voor veel, veel op mijn bordje.
Vraag:
De vragen en dingen die we nu doen en moeten beantwoorden. likken een stap te ver. Omdat nog niet helder is wat en waar ik voor kies . Wat kan ik nu het beste doen?
Wat is je advies.?
Zouden we een sessie kunnen doen waarin dit helder wordt?
Welke van de ideeën in deze maanden mijn focus wordt en waar dus wel en geen aandacht heen gaat.
potentieel is enorm en de kansen
139 comments
Hi Nisandeh,
how would you choose and would you:
Spent on your education to solve problems of your clients faster or spent on building a team?
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I’m not sure I understand your question, Cornelia…
Do you mean that if you have a €100 and you can either spend it on learning how to solve your clients’ problems yourself OR spend them on an expert team member that will solve your clients’ problem?
OR… do you mean - what’s a better investment of limited resources - on self education OR building a team?
OR… Maybe you mean something totally different…
🤷🏻♂️
139 comments
Hm… 😊
I have 10k to invest in a profiler-training (which was not on my plate but I am really interested because it could make me solve issues faster and help my Clients better) or in building a team.
Both would work too but there is a fear that things could change and…
WOW your asking makes me understand the real issue better.
Thank you!
So its just fear. And ideas on that?
329 comments
One more question before going to bed, sorry! (Since I have never delegated in my business, I have SO MANY questions)! But as we say in Mexico: “la ultima y nos vamos” 🍻:
How to discern when a delegation will be paid or unpaid (volunteer basis)? Is there a strategy for that?
In other words, as a general rule, is it good to always aim for unpaid delegation (volunteers)? Or in which cases not?
Many thanks and good night 🙏
276 comments
I think it really depends on what you offer as payment.
With Sunny Games, we used to go to board game fairs. It was really easy to find people to come along as "game explainers". The people that came more often, were given more responsibility, all the way up to handling money, setting up the booth and doing bits of team management. All we needed to provide was a ticket to the event and a gift afterwards.
I can imagine for a baby hotel, parents that have been there before would like to stick around to help other parents. As long as they can keep on learning new things that will improve their family life, there will be people willing to support you.
Having a vision really helps with this. There were other board game publishers that would just work with a paid staff on the events. But when people can share your bigger picture, they can choose to follow.
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Thank you Max. Awesome to read about your experience!
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Well, Maru, I guess it depends on quite some factors…
1. When you have no money available for delegation - then the free option is the only one.
2. When you have the money and the task doesn’t require unique expertise, and you can find enthusiastic volunteers - I would go with volunteers every time.
We ALWAYS had all our event team members as volunteers and although (at one point) we could pay them handsomely - we knew that no money in the world could buy the amount of love and care they put in. The moment we would pay them (no matter what amount) it will become an exchange of time for money - instead of pure giving from the heart.
It doesn’t mean that you don’t exchange anything for their service… you will have to give them something which is a lot more valuable for them than money (if it’s a vision, a sense of belonging, a community, a training, coaching, friendship, the list goes on…)
3. When you have the money and the task requires specialized expertise - I would usually choose to pay for it… not because I wouldn’t be able to find a volunteer for that - but because often time, accountability, preciseness and other factors make a difference… and when I hire someone to do the task - I can “demand” all those as part of the deal… it’s harder to “demand” those from a volunteer.
But even when you pay to delegate there are different types of payment:
1. High price - high standards/demands
2. Low price - lower standards/demands (I will pay more for urgent, and much less when they can take all the time in the world)
3. Part “cash” and the rest per results
4. Completely result-based
5. Barter (your skill/service/product in return for my skill/service/product)
329 comments
Thank you Nisandeh for your always extremely valuable answers 🙏
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Thank you Nisandeh and Vered for your support. It truly helps. I know there is still some work to do for me. But thank you both.
I copied your wise and supporting words. Still please remove all this from today because I don't think this is the right platform for my issue.
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We did, Rudolph...
Sorry for the discomfort it created.
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Hi Nisandeh,
I struggle with choosing my next strategic delegation move. Am a bit stuck in the conflict between thinking big and starting small. For the Baby Hotel I need to delegate the sleep coaching to a team. I consider this the most important strategic delegation in the company.
Since I may have the opportunity to validate the Baby Hotel concept through a funding from the Municipality Amsterdam, I am thinking to delegate the training of coaches to a wonderful sleeping coach that coached me with my baby. The coaches to train will be then volunteers, perhaps enthusiastic mamas as you nicely suggested and then we can create our fist sleep coaching event/ traject.
Would that be a good strategic delegation first move? Or is it too big to start?
Otherwise I would delegate the technical creation of my new blog. However there are so many free blogging platforms that it fees like is not really delegating.
Thank you in advance for your comments on this struggle 🙏
718 comments
Like any other strategic move, Maru...
Ask yourself with delegation will bring me closer to my ultimate goal, faster, and with the least investment of time, money and effort.
Blog creation sounds more like a one-time tactical delegation.
You can probably get it done for a few dollars on Fiverr.com - and get on with the "real stuff" that would really move the needle for your business.
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Thank you Nisandeh, I am now working at who can I delegate the training of volunteers (for baby sleeping coaching) and I realize that I first need to establish the system myself. I can not delegate the creation of that system to anybody else, just the execution of it. Can this be correct?
At least thinking this way, a flow of ideas come to my brain. Before this thought I was stuck and no ideas came
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Giving it a deep thought, It feels that I need to do the first training to a group of future coaches MYSELF and then, once the system is validated and established, delegate it. If I delegate it too soon, I foresee confusion and the experts wanting to do it their way.
WOW , I am having trouble in choosing what to delegate strategically today. It seems that for now tactic delegation to practice delegation is indeed the best place to start. 🙏
Can not wait to practice strategic delegation though!!!
718 comments
I think you’re right in the money, Maru…
Also, to be honest, in a new business you better know how to do everything before you delegate.
So, yes, it’s probably a good idea to start with tactical delegation, and as the business evolves delegate more and more strategically.
329 comments
Your replies provided so much clarity and insight. Thank you so much Nisandeh!
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One of the options for delegating part of my core activities is hiring employees.
I have trained and lead teams for clients earlier.
I liked working like that.
When it comes to hiring team members *myself*, there is a big roadblock.
Here in the Netherlands, employees are protected *a lot*.
I know of multiple cases of people getting into a conflict or burnout, reporting sick for duty and companies having to pay them for a long period of time.
So my question is:
What are the best ways to get the same benefits as hiring employees
....while minimizing or cancelling the risks that are attached to that in NL?
329 comments
Great question Rens, looking forward to read the answer to that!
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I've had a business for over 20 years in the Netherlands, Rens.
At one point I has up to 25 employees.
I think it's a horrible country to own a business in - and my best advice is to own a business somewhere else, and hire people there.
I know that Dutch people and the Dutch governments over the years think it's a really good idea to protect employees this way...
But I think they're wrong.
I don't believe it is really empowering to the employees, and it's definitely not encouraging businesses to hire people in the first place.
We had our share of bad experiences, but I really don't want to dwell on them.
If I were you I would NOT hire people until you absolutely have to.
Work with freelancers - they're a lot cheaper (in the long run) and they can be just as loyal and committed if you treat them right and make the right agreements.
When working with employees, keep the first two contracts for short periods (3 months and 12 months), and be very careful if you want to get into a permanent contract afterwards.
And, for sure, make sure you have the best insurance to protect you in every eventuality.
189 comments
Very helpful, Nisandeh, thanks.
Doing business elsewhere and working with freelancers are both viable options for me.
Do you have tips on what countries are easiest to do business in your experience?
718 comments
Sorry, Rens…
I don’t have experience, but definitely the USA is one of the best places (or used to be).
Their business moto was always “hire slow, fire fast”.
I believe it’s a good moto…
But again… if I were you I’d start with freelancers (can be done anywhere).
189 comments
Okay Nisandeh, sounds good, thanks!
It's a nice motto to remember.
117 comments
Very good question you address Rens, thank you. I am in the same position. And tnx for the reply Nisandeh.
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Dear Nisandeh & Vered,
As indicated on today’s page/assignment about WHO to delegate to, I have the struggle that I’ve outsourced online marketing quite a bit, but not with the desired results. None of them were prepared up front to commit to results, and I have never found an agency willing to do that (e.g. commission based, or no cure no pay). Consequently, I gave many of them a small trial assignment to assess their value. But you are right in your answer to Lola that I should have run away much earlier, if they wouldn't commit to results. I have listed 10 WAYS to find the WHO, but I guess I’m still missing a way to find real commitment. In which ways did you find the right WHO’s in your early days?
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I can totally relate to what you're saying Machiel...
Especially in Holland - it's near impossible to find a freelancer/agency that is willing to commit to specific results (even minimal) AND guarantee their commitment.
And just the same as you, I had the same experience - EACH time (absolutely ALWAYS) when I worked with a provider that was NOT willing to commit/guarantee - they did NOT deliver enough results.
It's actually simple, when you think about it - if they knew what they were doing - they would be willing to commit.
Since they don't know what they're doing (I don't mean the mechanics, but the actual principles - how things work) - then they won't commit AND won't deliver.
The problem is that there are enough "suckers" out there that are willing to keep paying those companies, even when they don't get results ("maybe next time it will work") that keep these companies in business (and striving).
Here's how I would approach your situation...
I would create a very clear message of what you're looking for and what results you're after.
Tell your vision (briefly) and what you are trying to achieve with the campaign (focus on impact and contribution).
Explain that you can't afford to lose money, but you're very happy to be very generous if you get good results.
Emphasize that you're not interested in sales pitches, but just in results.
You don't care how much experience they have or what clients they have - but only in what they can deliver for you.
Put in the message that you're only looking for paying per results, with no pay for poor results, good pay for minimum results, and a fantastic bonus for overdelivery.
Tell them that if they're interested in a LONG-TERM, LUCRATIVE opportunity and are willing to bring their A-Game then they should contact you.
Then make sure that you send this to every professional agency and freelancer as well as marketing students and forums/online groups where online marketers hang out.
When anyone is replying and willing to play by your rules, start small, compensate well (beyond what you promised) and keep increasing the scope with every successful delivery.
On a side note - be prepared for a lot of "NOs" along the way... but realize - every "NO" you've got just saved you a fortune (and time) on another failed delivery.
215 comments
Fully clear and much appreciated Nisandeh (and indeed valuable advice for all of us here who are in this stage), muchas gracias!
366 comments
In my experience, they not only don't work on results they can't even show results. And so if you ask to see roas in real live accounts, they will claim confidentiality. Or claim that roas is not relevent, only CPV numbers. A lot of bs imo.
I can't offer result commitments. But I do show result numbers and more when asked for them.
Most people don't know industry standards for cold marketing. THE TRUTH IS that even if they get you great results, it takes 6 months and 250K at least to break even on the frontend. Who dares to say that? Imo, sending 100 euro to a lead by mail is more likely to get you talking then ads.
Hope it helps.
718 comments
It’s actually not such a bad idea sending someone €100 by mail.
I know someone that did something like that…
He sent half a $100 bill in the mail, and promised to bring the other half of the bill to the meeting (he would give it when the meeting is over…)
215 comments
Thanks for your contribution Sin. I see the point of not being able to commit to results (as in "you can take the horse to the water, but can't make it drink" -- you can't promise that prospects will buy), IF you are only willing to work on the basis of an hourly fee (either with transparency and solid explanations, or not). And there may even be some value in the hire, in terms of learning. What really surprises me is that nobody seems to be confident enough in their own marketing skills to dare to offer their services strictly commission based (which would be much more lucrative IF they'd have the required skills than the hourly fee).
The idea of sending money to leads is interesting indeed. Reminds me of a comparable anecdote of I think it was Dan Kennedy ("pay your customer"). Even though I'm not interested in getting talks with prospects, it is food for creative thought about approaching "cost per lead" differently. Thanks!
576 comments
What I also found out what was my own mistake in outsourcing marketing: I outsourced a not yet working process. Only if it would work I could scale.
Since my process wasn't tested yet, I could barely expect a company to deliver me better results.
Painful and expensive lesson.
Now what I do: I am coming Monday talking to a student, whom I will give a deal that is very interesting for him if he delivers- i am going to offer him to work on a percentage of the turnover. I'll keep you posted on that one. I was blown away by how good and eager these students are and I am certain that they CAN deliver results- if I can convince them of the value of the product- I think this is important.
I'll keep you posted!
215 comments
On the one hand: yes, I agree for some cases, don't outsource what doesn't work yet and what you don't understand yourself yet. On the other hand, for many other cases, you are outsourcing something because the expert knows better than you what would work. In the first category, you'd be outsourcing the "hands" to a set of prescriptions/instructions. In the second category, you'd be outsourcing the "head" to get to desired results, more or less regardless of how it's done.
I'm highly interested in how it will go with that student! We'll be in touch soon.
120 comments
Depending on your business there are some ways to only pay for results. I know a guy that sells trainings and stuff door to door and he only gets money for the sales he makes. He actually takes 100% of the payment. For example. He sells 3 months of training/course/membership against a 50% discount or so. He gets his money, the client gets a 50% discount and you get a client. These are mostly local people. MediaMarkt is working with Budget Energie (before it was Essent) and Ziggo. They pay MediaMarkt around 70,- for each new customer and also give the customer quite a steep shopping discount. You just need a sales funnel so you end up earning as well. But online you also have this kind of entities. Groupon and Vakantieveilingen.nl are well known. Influencers, as I understand, also are OK with payments for actual clients. Just make sure you have the means to check on what they earned. Most time it's through a simple online link like http://www.mybusiness.nl/name-influencer. Other times it's a professional referral link. Just need to find the right outlet for your product or service. Just as Ziggo and energy companies find MediaMarkt a perfect outlet. MediaMarkts profit actually really depends on those partners. . Make it a Win-Win-Win situation so they can't resist helping you to get new clients. Most likely that will be a complementary (online) business(partner) to your product/service. And if you don't have a product/service they can sell for you for their profit, make it.
Also, if no one is willing to commit to Facebook (or other social media) campaigns, it probably doesn't work that well anyway? At least, that's what I would think.
477 comments
A question for everyone: If you've worked for a boss, what annoyed you the most that your boss did? Thanks for your replies.
412 comments
Hi Marcel,
The things that annoyed me the most that my boss did:
- using his power to ignore my arguments for improvement
- put me on the financial zero line for three years (so no annual salary increase and no good assessment), to push me out
- wrongly accusing me of a bad work ethic
- only praising the people who did what he said
- show no real interest
- putting the blame on me and showing me no support whatsoever when a supplier called me names and threw me out of his premises while I came to deliver a message on behalf of management.
477 comments
Hi Manny,
Those are indeed unpleasant experiences and maybe you would like to participate anonymously in a podcast that I will make telling about these negative experiences. This idea was born in this course.
412 comments
I have to think about it, Marcel. It's really in the past now ...
329 comments
Hi Marcel,
There are plenty of things that annoyed me when I worked for a boss:
- Lack of empathy
- Lack of integrity (asking for special favors in order to advance my career 🫣)
- Lack of leadership skills
- his/their soul soaking approach, meaning: their tendency to kill my creativity/ideas without even listening because they thought it was not feasible/ would cost too much money
- the lack of consistency between what they were asking and what they were doing
- The lack of purpose and inspiration
- the fact that I always felt like a number or a mean to their ends
I was so annoyed and fed up that ever since I can not work for a boss. Makes me sick. That was not my main motivation to become an entrepreneur though, but it gave me a huge push.
May I ask why do you ask? 🤗
477 comments
Thank you Maru,
First I answer why I do ask: I now want to collect as much information as possible about what managers do and what employees really need.
Intense what you write and especially lack of integrity.
Do you speak Dutch? Maybe you would like to participate anonymously in a podcast that I will make telling about these negative experiences. This idea was born in this course.
329 comments
Yes I can speak Dutch Marcel and I would be happy to help you in participating in an anonymous podcast. I would like to contribute to rise awareness in this topic and I don’t want other people to live what I had to live. May I have your email? Then I can email you my contact info
477 comments
That's great, Maru. You are going to be my first guest and you are totally right. Let us give this topic a voice. Exciting!!! my e-mail: marcel@authenticiteitinbeeld.nl
576 comments
Marcel,
Is the topic of the podcast to talk about negative experiences? Why would you not focus on the positive ones? As in- "wat je aandacht geeft groeit", enzo... 🙂
120 comments
Hi Marcel,
I was also wondering something, why anonymously? If someone wants that, that's fine. But Maru has a business and maybe you can give her your platform so she gets something from it as well. Maybe she really likes podcasts after this and she starts one as well and she can return the favour in some way to help you too.
477 comments
Dankjewel voor jouw reactie, Gerdy.
Je krijgt antwoord in het Nederlands en in het Engels. Laat ik mijn aanpak vergelijken met de #metoo affaires. Door de aandacht die hierdoor ontstond voor wat jarenlang in de doofpot bleef, is er veel veranderd. Dat is wat Maru en ik willen bereiken. Een stem geven aan alle medewerkers die negatieve ervaringen hadden met hun vorige werkgever en niet werden gehoord. Net zoals de slachtoffers van #metoo
Laat deze aandacht net zo groeien als bij #metoo in de hoop dat leidinggevende anders leren omgaan met hun medewerkers. Ik zal zeker jouw opmerking meenemen om in mijn podcast aandacht te geven wat hun voormalige leidinggevenden anders hadden moeten toen.
Thank you for your response, Gerdy.
You will receive an answer in Dutch and in English. Let me compare my approach with the #metoo affairs. Much has changed because of the attention that this has generated for what has been covered up for years. That's what Maru and I want to achieve. Give a voice to all employees who had negative experiences with their previous employer and were not heard. Just like the victims of #metoo
Let this attention grow as with #metoo in the hope that managers will learn to deal with their employees differently. I will certainly take your comment into account in my podcast to highlight what their former executives should have done differently back then.
178 comments
Heel herkenbaar. Ik heb vele behoorlijk fijne managers meegemaakt in de afgelopen dertig jaar maar ondervind de laatste jaren een bijzondere uitdaging om het maar kryptisch te zeggen en ik zit er middenin. Nou zou ik daar helemaal op los kunnen gaan (heb ik ook gedaan haha maar dat werkt niet) en alle boeken opzoeken die ik kan vinden over slechte managementstijlen. Een auteur zei eens: ofwel je besluit om heel hard weg te rennen of zorg dat je een olifantenhuid hebt.
Ik probeer terwijl ik in de situatie ben, en dat lukt lang niet altijd natuurlijk, maar stapje voor stapje, steeds rustiger te blijven en intuitief te kiezen welke volgende stappen/stapjes er nodig zijn. en misschien betekent dat ook weggaan of weggestuurd worden ...
Een trainer op het gebied van HSP zei laatst: als je meer dan gemiddeld gevoelig, intelligent, ondernemend enz. bent, dan geeft het leven je gewoon steeds lastiger spiegels en balken op de weg, totdat je je overgeeft aan het ongewisse en besluit om je purpose te volgen.
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Dankjewel Lucie voor jouw verhaal en je mag dit verhaal ook anoniem doen in mijn podcast. Hoe jij worstelt kan voor anderen een steun in de rug zijn voor hun eigen worstelingen en wie weet helpt het jou ook.
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Being bossy, suggesting superiority, and ownership of me
477 comments
Thank you Machiel for your contribution.
718 comments
I've never worked for a boss in my life...
BUT... I believe that if bosses would treat their employees as volunteers (which this is what they are)...
AND... if employees would treat their bosses as their ideal clients (which this is what they are)...
Companies will do a lot better, and you probably will not needed anymore, Marcel...🙈
477 comments
Thank you Nisandeh for sharing this interesting and valuable point of view. Very nice how you describe this. I really appreciate it! Let me also ask you an interesting question about “you'd probably be not needed anymore, Marcel”. Is it about the road or the end point about fulfilling your potential? As long as there is a road you have to lead them. That's my job too to lead my customers on their way to the goal you describe. That's our destiny that there wil be always a road 🫢
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It was a joke, Marcel...
But in all seriousness - all of us who are trying to make the world a better place - we're in the business of getting ourselves out of business.
If you're a healer - you hope to heal everyone - and then you're out of a job...
If you're fighting for sustainability - and you get everyone to become sustainable - you're out of a job...
Etc...
I don't know if I accept the metaphor of a road... At least not when it come to personal and spiritual development (fulfilling our potential).
I think we already have that potential - it's more about stop doing all the things that cover it...
Just my thoughts...