James Schramko Podcast

Will’s client and the subject of this case study was bowled over by the results he got in just 30 days. [01:38]Knowing what you do well is key to success, and Will Wang helps people with that. [04:21]Different clients have different reactions to Will’s initial analysis. [07:25]A business is like a bucket - you have to fix the leaks before you can profit. [08:36]Many business owners aren’t charging enough for the value they deliver. [10:32]Once you’ve got a sound value proposition, you can raise your prices across the board. [12:50]With a good sales offer and rewarding rates, the next goal is increasing business. For this, you need a channel like cold email outreach. [14:35]A great offer should convert well - that doesn’t mean it needs no help. [17:38]Drastic changes can trigger strong emotions. [18:40]Are setters and closers worth hiring? Will shares what he knows. [20:45]If you want to grow your online business, you need to enable your team accordingly. [24:10]The episode wraps up with words from Will… [27:36]

After many years in service, James’s membership was in serious need of declutter. [01:27]When you have years’ worth of content, you have to answer the tough questions of what to keep and what to let go. [03:53]Kleq meant a new membership platform, a new system of organization, a new way of doing things. [05:15]Different people have different wants and needs, and the fact is online membership platforms can’t cater to them all. [06:59]There will be things membership portals can and can’t do, and it’s important to determine what features are worth having. [09:54]At time of recording, this is where the migration process is at. [11:56]Here’s what members can expect in the new setup, and what won’t be there. [13:26]This is what higher tier subscribers get… [18:38]James’s platform migration plan has kept him and his team busy. [21:54]Starting fresh can be a major challenge, but so worth it. [25:21]As a membership site builder, Kleq puts more features at your disposal than you know what you do with - great scope for growth. [28:41]The migration has James more excited than he’s ever been in his time online. [32:38]

How high a level of task can you entrust when you hire a Filipino? Pretty high, says James. [02:17]As far as overseeing, there’s not much difference between a virtual assistant from the Philippines and a Western VA. [05:08]Depending on where your team member is, weather and infrastructure may be a concern. [06:58]There’s an idea that Filipinos lack critical thinking. How true is this? [10:33]Can you find a VA with specific industry experience? [12:56]These are do-not-hire warning signs… [16:38]There are some things you generally wouldn’t look to hire a VA for. [20:15]What’s the biggest difference between a Filipino VA and a Western hire? [21:24]The advantages of a service-based culture… [22:36]Is your business ready to hire Filipino workers? What kind of employee skills training should you provide? [25:11]Sometimes, you have to let someone go. How do you do it without feeling bad? [27:50]It’s important to establish the expectations you and your new employee have of each other. [32:34]With so much being done online, data breach is a genuine concern. Here are some safeguards you can implement. [33:34]How do you pay employees legally from the Philippines? [36:35]How much bandwidth can you expect from a VA? These are the factors that affect that… [39:12]The Philippines has a lot of holidays, and James suggests you let your team observe them. [41:15]If you think you can hire someone part time to do everything in your business, you’d better do some rethinking. [42:35]Sustainability is key when it comes to performance, not max efficiency. [44:05]How competitive is it to get good VAs? And how do you catch and keep the good ones? [46:24]Make it easy for your team members by copping the exchange rate on their salary. [48:21]What’s the best way to qualify a candidate for skill? [49:38]Here’s how high on average a salary runs… [51:04]Why not just hire from your home turf? [53:44]Filipinos can work with Western hires - here’s how to integrate them. [55:49]You can get better applicants for a job by doing this… [57:36]

Key employees holding sway over the business owner is not a unique scenario to Lloyd. [02:09]A team member with a black box challenges workplace dynamics in a number of ways. [03:21]When a key employee goes rogue, you can often trace some fault to the founder.[05:46]Seeing their boss under a staff member’s control sends a bad message to the rest of the team. [08:39]There’s no such thing as an indispensable employee. You may need to start easing out the offender. [10:36]If key employee retention is out of the question, how do you distribute their role? [12:26]James knows from years of experience how to show employees they are valued. [14:19]Here’s how to secure your business when a problem team member leaves… [20:50]Every task in James’s business has two people trained for it. Here’s why. [23:33]Alignment with your business’s core values should be a key consideration when hiring. [25:41]

Reputation and first impressions can actually impact your company profit margin and capacity for wealth building. [02:16]Be mindful who you hang out with - there’s such a thing as a bad reputation by association. [12:01]Product diversity sounds great, but it could actually make you lose money. [17:46]Editing and deleting are powerful but hardly talked about. [28:38]Major events in your life can sidetrack you in your quest to make money. [32:29]Caring for aging parents is something you need to factor into your life. [36:22]Consider also the major events that you put on in the name of business. [38:05]Health is wealth. It inevitably affects our ability to earn, whether it’s our own health or family’s. [43:23]

Before discovering Kleq, here’s how James arranged his membership site. [01:36]A question from John made James reconsider his membership site design. [04:08]Using the best membership software he knows of, James is implementing a simple chat for his private coaching. [05:18]The mobile aspect of Kleq is something where other membership site platforms fall short. [08:18]Kleq lets you start a membership site that offers whatever customer experience you have in mind. [09:15]James sees two common approaches to building a subscription based website. [10:38]This is what James’s membership will look like using Kleq as his membership website builder… [11:45]If you’re starting a membership site, Kleq will give you everything under one roof. [13:16]

Charley has set a certain amount for himself to invest each month. Will your profit margins allow you the same? [02:19]Drama in the workplace has the power to derail productivity and kill profit. [07:21]Is your own personal drama getting in the way of business performance? [10:56]Hiring the wrong person can cost you dearly in both money and wasted time. [14:45]Putting off your hiring could lead to hasty recruitment and regrets. [17:25]Training the team you hire will improve your capacity to make a profit. [22:28]Are you and your team applying the 80:20? [27:56]Having the right people on your team makes for less drama and better effectiveness at work. [30:47]It pays big to recognize when a trend is on its way out and to make appropriate business changes. [34:06]Embracing and adapting to change lowers the risk your business will lose money. [38:47]Changing too often, however, means you never get good at something, which damages your ability to make profit. [41:02]Look forward to part two of James and Charley’s discussion. [45:56]

When a company’s COO decides to leave, they call on Lloyd Thompson to fix things. [02:01]This business was really good at one thing. Trouble is, they were focused elsewhere. [04:08]Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to recognize what’s awry in the workings of a business. [05:18]Letting people go is tough, especially when it’s the company’s fault they can’t stay. [07:32]The good thing about rock bottom is you can only go up. [10:00]Lloyd is good at what he does, as the results of this case study bear out. [11:58]

Charley speaks of being financially independent - what is that, exactly, and why is it worth shooting for? [03:30]Some people think you can become financially free through cost cutting - can you? [06:49]Ten years sounds like a long time. But in 10 years you can change pretty much every aspect of your life. [10:36]Charley thinks back to when he needed to earn, versus now when it’s a choice. [13:28]Avoid drama in your life by steering clear of the wrong clients. [15:51]Do you consider your future self in the decisions you make? [18:43]Kids can be a game-changer when it comes to building wealth. [21:11]Financial independence can do some great things for your health - ask James and Charley. [24:29]You can learn a lot from nature. James gets a lesson in resilience from Mother Ocean. [28:57]If you can achieve a decade’s worth of learning and success early, that’s massive. [33:07]These are the practical steps you can take as a result of listening… [35:05]

There’s really three ways to scale a business. Will gives a rundown. [01:56]Say you want to scale from $100K - what does that look like? [02:59]Revenue share deals are a great business model, if you’ve got an eye for scalability. [09:33]What do seven-figure businesses do differently from six-figure businesses? [11:11]Want to make more profit? Try lowering your margins. James explains. [13:30]Sometimes, having just one coach isn’t enough. [15:14]If you can establish what you’re really great at, you can charge much more for your product. [17:19]What are you doing in your business that you’re not getting paid for? [20:57]Do you charge enough for the value that you deliver? [23:36]This is why you should serve only the right clients… [29:22]Look at your best sellers, the things you offer that the market really wants. [35:39]Now you can think about the marketing. [39:42]