Recording Of Private Coaching Call Between Nicola Cairncross And Yaro
Nicola Cairncross posted in the forums asking for help with the growth of her business. I was a bit confused by all the different products she had and felt we needed to have a skype call so she could explain her situation to me in more detail. I offered a private coaching call if she was willing to let me record it so I could share it with the rest of the community, which she agreed.
Late last week we spent 40 minutes talking about Nicola's business. The recording of our discussion is now available for you to download in MP3 format from here –
“How To Move The Needle More” – Private Coaching Call With Nicola Cairncross & Yaro [ 40 Minutes | MP3 ]
Apologies for Nicola's voice coming across garbled in a few places. We had some skype connection issues.
If you have any question please ask. Thanks to Nicola for being willing to share this conversation with everyone.
Becki Maxson: From Super Freelancer To In Charge Of Her Own Transcription Business
Here's your next sneak peek preview of an interview from my 2 Hour Work Day course.
Becki has a services arbitrage business delivering transcription services. She's been my transcriptionist since way back in 2007. Virtually every single course or training product transcription I offer was done by her team (not including my public free podcast).
Becki Maxson: From Super Freelancer To In Charge Of Her Own Transcription Business
Here are the download links –
Becki Maxson today is the founder of Words Into Profits which is THE company that I use for all of my audio and video transcriptions (you've probably enjoyed her work before on this site.)
Words Into Profits has evolved from providing medical transcription services to helping a wide array of customers from internet marketers to lawyers. Though Becki started the company as a robust freelancing operation, she transitioned into being a “Service Arbitrage” broker with a keen eye for quality.
Now she runs a profitable company with a great team. She has the freedom to work wherever she desires and provides opportunities for more than 15 people on her team. This interview is full of valuable information for anyone seeking to build a “Service Arbitrage,” location independent business.
Here is what we covered during the interview:
- Becki talks about her early years as a world traveling, “Navy Brat” and budding entrepreneur
- How to try lots of skills to identify what's working/not working to find your marketable skill
- The transition from being a great transcriptionist to running a service arbitrage business
- The key to growing a service based business
- Becki's lessons from overzealous early expansion
- The process Becki uses to hire new people
- The key to building a profitable business
- How to setup fees, payroll and tax structure of a service business
- The value of a project submission form like this one Becki uses
- How the communication works between Becki and her team of transcriptionists
- Marketing techniques for starting from scratch
- Strategies for building a new business around customers you desire
- Tips on what to call your business and domain name selection
Tools mentioned in this interview:
- GoToMyPC.com – Access your business while on the road
- HireMyMom.com – Great source of people looking for work
- Learn more about Words Into Profit, Becki's transcription company
- BaseCamp – Project Management Software
- Google Docs spreadsheets with colors to denote the progress of a show
Kerry Finch: From Working Mom To Living The Laptop Lifestyle Thanks To Her Completely Outsourced Writing Online Business
I have another special preview interview just for you as a thank you for being a member of this community.
This will eventually be part of my new 2 Hour Work Day course coming out later this year, which focuses on the services arbitrage business model (what I used when I had an editing business called BetterEdit.com).
You can download the MP3 by right clicking this link and choosing “Save As”.
Kerry Finch: From Working Mom To Living The Laptop Lifestyle Thanks To Her Completely Outsourced Writing Online Business
Kerry Finch runs a services arbitrage business offering writing services to various small to medium sized businesses.
What is particularly inspiring about her story is that she did not start an internet business until she was into her fifties. Previously she had worked a variety of jobs (and I mean variety! – you will hear about them during this interview), and also raised her children. She had no internet business experience prior to this.
Despite the lack of background experience, today Kerry is in charge of a thriving business with a team of writers and clients all over the world. She lives in Noosa, walks on the beach and goes for a swim in her pool every day, and has a truly flexible lifestyle thanks to her internet company.
The Power Of Positioning
The more people I interview who follow the services arbitrage model, the more I realise how absolutely critical positioning is.
Services like what Kerry offers are all over the place. Freelancing sites are full of people who can provide content writing services for less than half the price that Kerry does.
However, through providing a high quality of service and then using previous satisfied clients as testimonials, Kerry has built up a reputation that allows her to charge more.
The formula that makes this model work is high pricing for above average quality. This is how you can make sure there is a large enough margin for you to profit and grow a business that leverages services provided by other people.
Kerry could not afford to pay and retain top writers if she didn’t have clients who are willing to pay higher fees for better quality work.
All of this begins with the right positioning, so keep that in mind when you start your own services arbitrage business.
Get Clients On To Retainers
The other key point I want to highlight from Kerry’s story is her use of “retainer” products, similar to a continuity product like I sell with digital training, but in this case Kerry signs customers up for an ongoing blog content writing service.
She offers the service as an add-on, or upsell, to whatever core writing package the client has offered. By doing this she creates a stable and consistent income stream, which is very important if you are to have flexibility with your lifestyle. You need cash-flow to keep coming in otherwise you will be chasing new clients all the time.
Enjoy this interview with Kerry and make sure you take notes!
Maren Kate Donovan Interview
I sent out a members email that included details about this at the start of the week. Here you go as promised, the first piece of content for the 2 Hour Work Day course, a bonus interview withMaren Kate Donovan.
I interviewed Maren because she is a person who created a “Services Arbitrage” business, a great model for a 2 Hour Work Day income stream.
More details are in the interview.
Maren Kate Interview PDF | PDF Transcript
At some point this year I want to teach more components of the 2 Hour Work Day course. I'm not sure when that will happen, but I do have a few pieces of content like this interview with Maren that I can add to the members area now.
Let me know what you think.