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All right, mama, it's time. Grab your coffee, water, or wine because we are starting.

Hey there. Welcome back to the Live Free podcast.

So happy you are here today listening in, and I'm excited to do a short and sweet episode today walking you through how to help those potential clients who want and need to hire a freelancer but aren't exactly sure what to delegate.

So let's get right to it.

One thing that I've been noticing in the last, oh gosh, year, couple of years, but really recently, like, this year, is the growth of traditional businesses and local brick and mortar businesses hiring freelancers?

As part of my program, the Live Free Academy, we have a hire form, and the amount of local businesses that are reaching out and hiring real estate agents, chiropractors, therapists, all sorts of contractors, all sorts of different local brick and mortar businesses is growing.

And so this demographic of business owners, lots of times, are small, smaller operations, maybe one or two employees, plus themselves or maybe it's just them, and they are overwhelmed by all the things.

Usually, they think the only way to get help is to hire someone full time, but the catch is maybe they don't have the budget to hire someone full time or in a lot of cases don't necessarily even have the workload to necessitate hiring someone full time.

So they continue to do it all themselves and are just on the brink, on the brink of burning out until they learn about hiring contractors or freelancers, someone like you.

Now in about half the cases, they are sold. They're like, take my money, come in and help me out.

Here's exactly what you can do. Let's go. The other half, the other half, they're overwhelmed at the thought of having help and get stuck trying to figure out what you could even help them with.

They're so used to doing everything themselves. They don't know how to let someone else in to help. So here's a quick exercise that you can walk these clients through to help them see what you could take off their plate.

Now use this. Be proactive. If you have a potential client you're talking to or you have talked to in the past and they're like, hold on.

I I wanna hire you. I need help. I'm overwhelmed but I don't even know what I would hire yet or you come across this in the future.

Have this in your back pocket to help you move forward through that process, the potential client, you know, discovery call process faster.

Because, otherwise, if you don't have this in your back pocket, what's gonna happen typically is they'll say, let me think about what I want to have you do.

And you're like, okay. Great. Let me know. And then a week goes by, you haven't heard anything. So you follow-up and then they're like, hey.

I'm just so busy. I am, you know, still trying to think things through. And, basically, this continues on until you just write them off as not interested, not ready to hire, and, you know, move on.

When in reality, this person does need your help, they but they also need your help to help them see what you can even take off their plate, especially if they're busy.

If they're busy and they're on the point of burnout or past burnout and doing everything themselves, they probably don't have time to sit down and and think through this.

So if you can help them make the time to go through this, go through this exercise, it'll be really, really helpful and help you move a lot of those potential clients from I want to but into I want to and let's do this and sign, seal, delivered, paying client, that you get to work with on your terms, on your time as a freelancer from anywhere, with your family by your side.

Now you can use this exercise on any potential client and you can use it in a variety of ways to use your best judgment on what's working for the people you're talking to, what you think they might need.

A lot of times, there's no black and white, like, right or wrong for how to do things. Right? Every freelancer is different. Every potential client is different.

And one thing that you like, one muscle that you need to grow when you're building your business and getting started or thinking about getting started is learning to trust your gut and trust your intuition.

So feel free to take this and tweak it in any way with your potential clients, but you might, you know, take this exercise.

And if your clients are so busy and they're not setting aside time to get this done, why don't you make a call, make a discovery call, and get this done together on a call?

Or if you're on a discovery call and, you already have one set with a potential client and it comes comes up, they're like, well, I don't even know what I would have you do.

Have this in your back pocket, walk them through it on the discovery call, and I'm guessing you'll be ending that call with them saying, oh my gosh.

Send me a contract. Let's get going. You can also use it. Maybe the client you're talking to a potential client and they maybe they don't want to get on a call.

So you can also have this, set up in a shareable Google Doc, and you can there's a trick. You can set it up to force someone to make a copy.

You can send them the link, have them make a copy. They can edit that, and it can be a workable document that you two, you know, both have access to. They can go through it, and then you can go and talk from there.

Okay. Here's the exercise. So, ultimately, what you want to have a client do first, step one, is to have them brain dump everything they do on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly basis for their business.

This is a lot. So this can be a working document shared between you and the client.

If I was walking a client through this on a discovery call, I'd start a Google Doc and be typing on the call and let them know we don't have to get it exact right now, but this is just a a jumping off point and a a workable document that we can come back to and add and change and, you know, keep refining as as we go.

Once they have that, the next step, you've got a a a good good list to go from. The next step would be to take that working list and start narrowing it down.

First, I want you to start off by crossing off all the things that has to be the client because you can't take these things off their plate. So just cross these things off.

These are the things in their business that that have to be them. For example, let's say they're a a chiropractor. They have to be the one to see their patients. Right? That's something you can't take off their plate.

So cross off all those things because that's not gonna be even delegatable at all. Now the next step once you have those crossed off, pick some colors, and we're gonna start we're gonna do some highlighting.

Pick pick whatever colors, but let's go with red just for this exercise. I want you to take red, and if you're typing, then you can just highlight.

You can use the highlighter or change the text color, whatever works for you. But I want you to mark all the things in red that the client hates doing. These are things maybe they're tasks that the they they procrastinate on.

Maybe they're things they don't do or they are doing, but it is eating up so much of their time. They don't have energy to do anything else to grow their business or to spend time with their family and enjoy the life that they've built.

So cross those or mark those things red. These most likely, if you're a virtual assistant, will be the things that they'll start delegating to you.

But then okay. Once you have the things in red done, then the next step would be to highlight the things that in a different color, maybe green, that brings the client joy.

These are the things that they love doing that lights them up, that they don't want to delegate yet.

So we'll we'll make those green, and those will be off the table of what to delegate to you, for right now. Not saying forever because you could come back and, you know, you get in a good relationship, you start doing x y z.

They love the free time you've given them, and they're like, oh, I wonder if she could also do this piece for me. So it's all it's all, you know, a work and project.

Nothing is signed and sealed forever. Once you have that done, then the next step would be to start a new list that can this can just be a new section under it. You can start it like wish list. Title it wish list.

And here, I want you to ask them what are the projects and tasks for your business that you've been putting off because either you don't want to do them, but, you know, think they need to be done or would be good ideas to help grow the business.

You don't know how to do them or you don't have the capacity to do right now, but you you they're like with your wish list, things you wish you could do or wish you were doing, for your business.

And so then that section right there would be, also potential of what you could take over and, take off their plate.

Now this is also where it's really helpful to identify their motion, to identify or understand their motivation for hiring.

Are they hiring so they can take on a different role in their company to grow it even more? Or are they hiring to take things off their plate so they can enjoy their life and family a little bit more?

This is helpful because then your next step after getting this compiled list is to help them see what the future could be when they hire you.

So let's say you're going through this this process. You you got it all down. Your next step would be to say, okay. So what would you where what would you rather start with?

Do you wanna start with some of your wish list items, or would you rather start with some of the red items that list that you hate doing? I could take over your, email inbox management.

I can take over your billing and your I could take those things off your plate right now. That would give you back, what, like, five to ten hours a week. How does that sound? Is that where you'd want to start?

And, this is again where your intuition and your your gut is gonna have to grow that muscle and and learning to trust that and read each individual situation and, go off that is is gonna be important, because maybe they they said something throughout this and you're like, oh, I think they wanna run with maybe a wish list item, whatever that may be.

And so now once you've kind of gone through that process, it's it's your job to pitch to them what what you can do off for them off that off that list.

Now one when I walk people through this exercise of how they can help clients, one thing that gets brought up is, but what if I don't wanna do everything that's on their list?

This process is a just a discovery call process. Just because it's something they want done or would love to be done doesn't mean that it has to be you taking it over.

You can pitch to them, you know, hey. I can help with x y z and if you want someone else to help with this piece or that piece, whatever, I can help connect you with someone in my network who specializes and offers those services.

The the potential client and discovery call process is meant to be a mutual selection process.

If the client needs things or wants things done that you don't offer, that's okay. There are plenty of other clients out there, and there's probably something on their list that that you could take over for them.

Now here's an example. So let's say your potential client is a local home builder home builder, and they have a lot of odds and ends on their list.

But you know that one of those things on that list let's say you're, not offering wanting to do, like, administrative services. You're wanting to do more marketing related related tasks.

You know, one of the things on their list that they want help with is to build up a Instagram presence that serves as a portfolio for future clients and also positions them as the go go to home builder for estate lots in the area.

You can pitch the client just the Instagram piece if that's what you want to do or focus on.

And, again, for the other components that they also need and want help with, you can connect them with someone for the administrative piece or if they need a website built or a bookkeeping component.

So many Lift Free Academy students do this all the time and refer their clients a to friends they've made in the program or to the higher form and, put that that need out there to our our community, and that's that's amazing.

Now let's say you don't wanna do the marketing piece. You want to focus on the administrative tasks. You're not comfortable doing the marketing. But let's say it's the same home builder client.

They want that Instagram build piece. You could say, hey. It sounds like you need someone to help with both the administrative tasks, and you're also looking for someone to really grow your Instagram.

You can tell them, I would love to take take over that administrative piece for you and help you with the the specific tasks they said.

But for the and and tell them, but for the Instagram component, I am not, specialized in Instagram. I could dabble, but it is not something that I, you know, I'm really wanting to take on right now.

And I also think you would be better served since since you want that to be, something that brings in future clients if you had someone who was an expert and specialized in building up Instagram accounts.

I know a lot of women or a lot of freelancers that do this.

I'd be happy to connect you with them for the Instagram component if if that works for you. And they'll probably appreciate your honesty and appreciate you having their best interest, at heart.

So, alright, guys. I'm gonna wrap this up. I hope those examples were helpful. I hope this exercise was helpful for those of you that have some potential clients out there in the works, and or or come across those in the future.

Let's say you have come across a potential client in the last, I don't know, couple months where the process just kind of stalled.

Take this exercise. Reach back out to them and say something like, hey, Mikaela. Just wanted to check back in on you.

I know we talked back before the holidays about you wanting help, but we never had a chance to really connect. I know you were kind of trying to work through and figure out what you wanted to delegate.

Anyways, I just wanted to check-in and see if you might be interested in hopping on a call and revisiting, getting some support to help you with your business, let me know.

I'd love to hop on a call and kinda just talk through what what this could look like and and go from there. And then maybe you get a call booked and you walk them through this exercise.

Maybe they come back and they're like, hey. Yes. I've been meaning to reach out or, you know, who knows? There's a variety of ways it could go, but you'll never know unless you reach out. And yeah.

Alright. If you're in LFA and you wanna talk through you ever have a situations arise where a potential client conversation gets stalled or you don't know where to go or what to do next, come to me on our weekly coaching calls.

Come to the Facebook group or shoot me an email.

Wish you the best, and hope you have a great week. And if you're not in LFA yet, you I would love to have you in and help you build your business as well. You can check out all the details of the program and enroll at go. mikaylaquinn.

com/academy. Alright. Have a great day, and we'll chat soon. Now, just because the episode is over, doesn't mean the knowledge party has to stop. Come hang out with me and thousands of other mamas in my free Facebook group.

Now, just because the episode is over, doesn't mean the knowledge party has to stop. Come hang out with me and thousands of other mamas in my free Facebook group. Just search Facebook for The Live Free Podcast Mastermind with Micala Quinn, or go to the show notes.

We have it linked there. And make sure you answer the questions so our gatekeeper knows that you want in. And don't forget, sharing is caring.

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