How Do I Start With System Development?

Charlotte Davis is our guest for the 284th episode of The Copywriter Club podcast. Charlotte is a Dubsado Strategist and Business Operations Consultant, and in this episode she breaks down the best way copywriters can use systems in their businesses to create a high-level client experience and maximize their time and energy. Here’s how the episode goes down: How Charlotte transitioned from OBM to Dubsado wizard. The difference between OBM (Online Business Manager) and VA (Virtual Assistant), PLUS when you’re ready for each. Are you ready for a Systems Strategist? Why you need to pull your processes out of your head and into a system. What can be automated in Dubsado? The one thing business owners forget or feel awkward doing. Honeybook vs. Dubsado – what’s the dif? Should you set up your own Dubsado or hire an expert? The process of hiring a professional in your business. Best practices for client management while using automation – is it possible? The 3 system standards service providers need to implement into their business ASAP. How automation helps copywriters get out of their own way. The 5 part process to making high-converting proposals. Managing productivity and managing boundaries… Can the two coexist? The method to a better discovery call. How Charlotte manages her team and what she outsources in her business. The mindset that comes with being afraid to do something. Self care practices that keep Charlotte loving what she does and help her manage her energy. The future of the online marketing space means no more cowboys. How Harry Potter and business are the same. If you need clarity around creating systems and processes, be sure to hit the play button or check out the transcript below. The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: The Copywriter Think Tank Kira’s website Rob’s website Charlotte Isaac's website  The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground Episode 44 Episode 207   Full Transcript: Kira Hug:  We've noticed a growing trend in the copywriting space. More and more copywriters are up-leveling their systems and creating automated client experiences that far surpass the somewhat sloppy back and forth that typically takes place in the inbox. Today's guest for The Copywriter Club podcast is system specialist, Charlotte Isaac, and she lets us look under the hood of her business. We nerd out on automations, Dubsado, and client management. So if you're trying to automate the processes in your business and maybe, just maybe you'd like to hear Charlotte's number one business lesson from Harry Potter, you won't want to miss this episode. Rob Marsh:  I'm feeling attacked Kira, based off that intro. I'm the guy with the sloppy back and forth in the inbox. If you're listening to this podcast on the day that it was released, that means that we are currently in Nashville at The Copywriter Club In Real Life, hanging out IRL with some of the best copywriters in the world. And we're sharing with them some of the changes that we're making to The Copywriter Think Tank here in the very near future to make it better than ever, like introducing two new coaches to the group. So that members don't just depend on us, but have access to specialists and things like systems and mindset. The Think Tank is our mastermind coaching program that helps copywriters take their business to the next level, whatever that means for you, that might be a larger income number, it could be creating a new program or a new offer for your clients, it could be launching a podcast or writing a book to grow your authority, whatever you are ready to accomplish next, we'll help you do it in The Copywriter Think Tank. Go to copywriterthinktank.com to learn more. And let's get to our interview with Charlotte Isaac. Kira Hug:  All right Charlotte, let's kick this off. How did you end up as a business operations consultant? What is your story? Charlotte Isaac:  It's a bit of a roundabout one. Probably like a lot of people in this online space, I worked in creative agencies in my traditional offline job. And when I started my own business, I thought I would do a very similar thing. So I started working as an OBM, I really loved it, but I realized after a while that a lot of people in that space don't really need an OBM, what they need is a really, really solid system to look after them and look after their clients. And once they have that in place, their business can kind of run on autopilot. So I kind of got dragged into it by my clients, I guess. Rob Marsh:  So what were you doing before that? What was the thing that you were working on with clients before you started doing the automations? Charlotte Isaac:  So, I was kind of helping them look after their clients and look after their team members and basically hold everything together in their business. Kind of like an operations manager. Kira Hug:  Okay. So can you just talk through all the differences? Because I think, especially if someone hasn't worked with an OBM, can you differentiate between a VA, an OBM, business operations, developer, all the terms that are thrown out there, can you talk through them? Rob Marsh:  Yeah, I think that's the question I meant to ask. You said it so much better than I did, Kira. Kira Hug:  I always do, Rob. Charlotte Isaac:  Girl power! It's really confusing. Everyone kind of uses a different name and it would be so helpful if there was a bit of a standardization out there, but a VA essentially helps you with tasks and an OBM can manage your VA and manage other team members and basically hold all your business together. So in some ways, they hold all of the people below you together. Rob Marsh:  Knowing that then let's talk about, as copywriters, as business owners if we're thinking, "Okay, I need help in my business." Help us do the decision tree. When should it be the VA, when should it be an OBM, and when should it be a system specialist specifically doing the kind of work that you're doing today? Charlotte Isaac:  I think it depends where you're spending a lot of your time. It's super old school, but I often recommend when people are trying to figure it out, to walk away from their computer, grab a notebook and a pen and start writing out all of the things that frustrate them, that take them a lot of time, and that they feel like they drop balls on. So if it's a lot of things like chasing out my clients for homework, sending out invoices, sending proposals, all of that kind of stuff, that can be really easily systemized. If it's stuff like scheduling social media posts and things like that, a VA or somebody could be good. If it's a little bit of everything, sometimes an OBM is a great fit to help you kind of guide, do you need a system specialist or do you need to plug in a VA eventually. There are so many things it could be. Kira Hug:  But again, you're not an OBM at this point, right? You're in your own category? Charlotte Isaac:  Yeah. I would fall into the system specialist category, I guess. Kira Hug:  Okay. Charlotte Isaac:  The very loose categories we have. Kira Hug:  Okay. All right. So then let's say we're working with you. Let's say I'm a copywriter and I'm working with you for the first time to set up systems. Where do I start with my system development? If I'm not a systems-minded person, and I'm not, Rob knows this, I like to use my paper and notepad and stay away from systems, but I also understand the value of them. Where would you start with someone like me who's just not systems friendly? Charlotte Isaac:  So firstly, again, I'd walk away from the computer and we would have a chat around what things look like right now. So what do you do to look after your clients, what your process is, what's working and what's not working? And we kind of come up with this giant list of things that need to happen from the very beginning of a client relationship when they reach out to you or someone kind of refers them to you or however that looks like right through to when the work is done and you need to off-board them and maybe invite them to come back to you as a client in the future. So we get all of that out on paper before we start looking at systems. And I find that even the people that are most shy of systems, once we do that, they realize that they probably really need a system because there is so much that happens in that entire process. Rob Marsh:  So, can we go just even a little deeper in that? I know we've sort of got this topical idea of what you're going to be asking about, but again, I'm almost saying, let's do this exercise with me or with Kira and me. Kira Hug:  Just with you, Rob. Just with you. Rob Marsh:  As we sit down, it's like, are you going into every single piece of the business? Are there general categories? How many bullet points end up on that list of things that you want to systematize? Charlotte Isaac:  It's a little bit never ending. So with my own clients, I tend to focus on the client management side of things. We do dip into other things and kind of touch on other systems that they might need to employ, but my focus is really on the client management side of things. So the first question I ask, because you're in the guinea pig group, is how people find you and what happens when they find you? Rob Marsh:  Okay. So mostly it's going to be through referrals or maybe it's through something I've put out on LinkedIn or social media or something like that. Charlotte Isaac:  Awesome. And then do you have a chat with them once they've been connected with you? Some kind of discovery call? Rob Marsh:  Yes. For sure. There may be some communication and email before that, but we definitely have a discovery call before we book anything. Charlotte Isaac:  Amazing.