TCC Podcast #166: Getting More from Your Copywriting Business with Ashlee Berghoff

Online Business Manager, Ashlee Berghoff, is our guest for the 166th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. Ashlee has helped a bunch of copywriters we know and like figure out how to make their businesses more profitable... and just as importantly, helped them focus on the work they are best at (while shifting other work to a VA or OBM). That sounded like something we needed to hear more about. So we asked Ashee about ..... •  how she became an independent business manager/COO for copywriters •  the 10 months she spent working to prevent human trafficking at IJM •  when you should get help in your copywriting business •  the different kinds of VAs and other help you might consider hiring •  some examples of how she works with copywriters to grow •  the systems she helps her clients develop as they start working together •  the importance of discipline as you set up processes in your biz •  what it really costs to work with an integrator versus a VA (and what you get) •  the easiest systems to build that almost everyone needs right now •  the return on investment when you spend money on a VA or OBM •  the true cost of doing the work that others could be doing for less •  how to keep your VA relationship from falling apart •  some of the problems you should anticipate to keep the relationship working •  where to find the best VAs… the answer may surprise you •  what you need to put into a contract versus email •  how to deal with problems when thing inevitably go wrong •  the tools Ashlee uses in her business If you have a sneaky suspicion that your business could be doing better and that you need help to make that happen, you'll want to listen to this episode now. Click the play button below or subscribe using your favorite podcast app. Or scroll down to read a full transcript.   The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: International Justice Mission Global Fund to End Modern Slavery Rocketfuel Angie Colie April Dykman Asana Jira Asquaredonline.com Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground   Full Transcript: Kira:   What if you're going to hang out with seriously talented copywriters and other experts, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes and their habits, then steal an idea or  two  to inspire your own work? That's what Rob and I do every week at The Copywriter Club Podcast. Rob:   You're invited to join the Club for Episode 166 as we chat with business integrator Ashlee Berghoff about how to know when you're ready to bring in help for your business, the systems and processes copywriters need to grow, practical ways copywriters can expand their capacity and exactly what a VA or OBM can help you do in your business. Kira:   Welcome, Ashlee. Rob:   Hey Ashlee. Ashlee:          Thank you so much for inviting me. It's wonderful to be here. Kira:   Yes, we're excited to have you here because you worked with, I don't know- Rob:   Everybody. Kira:   ...six to eight, maybe even more copywriters. You don't have to name drop all the copywriters, but you've worked with a lot of well-known, successful copywriters that we've hung out with and we know really well too. So, we'll get a behind the scenes look at the type of work that you're doing with them. But before we dig into that, let's start with your story. How did you end up as an integrator, OBM? I know there are multiple titles for it. Yes, how did this all happen? Ashlee:          Yes, so I think as is the case for so many people, it was not a straight line at all. I actually graduated with an English degree and no idea what to do with my life. And in my first major job, I ended up in the Philippines actually working as kind of a de facto recruiter for an anti-trafficking field office there, did that for about 10 months, built out their recruiting program from scratch, which was really fun for me, but I didn't know why, just that it was a really amazing experience. And then, when I came back to the States, I worked in staffing for and then ended up at a publicly traded financial services consulting firm for a couple of years working in operations and project management there. And as I was doing that, I realized that I loved the type of work that I was doing and I was good at it, but it wasn't the right industry for me and it wasn't the right kind of work culture for me. And I was going to school for my MBA at Georgetown in the evenings and as I was getting close to graduating from that, kind of all the pieces started coming together for me. I kind of started realizing, wait, I organized for fun as a kid and I made lesson plans and report cards for my stuffed animals. And that's not normal for 12-year olds to do. And I loved taking things that were really messy and organizing them and bringing order and calm to them. And the reason I loved my job at IJM was because I got to build templates and checklists and trackers and plans, and all of these things, and I'm sure I overwhelmed the poor intern coming after me with all of that stuff. And so, I started realizing, wait, this is something that comes really naturally to me and that I really love, but that a lot of people don't love. And maybe there's an opportunity here. I wanted the autonomy, I wanted to build something for myself, I wanted to have the flexibility to adjust my business and my career around the needs of our family as it grew. And so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out, see if I could do what I was doing at the consulting firm, but for small businesses, basically just helping them run everything, make things happen, and kind of take that weight of running everything themselves off their shoulders. So, a couple of years ago, I essentially started out as a souped up VA, I called myself an independent business manager. Found my first three clients on Facebook after failing to find anything clients on Upwork. And after doing that for a while, I realized that really the area that I was providing the most support and value was in helping them design their processes and build out the structure they needed to kind of mature as a business and expand their capacity without having to add a bunch more hours or overhead. So that's where I've really focused a lot of my energy and in my programs this year and going into next year are all about making that transition from kind of a scrappy freelancer to bonafide business, and organizing all of the pieces that go into that. Rob:   So, before we get into all the stuff that we teased in the intro and how you help copywriters, you mentioned your experience with trafficking, anti-trafficking, and I'm assuming you're talking about human trafficking. Will you tell us a little bit about that experience because first of all, we've never talked about that. Obviously, it's this crazy thing that's going on in the world and such an important thing, but tell us a little bit about your experience there and what you did? Ashlee:          Yes, so the organization I was with was called International Justice Mission. They're the largest anti-slavery organization in the world. And they purposely go to countries where the law enforcement kind of structures there are failing to protect the poor from violence. And so, they do different kinds of casework depending on the needs of those places, but in the Philippines, we focused on sexual exploitation of minors and commercial sexual exploitation of minors. And it was right around the time that they were realizing that that was happening much, much less on the street and much, much more online, so they were beginning to make the transition towards focusing on cyber trafficking issues, which was a really, really hard time to be there because no one really expected that, the age of the clients that we were working with was much, much younger, we were dealing with families and things like that. And so it was a very hard kind of casework to be getting into and it was a very, very hard year for me to see that. It rocked a little bit. My sense of the world and what evil is and what it takes to combat that effectively. But what was really incredible was working with the colleagues that I had there. All of the kind of full-time staff in our office were Filipino locals, or lawyers, or social workers, everyone who was there and just watching them continue to show up every day was incredible. And so I got the opportunity because we were expanding so much as an office to help them hire 20 more people. It was already an office of 20 and so they were doubling the size of their team. And so my boss was also managing all of the HR and an office move and payroll and insurance and everything that he was doing, and so I had kind of free rein to set this thing up and start trying to find more people for the team. And so I got on the phone with people, confused them quite a bit, they were trying to figure out why they were talking to an American at this company, getting them in for interviews, scheduling that and helping them get on board and sharing my passion for the work with them and getting them excited about joining IJM. And just last year, I got to meet some of them in person again, because they came to the US for a big conference and they were celebrating five years in the office, which was just really, really amazing and fulfilling for me to know that even though I was only there for 10 months, I got to be part of something bigger, helping them join the team so that they could then keep the work going for so much longer. So it was very, very tough and I came back with a lot of stuff I needed to process, but it was one of the best experiences in terms of getting the chance to be on the front lines like that. Kira:   Can you share a couple of resources that...