There comes a point in time in many entrepreneurial ventures when you need to delegate certain projects. Without this important step, operational tasks are no different than a typical day job. In fact, one could argue that it’s worse than having a 9 to 5 since you don’t have the benefits of life insurance or a stable income.
This is why business owners begin outsourcing tasks when it becomes economically viable. What this means, is that you are making enough money to cover all expenses such as maintaining the website, software services (like Canva), and the marketing costs of keeping your business running.
Once you can cover all of these variables and you’re generating enough to also cover the costs of a virtual assistant that provides added value to your revenue stream, it’s time to find an online freelancer.
How to Turn a “Digital Freelancer” into a Valuable Partner
I know that there are some of you who may think that their digital team, perhaps consisting of one or even two people, does not factor into these kinds of ideas. The truth of the matter is that irrespective of whether you have a small team or a big team, interpersonal relationships remain the same.
There is a difference between treating a Blogger simply as some faceless drone who is providing you with a service than a writer who is a “part of the team” trying to help you make the most of your business. The difference translates into the quality of work delivered.
Can you imagine being able to get a blogger or a video editor, or whatever additional worker you may have hired, and have them treat your company as if it was their own? I imagine that you’d be ecstatic because if you can get someone else to ‘love your business as much as you do’ then you know that the type of work provided will reflect the sentiment.
This is where going that extra mile really pays off in the long run – especially if you have enough ambition to one day scale up your operations and go beyond your current capabilities. Having a digital workforce that works as a unified team, as opposed to a conglomerate of individual pieces will have a greater synergistic effect on the goals you intend to achieve.
It’s the difference between someone liking what they do and someone LOVING what they do.
So, how do you get your digital team to LOVE what they do for you?
Now let’s get into some interpersonal magic. What I am about to tell you only works if you genuinely care about the people working with you. You could try to ‘fake’ what I’ll be showing you in this content piece, but it usually doesn’t translate when insincerity is involved.
So, if you are sincerely interested in the people that work with you, the following few paragraphs will provide you with everything you need to know to cultivate a culture of inclusivity within your digital team.
In order to inspire love you must first show interest. In the case of a digital team, everything is really very impersonal. For example, you may have hired a digital worker from a platform such as Upwork or Fiverr and simply pay for the content or the service and continue on with your life.
Perhaps, the Blogger has a little bit more access to your platform. For example, have back-end access to post blogs on your behalf. In these cases, there is probably minimal communication with the idea of maximizing efficiency. In other words, it’s all very “business-y.”
But what would happen if every now and then you would make time to find out what’s happening in the life of your digital employee? I’m not talking about prying into their lives, but simply showing a genuine interest in what they do beyond the scope of the work they do for you. A simple, “are you planning anything interesting over the weekend” could be more than enough to start establishing rapport.
“Rapport” is a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other’s feelings or ideas and communicate well. Therefore, being able to build rapport with your workers, increases the overall trust you have in each other.
This trust translates into several other benefits such as letting you know of the latest trends or even providing you with discounted or free content.
I have worked with clients of mine that I enjoyed and gave them discounts simply because I liked them – the same is true for your digital team. They are people when you remove the screen.
Why not give it a try?
At the end of the day, the people who work for you are also a critical part of your business model. If you want to improve the quality of their work, work efficiency, and their willingness to go beyond their job title – start cultivating a relationship with your digital colleagues and you’ll begin to notice how much more passionate their work becomes.
A few more tips:
- Always compliment good work. People need to know that they are doing well and will be inspired by your praise.
- Be kind when offering criticism and include reminders that they are a valued part of the team.
- Give lots of examples when issuing instructions so that your freelancer has plenty of information to work with.
- Give them ways to be creative.
- Capitalize on their strengths. It’s important that they enjoy their work.
Do this with all of your future digital hires – and you’ll be rewarded with a team that sticks with you through thick and thin – who are willing to go the extra mile because you gave them a place where they feel humanized in a digital and impersonal world.
Then again, be sure to test the waters. Some people will prefer to be “business as usual” – which is fine, but consider your digital business relationships equally as important as your personal relationships. The more attention you give them, the stronger the bonds become.
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