10 Ways an Online Business Manager Can Help You Grow + Scale Your Service Business

The official definition of an Online Business Manager is a virtual support professional who manages online-based businesses, including the day-to-day management of projects, metrics, and teams.

As OBMs we tend to stay focused on those three main areas while bringing our own unique expertise to the mix. For instance, a lot of OBMs are experienced marketers, so they’ll tend to focus more on marketing, and marketing outcomes. Others have operations expertise and will focus on making sure your business back-end is optimized with systems and processes. There’s also a lot of crossover and almost always room for growth and expansion.

These are 10 ways that we can help support you and your business as OBMs.

10 Ways an OBM Can Help You

1. We can create + maintain your personalized marketing & metrics dashboard. Why is this important? Your business data is spread all over the place. Google Analytics, Instagram Insights, Facebook Business Manager, ConvertKit, spreadsheets 🤦‍♀️, sticky notes, an old project management system you forgot about, and a dozen other places you wouldn’t think to look. Online Business Managers are really good at finding all that random data, making sense of it, and organizing it into a single point of information that will make sure you always know what’s working and how business is going. Remember, what gets tracked, gets improved.
2. We can create + maintain a good project management system. I’m not talking about setting up Asana, adding some tasks, and assigning them to someone. I’m talking about a fully fleshed-out system that not only helps you and your team keep track of tasks and projects, but allows you the space and accountability to plan out your days, weeks, months, quarters, and years. Just like your metrics dashboard, your project management system is the single point of reference for your entire business and will be created and maintained by your Online Business Management team.
3. We can create + maintain (see a pattern going on?) a rock-solid client management system. Whether you want your client management system built within your project management system or you want to take advantage of the workflows and automations that you get with a great CRM like Dubsado or Honeybook, we’re able to help you track and keep in contact with past clients and potential clients by creating and maintaining a professional client management system. You’ll never let another referral or website lead slip through the cracks again!
4. Speaking of relationships, we’ll also help you publish a weekly email marketing message (or newsletter) on schedule. I’ve seen 2 types of entrepreneurs when it comes to email marketing in my 13+ years in online business: those who are amazing at sending out consistent content, and those who really, really suck at it. There is never any in-between! You’re either consistent or you’re not, and if you’re not, it’s really beneficial to have someone (me!) sit down with you and not only brainstorm the topics you’re going to write about, but also turn those ideas into an action plan and tasks to get it done on time, every time. And in most cases, all you’ll need to do is show up and write and your Online Business Manager will do the rest!
5. Got a big launch coming up? That’s not a problem! Launching anything, (a podcast, a course, a new service, etc.) is just another system that’s created with a process to follow. Given enough time, a launch doesn’t have to be the giant stressor entrepreneurs make it out to be. There just isn’t always a good system in place with enough time to implement all 8,000 steps! With 100+ launches under our belt, we’re able to develop a customized launch plan in just a single day and help you manage it during your launch time without the added drama.
6. Looking to grow or scale but don’t know what to do next? We’ve created a mini coaching program called “Your Next Best Step™” to work with you to figure out what is the one thing you need to focus on right now to get you closer to where you want to be.
7. We can create a complete “red carpet experience” that will WOW your clients! Your biggest marketing asset is what people say about you, and it’s all based on how you make them feel. I believe that client experience sets the tone for everything you will ever do with your clients, so it’s important that they feel taken care of every single step of the way, starting with their very first impression of you (usually your website) and weaving that feeling of support through every interaction.
8. We’re your COO, your second-in-command, the integrator of your vision. You hold the big-picture vision for your business, and we help bring it to life. You get the time, space, and creativity blocks needed to think on a larger scale of ways to get your work into the hands that need it while we plan and gather the resources you need to get you there. The relationship between a successful service provider and an Online Business Manager can be a match made in heaven.
9. No team? No problem. We’ve got a unique hybrid team system going on. If you have a small team or a few contractors you work with, we’re happy to work with them on projects and move into the management role with them. If you haven’t got a team yet and want to build one, we’ll get you started out on the right track (we’ve hired hundreds of home-based contractors for ourselves and others) and we’ll have our team work in the roles you need to hire for in the meantime. You get the best of both worlds.
10. Strategy, implementation, and prioritization. As an entrepreneur myself (with ADHD to boot), I know all too well how many ideas are popping into our brains on any given day. Most of them aren’t that great and are forgotten, but the good ones need the space to grow when the time is right. We tend to think that we need to start on new ideas as they come up, but the truth is, doing that only slows you down in other areas of your business. Part of the magic of the work that we do is that we focus on your strategy, we focus on getting it implemented, and we focus on prioritizing the work that’s going to make the biggest impact on you and your business the quickest. This is how our clients get their desired results in record time.

Are You Ready to Work with an Online Business Manager?

All Online Business Managers are different and focus on different areas of support, or provide a more broad, general support overall. These 10 support systems are what bring our clients the best results overall, and we’d love to see if we’re a fit to help you too. Here are three ways we can work together:

1. Join our $9 per month membership program that delivers done-for-you systems every week.
2. Hire us as your ongoing Online Business Manager.
3. Book a VIP Day and get one MAJOR project finished in a single day (this is our favorite!).

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