A couple weeks ago I told you about my latest VA hire, and how for the first time I had to calculate the projected return on investment of the position in terms of more than just freeing up hours of my time.

I also mentioned that my hiring strategy for this role (a dedicated Pinterest marketing specialist) was a little different than what I’ve done in the past.

Normally I’m a fan of a “big ocean” strategy, one that allows you to cast a wide net and filter to the most qualified or best fit candidates.

But this time I tried the opposite: a “small pond” strategy.

The Small Pond Strategy

Because the skillset was so niche, I went directly to a friend of mine who teaches an online class on how to become a Pinterest VA.

Which is probably even niche-ier. But shows that it’s an in-demand skill.

I used her VA finder tool and got several applications back, all from people who I knew had invested in their business and were trained in this specific marketing strategy.

I first heard of this from another podcast host, who did something similar when looking for help in growing his Instagram account.

Instead of posting the job on Upwork or another “big ocean” freelance platform, he turned to someone who was teaching Instagram marketing to pull prospective hires from his list of “graduates.”

And for niche skills like this, I think it makes sense to go small and go directly to the source. In an ideal world, you can find someone who’s had the results you want to see and is training others in their system.

It won’t work 100% of the time, but is another way to narrow down your search and find pre-qualified candidates.

Have you ever done the same?

Put it in Action

If you wanted to replicate the “small pond” hiring strategy, you could start with a Google search for “[skillset] + training/course”.

For example I searched “bookkeeping training courses” and found some promising results:

For other searches, you’ll find blog reviews and podcast interviews that should lead you to the training instructors that can lead you to your job candidates.

Some popular online training platforms even have built-in job boards that are used both as a selling point for would-be students and for employers looking for specific roles in their business.

A well-known example in the blogging space is the Problogger Job Board, where you can find qualified writers who you know have at least been exposed to the Problogger style of blog writing.

You may have to pay a nominal fee to post your job to sites like these but the theory is you’re reaching a higher caliber candidate and making that needle a little easier to find in the global talent haystack.

Your Turn

What do you think? Could you use this method to source your next hire?

Let me know in the comments below.

No, no, it’s not just a “new” way of explaining the 80/20 rule.

I was listening to a podcast the other day (this one) and at the end of the episode the host explained his 10/80/10 framework for outsourcing.

How it Works

You’re in charge of the first 10% of the task or project, to lay the foundation and explain the requirements.

Then your virtual assistant or team takes over for the middle 80% and does the actual execution work necessary.

Finally, you’re back in the picture for the last 10%, to put any finishing touches on the project, do a quality check, and give it your stamp of approval.

I thought that was an elegant way to look at outsourcing relationships, and it’s a “system” you may already be using without even realizing it.

10/80/10 Outsourcing in Practice

For example, with research tasks, I’m outlining the objective and the structure (10%), handing it off (80%), and then reviewing the results (10%).

For design projects, I’m sharing my vision and the goals, handing it off to the creative designer, and then requesting any revisions necessary.

For my podcast, I’m recording the raw audio and making editing notes in a Word doc. Then I share the raw audio file with the podcast editor who cleans it all up. Next, I add in the intro and outro and take my final pass through the file.

If something is missing or there’s not enough detail, I’ll use my review stage for quality control and ask the assistant to dig a little deeper.

Your Turn

I think this framework is useful for a variety of tasks and projects, and I’ve already started thinking about how I apply it to graphic design, data entry, and content writing applications.

In a way, it makes delegation a little less scary, because you’re not putting 100% of the project in someone else’s hands — you’re still setting the course and you’re still responsible for takeoff and landing.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.​​​​​​​

When I was making my first virtual hires, I saw it as a cost.

Since I was doing everything myself up to that point, it was just an additional expense.

Well it didn’t take long to realize that hiring a VA shouldn’t be a cost at all, but rather an investment. 

And like any investment, you’d expect to earn a positive return — otherwise you wouldn’t make it!

Calculating ROI

For my latest hire, a dedicated social media specialist, I had to sit down and calculate the projected return on investment (ROI) of bringing her on board.

Did it make sense? What kind of results would she have to drive in order to turn a profit on her fee?

To do this, I found the baseline numbers of what we were generating in terms of traffic, email sign-ups, and revenue. Some business owners know exactly how much a new email subscriber is worth — but I’m not one of them.

It was an interesting exercise to try and find out though, and the number I ended up with was around $0.25 per subscriber per month.

So if I were to hire a $500 a month VA, I’d need their efforts to generate at least 2000 incremental email subscribers just to breakeven.

Surprisingly — or perhaps not — it was the first time I ever tried to estimate such a number in advance of a VA hire.

(Historically it’s always been about how many hours it will free up.)

Have you ever done the same?

The Time Equation

Normally calculating ROO, or return on outsourcing, has been about the number of hours I can free up every week or every month. If you value your time at $50 an hour and can free up 5 hours a week, it makes sense to pay up to $250 a week for that help, right?

That’s how I’ve typically looked at the “returns” on my virtual assistants, and even how I present the savings opportunity in my book. And that’s because the alternative was doing the work myself.

Measuring Performance

In this case, it was work I didn’t particularly know how to do. What it forced me to do was come up with concrete deliverables (ie. double traffic from this social platform).

It also forced me for the first time to ask what that traffic was worth.

And at first glance, the numbers didn’t look good. It was going to be hard to justify this hire at her proposed rate because the necessary results for a positive return seemed pretty unrealistic.

So instead we set up a short-term compromise. Instead of agreeing to a flat monthly fee on an ongoing basis, we agreed to do a 2-month trial — calling it a Pinterest account “makeover” — at a slightly lower rate.

So far she’s driving strong results​​​​​​​, though we’re not quite to the “breakeven” point yet. After the trial is over, we’ll re-evaluate and see if it makes sense to continue down this path.​​​​​​​

Your Turn

What do you think? Do you have a number in your head for what would constitute an outsourcing “win” in terms of ROI (or ROO)?

Do your team members have a concrete metric they’re responsible for?