MSMP 113: Julian Goldie on Creating Effective Processes and Hiring Freelancers

Mads Singers Management Podcast

Julian Goldie is joining me from Bangkok for this episode of the Mads Singers Management Podcast.

Julian runs his link-building agency where he builds backlinks to help clients rank higher on Google, get more traffic, and be seen easily. Julian has clients worldwide and has worked with several freelancers and contractors alike. But Julian didn't get to where he is today without a bit of struggle. Like most beginners, Julian hired cheap VA's because he wanted to get things done efficiently. However, this proved to be more of a problem rather than a solution.

Freelancing is not a new concept; it's been around for quite some time now; however, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and many people working from home currently, freelancing has been put in the spotlight.

With many companies going remote for the first time during the pandemic, many have struggled to shift from the traditional work setting to a small workshop setting.

While many companies struggled going remote, many employees, especially those who work in corporate or in rigorous environments or career fields, found freedom. Many employees could spend more time with their families, learn a new skill, discover something new about themselves, pick up a new hobby, and many more. Many people would still prefer to work remotely even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

As a business owner, you want to be doing SOP's as little as you can.

Learn to delegate small, time-consuming, mundane tasks to your staff so that you can focus on more important things and grow your business or spend time on things or hobbies that matter to you. It's essential to have a solid framework to quickly onboard and train any new staff you hire or upskill the existing team you see fit for a promotion.

Although some may think that SOP's are a waste of time, these can save you time on training so you can quickly get a project started or work with a client but do keep in mind that you'll need to adjust to your staff's language and knowledge because not everyone is on the same page. If you have an outsourced team, you can have your project managers translate the SOP into your staff's language like Julian's team in the Philippines.

Key Learning Points:

1. Julian says that paying more for a VA or freelancer pays off more because they are proactive and quality is assured. - 03:08

2. Mads says it's essential to have a solid recruitment process so that you can hire the best talents and weed out the bad. - 04:10

3. Mads says that recruitment is about hiring the right people, having solid training, and having solid workflow processes.- 05:49

4. Julian adds, sharing from a book he has read recently, that managers and business owners should maximize their processes, not their people- 06:55

5. Julian says that SOP's should be kept simple. Writing it down in Google Docs is enough. - 09:28

6. While going out of your way to deal with a problem can save you time and money, Julian says business owners should instead spend their resources on something more substantial.- 16:57

7. Julian says that business owners should be careful to incentivize when working with freelancers. You want to try to be one of the best clients to your freelancers - 18:12

8. Julian adds that you need to find the balance between managing freelancers properly and giving them the trust, the freedom, and the flexibility to do their jobs as well as they can. - 19:18

9. Julian says that it's essential to be very clear with your expectations when working with freelancers- 26:19

10. Julian says that regardless of the metrics you use, it's essential to keep it simple so that they know exactly what is expected of them.- 28:48

Resources Mentioned:

Principles: Life and Work: by Ray Dalio

Connect with Julian:

LinkedIn

Upwork

YouTube

TikTok

Email

Website