Episode 77: Get Leverage, with Ari Meisel

Is the old model of "hiring a full-time admin person"--or even hiring a GM for your gym--obsolete? If you've hired a GM before, you've probably broken out their task list in advance; then calculated the time necessary to do the work; then evaluated their ability to execute. Right? (If you haven't done this for all of your staff, including coaches, you need the Incubator.) And you've probably read The Four-Hour Workweek, where author Tim Ferriss uses Virtual Assistants (VAs) to help him reduce his workload and automate replicable tasks. When I read it, the idea of using VAs to help in the service industry seemed like a pipe dream. After all, we're not fulfilling orders: we're greeting people at the door, calling them on Fridays, and writing them love notes. The VA business has changed a LOT since Ferriss' book. Virtual Assistants are everywhere, but the spectrum of help is broad--from highly-qualified freelancers to low-paid ESL speakers. Ari Meisel's company, GetLeverage.com, sits between highly-qualified VAs and your business. GetLeverage.com believes in two steps BEFORE hiring a VA: Optimizing your processes Automating your processes THEN hiring a VA, where possible. In this Interview: How Ari battled Crohn’s disease and came out on the other side Optimizing the 80/20 rule to get the best results possible An example of how Get Leverage can take on a process and outsource it Plus: Prioritizing which ideas you want to take on in your business and personal life What is most important when consider which tasks to outsource The top ways that a virtual assistant can help a CrossFit Gym About Ari: Ari started his career back in 2006 in the real estate industry. After being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease: A highly debilitating digestive ailment, Ari was unable to lead a normal life. He lost weight, energy and the ability to work with any regularity. Through large amounts of trial and error, Ari was able to regain control of his life and beat this seemingly unbeatable disease and is now symptom free. Ari now runs a virtual assistant company called Get Leverage. Less doing and more living are the results of Ari’s amazing journey back to health happiness and wellbeing. Ari currently lives in New York City, where he spends every ounce of free time with his wife and four kids. Ari has written several books, including Idea to Execution and Less Doing, More Living. Timeline: 0:58 – Ari Meisel Introduction 4:55 – What is an example of the type of work Get Leverage will do? 6:05 – Optimizing the 80/20 rule to get the best results 7:59 – Optimizing your time by creating processes 9:45 – An example of a weekly process and how it is handled at Ari’s company 11:19 - Optimizing processes outside of work within your personal life 14:01 – The manual of being you. Creating and documenting your steps 16:31 – Prioritizing which ideas you want to work on in your business and personal life 18:05 – What is most important to outsource to a virtual assistant? 21:44 – At what stage should you outsource your primary service? 25:25 – What are the concerns most people have with using virtual assistants? 26:58 – What are the top areas that virtual assistants can help CrossFit Gyms 29:07 – How much autonomy over money and time should we give to a virtual assistant? 31:21 – Why Get Leverage uses Slack instead of traditional email 33:00 – Thoughts on the freelance lifestyle and Ari’s service Contact Ari: https://getleverage.com/ https://twitter.com/arimeisel?lang=en https://www.facebook.com/arimeisel https://medium.com/@getleverage Enjoy the podcast, and when you're ready to take your OWN action, click here to kick off the Incubator.