1 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:12,560 Hey there, and welcome back to On Your Terms. 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,250 I'm your host, Sam Vander Wielen, an attorney turned entrepreneur who helps online 3 00:00:16,250 --> 00:00:21,230 coaches and service providers legally protect and grow their online businesses using my 4 00:00:21,230 --> 00:00:25,460 DIY legal templates and my Ultimate Bundle training. So, 5 00:00:25,460 --> 00:00:30,590 this week we, are talking all about when you should do stuff in your business versus when 6 00:00:30,590 --> 00:00:34,170 you should outsource. Do you have to be good at everything in your business? 7 00:00:34,170 --> 00:00:35,200 Do you have to be a marketer? 8 00:00:35,210 --> 00:00:36,440 Do you have to be a copywriter? 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,300 Do you really have to wear all of these hats when you own an online business? 10 00:00:40,300 --> 00:00:44,330 I think it's a really interesting question. Personally, 11 00:00:44,330 --> 00:00:49,280 as I talk about in this episode, I'm somebody who likes a lot of what we do and is also 12 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,440 somebody who's inclined to be like, "I'll just do it. 13 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,180 I'll just do it. I'll just do it." And that, well, you're going to have to listen. 14 00:00:56,180 --> 00:00:57,340 I shared how that went. 15 00:00:57,340 --> 00:01:02,030 And I shared what I did instead to actually grow my business, not drive myself crazy, but 16 00:01:02,030 --> 00:01:05,800 also how I still do some things I love in my business even though I don't have to. 17 00:01:05,810 --> 00:01:08,210 So, we're going to get into it. Before 18 00:01:08,210 --> 00:01:11,080 we do, I want to give a shoutout to Megan FS. 19 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,250 She says, "I've been following Sam for a while. 20 00:01:13,250 --> 00:01:16,190 I joined the Ultimate Bundle and now I've been bingeing the podcast. 21 00:01:16,190 --> 00:01:19,790 It's like having a conversation with a friend while also learning a ton about the legal 22 00:01:19,790 --> 00:01:23,300 side, being an entrepreneur, and how to build an online business. 23 00:01:23,300 --> 00:01:27,360 I feel more confident knowing that I have the tools to build a legally legit business. 24 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,730 But even more than that, like I'm connecting with a real person that I can relate to in so 25 00:01:31,730 --> 00:01:36,020 many ways. Sam and her podcast are fantastic." Thank you so much, Megan. 26 00:01:36,020 --> 00:01:37,700 I so appreciate that very kind review. 27 00:01:37,700 --> 00:01:39,590 And we are friends. And 28 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,330 you can also leave a review in Apple Podcasts of my show, On Your Terms, and you'll be 29 00:01:44,330 --> 00:01:46,520 entered to win a $20 Starbucks gift card. 30 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,530 All you have to do is just leave a review on Apple. 31 00:01:48,530 --> 00:01:50,270 It's simple as that. All right. 32 00:01:50,270 --> 00:01:57,520 With that, let's hop in to this week's episode. So, 33 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:02,170 the age old question, when should you do something versus when should you outsource it? 34 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,190 How many things do you hold on to your business versus how many things do you try to hire 35 00:02:06,190 --> 00:02:10,360 out for? Plus, what do you do when, you know, budgets a little tight? 36 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,420 You can't go around hiring everybody to do everything. 37 00:02:13,450 --> 00:02:15,730 It's a really tricky balance. And 38 00:02:15,730 --> 00:02:20,710 what I often see is that on the one hand, people will hang on to things way too long and 39 00:02:20,710 --> 00:02:24,250 try to do everything themselves in the business and wear all of the hats. 40 00:02:24,250 --> 00:02:28,170 And I think we all know that there are many, many hats to be worn. 41 00:02:28,170 --> 00:02:33,070 And then, that ends up holding us back or it actually costs us a lot of money. 42 00:02:36,790 --> 00:02:42,010 Ryan always tells me - my husband, in case you don't know - that one thing he thinks I'm 43 00:02:42,010 --> 00:02:45,130 really good at is seeing time is money, even in our own life. 44 00:02:45,130 --> 00:02:46,330 Because I'll just be like, "No. 45 00:02:46,330 --> 00:02:47,530 It's not worth us doing that. 46 00:02:47,530 --> 00:02:56,290 We can get somebody else to do this and then we can go off and do this other thing." And I think that a lot of times in our businesses, we actually think that we're saving 47 00:02:56,290 --> 00:03:00,130 ourselves a lot of money by not hiring people to do certain things. 48 00:03:00,130 --> 00:03:05,110 And then, in fact, that's actually costing us a lot of money, for the reasons I'm going 49 00:03:05,110 --> 00:03:06,730 to break down in this episode. 50 00:03:07,300 --> 00:03:12,550 And so, we might maybe have a little bit of a mindset shift in that area today. There's 51 00:03:12,550 --> 00:03:15,550 also the idea that somebody else could be better at it. 52 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,600 On the flip side, I think a lot of people think that somebody can't be better at it or 53 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,630 that it won't be done to your liking. 54 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:26,770 That was something that I held on to for a long time, not that I wouldn't be better or 55 00:03:26,770 --> 00:03:30,400 that anyone could be better at stuff, but that it wouldn't be done to my liking and it 56 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,740 would end up costing me more time. 57 00:03:32,740 --> 00:03:36,610 So, it was not that I thought I'd be better at it, but I was like, "I'll just get it 58 00:03:36,610 --> 00:03:40,540 done." Because that way I don't have to go back and forth. It 59 00:03:40,540 --> 00:03:44,770 was also a really easy out for me to not have to express preferences to people because I 60 00:03:44,770 --> 00:03:46,760 didn't like giving feedback and saying like, "Hey. 61 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,560 I don't really love the design on this." So, if I just designed it myself, I didn't have 62 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:52,170 to give any feedback, right? 63 00:03:52,180 --> 00:03:56,530 So, it was a little sneaky way around that too. And 64 00:03:56,530 --> 00:04:01,240 on the flip side, I see people also outsource things a little bit too quickly sometimes 65 00:04:01,420 --> 00:04:06,010 or outsource things in their own business because they are really nervous, and they're 66 00:04:06,010 --> 00:04:10,240 not really owning it, and they're not trusting themselves, and listening to their 67 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,250 instinct, especially as a marketer. 68 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,990 And so, they'll outsource certain things to people that I'm like, "Ooh." That makes me a 69 00:04:16,990 --> 00:04:23,440 little nervous because, at the end of the day, I do think as marketers, we have to be the 70 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:28,810 ones who are the experts in our businesses on our clients and what they want, and kind of 71 00:04:28,810 --> 00:04:34,450 have our finger on the pulse of the market in what's going on, and be kind of dictating 72 00:04:34,450 --> 00:04:36,040 that down to other people. 73 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:41,170 And so, we want to hire experts and we want people who are going to be better at things 74 00:04:41,170 --> 00:04:44,230 than we are. But at the end of the day, you're signing the checks. 75 00:04:44,230 --> 00:04:46,450 Your name's on the digital door. 76 00:04:46,450 --> 00:04:48,040 Like, this shit is on you. 77 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,700 So, that's the way that I always think about is that, at the end of the day, I'm 78 00:04:51,700 --> 00:04:52,990 responsible for all this. 79 00:04:52,990 --> 00:04:54,490 And so, I can hire other people. 80 00:04:54,490 --> 00:04:57,410 I can let other people do a lot of stuff. 81 00:04:57,410 --> 00:05:00,880 But I do also have to trust my instinct that, like, I've been here the longest, I've 82 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:06,280 spoken to the most amount of people, I've really gotten to know what's going on around 83 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:10,570 here. And if something doesn't feel right, I have to say something. 84 00:05:10,570 --> 00:05:15,370 So, that's kind of what we're going to talk about today. So, 85 00:05:15,370 --> 00:05:24,340 I have to tell you, I pride myself in being somebody who loves all parts of my business 86 00:05:24,340 --> 00:05:28,360 and online business and running one of these kinds of businesses. 87 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:30,430 I mean, how much time do you have? 88 00:05:30,430 --> 00:05:32,020 I love writing. 89 00:05:32,020 --> 00:05:33,250 I love copywriting. 90 00:05:33,250 --> 00:05:37,480 I'll preface all of this by saying, I don't think I'm good at all of these things. 91 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:39,310 Just I thoroughly enjoy it. 92 00:05:39,790 --> 00:05:41,410 But I love writing. 93 00:05:41,410 --> 00:05:43,630 I don't mind creating all the content. 94 00:05:43,630 --> 00:05:46,210 I love creating these podcast episodes for you. 95 00:05:46,210 --> 00:05:48,430 It's an absolute joy and a privilege. 96 00:05:48,460 --> 00:05:49,810 I love our team meetings. 97 00:05:49,810 --> 00:05:52,030 I love creating my products. 98 00:05:52,030 --> 00:05:54,130 I love digging in, answering people's questions. 99 00:05:54,130 --> 00:05:55,990 People have such good questions. 100 00:05:55,990 --> 00:05:59,230 I really love the strategy side of things. 101 00:05:59,230 --> 00:06:00,640 I'm obsessed with funnels. 102 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:01,960 I love all the data. 103 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:06,670 I'm just one of those annoying people who really, truly loves all of these things. 104 00:06:06,850 --> 00:06:08,170 Oh, I even love SEO. 105 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:10,660 I know that was just probably the nail in the coffin. 106 00:06:10,660 --> 00:06:12,010 I love SEO. 107 00:06:12,070 --> 00:06:13,360 I love doing the website. 108 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,030 I like all of those things. And 109 00:06:16,030 --> 00:06:19,960 I had that attitude, first of all, I was like, "No. 110 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:21,790 No. I just love it. I love it all. 111 00:06:21,790 --> 00:06:26,470 Don't worry, I love all of this stuff." But, also, it's just easier if I just do it 112 00:06:26,470 --> 00:06:34,380 myself. I would, like, dip my toes into the arena of hiring out a graphic designer or 113 00:06:34,380 --> 00:06:36,490 hiring somebody else to do something. 114 00:06:36,700 --> 00:06:40,090 And then, I would get some stuff back and it wouldn't totally sit right, and I would be 115 00:06:40,090 --> 00:06:44,890 like, "Oh. I'll just fix it myself." And not that there was anything technically wrong. 116 00:06:44,890 --> 00:06:47,500 I mean, a lot of what we all do is very subjective. 117 00:06:47,500 --> 00:06:50,160 I mean, there can be spelling errors or something like that. 118 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:51,790 But otherwise it's very subjective. 119 00:06:51,790 --> 00:06:55,270 And so, a lot of what we do is just up to our preferences. 120 00:06:55,460 --> 00:06:58,970 And so, I wouldn't see things that were up to my preferences, I wouldn't love it, and so 121 00:06:58,970 --> 00:07:06,230 I'd just be like, "Oh. I'll just fix this myself." And then, I would hire that same person out to do, let's say, more graphic design work at 122 00:07:06,230 --> 00:07:10,730 that time. And what do you know, shocking, when the stuff would come back, it would be 123 00:07:10,730 --> 00:07:12,620 exactly the same. 124 00:07:13,250 --> 00:07:15,800 And I would just fix this stuff, again, myself. 125 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:17,330 Never saying anything. 126 00:07:17,330 --> 00:07:20,690 Easy out, first of all, to not have to say, "Hey. 127 00:07:20,690 --> 00:07:26,570 Great job with this, but I would love it also from now on if you could do this like that 128 00:07:26,570 --> 00:07:31,460 or I like it better when this looks like that." It was a great way to avoid having to do 129 00:07:31,460 --> 00:07:35,990 that, which is stuff I have to do every day now. And, 130 00:07:35,990 --> 00:07:38,600 also, it just kept me really, really busy. 131 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:43,190 I was just running around like a chicken with her head cut off. 132 00:07:43,820 --> 00:07:49,910 If we can imagine, an office building that ran Sam Vander Wielen LLC, it's like I'm 133 00:07:49,910 --> 00:07:53,720 running from the art department, to the copywriting department, to the finance 134 00:07:53,720 --> 00:08:00,110 department, to the legal, to the customer service center, back to social media strategy. 135 00:08:00,110 --> 00:08:04,880 And I was just like running between these doors all day long. And, 136 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,830 you know, I built a nice little business doing that and it was fine. 137 00:08:08,830 --> 00:08:10,610 And I was really tired. 138 00:08:10,610 --> 00:08:11,960 I was working a lot. 139 00:08:12,770 --> 00:08:14,330 I really liked what I was doing. 140 00:08:14,330 --> 00:08:15,380 I enjoyed it. 141 00:08:15,380 --> 00:08:19,160 But I was like, "How am I going to actually grow this thing? 142 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:23,330 I don't understand." Like, I just need to sell more and more and more, but I don't 143 00:08:23,330 --> 00:08:28,910 understand how to do that because I don't have another minute to spare. 144 00:08:28,910 --> 00:08:35,000 So, I thought at that time that I was actually saving money by not hiring anyone. 145 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,230 I prided myself on not having any employees, any contractors. 146 00:08:39,230 --> 00:08:43,670 I was like, "I do it all myself." It's like a badge of honor. And 147 00:08:43,670 --> 00:08:45,680 I thought I was saving money. 148 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:50,260 I thought I was keeping my profits crazy high. 149 00:08:50,260 --> 00:08:51,590 Which, my profits were really high. 150 00:08:51,590 --> 00:08:52,890 My profits are still really high. 151 00:08:52,890 --> 00:08:54,830 But at the time it was insane. 152 00:08:54,830 --> 00:09:00,680 And it was just like, "But look how profitable I am." It's just kind of funny for me to 153 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:02,000 look back now. 154 00:09:02,450 --> 00:09:07,490 And I remember, and maybe you can relate to this, but I also worry that I wouldn't have 155 00:09:07,490 --> 00:09:11,960 enough for them to do or I had this very irrational fear that the moment that I hired 156 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,960 somebody, all of a sudden, everything would stop. 157 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,040 Like, there'd be no more money coming in and no growth. 158 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,430 And all of a sudden, I was going to have hired all these people and then there would be 159 00:09:22,430 --> 00:09:27,500 nothing. I was so worried about it. 160 00:09:27,620 --> 00:09:32,210 I've talked about this many, many times on the podcast before and now I talk about this in 161 00:09:32,210 --> 00:09:39,230 my free legal workshop - which I will link to below - I really had this flip into this 162 00:09:39,230 --> 00:09:44,710 mindset of starting to prepare for the business I was becoming. 163 00:09:44,710 --> 00:09:48,080 So, I was running around thinking, "Great. 164 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,290 This business is doing okay now, but what if it doesn't in the future? 165 00:09:51,290 --> 00:09:55,940 So, I'll just keep acting like, not only maybe even what it is like now, but what it used 166 00:09:55,940 --> 00:09:58,940 to be." Or, "Great, that it's growing now. 167 00:09:58,940 --> 00:10:04,280 But what if I don't see any change." Or, "I don't know if the business of this size 168 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:12,680 technically needs a VA yet." I then shifted though into this mindset of I'm on my way. 169 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:16,850 I am becoming X type of business. 170 00:10:16,850 --> 00:10:18,560 It truly does not matter. 171 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:24,380 I don't care whether or not your goal is to have a business that makes $10,000 a year or 172 00:10:24,500 --> 00:10:26,630 $100,000 a year, $1 million a year. 173 00:10:26,630 --> 00:10:27,710 It doesn't have to. 174 00:10:27,710 --> 00:10:31,210 Screw all the figures and all this crap that we see online. 175 00:10:31,210 --> 00:10:32,330 None of that matters. 176 00:10:32,330 --> 00:10:34,610 Whatever that matters is what's important to you. 177 00:10:34,610 --> 00:10:38,810 And so, you need to know what kind of business are you building here. 178 00:10:38,810 --> 00:10:42,590 I would love to see you have goals that are like, at least for the business to get 179 00:10:42,590 --> 00:10:47,930 better. I just also want you to be very kind to yourself, but that can be really 180 00:10:47,930 --> 00:10:49,280 different for a lot of people. 181 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:50,660 Yours doesn't have to look like mine. 182 00:10:50,660 --> 00:10:52,760 Mine doesn't have to look like another person's. 183 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:58,220 So, you really start thinking of this is where I'm going. 184 00:10:58,220 --> 00:11:03,740 And based on that, this is what I need to have in place to become that kind of business. 185 00:11:03,740 --> 00:11:07,460 So, we start acting today like the business we're already headed towards. 186 00:11:07,460 --> 00:11:10,520 We kind of just start assuming that that's where we're headed. 187 00:11:11,660 --> 00:11:17,810 It's kind of like if you were driving from New York to LA, you would have this road trip, 188 00:11:17,810 --> 00:11:22,250 and you would make decisions on what highways you take and where you stop and all that 189 00:11:22,250 --> 00:11:25,400 kind of stuff, what direction you go in based on the fact that you know you're ending up 190 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:29,210 in LA, even though it's going to take you - I don't know - five days or something to 191 00:11:29,210 --> 00:11:31,160 drive there. So, 192 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,610 that's kind of how I want you to think about it with your business, like I already know 193 00:11:34,610 --> 00:11:38,870 I'm headed there, so let me just start acting like that. 194 00:11:38,870 --> 00:11:43,010 And that doesn't mean spending irresponsibly and acting willy nilly. 195 00:11:43,010 --> 00:11:44,790 But there are some simple things. 196 00:11:44,790 --> 00:11:50,420 There's a very careful balance between that whole, like, jump in head first kind of 197 00:11:50,420 --> 00:11:55,060 mentality. I'm not one to tell everybody to, like, leave their jobs and just throw your 198 00:11:55,060 --> 00:11:57,850 life away and start a business. But 199 00:11:57,850 --> 00:12:04,720 there's also not going to be this perfect planned point where everything becomes super 200 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:06,180 easy and crystal clear. 201 00:12:06,190 --> 00:12:10,810 So, there is a little bit of start before you're ready, kind of. 202 00:12:10,930 --> 00:12:12,280 And it's a balance. 203 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:16,030 And I think that people need to be more responsible with that advice that there's a way 204 00:12:16,030 --> 00:12:18,490 to do that in a very tempered way. 205 00:12:19,210 --> 00:12:23,860 And I think that that's what was key for me, is that I stopped acting like the business I 206 00:12:23,860 --> 00:12:28,480 was at that moment and I realized that I was never going to become the business that I 207 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:33,210 had in my mind, when I really let myself dream, and I really worked on my mindset. 208 00:12:33,210 --> 00:12:37,360 And so, I started to drop some of these stories and these limiting beliefs that I had 209 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:43,870 about myself, and my business, and my worth, and my ability to be seen. And 210 00:12:43,870 --> 00:12:48,760 once I started working on that and I got clear on what that vision was for me to build 211 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:53,410 the kind of business I'm building right now, I was like, "Oh, shoot. 212 00:12:53,410 --> 00:12:58,660 I will never get there if I keep doing this." That's never going to happen because I'm 213 00:12:58,660 --> 00:13:03,100 just going to keep running. Remember the image I gave you of this digital office 214 00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:07,990 building? I'm just going to keep running between all those doors, and there's no way that 215 00:13:07,990 --> 00:13:09,640 this can ever get any bigger. 216 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:15,430 I have to get out of the way for some of this stuff, and I have to leverage. 217 00:13:15,430 --> 00:13:17,400 And there are people who can do this better. 218 00:13:17,410 --> 00:13:21,040 There's time that can be spent better. 219 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,880 There's so many different things that could be done differently. So, 220 00:13:25,630 --> 00:13:32,080 I think that there are a couple of skills that all online business owners should 221 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,350 strengthen, flex, sharpen. 222 00:13:35,350 --> 00:13:41,140 And that you're really never going to 100 percent outsource even if you hire people as 223 00:13:41,140 --> 00:13:42,240 experts. 224 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:44,270 You're still going to be the CEO. 225 00:13:44,270 --> 00:13:46,330 You're still going to be the one calling the shots. 226 00:13:46,330 --> 00:13:49,450 You're still going to be the one that's responsible for strategy. 227 00:13:49,450 --> 00:13:52,180 And, also, you're always going to be the one who's here. 228 00:13:52,420 --> 00:13:54,650 Team members can change. 229 00:13:54,650 --> 00:13:59,650 And you're going to be the one that's here and you have to own this at the end of the day. 230 00:13:59,650 --> 00:14:04,060 And it's also going to be your responsibility at the end of the day. So, 231 00:14:04,210 --> 00:14:08,020 what are some of these skills that I think all business owners kind of have to own? 232 00:14:08,530 --> 00:14:11,920 Well, one of the biggest, I would say, is marketing. 233 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:17,200 And so, kind of like if you have this voice that's coming up in you that's like, "I'm not 234 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:19,000 good at marketing. I don't know about that. 235 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:23,020 I'm not good at this. I'm not good at that." As my therapist says, if we could just ask 236 00:14:23,020 --> 00:14:31,180 that to step aside for a moment and just keep an open mind, I think that it's something 237 00:14:31,180 --> 00:14:34,720 that we can become better at, first of all. I 238 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:40,330 definitely think that some people, they have an innate sense for marketing and it's just 239 00:14:40,330 --> 00:14:41,740 very natural to them. 240 00:14:41,740 --> 00:14:44,110 But I also think this is something you can strengthen. 241 00:14:44,110 --> 00:14:48,160 And so, I don't want you to count yourself out if you don't feel like you're coming into 242 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,370 this at an Olympic level marketing person. 243 00:14:51,370 --> 00:14:53,110 It's okay. I 244 00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:57,640 think when we break down what parts of marketing you really need to own, there are at 245 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:02,140 least three that I can think of, which is the voice of customer. 246 00:15:02,140 --> 00:15:09,610 I would say, really being very, very clear about what your customer is struggling with, 247 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:16,000 what they would like to see instead, what kind of stuff that they've tried, what they're 248 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:17,110 really, really worried about. 249 00:15:17,110 --> 00:15:21,010 At the end of the day, when we break it down, what are they actually worried about 250 00:15:21,010 --> 00:15:24,130 happening? What do they actually wish would be different? 251 00:15:24,130 --> 00:15:27,100 What do they actually wish would be the best case scenario? 252 00:15:27,100 --> 00:15:29,860 Really knowing the voice of customer. That 253 00:15:29,860 --> 00:15:35,200 also includes how your customer actually talks about you, what you do, and your topics, 254 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:39,400 and stuff like that. Just to give you an example, when I'm talking about legal stuff, I 255 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,110 can't use lawyer language. 256 00:15:42,110 --> 00:15:47,530 I try my hardest every day when I'm writing something or I'm creating titles or I'm 257 00:15:47,530 --> 00:15:52,180 writing captions or something like that, I'm like, "How would they say this?" Because 258 00:15:52,180 --> 00:15:53,200 it's not about how we would say it. 259 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:59,170 So, that is one of the biggest things because it's such a starting block, because if you 260 00:15:59,170 --> 00:16:02,170 don't speak their language, then no one is ever going to talk back. 261 00:16:02,470 --> 00:16:05,440 So, it's a really, really important part. And 262 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:11,680 when you go to hire a really good copywriter, for example, to do sales copy for you for 263 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:17,080 the first time or nurture sequence for the first time or write a sales page for you, you 264 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:21,180 need to tell them like, "This is what my customers do. 265 00:16:21,180 --> 00:16:22,270 This is what they're worried about. 266 00:16:22,270 --> 00:16:23,560 These are the kinds of words they use. 267 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:26,080 These are phrases I hear over and over and over again. 268 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:30,490 This is really at the core of what my customer is worried about and what they want and 269 00:16:30,490 --> 00:16:31,660 what they hope for. 270 00:16:31,660 --> 00:16:37,150 And here's little snippets of their day." It's so much of that. When 271 00:16:37,150 --> 00:16:41,680 you start to hire more and more experienced copywriters or funnel strategists over time, 272 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,730 they'll actually ask to speak to your customers and they'll do customer interviews. 273 00:16:45,730 --> 00:16:49,570 That's why they're doing it is to get voice of customer research, and that's super 274 00:16:49,570 --> 00:16:54,130 helpful. But there were many, many times I hired people on the way where I didn't have the 275 00:16:54,130 --> 00:16:55,840 resources to do that yet. 276 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,750 And so, it was really important that I knew that. 277 00:16:58,750 --> 00:17:02,800 And then, when I was reviewing copy, I'd be like, "They would never say that" or "We 278 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:08,110 don't use that kind of language in this community." So, it's really important that you 279 00:17:08,110 --> 00:17:09,740 own that. The 280 00:17:09,740 --> 00:17:14,930 second part of marketing that I think you have to develop and strengthen is social 281 00:17:14,930 --> 00:17:19,640 strategy and social media - I would call it - awareness. 282 00:17:20,870 --> 00:17:25,220 Let's say, whatever platform it is, I think one or two platforms like Instagram and 283 00:17:25,220 --> 00:17:31,250 YouTube or Instagram and Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, whatever, you would have to really 284 00:17:31,250 --> 00:17:34,220 understand those platforms and truly how they work. 285 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,510 Kind of get a flavor for who hangs out on them, how they're used, how people are 286 00:17:38,510 --> 00:17:40,700 consuming content there. I 287 00:17:40,700 --> 00:17:44,870 think staying a little bit on top, this is where you have to be very careful. 288 00:17:45,590 --> 00:17:50,390 I'm not talking about black and white where either you don't know anything or you spend 289 00:17:50,390 --> 00:17:51,800 your whole day scrolling TikTok. 290 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,570 It's somewhere in the middle about just knowing generally speaking what's going on. 291 00:17:56,570 --> 00:17:58,220 Like, what's going on on these platforms? 292 00:17:58,220 --> 00:17:59,680 How are people using it? 293 00:17:59,690 --> 00:18:04,790 What are some of the trends? Just 294 00:18:04,790 --> 00:18:08,690 as simple as on Instagram, what are the different surfaces that are available? 295 00:18:09,290 --> 00:18:12,830 What are the main types of content in my industry that are being shared? 296 00:18:12,830 --> 00:18:14,540 How are people engaging? 297 00:18:14,690 --> 00:18:16,520 What kind of patterns do I see? 298 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:18,230 That kind of stuff. Because, 299 00:18:18,230 --> 00:18:22,400 again, when you go to hire someone, if you hire someone to create social graphics for you 300 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:27,830 or write captions for you or create social media post for you, you need to be able to 301 00:18:27,830 --> 00:18:30,410 analyze those and say, "That's not it. 302 00:18:31,130 --> 00:18:32,510 I want to take this strategy. 303 00:18:32,510 --> 00:18:37,550 I want to try that." Or going back to voice of customer, like, "This doesn't match up 304 00:18:37,550 --> 00:18:42,170 with my customer." So, we really do need to know a little bit about that and that's 305 00:18:42,170 --> 00:18:44,210 something that we develop over time. 306 00:18:44,210 --> 00:18:49,370 It's also the benefit to only picking - which I think you should anyway - one or two of 307 00:18:49,370 --> 00:18:52,220 these platforms anyway because you can go deeper and not wider. 308 00:18:53,170 --> 00:18:58,240 Okay. Last but not least, the part of marketing that I think we have to own is product 309 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,780 development. For you, this might be like program development, offer development, 310 00:19:01,780 --> 00:19:02,950 depending on what you do. 311 00:19:03,130 --> 00:19:07,780 I think that's where it becomes really important for you to be the one to know what is 312 00:19:07,780 --> 00:19:09,400 the demand in the market. 313 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,800 Like, is there a demand for what I want to offer? 314 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:13,030 Who's looking for it? 315 00:19:13,030 --> 00:19:14,350 What are they looking for? 316 00:19:14,350 --> 00:19:20,980 Obviously, doing pricing research and all this kind of stuff, you have to really own the 317 00:19:20,980 --> 00:19:26,140 development of your product to even make sure that there is a demand, a want, a need for 318 00:19:26,140 --> 00:19:28,450 what you're trying to offer. Because, 319 00:19:28,450 --> 00:19:32,210 otherwise, what you're going to do is you're going to go to a person, you're going to 320 00:19:32,260 --> 00:19:37,330 outsource the creation of something, or hire an ops person to set up your product or 321 00:19:37,330 --> 00:19:39,850 something like this and be like, "I want to offer this product. 322 00:19:39,850 --> 00:19:45,070 Go set it up here." But you have to be the one who knows that that's even a successful 323 00:19:45,070 --> 00:19:50,890 idea in the first place as much as we can ahead of time, but we have to know that. All 324 00:19:50,890 --> 00:19:54,460 right. So, those were the three parts of marketing that I broke down, the voice of 325 00:19:54,460 --> 00:19:56,950 customer, the social strategy, and the product development. 326 00:19:56,950 --> 00:20:01,150 But outside of marketing, there are three other things, I think, we have to own. 327 00:20:01,450 --> 00:20:03,100 One is copywriting. 328 00:20:03,100 --> 00:20:06,370 And I don't mean that we have to own this entirely because this is definitely a great 329 00:20:06,370 --> 00:20:08,200 area to outsource over time. 330 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:14,530 But what I mean by this is that, I think that as online business people, people who 331 00:20:14,530 --> 00:20:20,190 market their online businesses for a living, we have to be good at copywriting. 332 00:20:20,190 --> 00:20:25,030 Period. There is no way you're going to get away from writing at all. 333 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:28,720 And if you completely outsource your writing stuff, it's never going to sound like you. 334 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:33,670 Or if you don't know basics about copywriting, then when you get copy from a copywriter 335 00:20:33,670 --> 00:20:36,970 and it doesn't feel right, you're not going to know. 336 00:20:36,970 --> 00:20:42,070 Or worst case scenario, you're just going to get copy from a copywriter, assume that they 337 00:20:42,070 --> 00:20:45,280 know the best for for you and your business and go with it. 338 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:47,710 And then, when it doesn't land with people, you're going to be like, "I wonder why that 339 00:20:47,710 --> 00:20:54,700 didn't work?" I've said this so many times on the podcast, like, I just think that investing in 340 00:20:54,700 --> 00:21:00,040 copywriting is even so helpful for your day-to-day running in this business. 341 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,550 So, I think about it every single time that I go to write an email. 342 00:21:03,580 --> 00:21:05,900 I write all my weekly emails to the list. 343 00:21:05,900 --> 00:21:11,830 I write so much that I feel like it's so important that I have a basic working 344 00:21:11,830 --> 00:21:15,490 understanding. Again, the point is, I'm not a copywriter. 345 00:21:15,490 --> 00:21:18,550 I'm not as remotely skilled as a copywriter. 346 00:21:18,550 --> 00:21:24,400 But it means I have to have some skills as a copywriter or a person who writes copy for a 347 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:25,840 living, because I essentially do. 348 00:21:26,230 --> 00:21:27,770 I write it for my business. 349 00:21:27,770 --> 00:21:29,710 Not for someone else's. 350 00:21:29,860 --> 00:21:35,920 And it's also an area where I can learn a little and then have a lot of practice. 351 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,120 I write a lot. 352 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:38,770 I write things that flop. 353 00:21:38,770 --> 00:21:40,480 I write things that go really well. 354 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:45,900 And I just learn over time with reps, more and more and more reps. 355 00:21:45,900 --> 00:21:52,000 So, I think copywriting is a great place to invest some of your time and energy and money 356 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,220 because I think that it's great to learn about and it'll help you overall. I 357 00:21:57,220 --> 00:22:01,270 also think you have to own customer service because I think that you have to decide 358 00:22:01,270 --> 00:22:04,870 pretty early on what kind of business do you want to be, what kind of experience do you 359 00:22:04,870 --> 00:22:06,650 want your clients to have. 360 00:22:06,650 --> 00:22:12,490 And you have to set the tone for how do you want everybody to be treated, and is this a 361 00:22:12,490 --> 00:22:20,470 premium level, Nordstrom level experience, or is this a Walmart where we have smiley 362 00:22:20,470 --> 00:22:24,340 face, but we're more about getting as many people in here and as many people out as we 363 00:22:24,340 --> 00:22:29,380 can. It's whatever it is that you want it to be, but you have to create that because then 364 00:22:29,380 --> 00:22:33,370 you're going to set the tone for when you do hire somebody to interact with your 365 00:22:33,370 --> 00:22:36,610 customers, to say like, "Hey, here's how we do things around here. 366 00:22:36,610 --> 00:22:37,990 We go above and beyond. 367 00:22:37,990 --> 00:22:40,100 We're super helpful. We're super responsive. 368 00:22:40,100 --> 00:22:41,800 We're known for being responsive. 369 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:47,380 We have sarcastic wit and we include jokes in all of our stuff." Whatever it is, we have 370 00:22:47,380 --> 00:22:49,960 to own customer service. Last 371 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,210 but not least, we have to own our craft. 372 00:22:52,210 --> 00:22:56,830 I mean, we have to be really good at what we actually sell for a living. 373 00:22:56,830 --> 00:23:01,540 You know, I feel like so many times in online business, we hear all these people talking 374 00:23:01,540 --> 00:23:06,550 about selling you courses about here's how to create a course or whatever, here's how to 375 00:23:06,550 --> 00:23:10,180 make this many figures and this many months, and yada, yada. But 376 00:23:10,180 --> 00:23:14,770 we don't often hear about people really encouraging you to do a really good job and try 377 00:23:14,770 --> 00:23:20,410 to be really skilled, and taking a lot of pride in what you do, and taking ownership over 378 00:23:20,410 --> 00:23:23,680 the fact that you're putting yourself out there, you're taking people's money for your 379 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:28,210 skill. And that doesn't mean being perfect and it doesn't mean knowing everything, but it 380 00:23:28,210 --> 00:23:33,220 means continuing to invest in ourselves, in our craft, and in our actual programs and 381 00:23:33,220 --> 00:23:37,690 offers and products themselves, and making them the best that they can be right now given 382 00:23:37,690 --> 00:23:39,970 the information and the tools that we have. 383 00:23:40,390 --> 00:23:43,270 And I think that that's a really, really important thing for us to own. 384 00:23:43,750 --> 00:23:47,950 Now, all of the things I've just talked about, marketing, copywriting, customer service, 385 00:23:47,950 --> 00:23:54,160 and our craft, one of the reasons I think that we have to be so good at them is that, 386 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:55,900 well, first of all, we do them every day. 387 00:23:55,900 --> 00:24:00,340 But two is that they are things that we can eventually outsource. 388 00:24:00,340 --> 00:24:03,640 They're probably some of the last things as you make more and more money in your 389 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:11,260 business. But when you do, they are the things that I think you still have to have a good 390 00:24:11,260 --> 00:24:14,350 grasp of in order for you to outsource them. Whereas, 391 00:24:14,350 --> 00:24:19,900 with other things, let's say you want to get a new website, you can hire a website 392 00:24:19,900 --> 00:24:22,930 designer and a web developer or their team. 393 00:24:22,930 --> 00:24:27,330 You don't need to learn how to do your own website and then hire a website person. 394 00:24:27,340 --> 00:24:30,970 In fact, it would actually be more helpful if you knew something about copywriting and if 395 00:24:30,970 --> 00:24:35,770 you knew something about marketing and strategy so that you could tell the website person 396 00:24:35,770 --> 00:24:39,970 what kind of layout you want, or what calls to action you want to highlight, or what 397 00:24:39,970 --> 00:24:43,270 kinds of marketing things you want to drive and write some of the copy. 398 00:24:43,270 --> 00:24:44,350 That would be cool. 399 00:24:45,490 --> 00:24:48,580 But you don't need to learn certain things like that. 400 00:24:48,580 --> 00:24:50,730 You don't need to learn about web development. 401 00:24:50,730 --> 00:24:54,760 You don't need to learn about branding, like creating logos and color schemes. 402 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,890 If you had a good idea of the voice of customer and you had a good idea of the vibe and 403 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:04,570 the kind of environment you're really trying to create, then you can communicate that to 404 00:25:04,570 --> 00:25:07,180 an expert and they can easily turn that around for you. 405 00:25:07,890 --> 00:25:12,090 I also think that legal and accounting are another two areas where I just don't think you 406 00:25:12,090 --> 00:25:15,630 need to waste your time. You don't need to learn how to become a lawyer to run your own 407 00:25:15,630 --> 00:25:18,890 business. You don't need to learn how to be a CPA to run your own business. 408 00:25:18,900 --> 00:25:25,410 Those are areas where I wouldn't invest much of your time to really learn all about them, 409 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:30,330 other than the basics with legal of, like, learning how to talk about what you do, 410 00:25:30,330 --> 00:25:34,140 learning how to answer client's questions, and just learning how to set things up pretty 411 00:25:34,140 --> 00:25:38,610 easy to form a business or to send off contracts or protect your content. 412 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:43,500 Having that kind of information is really empowering, but you don't need to be your own 413 00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:45,120 lawyer. That's why I've created what I have. 414 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:46,350 That's why I have templates for you. 415 00:25:46,350 --> 00:25:47,850 I have the Ultimate Bundle for you. 416 00:25:48,060 --> 00:25:50,790 But the point is, you don't have to become your own CPA. 417 00:25:50,790 --> 00:25:52,730 You can outsource that kind of stuff. 418 00:25:52,730 --> 00:25:57,850 And you don't need to beat yourself up that that's not something you know how to do. The 419 00:25:57,870 --> 00:26:02,880 last thing I wanted to chat with you about was that - I thought this was interesting when 420 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:07,560 I was preparing for today's episode - I want you to think about are there things that 421 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:13,200 naturally interest you in your business that are investments in your business or that can 422 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,220 bring you a return. 423 00:26:15,220 --> 00:26:19,410 Like, you could ask yourself, This thing that I like to do in my own business, does it 424 00:26:19,410 --> 00:26:21,990 bring in leads or does it generate sales? 425 00:26:21,990 --> 00:26:23,930 That's kind of how I would think of it. 426 00:26:23,940 --> 00:26:29,170 So, for example, when I started my business, I liked SEO. 427 00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:30,870 I thought it was really interesting. 428 00:26:30,870 --> 00:26:37,560 I also thought it was a genius way of building up a lot of momentum in traffic by way of 429 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:42,930 leads in my business because I was capturing people's attention who were already 430 00:26:42,930 --> 00:26:44,190 searching for something. 431 00:26:44,190 --> 00:26:46,740 I didn't have any kind of social media presence. 432 00:26:46,740 --> 00:26:51,090 And so, I felt like I was really starting from the bottom back then. 433 00:26:51,090 --> 00:26:55,410 And I was like, is there another way where I can do this? And 434 00:26:55,410 --> 00:27:01,290 so, I just genuinely thought SEO was interesting and it was a huge place to spend my time 435 00:27:01,290 --> 00:27:02,880 in the beginning where I would be like, "Okay. 436 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:08,670 I'm going to write ten blog posts that are super SEO targeted." So, I would do some SEO 437 00:27:08,670 --> 00:27:13,080 research and phrases and questions and words that people were searching for in my 438 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:21,000 industry. I would then write a little outline using keyword-rich headings, subheadings. 439 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:26,940 And then, I would write the post and I would kind of use SEO plug-in on my site to further 440 00:27:26,940 --> 00:27:31,290 optimize the post once it was done being written, and then I would post it. 441 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:37,590 That was something I was spending a lot of my time on and it was an investment in my 442 00:27:37,590 --> 00:27:42,090 business, something that, to be honest, brought in a lot of the initial sales and really 443 00:27:42,090 --> 00:27:43,290 got things off the ground. 444 00:27:43,290 --> 00:27:48,150 And some of those blog posts that I wrote six years ago are still pulling in doing that 445 00:27:48,150 --> 00:27:54,150 too. But if I was obsessed with bookkeeping, for example, that wouldn't have paid off. 446 00:27:54,150 --> 00:27:58,230 If I was just in a bookkeeping, all that that would be doing is saving me the amount of 447 00:27:58,230 --> 00:28:00,570 money I had spent on a bookkeeper. But 448 00:28:00,570 --> 00:28:06,060 when I really liked to do SEO and I only did it for probably a year or so, probably two 449 00:28:06,060 --> 00:28:11,640 years, actually two years in my own business, I thought that that was one area that I 450 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,880 could be like, "Okay. I understand that I could hire someone." I didn't really have the 451 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:19,500 funds to hire somebody at the time, but at least this is something I enjoy doing and it's 452 00:28:19,500 --> 00:28:23,610 an investment in my business because it's actually leading to leads, and then those leads 453 00:28:23,610 --> 00:28:24,870 are bringing in sales. 454 00:28:24,870 --> 00:28:29,880 So, it was then making the business more profitable, which then allowed me over time to be 455 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,960 like, "Okay. Now, I can afford to pay somebody else to do this." And they have all these 456 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:39,630 examples now to learn how I like things done and how I like things written. Copywriting 457 00:28:39,630 --> 00:28:43,080 was another area that I wanted to strengthen my skill in because I knew that if I was a 458 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,740 better writer, it would be a big driver of both leads and sales. 459 00:28:46,740 --> 00:28:51,330 So, I just wanted to put that out there just to think about there might be some part of 460 00:28:51,330 --> 00:28:55,620 your business you're like, "But I like doing it." If you like doing it, just ask 461 00:28:55,620 --> 00:28:59,220 yourself, is this an investment in the business or is this something that's literally 462 00:28:59,220 --> 00:29:04,500 just a trade off for I'm just saving myself the 100 bucks to pay a bookkeeper a month to 463 00:29:04,500 --> 00:29:10,380 do this. And then, however many hours that's taking you, if we could free up that time so that you 464 00:29:10,380 --> 00:29:14,400 could spend that time investing in marketing or investing in something else that's going 465 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,130 to drive leads or sales, then let's get to that. 466 00:29:17,130 --> 00:29:22,680 So, that's why I think the sooner you can get some of these non-revenue generating 467 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:28,740 activities, especially repetitive tasks that can be optimized and SOP'd, then that way, 468 00:29:28,980 --> 00:29:31,530 again, you do it so you run through something. You're 469 00:29:31,530 --> 00:29:34,860 not ever having anybody come into the business where you've not done something yourself 470 00:29:34,860 --> 00:29:40,470 before, but you do it, and then you're like, "Here are the steps that we take when we 471 00:29:40,470 --> 00:29:45,300 find a copycat online, we have an SOP for that." And then, you can hand that SOP off to a 472 00:29:45,300 --> 00:29:50,100 very talented and capable person who can go and execute that every single time that it 473 00:29:50,100 --> 00:29:52,350 happens, and then you don't have to do it. 474 00:29:52,530 --> 00:29:57,060 So, I'm a big believer in choosing a couple of things you really love to do. 475 00:29:57,060 --> 00:30:00,570 I know that you can also outsource everything and you can outsource everything all at 476 00:30:00,570 --> 00:30:02,130 once. It's a lot. 477 00:30:02,130 --> 00:30:03,220 It's expensive. 478 00:30:03,220 --> 00:30:07,290 But over time, the goal is generally to remove you from those tasks and start finding 479 00:30:07,290 --> 00:30:08,820 people who are specialized in it. 480 00:30:08,820 --> 00:30:12,900 And because you've done things yourself before, because you've walked the walk, you're 481 00:30:12,900 --> 00:30:16,530 going to be such a better leader and you're going to be able to give better feedback and 482 00:30:16,530 --> 00:30:22,290 advice. So, now that you've listened to this episode, I would love for you to send me a DM and let 483 00:30:22,290 --> 00:30:25,950 me know, like, what is the one thing that you're really interested in now that we've had 484 00:30:25,950 --> 00:30:29,370 this chat that also was an investment in your business? 485 00:30:29,370 --> 00:30:33,030 And what's one thing that now you've listened to this you think you could let go because 486 00:30:33,030 --> 00:30:36,240 you realized it's really just a trade, like a time, money trade? 487 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:38,460 I'd be so curious from you. 488 00:30:38,460 --> 00:30:41,910 Just send me a DM, @samvanderwielen, on Instagram. I 489 00:30:41,910 --> 00:30:43,800 hope that you liked this episode. 490 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,540 It was a lot fun on my part. 491 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,380 If you're ready to start legally protecting your business, make sure you click below to 492 00:30:49,380 --> 00:30:52,710 watch my free legal training, Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow Your Online 493 00:30:52,710 --> 00:30:56,040 Business. And with that, I will see you next week. 494 00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:00,790 Thanks so much for listening. Thanks 495 00:31:00,790 --> 00:31:03,250 so much for listening to the On Your Terms Podcast. 496 00:31:03,250 --> 00:31:07,180 Make sure to follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to 497 00:31:07,180 --> 00:31:12,130 podcast. You can also check out all of our podcast episodes, show notes, links, and more 498 00:31:12,130 --> 00:31:14,920 at samvanderwielen.com/podcast. 499 00:31:14,950 --> 00:31:18,520 You can learn more about legally protecting your business and take my free legal 500 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,970 workshop, Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow Your Online Business, at 501 00:31:21,970 --> 00:31:26,460 samvanderwielen.com. And to stay connected and follow along, follow me on Instagram, 502 00:31:26,460 --> 00:31:29,110 @samvanderwielen, and send me a DM to say 503 00:31:29,110 --> 00:31:39,660 hi. Just 504 00:31:39,660 --> 00:31:44,580 remember that although I am a attorney, I am not your attorney and I am not offering you 505 00:31:44,580 --> 00:31:46,170 legal advice in today's episode. 506 00:31:46,170 --> 00:31:50,880 This episode and all of my episodes are informational and educational only. 507 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:55,230 It is not a substitute for seeking out your own advice from your own lawyer. 508 00:31:55,230 --> 00:31:58,050 And please keep in mind that I can't offer you legal advice. 509 00:31:58,050 --> 00:32:00,110 I don't ever offer any legal services. 510 00:32:00,110 --> 00:32:03,030 But I think I offer some pretty good information.