Amanda McVicker (00:00)
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the OBM Educator. So the topic this week, if you see from the title, is something that not only do I hear from a lot of new OBMs, or even OBMs who have been at it for a while, but then also VAs who are wanting to make the transition to OBM. I hear it from everyone, basically, but I've also said it myself In different points in my business. I have said to myself man, I thought I would be further along by now. And this happens a lot, right, like when, maybe when we first start our business and we get a few clients and it almost seems easy, but then we make a pivot or we want to get more clients or change things up or something like that, and it gets harder, right, and so, like, if you've ever looked at your business maybe you're looking at the number of clients you have or the amount of money that you're bringing in or your knowledge, right, looking at any of those things and you've ever thought, like I thought I would be further along by now. You are not alone and I hope that this podcast episode is going to help you to realize why that's really just something in your mind and how that there's a different way that you can look at it to help with the growth mindset and keep you unstuck. Now, before I get into the episode, I do want to share that we do have just a couple more days left in March and this month in March I am doing a special on my signature course, the six-week OBM, where essentially, if you purchase it before the end of March we're doing the self-study program, you will get a 90-minute intensive with me. This is going to be so helpful for you when you go through the course there are. There are six modules of kind of steadily growing your OBM business right. Starting with what kind of services are you going to offer? What do you like about OBM work? What pricing and packaging are you going to do Like? Those are the first couple modules.
Going into how are you going to find OBM clients? You know, what is your marketing going to look like? How are you going to onboard clients? And then into how you're going to look like. How are you going to onboard clients and then into how you're going to manage clients. So after you put together all of that information and kind of see from the different ways that it could be what works best for you. You think we're going to have this intensive where we can review it and you essentially I mean you get coached on it for 90 minutes on the best way to execute the plan so that when you get off that mean you get coached on it for 90 minutes on the best way to execute the plan so that when you get off that call you are ready to hit the ground running and you know really focus on your OBM business with a plan in place. So by the end of March after you know, march 31st that'll go away, but if you sign up before then you'll get the 90-minute intensive. So the link to join is in my show notes. So if you want to check it out there and then if you have any questions on it, you can send me an email or you can send me a DM on Instagram. I'm @amandamcvicker_obm. Okay, let's get into the episode. Amanda McVicker, underscore OBM. Okay, let's get into the episode.
Welcome to the OBM Educator. I'm your host, Amanda McVicker, a veteran OBM who serves six and seven figure entrepreneurs as well as educates new OBMs with the skills and confidence they need to start and grow their own successful online business management business. Follow along as I share valuable insights behind the scenes, sneak peeks and proven strategies to help you build a better OBM business. So where does these thoughts come from? Where do these thoughts come from right? There are a lot of internal and external forces that are kind of pushing up against us. Right, like we have our own expectations of how things are going to go, but a lot of the times those are shaped by what we see from other people or what we're hearing from other people, and so a lot of the time you know someone is going to maybe say, like I booked my business out in two months and I went from zero to 10K months, like that, right, when someone is saying something like that, chances are they're selling something and you really need to kind of like take a step back and think you know one the validity to it, right.
There are plenty of people that I hear their quote unquote success story and what they don't tell you is they had a friend in the industry or you know they had different access points that made it so that their business could blow up, right, and that's not saying like that they didn't work hard and that they didn't get to where they're at like by merit, but they had something that you might not have and so you can't compare yourself to that. But those are the stories we hear, right? We don't really hear from regular old OBMs who maybe get one new client every couple months when they're first starting their business. I know from my own story it does seem fast because it was fast, right, I got a client and I, you know, worked hard for that client, but that client ended up being a referral machine, like that client sent me so many referrals and that's amazing and I love that.
But when it came time to grow my business outside of those referrals, or I wanted to add something, someone to my roster and there weren't any referrals there, it was hard. And that's like one of those moments where I thought like I thought I would be able to just get a client and it would be okay, right? So you need to see like, what are people's stories? Like what are they trying to tell? What are they selling? And does this apply to me? Right, your circumstances might be entirely different from someone who's able to devote 12, 15 hours a day, right, you know, you don't know how much they're working, how much free time they have, what their obligations are outside of the business, like all of those things are going to make someone's experience so much different from yours.
But what we see in that it shapes what our expectations are. It shapes what we think we're going to be doing in our business, because that, like that's our reference point. So the first thing you really, you know, should be doing to kind of combat this is where is this coming from? You know what side? Is it really just a pressure that I'm putting on myself, or am I comparing myself to someone else's story that isn't my own? And then next we look at what does progress actually really look like? Right? So to me, I have had so many different things happen in my business that I'm proud of that do not involve getting clients or earning more money right, and I would still call that progress. I would still call that getting ahead, furthering my business.
And so I would encourage you to look at different ways that you can track progress to show that your business is actually growing, that maybe you know you don't have as many clients as you want or your monthly revenue is not as high as you want, but what have you done that actually really has brought your business forward. Things like that could be, you know, standing on your boundaries actually creating a business that works for you instead of you working for it. Another thing could be having clarity in your offer, in your services, right, when you get to the point that you know exactly what it is that you want to offer and what it is that you want to serve your clients with. Like, that is a huge milestone. And I have talked to many in OBM who may be booked out, but they're hating what they are doing, Right. And so if you can be at the point that you have clarity around your services and actually enjoy what it is that you're doing, that's huge.
And then another thing of what progress could look like is the inner work that you're doing right, the mindset work that you're doing, and all of this is kind of like wrapped up in it how have you changed the stories in your head? Maybe you thought you could never be an entrepreneur. Maybe you thought you could never actually start a business and have clients. Maybe you never thought that you could work for yourself. Like, how are you changing the stories in your head so that you now know like I can do this? You know shifting those things. That is progress, that is moving your business and yourself forward and that should be celebrated. And so some things you can ask yourself to kind of like reflect on if you are feeling behind, like that first thing we talked about, right, am I actually behind and what does behind even mean? Or did I just set an unrealistic expectation? Right? Did I put this expectation on myself and why did I do that? And then another great thing to reflect upon is what have I learned, or what have I changed in my business in the last three months? Like, if you can journal on that and write those things down, you can see like you really are moving forward and that's going to be so encouraging to you.
Something else to ask that I have found helpful over the years is just really clarifying what is it that I want from my OBM business? Right Again, if you are looking to other people for what your expectations should be, you are going to be lost in your business. You are not going to have the clarity of what it is that you're actually wanting from your business. If you just see OBMs who have 10K months and so now your goal is 10K months but you've never really like, took a step back and said is that really what I want? Like money's nice, but what else do I want from my business? When you do that and you get more clarity, you are going to have more direction in your business and it's going to feel simpler. Being quote unquote behind is really just a story that we tell ourselves again, based on someone else's expectations or someone else's experience. What is going to make a difference for you is instead, making the decision to keep going, because it's that decision to keep going that is going to bring you forward.
I will say that in my five years of being an OBM, almost every OBM that I compared myself to and I wanted to be essentially is no longer an OBM. That I compared myself to and I wanted to be essentially is no longer an OBM. They have either pivoted to something completely different or they have left the industry altogether and I have followed their stories and know that burnout was a huge component to it and just not enjoying what they do anymore. And so, knowing that, sure, my business did not grow as quickly as theirs, it did not look as picture, perfect, ideal as theirs, but I'm still here, I'm still doing this, I'm still doing what I love. That is worth it to me, to know that I built this slow and steady. I know it has staying power, it has longevity and I'm going to be grateful for it and not saying that pivoting or, you know, changing plans is bad, but I know for me that comparing myself to them wasn't fair to me, it wasn't fair to my situation and I'm going to be grateful that I chose to be realistic about what it was that I was up against and that I continued to build something that still works for me today.
So I hope this was helpful for you, especially if this thought of why am I behind? Why am I not further ahead Is something that comes into your mind quite often. Remember, it's okay to rest, it's okay to pivot, it's okay to slow things down. This is your business. You get to do what you want to do at your pace. So I hope this was helpful. Next week I'm going to be taking the week off because it's spring break, but I will be back the week after and I will talk with you guys then. Bye.
Thanks for joining me for this episode of the OBM Educator. I hope what you heard today is helpful for you on your OBM journey. If you loved today's episode. I would so appreciate you sharing it and leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Want to be a guest on the OBM Educator? Fill out the form in the show notes and I'll be in touch. Join us next time on the OBM Educator.
