Amanda McVicker (00:00)
Hello and welcome to today's episode of The OBM Educator. I'm excited to get into today's topic because I get asked so many times, how do I know that I'm ready to become an OBM and there are a bunch of different reasons, and there are a bunch of different ways you can tell, but I think something that is not talked about all that often is that it is a natural progression, right? It sometimes there's no way that you can say, okay, because a, b, c and x, y, z. Now I know I'm ready, but it could be that you have been doing, say, VA, work for a certain, not even a certain length of time, just for a length of time, and now you feel like it is time for the next step. If you think about it, kind of like, you know, we have in the nine to five world and the jobs world, there are some people who, you know, get their job and they're okay with staying there. They really don't want to progress, and that's fine, but they're sometimes people in a job knowing that they want to go to the next level. It might take some time. They might have to learn stuff. In the meantime, they might have to learn stuff when they get to that next level, but in their mind, they know that that next level is what they're going after, and it's kind of the same way in business, right? You might start your VA business and think like, this is great. I really enjoy what I'm doing, but I know at some point I'm gonna want to do more. And there's so many different ways of more of what that could mean going from VA to specializing in anything, but some people do have that they want to really create a business that can support them and can support their family, and that idea of more is always there, and so that's what we're going to talk about today. How ovm is kind of a natural progression, the next logical step after VA if it is that you're wanting to learn, to do more and make sure to listen to the end, because I have an invitation for a free webinar that I'm doing at the end of the month. So stay till the end to hear more about that. Let's get into it.
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 when you start as a VA I remember starting my VA business and just being so shocked and surprised that someone was going to pay me $35 an hour to do stuff I already knew and that I enjoyed doing, and it was wonderful. I could do it while my babies were napping, and I could do it, you know, after they went to bed. And it was just exciting. But it got to a point that I knew I wanted more, right? I didn't want to be waiting around my phone forever, responding right away to things the industry that I had picked is definitely was a fast paced industry event planning. And so I was always on my phone checking to see if a client needed something, and then getting 35 an hour while, at first it seemed great, I quickly realized that I was going to be capped in my income and not actually be able to meet the goals that I wanted to meet at the time, which was a 5k month. And that's kind of something that you realize as a VA in we're talking general VA here, not really specialized. Charging between 25 and 45 an hour is that you are going to hit an income ceiling pretty quick, right? We only have so many hours in the day that we can devote to it.
So if you're not like building an agency, which I would say is, you know, a version of scaling, then you really are going to hit a ceiling and not be able to continue growing in your business without making a change or making a pivot. And so what happens when you become an OBM? Like, what changes? Like, obviously, the hourly rate you know, like, you can get between 60 to 80 and hours you know even more, because you're getting paid for you know more leadership and strategic thinking, big picture thinking, right? And it's back to it being a natural progression.
When you first start in your business, you're learning, you're learning everything you can, if, especially if you're in this online industry, space, business coaches, life coaches, courses, memberships, all of that. Stuff you're learning as much as you can, because chances are, you didn't have experience from this in like your nine to five. And so you're learning what you can, but at some point you know it right, and so you're naturally going to start thinking bigger picture. It's you know, less, okay, how do I do this and more. Okay, how could this be better? And so once you start thinking that again, which is a natural progression for a lot of people, that's when you're starting to think like an OBM. And so when you make that switch, you're able to change it from, you know, having say, five to seven VA clients that you're juggling and trying to make sure everything is getting done, but still not even hitting your income goals to maybe three to four OBM clients that are you're getting paid a 1500 retainer, and you're able to meet the goals that you set out for, and I've talked about this, and you know different episodes of like, how to structure offer suites, so that you can build upon projects, to retainers, all of that stuff. But ultimately, what it is doing is refining your business.
And that's why, again, OBM is such a natural next step, because it's a refining of what it is that you're doing. You're refining your offers, you're refining your services, you're refining your pricing, you're refining your client list, right? You're getting better clients who are going to respect you more and give you more control over your time, give you that freedom that you've been craving, and all of that comes from this natural progression of VA to OPM and you know? And another thing that you're refining in that is your boundaries, right? You are stepping into a leadership role. You are not in a reactive state, you're in a proactive state and not saying that you can't have boundaries as a VA you absolutely 100% should, but the boundaries that you set as an OBM usually are stronger and clearer because you need that in The role, especially as you have more clients, more responsibilities, maybe more team members to deal with, because then that also leads to, you know, better client relationships, right? That's when you start getting into long term clients, because you love working with them, and they love working with you. And you know, it all comes back to how you're refining your business.
And I think a very important thing to remember is that you're not changing your business right? Usually, when you get a promotion in your nine to five, it's not necessarily that you are completely changing departments or whatever. Sometimes that's the case. But in this kind of natural progression, you are continuing on with your business. You are continuing on with your brand and how you work. You're not reinventing yourself, but you are building on the skills that you have, the skills that you're gaining, and your OBM superpowers, really, which are, you know, like leadership and organization, communication, all of that. It's that refinement is helping you become like that next level version of yourself, and that's the OBM version.
And so if this resonated with you at all, and you're feeling pulled towards that natural progression of whatever might be next. I'd love to invite you to come to my free webinar that I'm hosting may 27 it's called Build a better business. You. We're going to be talking about the shift from VA to OBM, what it looks like for you to position yourself for those premium clients so that you can get $1,500 retainers, $2,000 retainers, and then the mindset and strategy shifts that will get you there. This is a free webinar. There is a replay available if you register, but you do have to be registered for it, the link to registers in the show notes. You can also DM me on Instagram @amandamcvicker_obm, if you have any questions on it, I would love to see you there.
And something really important that you know I'm going to talk about in the webinar, but I also share, you know, so much is that going to that next level is not hustling harder. It's not, you know, killing yourself to get there, like the way that I teach it and share it is a very sustainable way that is going to help you create long term. Term success, because I want your business to be around 5-10 years from now, with you actually enjoying what it is that you're doing while making the money that you want to be making. And so that is how I teach. That is how I share. You know, it's about working smarter and building a business that supports you. So I hope this episode was helpful for you, and remember to sign up for the workshop at the link in my show notes. I'll talk with you guys next week. 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 love 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.
