On the subject of effective delegating, General George S. Patton said:

‘Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.’

To build a business or to lead a bigger business (not just manage it) leaders must delegate. Lack of delegating effectively can be like shooting yourself in the foot. I know it can feel like you are losing control – which is a struggle for business owners and managers at all levels because their identity is so wrapped up in the business itself.

To keep it simple, just follow these four keys to delegate successfully and effectively:

Give the job to someone who can get it done.

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It’s no secret that business owners have struggled for YEARS with finding, hiring and working with a virtual team.

It’s not surprising really … while there are a ton of people out there telling you to hire virtual professionals to support the growth of your business, there’s no one telling you where to find them, how to connect with them, how to hire them and how to successfully work with  them.

… Until Now.

Enter Tina Forsyth and her brand new video series of the Top 10 Questions Business Owners Have About Finding, Hiring and Working with a Virtual Team.  And just to confirm – she’s not making this stuff up – these were the top questions hundreds of business owners asked in Tina’s recent survey.

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One word.  Impressive.

That’s what I have to say about the videos Tina Forsyth developed to answer the Top 10 Questions Business Owners Have About Finding, Hiring and Working With a Virtual Team.

Every business owner needs to see these —  check out what I’m talking about – https://obm.infusionsoft.com/go/videos/tzwierzynski

We’ve all heard about it  … or perhaps we’ve experienced it first hand.    A business owner hires a new virtual professional – a Virtual Assistant, Online Business Manager, or other virtual professional who specializes in specific area.

They’re excited … looking forward to the amazing results they’re going to achieve with this new found support.

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I love living in the Information Age, where my 7 year old asks me to Google “what’s the life cycle of a Junebug” after I told her I had no idea what their life cycle was. (I was trying to avoid the topic of how they mate wildly all night long each June, and seem to land in piles of blissfully deceased bug carcasses on my patio come morning.)

And even if I knew the answer to that question, would it make me an expert? Could I hang my shingle as the premier Junebug expert?

Of course not, it would simply fill my head with more random information that perhaps will serve me one day on a game show. Maybe.

But what if I spent years studying with Junebug experts, donning night vision goggles to document their nocturnal trysts? What if I had someone to answer my questions, to correct my erroneous assumptions, and to lead me to new discoveries?

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I’m writing to you from sunny San Diego (which is FINALLY sunny). First I was at Nancy Marmolejo’s I Heart My Biz event, then I walked the San Diego half marathon yesterday, recovering today and tomorrow then off to Lisa Sasevich’s Invisible Close Speak-to-Sell Bootcamp. (If any of you want to join me “virtually” I’ve arranged for you to get a backstage pass to Lisa’s event here: http://tinyurl.com/mejmxs )

Whew.

So while I don’t have time to give you a full article this week, I still wanted to share some tips I learned from Sandra Martini, Business Optimization Specialist, www.SandraMartini.com, about getting things done. (Seemed timely with everything I know I have going on and my guess is you have the same challenges.)

Sandy spoke at Nancy’s event, and she was the perfect Saturday morning speaker because it was about taking all the great ideas we got during the event and turning them into reality.

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A critical component of creating a 6-figure income, working part-time, is expanding what you delegate. There is no way around this one.

I can tell you that I saw big leaps in my income when I hired someone to assist with what drains my energy at home AND in my business. I now employ an assistant to drive my kids, grocery shop (love this one!), do laundry, pay bills, and wash our cars. For my business, I employ an experienced virtual assistant, web assistant, audio assistant, and bookkeeper.

You can only focus on what YOU love and do best if you delegate the smaller pieces to others. Lots of entrepreneurs get stuck with trying to do it all and it’s a shame because nobody can “do it all” and remain happy and energized.

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If you are thinking of hiring an assistant or a part-time staff member you may want to consider an unpaid or low-cost intern instead.  More and more interns are entering the job market as competition for paid jobs has increased.

Today’s intern is a far cry from the clueless 18 year old college student looking to waste time over summer vacation.  Never before have there been so many qualified people looking to build their resume as a way to improve their chances of landing a paid job.

Many people who have a college degree, or are in the midst of completing one, already have some valuable work experience, and are eager to build their resumes.   They will hit the ground running and can be a tremendous asset to your business.

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Mark just hired a fabulous Duke intern to help us with the marketing and PR of our new coaching business, Excelerated Success™.  The energy of a smart college student who is genuinely motivated to learn from you, and help you, is fabulous.  If you live near a college community, I highly recommend hiring an intern.  If you screen well, you’ll find someone who can help you accelerate your business growth with minimal pay and awesome energy.  (And they can probably teach us a few new tips in the rapidly advancing world of social networking, as well).   We can’t wait to get started with ours.

Email is a simple, helpful form of communication.  However, if we aren’t careful, email can slurp up too much of our time, drain us, and distract us from more important tasks.

Some tips to consider:

1) Only check email twice a day.

2) As your business grows, ask an assistant to screen your emails and answer what they can without you.

3) Save lower priority emails in “to do this week” file and respond to those on Fridays.

4) Do not, and I repeat, do not discuss or debate sensitive issues over email.  Either let the issue go or pick up the phone and call.

“Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.” – Stephen Covey

Steven Covey “introduces” my chapter on how to build your support team in my book Flourish! 10 Easy, Elegant, and Essential Marketing Strategies for Solo- and Micropreneurs.