Cara Harvey 00:00:56 All right. Welcome back to the Purpose Vermont Summit. I’m so excited to have you join me and Adrian Hill here today, because we are going to talk all things automation systems and how you, as an online busy mom, can take your business and make it not feel like this thing that you’re just, I don’t know, digging through the mud on. Adrian, welcome back to the Purpose Driven Mom Summit.

Adrienne Hill 00:01:16 Thank you for having me. I always love hanging out with you, Kara.

Cara Harvey 00:01:20 And I’m excited to have you. We were just talking before we got on. Like, personally, for me, I’m in this, like, scaling place, and so I’m excited to learn from you. For the moms who’ve never connected with you. Can you just tell us a little bit about you and how you kind of got into all you do as an entrepreneur?

Adrienne Hill 00:01:34 Yeah, so long before I was an entrepreneur, I actually had a pretty demanding corporate career, and I managed multi-million dollar launches for billion dollar brands.

Adrienne Hill 00:01:44 And so launching is my jam. And I was very accustomed to working with teams of anywhere from like 5 to 50 people and keeping all those people busy and working with all the stuff they were working on. So when I moved into online business, I was like, okay, how can I take everything I learned from corporate or at least the parts I actually liked that were working and apply those into my business. So I’m, you know, I used to be an engineer, which I’m it sounds weird. Now, I don’t I don’t identify with that word at all, but it’s part of my past. And so I’m a very systematic thinker. And so naturally when I moved into online business, I really broke things down into systems, repeatable processes, how to streamline things, how to automate things so that you can get as much leverage as possible because everyone starts as a solopreneur, and that is a hard spot to be in. It’s hard to wear all those hats. So if you don’t know how to systematize, automate and streamline, you’re going to be burnt out and exhausted trying to get this thing off the ground.

Cara Harvey 00:02:46 Yeah, and I think that happens for so many. I coach mostly newer entrepreneurs and we keep them moving. But I think one of the things that happens to so many of them is they get to this place where it becomes like, it’s just too much, right? Like it’s just too much to manage the business and my home and my family. So I would love to start with talking to that person who’s like a beginner slash, we’ll say, like the first few years or like you don’t have systems at all. Like that is where they’re coming from. Why do you think it’s so important to really systematize your business?

Adrienne Hill 00:03:16 Yeah, I think it’s critical. Well, it’s just as critical in the beginning as it is when you’re scaling. It’s just for different reasons. Right? So in the beginning when you’re wearing every single hat, it’s super important to systematize things, because when you sit down, especially if you’re trying to juggle your business with other aspects of life, if you’re not working full time yet, every time you sit down to work on your business, every minute has to be used efficiently for you to make progress.

Adrienne Hill 00:03:43 Right. And so the most the most effective way to be efficient with your time is to systematize everything you do, which basically just means like come up with a hit list of. I always do the following steps in the following order, and these are the steps I follow. So for example, if you have a system for content creation, when you sit down to create content, you’re not going to spend the first 30 minutes going, so what am I doing? I don’t know, you know, like trying to wrap your head around what you’re doing. You’re just going to go right to your list and you’re going to I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m doing this followed by this, followed by this, followed by this. So you’re going to be more efficient with your time. But then as you start scaling and you start adding team members who can help you, you can just hand them your systematized list, and they’re going to do it the exact same way that you did. Yeah. Which they’re going to love you for that because so many people, when they start hiring, they bring in team members and they have these expectations.

Adrienne Hill 00:04:36 And to the business owner, it’s super obvious. And they think they’re explaining it well. But to the employee or the contractor, they’re like, what do you want? Why do you want it that way? How do you want it? Like they have no idea. They can’t read your mind. Right. So systematizing is your best friend? Honestly, yeah.

Cara Harvey 00:04:53 I think it wasn’t until we really created like our SOP book and like got our systems together that our team flowed. It was really so much work on my part. And even in the beginning, when I didn’t have that many people on my team, I knew that it was important to write these like manuals essentially for myself because I was doing that. I would, like sit down and be like, I have to make a blog post. And I was like, what are we doing? And what am I? Yes. And you just don’t know. And it’s not efficient with your time. So here’s a question I get a lot.

Cara Harvey 00:05:22 I want to create these systems, right. Like this makes sense. I’m on board, but I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing. Right. So I get a lot of people come to me, they’re like, I want to write the blog post or do the podcast. I want to create the product, but I don’t even know the steps. So how would you recommend that they best get started with maybe starting to create systems around those types of things?

Adrienne Hill 00:05:40 Yeah, so I have two answers for that. The first answer is get a coach. Get a coach. Because someone who’s a few steps ahead of you, who’s been there and done that, they’re going to be able to shortcut your learning curve so much, right? It might take you six months to figure it out on your own, or it might take you six minutes with your coach, you know? So it’s kind of like everything’s hard. So pick your heart, right. You want to figure it all out yourself and like, waste a bunch of time? Or do you want to just work with someone who’s like, oh, I can tell you how to do that.

Adrienne Hill 00:06:09 Boom, boom, boom, right? So my first answer is just, just get a coach. Like, if you’re not willing to work with your coach, in my mind, you’re not actually very serious about your business. It’s probably more of a hobby. Yeah, just saying. But what I like to do is sit down and just like when I’m systematizing something from scratch, it’s just kind of like, first you just brain dump, you’re like, what’s all the things that I think are included, regardless of what order they come in? Maybe I’m missing half of them, but just brain dump everything in your head, and from what you see, then you can say like, okay, some of these are probably out of order. If I was to take a first draft, it’s just getting them in order. What would that look like? Right. And then, you know, you can. Let’s say the next time you sit down to do it, then you try to follow the order you had been dumped before.

Adrienne Hill 00:06:57 And you you get partway through the process and you realize, oh, I’m missing a step here. Whoops. You know, like the only way to fill the gaps is to kind of like, live it and do it. And slowly, by going through this process a couple of times, you’ll end up with a full and complete list of steps. Right. And so that’s kind of how I do it. So the first step is just like brain dumping putting them in order and then like living it and trying to get a final list. It could just literally be a list on a piece of paper. I mean, it doesn’t have to be complicated. but there’s definitely ways you can uplevel from that point as well. But that’s like a good starting point.

Cara Harvey 00:07:35 And I think it makes it so much less overwhelming in the way you just said it. Right? Because I feel like people are like, yes, I want to be a serious business owner. I want to do these things. And it’s like, I have to make this whole process, you know, this reminds me of I was a teacher and we used to teach like procedural writing.

Cara Harvey 00:07:49 And maybe you’ve seen or heard this example where to make the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And so kids write down directions. How do you make the peanut butter and jelly sandwich? And then I would act it out and they would say things like, you know, get the peanut butter out of the jar. And I would like, stick my hand in the peanut butter and take it out. And they would be like, that’s not what I meant. And I’m like, well, you didn’t say that. I need to pick up the knife. And like, this is what I like to think about. Like that peanut butter and jelly system. It’s simple. And and you said something that I think is really important too, is like we maybe do know the steps, but if we ever want to scale to the point of not being that solopreneur anymore, we have to get those steps down on some sort of system paper doc to be able to hand it off.

Adrienne Hill 00:08:29 Yeah, because if you can’t even explain it to yourself, are you going to explain it to someone else? Like, honestly.

Adrienne Hill 00:08:36 Yeah.

Cara Harvey 00:08:36 And it’s like, I’ll do these for things that I have in my business that I do. I still have the systems written down for myself, because I don’t want to use that part of my brain to think about what’s next. So if you’re thinking looking like I don’t want to hire or whatever, okay, but what about you? Like, how can you help you out when your life easier?

Adrienne Hill 00:08:54 I think one of one, especially for the moms in the room, they’re going to relate to this immediately. We all know that there’s mental load to certain things that you do like. And one of the hot buttons, I think, for every mom in the world be included, is the mental load attached to like meal planning and meal prep and cooking and all that kind of stuff. We all know there’s mental load that goes into thinking about what meals am I going to cook, deciding on the ones you’re going to cook, writing them down, turning it into a grocery list, actually doing the cooking, then actually doing the cleanup like it’s a lot.

Adrienne Hill 00:09:23 And so, I mean, even in that process, imagine if if everything was written, written down and streamlined and easy for you, how much of that mental load goes away? It’s the same thing for your business, right? It’s just a lot of times we don’t always make that connection between personal stuff and business stuff, but it’s the same thing. It’s just first, just get a list and get the list in the right order and start actioning it and you’ll you’ll find the gaps and you’ll fill them in and, you know, next thing you know, you’ll have a systematized list of what to do for a blog post, or for an event, or for your email marketing, whatever that might be.

Cara Harvey 00:09:58 Yeah, just working smarter, not harder there. So, okay, starting with systems moving into the automation piece because I, love all of this automation stuff because I think especially I’m talking to moms, the time is precious, right? Like every minute is precious for everyone. But especially as moms who are working at home building our businesses, I feel like automation can be such a great way to shortcut things and to save that precious time.

Cara Harvey 00:10:23 So can we talk a little bit about like what automation actually is and like why it can be a really big game changer for moms.

Adrienne Hill 00:10:30 Yes. Especially in online business, if you’re not automating, you’re just you’re just kidding yourself that you actually have an efficient business. Like it’s it’s a must in my mind. So the minute I kind of get that list of steps, that system written out, I go through, you know, once they’re in the right order and I say, how many of these could I automate? Because ideally you want to automate as much as possible and get the list that some person has to work on to be as small as possible. Right. So that the let the systems do the heavy lifting because especially if you’re a solopreneur you need leverage. The only way to disconnect trading time for money is to create leverage. Meaning like just like when you have a lever in a pulley, like you’re going to be able to lift much more weight than just with your own arm, right? You have to create leverage in your business too.

Adrienne Hill 00:11:23 So once I have that list I go through and I ask myself, how could I order what steps are possible to automate? And so I kind of highlight those. And then I kind of ask myself, okay, what systems are out there or platforms or SAS tools or whatever that might be that could automate these things, and I kind of brain dump all the systems that are possible, and then I’m like, okay, if I wanted to streamline it down to as few systems as possible. Is there an all in one system that could do all of these things with one tool? Because every time you’re signing up for an automation tool, they’re amazing and they give you leverage, but they usually cost money, right? So use as few tools as possible as well. And what I love about this is in today’s world, just in the last two years, the types of automation platforms and specifically the types of all in one platforms have taken dramatically, like they are dramatically better than when I first started in business.

Adrienne Hill 00:12:21 And so it is very possible, like I use an all in one system right now, that literally I do every single thing I need in my business in one system. I don’t have any other system, but one that’s awesome. One subscription price.

Cara Harvey 00:12:37 There’s so much out there. I remember, you know, it was a game changer for me was when I did one of my second or third summits. So this is seven right. So we’ve been doing this for a while. And I was like trying to figure out what do I want to use. And I watched someone I was learning from who taught summits and they just said, well, what do you already have? And it was just like this light bulb where I was like, before I go out there trying to like find the one, because that’s what we’ll do. We’ll be like, what’s the best one that’ll solve all my problems. I was like, do I have something that’ll already work? Because I’m currently doing like I was saying to you, before we get on like a systems audit of checking all my tech to be like, I don’t actually need this.

Cara Harvey 00:13:09 And I found three things that I was like, wait, my my stuff is upgraded from the last time I even thought about this. I don’t need anymore and it wound up saving me money. let me tell you. I’m gonna tell you a funny automation story. Then I want to get some good examples for people. So my first year in business, I did not know anything, right? Like, most of us don’t know anything, right? Yeah. So I had my first freebie, and I didn’t realize, like, a more efficient way would be to, like, connect to my email, like my CRM, and set up an automation and just send out my freebie. So I was having them fill out a Google doc. It was going into my sheets, and every day I would manually go in and upload like type their email address in myself. Right? And so it was wild. And then it wasn’t until I like, hired, you know, a coach or I joined a program or membership and they were like auditing my thing and they’re like, oh, it took me a while to get your freebie.

Cara Harvey 00:14:03 And I was like, yeah, I only do it once a day. And she was like, I’m sorry, what? And I was like, yeah, like I just go in.

Adrienne Hill 00:14:08 And do it. And she was like.

Cara Harvey 00:14:10 No, like, that’s not, that’s not it. And I was and it was like this thing. And I just share this to tell everybody like, we don’t know until we get started. So like a yes, get the coach right. But be like there are tools out there that are meant to make our lives easier. And by doing a little research and like looking around, the amount of time I was spending doing things was ridiculous until I found simple. And also now more complicated automations that I use. So I just share that to myself and tell everyone like it’s okay to not know what you don’t know until you get started and figure it out.

Adrienne Hill 00:14:43 Yeah, because especially in the beginning, you don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t even know certain things or options, frankly.

Adrienne Hill 00:14:49 And but then once you know better, you do better. Yes.

Cara Harvey 00:14:52 Okay. So let’s let’s talk then about that word automation. Because some people might be like I don’t even know what’s example. So I’d love to give some simple examples of like either your favorite things to automate or like things that became game changers for you, or the simplest ones like some some things that we can tell the moms listening, they’re like, oh, I didn’t, because I think that’s the thing. I don’t think we realize how much easier we can make things until we hear someone else say it and you’re like, oh my gosh, we can do that. So could you give us an example? Yeah, yeah.

Adrienne Hill 00:15:19 So, and I actually have a free gift that might help with this too, but I actually went through and I counted out once, what are all the things you could automate. And I came up with 130 amazing things you can automate, which is amazing. Right? So one of the big ones, like what Kara was talking about, is you can automate emails to people like if they take a certain action, like signing up for something, you can automate the reaction, which is sending them the thing they asked for, for example.

Adrienne Hill 00:15:45 But you can also automate, like your promotional emails of like, okay, I’m going to send out one email a day for five days for like Black Friday or something, right? You can email, you know, email marketing campaigns. You can automate that. You can automate text message marketing, right, where like your pre scheduling and that it just goes out on a sequence and you’re not you’re not doing what Cara was doing. Like once a day I go in and I text everybody, right. you can automate unlocking access to a course or a membership portal or a community. You can automate, having people book calls on your calendar and having that call and show up on their calendar and your calendar with the link and all the things you can. So you can automate call bookings, you can automate basically any kind of series of communications you want someone to get after they take a step with you. So it could be booking the call. You could automate all the emails and text messages and different things to they grab a lead magnet.

Adrienne Hill 00:16:45 You can automate all the communications thereafter. You can automate scheduling and making all of your social media posts and stories and reels you can automate. If you’re posting on one platform, you can actually, all of those posts can be repurposed to all the other platforms with automations. So you can focus on one platform but show up on all of them. you can automate, sending people voice mail drops to their phone. you can automate. Let me think what else? Tracking your business financials where instead of like tracking it in a spreadsheet or tracking it somewhere, it can all just pop into these automated dashboards of data. I want to I want to hear some tools.

Cara Harvey 00:17:32 That you use, too, because I’m thinking about through my software and I’m like, wait, I use a lot more software than I feel like I can. What are some of like your favorite tools for automation? Like what are some of the ones that you’re like? Yes, this really helps me because I know you said you moved to something that’s more all in one.

Cara Harvey 00:17:48 Yeah. So yeah.

Adrienne Hill 00:17:51 Yeah. So especially for online business owners, my favorite automation platform right now is anything based on the go high level engine. Right. And I say engine because and I want your audience to understand this. And you too. If you’re not familiar, I want you to think of go high level as the engine of a car. But you could put it inside of different cars. You could put that engine in a Honda, Honda Accord or a Honda Civic. You could put that same engine in a Ferrari, right. So there’s the base engine and then there’s like the body of the actual vehicle or the CRM. So go high level is like the engine, but there’s lots of white label versions of go high Level that have different names that like unless you’re familiar with systems, you might not realize like, oh, that’s a go high level system, right? So there’s but any kind of go high level based system to me is going to be superior, because every single thing I listed, you know, in the last little segment you can all do within this system.

Adrienne Hill 00:18:50 but I like the Ferrari version of the go high level system. and I, it’s called brand builder. I, and I literally do everything from, from inside that system. I the only other platform I use outside of that is zoom. that’s about it.

Cara Harvey 00:19:08 It’s amazing because I think a lot of us feel, especially when you’re getting started, you’re like, now I gotta buy this. And then I got to buy this, and then I got to do this, and I’m like, I said, I’m in the market for like, how can I streamline this? Because it it adds up so fast. And I also think there’s such a learning curve of like, now I have to learn this platform and how this works and you never have enough time to, like, really fully understand it. So what I actually find. And so for those of you who are like system shopping right right now and trying to figure out you like, I find that I’ll like buy something not of enough time to like learn all the really cool features and it probably can do more than I realize, but I don’t have the time to do it, so then I just buy something else, when in reality I’m paying right for like Zapier that can do all my zap things, but I bet it can do something else that I’m not even realizing.

Cara Harvey 00:19:51 So I’m going to try something else and we’ll figure it out. So I think it really is worth it to take some time to research like. And I think it starts what Adrian said about what are the systems you need, like knowing what they are and then like knowing the automations that I know you have, you know, a free gift. So everybody here linked below is going to be all of Adrian’s stuff. Go grab that. and her operations assessment will help you figure out, like, where you could use some help and then say, okay, how can I help streamline that part of it?

Adrienne Hill 00:20:16 Yeah. And actually, I think based on this conversation, I’m going to I’m going to switch it up. I want to give you guys the 130 Irresistible automations so you can see everything that you can automate and you can peek at the system I recommend and get like a behind the scenes view if you kind of want to, if you want to check that out. because I think that’s going to help a ton of people.

Adrienne Hill 00:20:33 So I when I first started running a business, there weren’t that many options for automation platforms, and there weren’t many all in one options. So my company grew to the point where we were using 11 different systems. And every time you have a different system connected to a different system connected to a different system in your head, I want you to imagine that you’re like duct taping things together, right? It starts to get real janky after a while, and every single day was like, oh, there’s another link broken, which integration needs. And it was just like, oh my God, right. And we were outgrowing. And so when I streamlined to this one platform, I dropped 11 subscriptions, saving myself $1,000 a month. It was like no brainer. So I wish that system had been available when I first started because it’s tempting to be like, well, I’ll just start with this little free system and I’ll upgrade later. By the time you’re making enough money and you’ve outgrown it to where you need to upgrade later.

Adrienne Hill 00:21:31 It is such a pain in the ass. I mean, you.

Cara Harvey 00:21:33 Don’t even want to do it. That’s where I’m at now. I’m like, oh, is it worth it? Like, cause that like to just start over. It feels so refreshing to me to, like, clean it out and have it like the nice way I’m like, you’re talking like, oh my God, that’s exactly what I think I need to do because it becomes over money. And then that you get to the point where stuff is just broken and you’re like, I don’t know what’s broken. I don’t know where to go. I just want to, like, burn it all down. Yeah, ever. You know, you never.

Adrienne Hill 00:21:57 Want to get to that point in your business where you’re like, I don’t want to burn it all down. Or like, oh, just to switch systems will take so long that I might as well just stay in the hell that I’m living in. Like, you don’t want that either.

Adrienne Hill 00:22:06 So I actually recommend, like, there’s a lot of people who see these all in one systems and they’re like, that’s more capability than I need. Like I’m intimidated, so I’m not going to do it. You start with a system that’s more than what you need, because as you grow into it, it’s this seamless process. It feels great. Like if there’s features you don’t need, just ignore them for now. Then when you need to add them in later. You just activate it and start using it. You don’t need a whole nother subscription with a whole nother price, with a whole nother learning curve with like no. Yeah, just make it easy on yourself. Honestly, from the beginning, if I could, if I could go back in time, I would have switched sooner. Honestly. Yeah.

Cara Harvey 00:22:44 And then that commitment, I think, to step into the role of like I’m a business owner, I’m not duct taping a bunch of free softwares together to make it work. And we know we get it like that’s, you know, like we’ve all have that phase.

Cara Harvey 00:22:56 But to like, there’s something about that, like there’s something about that. Like this is what I use and it feels super official. So okay, we’ve talked systems, we’ve talked automated. I want to talk scaling a little bit now. Yeah, yeah. Queen of scaling. And all of us need to be able to do that to reach this next level you know financially impact wise. Talk to us about scaling I think maybe can we kick off with some mistakes. You notice like what are some things when people want to scale and they’re like yeah let’s do it. Let’s do it. Yeah. They they just are falling over their feet because they’re making them.

Adrienne Hill 00:23:30 And one of the biggest mistakes I made and I made this same one. Like I’m not immune to these things either. And maybe it’s because of my corporate background. I was so used to working with these big teams that I was like, okay, it’s time to hire a team member. We’ll hire a team member. Oh, we need something else, a hire another team member.

Adrienne Hill 00:23:44 Hiring too many people, too many. Like fractional. Well, I have this contractor at ten hours a week, and I have that one at ten hours a week. But they have different skill sets. So I’ll just, you know, keep them both. And then now I need this third one at ten hours a week. And it’s like, because then that’s a horrible mistake to make because then all of your time is spent managing all these people and you don’t have time to, like, work in the business as the CEO, doing like the visionary stuff or making the decisions. So and then so you’re constantly just managing people and it just gets really overwhelming and your overhead grows really fast. Yeah. And so we were kind of talking about this behind the scenes before this interview. I’ve been told by multiple coaches now they’re like, listen, all you need to get to $1 million is you. Plus two core people, three people you plus two to get to a million. So as soon as like, yeah, your first hire is probably going to be a part time VA.

Adrienne Hill 00:24:37 And that’s okay. But the minute you’re growing and your revenue is enough that you’re getting tempted to hire a whole bunch of part time people for a whole bunch of part time stuff, just make your first full time hire and give them the responsibility of all of those part time things, right? Like, and I made that mistake. I got to the point where I was managing 14 people and it was so overwhelming. And now I’m down to like three. Yeah, not quite two, but three. And I’m like working on it. Right. So and it makes your life so much easier, you know, because when you’re hiring all these part time people with part time hours, you’re only their side gig. So they’re only going to give you as much respect as someone gives a side gig, which usually isn’t much, versus when it’s their full time job, they’re going to take it really seriously and they’re going to give you their best, you know, because this is how they put food on the table, right? It’s you.

Adrienne Hill 00:25:30 So, I’m I’m working on making that shift myself now because I, I made that mistake.

Cara Harvey 00:25:35 Yeah, I like that because. Yeah. Because I think a lot of us see, like, I know when I got started again, it was very different seven years ago. But you see these like, big people in the like the celebrity entrepreneur space, right. And you see what they’re doing and you see their huge launches and their big teams, and you think that is the only way to $1 million. It’s the only way to be successful is more. And what I’ve learned over the past seven years, and it sounds like what you’re sharing as well is like, that’s not always the case.

Adrienne Hill 00:26:03 Yeah. Oh, tons of influencers are broke as a joke. Yeah, yeah. And I can always tell someone needs help because, like, I go like, funnel hacking people. I’ll be like, oh, what you got going on? I’m going to check out your stuff, you know? and I’ll jump into their funnel.

Adrienne Hill 00:26:18 And I noticed, like, for example, they’ll have like a, an application or a or survey that you fill out to get to the next step, to get to the next step. And they’ll have one system for their application or survey and a different system for their calendar booking. And then a difference. And as soon as I see that, I’m like, you’re not my person. I’m looking for someone ahead of me who can coach me. And based on what I see with your systems, like you’re a couple steps behind me, so I know they’re not my person, right? Like you’ll get to that point where you start to you always want to look for someone a few steps ahead of you. Yeah. You know.

Cara Harvey 00:26:49 Yeah, 100%. So let’s talk about scaling maybe like our offers and our business stuff too. Yeah, that’s like the big thing. I have a lot of moms who will come who are attending. They’re like, all right, I have one offer. It’s like sort of doing something right.

Cara Harvey 00:27:03 Like I sort of have a couple clients, like sell a couple courses or whatever, but they’re feeling very stuck at the level they’re at. How can we push past that plateau?

Adrienne Hill 00:27:12 Yeah. So when it comes to your offers and I’m a huge believer in this, I’ve, I’ve lived this multiple times myself. It’s always best to focus on one offer and getting that one offer to the point where it’s delivering six figures before you create another offer. So I want you to think of like, it’s like getting an airplane off the runway, right? Like it takes imagine when you’re on an airplane and those jet engines kick in and you’re like, boom! And you kind of feel it in your chair and it it takes a lot of energy to take off. It takes a lot of energy to get an offer up to six figures. So put all your attention and all your focus and all your energy and everyone on your team focusing on that one offer until it’s consistently producing like monthly recurring revenue, which is kind of equivalent to like you’re at cruising altitude with your airplane, right? Then you can add in another offer.

Adrienne Hill 00:28:03 And so I see a lot of people too. They start with a low ticket offer because they think it’s going to be easier. It is so hard to make six figures with a low ticket offer. Yeah. Like so hard. You’re better starting off with, like, a mid or high ticket offer. get that up to six figures, then what you’re learning with all your clients in that higher ticket program, you’ll notice they’re asking the same questions over and over, or they all get stuck on the same spot and you’re like, why is everyone getting stuck right there? Whatever that hot spot is, that’s what you make your mid or low ticket offer about. Yeah.

Cara Harvey 00:28:40 Yeah, I would tell people to like getting started there. Like I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to offer. And I’m like, have you done any one on one coaching? Like have you done any one on one work where you can charge more for it and like just get to know what their issues are so much faster than let me spend all this time making some course that I don’t even know if it’s what they want and like hope that it works.

Cara Harvey 00:28:58 Like, just let me throw the spaghetti and listen. I threw tons of spaghetti. You can go back to my original slide recipes. I cannot cook like I don’t know what I was doing right. Like, we all have a throwing spaghetti state like stage of our business or multiple, right? But when you get to the point where you’re like, if you’re not even sure, like what they want, you’re wasting your time. Like coming up with 8000 freebies, hoping one will be the one that will get you. The people that might be interested in in your gassing.

Adrienne Hill 00:29:25 You’re shooting from the hip, you’re throwing spaghetti at the wall, and it’s just a hot mess. Like, pick one thing and focus on it. And yeah, until you talk to some real people and start working with some real people, you’re guessing at what they want. I always tell my clients I’m like, sell it before you make it. Yeah, like if you can sell it, if you can sell one, you can sell ten.

Adrienne Hill 00:29:45 If you can sell ten, it can scale to six figures. Yep. But work with those first few clients for like free or cheap just to like start working with someone and get some insights on like what do they want? Where do they get stuck? Like what’s going on right then? You know, you can you can scale it bigger, you can add on to it. You can create lower cost offers around it, like whatever you want. Right. But but yeah, just I see so many people floundering in the offer space.

Cara Harvey 00:30:11 Yeah 100%. Yeah. Right. So I want to kind of talk quick about some time stuff since we’re all here about time management here. we’re asking speakers to help us out with their favorite time management hack that they can give to the moms. could be around your personal life, your business, anything you want to share with us today?

Adrienne Hill 00:30:32 Oh, my gosh, I only get one. Are you gonna.

Cara Harvey 00:30:34 Have, like, two if you want? Because I love time.

Adrienne Hill 00:30:36 Okay, okay. I’ll have I’ll have two. Okay okay. So one of my favorite things is I, I track I kind of reverse engineer my goals for my business from yearly to quarterly to monthly to weekly. And I check in on every single week and whatever my weekly tasks are that show up in my planning document that week. The minute I listed as a task, I give it a placeholder on my calendar. If it’s not in your calendar, it doesn’t exist. Yep. And if you’re not revisiting it weekly, you’re going to lose track of what you’re supposed to be doing. So to me like just tracking, writing down your goals, writing down your tasks, putting them on your calendar. It’s like the minimum bare level personal leadership you need to run a business. If you’re not using a calendar like that, like you’re just it’s a hobby. Yeah, not a business.

Cara Harvey 00:31:29 And I’m glad you said that too, because I think a lot of us will be like, all right. Yeah, I have my to do list for, like, what my kids need in my home.

Cara Harvey 00:31:35 But when you’re doing your business, you have to be doing it and treating it with that same amount of focus. because we know that we’ll sit down and I have a lot of moms there doing the naptime grind, and they’re like, I don’t know what to do. And there’s the laundry and then I’m here. I agree, if it’s not in your calendar, you’re not going to do it for. And so I like that one.

Adrienne Hill 00:31:55 Yeah. And then my second tip is, you know, we’ve talked about how you can systematize something in your business. Then you pick the parts that can be automated. What’s ever left that a person has to do. Narrow it down to as few people as possible. Because every time you have a hand off, that’s an opportunity for error versus if one person owns all those steps, they’re on it, right. I once we systematize something like that and stream, automate it and then streamline it, we put it into a project management software like Clickup or Asana, because then you can make a template of that workflow process.

Adrienne Hill 00:32:32 And every time like for, you know, like publish a blog, for example, every single time you have a blog coming up, you just clone that workflow, attach dates to it, attach people to the different steps, and you’re doing the same steps every time, the exact same way, and the exact same order. And the the software is tracking it for you, so you can never forget a step, right? If you do have to assign, say, say you want to get it down to one person, but you’re kind of stuck assigning it to two. Each person knows their part, and you can also know what’s connected to what of like, oh, I can’t do my part until you finish your part. Okay, well, now let’s make the system aware of that so this person knows when you’re waiting on them, like that kind of stuff. Use a project management software to do that. And I specifically say click up in asana, because those are the only two that allow what’s called Gantt view.

Adrienne Hill 00:33:23 Yeah, Gantt view is a view that allows you to connect steps together and kind of see it all in this big connection kind of timeline and to let it know, like, oh, I’m stuck waiting for you and you’re waiting for this. Anyone who doesn’t use Gantt view. The minute I see a business owner not using Gantt view, I immediately know they’re an amateur. I’m like, just being honest. Like project management basics. because then it’s always going to get done the same way every time correctly. Yep. And and there you go.

Cara Harvey 00:33:56 Yeah. It’s so important. We have stuff set up in our clickup where, you know, we can wait the task of like the, you know, if you don’t have it done, then the thing pops up and it’s like, wait, you can’t finish this task until that task is finished. And it’s just so helpful because it allows the like drama out of it to be like it’s just black and white, like, this has to get done, and I can’t do this thing if this thing isn’t done.

Cara Harvey 00:34:17 And I think when you especially when you hire contractors, like if they if everyone can see the bigger picture, there’s more ownership of it. And then there’s also just like, oh, right. Like I have to get this done because other people also need it. And I think it legitimizes the system itself.

Adrienne Hill 00:34:31 And my team loves it. So like we plan ahead our show episodes, for example, and we have it the same process every single time. And so they just clone that workflow over and over and stack them out through the year. And they just messaged like last week and they said, hey, we planned out all of the show episodes through the end of 2025. They’re all done. They’re done like everything is done. And like I was just like, you guys rock. Like they love. Because once they see the work that needs to get done and they can see the big picture, they get motivated to work ahead. Yes. And who doesn’t love working ahead then? It’s like if someone gets sick or it’s like, I can’t work this week.

Adrienne Hill 00:35:11 It’s like, oh, you’re fine. You’re already planned out a year. Like you’re good, you know? Yes. Yeah.

Cara Harvey 00:35:15 No, I.

Adrienne Hill 00:35:16 Agree.

Cara Harvey 00:35:16 Like that’s how we’re getting through like the holidays. Like I love like I, I do have my quarter set up so I don’t have the year yet, but like I’ve set the quarter for the podcast already. Every card is made, every topic is there. Everyone who it’s my editor, me, and one of the person who does the emails and the VA and all that kind of stuff. It’s all there and we all know it, and we all have our own internal due dates. And I know that if I don’t get this here, you can’t do that. And it’s just like feels. And also and I say this because I’m my own business owner, it is hard. Like I, it is hard to motivate myself sometimes to get the podcast episode done. But I need those external deadlines too. So I’m like, and we like to say about a month ahead, like, I like to have an episode recorded about a month before it airs.

Cara Harvey 00:35:56 So like, that’s our system and flow. I need that pressure on myself too, sometimes because I’ll get so distracted or I’ll want to work on a fund or like something different. But knowing that I’m like, wait, if I don’t have this done, I’m holding everybody else up. And this is actually one thing that changed with me, with the way I pay my contractors, because I used to pay everyone like the end of the month, like submitted timesheet, whatever. But I found what I was doing was like, oh, well, we’re going to work on this project this month. And then I wouldn’t get my crap together enough to like, give them the task so we’d get. And I’m like, never mind, we’ll just do it next month and we keep putting it back. So then I switched it and everyone submits their times. scorecards, we call them at the beginning of the month. I pay them per month if they’re supposed to work on something. And I’m the one who doesn’t do it.

Cara Harvey 00:36:37 That’s that’s me. Like I mess that up and now I don’t. That never happens. Like, rarely. My team rarely happens that I’m like, forget those sort of things. Because I found that I was really getting sidetracked and I was putting off big projects that I know are important that I wanted to work on because I was like, well, I didn’t pay them for it yet, so we’ll just work on it later. This was probably like four years ago. And then I was like, you know what? I’m just going to pay her in the beginning of month, and if I don’t get whatever done that I need to give to them, that’s me. Like, that’s on me. And I don’t want a great.

Adrienne Hill 00:37:05 Way to motivate yourself. It really.

Cara Harvey 00:37:06 I don’t want to miss the money. So I’m like, I’m going to do it because I’m already paid them.

Adrienne Hill 00:37:09 Whether you’re managing yourself or whether you’re managing a contractor or an employee, you need a carrot and a stick. Yes, like, here’s this awesome thing you get if you do it early and here’s the stick you get if you don’t.

Adrienne Hill 00:37:20 Right. But to do that to yourself. Yeah I needed you created your own stick. Yeah.

Cara Harvey 00:37:25 Because well here’s the thing I think we think I love my job. Right. Like this is one of those like if I didn’t need the money like I’d probably do something in this variety you know for free like type of love. But it doesn’t mean I’m always motivated. And I think we think there’s something wrong with us if we’re not always motivated. Like I always tell people like, I’m very driven. I’m not always motivated. Right? So I have to also create systems for myself to gamify everything, to make it fun for myself, to give myself like I know how I’m wired. And that was a big game changer for me because it was like, I just thought I had an old. And again, this is seven years of thoughts I’ve processed through. But like in the beginning it was like, but maybe it’s I’m not meant to do this. Maybe I’m not good at this. Maybe I’m not supposed to have my business because I don’t want to work on it.

Cara Harvey 00:38:07 Because I’m not. It’s not easy. It’s what whatever thoughts I had. And it was like, no, I’m just like a human who’s not always motivated. So I need to create systems to make it simpler. So it’s not about if I feel like doing it. It’s literally like, well, this is the 15 minute task I put for myself to do right now. So I’m going to do it because it’s in my calendar, right? And like.

Adrienne Hill 00:38:27 It just.

Cara Harvey 00:38:28 Was so much better than the drama I was giving myself of like, well, I’m a bad business owner because fill in the blank.

Adrienne Hill 00:38:35 Yes, yes, that’s so true. And it’s like you have to motivate yourself. You have to motivate your team. And like having a minimum amount of structure in your business helps you to stay organized. It helps you to stay motivated. I know, especially a lot of new business owners too. Like but the whole reason I started a business is I want freedom and I want my calendar to be free and open.

Adrienne Hill 00:38:57 And it’s like, but if you don’t use your calendar as a tool to stay organized, you’ll be free and open and broke. Yeah, like let’s go for free. Open and making money. Like. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

Cara Harvey 00:39:09 Like those things aren’t mutually exclusive, right? Like, I can have a structured calendar and still have time freedom. Like. Yeah, you can have both. But you’re right. I think in the beginning it’s. And that’s how it was when I transitioned from teaching into network marketing. And then I transitioned into like having a PDM. I like did not know how to manage my time because I was like, well, I did this to have all this free time and I was doing nothing like nothing. And it was not it wasn’t working. And yes, there was this period of I was coming out of burnout and I needed to take care of myself and like, rest first. But I struggled in the beginning, which I think a lot of us do, because I was trying to have all the freedom.

Cara Harvey 00:39:45 But it’s like you can have freedom and structure.

Adrienne Hill 00:39:49 It’s possible you can have both. Yeah. They’re not at odds with each other. They’re complementary, for sure. And a lot of times, just like you were experiencing, especially if you have a good team, they’ll be working along and you’ll become the bottleneck because they’re waiting for you on something. So I told my OB, I was like, if you’re ever waiting for me and I’m the bottleneck, you have access to my calendar, go and schedule in time for me to get it done. Like put it in there.

Cara Harvey 00:40:11 You love that.

Adrienne Hill 00:40:12 Tell me what to do. You know, like, literally. And so she will. She’ll put time blocks of, like, you need to finish this because it’s holding me up and I’ll be like, gotcha, you know? And then there’s a lot of things where I’m like, okay, I’m holding them up again. Do I need to be the one who does that? Honestly? Am I just holding on to it? But of some like, weird sense of like, I have to own it, but do I really need to own it? Like, there’s very few things you actually need to own as the business owner? Short of your face being on a camera, everything else can be delegated.

Adrienne Hill 00:40:42 Like it really can. Yeah.

Cara Harvey 00:40:44 Yeah, that’s a good question to pose. Yeah. We and like our team meetings on Monday I was like, all right how am I holding everyone up this week. Like what are we waiting on? And like I just I’m like, just tell me what you need right now because I will fill my time with what I have on my Teslas. But if I’m holding you up, please check in with me. Like, just tell me right now. Let’s go. Let’s get through the day. Because. Yeah. Because there’s just so much. But I love this idea. I’m going to tell them to do this. Like put just putting things in my calendar for me.

Speaker 3 00:41:08 Yeah. Just put it on there.

Cara Harvey 00:41:10 Yeah I love that a lot. okay. Adrian, this was super fun. So we talked a little bit about your free offer. If you have a VIP pass, you want to tell us a little bit about what VIP members can get?

Adrienne Hill 00:41:20 Yes.

Adrienne Hill 00:41:21 So my free gift for you. Just a quick recap. 130 Irresistible Automations. It’s all the different things you can automate and it’s way more than you think. And then there’s a sneak peek into the the system that I recommend. So if that’s helpful for you, feel free to grab that. And then for the VIP gift, what I give, what I’m giving you guys, it’s normally something I charge a lot of money for, but I just want you guys to have it. it’s a it’s a really good training on how to create an irresistible lead magnet. And then it’s the lead magnet funnel templates and swipes that have been most effective for me. The highest converting pages and emails and stuff that I use myself. So you can scoop that up. And then it comes with one month free of the automation of the month Club and what that is, is it’s super short, bite size, like five, ten, 15 minute videos showing you how to set up really cool automations with the system that I recommend.

Adrienne Hill 00:42:10 So if you’re ever like, like I’m intimidated by this system, how do I do this? It just it shows you how to make your screen match mine. Exactly. So that your automation will work exactly like mine. So it’s kind of like swiping the brain of my OBS for a minute.

Speaker 3 00:42:25 Oh, I.

Cara Harvey 00:42:26 Love that so much. Thank you Adrian, thank you for your time. Tell us more where we can find and connect with you.

Adrienne Hill 00:42:32 that’s a great question. I’m on all the socials, so you can find me on Facebook, Insta, YouTube, TikTok. yeah, I’m. I’m around.

Cara Harvey 00:42:43 Excellent. We’re going to link everything Adrian underneath, including freebies, a link to VIP if you want to upgrade to make sure you get that. Thanks for your time today. This was super fun. Yeah, thanks.