68 | Streamline your client process with Dubsado (with Laura from The Streamlined Company)
Episode Notes:
I'm joined by Laura Fellows from The Streamlined Company who is a specialist in Dubsado set up for service-based businesses. If you didn't know, Dubsado is an all-in-one client management and business automation system, that can help you to create a smooth client experience that saved you hours of time!
Links mentioned and useful resources:
Dubsado: https://www.dubsado.com/?c=byrosanna*
LastPass (password manager app): https://www.lastpass.com/
Toby (chrome extension): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/toby-for-chrome
More about Laura:
Laura is a Client Experience Strategist and Dubsado Pro at The Streamlined Company. She offers VIP days where she helps her clients get set up on Dubsado with a streamlined client process, as well as sells Dubsado templates and other products in her online shop. Check out her website at: https://www.thestreamlinedcompany.co.uk/
*indicates affiliate link
Transcript
Anna Clark 0:00
So hello and welcome to another episode of The freelance fix Podcast. I am really excited today because I am joined by Laura fellows who is a dubsado specialist. Now, if you haven't heard of dubsado before, it's basically an online tool or a piece of software that you can sign up for us. It is a place for you to manage everything to do with your service based business. So you can saw details about your clients and your projects in there. You can send out calendar invites, you can create proposals send contracts, create automation, so that it does it all for you with just one click. dubsado is a powerhouse piece of software. And we talk a lot more about what's included in it and what features are really useful. In this episode, Laura explains who dubsado is perfect for how she can help businesses get their dubsado set up so that they can start streamlining their client processes straight away. But we also talk about things like adding client welcome packs to your client experience setting up an off boarding process for your clients. And we even talk about some of our favourite tools and apps to help with your productivity as a business owner. So if you like anything to do with productivity and organisation, keep on listening, I hope you really enjoyed this episode. You're listening to the freelance fitness podcast for creative freelancers who want to grow and create better balance in their business. I'm Anna from Arizona design and I'm a website designer and online educator for all things freelancing, marketing, and productivity apps by rosanna.co.uk. Okay, thank you so much, Laura, for joining me on the podcast today. Is it alright, if we start off by you telling us a little bit about yourself, and how you got started doing what you're doing?
Laura 1:53
Well, I am a client experience strategist, very posh name, which is great when you're when you're a business, you can give yourself your own job title. I specialise in dubsado setup. So I help women to automate and streamline their services so that they can create that referral where the client experience without spending five to 10 hours on admin each week. That's the goal. Yeah, so I started off as like a general VA and have moved into fully specialising in dubsado setups, corporate background admin, thought it would translate well into turning into a general VA business found that pretty much had to start from scratch. Oh, gosh, really? Yeah. Like I thought, yeah, dead easy go from admin and the corporate world, to general VA made so much sense to me. But I felt like I literally had to learn everything from scratch when I started. But yeah, that's kind of my background has spent a long time in corporate world, it's been really difficult to kind of lose a lot of that as well, when I started my business. So
Anna Clark 2:59
yeah, and how was that transition? Did you kind of start doing stuff on the side while you were working? Or did you kind of just go all in to I'm gonna start my own business?
Laura 3:09
No, I was pretty lucky in the company that I worked for. I did part time. So yeah, I side hustled for a while and then took that ginormous leap by ko wasn't quite ready. I didn't quite have the amount of clients that I needed, didn't quite have income, but I just like full on leapt and hope that the universe would catch me and thankfully it did when you kind of throw yourself into it as well.
Anna Clark 3:34
I think sometimes that gives you the motivation to Okay, I literally have to do this now. Otherwise, I'm not gonna be able to pay my bills. So that can be really useful, I think, for different people and different personalities, like some people would prefer to have that safety net of still working a lot or doing full time while they're building their business. But for some people, you need that like, almost like having a giving yourself a deadline. Like you have to do it. If you've got that there. So yeah, what When did you first kind of hear the hear the kind of role of VA of virtual assistant because I know like, maybe in your admin role, you maybe come across people in corporate world who were personal assistants and stuff like that.
Laura 4:20
It was another excuse me, another mom in the school yard was a VA. I never heard of it before. And that's what she did his full time job. And I'd known her a while before it tweaked that I could do that as well. I think it's just a confidence thing, isn't it that starting your businesses, it's a massive thing to do. And it took me a long time to click into the idea of actually that's something that I could achieve for myself. So yeah, so I kind of chatted to her a bit about general VA and what what they what they do and how they do it. And then just did a lot of research, I think,
Anna Clark 4:58
did you have a website When you got started with that, or were you kind of reaching out to people on social media, where did those first kind of clients come from?
Laura 5:07
Yeah, I did it, like, get everything set up before you launch. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, which is eased off a little bit since I started. But I wanted everything in place before I got going. So yeah, I was just kind of Facebook groups. I think that kicked me off. Oh, yeah. got clients to start with. Luckily, it's always kind of been referrals and word of mouth that
Anna Clark 5:29
have gained clients. What sort of clients? Were they to start with? And is that is it very different to what they are now,
Laura 5:35
though? I worked with a lot of people, different industries. So yeah, the kind of clients that I work with now, all different industries, they were different industries back then as well. So that hasn't been a huge change. It's just in the way that I'm helping them that yes, change from what I do now.
Anna Clark 5:51
Sure. So you specifically now help people with a tool called dubsado? How did you kind of come across that tool? What did you like about it? What made you decide to niche down and get so specific about what you do?
Laura 6:07
Honest story, my process of working with clients was a hot mess. Yeah, I think it was very quickly when I started working with my VA clients, if not the first client that I worked with, I quickly realised how disgraceful my like my journey was. And I knew I had to do something about it immediately, if not just for that, like, just for the reason that it was gonna help me I wasn't really thinking about their experience, which is what I kind of like I helped my clients with now. But I was just thinking about myself, how am I going to make this easier for me? Yeah, as a general VA, someone who is working virtually, who's working with online businesses. And I was asking my clients to print off a PDF contract that created in Canva, taken me hours to create in Canva. And then asking them to print it off, sign it and scan it back to me. And I was like, This isn't right. I needed something more professional, it made me look more professional, more more serious. People will take me more seriously. So yeah, that's how it kind of started, I started researching the apps that I could use. What apps can I use to make that easier for me also for my clients, and that's when I kind of stumbled over dubsado. I came across all of the usual ones like yeah, I could use hellosign. For my contracts. I could use calendly to book appointments. I found lots of different apps or tools that I could use. But when I stumbled across dubsado, it was everything all in one, which I was like, Yes, this sounds great. And plus, I think it cost less than all of the other ones put together put together. Yes, it was a double when really see. So my journey finding dubsado is a lot different to a lot of the clients that I work with, they tend to come to me because time is an issue. The businesses have grown massively, and their back end systems just aren't keeping up in the slightest. And they're doing everything by manually by hand. And it's just taking them too much time. Whereas mine was all about, I just need some tech to help me out. It wasn't necessarily a time issue for me. But yeah, so that that's my journey with it and how I came to find it. And then the moment I did find it, I was like, wow, this is really cool. There's so much more than I ever expected. But it is a beast to set up. Yes, yeah.
Anna Clark 8:42
I had a bit of a play around with it myself over the years. It's quite funny because I actually, I heard about it maybe like three or four years ago, I started with their free trial, I kind of half set it up and then decided it wasn't for me. And like every year I'll kind of come back to it. And I have another go at it and set it up. And then I kind of end up deciding that I would, I'm happy with some of the free tools that I use instead, I'm still yet to be potentially swayed at some point. But my most recent realisation with it is that I what I usually end up doing for clients is creating very, very custom quotes. So at the moment, I find that it takes me a lot longer trying to make dubsado do that, which is probably just because I don't have the experience with totally solid like,
Yeah, exactly.
But I completely can relate to all of your clients in that you hear about this amazing tool dubsado it's got all these incredible features, but getting started with it is
Laura 9:46
yeah, the word overwhelm comes up a lot. Because it is like people are like, yeah, this this looks great, but I have no idea what I'm doing what I'm supposed to do first and as much as this features are amazing. It takes time to figure them out. And I did it the hard way. Because there weren't people like me around that time, there weren't all of these courses, there weren't all of these, like how to videos, and you just have to get stuck in and try and figure out yourself. So I learnt, like the hard way made a lot of mistakes. But yeah, a lot of people don't when they come to me, they're saying, I don't have the time to do all this. So they don't have the time to figure out themselves times a massive thing. And if a bit software's gonna take you a lot of time to figure out then, thankfully, there are people like me who can help with that.
Anna Clark 10:36
Yeah, exactly. So talk us through a little bit just in case. People who are listening, haven't ever heard of dubsado. Before. Just an FYI, I will leave a link to it in the episode notes of this podcast, and it's spelt DUBSAD. Oh, but could you talk a little bit about different features and what some of the best features are? that it offers? In your opinion?
Laura 11:01
Yes. So officially, it is a CRM, which is a client relationship management tool, which still doesn't make a huge amount of sense. It is basically something that is going to help you out with the admin side of working with your clients. So it is perfect if you're a service based business, and it's going to help you send out emails, questionnaires, contracts, invoices, organising appointments, you've got a client portal in there as well, which makes you look really fancy. Yeah. So it's just going to help you with all of that. The key to it all is the workflow bit, but you're getting into workflows and people get freaked out by that word. Yeah, yeah. It's automating bits, so that you don't have to do it all yourself. That's the key to it, creating templates, and automating things so that you're not doing absolutely everything yourself from scratch every time.
Anna Clark 11:57
And it's all in one place as well, which is really cool. So you've got all your kind of client details, everything that they've potentially ever sent you all in one place for you to see. You can manage your projects in that, like it has got so so much and even imagine that it can be quite overwhelming. I know the the interface of dubsado has changed quite a bit over the years. And I do think it's much, much more user friendly now. So is it that when you take on clients, do you kind of give them a tour around as well, once you've helped set them up as well?
Laura 12:34
Yeah, I work in like VIP days. So I do the build in one, one or two VIP days. And at the end of that, once everything's built out, we have a little tour of what what's been set up showing around. But as you said, Yeah, I think I'm a very visual person. I wanted a tool that I wanted to go into and use like Visual Thinking like it has to be very visual, which is really like, it's not important. But if you want to use something everyday, everyday, you've got to enjoy using it. I think that visual aspect is massive, like you have CRM, like HubSpot very corporate horrendous to go into and look at, and you're just not going to go in if it's something that isn't visually appealing, in my opinion. So yeah, the interface I think is really important. It's nice and simple and nicely laid out.
Anna Clark 13:29
So in terms of businesses who dubsado is great for, obviously, I've had a lot of like v A's and coaches using dubsado. A lot of designers. Typically I've seen mainly designers who or businesses who might offer like a very set amount of packages or, or services that are usually the same price so they can kind of package it up. But is there anyone else or any other types of businesses that you would recommend it for? How easy is it to kind of deliver custom quotes and tweak things around? So it's not just kind of set pricing all the time? Which is what I've struggled with it before?
Laura 14:13
Yeah, that I think with dubsado, once you get to know it, you'll realise that there are multiple ways to do anything. You've always got options. So there's not one set thing to do, which is probably why it's so difficult to setup. Yeah. Yeah, when it comes to like proposals are like one of the best features is one of my favourite ones. The proposals are a three page document, you have your first page where you can kind of have it as a sales page. And this is where you would put your package information. All or you can put in your custom quote into this. So yeah, it's not always about set packages, you can definitely do that. Custom quotes, because I know a lot of designers, a lot of web designers do custom quotes. And it is really easy, really easy to set up, it's just setting up that template, so that you can add in the information that you need to. And then the second part of the proposal is the contract, which can map through all of the information from the package that you've created. And then the last thing is the invoice, which is also mapped through from that first proposal page puts all of the package information onto that invoice. The proposals are really magic, you've got three documents in one. If you're working from set packages, it can mean you don't have to do anything, you just send them the proposal. They work their way through it, they select the package that they want to go for. They sign the contract, and they pay the invoice and you don't have to do anything. Yeah, so that they're really great. If you're working on more of a custom quote kind of way. It just means you've got to tweak some of the information in that package. Put in the information that you want. And then the rest is all automatic from there. So there's there's multiple ways that really are great. And yeah, it's definitely not just for set packages. There's a lot of a lot of people that I've worked with, who only do custom custom quotes. Yeah, I've just worked with some architects the biggest build I've ever done in my life. Yeah, they, they do custom work. So yeah, yeah, it's it's does as long as your service based, I don't think I mean, there are a few people. I've had discovery calls with where I've said, it's probably not for you right now. But generally it works for most service based businesses. But yeah, I think when you're looking at this kind of tech, there's no one bit of software that's perfect, like dubsado is amazing. It's not perfect, though. So there's always going to be ways that you can kind of customise it to work for you.
Anna Clark 16:57
Yeah, especially if you know your way around it. And you're working with someone like yourself, who's a specialist, who knows the little tricks to work around things, as well. You mentioned that you done like a big build out for these architects, how does it normally work with your clients, then, as part of your process, you have like a discovery call? And then how do they how on earth do they like prep to all of the information to get started in in building that whole system out for them?
Laura 17:30
It's a bit like, I always describe it a bit like a website build, only you kind of you start off with your strategy. And we map out workflows, because this is the part that people struggle with the most is the workflows. So we map out your client journey, we get everything streamlined, and I help to add in those extra little bits, those magic kind of touch points as well. So yeah, it's not just mapping it out to fit it into dubsado, we're gonna like elevate your client journey as well. And then the second part is the content creation, which is the can be the huge part. Yeah, it's creating all of those emails, creating all of those templates, the forms and everything pack in information. And that totally depends on where that specific client is, as well, maybe it's, they might have quite a lot of that stuff already. Maybe they don't need to create a huge amount. Maybe they're just at the beginning of their journey. And they have a lot of content to create. So that's very specific for each each person that I work with. But yeah, that's that's it. That's the huge fit, really the content creation. But
Anna Clark 18:44
yeah, I found that when I was kind of trying to set it up was just like, Oh my gosh, there's so many automated emails that are part of these automatic workflows that gets sent out when someone signs a form, or they sign or they book an appointment with you on their calendar, all these every time. Someone does an action like that, they then get get sent or can get sent an automatic email, which has got like a message from you have information about what they've booked, or what package they bought, and things like that. And it's so important to not just leave those with the default text or make sure that you've got those all set up in a way that matches your brand, which I can imagine, especially for people who are short on time as well, but it can be Yeah, quite an overwhelming task. Do you kind of help with that side of things as well? Or is that all prep work that they'd need to do or work with a copywriter For example,
Laura 19:41
I try to help as much as possible because I do understand that the content creation stage, it falls on them. It massively falls on them, but I like to try my hardest out the most with it. So I give them workbooks and I you I am not a copywriter, but I do provide them with, like templates that they can use to start out with. You know, I always say I am definitely not a copywriter. So please use the base and then like turn it into your own brand voice. But yeah, it's just helping them out at that stage where there is a lot of work in that the emphasis is on them to create it, giving them everything I can possibly to help them. Because it is it is huge. I mean, their branding, they've already got all their branding sorted. So when it comes to that side of it, it's fine. It's just it's literally those those emails. And then if there's any new forms that need to be created a copy for those are questions that need to be asked.
Anna Clark 20:44
So with, because I've had a look on your Instagram as well. And I noticed that you're a fan of kind of welcome packs and goodbye packs and then adding them into the client process as well. I wonder if you could kind of share a little bit about kind of what those are. I don't think I've ever spoken about them here on the podcast before and why they're helpful for service based businesses will be
Laura 21:09
Wow, they they are, they are my favourite thing. And I think, also beneficial. So I always suggest three. So you've got your intro pack, your welcome pack, and your clinical a goodbye pack. But it's not the best name for it, like an offboarding pack. And each one has its own specific purpose. So your intro pack, this one, I send out like within your autoresponder. So the moment someone fills in your contact form on your website, they get this intro pack. And I always call them a pack like a PDF pack. But it doesn't specifically have to be a PDF pack. It could be a video, you send them to movies, you upload something on to like YouTube or you have a hidden page on your website called idea. Yeah, it doesn't have to specifically be a PDF pack. But yeah, so your intro pack is literally introducing you to them, they may have found you some random way, haven't really looked over your website, they don't really know the details of what you do. So it's just giving them that brief introduction. But also, the key to it is using it to vet to your client, your potential leads or clients. And also to start setting those boundaries, it's kind of using it to vet them. So giving them the information about how you work some of your expectations for them as well. So that if they're like, oh, they're like the sound of that, then they might not progress. Yeah. And it's scary when you talk about, like setting those expectations with your clients and what you're expecting of them. And it can be really scary. But it's a really good way to vet out those people that you really don't want to work with. Definitely. So that's the intro pack. The welcome pack, as it says welcomes them. And this is where you're giving them all of the information they're going to need. you're answering all of those questions that you usually get. So you can literally have an FAQ page in there. It's giving them a detailed timeline of what they're going to expect. So I think that you can do that every single one of these is giving them a timeline of what to expect this next. But it's always great to not leave your clients confused. If your clients are confused about what's going on what's happening, what's happening next. It's not a great place to be in. So every step of the way, you've got to think about what can I do to answer those questions before they even get asked before they even think of them? Just answer them. See how these packs are a great way to do it and make it nice and visual. Lovely diagrams, all of that great stuff to to give that information in a really easy to digest way. But yeah, it's just making sure that you're informing your clients so that they know what's happening. They know what to expect next, they know what's expected of them and what you're going to be doing. Yeah, this welcome packs like a really a really great one to add in. And then the last one is the good bipac and offboarding is one of those things that people tend to forget about. Yeah. Oh, find awkward. Yeah, yeah. Most of the people who come to me don't have an onboarding process in the slightest. So yeah, you've it's one of those that it's really worthwhile putting a bit of time into and the what the sorry, the good bipac is just one nice little place. To wrap up the project to give that definite deadline that the project actually is over, because I'm sure we've all had those clients where you think the project's over, and they're still emailing you. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Especially if you've had that dreaded scope creep as well. It's a really great way to say that's it project is finished, and like not that I'm never gonna speak to you again. But just helpful resources. Like, do you have any links to blog posts that you've written that could help them out afterwards?
Do
you have, like, how can you still continue to help them, even though the project's finished, it's just a nice way to wrap it all up. And then obviously, all of the GDPR stuff as well, which nobody likes to think about? Oh, God, yeah. Yeah, it's a great place like not like, you're gonna have your whole privacy policy written out and this off boarding thing, but just a few key points of what you're going to do now. I'm going to delete your passwords from LastPass. I'm going to blah, blah, blah, just a few points, just to let them know that. Yeah, you've actually thought about that. Nobody seems to talk about nowadays. But
Anna Clark 26:10
yeah, no, you're right is that's such a good point to mention. I think it's just a good bipac or an offboarding. Pack. I can't remember why call mine, I think it's just like a kind of website guide or something at the end, it's a nice way to like leave a good taste in their mouth as well. So that they've kind of you're finishing on a higher high point you've got, you've given them all the resources that they need. And then that's just something that they can almost remember you by Yeah, as well, which is really nice.
Laura 26:40
And if you've done a really good job whilst you've been working with them. It's also a nice, sneaky way to promote your other services. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. They might have only come across you via one specific service, they might have no idea what else you do, and how else that you can help them. So yeah, it's a nice way to do that. Or if you have a referral programme, you can give them information there or definitely last point asked for feedback. Yes, feedback slash testimonial request. Yeah, that definitely needs to be a part as well, that could be included in your like off boarding goodbye pack as well.
Anna Clark 27:20
And all of those things can be automated in dubsado, as well can't May. So if someone books your or they've gone through kind of the proposal, three step process that you mentioned, they could automatically get sent. Welcome pack, for example, is there a way to do that with the good bipac as well, I guess, if you're paying like a final, final bell on there or something.
Laura 27:46
Yeah. So the key to dubsado, literally as these workflows, and you can take your one process, so you take a service that you provide, and you can map it all out. And then within dubsado, you can break it up into separate workflows, which is really great when it comes to like wanting to start different ones at different times. And if maybes, you want to onboard a client a certain way, maybe you definitely want a testimonial from that client. But you might have another client, you still want to off board. But you don't want to ask for a testimonial, baby's a project didn't go so well, overall, for whatever reason, you don't want a testimonial from them. So you can have different workflows for different occasions. So yeah, you can set it all up in there, automate it all. It's really great. And the thing like I always say, automate, automate. But it doesn't have to all be automated. You can Yeah, you can put in as much automation as you want. You can create manual tasks, tasks as well, because not everything can be automated. So it gives you that chance to add in some customization if you want to add in a personal message to somebody in an email somewhere.
Anna Clark 29:00
I think that's a really important point, actually, because one one time, and it is so funny, because it has been about three separate times where I've gone on to start getting set up with it and kind of bailed on dubsado, one of the times that I tried, I think I got overwhelmed, or I was bit worried about everything being automated, and then me worrying that my clients wouldn't feel that it was a very personal process. But you're so right. And I realised that kind of a few months later was that actually I don't, you can use whichever bits of dubsado you want to use. And it's actually really great value, even if you only use a couple of the features. And you don't have to automate everything. You can just automate the bits that you don't want to do and leave the rest up to yourself doing it in a more personal way how you prefer to so I think that is Yeah, a really, really important point.
Laura 29:55
Yeah, I think that's that's something that a lot of people worry about that They're gonna miss that personal touch. But I think when you take the time to create all of these templates, especially the canned emails, you really got to think about, like, how can you make it so that it doesn't seem like it's coming from a robot? That Yeah, you're going to add in your brand voice into those emails. And a lot of the time people aren't going to realise that it's automated.
Anna Clark 30:24
Yeah, you're making me think about it again, like the fourth time you really are, but I'm caught. Let's pop up Saturday, then. And just I wanted to ask you if you've got any other favourite tools, or apps for kind of productivity, or generally staying organised in life or in business?
Laura 30:47
I, unfortunately, very much a physical person. Yeah, yeah. As much as I keep trying, and I really want to plan and organise digitally. If it's out of sight, it's out of mind for me. So I have to have everything in front of me, for me to remember to do things. So I kind of use this clipboard system. Every project gets a clipboard. I have my monthly calendar calendars on a clipboard. And yeah, so I use I use paper. I mean, I obviously kind of Wow, yeah, I rely a little bit on Google Calendar. But everything else gets planned out. I took this just how my brain works best, like yeah, tried Asana slick up, Trello all of them, but I just always come back to post it notes and clipboards with paper on
Anna Clark 31:44
I've imagined in your office is just covered in clipboards and post it notes.
Laura 31:48
I have a lot of whiteboards a deal of a good whiteboard as well. Amazing. So yeah, that's just like when it comes to organisation when it comes to planning. I always like every time I start, even when I start with workflows planning out a workflow. I start out with a bit of paper, and a spider diagram. That's generally how I do everything. If I have problem with anything in my business, a spider diagram out. And then sometimes I might take that turn it into a lesson and put it into a sauna. But yeah, I just I always tend to work best if it's physically in front of me for me to be able to see.
Anna Clark 32:28
Yeah, no, I do relate to that. To be fair, I've got kind of my desk, kind of planners and notepads where I'll scribble down daily to do's but with the kind of monthly planning and my project management, I do have it in front of me, but I have it on like a second screen. And honestly, I could not live without having a second screen. When I've when I've been away and just taking my laptop with me. I feel so lost because I've only got the one screen and I'm just like you like I need to have it in front of my eyes. I just need to be able to look up and see it rather than go clicking around trying to find things. I think that is really important. So yeah, yeah, whether it's a whiteboard or a second screen, I think. Yeah,
Laura 33:10
I think we're both the same on that respect when it comes to apps, though. Like I have some really great ones that I love. And they literally save me seconds, but because I use them so often. I couldn't couldn't live without them. So I think my top one last pass.
Anna Clark 33:26
Yes. Oh, yes. I only just moved over to using that like a few months ago. And yeah.
Laura 33:32
Unfortunately, it's not free anymore, which is devastating. But I think password managers, it's literally it takes you two seconds, but it's remembering, that can take you so much longer as trying to remember what your password is. I use that multiple times, especially with clients. It's great. I get them to share their information with me and I don't even see their password. So working with clients, that's great. But yeah, just for myself. I think it's easing that decision fatigue, trying to remember things that when I use countless times every day, and then the second one is a Chrome extension. And it is called Toby. Oh, I've not heard of that. I'm about to do a terrible job of explaining this one. So you know, when you have 6 million bookmarks on your browser, you know when you have 20 tabs open and the like I need to close my computer down. But I kind of need to save these because this was actually really helpful. Well, Toby is a way to create folders, and you just save that session to a folder so that you can next day, open up your computer, click one button and it opens all of those tabs for you. No way. Yeah, but this is, this is this is really great. So I use it in a way that I have like I have a daily one. So all of the things I need to open up on a daily basis, so like my email, my calendar, all of that kind of good stuff, you just click one button, it opens them all up. But also when I'm using it with clients as well, so if there's a document I'm working on, I save that into their folder if I need to see their websites they buy into their folder. So it's, it's really handy to just save, save them in different folders, open up the sessions that you need. And it can take everything out of that bookmarks section on your browser.
Anna Clark 35:35
If you can see my face right now my job. Sounds game changing, because I've got like all my daily wants, like you said, I need my Trello up my Gmail, all of my calendar, all of that. But then yeah, I need like a browser tab folder for all of my clients websites that I work on, or like branding that I'm working on. Oh my gosh, that sounds so so helpful. So how do you spell that? Is it just with a y t o p
Laura 36:03
y? Yeah, it's just a Google Chrome extension. And like, even when my son was doing his homeschooling, it's saving all of the things so that he can get on with himself. He just knows. Yes to click one thing, it opens up everything that he needs.
Anna Clark 36:19
Yeah, that's going to be amazing. talk all day about my favourite Chrome extensions, I think I'm going to need to do a podcast episode. It's definitely so many as for help, there's so many good ones that just Yes, so if you time here and there, but I've not heard of that. And I think I definitely need it.
Laura 36:37
You definitely need that in your life thing. Everyone needs that in their life. Yeah.
Anna Clark 36:41
Amazing. Thank you. Well, let's wrap up then. Now, if that's okay, and I just wanted to ask you, what your kind of highlights have been so far in running your business niching down and getting specific, have there been any like really good projects that you've loved working on? In particular,
Laura 37:00
the biggest highlight has been actually finding something that I'm genuinely passionate about, because the service that I offer now, is helping people who were me. So I know, I know what it's like to be there in that position. So I'm really passionate about helping people to find a way out of that. To get that I know, it's really cliche, but to get that work life balance. And that means a lot to me, because most people when you ask them, why did you start your business? One of the top answers, I guess, would be freedom. But yet, what we don't realise is that you end up working 14 hour days trying to grow your business grow your business. Yeah, so it's trying to help people get out of that situation so that their, their business is actually working for them. Yeah, it's not like, yeah, it's not taking over your whole entire life so that you've got no time for your family or for your hobbies, or whatever it is that you want to do. The other thing that's been a huge highlight. A big change for me was learning about VIP days. Yes, yes,
Anna Clark 38:08
I need to have like someone come on and talk about that specifically on the podcast, because I don't personally do them. But I've listened to a few podcast episodes of people on other podcasts explaining what they are, and they sound Yeah, really have a really good way to get lots done. Huge, huge, a big difference for me.
Laura 38:27
And that's another thing, it's kind of feeds back into that freedom lifestyle of trying to make your business fit into the life that you want. And VIP days for me have done that massively. I only work with one client at a time. So I don't get massive, like I have the worst memory in the world. So I don't get massively confused, working on a six week project constantly going in and out of it. As it's hugely changed my business in my life starting to do VIP days. I really enjoy them. I mean, it's hard work, like literally the day off afterwards to recover. But yeah, it just it fits in it means that I can do one VIP day, a week. That's, that's all I need to do. Or like at the minute, I only really need to work with two clients a month. That's amazing. Yeah, it's huge. And that, so that's maybe four days, four days at most, that I really need to work. And that's massive. It just gives you a huge amount of freedom to do whatever the hell you want for the rest of the other day. Yeah. And obviously the other three of the days I do still do client work, but it's not hands on. client work. And it just gives me that freedom. If I wanted to have wanted to start a podcast or start YouTube channel.
Yeah, we do
that sort of thing. So yeah, that's been that's been massive. And I think not just for me as well, like the people who come to me, they usually end up pretty desperate situation, they are those people who are working like 14 hour days, because the business has grown so quickly and they want that instant. They want that instant transformation. And it's great that I can help them with that, that we could literally set up a pure dubsado account in a day or two. Yeah, it's huge.
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