The Remote CEO Show

421: The 4 Rules for Managing Remote Teams

Who has a love-hate relationship with working remotely?
Most of my clients love working remotely, but they know that they could be more productive.
If that’s you, let’s see how we can make you (and your team) more efficient.
First off, working from home doesn’t mean working from your couch. No matter where you are, you should set up a corner that you associate with hard work and focus. That way, you can instantly get in the zone as soon as you sit down at your desk.
Then, if you have remote staff, your primary goal is to make them feel they are still part of a team. Having a morning huddle with your team is crucial to set the tone and let people know that they’re being held accountable for short term goals as much as the long term ones.
Also, don’t forget to transition to a 100% cloud business! I know most of you may still be reluctant to do that, but don’t forget that work that can’t be accessed from your team is worth nothing!
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to time tasks when you delegate them for the first time. You need to know how much time your staff needs to allocate to each project, and if you don’t know, have a birds-eye view, you will end up wasting a ton of time and money!
Need help going from freelancer/solopreneur to CEO of your remote business? Send me a message now!

420: The Mindset That Will Instantly Improve Your Life (MUST WATCH)

Why can’t I stay excited about my goals in the long-term? I used to ask myself that question for so many years. Is it just me??? But after looking for a solution to this problem, I realized that the issue wasn’t with my mind, but it was with the way I was seeing my goals. I always had big lofty goals and that’s awesome. But it’s in the nature of these goals to be very long term. So I would spend days and weeks all dialed in, only to slow down and slowly get bored with the process. I had nothing to look forward to but some distant reward. Then I came across a blog post that talked about breaking down these objectives into smaller bite-sized chunks. I instantly realized that all my goals were comprised of a ton of moving parts, and each part was a goal on its own. For example, when I decided to lose 40 pounds in 2016, I broke down my goal into a) getting a Magic Bullet and substituting my unhealthy snacks with a protein and fruit smoothie. b) Doing HIIT 6 days a week c) going grocery shopping once a week and buying only healthy foods etc. It worked! Every time I hit a new milestone, I was just as happy as if I had hit my main goal. That excitement made me stick to the process all the way through and I eventually hit my main goal. Since then, I have been using this goal-setting system with all my personal and professional goals. What do you do to keep yourself motivated?

419: Interview with Veronica Sagastume

In this episode of The Remote CEO Show,I had the pleasure to interview Veronica Sagastume. Veronica is a business strategist, CFO consultant, with over 20 years of Corporate experience in Accounting, Finance, & Operations. Veronica first discovered her love of consulting while working with CEOs at start-up and emerging growth companies in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. In 2011, Veronica made the bold decision to leave her CFO/COO position to launch her own consulting practice.

418: Journaling for Productivity, and Mental Health

My client was stuck in a cycle of addiction and self-sabotaging behaviors.
Deniero, I know better, but every time I sit down to work, all my limiting beliefs come pouring out, and I think to myself, ‘why am I wasting my time?’
I knew that cycle all too well because I was deep in it just a few years earlier. Years of therapy helped, but they felt like a crutch more than a solution.
That’s when I had decided to start journaling. I picked up a planner online, and as soon as I started using it, I saw incredible results.
Planning my weeks on Sunday mornings gave me clarity and the opportunity to design my schedule. I felt like I was in control again—the same thing with planning my days the night before. I finally had a say on how my days would unfold.
Writing down my affirmations made them more real than ever before. The power of reading your thoughts is often underplayed.
Gratitude journaling urged me to focus on the beautiful life I had right in front of my eyes.
Monitoring my performance daily forced me to be honest with myself. No more hall passes, just straight up accountability.
Journaling is the one habit that changed my life for good and I hope you will consider starting this habit as well.

417: How to Create Consistent Content in 2020

So you know that your personal brand is your biggest asset.
But with all the social platforms, creating content is becoming almost a full-time job.

Couple that with the fact that you likely won’t be able to monetize on your brand for at least two years, no wonder why so many people see content creation as a daunting task.

But today, I want to break down a simple trick that will help you create content in just a couple of hours a week.

First off, find out what your niche wants to know more about. Once you know the topics, arrange them in 4 or 5 different pillars.

These pillars will be your guidelines, so that every time you sit down to write a post, or film a video, you can refer to one of the pillars and start talking (or writing) about it.

I help freelancers and solopreneurs scale their businesses, so I talk about hiring, automation, sales, content creation, productivity, etc.

Once you figure out what your framework looks like, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel every time. Just glance at your pillars and start talking about the topics you are already familiar with!

416: How to Deal with “I will get back to you”

Congrats! You made it all the way to the end of a sales call!
You covered everything you were supposed to, and yet, the prospect turns into a slippery soap bar and gives you the good ol’ “I will get back to you.”
You were ready to deal with the “It’s too much money,” or the “I am not ready to do this yet,” or even the “I need to talk to my partner.”
But what about “I will get back to you”? That just shows that the prospect is not looking to engage in a conversation.
At that point, your main goal is not to close a deal, but to find out what the real issue is.
Sure, you’ll get back to closing in a minute, but right now, it’s time to get the conversation back on track.
Saying something like, “In my years of experience, I know that if someone tells me, ‘I’ll get back to you,’ there’s usually an issue that wasn’t addressed. Is it the price? The product? The agreement length?’
Once you find out what the real reason is, dig in deeper. “What about the ___? How can we make it work?”
Don’t be afraid to ask questions to uncover the real issue. Do that with confidence, to get back in control of the conversation. 
Remember, hurdles are not walls! You can (and you should) jump over them and get to the finish line.

415: Hire The Right People For Your Agency (How To Hire Freelancers)

I can’t believe I wasted a full year working with a mediocre team. And the sad part is that I thought I had done everything right. I posted a job, went through the job applications, booked and ran ten interviews, and picked the best candidate. Little that I knew, people can be amazing during the interview process but turn into below-average contractors once they start working. I had to change something. Enter the tryout model. I come from a digital marketing background, so my number one focus is testing, testing testing. Why didn’t I think about it earlier??? All I needed to do was hire four or five contractors (the ones that aced the interview) and give them a trial project to work on. The variables were all the same. They were working on the same project. Sure, I was paying four people to do one task, but the upsides of this project are unbelievable. At the end of the four-hours, I had a clear understanding of their communication skills, attention to detail, speed, and coachability. All I needed to do at this point was hire the winner for the full project. Interestingly enough, I actually ended up keeping other freelancers in mind for future projects. Applying the split testing model to real-life projects has been a game-changer in my business and I know that you will find the same!

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414: Do you overthink?

What’s going to happen? Did they hear me wrong? Was I good enough?
And the list goes on!!! All these questions used to pop in my head all day (and night) long like popcorn in the microwave.
I got to the point where I was spending more time making movies in my head than actually doing work or living life.
Then one day I started wondering if my overthinking habit was actually a disease and that turned out to be a slippery slope.
I’d attach a bunch of labels to my compulsive string of thoughts. I have OCD. Oh no wait, I just have GAD. Or maybe It’s insomnia mixed with ADD.
I am going to spare you the list of doctors and meds I tried (to no avail) and I’ll get straight to the end of this frantic race to nowhere.
I meditated. Yes, I meditated a lot. I first meditated for a few hours in a row on a flight from Europe to YYZ so that I could distract myself from the fear of very very unlikely things happening to me.
It worked so well that as soon as I landed I decided to start a 20-minute meditation routine every morning.
I love meditating because it reminds me that I am in control of my mind, no matter what my thoughts make me think.
I love meditating because it reminds me that my thoughts are just thoughts, and they are not accurate representations of the world around me.
Is it easy to meditate? Not really. Actually, It’s kinda boring and frustrating at the beginning. But hey, I learned how to ride a bike when I was a kid. I scraped my knees and elbows, but if I had the resilience to get back up and try again when I was 3 years old, I am sure you can fall down and get back up with your meditation practice a few times.
I have been doing it for 5 years and I rarely miss a day. In fact, now, even a 10-minute deep meditation session is enough for me to put me back on the driver’s seat.
Do you meditate? And If you do, how often and for how long?

413: Interview with Danny May

On this episode of the Remote CEO Show, I had the pleasure to interview Danny May. Danny is a global AI tech entrepreneur and industry speaker who founded Lingmo, a digital AI-Powered translation software provider with no IT or AI background. His idea to develop a real-time language translation solution, to break down the global language barrier, came about after an embarrassing situation in China when his passport was stolen and he had no way of communicating with the local people.

412: Superhuman Performance Secrets

Write ONE word to describe your performance this week.
I'll go first. It's "fire."
I got so much done, and I learned a lot. But it wasn't always like this. I used to wake up pumped and then slowly give in to my bad habits.
Scrolling through social media, eating carbs and fried foods, skipping my journaling sessions, not exercising, etc.
Weeks would go by, and I hardly got anything done. I would ask myself, "Why is this happening?"
Looking back, I knew the answer already. I wasn't taking care of the basics.
You could own a race car, but if you don't inflate the tires, you don't change the oil, and you use the wrong fuel, it will not perform at its full potential.
Your body and mind are the same. When you feel down and unproductive, ALWAYS go back to the basics.
Once you take care of them, everything else will fall into place. You will gain clarity, focus, and your purpose will light a fire inside you!