069: [Deep Dive] New Tech Tool...DIY or Outsource?

from Music Teachers: Expand Online · host Jaime Slutzky

So here you are… You have decided to bring on a new piece of tech or software tool. Naturally, the next step is getting it fully set up integrated. Are you going to DIY it? Or should you outsource the implementation of the new tool? For the sake of presenting a scenario, I’m going to use the tool ThriveCart throughout this episode. ThriveCart is a tool I use extensively with my clients. It is a stand alone shopping cart. And you have decided that you want to use ThriveCart to sell whatever it is that you offer to your customers. You have purchased ThriveCart and now it’s time to set it up. So, you log into your account and see all the tabs. Quickly, you realize it’s going to take lots of work to get it set up. Are you going to DIY it? Or are you going the DFY route? Essentially, it’s a decision on whether to spend time or money on implementing that new piece of software. Because I know that YOUR TIME is valuable I believe that DIYing the implementation of a new piece of technology is not the right course of action. My goal is to support your business so I want you to be able to spend more time in your zone of genius...not in figuring out what pieces connect where and how and when! That’s not the best use of your time! A better use of time, resources, and money may be to say, “Okay... We are using ThriveCart then hire someone to implement all the different pieces of the puzzle” Let’s look at this scenario from the DIY aspect. Sign up for ThriveCart. Log into your account Peruse the help documents Join the Facebook group so that you are able to ask questions And, as you go through this process, you are essentially going back and forth between implementing the technology and asking questions or looking up issues in the help files. THIS TAKES A LOT OF YOUR VALUABLE TIME! But you finally cobble it all together and you have a system that works….maybe. There is always more you can do with a piece of software than JUST the bare minimum. You can get it working and it will do its job, but maybe it doesn’t have everything it needs. In the case of ThriveCart, it’s not straightforward to inject your branding and your fonts. It might just not feel right to you. But, you have exhausted the limits you can actually do yourself. It can be your shopping cart, but it’s not complete. "When you DIY you’re leaving 30% of the functionality and features of that tool on the table because it’s just too hard to get to 100%." - Jaime Slutzky Let me ask you this. When is the last time something completely clicked with you and you got it to 100% implemented? Outsourcing becomes a factor when you know you WANT to implement this new technology, but it’s not in your zone of genius. Or when you don’t have anyone on your team that implement it for you. Your time is far too valuable to be spent going through the help files trying to figure out how to implement this new technology in the best, right way. So... that is when you decide to outsource to someone like the Tech of Business Agency to implement a tool such as ThriveCart into our tech stack. How do you know if your business is ready to outsource this new tech implementation? Well, let’s talk about it! There are a few perimeters like: Get crystal clear on the objective of this new piece of technology. You need to know exactly what this new piece of technology is going to do for you and what you want it to do for your customers. Get clear on what else needs to happen. You need to understand what you want done with your customer on the backend of your system. If you were to outsource, for example, adding ThriveCart to your online structure, I will guide you through this process by asking questions like: Where does this person need to go after purchasing? What automations do we need to trigger? Which tool do they need access to? What do you want to see happen in your backend systems and processes? Understand your Pixels. Pixels matter. There is upcoming series on pixels and I will link back to this episode when it is released.<.=/li> When you are implementing a new piece of software into your tech stack there are always the same questions. What... problem is this tool solving? is this tool doing for my business and my customers? is this tool replacing in my existing tech stack? Evaluate your current tech stack when you add a new tool ← this is critically important. Are you adding a new tool or are you going to add the new tool and then remove an older tool? Remember: deciding to outsource the implementation of a new piece of technology, you are buying your time back. Instead of focusing on making sure all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, you can spend more time in your promotions, content creation, and working in your business with your customers/clients helping them to get the results they seek. All these things are so IMPORTANT to the SUCCESS of your business. Tech is outsourceable. If you don’t have all the answers to the parameters I gave you earlier, it doesn’t mean you aren’t ready to outsource. It means that the outsourcing is going to require a little bit of back and forth. But I LOVE doing a little bit of back and forth. I really enjoy making sure that your tech is at 100% implemented so that you don’t have straggling components. It's my job to avoid leaving bits and pieces to do later. When you outsource you are securing a complete package. Another really great aspect of outsourcing is that your project is a singular focus for the implementer. I’m not trying to do all the aspects of your business it means I JUST get to implement this new piece of technology from A to Z and hand it back to you. A quick aside… When I’m implementing a tool like ThriveCart, part of that implementation is to connect it to the payment processors (stripe/Paypal). My internal processes put this task back on my clients. This is a decision I made a long time ago and it keeps things clean. I bring this up because I want you to be aware that even when you hire someone to “do it for you” there may be touchpoints that will require your time and effort. Everything else in ThriveCart implementation just requires me to be provided access. I will give you a list of accounts that I need access to such as: Email marketing system Zapier account Membership portal Course platform In the beginning stages of Done for You, I’m doing systems integration (the boring stuff.) I’m not trying to do more than one thing at a time. After integration is complete, then I get to work on the specifics… Now, on the flip side… in the DIY approach, I often see it flow like this with ThriveCart: Start setting up your product. Realize you need to connect it to ActiveCampaign Connect to ActiveCampaign Work on the checkout page Write copy Realize you need to setup the integration between ThriveCart and Zapier or your content delivery platform Setup the connection Go back into the ThriveCart setup process… and the cycle continues and continues. This whole process makes you go back and forth between the product and the integration. I know online tech. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about ThriveCart or another system...there is a BEST, RIGHT way to implement a new piece of technology just like there is a BEST, RIGHT piece of technology for you at every stage of your business. Outsourcing means that it’s a more streamlined process to get from A to Z than it is when you are DIYing your implementation. DIYing = cobbling it together. Outsourcing = completing a circle. You are buying a complete product. In this online space there is so much opportunity to DIY and even in my own business it is compelling to DIY everything but just because I can... it doesn’t mean I should. For example: It’s better for me to record a podcast episode than for me to put together my own social media campaigns. I could put them together, but it’s not a good use of my time. I don’t get as good ROI. It’s the same for you. Think about the ROI, both financial and time, when it comes to bringing on a new piece of technology. Ask yourself questions like: Are you saving time and spending money? Or, are you saving money by spending time? What's the most easy way to make sure you are getting the best ROI on that new piece of technology? Is it going to help support your goals and objectives? The goal of this episode is to show you the difference between DIY and DONE FOR YOU! New technology is a great way to experiment with the DONE FOR YOU aspect when you have been DIYing for so long. I would be honored to do it for you and allow you to spend more time in your zone of genius. If you are ready to implement a new piece of technology, bring me along for the ride! To bring me along for your ride all you need to do is: Click here to Work with Me Select from the options or you can just fill out the form at the bottom We will find the best way for Tech of Business to support your objectives. A Tech Intensive is what you’ll want for bringing on a new piece of technology. This will allow us to bring it into all the folds of your business so that you can keep going, reach for the stars, achieve your goals, and know that the tech is there to support you. I cannot wait to work with you and help you achieve your goals. You can reach out to me on Instagram and we’ll have a conversation about how Tech of Business can help you. Connect with Jaime: Instagram: @techofbusiness Twitter: @techofbusiness Facebook: @yourbiztech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimeslutzky/ Email: [email protected]

What this episode covers

So here you are… You have decided to bring on a new piece of tech or software tool. Naturally, the next step is getting it fully set up integrated. Are you going to DIY it? Or should you outsource the implementation of the new tool? For the sake of presenting a scenario, I’m going to use the tool ThriveCart throughout this episode. ThriveCart is a tool I use extensively with my clients. It is a stand alone shopping cart. And you have decided that you want to use ThriveCart to sell whatever it is that you offer to your customers. You have purchased ThriveCart and now it’s time to set it up. So, you log into your account and see all the tabs. Quickly, you realize it’s going to take lots of work to get it set up. Are you going to DIY it? Or are you going the DFY route? Essentially, it’s a decision on whether to spend time or money on implementing that new piece of software. Because I know that YOUR TIME is valuable I believe that DIYing the implementation of a new piece of technology is not the right course of action. My goal is to support your business so I want you to be able to spend more time in your zone of genius...not in figuring out what pieces connect where and how and when! That’s not the best use of your time! A better use of time, resources, and money may be to say, “Okay... We are using ThriveCart then hire someone to implement all the different pieces of the puzzle” Let’s look at this scenario from the DIY aspect. Sign up for ThriveCart. Log into your account Peruse the help documents Join the Facebook group so that you are able to ask questions And, as you go through this process, you are essentially going back and forth between implementing the technology and asking questions or looking up issues in the help files. THIS TAKES A LOT OF YOUR VALUABLE TIME! But you finally cobble it all together and you have a system that works….maybe. There is always more you can do with a piece of software than JUST the bare minimum. You can get it working and it will do its job, but maybe it doesn’t have everything it needs. In the case of ThriveCart, it’s not straightforward to inject your branding and your fonts. It might just not feel right to you. But, you have exhausted the limits you can actually do yourself. It can be your shopping cart, but it’s not complete. "When you DIY you’re leaving 30% of the functionality and features of that tool on the table because it’s just too hard to get to 100%." - Jaime Slutzky Let me ask you this. When is the last time something completely clicked with you and you got it to 100% implemented? Outsourcing becomes a factor when you know you WANT to implement this new technology, but it’s not in your zone of genius. Or when you don’t have anyone on your team that implement it for you. Your time is far too valuable to be spent going through the help files trying to figure out how to implement this new technology in the best, right way. So... that is when you decide to outsource to someone like the Tech of Business Agency to implement a tool such as ThriveCart into our tech stack. How do you know if your business is ready to outsource this new tech implementation? Well, let’s talk about it! There are a few perimeters like: Get crystal clear on the objective of this new piece of technology. You need to know exactly what this new piece of technology is going to do for you and what you want it to do for your customers. Get clear on what else needs to happen. You need to understand what you want done with your customer on the backend of your system. If you were to outsource, for example, adding ThriveCart to your online structure, I will guide you through this process by asking questions like: Where does this person need to go after purchasing? What automations do we need to trigger? Which tool do they need access to? What do you want to see happen in your backend systems and processes? Understand your Pixels. Pixels matter. There is upcoming series on pixels and I will link back to this episode when it is released. When you are implementing a new piece of software into your tech stack there are always the same questions. What... problem is this tool solving? is this tool doing for my business and my customers? is this tool replacing in my existing tech stack? Evaluate your current tech stack when you add a new tool ← this is critically important. Are you adding a new tool or are you going to add the new tool and then remove an older tool? Remember: deciding to outsource the implementation of a new piece of technology, you are buying your time back. Instead of focusing on making sure all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, you can spend more time in your promotions, content creation, and working in your business with your customers/clients helping them to get the results they seek. All these things are so IMPORTANT to the SUCCESS of your business. Tech is outsourceable. If you don’t have all the answers to the parameters I gave you earlier, it doesn’t mean you aren’t ready to outsource. It means that the outsourcing is going to require a little bit of back and forth. But I LOVE doing a little bit of back and forth. I really enjoy making sure that your tech is at 100% implemented so that you don’t have straggling components. It's my job to avoid leaving bits and pieces to do later. When you outsource you are securing a complete package. Another really great aspect of outsourcing is that your project is a singular focus for the implementer. I’m not trying to do all the aspects of your business it means I JUST get to implement this new piece of technology from A to Z and hand it back to you. A quick aside… When I’m implementing a tool like ThriveCart, part of that implementation is to connect it to the payment processors (stripe/Paypal). My internal processes put this task back on my clients. This is a decision I made a long time ago and it keeps things clean. I bring this up because I want you to be aware that even when you hire someone to “do it for you” there may be touchpoints that will require your time and effort. Everything else in ThriveCart implementation just requires me to be provided access. I will give you a list of accounts that I need access to such as: Email marketing system Zapier account Membership portal Course platform In the beginning stages of Done for You, I’m doing systems integration (the boring stuff.) I’m not trying to do more than one thing at a time. After integration is complete, then I get to work on the specifics… Now, on the flip side… in the DIY approach, I often see it flow like this with ThriveCart: Start setting up your product. Realize you need to connect it to ActiveCampaign Connect to ActiveCampaign Work on the checkout page Write copy Realize you need to setup the integration between ThriveCart and Zapier or your content delivery platform Setup the connection Go back into the ThriveCart setup process… and the cycle continues and continues. This whole process makes you go back and forth between the product and the integration. I know online tech. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about ThriveCart or another system...there is a BEST, RIGHT way to implement a new piece of technology just like there is a BEST, RIGHT piece of technology for you at every stage of your business. Outsourcing means that it’s a more streamlined process to get from A to Z than it is when you are DIYing your implementation. DIYing = cobbling it together. Outsourcing = completing a circle. You are buying a complete product. In this online space there is so much opportunity to DIY and even in my own business it is compelling to DIY everything but just because I can... it doesn’t mean I should. For example: It’s better for me to record a podcast episode than for me to put together my own social media campaigns. I could put them together, but it’s not a good use of my time. I don’t get as good ROI. It’s the same for you. Think about the ROI, both financial and time, when it comes to bringing on a new piece of technology. Ask yourself questions like: Are you saving time and spending money? Or, are you saving money by spending time? What's the most easy way to make sure you are getting the best ROI on that new piece of technology? Is it going to help support your goals and objectives? The goal of this episode is to show you the difference between DIY and DONE FOR YOU! New technology is a great way to experiment with the DONE FOR YOU aspect when you have been DIYing for so long. I would be honored to do it for you and allow you to spend more time in your zone of genius. If you are ready to implement a new piece of technology, bring me along for the ride! To bring me along for your ride all you need to do is: Click here to Work with Me Select from the options or you can just fill out the form at the bottom We will find the best way for Tech of Business to support your objectives. A Tech Intensive is what you’ll want for bringing on a new piece of technology. This will allow us to bring it into all the folds of your business so that you can keep going, reach for the stars, achieve your goals, and know that the tech is there to support you. I cannot wait to work with you and help you achieve your goals. You can reach out to me on Instagram and we’ll have a conversation about how Tech of Business can help you. Connect with Jaime: Instagram: @techofbusiness Twitter: @techofbusiness Facebook: @yourbiztech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimeslutzky/ Email: [email protected]