The VA Advantage For Your Media and Speaking - VAs speaking can turbocharge your business and your income. I'm talking with Jess Tyson - founder and "Director of Calm" at Don't Panic Management - and a speaker at the Break Through with Media summit, June 14-16.
In this conversation Jess shares
We're going even deeper on this at the summit - and all the other facets of your media, speaking, PR and publicity strategy
The BREAK THROUGH WITH MEDIA Summit is a FREE, virtual event, June 14 - 16, offering live interactive sessions with experts in the fields of media like television, podcasting, radio, magazine, and news, speaking, publicity, and PR to help entrepreneurs, authors, and start-ups quickly understand how they can step their brand up to more prestigious, credible platforms, stages, and pages
We want to provide an interactive expo experience for your to get the big picture, see the opportunities for you, and meet knowledgeable experts that can make this the year you have the break through you've been dreaming of.
💥 REGISTER FREE at https://breakthroughin22.com/
You can find Jess at: https://dontpanicmgmt.com/
The VA Advantage For Your Media and Speaking - VAs speaking can turbocharge your business and your income. I'm talking with Jess Tyson - founder and "Director of Calm" at Don't Panic Management - and a speaker at the Break Through with Media summit, June 14-16.
In this conversation Jess shares
We're going even deeper on this at the summit - and all the other facets of your media, speaking, PR and publicity strategy
The BREAK THROUGH WITH MEDIA Summit is a FREE, virtual event, June 14 - 16, offering live interactive sessions with experts in the fields of media like television, podcasting, radio, magazine, and news, speaking, publicity, and PR to help entrepreneurs, authors, and start-ups quickly understand how they can step their brand up to more prestigious, credible platforms, stages, and pages
We want to provide an interactive expo experience for your to get the big picture, see the opportunities for you, and meet knowledgeable experts that can make this the year you have the break through you've been dreaming of.
💥 REGISTER FREE at https://breakthroughin22.com/
You can find Jess at: https://dontpanicmgmt.com/
Welcome to the She's All That video podcast. This season of the podcast is all about the BREAK THROUGH with MEDIA virtual summit that we're holding and all about the amazing industry experts that are speaking at the summit who will give entrepreneurs, authors and thought leaders, people just like you, a powerful alternative to the fast-deteriorating tool of social media for your marketing and visibility. The next big opportunity that you need to rapidly uplevel your positioning and your reach is media exposure, TV, podcast, radio news, speaking opportunities, publicity, PR and more. The free BREAK THROUGH with MEDIA Summit provides you with a constellation of experts information and strategy to give you the big picture of how you can get started. Our guest today is a key piece in that puzzle. And that is Jess Tyson. Jess Tyson is the founder and the director of calm at don't panic management. She wrote the book on how building a successful relationship with a virtual assistant can make all the difference in helping business owners get to the next level. Jess and her team have some solid insight into the role a virtual assistant can play when you're using media exposure and speaking for your business growth. Just as first book, panic proof how the right virtual assistant can save your sanity and grow your business is available now at panic proof book.com. Jess, welcome. Thank you so much for being with me today. And especially for speaking at the upcoming BREAK THROUGH with MEDIA Summit all about the VA advantage for your media speaking.
Jess Tyson:Thank you for having me, I'm so excited to join you and to join the summit and to share the knowledge about how awesome virtual assistants can be.
September Smith:Oh, I am stoked about that. So before we get into how they can just totally make this so much easier and transform your life. I want to talk about you. And don't panic management above the name. What was your journey that's all you become the founder and owner of a virtual assistant agency.
Jess Tyson:Yeah, I went to college for marketing and international business. I always say I just wanted to travel and make money. I had no other pant plan no other path except I just knew kind of what I wanted my life to look like. And I tried to find something that would align with that lifestyle. And I did not, I was not very successful. At the time, I was working in nonprofits. I was working with marketing agencies. And I enjoyed all that. But I was always finding myself sitting at a desk, you know, from 8am to 5pm. And I was I had to sit there even if I was being efficient with my work, and even if I had completed everything for the day. And that made me so frustrated because I was like living in LA at the time. So I could see the beach from my office window. And I was like I'm done. Why can't I just get out there? And so I started to think about you know, there has to be another way And around that time one of my former internship bosses, who was Jay Baer from Convince and Convert, if you haven't to know Him, He sent out a tweet that was like, Hey, does anybody know a VA? I'm looking for one. And I really I didn't know what a VI was. All I knew was that it was assistant work. And it was virtual. And I knew I could do that I've done I had done, you know, executive and marketing assistant work, you know, up until that point. And so I said, Hey, Jay, hire me, you know, you've worked with me before. And he did. And that was sort of the Kickstart to my career as a virtual assistant. I was working part time for him while I was still at my nonprofit job. And then he started referring me to a lot of other friends of his clients of his and then I finally was able to actually it didn't take very long and only took a couple of months, I was able to quit my job and you know, start traveling and start, you know, living the life that I wanted to live in. That was in 2010 So I have been running don't panic. Initially, I started just as myself 2011 I officially incorporated the business. And you know, because I was hiring people and I felt like I needed to be a little more legit. But yeah, just kind of grew organically with the timing happened to be right. And and it's just kind of exploded.
September Smith:Wow, that that is so cool. You just happen to read the right tweet at the right time. Yeah, and you could fill the needs of this guy. So one of the things that attracted me to you as a speaker for the BREAK THROUGH with MEDIA Summit, is that you are as far as I've ever found the only virtual assistant agency out there that can work specifically with clients who desire to grow their speaking career or for whom media exposure is a big part of their growth strategy. That that was like what I needed We'll have this woman on the summit so she can talk to us about that. So for those people who are wanting to get more into speaking speaking career or get the media exposure and dealing with that, how can a virtual assistant help them?
Jess Tyson:Yeah, there's so many ways and I think there's just wanted to clarify, there is a difference between a speaker agency, you know, and having a speaker agent and having a virtual assistant. And I want people to understand that your VA is not necessarily going to be the one who has all the connections, and can actually put you into different speaking gigs, just on their own. But what they can do is, first of all, research, you know, there's tons of conferences and, and different events and bureaus and even local chambers and things like that, that are always looking for speakers, and you probably don't have time to go out there and be looking for those. So research is a big one, they can help you prepare your materials and sort of build up your social media presence and all your marketing things. So anything from you know, clipping videos to make reels, or to make you know, Instagram and LinkedIn posts to actually writing thought leadership content for you. I mean, we need to know what your thoughts and opinions are, of course, but we can go straight those for you, a lot of people who are great on stage may not be as great, you know, with the written word, for example. So that's always a good one. And then every other logistics, you know, that go into speaking, I mean, everything from the initial contact, to negotiating price to doing contracts and setting up invoices, making sure that hotels and flights are booked, there's so much that goes in on the back end. That, you know, a lot of our speaker clients are like, I just want to show up, I don't want to have to worry about, you know, all the things behind the scenes, you know, I want to make sure that I get that I know who my audience is, whether that's through like a prep call with them, or through some research, and both of those things your VA could set up for you, I want to know, you know how I'm getting there. Of course, we've had several clients come to us because they went to the wrong airport, or they landed in the wrong city. And obviously, that is panic inducing. And we don't want that to happen. But yeah, the some of those more, you know, administrative and nitty gritty details that come with a speaking career are just not the forte of a speaker speakers are oftentimes big ideas, people, creative people. That's why they're so good, you know, performers, that's, that's why they're so good at what they do, but then all the other stuff, you know, we've seen speakers get in trouble because they couldn't get themselves, you know, they couldn't get themselves there, or, or they couldn't get themselves paid, you know, and sometimes you need to have someone like an assistant kind of tracking down, you know, the PIO number or sending the invoice or, you know, following up with those things. And you might, you might forget, you might be moving on to the next thing. So all of those kinds of everything from organizing your materials, you know, your actual decks and your speaking materials and your bios and all that, to booking to promotions. And then also, you know, moral support, we've definitely had clients who are newer to speaking and maybe they're just needing someone to kind of bounce ideas off of, and this isn't necessarily something that you can expect from a brand new VA that you're working with. But over time, the goal is that they become a partner and they are cheering you on, just like your you know, social partner, your your husband, or wife or spouse or whoever they are there for you telling you, you know, your stuff, get out there, get on stage, you know, don't be worried, don't panic, you know that that can be you know, a really helpful thing and also protecting your time and your schedule. So we have people who are very well known speakers and very sought after, and it gets to the point where they can't be on the road, they might want to, but they can't be on the road or in front of any more audiences. And so, and they don't want to say no. So, this virtual assistant is often a gatekeeper. Obviously, this is a good problem to have, you know, if you're just starting out and speaking, you're probably like, oh, no, like, I want to do everything and you should, but you may get to a point where you don't or maybe you want to take the summer off and spend it with your family or maybe you want to do some other kinds of traveling and you can have your VA give the bad news you know of I'm sorry, this person isn't available right now. Or, you know, as you get to a certain level to you might be starting out with free speaking gigs or low fee speaking gigs, but then you might want to start charging more. And in that case, your assistant can help you you know, negotiate and say I'm sorry, you know, My client isn't taking any fee free engagements right now. But if you want to pay this fee, or if you want to negotiate a rate with us, we can, you know, talk about further details. So all of these things, I think, a really good VA who understands you and your mission and your values and your goals can, you know, slide right in and help you out?
September Smith:This sounds incredibly valuable. Like, who wouldn't want this? At what point in your evolution of your business and the services that you offer? Did you realize there was a need for that?
Jess Tyson:Well, like I said, I mean, Jay, if you know, Jay Baer, he is a prolific speaker. So I have been doing that kind of work since the beginning. And also, he would let me tag along to a lot to a lot of the events, and he's just a great connector. And so he was always introducing me to people. And I really did see the need firsthand being at these events and seeing these people being like, I don't know what to put where, what stage am I supposed to be on what time and I'm like, Oh, my God, like it was making me crazy. I'm like, you just need some help, you just need a little bit of help. I mean, five hours a week is is our retainer, minimum, and don't panic. And that doesn't sound like a lot of time. But that's all some of these people need is just about an hour a day, you know, to go through and, and go through contracts or invoices or whatever booking travel and, and just get them where they need to go and just get everything on their calendar. Because, you know, I remember I My eyes were open when I first started coming to these events, because I was like, how are you even managing as a person without an assistant? So? So yeah, I really saw it firsthand. And I really felt like I could help these people. And, and for them, it's such a crazy thing to imagine. But for me, it was like second nature. I mean, I do all this organization, for myself, but for anyone that needs it. So and I think that's the value in general of hiring someone, whether it's a virtual assistant or anyone, it's knowing your value and your unique skill set and knowing what you're not good at and letting someone else whose value is that, take it over, you know. And I think that's sort of like the mindset work that goes into hiring in general, but it's not hard for, you know, something that might seem hard to you or tricky to you is just cake to someone else.
September Smith:And as you mentioned, you know, the the minimum starting of five hours per week. And as you said, it doesn't sound like much well, yeah, it's not much of your for somebody who doesn't know all the logistics and all the organizational skills that your VA knows that five hours that he or she could be covering for you could probably take you 20 hours. So Exactly, yeah, why not have somebody who can you don't want to do it anyways? And then just have someone
Jess Tyson:who was more efficient. Yeah, exactly.
September Smith:So I'm curious. Do you train up all your VAs on this? Or is this a special division? Or how do you handle that?
Jess Tyson:Um, so we, the what my main role at Don't Panic is I do all of the hiring and the matchmaking and the discovery. And when we start with assistants, we're looking for people who have a little bit of experience already, they don't necessarily have to have been virtual assistants before, but they have to have some kind of relevant experience, whether it's in the marketing field or the administrative assistant field. Some of them have worked with other speakers before and kind of know what to expect. And but but the reality is, unfortunately, each person is so different. And so we have things and resources that we Pro can provide to our team and also to our clients. But there's not like a turnkey process that we require for everyone. And that's by design, because one person's process is not going to work for someone else. But if they don't have a process, and they are looking for best practices, we can give those and same thing to the assistants, you know, we can give you our template of speaking tasks that again, this particular speaker may not need all of them or may have other ones to add to it. But it's something to start with. And then And then usually their relevant experiences plug right in to you know, the actual tasks that the speaker needs. It's more just we kind of help build the container, and we make the match and then we allow the client and the assistants relationship to flourish.
September Smith:Wow. Okay, could you I don't know if it's possible, but could you share like for an example of a client who's worked with you And the difference it made in their speaking career or whatever it was they were doing media speaking.
Jess Tyson:Yeah, I have a few examples. So one of the things that is important to me personally, is that my clients get time back in their life to do whatever it is that makes them light up, you know? Yes, it's, you know, on paper, it's a virtual assistant is someone who does tasks for you. But the more intangible results are what I'm after. So one of the, one of the examples I was thinking of, which is just dollars and cents, I mean, we've been able to raise rates for our speaking clients. And just by saying, just by, you know, having weekly calls and saying, you know, I'm seeing other people who are in similar places to charging, you know, you're charging 5k For this, maybe who should charge 10. And if it were up to them, they may have been nervous, or they may not have wanted to throw that figure out there. But now they're up to 15. And then now they're up to 20, you know, and it's the assistant, not necessarily always being the one to suggest that but the assistant being the one to deliver that feels a little less scary. And then the first time a potential speaking engagement says yes, well, now you're at that next price chair for your speaking and now you know, so that's one like, obviously, very tangible result. Other ones, though, are, you know, mental medical and physical wellness. So as a speaker of ours who had very stress induced issues in her life, once she started working with us, she literally emailed me and was like, my numbers are down, like my, my blood pressure, my you know, all these numbers have gotten better, because she felt like she had someone on her team that she could trust that was taking care of things. And you know, people make mistakes all the time, like, well, I don't panic, we don't make mistakes all the time. But like, you know, we're human there have there's always and she understands that her point was like, I know that even if a mistake did get made, you would you would fix it, you would have my back. Like, it's more about the kind of person that you're looking for who is going to try their best to do everything perfectly and get you where you need to be. But this This note was so thoughtful, because it was like, even though I don't expect everything to go perfectly, I know that you are there for me, and that you actually care about me. And that it that really made a difference in her huge emotional and physical health. Yeah, so So those are really big ones. I mean, obviously, smaller ones are just like I was able to take more speaking gigs this year, because I was organized because my assistant got me organized. You know, those are some smaller things. I mean, there's still that's still a big win, I would say, not as big as like doubling your speaking fee or lowering your blood pressure.
September Smith:So definitely, it's not a matter of like, oh, maybe this is going to help you. This is a huge advantage. This is a benefit that people should really be thinking about if they're going into a speaking career or adding that to their business model or seeking out media. Absolutely. I am just so excited about this. This is like I said I have yet to come across another company who focuses so intelligently associate strategically on behalf of people, like the attendees for the BREAK THROUGH with MEDIA Summit. Well, at the BREAK THROUGH with MEDIA Summit, we are going to be getting more into even more into what a VA can do for you and how they can be a key element of your speaking in your mini media campaign. What's involved just is going to be able to break that down with us what people need to know to work effectively with their VA. It tips and strategies and action steps to make this a powerful part of how you will break through with media this year. Jess Tyson where can people find you and don't panic management?
Jess Tyson:Yeah, so you can find us at Don't Panic Management.com You can find me at Don't Panic Jess. Most places I have my maiden name is Ostroff. So you'll see Jess Ostroff around I got married just a couple of years ago. And yeah, feel free to reach out you can email me if you would like Jess at Don't panic mgmt.com I love talking about and brainstorming ways to help people get out of their own way. And you know, start living a life that they love through virtual assistants or otherwise any sort of delegation. You know, strategies I love to talk about so please feel free to reach out
September Smith:and I will have the links the relevant links so that they can find you down below in the show notes. And as a listener, if you want to learn more about how you You can be taking advantage of such an important resources this and other skills that we're going to be covering at the summit around speaking engagements, media exposure, PR publicity, and how all this can help your business. Make sure you register for the free three day BREAK THROUGH with MEDIA Summit, June 14, to the 16th. To come and be with Jess and truly an incredible array of other industry experts to help you learn how you and your business can really have that big breakthrough that you need. The link for registration is down below in the show notes. You will not want to miss this. Jess, thank you so much for being with me today and also for sharing all this information with us at the breakthrough with Media Summit. Thank you for having me and don't panic. And that was just one of the amazing guests that we have at the BREAK THROUGH with MEDIA Summit, a three day live virtual event happening June 14 to the 16th to give entrepreneurs authors and thought leaders a panoramic overview of the opportunities, the skills required and the services and tools that you can be using media exposure, speaking opportunities, PR publicity and more to have the major breakthrough that you are looking for 20 industry experts three days all available right from wherever you are and it's free. Register at the link below in the show notes. You will not want to miss this!