10xTalk With Joe Polish And Dan Sullivan

Optimize, Automate, Outsource and The Art of Less Doing | Ari Meisel and Nick Sonnenberg

*As of March 2017, LessDoing changed their name to Leverage

In this episode, Joe Polish and Dean Jackson, interview Ari Meisel and Nick Sonnenberg from the Leverage Podcast. Ari and Nick discuss their Leverage Virtual Assistant Service, a service that helps everyday individuals outsource the everyday tasks that take up the bulk of their time, allowing them to devote their time toward the more important duties that truly require their attention.

Here’s a glance at what you’ll learn from Ari and Nick in this episode:

The one word question to ask yourself if you want to more easily execute marketing and transform overwhelm into effectiveness
Why Nick and Ari started Leverage and how it can help you optimize, automate and outsource your life
What every entrepreneur needs to know before hiring virtual assistants
2 ways entrepreneurs mess up when it comes to productivity
The Mindset of Effective Entrepreneurs: How the most successful entrepreneurs think about being productive
Dean and Ari discuss why execution is becoming a commodity and how you can better leverage yourself
A better way to think about team members that can eliminate constraints, expand your capacity and multiply your results
The Right Way to Delegate: Why a lot of people delegate incorrectly and what to do instead
Nick and Ari share eight of their favorite online automation and collaboration tools

Show Notes

Introduction [00:30]
“I help the overwhelmed become more effective.” – Ari Meisel [03:25]
- The company’s Nick and Ari have developed together [04:15]
Dan Sullivan and Dean Jackson’s podcast episode, The Joy of Procrastination [05:45]
Exposing yourself to possibilities [06:30]
The decision to learn “how” or to find the “who” [07:00]
- The right tool for the job [9:30]
- Ideas vs. execution [10:20]
- Your unique ability [11:00]
- A biased frame of delegation [11:50]
Less Doing, More Living, by Ari Meisel [13:00]
What is Leverage? [13:30]
The Art of Less Doing [14:40]
Rates of technology [15:10]
Reducing stress and improving your life or your business [15:30]
Where entrepreneurs mess up the most [16:00]
- Resource allocation [16:40]
- Communication (Slack) [17:10]
- Keeping projects organized [17:45]
- Working with your team [19:00]
Articulating what you want [19:40]
- Asking about daily activities and tasks [20:15]
- Being direct [20:45]
- Focusing on the outcome [22:00]
Remote working [23:20]
Favorite online tools [24:00]
- Slack and Trello, Inbox Zero [24:30]
- Intercom [24:40]
- Chargify [26:38]
- Toggl [27:05]
- Dropbox, Evernote, Chartmogul [27:50]
- Their new project management software [28:15]
When to outsource or bring someone in house [28:40]
- Hire remote workers [30:20]
- A false sense of control [31:00]
- Companionship [31:25]
- Outsource for specialists [32:30]
Freelancers can be more effective [33:00]
Video conferencing (Zoom) [34:10]
Avoiding a bottleneck by hiring freelancers [35:00]
Leverage skips the step of hiring freelancers [37:15]
Job security [37:58]
Nick’s unique ability with scale-level algorithms [39:30]
Documenting ideas [40:20]
How to start deciding what to outsource [40:45]
- Genius Network Annual Event [41:00]
- The Not-to-do list [42:05]
- What’s happening more than once [42:45]
Leverage onboarding process [44:40]
- A coaching call [45:20]
- Higher up tasks [46:00]
- If you want to outsource it [47:00]
Tim Ferriss’s interview with Michael O’Brien [47:20]
Delegating up [48:40]
Unusual things to outsource [49:50]
- Your environment [50:05]
- Shopping [50:35]
- Processes in your business [50:55]
The mindset of a productive entrepreneur [52:25]
Optimizing your resources [52:58]
Get rid of your backburner [53:45]
Clarifying what you can outsource [54:10]
Case studies [55:30]
- Supporter of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation [56:00]
- Improving communication for companies [56:35]
Costs and savings [57:05]
- An investment [57:25]
- $125/month [57:40]
- $40/hour [58:00]
- Specialists [58:15]
- Private consulting [58:30]
The economics of $40/hour [59:00]
- Efficiency [59:40]
- Quality and customer support [01:01:20]
Data driven [01:01:45]
Automated emails [01:02:25]
How to sign up [01:03:05]
- GetLeverage.com
“Work on your unique value.” –Nick Sonnenberg [01:04:00]
You’re not the only one who can do something [01:04:20]

Websites

Leverage

Genius Network Annual Event

lessdoing.com/assistants

People Mentioned

Dan Sullivan

Tim Ferriss

Recommended Resources

Books

Less Doing, More Living

The Art of Less Doing

About Ari Meisel:

Ari Meisel is the co-founder of Leverage and the Leverage Podcast. After being diagnosed in 2006 with Crohn’s disease, Ari decided to do everything in his power to overcome the disease and strengthen his weak body. Through a combination of diet, supplements and exercise Ari was able to conquer his disease. He realized through the process that stress was a huge contributor to his situation and, through a process of data collection, analysis and self tracking, helped to develop Leverage. Leverage is about Optimizing, Automating, and Outsourcing all of your tasks in life and business to free your mind for other things, whatever they may be.

About Nick Sonnenberg:

Nick Sonnenberg is the co-founder of Leverage and the Leverage Podcast as well as the creator of the Calvin App. As a former equities trader, Nick knows a lot about the stress that comes from everyday life. Leverage and Calvin are outpourings of that knowledge. Nick’s goal is to make life enjoyable and to help people have more plans with less planning.

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To go deeper on the insights shared on this episode of 10XTalk, access your FREE COPY of the “8 Transformations of a 10X Entrepreneur”, go here: http://www.10xtalk.com.

Genius Network is the place high-level entrepreneurs go for collaboration, contribution, and connections not available anywhere else. Members get strategies for exponential growth and opportunities for deal making, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and more. Membership is by application only. Click here to learn more. You can also learn more about the Genius Network Annual Event here – which is the one time per year the group is opened to non-members.