Team Tricia!

A few years ago I was feeling extremely overwhelmed with all I had to do. One Wednesday night at church I was chatting with a good friend about the books we were reading, and an idea struck … she would make a great assistant! I asked Amy if she’d be interested in doing filing, mailings, and reading for me. She came over once a week or so, and I also emailed her articles, chapters, etc. for her to read/edit before I send them in to my in-house editor. Amy did such a great job I soon started passing other things off to her: updating my blog, creating my newsletters, setting up my schedule, etc.

Then, some of my friends asked who was helping me and they started hiring her too. I’m only a bit jealous. She’s MINE! Okay, not ONLY mine. Now my friend is the CEO of www.litfusegroup.com … I know how to pick good ones! Amy still does all those things I mentioned and more. She works about 60 hrs. a month for me, and she’s great! Since we’ve started working together Amy moved to Seattle, so I’m in need of a local assistant again. I’m praying about that!

I’ve also hired other virtual assistants for other tasks. Gayle DeSalles did a great job organizing all my mailing lists. I’ve hired Kathleen Y’Barbo for publicity stuff too.

Last year my husband and I sat down and had a “state of the ink” meeting. We looked over what I was currently doing and where I dreamed of going. We realized that I could do a lot more if I had more help so I hired a business consultant to help me discover/build my brand. Kristen Andress is an associate of Stedman Graham. I was introduced to Kristen through a producer who I met in Canada. The redo of my website and press kit are one of the things Kristen and I worked on. She’s also connected me with other amazing Christian leaders and one book project is in the works with a well-know Christian business author. Kristen’s fee was pricey, but both my agent Janet Grant and I feel it’s been worth the investment. Working with a professional had helped me to treat this writing stuff as a profession.

Also, in the last year I’ve taken advantage of the amazing Pulsepoint Design team, lead by Kelli Standish. They produced a stellar website, a totally cool book trailer, and we’re currently working together for some blog promotions.

Finally, with the recommendation of Robin Gunn I also started working with an events coordinator. Natalie has been organizing my speaking events, negotiating fee for me (I’d used to speak for free wherever I went just because I didn’t like to bring up money!), and taking care of all the details so I don’t have to think about them. It’s so sweet, and she gets a % of my speaking fees, which is worth it!

A few months ago I organized a “meeting” with this group of amazing people we refer to as Team Tricia. They are my big feet that keep me stabilized and allows me to grow. The awesome thing is that each of these people have amazing talents, and by using them I have more time to writing … and writing I’ve been doing!

It was an investment for sure, but I’m really starting to see it pay off, both in the books I’m producing, the people I’m reaching, and my peace of mind and heart.