The Benefits of Apprentices

Do you ever feel like you have to do it all, learn it all and be everything in your business?

Especially when you’re first starting your business and there is so much to do and little money to invest in getting help.

I know the feeling…

When I first started my business, I didn’t realize how many hats I would have to wear…

And finding the right kind of support can be a challenge.

As a success coach who helps others start their businesses and build their teams, one of the things I am always on the lookout for is creative ways to get support in not just my business but also for my clients. 

So, when I heard about a program that has marketing apprentices that are eager to learn and excited to help you out in your business, I had to try it out.

The program offers classes to students so that they can learn about different marketing techniques and they can participate in a 3 month apprenticeship with businesses to help them get experience, exposure and feedback. 

The best part is that you can get a marketing apprentice for up to 40 hours a month for very little cost.

The program is called Acadium and the majority of their students are based all around the world.

Want to hear how my experience was with the Acadium apprenticeship and how it impacted my business?

Well, I was a little skeptical at first thinking that this sounded too good to be true.

The first apprentice I hired was someone looking to learn Facebook ads and I was in the process of launching my first campaign. 

I was working with a marketing expert at the time to develop my funnel and ads.  As part of my agreement with the apprentice, I gave him access to the marketing program to learn alongside me from one of the best.  This was a big advantage for him to have access to such a high level program.

After I got feedback on my 3 ads I sent them to my apprentice to setup and test out.  I also told him that he could come up with a couple of his own ads to try for my freebie. 

Guess what…his ad and graphic performed better than the ones that me and the marketing expert came up with!

I couldn’t believe it!

He thought outside the box, took a completely different angle and really nailed it.

He was also a software engineer so he was able to help me with some system integration work that saved us a ton of time.

Needless to say he changed my skepticism about the program and I was ready to try out another apprentice.

The next apprentice I hired was a copywriter.  She had been doing more technical writing and was wanting to branch out and see if she could write for others and she also liked doing research.

We developed a process where I would come up with topics I wanted to do lives on, then she would research similar topics and blogs and save them in a spreadsheet so I could get some inspiration before I went live. 

Once I did my live videos, she would take them and turn them into blog posts.  This saved me a ton of time and the repurposing of the content helped me get my message out in different formats.

Here’s an overview of the process we used:

I have since hired 3 more apprentices with Acadium. One of them worked on my social media graphics, another on different marketing projects and the last one (who I have since hired) worked on my website SEO, system integrations and migrations and has started doing some copywriting for me.

My experience with using Acadium has helped my business be able to get support for a nominal fee and take some of the load off of me having to do it all myself.

But before you get started with them I want to share a few tips with you to make your experience successful.

Tip #1: Remember that they are Apprentices, not experts 

I always like to make sure people are clear that these are apprentices and not experts so don’t expect them to come in and run your marketing campaign from beginning to end without involvement from you.

If that is what you are looking for then you need to go hire an expert and pay a lot more for that type of resource.

These are students trying to learn something so you need to offer them training and give them input and feedback along the way. 

Tip #2: Have a specific project or task in mind

Before you go out looking for an apprentice think about what you really need in your business and what marketing tasks would be the most helpful to get off your plate but are easy enough to teach someone.

Once you are clear on what type of help you need then look for the apprentices that have relevant experience and are looking to expand in that specific area.

If you can get them focused on one specific project or task to start it will go more smoothly for you.  

Tip #3: Message and interview several candidates

Always start out messaging at least 10 candidates that fit the profile you are looking for and interview at least 3 candidates before you make your decision. 

You can tell a lot from how the person is going to show up for the job by how they respond and show up for the interviews. 

Once you’ve found the right apprentice for your business, be sure to share your goals and the vision of your business with them so they feel connected and are motivated to help you succeed.

It’s time to get some support and expand your team!

If you’re ready to get started and find a marketing apprentice for your business just click here.