For four years, actor Hugh Grant employed a fake talent agent named “James Howe Ealy” to manage his business affairs. In fact, it was just Grant himself using a different email account and putting on a “pretty bad” Scottish accent on the phone.
This story is one of many I’ve heard from people who made the same big decision I made early in my career: creating a fake assistant.
Today, I run a successful business generating around $18,000 in monthly passive incomebased on my calculations based on a recent month’s deposits, and I only work four hours a day. But in 2009, I was a university dropout with $50,000 in student loans, trying to build a social media marketing business from scratch.
I knew I needed help to manage my increasing workloadbut I couldn’t afford to hire anyone. That’s when I discovered the fake assistant method.
It may seem unconventional, but looking back, it was the best business decision I ever made.
I was drowning in administrative tasks
Early in my business, I noticed a few trends. Potential customers would try to schedule calls at all hours, haggle over prices, or expect immediate responses to every email. I was drowning in administrative tasks instead of focusing on income-generating work.
Saying “no” seemed impossible, because a new entrepreneurbut I needed boundaries. “If only I had an assistant,” I thought.
I suddenly realized that since most of my work happened digitally, it didn’t matter whether I responded to emails from potential clients as myself or as someone else.
If I had someone else answer emails, I could start setting a new standard, charge more money, and hold myself accountable for growing my business. That’s when I hired my fake assistant, Olivia.
Olivia immediately achieved remarkable results
I created a professional email address for Olivia. Then I started sending him copies of all client communications to manage tasks like scheduling calls and sending invoices.
This small change had an immediate impact. When clients wanted to schedule a meeting, instead of the back and forth ruining my day, Olivia would chime in: “Amy’s calendar is booked for the next two weeks, but I can schedule Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET.” »
The results were remarkable. Clientele respected my time, I easily accepted my rates and handled my business in a more professional manner.
This method is not intended to deceive, but to create systems that enable your business to grow.
The true power of a fake assistant
You might be thinking the obvious: “But Amy, you still do all this work yourself. What’s the difference?”
Here’s what I learned about how even a fake assistant that’s actually you can transform your business:
- This helps set better boundaries. Having an assistant gives you a buffer to protect your time and energy. When a customer wants to schedule a last-minute call, your assistant can politely decline without making it personal. When you respond as yourself, you may feel a sense of obligation and find it more difficult to respond. say “no”.
- This positions your business more professionally. Customers treat you differently when they see efficiency in action. This is what a great team can do for you. And even a temporary fake can help, leading to better rates and greater respect for your time.
- This requires you to create efficient and transferable systems. When you act like you have an assistant, you create, test, and refine processes, workflows, and infrastructure that someone could easily integrate and replicate on your behalf. This preparation made it infinitely easier to onboard and train for real help when I finally could afford it.
- It prepared me to delegate. By the time I hired a real assistant, I had a clear understanding of what exactly I needed help with, how to delegate effectively, how manage my timeand how to run my business smoothly.
My Top 3 Tips for Hiring a Fake Assistant
If you’re considering this method, here are some pro tips:
- Do not use it as a crutch. The goal is to create systems that will help you grow, not create additional work. Keep it simple and professional.
- Remember the end goal. This is a stepping stone to hiring real help, not a permanent solution.
- Track your time in “administrator mode”. When you realize how much time these administrative tasks take, you have a concrete idea of the level of assistant you will need to hire in the near future and for how many hours.
It was my first step towards success
Hiring Olivia meant more than just having a cheerful, organized personality with an email address. This was my first step towards building a scalable business. Today, real team members help me manage my YouTube channel, my books and my coaching business.
The fake assistant method taught me some very real and crucial lessons about valuing my time, set professional boundariesand create growth systems.
It also helped me discover that sometimes the best business decisions are the ones that seem a little unusual at first.
Amy Landino is a personal brand coach and award-winning creator of AmyTV on YouTube. She is an instructor in CNBC’s online course How to earn passive income online. Follow her on Instagram.
Want to earn extra money outside of your day job? Sign up for CNBC’s online course How to earn passive income online to learn more about common passive income streams, tips for getting started, and real-life success stories.
