Anfernee shared that his team uses Podio for task management, communication, and workflow tracking, and Google Drive/Docs for writing collaboration. He emphasized keeping systems simple and efficient, a point Barbara agreed with, noting that using a few key systems that work well together prevents team overwhelm.
The trials and tribulations Anfernee Chansamooth has faced whilst building a virtual team of specialists
Virtual Success Show
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Episode breakdown
In this episode, special guest Anfernee Chansamooth, Chief Marketing Officer at Simple Creative Marketing, takes listeners through the challenges he faced when building a virtual team of specialists to support his rapidly growing business. Anfernee, whose expertise lies in writing online content, takes us through his journey of assembling a team of specialists and how it’s important to not only find the right people, but also have well thought out systems and processes in place to ensure everyone is set up for success.
- Before you do anything else, work out what the core service is that you are delivering and then start to decode that first.
- Building a virtual team isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth it.
- The importance of systems and processes as they provide the foundation to which you can then build a team around.
- The need for good communication tools in order to systemise the processes used for communicating with your virtual team and/or clients.
The success of virtual teams actually hinges on the work that's done before the virtual team arrives.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction
Barbara and Matt opened the episode by highlighting their growing library of content and introducing the topic of content marketing as a key but challenging part of business strategy. They welcomed guest Anfernee Chansamooth, Chief Marketing Officer at Simple Creative Marketing and host of the Authentic Influence podcast, and asked him to share the backstory of how he built his virtual team of writers and developed his monthly content service.
02:15 - About Anfernee Chansamooth
Anfernee shared that even with a 12-person team, producing consistent content was difficult. He saw small business owners facing the same struggle, knowing content was important but lacking systems or giving up after poor results. Inspired by Dan Norris’ 7 Day Start-up challenge, he launched a content service, quickly gained clients, and built his business around helping owners save time and stay consistent with long-term content marketing.
05:13 - Getting started
Anfernee explained that he began as a solo freelancer, writing for outlets like Huffington Post while building his skills. However, creating articles took four to eight hours each, which limited his capacity to serve multiple clients. Realizing he needed help to scale, he started searching for quality writers through platforms like Upwork, though he faced the challenge of balancing cost and quality since professional rates varied widely.
06:32 - The challenges of building a virtual team
Anfernee shared that building Simple Creative meant going through the tough process of sourcing reliable writers, since many business owners struggle to find quality content creators. After testing about 30 writers, he narrowed down to five core team members from countries like South Africa, the US, and the UK, noting that some failed due to reliability issues or inability to adapt to online systems like Google Drive. The journey highlighted the trial-and-error process of balancing quality, reliability, and efficient systems to meet client expectations.
09:25 - Making sure you have the right people in your team
Anfernee explained that the biggest challenge with outsourcing writing is maintaining a client’s unique tone and voice. To solve this, his company uses a detailed onboarding process to understand each client’s brand, audience, and communication style, followed by a two-step system where a writer creates the content and an editor refines it to ensure accuracy and consistency. Barbara and Matt highlighted that his approach underscores the importance of strong systems and processes in building virtual teams, noting that without them, running a business becomes far more difficult.
12:30 - A global team
Anfernee shared that his team is spread across Sydney, the Philippines, South Africa, the US, and the UK. Initially, he tried hiring from the Philippines and India for cost reasons but found the quality lacking, so he built a stricter vetting system to ensure writers met his standards. While geography wasn’t a strategic choice at first, as the business grew with clients in Singapore and the US, having writers across different time zones became an advantage.
14:16 - Tools for communication
15:33 - Team collaboration
Anfernee explained that writers don’t have regular team meetings because they are assigned to specific clients based on their strengths and writing styles. Regular communication and task management happen through the support assistant, who handles daily check-ins, task allocation, and reporting. Anfernee reviews all work before it goes to clients, providing feedback via the support assistant. Barbara praised his persistence in refining processes despite earlier challenges with writers and virtual team setups, and Anfernee admitted he still questions the process about once a month, highlighting the ongoing effort needed to maintain a smooth operation.
18:09 - Shifting your mindset
Anfernee explained that his first major shift was moving from a freelancer mindset to building a team, realizing that all his processes were in his head and he needed to rely on others. Barbara added that this shift requires overcoming the instinct that it’s easier to do everything yourself.
18:35 - Constantly refine your processes
Anfernee described how he continues to resist fully stepping back, sometimes spending more time than intended on tasks, but is now focused on training his COO to manage the team effectively. He uses tools like Loom for feedback, which the support assistant passes to writers to ensure process adherence. Recently, he has emphasized client communication to prevent delays and keep clients informed, after losing a client due to poor communication. Barbara and Matt highlighted that clear processes and feedback loops between the business owner, virtual team, and clients are essential for virtual team success.
21:40 - Building a Virtual Team isn’t easy…but it’s worth it
Barbara emphasized that building virtual teams offers huge long-term benefits but requires commitment, ongoing effort, and careful problem-solving—whether the issue is process, team, individual, or personal. She asked Anfernee for advice for people just starting out with support assistants or other virtual team members.
22:50 - Advice from Anfernee…
Anfernee explained that the key shift in building his business was moving from a freelancer mindset to a business owner mindset—seeing himself as the conductor rather than the doer. He emphasized understanding his role, mapping out processes step by step, and starting with the core service to systemize tasks like client onboarding. He also shared a past mistake of hiring a support assistant too early, realizing that growing a business requires first having people to handle core service delivery, which is why he prioritized hiring writers before a support assistant.
26:18 - Key takeaways…
Barbara and Matt emphasized that before hiring a virtual team, business owners need to do the foundational work: map out systems, clarify processes, and understand their role as the “conductor.” They stressed going analogue first—using post-it notes or flowcharts—before implementing technology. Systems should be unpacked, automated where possible, and only then should delegation occur. Anfernee added that for consistent, high-quality content, business owners can connect with his team at www.simplecreativemarketing.com.
29:11 - Wrapping things up
Barbara wrapped up the episode by inviting listeners to continue the conversation in the Virtual Success Facebook group, suggest future topics, and leave ratings or reviews on Stitcher or iTunes to help the show reach more people. She thanked Anfernee and Matt and signed off until the next episode.
