“If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings—and put compensation as a carrier behind it—you almost don’t have to manage them.” – Jack Welch
So, what’s an online business manager (OBM), and what are their roles? How to hire one, how much do they make and what’s the difference between an OBM and a VA?
In today’s article, we will answer all of the above questions regarding online business managers We’ve asked 16 experts and these were their answers.
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1. Debbie Binnersley – ARC Virtual PA Services
What is an Online Business Manager?
An online business manager is someone who supports and manages others, usually online, businesses with the management of their business.
This can include product launches, business growth, implementing systems, processes, and marketing automation, and managing other team members.
OBMs will help their clients identify more productive and efficient ways to work and will generally be more proactive within the business.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant
The difference between an online business manager and a virtual assistant is usually that OBMs manage a team and work on a more strategic basis, whereas VAs usually work for themselves and the ones that do the work passed to them by the OBM.
What Are The Online Business Manager Jobs and Roles?
So, what do online business managers do? This will depend on the industry of their clients.
It could include anything from moderating a Facebook group to handling the setup of email campaigns for a product launch.
Other duties could include PR support, identifying ways in which the business can be more productive from automating processes to writing up a full set of standard procedures or managing the rest of the team.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
Hiring an OBM is much like hiring any other freelancer. You need to do your research and look for recommendations. You will need to know what you are looking to outsource in order to find the right person
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
Unlike VAs most OBMs don’t charge an hourly rate, choosing to charge a package price instead. Their income could be anything from £1,000 to £5,000 per month.
2. Sam Cohen – CEO Goldtreeway
What is an Online Business Manager?
Online Business Manager manages day-to-day projects for an online business.
They make sure that business operations run efficiently, manage team members’ performance, set and measure KPIs.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant:
The principal difference between an OBM and a Virtual Assistant is that the Assistant is task-focused.
His/ her role is to complete particular stand-alone assignments within deadlines and requirements.
Unlike the VA, Online Business Manager is managing the entire project and focuses on the big picture. It is a remote leadership role.
What Are The Online Business Managers Jobs and Roles?
This is what online business managers do: The primary duties of Online Business Managers are to keep day-to-day operations on track.
They make sure that the team completes projects on time and communicates the projects’ status to the management. OBM guides other team members to answer their questions and distributes tasks
How To Hire An Online Business Manager?
You can use freelancing platforms like Upwork.com or Toptal.com to hire an Online Business Manager.
There are plenty of entrepreneurs out there offering professional online business management services.
Check for customers’ reviews and earlier experiences. The candidate must have experience working in a corporate environment and leading teams.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
The salary of Online Business Managers in the USA starts at 60,000 USD/ year.
3. Dan Bailey – President of WikiLawn Lawn Care
What is an Online Business Manager?
An OBM is someone who manages day-to-day business tasks.
We have this in our Director of Operations.
She manages projects, handles HR and hiring, oversees the various teams, and generally keeps things running smoothly between departments.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant
In my opinion, a virtual assistant is concerned with assisting an individual, not the business as a whole.
I hired a virtual assistant to respond to emails and tidy up my inbox, monitor comments on our WordPress sites, and coordinate my meetings, to name a few tasks.
What are Online Business Managers’ Jobs and Roles?
Our online business manager is our Director of Operations.
What Do Online Business Managers Do?
I mentioned this above, but it varies from company to company.
Our OBM handles a variety of tasks but is mainly concerned with bridging the distance between departments.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
You can hire an OBM by specifically looking for the role, or looking for someone more specialized like a project manager and speaking to them about their experience.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
Many online business managers (OBMs) charge by the hour or month. Our Director of Operations makes $56,000 a year currently.
4. John Linden – Designer at MirrorCoop
What is an Online Business Manager?
An Online Business Manager is a professional who works remotely to oversee the management and functioning of a company’s day-to-day activities.
This individual oversees projects, task assigning to employees, and team members.
If you can think about the outlined roles of a business owner, an online business manager ensures that these roles are competently carried out while the business owner thinks about the next stage of the business.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant
An OBM is a professional role for someone who can strategize, create, and assign tasks, guides, and ensures that the tasks are completed.
A virtual assistant, however, isn’t necessarily a professional and the roles of a VA are limited to completing a set of assigned tasks.
A VA cannot create tasks and assign or strategize to ensure the smooth running of a company or business. The OBM plans projects, manages, and oversees the projects in a company.
He also creates a working system to ensure the daily and effective operation of the business, tracks the progress of the company and affects changes where necessary.
Also, he manages the employees and different departmental teams in the company. While a VA can make suggestions, he does not have the skills required to perform any of these roles.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
A VA may earn between 5-20 dollars an hour. However, an OBM starts charging at $50 hourly.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
Your hiring process shouldn’t be different whether online or not.
After you have put out a job advertisement, schedule a virtual meeting with candidates with impressive resumes (list the qualities you need in your job advertisement).
While interviewing them on your video meeting, ask important questions as to what innovation they are likely to bring to your company.
You should also hire someone with a good experience managing other businesses and someone with great leadership skills.
Finally, ask them to work for a paid trial period between one to three months.
If you are impressed with their performance at the end of this trial period, then you can extend their contract and you have yourself a qualified OBM.
5. Rizwan – Owner of Chessgammon
What is an Online Business Manager?
An online business manager is a specific individual who can work under a contract under the company or as a self-employed freelancer.
Both ways the function of the business online manager is to ensure maximum productivity of the online business is achieved.
They will work alongside potential directors and executives to advise on changes and ideas further grow and improve their business.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant is an individual that the business may uptake to achieve a particular task as opposed to a complete project which may be taken under the manager.
The assistant will be a specialist in the task offered and is usually contacted by a business to complete a particular piece of work that cannot be fulfilled by the business due to the lack of expertise within the business or too much demand.
What are Online Business Managers’ Jobs and Roles?
The role of online business managers is to work alongside the business to achieve the optimal target the business needs to meet.
Their job is primarily arranging and changing the infrastructure and implanting new and improved ideas to meet the company goals.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
Hiring online business managers can be very easy on most recruitment websites, posting an ad with the relevant position and the job role required can make it very easy to hire the right candidate.
Of course, it is important as a business to ensure a rigorous recruitment process to hire the right candidate.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
Online business managers’ salaries will cost the business anywhere between $30,000 – $60 000, depending on their experience and expertise.
6. David Bakke, OBM at National Air Warehouse
What is an Online Business Manager?
He/she’s the person that gets the correct things done at the right time, done properly using the best people!
What are Online Business Managers Jobs and Roles?
An online business manager plays a unique role, in a unique business environment.
In short, he or she ensures that the correct things done at the right time, done properly, using the best people available.
If that sounds vague, it is, because the actual responsibilities are fluid and always changing.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant.
An online business manager has a lot more responsibility than a virtual assistant, because, in that latter role, you’re really just following orders and completing tasks.
With an online business owner, you’re making actual decisions.
An online business manager plays a role in managing projects, operations, staff (usually remotely), and monitoring KPIs typically.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
To effectively hire an online business manager, you would want someone with experience in managing a website, with all of its various responsibilities.
And hopefully, they can point to success stories that can be outlined.
Speaking with other successful small business owners who have had success with online business managers can help as well in terms of references.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
The average salary of an online business manager is a little over $60,000.
7. Victoria Garlick Business Growth Expert Victoriagarlickofficial
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant
I have an Online Business Manager (OBM) and a team of Virtual Assistants and there is an enormous difference.
The Online Business Manager manages day-to-day projects, team members, focuses on my metrics and her main focus is on my company’s day to day operations.
My focus is on Strategic Growth, Marketing, and Selling my online program and products, enabling me to be the Visionary/Architect of my company and serve my clients at the highest level possible.
What are Online Business Managers’ Jobs and Roles?
The OBM is a role that keeps my company moving forward with processes and systems that she manages and has full ownership of.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
I personally hired my Online Business Manager through LinkedIn, which I know is an extremely popular way to connect with OBM’s.
However, my Virtual Assistants work on tasks, such as writing copy, creating social media graphics, scheduling my calls, transcribing my podcast, modules, etc.
They have nothing to do with the processes and systems, they implement the tasks and activities that I give them every day, so my focus is on profit-generating activities and serving my clients only.
8. Carla Diaz Cofounder of Broadband Search
Online Business Managers Vs Virtual Assistants
The way I look at it, the difference between online business managers (OBMs) and virtual assistants (VAs) comes in what they are responsible for.
OBMs are responsible for overseeing projects, basically managing business operations and strategizing, while VAs focus on specific projects and getting them done on time.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
Personally, when I’ve hired OBMs in the past, I’ve done it through referrals.
This method usually gets me the best candidates, as I can go through trusted business partners and see who they might recommend.
You can, of course, post ads online, but the referral method is what has worked best for me. I’d suggest doing both if you aren’t sure, you might as well expand on your options.
9. Tricia Lewis – Executive VP at HackEDU
What is an Online Business Manager?
Online business managers exist because most business owners have difficulty adhering and maintaining the business systems that in many cases they themselves have established.
Business owners are often overwhelmed by the demands of their company and the multitude of hats they’re forced to wear to keep the business moving. This is where an OBM comes in.
What are Online Business Managers’ Jobs and Roles?
OBMs help manage the systems already in place or create new ones. They manage employees and oversee projects.
They function in the same way a physical business manager might, allowing the owner the freedom to see other tasks or plan future business projects.
10. Leonard Ang CMO at iProperty Management
What is an Online Business Manager?
Online business managers are the people in charge to take over day-to-day online operations to free up the owner.
They delegate who does what, how it’s done, and make sure it’s done correctly.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant
A virtual assistant is focused on finishing specific tasks within a given deadline.
Online business managers have a broad scope of responsibilities that envision the bigger picture of the company as a whole.
Responsibilities for both are exponentially different from one another.
What are Online Business Managers’ Jobs and Roles?
A virtually based online manager who handles day to day tasks such as finance, logistics, operations, general project management, and personnel.
They take the place of the owner so that the owner can focus on the growth of the company.
What do Online Business Managers Do?
Online business managers are responsible for managing clients. They need to be capable of delegating, communicating with, and taking responsibility for a virtual team. Lastly, they need to be tech-savvy with online marketing systems and software.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
Online business managers can be hired through traditional means such as job hiring companies, however, nowadays such online jobs are available on social media.
Depending also on the position and experience is often recommended by trusted individuals.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
Most Online Business Managers are often hired as retainers with a salary of $1500-$2500. However, in most scenarios, there is often an Incentive when performance and results exceed expectations.
11. Gintaras Steponkus Marketing Manager at Solid Guides
What is an Online Business Manager?
An online business manager is a professional who is responsible for running online-based business operations. His core duty includes running daily business operations through his strategic planning.
Like a conventional business manager, he works directly under the CEO and supervises all primary business operations such as marketing, sales, and accounts.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant.
A virtual assistant role is like a person who has been assigned some task to do with a dedicated deadline.
An employer needs to demonstrate the “how” and “what” part of the job. He requires direction and is merely responsible for his task. Contrarily, an online business manager is a person who needs to run a system on his own.
He needs to figure out what needs to be done, how it could be done, and why it will be the best strategy. He works independently and is responsible for driving the team.
What are Online Business Managers Jobs and Roles?
An online business manager is responsible for supervising the whole business operations. He is the one who has to devise a strategy, plan for implementation, as well as manage and lead the overall business departments.
Moreover, all sub-managers report to him, and he is directly answerable to the CEO for his performance. They usually work on a monthly commission-based model with 2-3 clients.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
An online business manager is a tough job post as he is required to manage the overall business operations with the aim of business growth.
So, most of the time, these managers are hired on recommendation or referral.
Regarding social media sites, companies usually use Linkedin to reach out to them. In this case, they should have demonstrated a history of working for the company-specific domain as experience matters a lot.
Lastly, people also search for these professionals on freelancing websites.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
It depends on the experience as well as the results that the professional derived for the businesses he worked with in the past.
Many times, stats overrule the experience because, after all, companies only need business growth.
On average, an online business manager with 3-5 years of experience with exceptional performance makes $75,000-$95,000 annually.
12. Olga Fomenko – Online Business Manager at olgafomenko.com
What is an Online Business Manager?
OBM is a mix of an integrator and a project manager – a senior-level position that provides the executive team with support on the strategic work while helping to assemble the team necessary for the implementation and managing the team and projects to completion.
Online Business Manager Vs Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistant is usually an entry-level position that requires directions from the executive team.
VA needs to be told what to do and how to do it while an OBM will know what needs to be done even before a CEO can think about it.
OBM is pretty much a visionary integrator, while a Virtual Assistant is an implementer of the project tasks, admin work, etc. OBM creates processes and SOPs (standard operating procedures) while a VA
follows them.
What are Online Business Managers Jobs and Roles?
Online business managers’ role is to work side by side with CEO and take their ideas to completion by first outlining all steps that go into making the project happen, outlining desired outcomes, and responsibilities, and identifying what resources are missing and where to find them.
OBMs are diverse in online/ digital marketing strategies and can recommend the best possible ways to achieve the desired results.
Can plan and manage launches and direct the team in taking the necessary steps if they need to pivot in a different direction.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
There is a resource for certified Online Business Managers that has a directory of all OBMs that finished the program and passed the exam in the OBM school.
You can choose an OBM in your time zone as they are located in different parts of the world and serve clients nationwide.
There are certainly those that didn’t go through this specific certification program and you may be able to find a great candidate by posting to Indeed, LinkedIn, or even Upwork.
But many business owners that have tried working with both types confirm that certified OMBs are usually more diverse in their strategies & resources and more organized.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
The prices vary depending on the industry and the level of experience of an OBM, the size of the team they have to manage, and the number of clients they are able to work with.
Certified OBMs usually start at $65/hour and can handle one client for 10-15 hours per week. Non-certified OBMs can charge around $45/ hour.
Experienced OBMs often ask for $120/hour. But there are also many individuals that work out packages for each client’s needs!
13. Werner Jorgensen – Sales Manager at heatxperts.com
What’s an Online Business Manager?
An online business manager is virtual professional acting as an assistant who runs the company’s daily operations and helps other managers to develop the working strategies that make the business grow.
What are Online Business Managers Jobs and Roles?
The OBM is responsible for laying out plans for the daily tasks and managing the projects throughout the time they get completed.
They can be asked to manage the programs, create new revenue streams, or update the website, etc.
They can be responsible for automating systems and creating processes for day-to-day activities in the business to streamline and simplify the work procedures.
They can be responsible for handling social media and keeping track of the ad campaigns.
They can be responsible for giving the right solution to every problem in the company.
They have to track the stats for crucial business activities and evaluate each to see what is good for the business and what is not to make the decisions for ongoing growth.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
The hiring procedure for an OBM is the same as that of other positions. The HR managers should know all the responsibilities of an OBM and state them in the job description.
The core values should be obvious in the description as well as the business mission so that only those can apply who know they have the potential to take the position.
Before posting the job, look for referrals.
A personal reference can be more effective than asking people in the group. If you do not find one, go for interviewing the candidates that apply for the job.
How Much Do Online Business Managers Make?
An online business manager can earn from $39K – $97K a year. As per Glassdoor, the average salary of an OBM a year is $63,388.
14. Michael Hammelburger, CEO at The Bottom Line Group
What is an Online Business Manager?
An online business manager is someone who manages the online operations of an enterprise.
What are Online Business Managers’ Jobs and Roles?
His or her tasks can vary from online project management to managing remote employees, from identifying critical and urgent tasks to troubleshooting issues.
Enterprise owners rely on an OBM to manage the entire virtual team so that communication is streamlined and more organized.
15. Ken Eulo – Founding Partner at Smith & Eulo Law Firm
What are Online Business Managers Jobs and Roles?
An online business manager helps aspiring entrepreneurs organize, plan and execute business objectives.
They can also be instrumental in assisting a business owner with the day-to-day functions and responsibilities of running a company.
This can mean different things for different businesses. Some companies may need workflows created, or teams recruited and led.
For others, a business manager might act as an advisor or strategy consultant and not only assist in running the company but also in determining strategies and business plans.
16. Rex Freiberger, President at GadgetReview
What is an Online Business Manager?
An online business manager is someone who handles the normal operations of the business.
They oversee the day-to-day tasks that are more in the trenches and communicate between departments to supply what they need.
Online business managers tend to be jacks of all trades. They handle scheduling and production, communication between managers, daily task assignments, etc.
How to Hire an Online Business Manager?
Hiring one can happen on conventional sites, but I’ve found freelance or contract-based sites to be the best.
This is because OBMs usually work with a retainer fee, charged by the month. Mine started at around $2k/month and increased its fee as the company grew, which felt reasonable to me.
Thanks to all contributors and experts who have participated in this piece of content! We really hope that you’ve found value in this article. Good luck!
Cheers,
Odeh Ahwal
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