Do you have too much to do? Here are 6 things to outsource
If you've got an epically lengthy list of tasks, it might be time to hire reinforcements. Below are six tasks that you could outsource to a virtual or freelance assistant.
As an entrepreneur, your plates are always full.
The tasks just keep growing. The inbox is full you've got 17,17 Excel spreadsheets open at the same time, you haven't looked at your social media alerts for a week, and you are constantly catching mistakes afteryou publish blog posts.
Your list of things to do is far too extensive for one person to tackle. It's impossible to do everything by yourself which is fine.
Time to summon reinforcements. In particular, Virtual assistants (VAs) as well as freelancers.
By outsourcing repetitive work, you can save the time you need to invest in growing your company. From entering data into your system to management of social media sites, there are plenty of activities which consume your time and can be outsourced to a third party.
In this post this article, we'll discuss six jobs which you could outsource in order to cut down on time (and your sanity).
But first ask yourself if outsourcing trulyworth it?
And we'll explain why.
What are the benefits of outsourcing tasks for a virtual assistant, or freelancer?
And that's especially true considering this perplexing stat: Workers tend to devote 2.8 hours a day on productive tasks.
If you're a business owner who is full-time, that number is definitely greater for you. It's likely that you're working on things that don't make the most efficient way to use your time.
When you outsource those low-growth repetitive jobs to the freelancers or to a virtual assistant (VA) and you'll be able to spend more time on tasks that will grow your business.
Hire an expert complete the tasks that you do not find time to do (or do not really enjoy).
Save costs and time over the hiring of a full-time employee.
These benefits are why 70 percent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) report having hired a freelancer, with 81% of them saying that they intend to continue to employ freelancers.
Employing a virtual team such as freelancers and VAs -- has also been found to improve efficiency.
Researchers have found remote workers can be up to 13.5 percentage more productive than office workers.
In the end outsourcing work to a freelancer or VA will help take some of your least favorite, lowest-growth business tasks off your plate, freeing up your time to concentrate on building your business.
There's one remaining question you need to address which tasks you should assign to an outside company?
6 jobs to outsource if you're running out of time
1. Organization and administrative work
When we think about outsourcing their work to the virtual assistant typically, they consider outsourcing time-consuming tasks like data entry and transcription. These can be a significant part of VAs tasks.
But VAs can help business owners with a wide array of duties this is likely the reason they are so popular. The worldwide outsourcing market -- which includes VAs -- was 92.5 billion dollars in 2019.
A few of the most commonly performed VA assignments are:
Scheduling and management of calendars
Data entry
Management of projects
Event planning
Email marketing
PR outreach and follow-ups
Controlling accounts payable, invoicing as well as expensing
Support for customers, which includes moderating accounts on social media
Management of CRM-related software
Competitor analysis
Converting audio and video files
Vendor management
Webinar management
Social media marketing
Phew. If that list seems to span a wide range of abilities, it's because VAs are some of the most versatile team members available.
If you're looking for an VA ensure that you have a clear idea of what tasks you'd like the VA to concentrate onin addition, you should have funds to reward them fairly according to their expertise.
The present market rates for VAs are:
$25-40 per hour for general admin skills
Affordable rates of $30 to $50 per hour. capabilities
$50+ per hour for skills that are specialized
In the meantime, let's proceed to more specific tasks to outsource -for example, bookkeeping and accounting.
#2: Bookkeeping and accounting
If you're anything like me -- you're nota numerals person there are one hundred things you'd rather do other than crunch numbers.
In the event that you're making less than 5 figures for your business and don't have lots of expenses to monitor then you're probably able to handle your finances with a tool like Quickbooks .
If your earnings are higher than this, hiring an independent accountant could assist you in keeping the books in order off your desk and streamline your financial management.
Accounting is one of the most commonly performed business processes that are outsourced to a third party. .
There's a valid reason for that. Accounting is one of the most important tasks for smaller businesses, particularly when you consider that 29percent of start-ups are unsuccessful because they're in cash.
Manage, estimate the quarterly tax bill, and manage
Control your cash flow
Follow and keep track of the
In contrast to accounting software the bookkeeper or accountant can give you personalized advice and answer questions in greater depth since they are familiar with the specific tax issues you face.
Some bookkeepers even specialize in helping professionals in specific fields. As an example, Friedman, Kannenberg & Company, PC specializes in providing the accounting and bookkeeping services needed by musicians, bands, retailers of music equipment, as well as music school.
If you want to find an accountant who knows the ins and outs of your field, Google "accountant specializing in the industry you work in".
As a company owner, accounting and bookkeeping services are among the first services you need to outsource (unless you are really interested in analyzing tax codes (I won't be able to).
Alongside the tasks that require a lot of numbers such as data entry and bookkeeping, you can outsource tech and creative work too.
#3: Web development and design
It takes users about 0.05 second to form an opinion regarding your website.
It's the reason having a reliable web developer on your side important.
Your site must be visually appealing, easy to navigateand useful. And, in today's time of instant access the website must be fast.
26.9 percent of online website visitors will wait less than four seconds for loading a website, and 45.4% of visitors stated that they were less likely to purchase items if page loading speeds were slower than expected.
You also need to ensure that your site is mobile-friendly. Traffic from mobile devices accounts around half the traffic on websites worldwide Visitors will be 5 times more likely to quit your site if it isn't mobile-friendly.
Plus, Google announced in the year of 2018 that they'd be boosting ranking of sites optimized for mobile within their results for mobile searches, so having a mobile-optimized or responsive site can help your search engine optimization, too.
(You can test your website's current mobile-friendliness with Google's Mobile-Friendly Checker Tool .)
Delegating your web design tasks to a seasoned web developer and designer can assist you in creating a site that loads quickly, works flawlessly on mobile devices and is in line with your company's image.
Where can you locate web developers and designers who can make your site shine?
The top sites to find web-based developers are:
The Website Builder allows you to develop a website that sells an infinite variety of digital items -- online courses subscriptions, memberships, as well as digital downloads -- without ever having to enter an id, troubleshoot a finicky WordPress themes, or download a confusing plugin.
Take a peek at the website Mallika Malhotra brand expert and photographer, built with the site editor of's:
Mallika has customized her site to reflect her personal brand and aesthetic without having to hire the services of a designer or developer in order to create it from scratch.
also takes charge for mobile optimization, site speedsand all the other technical hassles as well, which means that Mallika as well as you are able to focus on selling products and developing the products you sell instead.
A good-looking, easy-to-use website is an absolute must, however, with no great contents, it'll only take you so far. You can, however, hire copywriting or content writers.
#4: Copywriting, content and writing
Making and carrying out a successful content marketing plan is a long process -- especially considering that each blog post can take three hour and 45 minutes to create.
If you're planning to push up weekly posts, it's more than four hours every week, which most solopreneurs can't afford.
Plus, different types of content call for different styles of writing.
There are a lot of experienced, skilled freelance copywriters and content marketing experts out there to help you develop content that appeals to your audience and drives sales.
Outsource writing assignments of all sorts, including:
Blogging
Publishing press releases
SEO SEO Services, such as keyword research, link-building, and backlinks
To locate skilled freelance content writers Jodi Harris, the director of editorial content and strategy at the Content Marketing Institute, offers these suggestions :
Contact your professional contacts and inquire for writers they suggest.
Post the assignment in a writers' job board that is focused on freelancer services, like Upwork or LinkedIn Pro-Finder .
Employ a creative staffing agency or Content marketing platforms like Contently . (This alternative comes at a cost higher, however.)
Even if you manage written content creation in-house, you can be sure that your blog posts and copy are of the highest quality through outsourcing editing and proofreading procedures.
#5 5. Editing (writing, video, and podcasts)
Your target audience is eager to view -- and hear or read excellent material from you. Customers are awestruck by the content they consume.
Take podcasts, for example. 64 percent of Americans listened to some sort of online audio (like podcasts) in 2018, with the weekly listeners to online audio report an average of 17 hours of listening per week.
That's a lot of content that your customers could possibly enjoy from you. And lots of it can use to gain your audience's trust, loyaltyand even dollars. Yet, content that isn't of high quality won't convert readers into buyers.
This is where editors step in. A skilled editor is what differentiates good content and greatcontent.
In written content, editors can assist writers to sound at their finest, convey their message across clearly and avoid common writing mistakes .
There's also a tool such as Grammarly for an additional check However, it's not meant to entirely replace human editors regardless of whether you're proofreading yourself. Grammarly's AI occasionally misses mistakes (or detects errors when they aren't).
Depending on what you're searching for as well as the price you're willing and able to affordPodcast producers can assist with everything from reducing background noise to offering editorial input that helps your podcast tell a stronger narrative.
Not to be left out, editing video is another time-consuming task that outsourcing can help you with.
To locate editors on the market who can freelance for all types of content, visit freelance marketplaces such as upwork.com as well as Freelancer.com .
Remember this old adage You get what spend for.
Instead of choosing freelancers who claim to offer the best rates and the highest quality, look for skilled editors. It'll help you get the best service possible -as well as save you a lot of time (and the stress of) in the future.
As with audio and video editing the final job of the list will require lots of expertise and time to master, which makes it the perfect candidate for outsourcing.
#6 Graphic design
Let's get this out of the way: Photoshop is hard. (And I'm not saying that because I got the grade of C in my graphic design course.)
If you're a business owner, chances are that you're not able to master the art of graphic design. However, visual content is a key part of branding and online marketing.
Indeed, more than 90% of all purchases depend on the visual aspect as well as 40% of marketing professionals claimed that graphic designs helped them reach their marketing goals this year.
A freelance graphic designer will help create a visual identity for your website, digital downloads and social media accounts, and much more.
Freelance graphic design deliverables might include:
Logos
Infographics
PowerPoint templates
Design and layout of ebooks
For even greater efficiency it is possible to make a commission for ebooks and slide templates you can reuse repeatedly, meaning it's not necessary to design these assets each time.
For example, turning your data-heavy blog post into an infographic makes the content easier for your audience to absorb And infographics get shared and liked via social media three times more than any other kind of content.
If you're looking for a graphic artist look into design marketplaces like DesignCrowd and, of course, UpWork's design section .
Both websites connect businesses to hundreds of thousands of independent designers that can design anything from email and web design templates, to packaging and T-shirt design.
Here's the bottom line In the same way as all the things we've discussed the past few days visually appealing content is an integral part of building your business -- one that you don't have to tackle by yourself.
You can outsource these six jobs for a shorter list of tasks
"There aren't enough hours in the time" is a common cliche that has reasons: It's true, especially when you're an entrepreneur who's seeking to create a successful business single-handedly.
Utilizing a virtual assistant or freelancer can help you get back the time you spent. For a quick overview, here are the six things you should consider outsourcing:
Organization and administrative work, like data entry, schedule management, and transcription
Accounting and bookkeeping to keep you in the loop about your tax and cash flow obligations
Design and development for web to create a UX/UI the audience will appreciate
Copywriting and content writing to ensure that your content marketing and sales copy stands out from the rest of the pack (and the Google search results)
Video, podcast, and editing of written content so you don't have to worry about typos or choppy audio
Visual and graphic design to showcase your brand identity and grab potential customers' attention
It can be difficult, and often there's an overwhelming pressure on entrepreneurs to handle it all independently. There's nothing wrong with outsourcing work so that you can get back to doing what you do best -- creating and growing your company.