Are you overwhelmed with work? Here are six tasks that to outsource
If you're struggling with an incredibly long list of things to do It's probably time to bring in reinforcements. Here are 6 tasks which you can delegate to a freelancer or virtual assistant.
If you are an entrepreneur, your can never have enough to eat.
The work tasks keep growing. Your inbox is full, you have 17 Excel spreadsheets open at the same time You haven't checked your social media notifications for a week, and you keep catching typos whenyou write blog posts.
The list of tasks you have to complete is way too long for just one person to handle. There's no way to tackle it all by yourself and that's okay.
The time has come to bring in reinforcements. In particular virtual assistants (VAs) and freelancers.
The outsourcing of repetitive tasks will give you precious time back to focus on growing your business. From entering data into your system to social media management There's a myriad of tasks taking up your time that could be outsourced to a third party.
In this post we'll go over six areas that you can delegate in order to cut down on time (and your mind).
The first question is, is outsourcing actuallyworth it?
Yes, and we'll explain why.
What are the benefits of outsourcing tasks to a virtual assistant, or freelancer?
And that's especially true in light of this mind-boggling stat: Workers tend to devote 2.8 hours per day working on tasks that are productive.
When you're a full-time owner of a business, that number is definitely more for those of you who are. But chances are, you're working on things that don't make the most efficient use of your time.
If you decide to outsource your low-growth routine tasks to the freelancers or to a virtual assistant (VA) and you'll get back time to focus on tasks that will grow your business.
Bring in an expert to take on the work you don't find time to do (or you really don't like doing).
You can save money and time when employing a full-time worker.
The benefits of this are the reason 70% of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have hired a freelancer, with 81% saying they plan to do so again.
Hiring a virtual staff -- like freelancers and VAs -- has also been proven to boost the productivity.
The research suggests that remote team members can be up to 13.5 percentage more productive than their in-office counterparts.
All in all outsourcing work to freelancers or a VA can help you take certain of your most unpopular jobs, and ones that are not growing as fast your list, freeing the time you can focus on growing your business.
Then, there's only one question left to be answered which tasks you should outsource?
6 tasks to outsource if you're in a hurry.
#1: Organization and admin tasks
When people think about outsourcing their tasks to the virtual assistant typically, they think of offloading time-consuming tasks like data entry and transcription -- and those are certainly part of many VAs' jobs.
They can also assist businesses with a range of jobs this is likely the reason they are so popular. The global outsourcing market that includes VAs -- reached 92.5 billion dollars in the year 2019.
A few of the most commonly performed VA tasks comprise:
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
Customer support, including moderating social media accounts
Management of CRM-related software
Competitor analysis
Transcribing video and audio file
Vendor management
Webinar management
Social media marketing
Phew. If that list seems to be spanning a variety of abilities, it's because VAs are some of the most flexible team members out there.
If you are looking for an VA ensure that you are aware of the tasks you would like for them to be focused on- and that you have the budget to compensate the VA fairly, based on their skills.
The current prices of VAs on the market are:
$25-40 per hour for general admin skills
Affordable rates of $30 to $50 per hour. skills
$50+ per hour to learn specialized skills
In the meantime, let's move on to some more specific tasks to outsource -such as bookkeeping and accounting.
#2: Bookkeeping and accounting
If you're anything like me and are you're nota numbers person -- there's probably a hundred other things you'd rather do than crunch numbers.
If you're making less than five figures from your company and you don't have an abundance of expenses to track then you're probably able to handle your business' finances using an application like Quickbooks .
If your earnings are higher than this, hiring a freelance accountant can take the nitty-gritty of keeping the books in order off your hands and help simplify the management of your finances.
Accounting is among the most frequently outsourced business processes .
and there's an excellent reason why. Accounting is one of the most important tasks for small businesses -- especially when you consider that 29% of startups are unsuccessful because they're short of funds.
Estimate, manage, and pay quarterly taxes
Manage your cash flow
Track and follow the
In contrast to accounting software, a bookkeeper or accountant will give you individualized advice and respond to your queries in greater depth since they are familiar with your specific tax situation.
Some bookkeepers even specialize in helping professionals in specific fields. For example, Friedman, Kannenberg & Company, PC specializes in providing accounts services for musicians and bands, as well as retailers of music equipment, as well as music school.
For an accountant who understands the ins and outs of your field, Google "accountant specializing in your industry".
As a company owner, accounting and bookkeeping services are one of the first things services you need to outsource (unless you really enjoy analyzing tax laws -- I won't judge).
In addition to numbers-heavy tasks such as accounting and data entry, you can outsource tech and creative work too.
#3: Web development and design
It can take people around 0.05 minutes to form an opinion regarding your website.
That's why having a good web developer on your side important.
Your site must be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and informative. In this day and world of instant feedback, it needs to be quick.
26.9% of ecommerce website visitors have to wait for less than four seconds a page to load, and 45.4 percent of users said they would be less likely to purchase items if page loading speed was slower than they anticipated.
It is also important to ensure that your site is mobile-friendly. Traffic from mobile devices accounts around half the traffic on websites worldwide And visitors who visit your site from mobile devices are nearly five times as likely to abandon your website when it's not mobile-friendly.
Additionally, Google announced in the year 2018 that they're increasing the rankings for mobile-optimized sites within their results for mobile searches So the presence of a responsive or mobile-optimized website will help with SEO, too.
(You are able to check the site's present mobile-friendlyness using Google's Mobile-Friendly Checker Tool .)
The outsourcing of your website's tasks to a seasoned web developer or designer will assist you in creating a site that loads quickly, works flawlessly on mobile devices, and fits your brand image.
Then, where do you locate web developers and web designers to help make your website shine?
The most popular websites to locate web-based developers are:
The Website Builder lets you develop a website that sells an infinite amount of digital goods such as online courses or memberships as well as digital downloads -without ever having to enter an id, troubleshoot a finicky WordPress template, or even install an unintuitive plugin.
Take a peek at the site Mallika Malhotra expert in branding and photographer. It was built using the editor for websites:
Mallika modified her website to reflect her personal brand and aesthetic without having to hire a developer or designer to design it.
also takes care of mobile-optimization, website speedsand all the technical problems as well, which means that Mallika -- and you -- can focus on creating and selling products instead.
A good-looking, easy-to-use website is a must-have, but with no great information, it will only take you so far. Luckily, you can also hire copywriting or content writers.
#4: Copywriting and Content writing
Building and executing a content marketing strategy is a long process and effort, especially when each blog post can take three hours and 55 minutes to create.
If you're looking to put out weekly content, that's an extra four hours every week, which most solopreneurs can't afford.
Plus, different types of content require different types of writing.
There are a lot of skilled, professional freelance copywriters and content marketers out there to help you develop content that appeals to the audience and increases sales.
It is possible to outsource writing projects of all sorts, including:
Blogging
Press releases written by journalists
SEO SEO Services, such as search engine optimization, link building, and backlinks
For finding talented freelance content writers, Jodi Harris, who is the director of editorial content and strategy at Content Marketing Institute, offers these suggestions :
Reach out to your professional network and ask whether they know of writers that they can suggest.
Make the task available in a writers' job board that is focused on services for freelancers, such as upwork.com as well as LinkedIn Pro-Finder .
Use an agency that provides creative services or a an online platform for content marketing such as Contently . (This option tends to come with a price increase however.)
And even if you keep writing content in-house, you can ensure that the content on your blog and website are of the highest quality through outsourcing editing and proofreading methods.
#5: Editing (writing, video, and podcasts)
Your customers want to be able to access (and hear) or read amazing information from your company. People enjoy videos and content.
Take podcasts, for example. 64 percent of Americans were listening to some sort of online audio (like podcasts) in 2018. listening to audio online on a weekly basis, and reported an average of 17 hours of listening per week.
That's a lot of content your audience could potentially enjoy from you -- and lots of it can make use of to gain the trust of your viewers, their loyalty, and dollars. Yet, content that isn't of high quality will not convert your viewers into buyers.
This is where editors step in. An experienced editor can be what differentiates good content and greatcontent.
When writing content, editors can assist writers to sound their best, get their message across clearly and steer clear of frequent writing errors .
You can also use an application such as Grammarly as an extra check however it shouldn't completely replace the human editor (even if you're proofreading yourself. Grammarly's AI often misses errors (or finds errors where they aren't).
Based on the type of content you're looking for -- as well as the price you're willing to pay -Podcast producers can assist in a variety of ways, from cutting down background noise to offering editorial input that helps your podcast tell a stronger narrative.
Not to be left out, editing videos is another task that takes a lot of time and outsourcing could take off your plate.
To find freelance editors for different types of content check out freelance marketplaces like the Upwork and Freelancer.com .
Remember this old adage: you get what you buy.
If you're looking for freelancers that promise the lowest rates and the highest quality, look for experienced editors. It'll help you get the highest quality service -- and save you a lot of time (and a big headache) in the future.
Similar to audio editing and video the final job of the list will require a lot of skill and time to master. This makes it an ideal candidate for outsourcing.
#6 Graphic design
Let's get this off the table: Photoshop is hard. (And I'm not just telling you this because I received a C in high school's Graphic Design class.)
If you're a company owner, it's likely you don't have time to master graphic design. However, visual content is important to branding as well as online marketing.
In fact, up to 90% of all purchases depend on images as well as 40 percent of marketing professionals reported that their original graphic have helped them achieve the goals they set for their marketing in this year.
Employing a graphic designer will help create a visual identity for your website, digital downloads, social media profiles, and more.
Freelance graphic design deliverables might include:
Logos
Infographics
PowerPoint templates
Design and layout of ebooks
In order to save time You can also make a commission for ebooks and slide templates you can reuse repeatedly, meaning you don't need to make these assets each time.
In this case, for instance, turning a data-rich blog post into an infographic makes the content easier for readers to digest And infographics are liked and shared through social networks 3 times faster than other types of content.
For a graphic designer to find Look into marketplaces for design like DesignCrowd and of course, UpWork's design section .
These websites allow businesses to connect with thousands of designers who are freelance, that can design anything from email and web design templates to packaging and t-shirt design.
The bottom line is: Like all of the tasks we've covered the past few days visually appealing content is an essential element of developing your business -- one that can be handled alone.
Let these six tasks be outsourced to shorten your to-do list
"There aren't enough hours in an entire day" is a cliche for a reason: It's true in particular when you're an entrepreneur who's trying to build a business single-handedly.
A virtual assistant or freelancer can assist you in regaining the time you spent. For a quick overview, here are six tasks to consider outsourcing:
Administrative and organizational work like data entry, schedule management, transcription
The bookkeeping and accounting process keeps you in the loop about your tax flow and your cash flow obligations
Design and development for web to create a UX/UI the audience will appreciate
Content writing and copywriting, so your content marketing and sales copy stands out from the crowd (and even Google search results)
Podcast, video, and editing of written content making it easier to not fret about spelling mistakes or poor audio
Graphic design and visual content to show off 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 by themselves. There's nothing wrong with outsourcing your tasks to get back to doing your best workdeveloping and expanding your business.