Outsource Your Busyness

It was so beautiful outside the other day I decided to get my car washed. It was long overdue and I’d been telling myself, I’d wash it next weekend.

However each weekend, something else would come up or there wouldn’t be any time. It takes me about 2 hours to wash my car. I’m not sure why it takes so long, but it does.

I can count on one hand how many times I’ve personal pulled out the hose to wash my car. It’s so much easier to have someone else do it.

I went to Auto Bell which is a place that washes and details cars. Since I know how long it takes me to wash it, I decided to time them to see how long it would take.

By the time I’d checked my email, sent out a few tweets and outlined this blog post they were finished.

Ask me how long it took?

….15 minutes!

Yes, 15 minutes compared to my 2 hours.

At one point I decided a great way to save money was to do my own hair and only go to the salon once a month. It was a great idea on the weeks I had a hair appointment, but not so great on the weeks I had to do it myself.

It takes about 4 hours for me to shampoo and style my hair from beginning to end. And afterwards, it still looks no where close to having that salon look. I quickly came to the conclusion it was better to let my hair stylist do my hair on a more regular basis saving me 4 hours, tired arms, and frustration. In addition, I’m able to read, sleep, work, relax while she does my hair.

Deciding on what to outsource for business is very similar to this. You have to decide which tasks best utilize your time and increase profits, and which are just as valuable, but not profitable.

As you’re going through your work day, write down everything you do and how long it takes you.

Here is a list of possible tasks to outsource:

1. Learning

   Are you always reading blog posts, making notes, jotting down this, jotting down that? Are you able to filter what’s useful for your business today?

   It’s very easy to get so wrapped up into learning the latest thing, that you lose focus of what’s important for today. If you haven’t created a product to sell, it’s pre-mature to research shopping carts.

   Because you are the visionary of your business, it’s easy to be so far into the future that you miss steps in the present which clog your filter.

   If your filter is clogged it’s time to outsource or scratch off the learning for a while and go into all out action mode.

   A Virtual Assistant (VA) can go through the information and note things specific that you can take action on immediately for your business.

2. Email Support

   If you have frequent teleclasses or sell your own products, either digital or otherwise, at some point you’ll need customer support separate from yourself. Outsource the emails to a VA who can represent your company. This allows you to be focused on creating more products.

3. Social Media

   Are you getting too emotionally involved when it comes to selecting blog posts or quotes to post on social media? Not sure?

   Are you spending too much time deciding which blog post, what question, and which inspirational quote fits the right mood and topic for the day?

   You know tweets only last for so many minutes. It’s highly unlikely someone is reading every single update you post for the day.

   And if they are, it’s not likely they’re tracking the categories of your post or the relativity of your quote as it relates to your status updates for the day. Sounds silly, then you understand how much of a relief outsourcing this one task will be.

4. Reading

   Ever sat down to read the newspaper or magazine and then realize there are only a few articles you’re really interested in reading, however when you realize this an hour has passed?

   Imagine if you gave this task to your VA and asked her to note all of the articles relative to your business, then you would only be reading relevant information and not getting distracted by the other articles.

   Apply this same philosophy when it comes to reading or researching information online.

   If you’re only reading 3 posts as opposed to 10, you’re taking less time away from your income generating activities.

5. Web Updates

   This is probably the first thing most people consider outsourcing, however if you’re in WordPress you can do some updates yourself.

   So what to outsource in WordPress? Anything that takes you longer than 5 minutes. Does it require coding? Does it require research? Is it more technically involved than you choose to go?

6. Newsletter/Blog Posts

   Do you know how long it takes for a good VA to update your newsletter and send you a test copy? 30 minutes at the most, and that’s being generous. Of course, if you’ve got more than one feature article and lots of updates to events, a calendar, products, etc. it’s going to take longer. I’m referring to simple newsletters using AWeber one that has your editor’s note, feature article, where you are in 2011, and a quick tip.

   The next time you go to update your own blog posts and test your newsletter, time yourself. How long does it take? If it’s taking you longer than 30 minutes, ask yourself why you’re still spending time on this task instead of investing in a VA?

   And if you’re doing this 2 times a week, ask yourself what you could be doing during this time instead.

7. Web Updates

   This is probably the first thing most people consider outsourcing, however if you’re in WordPRess you can do some updates yourself.

   So what to outsource in WordPress? Anything that takes you longer than 5 minutes. Does it require coding? Does it require research? Is it more technically involved than you choose to go?

8. Graphic Design

   I’m really shocked when I see business owners asking questions about how to do banner ad designs. What could take you hours to figure out, may just take a graphics designer minutes to complete. It’s really tempting to play with clipart, colors and the draw feature in PaintShop, however while you’re working on that, that’s one less product created, one less article written, and one client missed as a result.

This list is to give you an idea of what to outsource.

There are many other tasks you can outsource. Many business owners find expansion only comes when they are able to free up time and focus on what generates direct profits.

Now it’s your turn, what other tasks can be outsourced? Share what challenges you have when it comes to outsourcing your busyness.