November 14th, 2011
Do You Need To Outsource?
Raise your hand if you agree with any of these statements.
…You have a to do list that often gets put off and put off and never done.
…You are frustrated because these things seem so simple to get done, but yet they are not done.
…You think about hiring someone to just do those things, because clearly you aren’t going to do them.
…You daydream about having an assistant who can help you with those undesirable tasks…and then start really dreaming about how much you could let them do…
Many of you might not want to admit it, but you need help. You’re just not sure how to get it.
Before you make yourself too crazy, let’s think about this together.
Do you need help?
Sit down and list every single thing you think you’ve been putting off. Everything from cleaning your house to making doctor’s appointments and making a menu for your meals. Add in every think you can think of – business, work, personal, family, workouts, whatever.
If this list is really long and just looking at it makes you crazy…you need help.
If you’ve been reading this far, I bet you kinda sorta knew that already.
You don’t have to be superwoman.
What can I get help with?
This is where the fun starts, where we find out what tasks you can actually get help completing!
Sure – you can hire someone to help clean your home. That’s HUGE. Do it. If you work from home or home a lot in general, this makes a big difference and is well worth the money.
Now, let’s dig deeper – let’s find some other fun stuff you can get help with:
- Pick 5 things that need to get done on a regular basis.
- Pick 5 things that need to get done now.
The best things to start hiring out are projects that aren’t highly sensitive or personal, but need to get done anyways — find a dentist office that offers kids cleanings too, make appointments, remind you by email to pay your bills or transfer money, and other administrative tasks like this.
But the list doesn’t stop there – once you are comfortable doling out tasks to a virtual assistant, you can get creative and get help with your business, your blog, finding new leads, making sales calls, and more!
Where do I find this help?
Go to a site like hiremymom.com, Upwork.com, craigslist.org, Upwork, fiverr.com. I’ve used all of them in work related and personal situations and all have worked well for me. I have used the services and sites for everything from website work, design projects, and one off administrative projects.
How much is it going to cost me?
You would be surprised. Fiverr.com offers tasks completed for $5 a pop. Elance has workers seeking employment from locations across the globe. Hire My Mom also has mom professionals priced from $10/hour and up. You decide what you need an then go find the person!
What’s the best way to get started?
Decide if you want a dedicated person helping only you or if you mind them helping other people. Then, decide if this is a long term or a short term position. Perhaps you just need someone to help you re-prioritize your to do list during the holidays, take a few things off the list and run with it, and keep you accountable by sending you reminders.
The great thing is you can decide what you want – and there will be someone to fit your need.
Once you make this decision – the next step is to write your help wanted ad and post it to one of the sites listed above.
Stay tuned: Next week – I’ll teach you how to craft your first help wanted ad and give you some guidelines on posting it!
Want to learn more about building a team or need help hiring your first assistant? Email me and find out how!
You are amazing! Loving this post! Off to share…
I’m constantly thinking what can I outsource…Marie is always saying “hire it out, yo!” and gave us a list at RHHLive….I totally think it’s important to hire out tasks that aren’t making you happy, someone else could do better, or ones that would give you that extra hour in the day to just relax!
have used odesk twice first time got an ok job, last week had to pull the pin on a job as the guy took over four weeks to do a 30hr job, he only did 8 hours in 4 weeks. Must have very strict reporting and timelines.
Another option, if you find a lot of the stuff you want help with is stuff that doesn’t require an in-person assistant, is to hire a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant can field business calls, maintain your appointments, do research for you, book hotels/travel services, type up/edit documents, sift through your email & alert you to the truly important ones, update your website, set up/maintain your social networking profiles, respond to comments on your blog—all without you having to pay for their taxes, bills, insurance, equipment etc.