Do you have too much to do? Here are six tasks that
If you're overwhelmed by a long list of things to do It's probably time to hire reinforcements. These are the 6 jobs you could outsource to a freelancer or virtual assistant.
Being an entrepreneur, you're can never have enough to eat.
The projects just keep on piling up. The inbox is full you have 17 Excel spreadsheets open at the same time, you haven't been able to check your social media notification for a week, and you're constantly finding typos afteryou post blog entries.
Your to-do list is too long for just one person. It's impossible to do everything by yourself which is fine.
Time to summon reinforcements. In particular, virtual assistants (VAs) and freelancers.
Outsourcing repetitive tasks can give the time you need to concentrate on expanding your company. From entering data into your system to social media management There are a lot of things which consume your time and could be outsourced to a third party.
In this post this article, we'll discuss six jobs that you can outsource for time savings (and your mind).
But first to consider, is outsourcing reallyworth it?
And here's why.
How do you outsource your work to a virtual assistant or freelancer?
And that's especially true considering this perplexing stat: Workers tend to be able to spend 2.8 hours a day working on tasks that are productive.
As a full-time business owner this number will be greater for the person who works full-time. It's likely that you're still working on projects that aren't making the most effective way to use your time.
If you decide to outsource your low-growth routine tasks to contractors or virtual assistants (VA) and you'll get back time to focus on more lucrative tasks.
Get an expert in to tackle the tasks you don't find time to do (or you really don't like doing).
You can save money and time when the hiring of a full-time employee.
These benefits are why 70% of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) report having employed a freelancer. 81% saying they plan to hire a freelancer again.
Hiring a virtual staff similar to freelancers or VAs -- has also been proven to boost productivity.
Researchers have found that remote team members are up to 13.5% more productive than office workers.
In the end outsourcing work to a freelancer or VA could help you get some of your least favorite, lowest-growth business tasks off your plate, freeing up the time you can focus on expanding your business.
Now, there's just one question left to be answered: Which tasks should you delegate?
Six tasks you can outsource when you're short on time
#1: Organization and admin work
When we think of outsourcing the work of the virtual assistant They usually consider outsourcing time-consuming work like data entry and transcription. These are certainly part of many VAs work.
But VAs can help businesses with a array of duties, which is probably why the worldwide outsourcing market -- which includes VAs -- was 92.5 billion dollars in the year 2019.
Some of the most common VA assignments comprise:
Management of calendars and scheduling
Data entry
Project management
Event planning
Email marketing
Follow-ups and outreach for PR
Controlling accounts payable, invoicing, and expensing
Customer support, including managing accounts on social media
CRM software for management
Competitor analysis
Transcribing video and audio documents
Vendor management
Webinar management
Social media marketing
Phew. If the list of skills seems to be spanning a variety of skills, that's because VAs are some of the team members with the greatest versatility out there.
If you're looking for an VA be sure to are aware of the tasks you would like the VA to concentrate onin addition, you should have funds to reward them fairly in accordance with their abilities.
Current market rates for VAs are:
$25-40 per hour for general admin skills
$30-50 per hour for advanced capabilities
A minimum of $50 per hour is required for specialized skills
In the meantime, let's look at some other specific tasks to outsource -for example, bookkeeping and accounting.
#2: Bookkeeping and accounting
If you're like me and are you're nota numbers person -- there are one hundred things you'd rather do instead of crunching numbers.
If you're making less than 5 figures for your venture and you don't have an abundance of expenditures to monitor it's likely that you'll be able to manage your finances with an application like QuickBooks .
If your earnings are higher than that, working with an accountant who is freelance can help simplify the task of balancing the books off your hands and help simplify your financial management.
Accounting is among the most frequently outsourcing business functions .
And there's a good reason why. Accounting is among the main tasks of small businesses -- especially in light of the fact that nearly 29% of new businesses fail due to running short of funds.
Plan, organize the quarterly tax bill, and manage
Control your cash flow
Keep track of and follow the
In contrast to accounting software and accounting software, an accountant or bookkeeper can provide you with individualized guidance and respond to your queries in greater details since they're aware of your specific tax situation.
Some bookkeepers even specialize in helping professionals in specific fields. Like, Friedman, Kannenberg & Company PC is a specialist in accounting services to musicians, bands, retailers of music equipment, as well as music schools.
If you want to find an accountant who knows the ins and outs of your field, Google "accountant specializing in your industry".
As a business owner, accounting services are among the first services you need to outsource (unless you truly enjoy studying tax codes (I won't make a judgement).
In addition to numbers-heavy tasks such as data entry and bookkeeping You can also outsource your creative and technical work, as well.
#3 Designing and developing websites
It takes people about 0.05 minutes to form an opinion about your website.
That's why having a good web developer in your corner matters.
Your site must look appealing and attractive, as well as easy to navigateand useful. And, in today's time of instant access the website must be fast.
26.9 percent of online website visitors have to wait for less than 4 seconds to wait for the page to load and 45.4% of visitors reported that they are less likely to buy items if page loading speed was slower than they anticipated.
You also need to ensure that your site is responsive to mobile devices. Mobile devices account roughly half internet traffic in the world Visitors who visit your site from mobile devices are five times more likely to quit your site when it's not mobile-friendly.
Additionally, Google announced in the year of 2018 that they'd be boosting ranking of sites optimized for mobile within their results for mobile searches making it clear that being responsive and mobile-friendly on your website will help with SEO, too.
(You can test your website's present mobile-friendlyness using Google's mobile-friendly checker tool .)
Outsourcing your website work to an experienced web designer and developer can help you create a website which loads fast, functions flawlessly on mobile devices, and fits your brand image.
So, where can you locate web developers and designers who can make your site shine?
Some of the top sites to find a web developer include:
The Website Builder allows you to build a site to sell an infinite amount of digital goods including online classes subscriptions, memberships, as well as digital downloads -- without ever having to enter a line of code, troubleshoot a finicky WordPress theme, or install a confusing plugin.
Have a look at the website Mallika Malhotra brand expert and photographer, built with the editor for websites:
Mallika has customized her site to reflect her personal brand and design without the need for the services of a designer or developer in order to design it.
also takes charge of mobile-optimization, website speed, as well as all other technical issues, so Mallika -- and you can concentrate on selling products and developing items instead.
A good-looking, easy-to-use website is essential, but without great content, it can only get you to a certain point. You can, however, hire copywriting or content writers.
#4: Copywriting, content and writing
The process of creating and managing a strategy for marketing through content is a long process particularly when you consider that blogs typically take three hour and 45 minutes to write.
If you're looking to put out weekly updates, that's more than four hours every week, which most solopreneurs aren't able to afford.
Plus, different types of content require different types of writing.
There's an abundance of experienced, skilled freelance copywriters and content marketers available to assist you create content that engages your target audience, and boosts sales.
It is possible to outsource writing projects in all kinds, such as:
Blogging
Publishing press releases
SEO services, like keyword research, link-building, as well as backlinks
To find skilled freelance content writers Jodi Harris, the director of strategy and editorial content at the Content Marketing Institute, suggests these strategies :
Contact your professional network and ask for writers they recommend.
Post the assignment in a writers' job board focused on services for freelancers, such as the Upwork job board as well as LinkedIn Pro-Finder .
Employ an agency that provides creative services or a Content marketing platforms like Contently . (This choice comes with a higher price tag however.)
Even if you manage the creation of content written in-house you can be sure that the content on your blog and website are of the highest quality with outsourcing proofreading and editing methods.
#5 5: Editing (writing videos, writing, and podcasts)
Your audience wants to see -- and hear or read -- great content from you. Customers love videos and content.
Take podcasts, for example. 64% of Americans listened to some type of online audio (like a podcast) in the year 2018, with weekly online audio listeners report an average of 17 hours of listening per week.
This is a huge amount of material viewers could get from you. It's lots of it can make use of to gain your audience's trust, loyaltyand even dollars. Yet, content that isn't of high quality is unlikely to convert viewers to customers.
This is where editors step in. A skilled editor is the difference between good content as well as outstandingcontent.
In written content, editors can assist writers to sound their best, get their message across clearly and steer clear of the most common mistakes in writing .
It's also possible to use tools like Grammarly as an extra check However, it's not meant to entirely replace human editors regardless of whether you're editing your own writing. Grammarly's AI occasionally misses mistakes (or finds errors where they aren't).
Based on the type of content you're searching for as well as the price you're willing to pay -- podcast producers can help in a variety of ways, from cutting down background noise to giving editing suggestions that help the show tell a more compelling story.
The last but not least is that editing video is another tedious task that outsourcing can relieve you of your responsibilities.
To locate editors on the market who can freelance for different types of content check out freelance marketplaces like the Upwork and Freelancer.com .
Remember this old adage: you get what you spend for.
Do not choose freelancers who boast of the lowest prices make sure you find an experienced editor. This will help you receive the best service possible -it will also help you save a significant amount of time (and the stress of) later on.
Similar to audio editing and video the final job on the list requires a lot of skill and effort to master. This makes it the ideal task to outsource.
#6 graphic design
Let's get this over with: Photoshop is hard. (And I'm not declaring that simply because I earned a C in my high school graphic design class.)
If you're a smaller company owner, it's likely that you're not able to be an expert in graphic design. Visual content is, however, an essential element of branding and marketing online.
In fact, up to 90 percent of all purchases can be influenced by visual factors, and 40 percent of marketing professionals claimed that graphic designs aid them in reaching their marketing goals last year.
Working with a freelance graphic designer will help develop your brand's visual appeal across your website, digital downloads as well as social media profiles and more.
Freelance graphic design deliverables might include:
Logos
Infographics
PowerPoint templates
Ebook designs and formatting
To save even more time it is possible to commission ebook and slide templates that you could use repeatedly, meaning it's not necessary to design the assets again each time.
As an example, turning your data-heavy blog post into an infographic makes your content more accessible for your audience to absorb Infographics get shared and liked via social networks three times more than any other type of media.
If you're looking for a graphic artist, check out design marketplaces such as DesignCrowd and, of course, UpWork's design section .
These websites allow businesses to connect with thousands of independent designers that can design anything in scope from website design and email templates, to packaging and T-shirt design.
Here's the bottom line In the same way as all the things we've discussed today Visual content is an essential part of building your business -- one that can be handled on your own.
Let these six tasks be outsourced for a shorter list of tasks
"There aren't enough hours in a time" is a common cliche that has an reason. It's truthful particularly if you're an entrepreneur trying to build a business on your own.
A virtual assistant or freelancer can help you get back your time. In case you're wondering, here's six areas to think about outsourcing
Organization and administrative work, like data entry, schedule management, as well as transcription
Accounting and bookkeeping to keep you in the loop about your tax flow and your cash flow requirements
Web design and development to create a UX/UI the audience will appreciate
Copywriting and content writing, to ensure that your content marketing and sales materials stand out from other copywriting and content writing (and even Google results for searches)
Podcast, video, and editing of written content which means you won't need to fret about spelling mistakes or poor audio
Design and content that is visually appealing to showcase your company's identity and catch the attention of potential customers.
Asking for help can seem difficult, and often there's a lot of pressure for entrepreneurs to handle it all by themselves. But there's no shame in outsourcing tasks so you can focus on what you do best -- creating and growing your business.