Are you overwhelmed with work? Here are 6 tasks
If you're overwhelmed by a lengthy list of tasks It's probably time to bring in reinforcements. Below are six tasks that you can outsource to a virtual or freelance assistant.
As an entrepreneur, your plate is always full.
The projects just keep on increasing in number. Your inbox is full, you've got seventeen Excel spreadsheets open at the same time, you haven't been able to check your social media notification within a week, you're constantly finding typos following the timeyou publish blog posts.
Your list of things to do is far too extensive for one person to tackle. There's no way to tackle it all by yourself -- which is fine.
The time has come to bring in reinforcements. In particular, Virtual assistants (VAs) and freelancers.
Outsourcing repetitive tasks can give you precious time back to focus on growing your business. From entering data into your system to management of social media sites, there are plenty of things you're juggling that could be outsourced to a third-party.
In this article, we'll cover six tasks that you can outsource for time savings (and your mind).
The first question is to consider, is outsourcing actuallyworth it?
And this is the reason why.
What are the benefits of outsourcing tasks or tasks to an assistant virtual or freelancer?
This is especially the case when you consider this mind-boggling statistic: workers typically spend 2.8 hours per day doing productive work.
When you're a full-time owner of a business the number of employees is higher for those of you who are. But chances are, you're working on tasks that aren't the best utilization of your time.
If you decide to outsource your low-growth, repetitive tasks to freelancers or a virtual assistant (VA) and you'll be able to spend more time on higher-growth to-dos.
Hire an expert tackle the tasks you don't have time for (or really don't enjoy doing).
Reduce costs and save time by not employing a full-time worker.
This is why 70% of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) report having employed a freelancer. 81% saying they plan to hire a freelancer again.
The hiring of virtual employees such as freelancers and VAs -- has also been proven to boost productivity.
Researchers have found that remote team members can be up to 13.5% more productive than their in-office counterparts.
In the end, outsourcing tasks to freelancers or a VA could help you get the most difficult work-related tasks that have the lowest growth potential off your list, freeing the time you can focus on growing your business.
Now, there's just one question left to be answered What tasks are you able to assign to an outside company?
Six tasks you can outsource when you're running out of time
#1: Administration and organization tasks
When someone thinks of outsourcing tasks to an assistant virtual typically, they consider outsourcing time-consuming tasks like data entry and transcription -- and those can be a significant part of VAs' jobs.
However, VAs are able to assist business owners with a wide range of jobs and that's probably the reason VAs are a huge part of the worldwide outsourcing market including VAs -- was 92.5 billion dollars in 2019.
A few of the most commonly performed VA jobs include:
Calendar management and scheduling
Data entry
Management of projects
Event planning
Email marketing
PR outreach and follow-ups
Invoicing, managing accounts payables, and expensing
Support for customers, which includes moderating social media accounts
CRM software for management
Analysis of competitors
Converting audio and video files
Vendor management
Webinar management
Marketing via social media
Phew. If that list seems to be spanning a variety of capabilities, it's due to the fact that VAs make up some of the most flexible team members that you can find.
If you're looking for the services of a VA, make sure you know which tasks you want them to focus on -as well as having enough money to pay them fairly based on their skills.
The current market rates for VAs are:
$25-40 per hour for general admin skills
$30-50 per hour for advanced skills
50+ dollars per hour for specialized skills
As we are in the interim, we can look at some other specific tasks to outsource -for example, bookkeeping and accounting.
#2: Accounting and bookkeeping
If you're anything like me and are aren'ta numbers person -- there's probably a hundred other options you'd prefer to do rather instead of crunching numbers.
If you're making less than five figures in your business and you don't have an abundance of expenditures to monitor then you're probably able to handle your finances with software such as the QuickBooks .
If you earn more than that, working with a freelance accountant can simplify the task of balancing the books off your desk and streamline your financial management.
Accounting is one of the most frequently outsourcing business functions .
and there's an excellent reason why. Accounting is among the most important tasks for smaller businesses, particularly considering the fact that 29% of startups fail due to running in cash.
Plan, organize, and pay quarterly taxes
Manage your cash flow
Track and follow the
Contrary to software for accounting, a bookkeeper or accountant can give you personalized advice and respond to your queries in greater details since they're aware of the specific tax issues you face.
Some bookkeepers even specialize in helping professionals in specific fields. As an example, 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 understands the ins and outs of your particular industry, Google "accountant specializing in the industry you work in".
As a firm owner, accounting functions are among the first services you need to outsource (unless you really enjoy analyzing tax code (I won't be able to).
Alongside the tasks that require a lot of numbers such as data entry and bookkeeping, you can outsource creative and technical work, as well.
#3 Design and development of web pages
It takes people about 0.05 second to make a decision regarding your website.
It's the reason having a reliable web developer in your corner matters.
Your site must be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and informative. Also, in this age of instant gratification the website must be quick.
26.9% of ecommerce site visitors are waiting less than four seconds for loading a website, and 45.4 percent of those who visited reported that they are less likely to buy something if the page load speeds were slower than expected.
You also need to ensure that your site is mobile-friendly. Traffic from mobile devices accounts roughly half the traffic on websites worldwide And visitors will be nearly five times as likely to leave your site when it's not mobile-friendly.
Furthermore, Google announced in 2018 that they're increasing the ranking of sites optimized for mobile on their mobile-friendly search results So being responsive and mobile-friendly on your site can help your search engine optimization, too.
(You can check your site's current mobile-friendliness with Google's mobile-friendly checker tool .)
Delegating your web design task to a skilled web designer and developer can help you create a website that is fast loading, performs beautifully on mobile and is in line with your company's image.
So, where can you find web developers and web designers to help make your website shine?
The top sites to find web developers are:
The Website Builder allows you build a site to sell an unlimited number of digital products -- online courses or memberships as well as digital downloads -without ever having to enter the code once, troubleshoot a finicky WordPress theme, or download an unintuitive plugin.
Have a look at the website Mallika Malhotra brand expert and photographer, built with the editor for websites:
Mallika customized her website to reflect her personal brand and style without needing a developer or designer to design it.
Additionally, they take care for mobile optimization, site speeds, and all of the other technical hassles also take care of mobile optimization, site speed and all the other technical issues. Mallika (and you -- can focus on selling and creating items instead.
A well-designed, simple-to-use site is an absolute must, however, without quality content, it can only get you to a certain point. Luckily, you can also outsourcing copywriting and content writing.
#4: Copywriting and Content writing
Making and carrying out a successful content marketing plan requires a significant amount of time and effort, especially when blogs typically take 3 an hour, 55 mins to write.
If you want to put out weekly content, that's more than four hours every week, which most solopreneurs don't have to spare.
Plus, different types of content require different types of writing.
There are a lot of talented, experienced freelance copywriters, content marketers and copywriters on the market to help create content that engages your target audience, and boosts sales.
Outsource writing assignments of all sorts, including:
Blogging
Publishing press releases
SEO-related services like search engine optimization, link building, and backlinks
To locate skilled freelance content writers Jodi Harris, director of strategy and editorial content at Content Marketing Institute, recommends these tactics :
Contact your professional contacts and inquire for writers they suggest.
Post the assignment to a writer's job board that is focused on services for freelancers, such as upwork.com or LinkedIn's Pro-Finder .
Employ an agency that provides creative services or a Content marketing platforms such as Contently . (This option tends to come with a higher price tag however.)
And even if you keep the creation of content written in-house you can ensure that the content on your blog and website are top-notch with outsourcing proofreading and editing procedures.
#5 5: Editing (writing videos, writing, and podcasts)
Your customers want to be able to access -- and hear, read, and watch excellent content from you. Consumers enjoy the content they consume.
Take podcasts, for example. 64 percent of Americans listened to some sort of online audio (like podcasts) in the year 2018, with weekly online audio listeners reported an average of 17 hours of listening a week.
There's plenty of content viewers could get from you. And a lot of content you could use to earn the trust of your viewers, their loyalty, and dollars. But poor quality content will not convert your viewers to customers.
That's where editors come in. An experienced editor can be the difference between good content as well as greatcontent.
Editorial editors can assist writers to sound at their finest, convey their message across clearly and stay clear of frequent writing errors .
There's also an application like Grammarly for an additional 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 looking for -- and the amount you're willing to pay -- podcast producers can help in a variety of ways, from cutting down background noise, to providing editorial input that helps your podcast tell a stronger story.
The last but not least is that editing video is another task that takes a lot of time and outsourcing may relieve you of your responsibilities.
For editors who are looking for freelancers to edit different types of content check out freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Freelancer.com .
Just remember this age-old saying that you only get what you buy.
Instead of choosing freelancers who claim to offer the best rates make sure you find experienced editors. It'll help you get the most efficient service possible- and save you a lot of time (and an enormous headache) later on.
Similar to audio editing and video Our final project of the list will require considerable skill and time to master, which makes it the perfect candidate to outsource.
#6: Graphic design
Let's get this over with: Photoshop is hard. (And I'm not declaring that simply because I earned the grade of C in my graphic design class.)
If you're a enterprise owner, odds are you're not in a position to master the art of graphic design. Visual content is, however, an essential element of branding and online marketing.
Indeed, more than 90% of all purchases can be influenced by the visual aspect as well as 40 percent of marketing professionals claimed that graphic designs have helped them achieve their marketing goals last year.
Working with a freelance graphic designer will help create a visual identity for your website, digital downloads, social media profiles, and much more.
Freelance graphic design deliverables might include:
Logos
Infographics
PowerPoint templates
Design and layout of ebooks
To save even more time it is possible to commission ebook and slide templates that you could use repeatedly, meaning you don't have to create the assets again each time.
As an instance, turning a data-rich blog post into an infographic makes the content easier for your audience to absorb And infographics are liked and shared on social media 3 times faster than other types of media.
If you're looking for a graphic artist look into design marketplaces like DesignCrowd and obviously, UpWork's design section .
Both websites connect businesses to tens of thousands of designers who are freelance, that can design anything from web design and email templates to packaging , t-shirt and packaging design.
Here's the bottom line In the same way as all the tasks we've covered in this article visually appealing content is an essential aspect of growing your company and one you don't have to tackle on your own.
Outsource these 6 tasks for a shorter list of tasks
"There aren't enough hours in a time" is a popular cliche with a reason: It's true in particular in the case of entrepreneurs seeking to create a successful business on your own.
Working with a freelancer or virtual assistant can aid you to regain the time you spent. To recap, here are the six things you should consider outsourcing:
Administrative and organizational work like data entry, schedule management, transcription
Bookkeeping and accounting to keep you on top of your tax flow and your cash flow obligations
Web development and design for creating a UX/UI that people will enjoy
Content writing and copywriting, making sure your content marketing sales materials stand out from other copywriting and content writing (and those in Google results for searches)
Video, podcast, and editing of written content so you don't have to be concerned about choppy or misspelled audio
Graphic design and visual content for displaying your branding identity and draw your potential customers' attention
It can be difficult, and often there's lots of pressure placed on entrepreneurs to handle it all by themselves. However, there's no reason to not consider outsourcing work so that you can get back to doing what you do best -- creating and growing your company.