20 Things I Outsource That Make My Life Easier
The one thing that most small businesses, independent contractors and freelancers need is time. But since no one has devised a way to squeeze four more hours out of a day, the next best thing is outsourcing. If you're unfamiliar, outsourcing merely is paying someone else to do things that you don't require your level of expertise to do. And no, you don’t need to be a Fortune 500 Company to do this. I’ve been outsourcing things for years and I literally couldn’t get anything done if I didn’t. For those of you who are unfamiliar with how outsourcing works, if you understand the concepts of hiring a housekeeper, babysitter, or meal delivery service, you can do this. Below is a list of 20 things I outsource regularly.
Making for Cancelling Doctor appointments
Making Dinner or Hotel Reservations
Researching/Buying Movie Tickets
Making or Changing Travel Reservations
Writing Newsletter Copy
Online shopping
Taxes
Research for blog posts and articles
Blog Post writing
Fact-Checking
Proofreading and Editing posts
Car rental/Research
Payroll
Podcast Editing
Video Editing
Transcriptions
Scheduling and Follow-ups
Locating books/comics
Social media posting/scheduling
Laundry service
About 50% of the above list I outsource all the time, the rest are quarterly or as needed. Some things I outsource to an assistant that I talk to regularly. (Hi Tiff!). Specialized work like podcast editing (Thanks Ty!) and video editing (Hey Mike!) I also farm out. Other services I use regularly are Fiverr (most tasks cost no more than/increments of $5). I also use Fancy Hands, s a subscription-based service that allots a certain amount of requests per month. I don’t request anything that takes longer than about 20 minutes to complete and for about $30/month, you get five requests. The great thing about Fancy Hands is that If you don’t use them right away, they roll over and accumulate. So if you don't have much going on now, but you're anticipating a big project, a vacation, or a tight schedule, It’s great to have. Most of the requests I make are through the app or online through the Fancy Hands site. You can also text requests in realtime and they’re super responsive.
This week, keep a list of all of the things that you do every day and sort through what someone else can do. (Even if you have to teach them).