Whatever level your business is at right now you should be outsourcing as much of your workload as possible.

For a start…

1. Outsource everything you dislike doing:
Go on grab a pen and paper right now and list down all the ‘hassle factor’ stuff you’ve had to slog through this month. When you have your list, write down at the top of the page “TO ELIMINATE FROM MY LIFE!” and then get to work finding some less fortunate soul(s) to do it all for you.

Remember, while this is a business and it won’t always be cherry pie and sunshine, it’s your business, so who says you have to do all the crud jobs you hate doing?

You ‘Da Boss’ so act like one and divert as much of the stuff that takes the smile off your face and the swagger out of your step as you possibly can.

2. Outsource anything you’re not proficient at
Seriously I know you’re bloody good at everything, I know no one else can do it as good as you… And yes you’re right, if you want a job doing well do it yourself… Look sorry to burst your control freakery bubble here, but there are probably a gazillion people out there who can do most of what you’re ‘good’ at a damn site better than you.

And do you know what… Once you take off that ‘jack of all trades’ hat you’ll have a lot more time to make a lot more money, so suck it up and relinquish a little of that control. Unless you get more than the allotted 24 hours in the day like everyone else you can’t possibly do everything better… Sure the end results may be great but the probability is that it’s taking you twice as long to get everything done. And that’s my point, if your output is great but it’s slowing you down and flat lining your income then it’s time to outsource.

3. Outsource as much as possible that doesn’t directly generate income
If you’re just a cog in the engine of your business you’ll be too busy spinning around in the oil to be able to see where you’re going, let alone map the route and get to your chosen destination.

Ask any successful business owner who really has achieved success and I’m sure they’ll tell you that yes, they occasionally have to get their hands dirty tinkering with the engine, but they also know that to cross the finish line you have to be looking at the road ahead, with both hands on the steering wheel.  Focus more on planning and strategizing, pay more attention to the ‘big picture’ and it’ll pay off big time for you this year.

Let’s look at some of the things you can outsource right now

(and then I’m going to give you a link to go dip your toes in the water this week for free just to see how it feels.)

Customer support:
First of all if you want a life outside of work, get a helpdesk installed.  <- but this is just your starting point.

You know I often see posts in marketing forums from individuals bleating about how ‘impersonal’ helpdesks are or how it’s wrong that so and so hides behind a helpdesk… And then in some self pontificating attempt to ‘impress’ the locals they usually go on to say how they personally assist all their customers and subscribers.

Clearly these guys have never sold that much, they’ve never run a big launch and they almost certainly wouldn’t recognize a successful business if it jumped out in front of them and punched them on the nose.

In one of our earlier MME4 launches we answered almost 200 emails each day for 5 days solid from potential customers, affiliates and new members.  I have NEVER been so freaking exhausted in my life…

In the end we generated over $1Million in sales but I was so tired I just didn’t care (I just had to sleep).

But the real problem was in doing it ourselves we lost money.

Because we were so busy replying to emails we had less time to tweak the sales process, we had less opportunities to communicate more with our JV partners to encourage, cajole and talk to them.  We also probably lost dozens of potential sales because our personal responses to prospects was slow.

Immediately after that we installed a support desk. And then we brought in and trained staff to operate it for us. 90% of the tickets that come in now don’t actually need our involvement, they are just general queries, billing issues, basic support issues and such -

And you’re not best serving your customers or your business when you’re tied to your help desk. Think about it this way: Are you in business to educate, empower or entertain your customers?  If the answer is yes then spend more time doing that, developing new ways to educate, empower and entertain…  Once you relinquish things like day to day support you’ll be able to reach far more people and take your business forward faster.

And there’s lots more…

Writing – Blog posts, articles, ebooks, emails
(these need a ‘voice’ so it’s important to find the right people) but as long as you are setting the direction and it’s your ideas that are being communicated properly then you’re time could be better spent outsourcing some of these tasks.

The first ebook I ever wrote took me almost 6 months to complete. A further month to write the sales letter and design the graphics and another to set up the website/ all the additional things that needed to be done. At the end of all that (2/3rds of a year of my life) I sold just 150 copies at $25 each. After fees, commissions and costs I netted around $1,000 which worked out around to be around $1.25 per hour of my time spent.

The bottom line is this: If you are in this as a hobby, if you’re happy to make perhaps a few thousand per year at best then by all means go for it. I know a good number of people who are and that’s great. But if you want to make a lot of money, if you’re seeking any kind of fame or fortune then there is absolutely no stigma attached to bringing other people in to help you create your products.

At the very least outsource things like research, editing/proofing and formatting to someone else.

Sales Letters
I’ve spent a fair amount of time and money studying the art of copywriting and prefer to write most of my own. It’s something I actually enjoy doing so I seldom outsource this task myself. But I know that for most people copywriting is a chore at best. If you fall into that camp then consider outsourcing it.

If you don’t know how to write a sales letter and unless you have a natural talent for it then I’d strongly advise you to outsource it. Without experience or professional help you will be losing potential income. Finding a good copywriter is important because in most cases either with pre-sell copy or main sales copy (or any promotional materials) copy is the thing that sells your product.

Don’t be put off by tales of the top copywriters charging tens of thousands for their work. Some do (and a few of those are most certainly worth it)  but you’ll find lots of skilled writers who will deliver great results for far less. A quality sales letter can be had for around $500 – $1000 which by the way should never really be seen as a cost, it’s an investment that will pay you back many times over in increased sales and higher profits.

Now I know some people reading this may just be getting started. And the idea of spending a thousand or so on sales copy might seem terrifying so here’s a little tip you can use to make a start without it costing you the earth.

Buy a PLR product that’s directly related to your own product that comes with a good sales letter. – If the sales copy is solid (and a good litmus test is would you buy the product yourself after reading the sales letter?) then cannibalize the sales letter (assuming you have the rights to do that) to create your own.

Here’s another tip: Finding a good copywriter can be time consuming as can finding writers and support staff so hire a VA first (a virtual assistant) and task them with finding you the right people. While a good VA might not be able to write your sales letter, they will be able to find one based on price and the criteria you set. (recommendations, samples of their work etc.)

Graphic Design – Site Graphics, eCovers, logos, banner ads
Just like copywriters, skilled designers can charge thousands of dollars. But I’ve found that there are many less well known companies who create work of equal (and in some cases better quality) for far less. Good minisite design can be had for less than $300 including headers, cover graphics and banners (less than the price of buying Photoshop, far faster than you could ‘do it yourself’ and in much less time)

Again if you can’t afford to hire someone right now you can pick up royalty free ready made graphics at places like istockphoto or GraphicRiver but seriously unless you have skills – Outsource.  Again if you’re on a budget task your VA with finding you the right designer at the best price.  Just show them examples of designs you like and task them with narrowing down some candidates for you.

Now I think I’ve rambled on quite a lot here about outsourcing and I hope that I’ve convinced you about how important it can be both to your bottom line and your sanity.  But before close up here let me add just a couple of final points.

From experience I guarantee that at times you’ll uncover a bad apple when it comes to outsourcing. It kind of goes with the territory.

Some people will let you down, turn in poor quality work (or no work at all) so doing your research and finding the right people is key to making it work long term.

(And yes I know exactly how that goes.)  If you’re already crazy busy then how the heck do you squeeze in more time to find outsourcers?

So here’s my best tip: If you’re already busy (and I’m sure you are) then spending days trying to find a graphic designer, a week reading through copywriting portfolios or a month hunting down a great ghostwriter is probably out of the question.

So here’s the solution:
Hire a VA (virtual assistant) first…

Then task your virtual assistant with finding you the right people. Have your virtual assistant communicate your requirements to the outsourcing team and have them deal with any minor issues that crop up (that you don’t really need to deal with)

Even if you have nothing to outsource right now get a VA today. You’ll soon discover a million and one things to keep them busy and right off the bat and you can have them research and find people and companies, who deliver quality and good value that you can just slot into your rolodex for when you need them next…

You don’t need to be the CEO of a blue chip company anymore to have a VA and dedicated assistants can perform a variety of tasks, including: data entry/analysis, Internet research, outbound calling, document editing, uploading content onto websites, coordinating and booking travel plans, and much more (including finding you more great outsources to work with)

Let me give you a quick list of tasks my own VA has done for me over the last few days:

  • Proof read a sales letter for a new product (and corrected all my atrocious spelling mistakes)
  • Formatted several Word documents ready for publishing new titles to Amazon later this month
  • Researched and compiled a dossier of information about several new social networking sites
  • Compiled a list of missing Lego toys to be added to my son’s blog
    (he’s only 6 and has his own blog, I kid you not!)
  • Cancelled and rescheduled a hotel reservation
  • Made a reservation at a restaurant (and emailed a copy of the menu)
  • Edited and removed a number of blog posts across a number of sites
  • Removed all unsubscribes/undeliverables from multiple Autoresponder accounts

The question is if you don’t have a VA why not?

The company I use (AskSunday) are the same company recommended by Tim Ferriss (the author of the ’4 Hour Work Week’ book)  They’re also the most award-winning Personal Assistant service in the world with acclaims coming from Time Magazine, PC Plus and dozens more.

When you click all you’ve got to lose are all those unchecked items on your to-do list :-)

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR OWN ASSISTANT