Outsourcing: A Worthy Investment
During the past two posts I might have convinced you to think about looking for some help. You might call people, get some quotes for some assistance, and then have sticker shock (especially if you have not had contractors working for you).
A few things to keep in mind. (more…)
Outsourcing: How to find help for your business
In a previous post, I’ve suggested you find people to help you with tasks that don’t fall within your strong skills. You might note that nobody can do your job as well as you can. Nobody can love your business as much as you do. Nobody can understand your business to the same degree.
That’s probably true. If you decide to hire someone to help you with some of your work, you might need to spend MORE time upfront training that person (but I don’t have the time).
In the Related Articles Section I have included an article titled The 6th Realization of Rich People — R.O.T.I. — Return on Time Investment. Following is an excerpt from that article …
A professor in one of my business classes taught me that “when trying to decide whether to delegate something to someone else or to do something yourself you should use the 30 to 1 rule.”
That is, that if it was a daily task that took a skilled person like yourself five minute to complete, you should plan to spend at least 150 minutes (5 minutes multiplied by 30) instructing the subordinate on how to complete the same task.
Now the 150 minutes shouldn’t all be done at one time and could be spread over a few months as you help the subordinate master the task.”
He then explained the math behind it.
“If a task were to take you personally 5 minutes a day for 250 days in a working year then that means you would spend 1250 minutes per year on that task.
Rather than doing that however, if you decided to spend 150 minutes training someone to do that 5-minute task and they instead did that task for you then that would give you an annual savings of 1100 minutes per year.”
Think about it just for a minute …
If you spent some time, up front, training someone to do a task for you, what would you do with the extra time that you found? (more…)
Outsourcing: How to “Let it Go”
Copyrights probably forbid me from adding the lyrics, but I’m sure if I use the phrase “Let it Go” and suggest you think about recent Disney movies — well the song will be stuck in your head (see below).
I’ve written about outsourcing in the past (see Related Articles), but I think this is a good time for areview.
Today we’ll talk about why to outsource, next time we’ll talk about finding good people to work with, and after that, we’ll talk about costs.
Most of my readers are busy solopreneurs or small business owners, and most of then can define their life using one word — BUSY!!!
I know the feeling. Somewhat overwhelmed, somewhat confused (what do I do NEXT).
Tuesday Tip – The 80/20 rule
Tuesday Tip*
Social media is my passion. I love helping clients connect through the virtual world.
Most people that I’ve talked to at workshops, networking groups, or while consulting have heard me mention the 80/20 rule, meaning 80% of content in your blogs, newsletters, and social media posts should be interesting content and only 20% should be promotional.
You may ask WHY? (You may not be asking this, you may just trust me and that’s cool.)
One QUICK reason (this is a Tuesday Tip so I like to keep it under 200 words total) is that people want to do business with people they know, like, and trust. Having 80% of your content as interesting content gives your clients (and potential clients) a chance to get to know a bit about you so when you do mention your offers/classes/packages/promotions they will feel comfortable enough to take the plunge with you.
What does the 80% consist of?
- Quotes & memes help people know who your influences are.
- Humorous postings show people your fun side.
- Informational articles show you are knowledgeable and follow current information.
- Asking interactive questions encourages engagement.
There are many ways to build relationships – even virtually.
“Tips” image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
*Tuesday Tips are typically short, sweet, and to the point. A quick read and then back to your day.