The Magic of Outsourcing
Day 10 Blog Challenge. 5 Days to go. Natalie has challenged us with outsourcing one task in the next 2 days. Unfortunately I currently have zero room in the budget for outsourcing but I've done it before and it's an incredibly easy and affordable way to hire professional help in almost anything you need. These websites allow you to find professionals based off of their skill sets, language capabilities, ratings and more. You also get to work with some really talented professionals from all over the world, and you can limit spending on all of your jobs by setting a budget and a timeline.
My favorite sites for outsourcing include Elance and Odesk. I used to work 16 hours days as a head real estate photographer for a very busy marketing company, spending all day shooting homes and all night editing. I begged and begged for an editor to no avail until eventually I took matters into my own hands and posted a job on Elance. I was at my wits end and I was ready to pay an editor out of my own pocket if I had to because I could not survive the endless days any longer. It took a little time to find the right person but I finally found the perfect fit; a young guy from Romania named Aurelian. He spoke perfect English, already had tons of experience editing real estate and used all the same techniques, so he needed very little training. He charged only about $7 per hour and was incredibly organized, logging each and every shoot in a spreadsheet with notes and time it took to edit. He was a total life-saver. I payed him out of my own pocket until everything was running smoothly and then my boss finally agreed to bring him on. I would recommend him to anyone. I have since left that company but I would love to work with Aurelian again in the future.
So if you've never tried outsourcing I think you should give it a go. Consider the things you don't have the time to learn, or don't like doing, or things that take up too much of your time. It can be hard to give up control over certain tasks but we really don't have the time to be good at everything. Freelancers are trained professionals and they are a great asset in running your business more efficiently. Of course you do need to put some concentration into hiring the right person for the job and training them appropriately. Also be conscious of time zone differences, cultural etiquette and be reasonable in your expectations. One freelancer may be a great general assistant but if you need help with your website design or logo creation you will probably need to hire someone else for the job. Different time zones can also be a nice benefit because you can pass tasks off at the end of the day and receive finished projects the next morning, like I was able to do with my photography.
