I touched on outsourcing in my previous post but more on my current experiences with as opposed to why one should use it. In my business as an electrical contractor I used it a lot as it was readily apparent to me that it was cheaper and more beneficial to pay someone else to do certain tasks. When you think about it even my employees would be considered outsourcing.
So why did I balk at using it in the online world until seeing it discussed by Alex Jeffreys when I was used to using it in the offline world? I suppose it was largely because I felt I could do the tasks cheaper myself but, as I have learned, I was fooling myself to a large extent. The biggest mistake was not viewing my online business the same as I did my offline one even though the same principles apply. Every business, be it online or not, requires a certain amount of investment both in time and money. The trick is knowing when your time is better spent doing something else.
What do you feel your time is worth? Do you feel you’re worth $10 an hour? $20? I found that to be a hard number to determine initially as I was basing it to a large extent on what I made as an electrician, more accurately, what the going rate was for one. That, of course, wasn’t going about it right as Internet Marketing is not Electrical Contracting. What I finally did was figure out my monthly expenses and base what my time is worth on that.
Once I arrived at that figure it was far easier to see where I could use outsourcing to my benefit. While outsourcing copywriting and graphics work was pretty apparent to me from the start I had a little lesson in how Web Hosting could also be something to consider. I’m pretty good at the techie stuff. I can set-up a blog in no time and am comfortable digging around in the code to make changes but is it cost beneficial for me to be doing so? I’ve come to find that putting up my own blogs makes sense but digging around in the code maybe not so much. This became apparent when I noticed that the link text was being hidden on my comments page due to the colour of my headers. After mucking around for an hour or so and not finding a solution I sent an email off to Sheryl at ProHost Management asking her if she could fix it for me. This was at midnight or so and the following morning I woke up to find that she’d found a solution and the text was now visible. Needles to say, Sheryl will be hearing from in the future should stuff like that crop up and I’ll be spending my time doing something more beneficial…or fun.
The reason I brought the trouble with my links up is to illustrate that sometimes you have to look a little deeper into where outsourcing can prove to be more beneficial. I also have hosting with Hostmonster who have provided me with quality hosting for some time, and still do. They are cheaper then ProHost but don’t provide the same level of support and there’s where I started to look at Web Hosting as a form of outsourcing. While I initially opened up an account with ProHost for their Social Traffic Hosting package I’ve come to realize that the extra support…outsourcing…will also be of great benefit to me.
So look a little deeper at the tasks you’re doing. You may find that you’re far better off to have someone else do them while you concentrate on doing things you’re more proficient at. Also look past the price and more at the services and features offered. Don’t just concentrate on the present, look to the future. While some features may not be beneficial to you at this time they may in the future. Changing services later can prove to be costly and/or inconvenient.
“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” Vince Lombardi
Hi Rod,
I tried to do as much as I thought I could do, but it turns out…I should have outsourced the FTPing, because I had to have ProHostManagement restore all of my files. So, now I am more aware of my limitations & believe that I’ll be outsourcing much more in the future.
What a wonderful post-so very true! It really does make sense to outsource the things we feel least comfortable doing…IF we can do them at all.
I wish you the best, Rod-take care,
Joann
Joann Henry´s last blog ..Relax…Take A Few Deep Breaths!
Thanks, Joann.
That’s the trick, I think. Learning our limitations.
The folks at ProHost are very responsive. I’m happy that I signed up with them.
Cheers and all the best to you also!
Rod
Hey Rod,
I signed up with ProHost as well. I have use another host in the past, but for Alex’s program it makes sense for me. I have enough to digest. I echo your comments on the crew over at ProHost.
Good insight,
~ Julie
Hi Rod,
Outsourcing is something that is very new to me and have find it to be so beneficial.
Once upon a time I would struggled through everything myself, but I have learnt there is definitely a better way.
Cheers
Mel
Hey Rod,
Outsourcing is something I have been doing for years now. It really hit home with that famous “AH HA” moment when I literally did this excercise to work out what my hourly rate was.
I sat down and worked out how many hours I realistically work a day, then a week, then a month and a year. Then I worked out what my goal income was for the year, then divided it up to work out what that was per hour.
I realised that I would have to be worth quite a bit per hour to reach my goal and that I actually could charge/make that if I freed myself up from the stuff which I could outsource. Its funny, alot of the tasks you can outsource take up most of the time!
Its the old 80/20 principle again, 20 percent of my work created 80 percent of my revenue, therefore taking the 80 percent of my time which didnt create the revenue and outsourcing those jobs freed me up almost immediately to earn MUCH more. Sure there are costs, skills and lessons to be learned when outsourcing but long term it was well worth the effort!
Good post, I look forward to more and keeping in touch.
Josh
Hi Rod,
Yes, outsourcing will be an essential part of building your business.
My main outsourcing has been graphics, but I will be outsourcing more of my traffic generation, article etc in the months to come,
Thanks
Keith
Keith Purkiss (Alex Jeffreys Student)´s last blog ..Guess Who I Met At The London Workshop
Hey Rod,
Outsourcing is essential, especially when your business starts to grow. I found it difficult at first to hand over areas of MY business to complete strangers but when you realise other people can do things just as well as you, or even better for the more professional stuff like graphics, video production etc. then it is madness to persist with doing it yourself when you can pass the issue onto someone else!
David
David Walker´s last blog ..I Don’t Want to Be the Asshole at the Party!
Hi David,
That’s a very good point you make about handing over ones business to a stranger. I never thought of it from that angle but it certainly applies.
Hi Rod,
Outsourcing is something that I’m very interested in. I want to leverage myself to have more done rather than being a “one man ban” doing everything. Sometimes, it’s more efficient and effective to let others do some of the work instead of trying to learn everything.
Huddson
Huddson Lee´s last blog ..Stop Chasing Money!!
hi rod when alex first mentoned outsourcing the other week i made me so aware
of a lot of time i was wasting so i thought right i am going to outsource more
but i fell back into the trap of being a busy fool and started messing with things i know very little about so i am glad i visited your blog its given me the kick up the backside i need
cheers mick
Hi Mick,
I’m glad the post helped you get back on track. It is easy to get caught up in things at the expense of others.
Cheers,
Rod
Hi Rod,
Love this post about out outsourcing your work although in all honesty I think I have got a little bit further to go before I need to do it.
Cheers mate
Derek Overington
Thanks, David.
Needless to say, everyone knows their own capabilities and strengths. However, I think that people often think they don’t “need” outsourcing but, at the same time, have never really analyzed the situation to see if they do. Something that should be done on an ongoing basis.
Cheers,
Rod
Hey there Rod,
Great post and yes off the start I wanted to learn and do everything myself. I thought if I new everything it would make me a better person. Well all that has gone out the window and outsourcing is the way to go, for some things that is.
You either have to invest time or money, one or the other. I guess the key is figuring out how much your time is worth.
Alex Jeffreys really opened my eyes, like you say, what you did at your real job why aren’t you doing that now? I use to have a daily planner when I was managing the automotive dealership in town. Then somehow it vanished and I kick myself for not doing the simple little steps that I used everyday before.
Well now I am back on track, what a relief.
All the best
Alvin Dawe
Alvin Dawe´s last blog ..Free Traffic for Broke Marketers
When outsourcing – this does not mean – ‘outsource and forget’.
You need to act as manager and make sure the quality remains.
Build a good outsourcing team and you will smash all expectations!
Great read
Regards
Gerry Walter
http://gerrywalter.com
Gerry From http://GerryWalter.com´s last blog ..Getting Better Conversion Rates – What You Must Do