How often do you feel overwhelmed?
With a never-ending to-do list … but not enough hours in a day?
Trying to multitask while staying sane?
A lot of times we take on too many tasks, without realizing our bandwidth can’t support them.
Brian Dyson, the former CEO of Coca-cola, once said:
“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them Work, Family, Health, Friends, and Spirit. You will soon understand work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four are made of glass. You drop them, and they’ll never be the same. Always strive for balance in your life.“
Over the years, we found out the secret to being on top of our business without losing our sanity:
Outsourcing!
In this training, we’ll showcase our proven system for how to build a powerful virtual team and elevate your business and happiness. Are you ready? Let’s dive in!
Strategic Outsourcing | How To Hire And Build The Best Virtual Team
If the idea of outsourcing just scares the heck out of you, let’s first see why outsourcing makes sense, especially for a busy entrepreneur.
Why Outsourcing is Your Ace-In-The-Sleeve
Here’s something to put you in the right mindset:
You can have it all, but you can’t do it all.
You are the visionary of your business. To reach that next level of success, you have to take care of yourself. You can’t afford to waste your energy on tasks that don’t need your talent and skill.
DISCLAIMER: *When we talk about outsourcing work, we refer to activities that drain your energy, don’t make you money and don’t bring you any joy. You can’t outsource income-producing activities (such as prospecting, connecting with your leads, following up, doing your videos, etc.).
Are you spending your days on activities that are:
- bringing you joy
- making the biggest impact
- moving the needle in your business?
If the answer is no, focus on the following question.
What are the activities draining your energy?
To find out the activities you can pass on to someone else, follow these 3 steps:
Step #1: Sit down and make a list of everything you do on a weekly basis (Monday through Sunday)—from laundry, cooking, and picking up the kids to work-related tasks. Write everything down.
Step #2: Highlight your top 2 to 3 income-producing activities.
Step #3: Look at the rest of your activities and highlight those you can outsource to somebody else/or find systems you can outsource them to.
What Types of Outsourcing Are There?
Now that you’ve seen that you don’t have to do everything, let’s go over the three types of outsourcing.
#1. Ongoing
Ongoing workforce are the people helping you out on an ongoing basis: your virtual assistant, your bookkeeper, etc.
#2. Project-based
You can hire people for a specific task who will work for you until the project is finished. It could be a developer, graphic designer, etc.
#3. Systems/Automated Software
In today’s world, there are so many tools and apps we can use to make our work more efficient, with fewer costs.
For example, one service that we use and absolutely love is MeetEdgar. It’s a social media scheduling software we use every day to schedule our LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram posts. You can identify what your most popular posts are and get the most out of social media.
*Do you want to step things up? Check out our Resources Page!
Offline Outsourcing Ideas
Let us say it again:
You can’t do it all—and you don’t have to.
There are many ways in which you can free up your schedule. Check out these 3 ideas for outsourcing offline work.
#1. Housekeeping
Many of us need someone once a week/a couple of times a month, to do laundry and help with cleaning the house. You can try different apps or agencies.
#2. House maintenance
While some of us are handy and love working around the house, others… don’t. And that’s okay.
We use an app to hire handymen, lawn guys, pet care, cleaning services, even housekeeping services.
#3. Meal delivery
Some of us are not great at planning our meals. Or simply don’t enjoy cooking.
Whatever your reason is, you don’t have to do it because…someone else can do it for you.
And not just anyone but a professional chef!
There are several apps where you can order food online and get it delivered to your address. You can either have ready meals that you just need to warm up or they can send you the ingredients with a recipe and you can cook them. So Google the service you need and find people who can do it for you!
How to Crush Online Outsourcing
If you want outsourcing to work for you, there are a few steps you should take.
Step 1: Centralize and Organize Your Content
If you want to work efficiently, you need to have a centralized system for all your files. Make sure you create a working environment that will help your virtual team be productive.
Tools to help you get organized quickly:
- Dropbox – make sure you back up all of your files and data. If you have an international team, Dropbox will allow everyone to be on the same page and have access to any information they need, whenever they need it.
- Google Drive – similar to Dropbox but you get it automatically when you create a Gmail account. The first 15 GB of space are free, so it’s a great option for someone who’s just starting out.
Step 2: Stay Secure
In this age and age, online security is crucial. Make sure you watch out for hackers and use only secured internet connections.
A few options that will allow you to protect your passwords are:
- LastPass – it’s a password manager that stores encrypted passwords online you can securely share with your team. It offers a free version and the other advantage of using it is that you don’t have to worry about forgetting your passwords as they are auto-filled for you, wherever you go.
- 1Password – it’s very similar to LastPass in that it stores your passwords. Additionally, it tells you if a password is weak or strong, and it will notify you if your password has been compromised. They offer a free 14-day trail.
Step 3: Interview, Hire and Manage the Team
When interviewing virtual help, look for qualities such as enthusiasm, work ethic, desire to learn, and quick responses. Check out their portfolio, rating, and feedback from previous clients. After hiring, go with them through some basic training to adjust the way you work together.
The platforms we love to use are:
#1. Upwork.com
We use Upwork to hire 90% of our team. It serves as a middleman, bringing businesses and freelancers together.
There’s a big range of hourly rates on Upwork because there are people from all over the world. We love working with people from the Philippines who are now part of our family.
Tips for posting your first job on Upwork:
- Identify how many hours a week you need someone and for how long
- Choose what kind of level of expertise you’re looking for: entry-level, intermediate, or expert (we always go for intermediate)
- Decide if you want to hire them on an hourly basis or fixed-priced (for the first option, you’re invoiced for time worked on the project—great for longer-term projects or if you’re unsure how many hours the work will take. A fixed price project has a set price.)
#2. Fiverr/99Designs/Indeed.com
Feeling a little nervous to start outsourcing? So were we!
That’s why we started with websites like Fiverr.com where you can hire someone to do a job for you for as little as $5, and 99Designs where you can find outstanding graphic designers that won’t break the bank. And if you’re looking to hire someone locally, we recommend trying out Indeed.com.
Wondering how to track if your VA is actually doing the work when the platform doesn’t allow tracking options?
You can ask your VA to use a 3rd party tool like:
- Toggl – it’s a time-tracking software that tells how long your VA has been working on something and it takes random screenshots of their screen.
Tools and Software To Crush Virtual Outsourcing
One of the reasons we were able to grow our business and reach new heights is we found tools to simplify our life and free up our schedule. This allows us to focus on what really matters to us.
Check out the apps we can’t live without when it comes to outsourcing!
- Slack—a free web and app all-in-one communication tool you can use to stay in touch with your virtual team on a day-to-day basis. You can record your screen, leave voice messages for your team, and create different channels with resources based on your work flows.
- Zoom—video conferencing cloud platform for communicating face-to-face with your global staff.
- Trello—free project management web and mobile app you can use to assign tasks and track progress.
Over to You
There are lots of myths going around about outsourcing, but one thing’s for sure:
Outsourcing is a huge piece of our multi-million-dollar business puzzle!
If you’re in network marketing and you want to get the most out of it, you need to work ON your business instead of IN it.
So will you give outsourcing a chance? Let us know in the comments below! And if you found value in this training, share it with your teammates! They’ll love you extra!
Additional Resources to Help You Build Your Business:
- Top 3 Streaming Tools to Go Live on Social Media
- How to Build Confidence and Conquer Imposter Syndrome
- You Can Become a Top Earner Too: 7 Daily Tasks for Success
- LIKE Our Page to Plug into our LIVE Videos Here
Want to Know What Tools We Use to Build Our Business and Our Brand?
- Resources – we often get asked what tools we use and recommend, so we put together one page with all our favorite resources. Enjoy!
Feel free to share this with anyone who might enjoy it and also comment below on your favorite tip or your biggest takeaway. We can’t wait to see your comments!
Email: support@mylifestyleacademy.com
We are home business and lifestyle experts, personal branding and online marketing strategists. We pride ourselves on helping thousands of entrepreneurs and network marketers all over the world build their home business empire leveraging Social Media.
PS: Listen up! Each Week we Bring You the Most Current Social Media Tips and Strategies, Interview Top Industry Leaders and Share Real-World Advice. Join us and Get Everything You Need to Build a Profitable Home Business Around your Life.
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