As a small business owner, there sometimes just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done that you need to. And that's not including all the things you have going on outside of the business, such as family life, your social life, and any community responsibilities.
Luckily, we live in a world where outsourcing is pretty much available for anything you want, including your marketing.
How do you know that you're ready to outsource your marketing?
The first step can be as simple as thinking "I haven't got time for this". But how do you know what you need to outsource compared to things that you can have time for yourself?
First, take inventory of everything you do over the course of a week, your input, and your output. Also, make a small note of how these tasks made you feel once you had completed them, were you proud, excited, happy, stressed, sad?
Once you have this list, rank your tasks on a 1-4 scale:
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You love the task, you find it easy and fun to complete
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You enjoy the task, you can complete it quickly because it’s part of your expertise
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You feel neutral about this task, it helps to move the business forward, but that’s about the sum of your feelings towards it
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You detest this task, every time you see that you have to do this task you start to procrastinate and do whatever else that doesn’t need to be done.
For example, you might find that social media is a 1, but website content writing is a 3. Dealing with Google Ads and all of its nuances is more like a 4 in your mind.
But how does categorising like this help you know what you need to outsource?
If Google Ads is a 4 because you just haven't got time for it or it's something that keeps changing and you feel like you're falling behind with it, then it may be time for you to outsource this task to a marketing agency that is able to keep up with all the changes that Google are making.
But if content writing for your website is a 3, then it's something that needs to be done. But does it have to be done by you? Is it something that you could outsource to another company to free time up for you to do things that you enjoy? Such as writing social media posts that bring in your big-spending clients.
Where's the catch? There's always a catch
When it comes to outsourcing, there are certain trade-offs that have to be made. The biggest one of these is that you are now paying someone for something that you know you can do yourself. We've all been there, "I can write website content myself, why should I pay someone else to do it for me?" the answer is simple, is it the best use of your time? The last time you wrote content for your website, did it take you all night? Was that a night you could have spent as a movie night with your kids? Was it time that you could have spent on client work to bring in money?
No matter how you try to spin it in your mind, you could have been spending your time doing something more productive. So why not outsource it?
Just be aware, you can outsource to workers all over the world and this can come with its own challenges:
- Language and cultural differences could lead to hours of corrective work.
- There are time-zone differences that can affect the communication that can happen between you.
- You might have security implications no matter where you outsource to, you're bringing someone into your business who isn't a part of your business. You need to make sure you review their previous work and make sure their previous clients are happy with the service they have received.
- You will need to do training and onboarding with the person you are outsourcing to. This will give them direction on how you expect the job to be done. However, this can also be time-consuming.
- Sometimes outsourced workers can disappear on you. Maybe they've previously been responsive and their internet has gone down? Give them a few days before you write them off completely.
The way to deal with most of these problems is through clear communication. Give your outsourced worker all of the details they need to complete the task and possibly send them examples of work you have already done to show them the standard they need to be working to. The more direction you can give them, the easier it will be for them to get the job done correctly the first time. Although this can seem like a major outlay of effort and time in the beginning, once they get into the swing of things, you'll find they are able to complete the work almost as though you had done it yourself.
I'm ready to outsource
If you feel as though the benefits of outsourcing your marketing are outweighing the risks, then why not give us a shout to see how we could help you in your marketing efforts?
