Nice to see you 🙂  Today’s topic is:

Outsourcing

One of the big differences between a successful blogger and a blogger who struggles is … outsourcing.

You simply won’t find a successful blog whose owner doesn’t outsource tasks and responsibilities. You have way too much on your plate if you attempt to run your blog by yourself. Unless you start out blogging with a couple of years of living expense capital in your pocket, you will be blogging part-time.

This means you have to work a full-time job while you try to build your presence online. You also have time-consuming commitments and responsibilities which include your friends and family. Perhaps you volunteer or donate your time to a worthy cause. You may be the one in charge of running your household, which is another huge time investment.

(More on effective time-management for bloggers in the next section)

On top of all that, think about your tasks as a blogger. Listed below are just a few of the recurring duties you have to take care of as a blog owner.

• Answer, interact with comments on your blog.
• Research new blog posts.
• Write new blog posts.
• Record videos, find royalty free images for your posts.
• Send out emails to your list.
• Comment on other blogs relative to your industry.
• Clean out your in-box, and respond to emails.
• Respond to mentions on Twitter, shoot out some Tweets.
• Check in on your Facebook page.
• Pin pics and images on your blog to Pinterest.
• Republish your new blog post to LinkedIn’s free blogging platform.
• Publish videos to YouTube linking back to your blog.
• Check and analyze your blog traffic and statistics.
• Check your SEO by Yoast plug-in and update titles, meta-descriptions, etc. for SEO throughout your blog.
• Contact other blog owners in your field for trading backlinks.
• Write guest blog posts.
• Update old posts to make them relevant.
• Plan and produce content for webinars and teleconference calls.
• Attend live conferences and seminars.
• Repeat many of these activities again tomorrow.

Now take a minute, go back through these tasks, which are certainly not all the blogging responsibilities you have, and assign a daily and weekly amount of time to them. You will probably stop more than halfway down the list because the time investment looks so overwhelming.

The takeaway here? You need help.

What exactly does “outsourcing” mean?

The trusted Merriam-Webster dictionary defines outsourcing as:

“Obtaining goods or a service from an outside or foreign
supplier, especially in place of an internal source.”

For more of a business-minded definition, Investopedia tells us that outsourcing is:

“A practice used by different companies to reduce costs by transferring portions of work to outside suppliers rather than completing them internally. Outsourcing is an effective cost-saving strategy when used properly.”

You will notice that neither one of those definitions mentions saving valuable time. The second definition does talk about saving money. This is important, because as the old saying goes, time is money. Time is your most valuable resource. It cannot be replaced. The most successful business-people on the planet understand this. That is why they multiply their time exponentially, by getting hundreds and even thousands of people to work for them.

You don’t have to hire hundreds, or even dozens, of employees to reap the rewards of time multiplication. Adding just 1 or 2 freelancers or virtual assistants on a part-time or full-time basis can do wonders for freeing up valuable time, as well as put your blog on the path to success.

 

What is your time worth?

What is 1 hour of your time really worth? Figure out what your dream salary from your blog would be. Then divide by how many hours of work you want to put in each week. If you need $52,000 to replace your current income, your business needs to generate $1,000 per week. If you plan on working 40 hours each week, that equates to $25 per hour.

Refer to the list of blogging activities listed above. If you spend 2 hours a week with your social media tasks, that is a recurring $50 time cost. Is this really an effective use of your time? There are freelancers and virtual assistants (VAs) who are experts with social media who will happily handle that weekly work for a fraction of your time investment dollar figure.

Freelancers living in second and third world countries do not require the income that you do to live comfortably. There are communities around the world where you can find talented outsourcers that are literally begging for work. For 10% to 25% of what you may charge someone for a particular task, these VA’s are happy to handle the job for you.

Why beginning bloggers don’t outsource

The above example brings to light why unsuccessful and beginning bloggers don’t outsource. They don’t think they can afford it. In actuality, a high-quality, full-time VA can be hired for $200 to $400 per month. Having a part-time VA work for you requires a smaller investment, anywhere from $20 to $100 per month. You can also choose to select a freelancer on a periodic basis, just hiring one whenever the need arises.

These are specialists. Rather than you trying to accomplish a multitude of tasks, some of which you are not very good at, doesn’t it make sense to free up your time while simultaneously upgrading your productivity and the quality of the content that is created or the task that is accomplished? Of course it does.

 

How can I find a competent freelancer or VA?

When you make a decision to outsource the low hanging fruit on your recurring blogger’s to-do list, how do you ensure that you get quality help? First, you need to work through a reputable, high quality freelancer’s website. As of 2016, the following sites offered talented VAs and freelancers in a number of blogging-related areas of expertise.

 

• Freelancer
• Upwork (formerly ODesk and Elance)
• Guru
• Toptal
• Craigslist
• Crowded
• 99Designs
• PeoplePerHour
• FlexJobs
• Simply Hired
• Fiverr *

 

* At Fiverr, you pay as little as $5 to have a single task accomplished. There are Fiverr VAs who are expert in every field imaginable (and plenty you would not have imagined). For just $5 you can have an original 400 word article or blog post written, have multiple Tweets and social media updates handled for you, and outsource many other tasks as well.

More information about Fiverr can be found here -> http://clue4u.com/fiverr-com-the-other-way-to-make-money-online/

This was already the next to last topic. Went faster than expected, right?

Okay, that letze chapter revolves around time management.

Until then, all the best

Oliver

PS If you have missed the first section, then use the following links:

Effective Time Management for Bloggers Part 1