When you’re considering outsourcing in your online business, your goal is to create a more profitable company while streamlining your workload. As with any part of business, outsourcing has its good and bad points, however if you are aware of the potential problems beforehand, you’ll increase your chances of an enjoyable experience.

Here are some potential outsourcing mistakes every online business owner should be aware of so you can avoid making them: (more…)

I’ve been sharing a lot lately about the benefits of outsourcing for the bottom line of your business. Truth is when you let go of the certain tasks (that you’re not good at and aren’t fun for you) so you can focus on that which brings you joy and revenue, you will undoubtedly reap the rewards. The other day I spoke about how writing and blogging are two of those tasks that may well serve you and your business to let go of. Today I’m going to share a few others.

When you started your business, was your goal to provide a great product or service to our community? That was certainly my goal.  But, who knew there would be so many technical tasks involved in running an online business? Maybe you’re not comfortable doing all of them or maybe you just don’t know how to do all of them. (more…)

Do you think outsourcing is only for those businesses that are already making a lot of money? I find that the sooner the small business owner gets started outsourcing, the more potential there is for profit. I recently shared  how outsourcing will save you a huge amount of valuable time as well as make sure that your online business is running to the best of its ability because you’re utilizing the expertise of others.

Because online business calls for a wide variety of skills and talents, it only makes sense that no one person can or should tackle them all on their own. There are several tasks that can easily and, more importantly, beneficially be outsourced elsewhere. (more…)

Earlier this week I shared three reasons to outsource the tasks that you just don’t have time for or that are beyond your area of expertise. While you’re probably capable of figuring out how to do most things in your business, wouldn’t it be better to put your resourcefulness to use in moving your business forward like only you can do?

Outsourcing benefits your business in two very important ways: (more…)

When I’ve run my business completely solo, the stress I felt was palpable. I’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the small details of my business, and wondering how I’d get through them to make a dent in the more meaningful fun and revenue-generating projects .

One of the biggest reasons that entrepreneurs don’t get done all they want, is that they feel they have to do everything themselves in order for things to go smoothly in their business. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! Outsourcing can save you time and make you money. (more…)

Delegating is one of the best ways to handle working mothers stress and give yourself more time, energy and money. It’s also a key element in getting important things done to move your business forward.

I am such a believer in the importance of delegating and having a team of people to support you. I come from the mindset of a mother of three children with so much to do. I know that many of the women entrepreneurs I talk to certainly relate to this – you’ve got a business, you’ve got children so you’re pulled in various directions.

I had a chance to speak with Erin Blaskie, The VA Coach, about how to delegate to a virtual assistant so  you can work so much more effectively. A virtual assistant (VA) is someone who assists you with everything, from administrative things to technical things to even personal things. They’re "virtual" because they work out of their own office and connect with you online or over the phone instead of working out of your office.

But, do I really need (or can I afford) my own assistant?

Delegating is a way to give yourself more time, more energy and more money. You give yourself more time to focus on the things that generate you income, like product and service creation, sales meetings, client interaction etc. Wherever you’re directly earning your income is where you should be focusing, everything else should be delegated out.

You will give yourself more energy because you’ll be focused on what you love doing. This will also fuel you since you won’t have to spend your time on things that drain you – a definite help in conquering working mothers stress. I know of VAs who hire their own VAs. Maybe their expertise is on internet marketing, so they hire someone to handle their bookkeeping!

The other nice thing about a virtual assistant is that it saves you money – you only pay for the time spent on the actual work. When you hire someone in-house, you usually end up paying them for a half a day or a full day. With a virtual assistant, if you only have two hours of work that week, they’ll bill you for two hours.

Here’s an extra bonus of working with an experienced VA, you’re getting the benefit of what they know. VAs often work with pretty amazing people, and they’re able to share their accumulated expertise. I’ve often been working on something and have said, "I don’t know how to solve this." My VA says, "I just did that with so-and-so client. This is what we did to solve that problem." They have an arsenal of amazing resources which is another huge benefit that’s often overlooked.

Check out this other post about tips for delegating effectively.