OUTSOURCING 101! When to, How to, and Can You Afford it?

Sisters,

All things OUTSOURCING! When to outsource, what to outsource, and can you afford to get help? What about when you’re not profitable? What does it cost to get a virtual assistant? Find out the details here!

After a few years in the online space, I realized I was working incredibly hard doing a lot of the same things over and over. Burning the candle at both ends, overwhelmed and exhausted. I knew something had to give but like so many of you I didn’t want to spend the money (there really wasn’t any money to spare). I also didn’t want to relinquish control of my processes and secretly thought that nobody else could do what I was doing (spoiler, I wasn’t that special).

Do any of those excuses ring true for you?

We’re going to dig into all of that today. Outsourcing doesn’t have to be a mystery.

I pray this blesses you!

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00):
Hey friends, in this quick episode, I’m going to be recording for you when to outsource, what to outsource, and outsourcing 101. Is it even right for you? I remember distinctly having this as one of my burning questions when I started out in the online space. Actually, after I’d been in the online space for a while and I realized I was working so incredibly hard and I was doing some of the same things over and over again. I knew something had to give.

(00:30):
But like probably so many of you didn’t want to spend the money for it. Didn’t want to relinquish control of it and kind of secretly thought that nobody else could do it. Do any of those three excuses ring true for you? We’re going to debunk those today. We’re going to talk about all the things outsourcing, stay tuned.

(01:44):
Let’s dig into all the things outsourcing. Number one, I am outside. So if you hear my kids, I am on kid duty while husband is working in the office, but I was super inspired to record this for you guys. So disclaimer, although I’m super excited to let you know, I got a noise canceling headset.

(02:04):
So this is the test. Are we going to hear the kids squawking from my Bluetooth noise handling headset while I’m outside? Only time will tell and the editing quality of my editor.

(02:20):
Number two, if you have been sitting on the fence about starting your own podcast, I want to encourage you to do the thing. Podcasting is exploding over 30%, every single year, probably more at this point. Audio consumption is on the rise. People want to learn audibly. They want to learn for free, which is also how we get people to trust you.

(02:45):
When people trust you, they end up buying from you. Going from trust tier one, with the free podcast, free marketing, some free Pinterest, all organic into trust tier two, which means buying your services, buying your stuff ,and hiring you, working with you, etc. Okay?

(03:03):
So if you don’t have a podcast yet I’m going to push you, encourage you, and motivate you I hope to take the big leap. I have students in my course Podcast Pro University who are launching top 30 podcasts in 30 days or less. Like Emily was She Can CEO who launched number four. She Breathes Courage, Krista Pullman, who launched at number six in her category. There are dozens more stories just like that.

(03:29):
So what are you waiting for? If this is your time and you are really ready going to do incredible things over the next 12 months, I truly with all of my heart and soul, believe that you have to start serving first. Serving will grow your brand, instill trust, and ultimately free you to have your own brand that is really profitable. That you can create passive courses from down the road.

(03:53):
You need a podcast and my course can get you there. Podcastprouniversity.com, go join us and have success.

(04:02):
My friend, let’s dig into outsourcing. The first question that you’re probably asking yourself or why you’re even listening to this episode is outsourcing for me. Should I go from being a solopreneur to having help? What do you guys think I’m going to say here? Absolutely. So I was a solopreneur for a solid six years, maybe five and a half years, and I did everything by myself.

(04:34):
I first was a full time network marketer. Then I had courses. I then had an email list, landing pages, and a blog I started. I was marketing on Pinterest, running my own Facebook ads, doing all of my client management, client follow up, actually taking clients on. All the while, raising two kids. Trying to stay balanced, sane, and actually show up for my family and not work 24/7.

(05:06):
Does that sound like anybody’s life currently? If it does, don’t worry. I’ve been there Booboo, but I have good news. There is a way to free yourself from overwork, overwhelm, burnout. Quite frankly, doing everything in your own business actually creates the law of the lid for you.

(05:31):
Because you’re wasting so much time doing all the little things, you don’t have any time to do visionary work. You don’t have any time to launch that new thing, create that course, run that bootcamp, that live launch you’ve been thinking about, etc. You’re just stuck in the weeds.

(05:49):
So I think for so many years I was halting my own growth by not getting any help. So that being said, we know that outsourcing is a yes, but when? Question two, you may be thinking, when do I outsource? I don’t actually make any money Stef.

(06:09):
If you’re not profitable in your business yet I know how difficult it can be to try to validate spending any kind of money at all on your business, on getting help. But for a second, I want to challenge you because I think I would guess that you have invested money. You’ve probably invested money in systems, in that email software that somebody told you was so epic. Maybe you’ve taken a course or two. You have spent money in your business.

(06:40):
So what’s the difference when it comes to spending money to actually get help to free up your space and time? I think that we have this mental block against, well I can invest in stuff that I need to be successful and to grow and scale, but I can’t invest in someone to help me. If I can do it myself, I should and save money.

(07:03):
I know that’s the mentality that I had for years, but here’s the kicker. When you’re investing in all the programs and you’re only one person trying to do all the things you simply can’t. You’re at capacity and maxed out.

(07:20):
For 90% of you, you’re also moms, wives, running a household, all the things. So I guess my question to you is if you’re willing to invest in your business, you’re willing to invest in programs, software, and all the fancy things. Coaching programs and courses. Why are you not willing to invest in yourself?

(07:43):
To make some extra openings in your day to breathe, be free, do the stuff you actually don’t like? I mean, you do like. To give away the stuff that you actually don’t like. That is not a dream. That is reality. You can do it.

(08:04):
I think what I’m here to tell you is you can do it for less than you think. So when do you outsource? In my opinion, I wish I had outsourced eight years ago. I wish I had outsourced years sooner than I actually did.

(08:23):
Why? Because the second I did and I outsourced and I trusted that process and I believed in myself enough to spend the money on a VA, a house cleaner, getting the podcast editor, and somebody to do my transcriptions and my show notes for me. Just help. Whether that be in your life and business. We’ll talk about what I outsource and how much things cost to outsource in a minute.

(08:52):
I was then able to really step up into the things that I was created to do my genius, my zone. Coaching. Okay. Course creation, content production, podcasting, podcast recording, all of the incredible things that help you guys grow and learn and be inspired every single day. That’s what I’m created to do.

(09:18):
What was I getting stuck doing? Well, hours and hours of my time were going to the stuff that I really dislike. Like contracts for clients. What else? Making blog posts, sharing stuff on Pinterest, the things that you do every single week over and over again, that has the same process. Why are you doing that? Okay. Someone else can do the stuff that you do every week.

(09:52):
So that’s where I want you to start. Number one, if you feel like you’re ready, you feel like you’re at the lid, overwhelmed, overworked, and find yourself doing something the same way every single week or every single day, then you know those are the things you can get rid of.

(10:10):
So I want you to do that inventory. Okay. That’s first. If you feel like you have a ton of open time and space. Sure and you really, truly enjoy all the things you’re doing. Don’t outsource yet. That’s okay. I’m not saying everybody has to outsource right now, today.

(10:24):
But you will come to a point a line in the sand where you realize I’ve maxed out. I can no longer do all of this and do it well. That is when you know you are ready to outsource. I didn’t say anything about profit, which is really hard for people. I didn’t say, oh, you’re making $100K now you’re ready to outsource. No I didn’t.

(10:48):
I said, when you reach the level of output that you can no longer maintain, in my opinion, you, regardless of how much you are making, maybe you’re not even profitable yet. You still have to let go. You still have to make those investments in yourself and in your business.

(11:04):
Because if you don’t have any more free time, how are you guys going to successfully scale? Okay. So that’s when. The answer is yes. When? Is yesterday. Then what? So what did I start with? I was so overwhelmed when I started thinking about outsourcing, what did I first do? Outsource housecleaning. That’s something in the home that I could get rid of for a reasonable price that was taking me, let’s say three, four hours a week. That was first.

(11:34):
The second thing for me was to look at my business and to ask myself and do some inventory work. What are the things I am doing every single week, over and over again? I made a list and of that list, I then highlighted the things that I didn’t have to doing that I could teach someone else or pay someone else to do.

(11:58):
So some examples of that things that I do every single week, I create a podcast episode or two. I need to have them edited or I’m editing them. I then upload them, put them on my blog, post show notes or transcriptions for SEO purposes, then we share them and promote them across Pinterest, Instagram stories, Instagram, Facebook, and Facebook group.

(12:22):
I then serve my Facebook group. Go live in there once a week. I then serve my course members in that group once a week, and then meeting with private clients all week long. Who need a contract, email correspondence, reminders, appointments, and set up appointments in zoom and sending that information to them. Right?

(12:44):
That’s just work. That’s just what I do. I’m also creating things. New courses and programs. Sometimes I’m running a mastermind group. So if you write all of those things down and say, can one human being do all of those things well? The answer is no. Oh, and email marketing, throw that in there.

(13:07):
How many of you were like, oh crap, I picked the wrong job. I don’t want to be like you anymore Stef. Listen, I have good news. Of all of those things, I am now only doing about 50% of it. I’m only doing the things that only I can do. Only I can record an episode.

(13:27):
But I don’t need to edit it. I don’t need to create the show notes for it, put the blog post together, or promote it on Pinterest. Oh my gosh. I just got rid of 60% of the podcasting process. Okay? So when you create your list, for you, highlight the things that you don’t need to be doing. Then I want you to ask yourself, can I hire, can I start with one thing or one person that I can outsource?

(14:00):
So those of you running podcasts, maybe the first thing that you want to do is outsource the editing because I know that the editing, especially for some of you, can take a couple of hours per episode. That is not something that 90% of you should be doing. Although I think 90% of you are doing that.

(14:20):
I think what you don’t recognize is you can go to Fiverr. Get resourceful. I just remember I listened to a podcast early on and I remember her being like I was resourceful. She found a VA who was $4 an hour. If this millionaire was able to find a VA in her early parts of her journey for $4 an hour, I can get a VA. I can get some help. So go to Fiverr.

(14:49):
Sure, maybe you don’t the creme de la creme or the fanciest virtual assistant ever. Maybe you do have to help work with somebody that’s off shore for a while. It’s cool. It’s groovy, baby. You’re helping somebody else feed a family. I think that’s a win.

(15:05):
So start there ask for referrals. I think when you start with podcast editing, what you don’t recognize is yeah, if you pay someone $20-30 to edit your show, you have freed up two and a half hours of your time. What are two and a half hours of your time worth? I’m going to guess that most of you want to charge more than $15 to $20 per hour for your time. Am I right?

(15:31):
So my kind of decision maker is, does this outsourcing cost me at least 50% less than it would take me to do this myself? What I have found in a hundred percent of the cases that answer is yes.

(15:50):
Even when I was starting out, that answer was still, yes. Okay. That answer was yes for housecleaning, outsourcing the editing, and my virtual assistant to help me. As you grow and scale, you can get, if you need to, better and bigger help. Okay.

(16:09):
You know, it’s been such a beautiful thing is when you outsource someone can grow with you. Someone can learn with you as your business grows. My VA started helping me with one thing and we grew together and she now does a lot of things for me. Okay.

(16:22):
The next thing to look at is all the things that you can outsource to one person. What I do is I like to work with contractors. Why? Because they’re an hourly rate. You don’t have to, you know, it’s not like, oh, I have to hire someone this is overwhelming. No, a contractor is simply an hourly rate. That’s it.

(16:42):
Time for money, flat out, easy peasy lemon squeezy. You’re golden. You don’t have to pay like medical or any crazy thing. You just get some help and it’s called a contractor or a freelancer.

(16:54):
From this list that I created, what are some of the things on here that one person could do? What can I just record and then hand off? So when I decided to hand off my blog creation to my VA, I just recorded myself creating one of the blogs, each step, drag and drop this, put this, do this, link this, here’s the graphic I put here. I recorded it for her.

(17:23):
I was sure I was like, this is going to be so hard. I don’t think anybody can do this. Are any of you crazy control freaks with your process and you think no one else can do this as good as me? I gave her that video. I was like, oh, let me know. It may take like a month or so to get this down. The next day she had a perfect blog post, no issues, ready to go. I was like, oh, snap.

(17:50):
The second I saw that I wasn’t as fancy as I thought I was, I let go of control. Before you knew it, I was like, take this, take that. I was like the outsourcing queen letting go of everything.

(18:04):
I want you to really think about something for a minute. So if I have a VA, who’s doing all of my blogs, Pinterest marketing for me. She does my contract management for my clients, helps me with ad hoc projects that I need, and helps me with my podcast pitching. Whatever else in that whole space. Okay.

(18:25):
I then have someone helping me now with my group management. So engagement in the groups, answering questions, welcoming people, facilitating, deleting the spammers, all of that jazz. I have someone editing my show. I have someone doing the show notes and I have someone cleaning my house. So I think that’s in a nutshell, most of the things I have outsourced or help with.

(18:47):
Along with some really great systems of automation. I have Thrive Cart for checkouts and auto billing. I have Calendly for automatic customer client sign up when they want to sign up for a session with me, all automated.

(19:03):
Another segment of outsourcing is to automate what you can so that you are not doing things manually. So anyway, all of those things, all in, all said and done, all the things I’m going to guesstimate on my most expensive month ever. When I had my VA doing a big project for me, she had to go back and fix every link in my blogs. Oh my gosh. Let me think. We’ll do some quick math. Let’s see.

(19:37):
I’m going to just say excluding any programs that I purchased, just the outsourcing, just the help that I have in my business, running my business, and cleaning my house. I’ll throw that in for you. I’m going to say it was a grand. A thousand dollars all in.

(19:56):
Where did I start? I started with $100 a month. I started just outsourcing one thing. Then I, as my time grew, guess what happened? My income grew. It’s not about cutting expenses. It’s about freeing up more time so you can make more money and get more help and outsource more things and live the life you actually want to live.

(20:19):
So here’s your step by step process. Number one, inventory your business and your life. Make the list. What are you doing every single week? Highlight the things you don’t need to do yourself, or that you can hand off to someone else.

(20:35):
I want you to create two buckets for those things. What can one person do like a virtual assistant or what do you need help within your home? Physically need help with like childcare or cleaning in the home. Then the third thing is automation.

(20:48):
What can you automate? Are you manually setting up client appointments, billing, and doing stuff that can become an automated process with a small investment in a program? Those three things.

(21:06):
The next step, I want you to get resourceful. I want you to ask yourself if I can carve out four more hours for myself a month and let’s say I pay someone $15 an hour. Okay. That would be $60 investment per month for me to have four extra hours. Do I think that my four hours are worth more than that $60 investment?

(21:29):
It’s almost going to be a no brainer for you to do it. Then once you do it, you’re going to see how liberating, how amazing it is. After a couple of weeks, I’m gonna really bet on you that your income is going to follow the trend of creating more time and space for you to do the stuff that lights you up.

(21:47):
When we’re doing the things we love and we double down on that because we have more space and time, we end up making more money. We end up helping more people, finally finishing the course, launching the course, starting the podcast, or taking that first client.

(22:01):
You just start doing it because now you’ve invested in yourself. So there’s some money on the line. Number two, you actually have the time to do it. So that is my process that I want to take you guys through for.

(22:14):
Is outsourcing right? When to do it? What to outsource? Then kind of how to figure out that budget process for what to start with. I hope that was super helpful for you. Thanks for hanging with the audio on this one.

(22:29):
So I just want to pray over that you are encouraged today to leap on your biggest, most audacious dreams, snuggle those tiny humans. As you can hear mine, because they’re right here and love your life fiercely. I pray that you find balance, intention, and purpose in your day in your every day. I pray that you keep on going, digging in, and glowing for God’s mission over your life. I’ll see you soon as always love and light, Stef.