Outsource-If You Don\’t, Which Hat Would Like To Wear?
By Sonja Davis
Say the word outsource and many people new to internet marketing run for the hills. It’’s really because it’’s not understood the importance of what it can do for you. Running your online business does require wearing different hats, and a lot of times you will have to wear these hats at the same time.
Often people are swayed into believing that they can sit at their desk behind their cute little computer, punch a few buttons and money will mysteriously come flying out of their PC. I know it’’s not portrayed quite that simple, but you know what I mean.
That portrayal or fantasy is what leads people in a straight line to failure. They walk into the arena with these visions of grandeur dancing in their heads of money falling from the sky. They don”t see reality again until their pockets are empty. Sad but true. Speaking of the truth, let’’s run through a quick list of titles, or hats, you might have to wear in your online business:
- Sole Decision Maker
- Bookkeeper
- Legal Clerk
- IT Specialist
- Sales and Marketing Representative
- Customer Service Representative
- Graphics Designer
- Web Master
- Researcher
Whew! Those are really a lot of hats, and they are all mine? Yep they are, and these or many more may be required for your business. Any one of those roles, if not done by you, would harm your business by NOT doing it.
When you start becoming more successful, you will find that these roles and tasks are becoming cumbersome (not that they won”t be before then) and you won”t have enough time to do them all. But, right now if you just learn the roles, and what’’s required of them, it will help you in the future.
That’’s because you will have to learn to outsource some of your tasks and projects. Once you know and understand the requirements of the role, you will be in a better position to state exactly what you need and evaluate whomever you will hire.
You are only one person, probably working full time like me, and working as hard as you can to get your business to achieve your financial goals. If you continue to perform all of these roles, you will become a “Jack of all trades and Master of none”. You will not have developed the expertise in the area that is destined for you. You will also waste a lot of time and incur the same expenses or more than if you would have simply outsourced the task.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. I was trying to create some graphics for one of my products. I teetered around with these graphics for almost a month. I just couldn”t get them to look like I wanted them to.
I searched for answers, researched forums, and tried to gather as much information as possible about these graphics. Well one day I was talking to some friends about this dilemma I was having, and they asked me “Why don”t you just outsource it, I know a really good graphics designer?”
Hmmm, I thought well I don”t have the money to pay for a graphics designer. My friends said well just go ahead and spend another month trying to figure out what to do on your own. Then I started thinking, I”ve already wasted a month and have gotten nowhere. What can I lose by getting a quote.
So I bit the bullet and contacted the graphic designer. I was quoted $100 and a turnaround of two days because he was working on another project. Well I jumped on that immediately. I wound up getting the graphics back the next day instead of two days.
Think about the money I lost for not doing this sooner. How much money could I have made if I would have just outsourced this earlier and focused my attention on the making money part of my business? You need to understand how and when outsourcing will benefit you. It doesn”t have to be a scary or nail biting situation. You just need to embrace it and learn about it just as you”ve learned about everything else.
About The Author
I invite you to acquire more information on how to start, build and manage your online business. You can get instant access to future updates on all the tips, tools and advice by simply visiting NetBiz Handbook
