7 Outsourcing Tips That Will Save You Time And Money

One change that we’ve made in AODesk business over the years has been related to outsourcing work. When we first started managing our own websites and services, we did everything ourselves.

Over the years we outsourced more and more of the work, and it’s helped to free up more of our time, and ultimately outsourcing work has helped to make our business more profitable.

Outsourcing can seem like a pretty intimidating topic if you’ve never tried it, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or scary. In this article, we want to look at some tips that can help you get started with outsourcing.

1. Decide which tasks to outsource.

Some tasks and projects lend themselves to outsourcing better than others. You’ll want to outsource work that doesn’t need your personal touch, things that don’t fit with your strengths, and things that can be done inexpensively.

Rather than dedicating a lot of your time on tasks that you’re not good at, why not outsource the work to save your time and get better results?

You could outsource graphic design, web design, web development and programming, blog content creation, product creation, customer service, social media marketing, email marketing, search engine optimization, PPC marketing, and more.

2. Choose a platform.

I recommend choosing one website that you will use to manage the projects that you outsource.

If you’re using a lot of different sites, it can make things more difficult to manage, but if you’re only using one site, it’s easy to manage all of your projects from one place.

3. Start small.

It’s possible to outsource everything from very small one-time projects to huge ongoing projects. We recommend starting small and getting comfortable with the process of outsourcing before attempting very large projects.

Starting small reduces your commitment and your exposure, in case it doesn’t go as well as expected.

4. Be as descriptive as possible.

The project description is a critical part of the outsourcing process. You’ll need to be descriptive and clear so that the people that are applying will know if it’s a project that would be a good fit for them, and so they can provide an accurate quote.

If your description isn’t clear or lacks details, it will probably cause many applicants to not bid on the project, and it can cause problems with any applicants that you hire because of miscommunications and inaccurate assumptions.

Your project should provide enough detail, including deadlines and your expectations. This can also include details about the ownership or copyright of the work being done by the applicant.

5. Provide detailed communication throughout the process.

Once you’ve decided and hired someone, your work is not done. You’ll need to provide clear and detailed instructions about the work that you want them to do and how you want it to be provided or delivered. You may also need to set up some milestones and deadlines, especially for larger projects.

You’ll also need to help your employee by providing clear feedback to their work throughout the project. If you need changes to be made, be as specific as possible.

6. Look for ongoing opportunities.

The purpose of outsourcing is to free up your own time and to get things done in a cost effective manner. Finding and hiring the right applicants can take some time. If you’re doing this constantly, you’re probably not making the best use of your time. In an ideal situation, you’ll be able to work with the same employee on an ongoing basis.

When you find someone that does excellent quality work, that communicates effectively with you, and that is affordable, it’s a more efficient use of your time to work with this person on an ongoing basis.

Once you have a quality employee, or perhaps a few employees that you are working with, it can save much of your time to pass off work to all your employees on a regular basis.

7. Evaluate your approach periodically.

If you’re working with employees actively, it’s a good idea to evaluate your process and your approach every now and then to make sure that it is still working well for you.

For example, if you’re outsourcing content creation for your blog, periodically you should evaluate the stats and analytics to make sure that the content is having an impact. You can also evaluate how much you are spending on outsourced projects and compare that investment to what you are generating in return.

If your ROI is poor, you can try a unique approach or consider stopping the outsourced project all together.

Wrapping it up!

Outsourcing is a great way to free up your time so you can focus more on what matters–growing your business.

Consider developing a process for each task you outsource and be sure to incorporate the advice you’ve learned from this post.