dillondcarter/How To Outsource Your Business And Life

## How To Outsource Your Business And Life
I started my first company right out of high school. It was nothing fancy but served a small niche which I had plenty of connection too. I was raised in an entrepreneur environment so starting and running a business was nothing new to me but there was one moment I remember, where something in my mindset changed. I noticed I was spending way to much time learning how to do things that did not generate sales or help me. These tasks were repetitive and I am more important things to do as a solopreneur. At this time, I stumbled on a book called The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.

The main thing I learned from this experience was to outsource the stuff you don't know how to do, don't want to do and the things you shouldn't be doing. I know this sounds a bit crazy, I mean, your an entrepreneur. You should be able to figure everything out and be the go to guy right? WRONG! That is exactly what you do NOT want to do.

Outsourcing and working with virtual assistants opened a completely new world to me.I was enlightened and set free by the quality of work I could easily email to someone else to do. I wish I had known about this while I was in school....

I eventually gained so much knowledge and experience in working with virtual assistants that I have helped business begin outsourcing tasks and even created a video course called [VA Crash Course][1] which gives you a look over my shoulder as I actually hire my most recent VA Rona.


<h3>The Benefits Of Outsourcing</h3>

So besides giving you the unique opportunity to focus on the important things in your business, outsourcing grants you the most valuable asset you have; your time. Once I understood how to effectively outsource I was able to focus on growing my business and working on it instead of working in it. There is a big difference there.

<center>![Carlos Being Awesome!][2]</center>

The main benefits of outsourcing are:

1. Leverage Of Someone Else's Time
2. Quality Work Completed In a Relatively Short Period of Time
3. Incredibly Affordable To Start
4. No More Learning Someone That You Could Have A Pro Do For $50
5. Your First Employee!

Imagine waking up each morning with an email from your VA (Virtual Assistant) letting you know that all tasks of the previous day has been completed. You just woke up with an email saying someone helped you increase sales, find more clients and help automate your business while you were asleep! Are you seeing the value here?

<h3>What Can You Outsource?</h3>

Outsourcing comes in many forms from small tasks from Fiverr.com to full-time work from a GVA(More on this later). Here is a short list to help you understand the most outsourced tasks.

 - Social Media Management
 - Research
 - Content Creation
 - Video Editing
 - Graphic Designer
 - Programming
 - Marketing
 - Search Engine Optimization

Now obviously these are just the basics but you can literally outsource anything that can be done on a computer or phone.

<h3>The Differnt Types of VAs</h3>

The General VA or GVA:

 This is where you start. A GVA helps you cover the basics of your business and personal life. A GVA can do your research, write some content for you, run your social media accounts, order a gift through Amazon for your Grandmother or keep your calendar updated. Essentially a GVA is your very own personal assistant, there to do the basics and assist you as your weed through your tasks.

 Content Writer:

  If you run a blog or any other form of content you will need a writer to assist you. I would advise you to write all of your content but this kind of VA can help you edit your posts and give you advise to increase your skills.

  Graphic Designer:

  Something every business needs! If your business sis online chances are you are blogging or sharing some form of content to generate traffic. Guess what.... People like pretty images! A Graphic Designer can assist you in creating high quality images for your blog, business etc.. A very valuable asset to have.

  Search Engine Optimization/Internet Marketer:

  Althgough this is a bit more advanced when it comes to running your online empire, SEO is something you cannot leave out of the equation. Remember that SEO takes months to see any reward for your effort. So give this VA a bit  of slack but make sure you see past rankings through their portfolio.

  Developer (From Mobile To Web):

  Outsourcing development can be a bit tricky at times and test your patience but do not fear, its quite simple to do. I recently hired to VAs, a designer and a developer to create my very own app. The whole process took a couple of months and was live on the app store. No spending tons of time learning how to code apps.


  <h3>How To Find Tasks To Outsource</h3>

  If this is your first time outsourcing you may feel a bit lost and have no idea what you should begin outsourcing. This is taken from a great online mentor named [Chris Ducker][3] where he breaks down three lists of things you should start outsourcing immediately.

  List #1: List out the things you don't like doing.
  List #2: List out the things you cannot do.
  List #3: List out the things you shouldn't be doing within in your business.

  Now you have a solid list of things to get you started.


 <h3>A Few Scripts To Get You Started</h3>

 <strong>When Posting A New Job:</strong>

 Title: Need A General Assistant For Small Business

 Description: Thank you for taking the time to review and apply for this position. I am in need of a general assistant of whom will be responsible for completing the following tasks on a weekly basis:

  - Managing Social Media Accounts
  - Sourcing Content For Social Media Accounts
  - Weekly Research On Various Topics

Please include the word "Clown" at the beginning of your application. Thank you.

 <strong>Note:</strong> You want to be very specific in what you want your VA to accomplish and what you are hiring them for. At the end of the posting I always include some sort of phrase or word that the applicant must include. Some VAs will automatically apply for everything they see and use a template as their response. Avoid this people and delete them at once.

 <strong>Sending Tasks To Your VA:</strong>

 Title: New Task: Please Complete By Monday Morning My Time

 Description:

 Hi [name],

 Here are three tasks I need completed by Monday morning my time:

 Task 1: Please go through buzzsumo.com using the following keywords (entrepreneurship, business, startups, business marketing) to find content to share on our social media accounts. Make sure you find enough content to keep our accounts busy for the entire week.

 Task 2: Take the content you have found and using our BufferApp.com account, schedule everything to go out for Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. The scheduling settings are fine for now so just "buffer" the content.

 Task 3: I need you to complete some research for me. I recently had a great idea for a business. I want to create a mobile taco company in my local city. Could you please research my city, Jacksonville, Fl for any company that is currently doing this or something similar?

 Please spend no more than 3 hours completing these 3 tasks. 30 minutes to find content, 30 minutes to schedule content for the week and 2 hours to give you plenty of time to find anything related to my business idea.

 <strong>Note:</strong> Again, I am being very straight to the point with what I need my VA to do. I give specific details in regards to completing each task and limit the amount of hours he/she can take. The object is not to put stress on your VA but ensure they do not spend their entire day working on these tasks that should only take two hours to complete. Your paying by the hour to cover yourself with time limits.

 Outsourcing is beautiful and can set you and your business free. Not only can you grant yourself more time to live and enjoy this amazing world but you will be building a team of people who are dedicated to helping you succeed in whatever it is you are doing. Now that my dear friends is leverage.


You can learn more about outsourcing, life-hacking and all things entrepreneurship at my personal blog [DillonCarter.com][4]


  [1]: https://gum.co/VA-Course
  [2]: http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q788/Dillon_Carter/ScreenShot2014-04-22at64504PM_zpsa2b2e993.png
  [3]: http://www.chrisducker.com/
  [4]: http://dilloncarter.com/
	I started my first company right out of high school. It was nothing fancy but served a small niche which I had plenty of connection too. I was raised in an entrepreneur environment so starting and running a business was nothing new to me but there was one moment I remember, where something in my mindset changed. I noticed I was spending way to much time learning how to do things that did not generate sales or help me. These tasks were repetitive and I am more important things to do as a solopreneur. At this time, I stumbled on a book called The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.

	The main thing I learned from this experience was to outsource the stuff you don't know how to do, don't want to do and the things you shouldn't be doing. I know this sounds a bit crazy, I mean, your an entrepreneur. You should be able to figure everything out and be the go to guy right? WRONG! That is exactly what you do NOT want to do.

	Outsourcing and working with virtual assistants opened a completely new world to me.I was enlightened and set free by the quality of work I could easily email to someone else to do. I wish I had known about this while I was in school....

	I eventually gained so much knowledge and experience in working with virtual assistants that I have helped business begin outsourcing tasks and even created a video course called [VA Crash Course][1] which gives you a look over my shoulder as I actually hire my most recent VA Rona.


	<h3>The Benefits Of Outsourcing</h3>

	So besides giving you the unique opportunity to focus on the important things in your business, outsourcing grants you the most valuable asset you have; your time. Once I understood how to effectively outsource I was able to focus on growing my business and working on it instead of working in it. There is a big difference there.

	<center>![Carlos Being Awesome!][2]</center>

	The main benefits of outsourcing are:

	1. Leverage Of Someone Else's Time
	2. Quality Work Completed In a Relatively Short Period of Time
	3. Incredibly Affordable To Start
	4. No More Learning Someone That You Could Have A Pro Do For $50
	5. Your First Employee!

	Imagine waking up each morning with an email from your VA (Virtual Assistant) letting you know that all tasks of the previous day has been completed. You just woke up with an email saying someone helped you increase sales, find more clients and help automate your business while you were asleep! Are you seeing the value here?

	<h3>What Can You Outsource?</h3>

	Outsourcing comes in many forms from small tasks from Fiverr.com to full-time work from a GVA(More on this later). Here is a short list to help you understand the most outsourced tasks.

	- Social Media Management
	- Research
	- Content Creation
	- Video Editing
	- Graphic Designer
	- Programming
	- Marketing
	- Search Engine Optimization

	Now obviously these are just the basics but you can literally outsource anything that can be done on a computer or phone.

	<h3>The Differnt Types of VAs</h3>

	The General VA or GVA:

	This is where you start. A GVA helps you cover the basics of your business and personal life. A GVA can do your research, write some content for you, run your social media accounts, order a gift through Amazon for your Grandmother or keep your calendar updated. Essentially a GVA is your very own personal assistant, there to do the basics and assist you as your weed through your tasks.

	Content Writer:

	If you run a blog or any other form of content you will need a writer to assist you. I would advise you to write all of your content but this kind of VA can help you edit your posts and give you advise to increase your skills.

	Graphic Designer:

	Something every business needs! If your business sis online chances are you are blogging or sharing some form of content to generate traffic. Guess what.... People like pretty images! A Graphic Designer can assist you in creating high quality images for your blog, business etc.. A very valuable asset to have.

	Search Engine Optimization/Internet Marketer:

	Althgough this is a bit more advanced when it comes to running your online empire, SEO is something you cannot leave out of the equation. Remember that SEO takes months to see any reward for your effort. So give this VA a bit of slack but make sure you see past rankings through their portfolio.

	Developer (From Mobile To Web):

	Outsourcing development can be a bit tricky at times and test your patience but do not fear, its quite simple to do. I recently hired to VAs, a designer and a developer to create my very own app. The whole process took a couple of months and was live on the app store. No spending tons of time learning how to code apps.



	<h3>How To Find Tasks To Outsource</h3>

	If this is your first time outsourcing you may feel a bit lost and have no idea what you should begin outsourcing. This is taken from a great online mentor named [Chris Ducker][3] where he breaks down three lists of things you should start outsourcing immediately.

	List #1: List out the things you don't like doing.
	List #2: List out the things you cannot do.
	List #3: List out the things you shouldn't be doing within in your business.

	Now you have a solid list of things to get you started.


	<h3>A Few Scripts To Get You Started</h3>

	<strong>When Posting A New Job:</strong>

	Title: Need A General Assistant For Small Business

	Description: Thank you for taking the time to review and apply for this position. I am in need of a general assistant of whom will be responsible for completing the following tasks on a weekly basis:

	- Managing Social Media Accounts
	- Sourcing Content For Social Media Accounts
	- Weekly Research On Various Topics

	Please include the word "Clown" at the beginning of your application. Thank you.

	<strong>Note:</strong> You want to be very specific in what you want your VA to accomplish and what you are hiring them for. At the end of the posting I always include some sort of phrase or word that the applicant must include. Some VAs will automatically apply for everything they see and use a template as their response. Avoid this people and delete them at once.

	<strong>Sending Tasks To Your VA:</strong>

	Title: New Task: Please Complete By Monday Morning My Time

	Description:

	Hi [name],

	Here are three tasks I need completed by Monday morning my time:

	Task 1: Please go through buzzsumo.com using the following keywords (entrepreneurship, business, startups, business marketing) to find content to share on our social media accounts. Make sure you find enough content to keep our accounts busy for the entire week.

	Task 2: Take the content you have found and using our BufferApp.com account, schedule everything to go out for Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. The scheduling settings are fine for now so just "buffer" the content.

	Task 3: I need you to complete some research for me. I recently had a great idea for a business. I want to create a mobile taco company in my local city. Could you please research my city, Jacksonville, Fl for any company that is currently doing this or something similar?

	Please spend no more than 3 hours completing these 3 tasks. 30 minutes to find content, 30 minutes to schedule content for the week and 2 hours to give you plenty of time to find anything related to my business idea.

	<strong>Note:</strong> Again, I am being very straight to the point with what I need my VA to do. I give specific details in regards to completing each task and limit the amount of hours he/she can take. The object is not to put stress on your VA but ensure they do not spend their entire day working on these tasks that should only take two hours to complete. Your paying by the hour to cover yourself with time limits.

	Outsourcing is beautiful and can set you and your business free. Not only can you grant yourself more time to live and enjoy this amazing world but you will be building a team of people who are dedicated to helping you succeed in whatever it is you are doing. Now that my dear friends is leverage.


	You can learn more about outsourcing, life-hacking and all things entrepreneurship at my personal blog [DillonCarter.com][4]


	[1]: https://gum.co/VA-Course
	[2]: http://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q788/Dillon_Carter/ScreenShot2014-04-22at64504PM_zpsa2b2e993.png
	[3]: http://www.chrisducker.com/
	[4]: http://dilloncarter.com/