“Outsource everything.”
That’s the advice I got from one of my favorite business coaches, Kathy Kersten, when I told her I was leaving my corporate job, trying to build a more flexible and sustainable schedule, and eventually starting my own freelance business.
(Fun fact: Kathy is a Gallup Strengths expert, and she and I share three of our top five Strengths: Maximizer, Strategic and Input. I greatly respect her opinion and her knowledge on strengths, reading and connecting with people, the corporate world, and the consulting/freelance world.)
Outsourcing has so many benefits.
Don’t believe me? Try cutting your own hair. Outsourcing = 1000% better experience.
Whether you’re working full time and juggling responsibilities as a small business owner or running a marketing department within a larger organization, there are plenty of ways you can measurably improve your life by outsourcing.
Here’s the thing, though. Not everyone can afford to outsource everything.
And even if you do have a budget available to you, it can be difficult to be sure which areas of outsourcing might benefit your brand the most.
How Do I Get Started with Outsourcing?
If you can’t afford to outsource everything, your first step should actually be prioritizing your outsourcing.
See what makes you happy and energized and what works for your schedule, energy and budget. For example, I’m a marketer and I love writing.
I can write for hours and churn out thousands of words and I never feel exhausted or frustrated. I feel like I’m doing what I was meant to do, and providing the services clients love.
But sit me down in front of something fidget-y, like aligning the different layers within a graphic image? My brain just shrivels up and whimpers. I can do it, but it takes a lot more energy and focus, and it doesn’t give the same level of fulfillment and joy that writing does.
Create your own diagram and draw out:
- The things you love to do
- The things you’re good at
- The things you have to do (for your business to run)
Can you outsource anything in the “have to do” section that doesn’t overlap with the other two? Can you implement tools or resources to automate it?
For example, we work with some clients who outsource their social media work, except for one platform. They chose to outsource in the social realm except the one platform that felt most like them and that gave them the best opportunity for authentic conversations.
You might find the same opportunities for prioritization within your work.
Do you love to come up with a campaign idea, but find the process of building out the supporting marketing funnel tedious? Consider hiring someone to put your marketing automation processes into place.
How Do I Sell My Team on the Idea of Outsourcing?
Outsourcing comes with a cost. However, outsourcing also gives you the bandwidth you need to be able to build your business.
Bringing on a consultant or an agency for support can feel threatening to exist team members sometimes. They worry that asking for outside help might make their jobs seem more dispensable.
However, the reverse is actually true. When you outsource the tasks that are bogging you down, you have more energy and more creativity and more bandwidth to build your business or to meet your departmental goals.
And, when you outsource, you’re paying for productivity.
Marketing leaders, you know you have plenty of days when you end up dropping everything to handle a crisis or host an event or manage media inquiries.
Important strategic planning efforts and content development projects can get delayed because there’s always an urgent issue cropping up that pushes other items down the priority list.
When you outsource some of those important-but-not-urgent tasks, they keep running and getting done in the background, regardless of the crisis of the day. Your outsourced marketing team has their marching orders from you and they keep your content and digital marketing efforts moving forward even when your attention is pulled toward equally important, competing priorities.
When You Outsource, You Keep Yourself From Burning Out.
Since I mentioned StrengthsFinder, I’m going to position this from the vantage point of my own strengths.
I’m an Achiever and a Maximizer, which I personally find equally wonderful and terrible.
I want to do lots of things and cross them off lists, but at the same time, I’m never satisfied with my efforts. If you’re like me, outsourcing can allow you to focus on the areas that I most want to maximize instead of overwhelming myself.
And, when you outsource you can also create better habits. According to energy/performance consulting firm Regenerate, time is a finite resource and you can’t rely on just “having enough time” to achieve your goals.
If you try to manage your business efforts based solely on the strength of your own time/availability, you’re going to become depleted.
You may find yourself being more reactive with team members, colleagues, even clients and/or family members. You may notice your creativity decreasing, as you’re trying to just keep your head above water.
If you want to run a business or a department that’s creative, strategic and thriving, you’ll only be able to do that when you focus on the most important items.
(Side note here: Outsourcing doesn’t just have to be for your marketing work, either. Apparently, when you outsource household work, you feel better and happier as well. So, go ahead and order that healthy takeout or meal box!).
How Much Money Should I Spend on Outsourcing and What Should I Do First?
The amount of money you spend on outsourcing will vary based on:
- The size of your team/business
- Your goals for growth
- Your budget
- Your areas of strength
If you’re able to start with only one area of outsourcing, strategy needs to be at the top of your list.
If you haven’t built a strategic plan for success, then you don’t know whether your tactical efforts will actually work for you or your organization.
Building out your strategy in advance gives you a roadmap of where you should focus your secondary efforts, whether you should be dedicating resources to LinkedIn thought leadership, pitching yourself as an expert to podcasts, or buying digital ads. Or, maybe doing something else completely different.
And when you’re strategizing, why consider outsourcing these efforts? Outsourcing brings a new set of eyes, and a different type of expertise, to your planning efforts.
Planning strategy sessions as the first step in your outsourcing efforts means that you’ll be able to align your efforts around a set of key products/services and goals.
From there, you can consider outsourcing additional functions, depending on your own internal resources. Some frequently outsourced areas of marketing/sales include:
- Content planning
- Content creation
- SEO
- Marketing automation
- Social media engagement
- Influencer management
- Digital advertising
Bottom line: outsourcing is healthy for you, and you can make it happen.
Being able to outsource parts of your work denotes a level of privilege that not everyone has, but sometimes outsourcing doesn’t even have to be costly.
Going with a classic mom-life example here, but when I use a grocery delivery service, I notice I often spend less on groceries because I don’t impulse shop. I don’t have children asking for treats, begging to open a carton of Goldfish crackers while shopping or going rogue and putting extra Ben and Jerry’s in my basket (okay, that’s totally me adding those – I admit it).
You can apply the same logic to your outsourcing efforts. If you’re spending your resources more wisely, you’re saving money in the long run. And, if your outsourcing leads to more visibility and more sales, you’re boosting revenue for your organization – which makes you a superstar.
Start by deciding where to start. If you’re a small business owner, you may want to invest in a strategy session or in group coaching. If you’re running a marketing team, you may want to strategize then to dive right into content creation that plugs gaps in your sales pipeline.
Identify and prioritize your areas for outsourcing, find the right resources to make it happen, and you’ll be well on your way to creating an unstoppable and irresistible marketing proposition for your organization.
