Outsourcing as a Digital Marketer

If you sell online either directly or as an affiliate, hiring help allows you to give some tasks to others so you can focus on the stuff only you can do. This means you make things faster and set up your online business more quickly. Imagine if you had helpers making new things to sell or setting up automation and follow-up every month. Even if only a few products are super popular, you’ll have a strong online business in no time without working all day and night.

If you’ve never hired help before, here’s an easy step-by-step guide:

1. Know What You Need Help With – Write down all the jobs you do. Think about which ones you can let someone else do without losing quality. Are there jobs you love and others you struggle with, finding them difficult to do? That’s a clue about what you might hand off. Spend some time here. Most business owners fail to hand off tasks soon enough, significantly impairing their ability to scale.
2. Look for Great Helpers – Websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer.com have many people ready to help. Find those with good feedback and experience in the job you need help with. Alternatively, if you have a good-sized community, reach out to them. Current fans are a great place to find future help, partners even. Be sure to interview them as stringently as anyone else, though; just being a fan isn’t a full qualification.
3. Explain the Job Well – When you tell someone about a job, be very clear about what you want. Prepare for this by documenting what you currently do to accomplish the job. Allow them time to review and encourage them to ask questions. For more complex or technology-specific jobs, be ready to demonstrate.
4. Tell Them What You Expect – Let them know when the job should be done, what you want to get, and how good it should be. This isn’t about explaining the job – you’ve already done that. This is about the outcome and reason. Chances are you’ve brought on someone who is better at this job or set of tasks than you. Be prepared to let them change the process you previously had in place to a better one as long as the outcome is acceptable.
5. Check Their Work – When they give you their work, look it over. Tell them what’s good and what needs fixing. Every person makes mistakes, especially early on. Over time, fewer deliverables should need to be reworked.
6. Pay Right Away – Give them their money once the job is done. This makes them trust you and want to help you again. It also allows you to cut ties if things aren’t working out well. It’s not just for them; prompt payments keep your business books clean and limit your risk of spending more than you’re ready to on outsourcing.
7. Keep Good Helpers Close – If someone does a great job, keep working with them! It’s easier for you than finding someone new every time and easier for them than finding new clients. If you have a lot of work for them, consider putting them on a retainer where you pay them a set monthly fee to guarantee their availability. These arrangements often include the first x hours or projects with more cost.

Outsourcing is awesome for digital marketers. Just remember to pick good helpers, tell them clearly what you want, and keep a good relationship. This way, you can do more for your online business and see it grow.

If you’re trying to scale your business and wonder if outsourcing is the right next step, contact me here and we’ll have a quick conversation to see if I can help you out.