Have you ever found yourself angry with YOU because something you’ve worked so hard at isn’t just exactly perfect?
No? Just me? Hmm.
Today, we’re talking about perfectionism and some ideas my coffee-saturated brain has on overcoming perfectionism.
Perfection is highly desired, so perfectionism must be good, right?
It seems like our society applauds being a perfectionist.
It’s made out to be a good thing in all forms of popular media and across social media.
Except for the fact that true perfection isn’t possible.
Sure, there are traits perfectionists have that are good things.
Drive, ambition, the desire to improve. Lofty goals and the dedication to work hard to achieve them. A desire to be the best you can be.
All of these things are absolutely good character traits.
The problem is that perfectionism takes all of these and pushes them to toxic levels.
Even “great” becomes “not good enough” and every goal achieved, no matter how lofty, must be succeeded by an even harder goal.
Accept it as part of your personality.
If you’re struggling with perfectionism, know that you can get move beyond it and live a much healthier and more rewarding life.
You just have to work hard at making progress over your perfectionism.
You CAN do this. And the outcome will be more than worth it!
So, are YOU a perfectionist?
Perfectionists tend to set unrealistic goals for themselves and others.
Here are some common characteristics of perfectionists. If you recognize yourself in this list, you probably are a perfectionist.
Perfectionists Set Unrealistic goals.
Do you want everything to be perfect?
Do you set standards so high that even Superman would have trouble meeting your expectations?
It’s these impossible-to-meet standards that lead to frustration and anxiety.
You are Extremely Critical of Yourself and Others.
Because you want to meet those high goals that you set and/or expect others to set them, you are hard on yourself and others.
Especially when mistakes or “failures” happen.
You might berate yourself or others or get angry when things don’t turn out as you expect.
Perfectionists Tend to Only Focus on Results.
Do you enjoy the journey towards reaching a goal?
Or are you so focused on achieving the goal that the process doesn’t matter?
Growing and learning along the way is often the best part of reaching a goal, but if you can’t see anything except the goal itself, you’re probably a perfectionist.
You Have a Huge Fear of Failure.
Are you terrified of failing?
Does the thought of making a mistake make your blood run cold?
Do you have nightmares about failing to live up to your own expectations?
Fear of failure pushes most perfectionists to work even harder and faster to avoid the dreaded outcome.
Perfectionists Have All-or-Nothing Thinking.
You believe that if it is not perfect, it does not count.
Let me give you an example of perfectionism.
We live on a 100-acre farm. As with most farms, we have a VERY long driveway.
A few years ago, we decided that we wanted to line the bottom (we live on top of the hill) of the driveway with Dogwood trees.
And we wanted to alternate them, pink and white.
Off we go to get our tress, relying on the employees at the place to give us 12 WHITE and 12 PINK dogwood trees.
Naturally, some of the pink…are white.
And they’re not ALL trees. Some of them are Dogwood BUSHES.
Most flowers on Dogwood trees are rounded.
Several of ours are pointed. Those are the Dogwood bushes.
Move forward a couple of years when the trees start to bloom.
Overcoming perfectionist tendencies can be hard, especially when out of your own control!
Instead of alternating colors, we have three or four of the same color in a row.
And the flowers are different on some of them.
Cue the perfectionist.
Colors must be alternated.
Bushes must be swapped out for trees.
Yikes! This is going to be a lot of work.
OR we can let them grow where they are.
We also found that the white bloom before the pink. Most of the white flowers are gone before the pink pop.
Who’s going to know?
Well, being perfectionists…WE will know.
Now, in case you’re wondering…no, we didn’t dig out the offending “wrong” trees and toss them.
Remember…100 acres. The ones we did replace have found happy, new homes elsewhere on the farm.
Some stayed put, because we’re working hard to overcome our own perfectionism traits!
And guess what…not one single person has EVER commented about the fact that there are more white dogwood trees than pink lining our driveway!
It’s quite likely no one has even noticed this phenomenon!
Perfectionism isn’t all bad.
It may seem that way, given the negative effects that it can have on a person and their life, but that may not be so.
Perfectionists share many positive traits that are highly desired and lead to success in life.
The problem occurs when these traits are taken too far and become toxic.
Jeeze, where’s the positive?
Well, here are a few of the positive qualities most perfectionists share.
They Have Big Dreams and Drive.
Perfectionists share a passion for lofty goals and the drive to work for them.
This is an incredible thing.
Many people never even consider setting the kind of goals a perfectionist takes for granted.
This gives perfectionists a much better chance of succeeding in life.
Perfectionists Are Driven to Excellence.
There’s nothing wrong with having standards, and that’s what perfectionists excel at.
Perfectionists often perform better and create better end products because they have such high standards.
They Are Very Dedicated to Completing a Task.
It is hard to find someone more dedicated to reaching a goal or succeeding than a perfectionist.
Perfectionists as a whole tend to work harder and longer than most to achieve whatever they set their minds to.
Perfectionist give over-attention to detail
They can become almost single-minded in their pursuits.
The desire to achieve can move them to think outside the box, increasing the odds of success.
Perfectionists Are Extremely Detail-Oriented.
The desire for perfection lends itself to paying attention to the small things, and perfectionists tend to be detail-oriented people whose sharp eyes will pick up on flaws, glitches, and other hard-to-spot details that most people miss.
They Refuse to Accept Failure.
Many perfectionists don’t know when to give up, or even if they should.
This stubbornness often leads them to achieve incredible breakthroughs in their field, whether it is in sports, science, medicine, etc.
Each of these qualities is a good thing, and no one thinks you should give them up in your quest to overcome perfectionism.
They’re part of who you are.
Too much of a good thing becomes unhealthy, however, and your challenge as you struggle to make progress over your perfectionism is going to be to rein in the good things about being a perfectionist just enough that they are healthy and helpful rather than a problem.
Mistakes Don’t Make You a Failure.
No one likes making mistakes.
This is especially true for perfectionists. You want to do everything perfectly.
When something goes wrong, it may feel like the world has ended and that you’re a failure.
But mistakes and failure aren’t the same thing.
Even if something you tried to do didn’t work, even if it “failed” spectacularly, that is not the same thing as failure, nor does it MAKE you a failure.
Good is the enemy of great. But perfect is the enemy of everything.
Remind yourself that whatever the mistake was, it does not reflect on who you are or on your worth as a person.
Admit the Mistake.
It might be tempting to pretend the mistake didn’t happen, to brush it off like it was nothing important.
This might salvage your bruised your ego, but you won’t learn anything.
Figure Out What Went Wrong.
Do you know what caused the mistake?
Why did it happen?
What led to the issue in the first place?
Was it something you did?
Something you didn’t do?
Were there causes beyond your control?
Try to determine the root cause of the issue.
What You Can Learn from the Mistake?
Mistakes might be painful, but every mistake is an opportunity to learn and grow as a person.
If you just step back and take a look at the mistake, figure out the cause and see what lessons you can learn, you can then apply those lessons in the future so that you don’t make the same mistake again.
Perfection isn’t possible, but self-improvement is!
Start Each Day Fresh.
Every day is a brand-new day.
Don’t dwell on the mistakes you made yesterday, the things you didn’t get done, the bad (or even the good) things that happened.
Every day is completely new.
It’s a 24-hour gift just for you.
Start each day as if it’s new and fresh and no other days have happened, and you’ll free yourself of much of the stress that comes from undone tasks and past mistakes.
Focus on the Process, Not the Results.
Remember that having goals is great and is good for everyone, but it’s not the most important part of trying to reach the goal!
The process is much more important than the end result.
Instead of focusing on the amazing progress that you’ve made, or the results that you’ve achieved, you focus on what you didn’t do or what didn’t go just right.
Learning and growth all occur while you are striving to reach the goal, not when you actually reach it.
Redirect your mind to the process when you catch yourself focusing on the end result.
Focus on the work you are putting in and not the results you hope to achieve, and you will go further than you’ve ever imagined.
Reward yourself when you overcome perfectionist traits!
Reward Yourself.
Who doesn’t like being rewarded? Our brains love it.
They are structured to respond to rewards-the more immediate and the more desired, the better.
How can you use this in your quest to overcome your perfectionism?
Set rewards for yourself for doing (or not doing) specific behaviors.
These should be specific rewards that you love, that you have easy access to, and that you can have immediately.
Those of you who know me or have been following my blogs the past few months know that I am a coffee-holic.
So, when I want to reward myself…COFFEE!
Try New Things.
The drive to be perfect all the time can make it hard to try something new when you know you are not going to be perfect at it from the start.
The way to overcome this problem isn’t to avoid trying new things.
The best way to overcome it is to try new things more often.
In fact, make it a habit; aim to try several new things every month.
Your mind will become accustomed to being a beginner and will help you get out of the habit of expecting perfection (or even excellence) the first time you do something.
Look at your progress and what you’ve done.
Maybe things haven’t changed too much, but they certainly have changed.
Take a good long look at where you are and where you started, and you will see the changes!
You may not be you want to be yet, and you’re not making progress as fast as you would like, but guess what?
That’s okay.
Nothing good gets completed in a hurry (remember that old saying about Rome?) and you can’t change a lifetime worth of habits overnight.
Small steps are the way to go.
The smallest baby steps add up over time and will completely change your life.
It takes patience and dedication, but it is much easier to remain committed to small changes than to try and make giant leaps!
May Busch, EXECUTIVE COACH, SPEAKER, ADVISOR, AUTHOR, ENTREPRENEUR has some additional, great tips on overcoming perfectionism – check out her article!
So start to recognize it in your own behavior, and experiment to find the ways that work best for you to apply it only in those situations when it’s needed. That way, you can make the tendency toward perfect work for you, not against you.
Tapping into freelance talent as a small business owner can save you and your small business money.
Not sure how? Or even if hiring a freelancer is the way to go for your small business?
Welcome back to GinAdmin. I am Gina Koran and I will be your host today. As always, I am grateful that you have a taken a few minutes of your valuable time to read my coffee-induced “wisdom”, as it were.
So today we are going to look at how tapping into the freelance talent out there can help save your small business money this year.
Go grab your favorite drink and let’s dive in…
Did you know…
70% of employers plan to use freelancers this year!
This is according to the 2022 Freelancing Trend in the USA survey conducted early this year.
Companies in many sectors are facing fast-moving challenges in this digital world, and they have to scale quickly in a way they may have not done before. That’s where hiring freelance talent comes in.
This number is amazing, and a great opportunity for small businesses.
Why?
Think about this…WHY are so many companies using freelancers?
Because there are so many freelancers out there!
About 70 million people in the U.S. freelance. With such a staggering statistic, it’s important for business leaders to start thinking about how to harness the immense talent available to them in the gig economy.
So how does this save you and your small business money?
Right now you are wondering what the benefits are to your small business in hiring a freelancer.
There are loads of reasons.
Today, I am going to outline a few of what I think are the top reason working with a freelancer can save your small business money.
Tapping into freelance talent can save your small business money by eliminating overhead expenses.
Tapping into Freelance Talent Saves Overhead
When I talk about overhead, I’m thinking about providing office space, desk space, any technology needed, office supplies…
All of the things a typical employee would require in order to do the job you have hired them for.
With freelancers, we provide our own, so no ordering all those supplies!
Including the all-important coffee!
Training expenses
Businesses spend millions every year training its employees.
In 2015, large companies spent an average $12.9 million on training. Small companies spent about $350,300, and midsize companies spent about $1.4 million.
While Freelancing is becoming more popular, especially in today’s almost-post pandemic world, there are still some myths out there about working with a Freelance Admin.
Today, I am sharing my thoughts behind the six most common myths that I have come across.
Welcome back to GinAdmin! I’m Gina Koran and as always, I will be your “hostess with the mostest” coffee! Thanks for coming along on my coffee-fueled journey…let’s jump right into those myths!
Freelancers are only good for one-off projects.
Yes. You certainly can hire a Freelancer for a one-off project, IF that is what you’re looking for.
However, most people who work with a Freelance Admin find that they have knowledge in so many areas that they can turn over more than just a one-time project.
OR, they can use a Freelancer when they DO have a single project that they need help with.
What most business owners find is that by turning over not just everyday tasks, they free up time and energy by hiring a Freelance Admin!
Within the next decade freelance workers will outnumber traditional salaried employees., Adam Heitzman, Co-Founder, Higher Visibility
Okay, sure you can pass on that busy work to your Freelancer. But typically, Freelancers have such a wide knowledge base that you will find that, again you can also pass on other, bigger tasks to your Freelance Admin to put some time back into your schedule!
I’m sensing a trend here! (wink)
Freelancers aren’t skilled, otherwise they’d be working a “job” for a big company
Most Freelance Admins come from some type of “corporate” background.
Having been a corporate admin for (way too) many years, I can tell you that having a “job” for a big company is not so much something I want to go back to. I find much more satisfaction in working independently with companies I choose to work with, especially small business owners.
Why small business owners? Thanks for asking! I love working with small business owners because they are still intimately involved in the daily running of their business. They are still in the trenches, so to speak. They are still passionate about their business.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to sound as if I am speaking poorly of large corporations. It’s just that having been in that world, I simply and personally enjoy and prefer working with small business owners.
On the skill side, Freelancing is so popular right now and there are so many places for Freelancers to gain knowledge that this is a big pile of myth nonsense. Plus, there are so many online communities for Freelancers, that the knowledge-base we have to draw on is truly impressive.
There are many myths of working with a Freelance Admin! Freelance Admins have great work ethic, skills and loyalty to their clients.
Freelancers lack true work ethic
The majority of the Freelancers I personally know work more hours every week than your average employee.
This comes not only from the fact that we take great pride in our work, but very likely – you are not our ONLY client, so we have to schedule our time to make sure we finish the work we’re given.
Plus, we know that if we don’t do the work we’re contracted to do, we can lose that contract. And that’s just bad business.
And because we ourselves are business owners, we tend to put forth the effort it takes to keep the trust of those who have hired us!
Freelancers aren’t employees, so they have no commitment/loyalty to the company
Again, those Freelancers I know take great pride in working with the business owners who put their trust in them to get the job done.
So I simply call hogwash on that myth.
Companies that encourage the use of freelancers will benefit from the increased access to skilled talent and more workforce flexibility, while those that ignore freelancers will inevitably fall behind.
As a small business owner, I can’t afford to hire a freelancer
This is probably one of the things I hear most from small business owners that I talk to. And yes, when you are first starting out on your business-ownership journey, hiring ANYONE can feel like a huge expense.
There are three major points I share with the small business owners that I approach about working with me.
First, you cannot do all of the things all of the time over a long period of time. You will burn yourself out and start to resent the very business you started. I have watched this happen to many small business owners.
And as a Freelancer, it is painful for me to see this happen when I KNOW I can help them. It is especially painful when they have previously said “No, thanks” when I offered my services.
The second point I make is that by hiring someone to do the background work, it frees them up to focus on building their business. Which is the goal, right? You want to BUILD.
Which feeds into my third point, and that is that once you have built your business with a solid foundation, eventually you’re going to need to hire SOMEONE. That someone is going to require benefits, supplies, office space, breaks, vacation time. All the things that go along with hiring employees.
Plus, that employee will not have first-hand knowledge of the background of your business.
When you hire a Freelance Admin, you are strictly paying for the work they are doing for you, so no benefits, etc. And by working with them when you are starting out, they have first-hand, working knowledge of how you want things done! There is no learning-curve by having to hire an admin later and take the time to walk them through every step.
By busting through the myths of working with a Freelance Admin, small business owners can gain some insight into how they can work smarter, not harder!
So when a small business owner tells me they cannot afford to hire a Freelance Admin, my question is: Can you really afford NOT to work with me?
And there you have it. One woman’s opinion on the 6 biggest myths of working with a Freelance Admin.
As always, thanks for stopping by! And I would love to hear from you – the good, the bad, the ugly – so feel free to leave me a comment below. Or pop on over to www.ginadmin.com/contact and schedule a time for a chat!
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of How-to Coaches out there. Coaches that will teach you how to do everything from how to set up your office for better efficiency to, you guessed it…how to be more productive.
So today, I’m going to share with you some ideas that have worked for me.
Welcome to, or back to, the GinAdmin Blog. My name is Gina Koran and I’ll be your host on this journey into How to be More Productive.
I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and see what insight my coffee-fueled brain can share with you!
Okay, so how CAN you be more productive this week?
You can spend a lot of time doing things that add little to no value to your life or your business and are just plain busy work.
OR you can plan your week to be more productive and useful than you ever thought possible.
Sounds great, but exactly how do you do that?
Here’s what I do.
My coach, Tawnya Sutherland at VANetworking coaches her VA Insiders to set aside a 3-hour block of time EVERY week to work on our OWN businesses.
So “My Business Time” is Saturday morning from 9am to noon. During those three hours, I look first at my goals, then the things I need to do next to achieve them.
Those tasks get added to my calendar based on my goals and objectives for the week.
I even go so far as to list each action that needs to be taken for the final result I’m looking for so that I don’t get caught up in a bottleneck or roadblock.
Or worse, get sucked down a rabbit hole and spend hours looking up recipes for snickerdoodles. Anyone else guilty of this? No? Just me?
Are there tasks on your list that someone else can do for you and free up some of your time?
Are you spending a lot of time doing tasks that aren’t directly related to money-making tasks for your business?
You know what I’m talking about – posting to social media, responding to comments on your posts, writing blog posts…all those tasks take up valuable time!
One of the items on my list (this one is more personal, but it’s time-consuming and eats into my own business time) is menu planning.
Those of you who plan and cook meals for your family will understand the pain of figuring out every single day what to feed your household. Can I get an “Amen”?
This task is outsourced in my house. Sort of. Basically, if I ask “what’s for dinner tonight” and there’s no response, you’re getting either leftovers or breakfast. Simple, fast, but still nutritious.
So, think about turning those tasks over to someone who can do them for you to save time, time that you can spend on tasks that get you closer to those goals! Someone like, say a Freelance Admin (wink).
3 tips to help you be more productive based on some of my own experiences.
3 tips to be more productive
The Hive Team over at http://www.hive.com have written an awesome article about productivity.
When you want to get more done in a day, the best thing you have going for you is a good plan based on smart goals.
I find that I can do better by following these three tips.
Tip #1: Set Daily Goals and Objectives
Work with a long-term plan to create your medium-term and short-term plans and actions.
If you plan right, you’ll be able to set daily goals and objectives that allow you to finish any project or task on time.
Start with the result you want, a time you want the result, and then work your way backward in your calendar to today, planning small actions that will lead to the result you want.
I learned this idea ages ago, possibly even before my military days. You’ve heard the old saying “Start with the end in mind”.
What’s the goal? Now work your way backwards to today and you’ll have the steps you need to take to reach it!
Tip #2: Remove Distractions
It’s also important to achieving your goals to avoid and remove distractions that take you away from the schedule you set for yourself.
My own calendar looks like a kindergartener got ahold of a crayon. Each day has tasks, reminders and appointments listed in different colors based on what that task pertains to.
By listing my daily steps in my calendar and taking away anything that will interrupt me during the day, I can be sure to achieve each task and get me one step closer to my goal.
Tip #3: Stick to Deadlines and Timelines
Setting a realistic timeline and deadline requires you to know how long it takes you to do things and what is happening with the rest of your schedule.
If you schedule everything you need to do, including personal tasks, it’s going to be much easier to set and stick to realistic timelines and deadlines.
This is probably THE hardest part. At least for me.
There are so many shiny objects to distract us and so many other tasks that have to be done each day, that it’s easy to go off course.
One of the ways I combat this is, again with the calendar…I block time throughout the day to work on my tasks. If it’s a big goal, then I break it down to working maybe 90 minutes every day.
I try not to go beyond that because being human, my attention span only allows me about that amount of time before I look for those shiny objects to distract me!
Speaking of time blocking, that’s a big part of this next area:
What IS time management and how does it relate to being more productive?
When we talk about time management, we’re not really talking about managing time.
We’re talking about managing the schedule you set for yourself, ensuring you have enough time and energy to do what needs to be done in that timeframe.
This requires that you understand how long it takes you to accomplish the task, knowing how to do the task right, which technology or equipment you need and that you have the right resources to get it done.
All of this requires planning.
Here again, I defer to my colorful calendar. I know every morning when I sit down at my computer EXACTLY what has to be done today to move me another step forward toward my goals.
Can you…
How often does someone call or stop you if you’re out and about and ask you for a favor?
My husband is famous for poking his head in my office with a “Hey, can you do me a quick favor?”.
Sometimes I shoo him out, especially if I’m in the middle of a project or task. But, since I live with him, mostly I say sure.
I’ll ask you here: “Hey, can you do me a quick favor?”.
When someone comes to you with new things to add to your schedule, don’t just say yes automatically.
First, tell them you’ll check your calendar.
Then check your schedule but also check your mind to find out if you really want to do it or not.
Only say yes if you CAN actually fit it in, even if you think you want to do it.
The great thing about being a business owner and being your own boss is it lets you say YES to more of the things you’d like to do and turn over the rest to someone who likes to do the things you don’t!
MULTI-TASKING: Is it keeping you from being more productive?
If you’ve ever read job advertisements, you probably see them asking for “natural multitaskers” or “good multitaskers” as if this is a good thing to be.
The problem is that scientifically, you cannot truly multitask. No one can.
As a human, you can only truly focus on one thing at a time.
Scientifically multitasking is a myth and actually does not help you to be more productive!
A person who multitasks might get by and do a good enough job, but if they really focused, they’d do better.
Studies show that multitasking reduces productivity, increases stress, and it’s not realistically possible.
I found this quote, which made me laugh because it’s so completely me that I might just put it up on my office wall:
“Multitasking is the ability to screw everything up simultaneously.” ~Jeremy Clarkson
I’ve gone away from trying to multitask myself.
I found that those studies were dead-on for me:
I was stressed out because I never felt like I was accomplishing anything and was driving my productivity down.
Once I started focusing on one task at a time, I was a much happier me!
Now, while multitasking may be a productivity myth, you can still have more than one project going at a time. Consider working with a Freelance Admin.
Our job is to work with you to take some of those tasks off your hands so you can focus on the bigger picture of your business.
Okay, so here is my disclaimer:
You have to do what works best for YOU.
These are the things that work best for me in my own business and in my own life.
If they work for you, then my goal has been achieved.
Which is why I share my coffee-induced “wisdom” with you!
Bottom line:
We all have enough time to get things done, if we know and implement the ways that work best for us to achieve our goals.
A great option if you find yourself not having enough time in your day to complete the tasks you need to in order to achieve your goals, is to work with a Freelance Admin.
We’re good at taking those tasks, freeing up your time so that you can do what you love!
I’d love to hear from you.
What tasks could you outsource that would benefit you and your business and help you achieve your goals?
Leave me a comment!
And if you’d like to know what GinAdmin can do to make your life easier, hit me up and let’s chat!
Outsourcing tasks to a Freelance Social Media VA is a big decision. Is it right for your business?
I get that many entrepreneurs don’t like the idea of outsourcing. I think that this is mostly due to not understanding how outsourcing tasks to a Freelancer can actually be a very smart business decision. Today, I’m going to share ten reasons why I believe outsourcing to a Freelancer can benefit both you AND your business.
Welcome to, or back to, the GinAdmin Blog. My name is Gina Koran and I’ll be your host on this journey into Outsourcing Tasks to a Freelance Admin, sometimes referred to as a Virtual Assistant. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and see what insight my coffee-fueled brain can share with you!
And while I’m thinking of it, in my last article we talked about creating new habits. In case you missed it, you can find it here: https://ginadmin.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=244&action=edit. Well, it’s been 21 days…have you created any new habits? Let me know in the comments.
So, let’s get started…
#1: Get Your Focus Back
“Once upon a time”…chances are, you started your business because you like to do one or two things and you do them well. Whatever your widget is, it’s your “Zone of Genius” and you love it. Doing it lights you up like nothing else.
But when you’re running a business, you can begin wearing so many hats that you forget about your first love. That widget. The very reason you started your business in the first place gets pushed to the back burner as you put out a million other fires.
Forbes Magazine published an article about working with virtual assistants. There, they talk about how, by working with your VA, you can optimize your processes. In turn, this allows you to get your focus back on the business of building your widget.
Working hand-in-hand with a virtual assistant can be a step forward in the optimization of many of your company’s processes.
Once you outsource and train your Freelance Admin, you have time to focus again. You can spend more of your energy doing the things you love in your business. You’ll also find that by outsourcing, you’re going to be more productive because you can focus on that widget!
#2: Level-Up Areas of Your Business
There are always areas of your business where you know you could be doing better. Maybe you struggle with creating social media posts and graphics to showcase your widget.
When you work with a Freelance Admin, you can level-up these areas of your business. It’s important to look at where you need the most help before you choose to bring on a new team member. If you’re already strong with writing copy, then look for a Freelancer that’s strong in an area such as graphics.
Spending time in the areas that are your business cornerstones, you’ll find that what you’re outsourcing will actually help to grow your business!
#3: Create Time in Your Calendar
What would YOU do with more time in your day that you could gain by outsourcing tasks to a Freelance Admin?
Many entrepreneurs have too much on their plate. Too much everything – except time. If you’ve noticed that your days are packed with back-to-back tasks, meetings, and appointments, then you could likely benefit from outsourcing to a Freelance Admin.
While it’s understandable to have busy seasons in your business, it can become draining and overwhelming if these seasons last for long periods. You can decrease the overwhelm and energy-drain by working with a Freelance Admin. Think of it this way, handing over day-to-day tasks that will free up time in your calendar!
Jen Glantz, an entrepreneur and the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire, wrote an article about how she was spending so much of her time on tasks that were taking her away from building her business. She decided to hire freelancers to take on some of that weight so that she could focus on higher-priority items.
“After a few months of tracking how I spent my time during the workday, I realized that more than 25% of my time was spent on tasks that weren’t a high priority.”
Business owners, especially small business, owners tend to feel that they need to “wear all the hats” and “do all the things”. While this might seem like a money-saving option, it’s actually taking you away from focusing on the bigger-picture areas that you need to work on to grow your business.
#4: Lower Your Costs
Sometimes, the resistance to outsourcing is because of costs. You worry that you can’t afford the experienced Freelancer who would help with your marketing, for instance.
But think about this:
If you sit down and figure that you get paid, for example, $200 an hour to build your widgets, but you often spend ten hours or more a week frustrated by…let’s say marketing as an example, then you’re spending roughly $2,000 a week in valuable time frustrated when you could be making money from your widgets.
Suddenly, paying a Freelancer doesn’t seem so outrageous!
#5: Grow Your Business
Another advantage of outsourcing is that you can focus on growing your business in new and exciting ways. An experienced Freelancer can bring fresh ideas that maybe you hadn’t thought of. Or they may have experience in areas that you don’t and they can help you expand into that area.
In an article by BusinessWire, the CEO of Worksome explains how companies that are willing to consider working with Freelancers will be better equipped to face the changing future of work. Especially as we start to come out of the current world situation we are in.
Corporations that have the foresight and flexibility to engage with this ever-growing pool of contracted talent will find themselves able to better adapt to the changing future of work.
The result of working with Freelancers is a business that can expand in ways you’d only dreamed of before.
#6: Get Early Feedback on Ideas
You can also use outsourcing to get early feedback on ideas. Maybe the first few widgets you launched flopped because you weren’t in touch with what the market wanted. Or maybe your presentation wasn’t what customers expected.
With outsourcing, you can have a Freelance Admin do early research. This allows you to shape your widgets in a way that they’re more likely to appeal to your market.
For example, you might have your Freelancer compile a list of the top 5 widgets that are similar to yours. They can compare the widgets and point out what you can change to make it more marketable. You can use the time it would have taken you to do that research to work on other areas of your business. Plus you’ll have the information you need to make a more competitive widget.
I currently work with a client that will come up with an idea and he’ll send me an email or a text message with the basic idea and ask me to do some research. If it seems like it could be something that will help build his customer base, my job is to come up with a plan for marketing that idea. Whether it’s handing out flyers to customers, writing a blog post, splashing it on social media…whatever is going to be the best benefit for his company.
By handing all that over to me, he can focus on what’s ALREADY working. And I can come up with how to make this new idea work for him!
#7: Create a Better Customer Experience
Ensuring your customers’ experience is positive on your website keeps them on your page longer, and more likely to make a purchase! You can easily outsource this task to a Freelance Admin!
If you’ve been running your business solo for a long time, it’s possible you may have lost touch with what the customer experience is like for someone who makes a purchase from you.
You can have your Freelance Admin audit the system and go through making test purchases. Then they can give you feedback on what the experience was like and how it could be smoother.
One of my clients has me go through his entire website monthly. My job is to click on each and every link to make sure they all still work. Any broken links can be fixed, ensuring his customers have the best buying experience. He understands that broken links will turn customers away very quickly.
This task takes me about 45 minutes…but that’s time he can focus on building a better widget!
#8: Keep Up with Industry Trends
When you have a Freelancer who has your back, you’re free to explore new industry trends. You can look around at what others are doing and analyze how your brand could do it differently or do it better.
Maybe with the time your Freelance Admin is freeing up for you, you can attend some Trade Shows and find those trends!
#9: Stay Compliant
You may also want to consider outsourcing if you struggle to stay compliant with standards in your industry. Your Freelance Admin can research those issues. They can possibly find you workshops or courses that will keep you up-to-date with the compliance issues in the Widget World!
It’s important to find a balance between your work and your life to prevent burnout! Outsourcing tasks to a Freelance Admin can help!
#10: Get Your Work-Life Balance Back
Perhaps the biggest benefit of outsourcing is that it can give you back your work-life balance. Instead of worrying over whether that task got completed or what you need to focus on tomorrow while you’re at your kid’s soccer game, or dealing with client deadlines while you’re sick, you have someone to help you.
When you’re working with a Freelancer, you can focus on taking a step back when life or your health demands it. You can do this without guilt or hesitation. All because you know you’ve left those tasks in the capable hands of your Freelance Admin.
The bottom line is that outsourcing can be a wonderful way to get relief from overwhelm. And create more of what you want in your life. Time. Don’t be afraid to consider the benefits of what it can do for you AND your business!
I’d love to hear from you – what tasks could you outsource that would benefit you and your business? Leave me a comment!
And if you’d like to know what GinAdmin can do to make your life easier, hit me up and let’s chat! Head on over to my contact page and send me a message! http://www.ginadmin.com/#contact
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