No one can know—and do—it all. And if you’re in business, then you know there are a lot of moving parts that all have to be managed. Websites, shopping carts, email managers, video editing, copywriting, and file storage…the list goes on.
No one can know — and do— all of that. And if you’re in a trade then you know there’s a lot of moving parts to be controlled and managed Websites, shopping carts, email managers, video editing, copywriting, file storage… the list is endless.
And here’s where a lot of new (and some established) business owners fall down. They try to have everything bootstrapped. Need a new website? They build it. Starting an affiliate program? They install it. Creating a video training series? They buy Camtasia; spend weeks learning it, and more weeks recording and editing video.
While there’s a lot to say about selfsufficiency, there’s a point where you just have to determine which tasks give you the best ROI and let go of the rest.
As Nicole Dean says, “If you’re a fish, stop trying to fly. Do what you’re good at, and let others handle the rest.”
And, here’s why. You waste precious time and energy trying to do all of that yourself. Take a quick look at this calculator to figure out what your time is really worth, and you will find out pretty fast that it is a worthwhile investment to pay someone to edit your videos or update your website.
Now that’s not to say you shouldn’t be aware of the techy stuff that runs your company. You certainly should. Outsourcing research is almost pointless if you don’t have an idea about the job that needs to be done.
What this means is, you need a review process. You need to know where you’re going, and you must have a general understanding of the steps to get you there. You just need to know these things are possible, but you don’t have to learn how to do them. For example, if you’re using autoresponder, and you want to send a linked email that will automatically add the reader to a new campaign when clicked, then all you need to know is that it can be done. You don’t have to be able to fully understand the dynamics behind it, or set it up yourself.
That’s what your VA is for.
And if you’re really looking ahead ( I know you are) then you’re also going to have your VA record the steps necessary to complete the task. She should be assisting in building the operations manual as part of her job. That will make getting things accomplished in less time easier for everyone in the team, which in effect will save you money.
And quit fighting technology. Understand only what you need to learn to do your work, and delegate the rest to someone who can do it better and quicker. You can then spend your time bringing the money in.
