I'm really glad
Think with me for a minute. What is the most precious commodity we have as humans? Is it food? Water? How about gold or silver? Money?
Although food and water are clearly non negotiable when it comes to life sustaining resource, most of us in the United States are fortunate enough to be able to renew those resources. How about gold and silver? I gotta be honest. I have no idea how the trade market works for those items, but that’s not it either. What about money? Nope. It’s not money. We can always make MORE money…even if it doesn’t feel like it, that is something that we can renew.
Okay, so what IS the most valuable and precious resource we have?
It’s time.
Time is the only thing that is always constantly dwindling and changing…and it’s the one of those things we cannot. ever. get. back. Once time is spent, it is gone forever. Let’s think about it like a birthday. You’ll never have another 10th, 20th, or 30th birthday. There’s no going back. You’ll never truly regain that five hours of sleep you lost fruitlessly plugging away at a task that you have no interest in doing OR trying to achieve something you simply don’t have enough knowledge or skills to do. I’m not saying you should give up on tasks that are hard, but it is important to realize when a task is sucking the life out of you and eating away at your precious time. Especially when you’re an entrepreneur.
Y’all, didn’t we leave the “hustle” of the cubical life to live more life? Enjoy more freedom? Hell, didn’t we leave that behind so we could ENJOY our work? Yeah, guys. We sure did. Here is your reminder that you actually did what you wanted to do with your life, and you made a choice to open up your own business. Create your own thing. Forge a new path! Like a badass, independent, fearless boss. Even if you’re still chugging away at the cubical life, I know you’ve got goals for a sustainable business.
I see you dreaming about what it would look like to live a life with rules you create. With more freedom for your family. I know you’re craving just an hour of time a week to do something for YOU! I’m willing to bet, whatever season of life you’re in, you’re wishing you had more time to pursue your dreams. Pursue a passion. Pursue a dang nap if ya wanna on a Sunday afternoon. Amiright? If we all want these things so badly, why is it we waste time on tasks that clearly are not our strong suit?
If you’re rolling you’re eyes thinking, “I don’t have the money to get someone else to do those tasks for me”, think again. You might need to take a good hard look at not only your operating costs, but what YOUR personal rates for whatever it is you’re selling or creating. If you’re grinding, grinding, grinding and gaining no profits, friend…that is not sustainable.
Did you spend years learning a craft or talent? Major bucks on a degree? A whole lot of TIME on learning to do the thing you do?! There is no shame in being profitable, and expressing that your TIME is worth something. Spend the majority of your time on that thing you’re in love with doing, and be compensated for it to make a living. It’s not selfish. It’s sustainable.
If you’re a photographer, you spent a lot of time learning the functionality of your camera. If you’re like me, you obsessively dove into it with an almost reckless abandonment. I was totally consumed by learning my craft…and I loved it. It gave me life. Years later, it still is life giving! That is time WELL spent! But ya know what was time poorly spent for me? Me behind a computer making an insane amount of edits like removing a building, car, or your dad’s cousin’s ex-boyfriend who they insisted being in one wedding portrait (pro tip: avoid this all together and chat with couples ahead of time about family portraits…you’ll thank me). Can I do these edits? Yeah! Sure. Does it take a lot of time to perform something like this? Yepppp. It sure does. A similar situation lead me to taking a good hard look at what I could outsource to free up some of my very valuable working hours.
Ladies and gentleman, THIS is where we get started talking about the power of outsourcing! These five tips will have you regaining control of your week and most importantly, spending your time as wisely as possible.
1. If you’re a professional photographer looking to free up some time, you can outsource it. Editing easily takes up more than half of my time as a professional photographer, and I feel this pain on a deep level, pal. Services like Photographer’s Edit can help with this task. Photographer’s Edit will help cull images, edit them, and organize them. You can schedule edits ahead of time…and work with professions who actually love editing if you don’t. They get to spend their time doing what THEY love, and you get to spend more time doing what YOU love. Think about it this way. You’re supporting your community, you are giving another creative a job. An opportunity to make money. Don’t feel guilty if you want to consider outsourcing part of your work flow!
2. How about website design? No clue where to start with designing a theme to make your website super pretty? Going back and forth on heading text and trying to fix some tiny little padding space detail? Stop tinkering with it and just get it done. There are plenty of templates out there for whatever platform you’re operating on. Wix, WordPress, Weebly, whatever it is you’re using, there are plenty of beautiful templates ready to roll. You can also hire someone to help build your website AND incorporate those important pieces like SEO, and data analysis.
3. SEO + Content Optimization. Woof. I can hear the grumbles now. If SEO has you feeling like SE-oh-helllll no…breath. The MotoDoll has your back. This is Emily Elmore’s JAM, you guys. This woman knows her stuff and will have your google ranking improving in no time.
SEO is one of the most common gripes I hear about from creatives. Personally, I think this commonly coined, “unsexy” task is really fascinating…but a lot of entrepreneurs would rather iron socks than plug away at key words and alt tags. And ya know what? That’s totally okay. You can hire Emily to optimize your content while you focus on aspects of your business you dig. She loves this stuff, and you don’t have to feel overwhelmed or horrified trying to dig through information that makes you sweat.
The MotoDoll offers SEO management that makes sense (and who doesn’t want to make sense of this ever changing industry?) and won’t leave you feeling disconnected from your brand. Emily is going to create a service that will connect your users and strengthen their experience while visiting your website. She’s got the know how when it comes to analysis, brand development AND website design. Remember my above point about website design?! Kinda sounds like The MotoDoll is a one stop shop for all things to get you up and running on the web, eh?
4. Education on a specific skill set is always, always, always time well spent. The time you spend seeping your craft will carry your further and farther. Not to mention you’ll be able to learn directly from an expert in your field instead of combing the web trying to piecemeal information.
Mentoring services, coaching lessons, one on one or in a group setting can be incredibly beneficial. You can fast track the time it takes you to get started on a new facet of your business or a new service to offer. For example, let’s say you want to create a podcast. You’ve got tons of knowledge to share about your field of work, but no clue how to actually start a podcast. Take a course from an expert who has done it before! Think of alllllll the time learning from an expert can save you.
When I mentor my students in photography and starting their own business, they are able to pull from my experience and research. They get a huge advantage because they can start WORKING instead of searching online for hours and hours and hours. My expertise saves them time, and gives them the ability to learn from my real human experiences. There’s nothing like that type of connection!
5. Up your e-commerce game by outsourcing product and professional photography. Plan and simple, professional, high quality images stand out from the crowd. Have your clients and potential customers take you seriously from the moment they see your product, headshot and visual content. Never underestimate the power of a crisp, clean and uniquely styled photo. Etsy vendors, makers, bakers, designers, you name it, you NEED to have professional photos to elevate your brand. Think about what a visual world we live in! Often those photos are the FIRST thing your potential client sees!
A good product photographer will showcase not only the product, but infuse the brand story in the photo. Product photography should encompass not only excellent detail and design, but also pristine editing (minimizing glares on glass, finger prints on clear items, dust spots, etc.) If you don’t have the time, equipment, or experience to create your content, outsourcing a professional is the only way to go. Custom created content will keep your customers coming back for more AND will free you up to continue building your empire.
Take a peek at one of my favorite Etsy shop vendors, Before the Veil, to see how my friend and shop owner Kimmy, utilized custom styled product photos we shot. Going back to the educational piece, Kimmy was also able to take a photography course with me and a one on one photography lesson to continue to learn how to photograph her own visual content.
There are dozens more tasks that you can add to this list. Once a month house cleaning, meal delivery services, copy writing, virtual assistants to manage appointments…the possibilities are endless. Once you start outsourcing some of your biggest pain points, you’ll be amazed to see how much more effective you can be in your business!
