I’ll tell you a short but embarrassing story. And I’m telling you this because I know it will save you a lot of time and frustration. Here we go.
Once I created an offer for a customer. Pretty easy, right? This is where things got complicated. The client wanted it to be delivered as a PDF and all the pages had to be vertical except for one. They wanted one of the pages with a lot of data on it to be in a horizontal format.
Here’s the problem. I had no idea how to do this! I spent 30 minutes trying to figure it out myself. Another 30 minutes trying to google the solution, then another 30 minutes watching YouTube videos.
After 90 minutes I still couldn’t believe it. So here’s what I finally did. I went to Fiverr, typed in “format pdf” and found someone who could do the work for me. $10 and 10 minutes later I had a ready quote for my client.
And while I was glad I did, I was frustrated that I had spent almost two hours doing something that took someone else 10 minutes and only cost me $10.
I kept thinking about all the other things I could have done in those two hours.
- Write a blog post
- Create my next newsletter
- Post and interact on social media
You know, all the things that actually generate revenue for your business that you’re uniquely suited to do. That’s when I realized how important it was Stay in your genius zoneand outsource everything else.
And you probably realize that too, but this is where a lot of people get stuck. You may not feel comfortable going onto a platform and asking an unfamiliar person for help.
And I don’t blame you. You know nothing about them or the quality of their work. But on the flip side, if you don’t start using Remote Experts, you’ll continue to spend hours on tasks that are a waste of your time, energy, and talent.
Luckily, Fiverr has solved this problem for you with its premium offering called Fiverr Business, a platform specifically aimed at medium to larger businesses with bigger teams and bigger budgets.
And here’s one of my favorite parts, it includes premium features like a vetted talent pool so you get the best of the best freelancers.
How can you use remote experts to improve your business and how do you get started?
I caught up with a few entrepreneurs who also use Fiverr Business so they can share their experiences with you on the latest episode of the Launch Your Business Podcast.
You will learn:
- The groundwork you should do before you even start adding a team member
- A convenient and time-saving way to delegate tasks
- The revenue results associated with freeing up your time by hiring skilled workers
I’ve shared some of my favorite takeaways from the episode below.
When should you seek outside help?
Sunny Williams, co-founder of TinyDocsa company that makes animated shorts that bring health issues to children, said it knew it needed help soon after launch.
“As a social impact company with a pretty big vision… I had to do some sort of audit and realize what skills and talents I needed around me to execute our vision of a healthier world for us kids. I don’t come from the most creative background. I’m pretty limited in my talents and creativity.” After a friend suggested that Sunny take a look at Fiverr, he realized he had what he called “a portal to all the talent and creativity and skills I needed to do this execute the vision and build this really robust business.”
For other entrepreneurs like Ari Turner, founder of the skin care company Look good, live wellHiring new team members may not feel like a natural first step. She admits she waited too long to hire help for her business.
“The company I built was actually a reaction to hitting burnout in a previous career,” says Ari. “A few years later, while I was in the middle of working on ‘Look Good, Live Well,’ I found myself facing burnout again. I think wait a minute. I quit my stressful job doing what I love. How are we here?”
If that’s how you feel, here’s a way to get the time back. Track every task you perform that could be done by someone or something else. Then decide to outsource or automate those tasks.
How to prepare for hiring a remote worker
Realizing she needed help to lighten the burden of all of this, Ari sat down for what she calls a “come unto Jesus” meeting—with herself When it came to creating the perfect virtual assistant, she wanted to be honest with herself about her work style, communication preferences, strengths and weaknesses.
“I’m the CEO of my company right now, but I’m definitely a very forward-thinking person and I need leadership,” Ari said. “I’m definitely a visionary when it comes to work, and even from the standpoint of hiring a virtual assistant, not only did I want a VA, I wanted someone who could also help manage projects that we had going on .”
With a clear vision of what she needed, Ari could confidently proceed with hiring her first team member. But as you’ll find out, she wasn’t just looking for a contractor, and neither should you. Instead, hire subject matter experts who can also serve as thought partners.
The business outcomes from using Fiverr Business
Ari said there are more benefits to hiring someone to work on your business on your behalf than just revenue — of course, scale is part of the equation, but as an entrepreneur, quality of life also needs to be considered.
You can be more present as a parent, friend, or spouse when part of your mind is freed from side quests. With a larger team, you have even more minds and hours available, which can free up time to work on things that fall within your zone of genius.
With TinyDocs, Sunny credits his creative team for the exciting growth over the past few years. As a team, they have created work recognized by international film festivals and have rapidly expanded their social media presence.
Sunny says you might think you can figure it out on your own, but working with other people gives you an opportunity to see a different (sometimes better) way of doing things and allows both of you to work in your area of expertise.
In my experience (including the PDF fiasco), you’ll also avoid common mistakes and progress much faster!
Next Steps:
If you’re ready to scale your business with vetted experts, here’s my suggestion:
- Listen to the full episode below
- Write down at least one project that you want to outsource
- Find a verified expert to complete your project with Fiverr store
