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Outsourcing Your Tasks Effectively
Unless you have unlimited funds, chances are you won't be able to hire many full-time employees to handle the various essential functions when you first start your business.
As a small online business owner for you to have the same efficiencies as a more massive corporation, you will have to outsource many of the essential functions of your business.
When most people think about outsourcing, they envision a "superstar virtual assistant" who does everything while the owner of the business sits back and relaxes.
Unfortunately, this is nowhere near the reality. In reality, no online business can run on autopilot. To be successful, you need to take an active role and be there when it comes to making the crucial decisions.
Outsourcing works best when you have an established framework and documented processes in place that allows anyone to complete the necessary tasks.
It's best to hire different people who can handle small aspects of your business, rather than looking for a single person who can do it all. By outsourcing to different people, you gain the following advantages.
You get the right person because you are hiring for a specific job.
- You save money because you arent employing full-time employees who get paid even if there is no work to complete.
- You wont have to worry if someone is right for the job.
You may think that outsourcing is a huge hassle because you have to deal with multiple people.
However, it is a smart business decision, especially when you are a new business owner because each project becomes cost-effective and completed by people who know what they are doing.
Your ultimate strategy in outsourcing is to build a capable team where each member specializes in doing one thing really well.
Outsourcing allows you to present a professional image while making sure each of your essential business functions is cost-effective.
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Here is a five-step process for locating and hiring a great freelancer.
Follow this strategy for every new hire that you make, and you will soon have a team full of talented people who are capable of doing excellent work on every single project.
Step One: Identify Your Outsourcing Task
To be successful, you have to start every project with knowing precisely what you want to accomplish. You will need to know what skills are necessary to complete the task, what outcome you are looking for, and the level of expertise required to be successful. This is the best way to find and hire the right person for a specific job.
- Before you write the description of the project, you will need to answer the following questions.
What is the exact goal of the project?
- What problem will it solve?
- Is it an ongoing project or a one-time solution?
- Have you completed the process yourself?
- Can you describe the mistakes that you made during the process?
- Have you hired a freelancer in the past for this kind of project?
- What did you learn from the experience?
- Take the time to complete this exercise and be thorough when answering the questions.
Step Two: Write Your Project Description
Most of the freelance websites that you will use implement a bidding system for projects. It's your job to write a detailed description of what you want.
Once the project description is posted on the sites, people will be able to place a bid for the project by submitting a cost estimation and information about their level of expertise.
- Depending on the project that you post, you could receive anywhere from a handful of bids to dozens of proposals. Trying to filter through the proposals you receive can be a daunting task and one that can quickly overwhelm you. Here are some of the ways that you can begin to evaluate the proposals you receive.
- Price
- Feedback rating
- Prior work experience
- Communication skills
- Work samples
Every freelance website is full of talented freelance workers. The trick to getting their attention is to write a compelling project description.
It needs to be written in a way that encourages the top-notch freelancers to respond while subtly discouraging the unqualified freelancers.
Including the following seven elements in every job description will ensure that the best freelancers will reply to your post.
Element One: Include a Specific Project Title
Rather than being cute with your project title, it's better to write a short description of the work that you are looking to have completed. For instance, if you need to hire a writer for a 10,000-word social media marketing report, then you should write:
"Need Professional Writer for a 10,000-word social media marketing report." Write the project title, so it focuses on the primary goal. Don't try to gain more attention by writing a catch header.
You want people who are interested in this project, not bidding merely because they need the work.
Element Two: List the Required Skills
It's not enough to just post a job description, especially if you want to find the right freelancer for the project.
The best way to go about looking for the right person is to ask for specific experience with the task. In other words, you want to include specific skills that will deter anyone who is a generalist, or those who think they can do an excellent job of bidding on your project.
Instead, you want to attract those freelancers who can demonstrate background and expertise in completing the kind of project you are looking to outsource.
For example, lets say you need to hire someone to create press releases. Since these kinds of documents are usually written in a formal, third-person format, you wouldnt want to hire someone who only has experience blogging or creating articles.
Instead, you want to find someone who has an extensive background creating excellent press releases.
As part of the description, you want to ask for examples of similar projects.
The freelancer should attach these to their bid or provide you with a hyperlink where you can check them out and evaluate their work.
Element Three: Eliminating Certain Candidates
When it comes to outsourcing, some people are right for the job, and there are those who aren't. To save yourself a ton of time, its best to weed out those who aren't right for the job before they place their bid.
The best thing you can do is be clear about what you need from the beginning. This way you won't waste a freelancers time if you dont think they are a good fit for the job.
For instance, when hiring a writer, you may want to ask for a native English speaker because you want the informal and conversational style that you dont usually get with someone who speaks English as a second language.
Over time youll start to develop a feel for what you need for your projects. Dont hide your requirements. Instead, post what you need specifically in the initial project description, so you dont end up wasting yours or the freelancers time.
Element Four: Provide Specific Parameters
It is essential that the description you write for the project are incredibly detailed regarding what is required. You have to include every possible element so those bidding on your project can provide an accurate bid price.
For instance, you might include the following:
Specific technical skills required to complete the project
Any programming languages
Exact word counts for the project
The niche market for the product
Description of the target audience.
Example products and websites
Links to your current product line
Elements you like about your competition
Providing detailed descriptions of the project and what you need will help to weed out any lazy freelancers.
Detailed job descriptions usually ensure that the people who are bidding on the project are confident in their ability to deliver a quality project.
Element Five: Create a Private Description (Optional)
Sometimes the job you are outsourcing requires a certain level of privacy because you don't want to reveal too much about your business.
For these situations, you'll write a vague description informing the candidate that you'll explain more in a follow-up description for those candidates that are selected. From there, you'll have them sign a non-disclosure agreement before you provide them the rest of the details of the project.
Element Six: Include a Statement About Plagiarism
Unfortunately, when you are hiring a writer, plagiarism is something that will have to be taken into consideration.
Every once in a while, you'll come across a freelancer who thinks it's okay to use the same content from someone else's website.
To combat this, you need to include a "zero tolerance" policy within the description of your procedure addressing plagiarism.
Inform bidders upfront that you will be checking for plagiarism on every project by running the content through a plagiarism checking site like Copyscape.
Element Seven: Embed a Code Phrase
Paying attention to details is a skill that can't be taught. Either someone understands how vital it is to read instructions thoroughly, or they don't.
For those that dont, you want dont want them to be involved in your business.
A simple way to test someones attention to detail is to include a code phrase somewhere in your job description.
Either at the end of the job description or somewhere in the middle of a long paragraph. To see who paid attention to the details of your project description and find freelancers who can follow direction, have them submit their bid with the code phrase at the top.
: Eliminate Unqualified Bids
Depending on the project, you'll often get dozens of bids, which can be incredibly overwhelming. While it's essential for you to examine each one, it will take too much time to go through each candidate's job history. Here's a simple system that will allow you to eliminate unqualified candidates quickly.
Eliminate any proposals that look like a template and those that dont answer your questions. Only keep those proposals that provide clear answers to your questions.
Eliminate any bids that didnt include the code phrase.
Eliminate any bid that doesnt include examples of similar projects.
Eliminate candidates that dont have any job history on the site.
Eliminate any candidates that dont have at least a 4.5 or better feedback threshold.
Eliminate candidates that dont possess the specific skills that you need.
Surprisingly, you can eliminate many freelancers with these six rules. Notice that cost isn't included on this list. Right now, at this point in the process, it's more important to eliminate freelancers who aren't a good fit for the listed project.
Step Four: Pick 3 to 5 Qualified Candidates
After quickly eliminating unqualified candidates, you'll still have a large pool of freelancers that you will have to sort through. This will require you to go through the list again and disqualify specific candidates.
Your goal with this step is to narrow down your choices to 3 to 5 qualified candidates. This step can be hard because the candidate pool is now filled with excellent freelancers. Now is the time for you to carefully look at each bid and decide which is the most qualified candidate for your project.
To narrow down your choices again, look at the following criteria.
The Bid Price
This is the step in the process when you have to consider cost. When deciding on a candidate, you'll want to pick a range of bid prices that are acceptable to you and eliminate those candidates who are above this number or who fall below the figure. It is important to remember that you get what you pay for, so you want to be sure to eliminate the low bids because this is usually a good indicator that you will receive poor service.
Companies v. Individuals
Pay close attention to the language of the bid. If the proposal includes words like "we" or "us" then it's a good sign that they are representing a company. While you don't have to eliminate companies and agencies automatically, you need to be careful when analyzing their work history to make sure they are worth the increase in cost.
Personalization
Many of the bids that you receive will be a "cut-and-paste" response that shows the project description wasn't thoroughly read. While the bidder may have included the code phrase, they do so in a generic response that lacks any personality and connection.
While you are going through the bids, you want to look for freelancers who seem like they are genuinely interested in working on the project. You want to look for freelancers who include comments about how they are uniquely qualified to work on your project and who can relate parts of your description to something they've done in the past.
Project Examples
Always look at the freelancers work examples that they provide with their bid. This can be a link to an article theyve written, an app, an image, or a website they designed. You will also get freelancers who attach samples of their work history directly to their bid. Carefully examine these examples to see how they stack up to your expectations.
Past Feedback Ratings
For each remaining bidder, click on their feedback ratings and examine the work theyve completed on the freelance website. Even though a freelancer has a high feedback level, doesnt mean that they have experience working on projects similar to yours. Eliminate anyone who doesnt have related work experience.
Timeline
Even the most experienced freelancers can be a waste of money if they can't complete a project on time. Every bid you receive will give you an expected timeline for completion.
Pay close attention to the delivery dates submitted and eliminate any proposals that go beyond the norm.
These few simple rules will allow you to reduce a large pool of candidates. Be prepared to repeat this specific step a few times to find the right candidates to the short-list. Once you have a few qualified freelancers chosen, you can now move forward with selecting the most qualified candidate to complete your project.
Step Five: Pick the Most Qualified
Freelancer
This is where you will make your final decision and hire a qualified freelancer to help you complete your project. Each of the candidates youve selected should be fully qualified to work on your project.
Now you have to determine which person is the right fit for the particular task. Here are four things you can do to move forward with making a final decision in selecting a freelancer for the project.
Create a Small Test
Timeliness and attention to detail are crucial when running a business. You can test the qualified applicants for these qualities by having them complete a simple test. Give each of the potential hires a small task to finish to see how quickly and accurately they accomplish it. Here are a few ideas you can use.
- Ask them a question about their bid
- Ask them to reaffirm the bid price
- Ask them to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement
- Ask them to provide you with another sample of their work
The purpose is to give each candidate a simple task that shouldnt take more than a few minutes to complete. Give them a couple of days for them to respond. If a candidate gives you excuses or takes too long to complete the task, its a good indicator that youll get the same kind of service on your project.
Run a Small Project
If your project is complicated, you may want to consider offering a small fee to each qualified candidate to complete a little project. The best way to determine each candidates qualifications is to give each one a similar task and see what they come up with. While this step will cost you a small fee, it is a great way to test the actual level of experience of each candidate.
Look for Interest in the Project
While you are waiting for each candidate to return the small project you assigned them, take some time to look at each of their portfolios to see if they show any interest in the market.
It helps to work with someone who is passionate about the kind of project youre offering, although it is by no means a mandatory requirement. The freelancer you choose will work a bit harder and be more eager to do an excellent job on the project if they have some interest in the market.
Check References
Most of the freelancers that you have short-listed will have references from previous work theyve completed. Contact these former clients and talk with them about the freelancers job performance.
Talk to them about the level of quality, communication, timeliness, and attitude toward the project.
Don't be afraid to try and a lot of feedback about a particular freelancer. This person is someone who has the potential of becoming a crucial part of your online business, so it makes sense to try and get as much information on them as possible.
Following these four action items should help you to find the one candidate that is a perfect fit for your project. At this point, you have to rely on your instincts.
If one of the freelancers feel like a better fit than the others, then they are the one that you should hire. After making the final decision, you'll create a contract and begin working with the freelancer on completing the required task.
Finding qualified freelance workers to help you work on the documents you've created will help you build a successful business that is fully systemized. Follow these guidelines to help to choose the best candidates for all your business outsourcing needs.
Automation Tools for Systemization
As a small business owner, you are losing approximately10 to 15 percent of your time when you don't automate simple tasks like posting to your businesss social media accounts. Business automation aims to improve a companys performance by reducing costs, increasing the accuracy of data, and minimizing delays.
Most standard small business functions can be handled with software solutions. Once a company automates its primary tasks, they will notice that other aspects of their business will begin to work more efficiently. Here are some of the best automation tools that your business can start to utilize to systemize your business today.
Zapier
Zapier (https://zapier.com) is one of the leaders in task automation. Zapier connects all your apps and allows you to automate your workflows by automatically moving info between your web apps so you can focus on your most important business tasks. You can integrate more than 1,000 apps like Slack, Asana, and Google Docs.
Features a visual designer that allows you to set up integrations and administer integrations without having to use code.
The easy to use visual interface makes setting up your integrations a snap.
Easily connect almost any application programming interface (API), to another API. Use logical functions and multi-step algorithms for your connects to avoid triggering specific workflows when they aren't needed.
Flow Microsofts Flow
(https://flow.microsoft.com) turns your companys repetitive tasks into multistep workflows. The automated workflows that you create between your favorite apps and services will send you notifications, automatically synchronize files, collect data, and much more.
Create, use, and share automated approval workflows to respond quickly and process and approve everything from time off requests to travel plans to sales opportunities and documents.
Connect securely to your cloud base services and on-premises data so you can make the most of the data you already have.
Pipedrive
A CRM and pipeline management tool, Pipedrive (https://pipedrive.com) helps you focus on actions that matter. The visual sales pipeline prompts you to remain organized, take action, and stay in control of your complicated sales process by bringing all the sales data into a single place.
The mobile app gives you access to your contact and deal information when youre on the go. Schedule activities, take notes during a call or meeting, save call logging activities easily when youre away from the office.
Use Pipedrives reporting feature to understand where youre losing deals, forecast results, and identify opportunities for improvement.
TextExpander
TextExpander (https://textexpander.com) lets you instantly insert snippets of text from a collection of emails, boilerplate, and other content, as you type. Using the quick search feature or an abbreviation you can recall your best words instantly.
You can share your snippets with your team so that they can stay on track and on message. Access all your snippets from any device with a TextExpander account so you can give your entire support team the current answers to all your customer inquiries.
You can also streamline your email and use the fill-in-the-blank feature to create custom forms with multiple filed types and sectors.
Alfred
Alfred (https://alfredapp.com) is an award-winning app for Mac OS X. It's a workflow automation tool and a hotkey tool that allows you to navigate your interface with your keyboard rapidly. You can create and automate complex workflows that you trigger from a hotkey.
Launch applications and find files on your Mac and the web. Alfred learns how you use your Mac and prioritizes the results, saving you countless hours.
Alfreds Powerpack feature uses powerful workflows to perform tasks more efficiently, allowing you to cut down on the repetitive manual tasks that eat up your valuable time.
IFTTT
IFTT (https://ifttt.com) stands for If This Then That and is the free way to get all your apps and devices talking to each other. With IFTT you can bring the Internet of Things (IoT) into your pocket with mobile-based automation tools.
Use widgets to run specific Applets with the simple touch of a button on your iOS or Android devices.
Automate tasks between a wide array of apps, services, and devices. Their web and mobile app are easy to use and support IoT devices and voice assistants like Google Assist and Amazon Alexa.
Shortcat
Shortcat (https://shortcatapp.com) allows you to navigate your screen with your keyboard, effectively rendering your mouse useless. It helps you to boost productivity by removing the need to take your fingers off the keyboard.
It leverages the Accessibility API, which is supported by all applications that are included with Mac OS X and many other applications.
The program lets you keep your hands on the keyboard to click, which saves you both time and energy.
Robotask
Robotask (https://robotask.com) is a powerful tool for PC users who are committed to automating their workflow.
The program allows you to automate repetitive tasks on your PC that range from launching applications to checking email.
With Robotask you won't have to create batch files or write complicated scripts to develop simple or complex automation tasks. It uses its visual interface to allow you to select and combine actions to fit your needs.
Create automated tasks and automatically execute them when certain conditions apply.
Tallyfy
Eliminate the chaos from your business processes with Tallyfy (https://tallyfy.com). This workflow software turns your daily tasks and approvals into automated, repeatable processes. It eliminates the pain of emails, calls, papers, forms, and spreadsheets.
You can easily map existing flowcharts or SOPs into Tallyfy templates and simplify your work into actionable steps that reflect real-life workflows.
Its open API allows you to connect to most of your existing tools.
Intercom Catch, convert, and keep more customers with Intercom (https://intercom.com). Intercom is a customer messenger platform that allows your customers to get in touch with you straight from the web. Its perfect for sales, marketing, and support.
Use bots and live chat to automatically qualify, route, and convert more leads in less time.
Send targeted emails and push and in-app messages to quickly onboard and engage customers, turning more signups into paying customers.
Delivra
Delivra (https://delivra.com) is a results-driven email marketing automation platform that makes it extremely easy to engage your audience and increase revenue.
With its marketing automation, you can deploy smarter email campaigns that are more efficient and customized for your audience. You can create triggered responses, easily segment subscribers, send emails based on consumer behavior and create dynamic content.
With weekly reports delivered directly to your inbox, you can keep track of the progress and performance of each email campaign. The weekly insights will provide you with subject line analysis, the top-performing content, and the number of social shares by channel.
Autopilot
Spark new customer relationships and rekindle old ones with the simple and straightforward Autopilot (https://autopilothq.com) program. Engage with your customers at the right time with personalized emails, SMS, in-app messages, and postcards.
Use the program to connect to your apps and automate tasks to capture a richer view of all your contacts and engage with them based on their behavior.
Easily track your performance to get insights into which messages convert, how your messages are trending, and what is driving sales. Quickly visualize your revenue funnel and optimize your process on the fly with real-time results.
mHelpDesk
mHelpDesk (https://mhelpdesk.com) automates your customer contact, scheduling, billing, communications, and everything in between. The program was designed to supercharge your repetitive, manual business processes so you can focus on what really matters.
Track every stage of the job with complete visibility of your workflows. Youll be able to see the progress of every job in real-time. See every change in a job that has occurred using the Activity Log feature and holds your team members accountable for their actions.
Save yourself time and money and speed up your cash flow. In less than 60 seconds you can start accepting Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover with the easy to set up payment processing system.
As you start to put stable systems in place in your online business, consider adding one or more of these powerful and easy to use automation tools. Automating the repetitive and repeatable business tasks will free up your time so you can focus your time and energy on the essential functions required to grow your business.
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