Many business owners hold on to too many of their tasks. When this happens, one of two things occurs: burnout or slow growth of the business. They say they can do the task better or don't know what to delegate.
Some will argue that they don't have the money to delegate or that they can do it better/faster than someone else.
I'm calling GARBAGE!
I was that way too at one point in my business. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit to that because prior to owning my business I had led teams of up to 300 people. I was the queen of delegation! Yet, somehow when I created my own thing, I forgot how to do it for a while.
Here's the thing: If you have a purpose … a real purpose and drive for why your business exists then you owe it to that purpose to focus in your genius and area of brilliance.
A while ago I wrote a post about deciding what to delegate or outsource. Many of you wrote in asking for some examples of how you could let go of tasks. So, today, I'll share a quick list.
Print out this post and highlight the activities that you are doing, but shouldn't be doing and then get a plan of action in place to delegate!
Possible Items to Delegate
The offerings of virtual assistants has grown dramatically over the last few years. Thanks to the amazing technology we have available to us today, virtual assistants can work from anywhere and directly impact the bottom line of your business.
Get Found Online
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – keyword research
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – updating website pages and posts to be optimized for traffic pulling keywords
- Submission to Search Engines or directories
- Content Management Systems (CMS) – keeping your website up to date
- Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC) – setting up and maintaining
- Manage your Facebook account and fan pages
- Follow/un-follow from your Twitter based on criteria
- Upload/manage photos to Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket etc.
Content Creation
- Newsletter preparation
- Creating landing / squeeze Pages for your products and promotions
- Research a specific topic and write a draft blog post for you to customize
- Manage comments on your blog, forum or video — manage spam
- Convert an e-book into a Kindle book
- Transcribe MP3s of programs you have developed to turn into special report or info product
- Market research for a new product or business
- Manage social campaigns
- Help prepare speech and materials for a presentation
- Compile articles/posts for e-book creation
- Editing or proofread everything – It does not matter how often you write, typos happen. Your assistant can help your content be much better through solid proofreading.
- Screen guest posts
- Find images for blog and social media posts
Revenue Generation & Client Relationship
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – data entry and maintenance
- Set up your email list
- Transcribe a picture of your hand written notes to place the notes in your CRM system
- Call your prospects/clients to confirm/arrange appointments
- Respond to email/ticket support requests
- Invoices – send, track, and receive your business invoices
- Phone calls for event registration, appointment scheduling or any other reason you would want to connect with someone
- Book ad sponsors for your site, show, program
- Gift buying (cards, flowers, notes)
Administrative Operations
- Transcribe voice memos you record on your phone, and then email them to you
- Go through your business or personal voice mail, handle basic matters and forward any pressing issues on to you
- Create several templates for sending out letters
- Organize your ideas and thoughts into an actionable lists
- Do data entry (of course, you don’t want to be doing that)
- Calendar – manage all appointments with a shared calendar
- Email – screen email coming in and categorize (or delete) so that you only see what is important
- Software updates for your online tools and websites
Personal Coordination
- Look for contractors/plumbers/pest control in your area
- Search for best doctors in your area that accept the insurance you have
- Pay your bills online
- Plan your event and check availability of your friends for dinner
- Travel – Find directions for you and or create Google maps
- Travel – Comparing hotels in an area and present you with a categorized list of the top rated, features you are looking for and book the one you want
- Travel – Find the lowest air fare for an up coming trip and then book the trip
- Travel – Online Flights Check-in – send you boarding passes online so you don't have to wait in a queue. You could even use a tool such as TripIt to sync your itinerary to your mobile device
- Manage your online library – Place books on hold, order them
- Place orders on your behalf and track delivery
- Manage your shopping lists
- Update addresses/contact lists
- Give you reminders or wake up calls
Difficulty in giving up control of your tasks is often a sign that you need help. Often, assistants can complete your administrative tasks faster, better and cheaper than you can.
Let it Go — Delegate — Let it Go — Delegate — Let it Go — Delegate
Question: Do you need an assistant? What would you delegate? Have an assistant that you are working with well? Great! What do you delegate and how do you work together? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Ann says
Great specifics about delegation and a very helpful article (found you through the UBC). Thanks for the list.
Stephanie LH Calahan says
Thank you. Glad you liked the list.
Kimberly Eldredge says
One of the tasks I’ll be delegating (soon) will be all my bookkeeping and bill paying. It’s an easy thing to delegate and monthly reports will keep me on track.
Stephanie LH Calahan says
That is an excellent thing to delegate for sure!
Holly Matson says
THANK YOU! I handle the content creation portion of your list for my holistic clients and every time, without fail, I hear some version of “I had no idea how much time I was wasting on this!” Pay attention to this list, play to your strengths, and delegate the rest! Thanks Stephanie!
Stephanie LH Calahan says
Hi Holly. Glad you like the list. Would you have other items to suggest to add?
Pamela Hazelton says
Spot on, Stephanie! Now it’s just a matter of showing the smaller biz owners that the costs involved are nothing compared to the overall, realistic benefits!
Stephanie LH Calahan says
So awesome to see you here from Twitter Pamela. Would you add any tasks or strategies to this list?
Pamela Hazelton says
Hey, Stephanie:
Mine are related to the oft-ignored because there is simply not enough time in the day.
1. Placing test orders or test inquiries as a customer or visitor regularly. (It’s amazing how many sites have order and contact form issues go undetected by staff for weeks!)
2. Competitor comparisons – this goes hand in hand with getting found on line via listing services, product placement services, etc. You must look at your competition’s listings to determine why they are outranking you.
3. Tracking trending topics that relate to your business – across all channels.
4. Keeping abreast of changes in your industry. This includes standards, liability changes, updates to laws and taxes, and so on.
5. Content protection – using alerts and searches to protect the brand and copyrighted content.