A couple of weeks ago I started experimenting with automating certain aspects of my life – bill pay, investing, email, etc. – in an effort to free up more of my time. I must say that automating things- from paying my credit card bill to automatically replenishing my metro card – really does save me some time. Granted these things aren’t the biggest time suckers out there, but they do add up.
I figured my next step would be to try outsourcing certain tasks to a digital assistant via AskSunday. I must admit that the cost was a major deterrent, but as soon as I gave it a shot with a free trial I realized that you have to spend money to make money. The amount of time I have saved on research alone has allowed me to spend time developing an ebook, partake in interviews with cool bloggers, and even land new writing clients.
Currently I am paying for the 20 hour plan at a cost of $179 a month (you do get a $50 discount the first month in addition to 3 hours of free service) and below I list my observations.
1. It does actually free up my time.
Between my full time job, the clients I already have, running this blog and trying to have some semblance of a social life I don’t really have time to look through writing job boards or do research for developing products or articles.
Enter Virtual Assistant.
I asked my digital assistant to sift through writing job boards and find the posts that matched a certain criteria. He then put them in a spread sheet for me and all I had to do was send a quick email introducing myself to potential clients. This alone saved me about 3 hours of tedious work and even landed me a new client!
I’ve also asked him to do research on topics that relate to upcoming articles and a potential Grad Meets World ebook. All of which he did promptly and professionally. Both of these tasks probably saved me about a weekend’s worth of time.
2. Little things get done.
Whether you are running a business or just have errands to do little things can really add up and take up a lot of your time. Virtual Assistants can book appointments, organize and answer email, make lists and spreadsheets of information you need, get your dry cleaning, make reservations, etc.
Lately my project back burner has been full. Little things – like setting up a contact information spreadsheet of Gen Y bloggers and my current editors – have been put off for weeks at a time. So I asked my Virtual Assistant to do them for me which not only saved me time but also helped me organize my life.
3. It’s tax deductible.
Hell yeah! My subscription is tax deductible because it counts as a business expense for my freelancing side hustle.
4. No overhead costs.
If I hired a full time assistant a) it would cost me an arm and a leg and b)I would have to pay taxes on it. AskSunday allows me to get much needed stuff done without burning a hole in my wallet.
5. It teaches me how to delegate.
Thanks to AskSunday my freelancing side hustle isn’t a one-woman-show anymore. They of course don’t do any of the writing for me but they can handle the back office and administrative tasks associated with running a business.
Consequently this is a lesson in delegation, something that can come in handy in my business, my career and even my everyday life.
6. The Virtual Assistants are dedicated.
It’s nice to see a polite email in my inbox that starts with “Per Your Request…”. It also keeps my mind at ease that if my Virtual Assistant has some sort of confusion he will call me directly to make sure he is doing his task properly. In other words, these people actually want to do a good job!
For more information on what AskSunday can do check out this segment MSNBC did a while back. The pricing is set up differently now but the concept is still the same. Or you can click here to check it out for yourself.
$29.97 for a complete guide on post-grad life - from finances and job hunting to side hustles and health!
Oh wow – that’s really cool. I didn’t even know something like that existed! Heh.
I’m glad that you’re getting some semblance of sanity with automating and delegating. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the tiny things that need to get down.
Also – how is your new job coming along?
I didn’t know this existed either – but I’m glad it does!
The new job is going great! I’m learning a lot about the recrutiting industry – which I never would have imagined being in a year ago! Definitely makes for some good material for the blog and my clients.
How is everything going?
Everything is okay! I landed a gig from ProBlogger where I work as a ghost writer for this professional writing agency. I’m not making a lot of money (I just started), but it’s pretty stable. I am heading to Korea in March, so I want to make some money so I can pay to have my diploma notarized and all that fun stuff. Oh, I’ll be teaching english there!
Awesome on both accounts!!! I wish I had the gonads to teach English abroad. I’m afraid I just like the convenience of having a Starbucks on every corner lol. Do let me know how your writing adventures go
Outsourcing can itself seem expensive at first but like you have stated you need to spend money to make money. Thank you for the post – very informative.