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You can not go anywhere on line these days without hearing the word ‘outsourcing’. When you see a successful internet marketer saying that word, do you roll your eyes & think, ‘yeah, that is all well & good for you, but?. I can not afford it!’

If your on line business is new or you have not reached your income goals yet, you may decide that outsourcing is out of your reach. I know because I used to think that way, but I rapidly got over it! I have discovered a couple of creative ways to go about getting help with your business, even at the start.

Firstly, let me share a couple of the benefits I have found from outsourcing. One of the greatest ones is the impetus it gives me to work hard in my business.

For example, let us say I hire a VA to add articles to a site. I have paid her & she’s done the work, now I’m compelled to go in & do MY work, which is to edit & slightly rewrite the content to give it my voice. I also make the content more search engine friendly & add my affiliate links or other call to action. The fact that I have already invested in the project means that I am highly motivated to start recouping my investment.

Secondly, we all know that as self employed people, it is all too easy to procrastinate. If I feel myself putting something off that I know will move my business forward, I outsource all or part of it… That gets me over the motivational ‘hump’ & once I can see the project taking shape, I am excited about making it a success.

So, to quote Nacho Libre, ‘let’s get down to the neeety greety’. How DO you outsource when your business is just barely making a profit?

Use Found Money
Can you list some stuff on eBay or Amazon.com to earn an extra $20 or so this week? You were not counting on that money so why not use it to get rid of some of those business tasks you dread?

Barter
Do you know a VA who is just starting her business who might trade an hour or two of her services for a rockin’ good testimonial posted to your blog, website or newsletter? Do you offer advertising on your site? Maybe you could advertise for her in exchange for some of her time. Do you have a product for sale? Maybe you could trade out your offerings. Ditto for service businesses. Let us say you have a talent for some aspect of internet marketing, say, graphic design. Maybe you could do your VA’s new web set & she can do some SEO on your content site. Get creative.

What Do You Hate?
If there is something that is necessary to your business but that you absolutely hate doing, take a leap of faith & outsource that one task first. The renewed energy you have now that you do not have to do that dreaded job will likely pay off bigtime. Build your business on your strengths. Clear? If you are a great writer, write lots of articles & ecourses & info products. Clear? If you hate updating a content site, outsource that… Do the stuff that you love that makes you the most money in the least time. Remember the 80/20 rule?

Child Labor
Just kidding of course! But seriously, just the other week on Wahm Talk Radio, CPA Kristine McKinley shared that the Tax Man allows you to pay your kids & reduce your taxable income. Did you know that a child in elementary school can be taught how to copy & paste articles into your blog? Ask me how I know!

I hope these few tips help you get excited about outsourcing. One final tip: Commit to spending the freed up time on a *high leverage* activity. Don’t waste it… Ok? And do not say ‘I can not afford it’. Say ‘HOW can I afford it?’

Carrie Lauth is a work at home Mom of 4 who is very grateful to the Virtual Assistants who help make her business run more smoothly. For lots more internet marketing tips from a Mom’s perspective, visit http://www.carrielauth.com/blog & for outsourcing help, visit http://carriefaq.com/outsourcing-help.html

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