Business is digital. Even before 2020 when the pandemic forced enterprises to pivot processes and products, business was already digital. Most tasks running your business and connecting you to customers could be done online and remotely. I find it sad when I come across businesses still operating with outdated processes. It’s an unnecessary waste of time and money, and in the pandemic era, also an unnecessary risk of exposure when it means employees have to get out of their homes to their workplaces.

Hopefully, in the near future, we edit this piece and remove all mentions of the pandemic as irrelevant. In the meantime, don’t think pandemic. Think efficient. Think smart and competitive. The fastest and most cost-effective way you can be efficient, smart, and competitive is to outsource.

Even lawyers outsource tasks now, and they’re infamous for being rigid in their antiquated processes. They have Case Management Systems or software. They use project management platforms. They employ remote staff and freelancers and process documents without contact.

Think of your favorite neighborhood places, the small businesses you love now and before. What made them beat out the chains for you? Speed and quality of service.

That’s what it takes to give you an edge today, especially with the evolved demands of consumers for personalized content and services in addition to product excellence.

Should you wait for growth first?

Nope. The smarter hack is to prepare for growth.

When you were starting your business, you probably devoured advice and tips from the giants. If not giants, then at least peers who are already getting the success you also want to achieve.

It applies to every other field, not just entrepreneurship. Writers read the novels they want to publish and follow authors whose works they admire. Artists look at styles they want to do and artists they want to emulate.

Here’s the kicker: It always surprises me how many entrepreneurs seem to shy away from hiring people who can take them where they want to be.

This isn’t to snob beginners and entry-level applicants. I was one before. But I mean placing the right people for the right jobs… or hiring people in the first place!

What’s critical for you to get absolutely right in the current stage of your business? If you need marketing, there’s no logic in DIY-ing it or trying to get one of your staff to try instead of hiring specialists who know how to get it done.

Don’t think you have to grow first before outsourcing tasks. Don’t think you’ll save money. Don’t think you’ll outsource those specialist tasks later. You might be surprised at the money you save and the growth you achieve faster because you outsource.

Get out of the middle of your business

All those little tasks that eat valuable time: you might even enjoy them at first but they soon make you feel trapped. Before long, you can’t remember what made you start your business in the first place. Your passion and joy are completely leached out of you by the countless quotidian details you handle every day.

You do NOT have to handle them. I think many entrepreneurs still define hustling as unnecessarily tiring themselves day in and day out, and that’s bad because innovation comes when you’re well-rested instead of irritated.

You save time and money and you impress your customers when you outsource repetitive, time-extensive, and/or specialist tasks to professionals who can do them faster and better.

The result: you have time and energy you can focus on growth.

200+ Tasks You SHOULD Outsource

It’s easy to tell if a task is getting you and your core team stuck in running your business instead of growing it.

Would you rather be doing something else?
Would your time and energy better serve you elsewhere?
Are you struggling with task overflow in one or several areas?

Here’s THE list of tasks you can outsource. Beyond fixing your friction points, outsourcing these tasks to qualified freelancers gives you an immediate boost. You’ll soon see the ROI. You accomplish things faster, you reduce costs, provide your clients or customers with a smoother and better quality of service, save valuable time, and earn more.

Virtual Assistants and 24/7 Digital Support

Digital Business Process Outsourcing (DBPO) and knowledge-based support are achieved through remote and offshore workers, collectively known as outsourcing. The best part of outsourcing is you don’t have to do any training yourself. Your freelancer, contractor, or agency can get the task done immediately after reviewing and getting to know your business and goals.

Business Finance

These tiny, repetitive tasks affect your cash flow and can pack a painful punch if neglected or not streamlined. Some of these tasks can also eat so many hours in the day. Outsource them to trained specialists.

1. Bookkeeping and payroll calculations: hours, expenses, employee salaries
2. Banking, bills payment, fund transfers to suppliers, etc.
3. Client billing: Write and send client invoices
4. Client billing: Manage customer refunds
5. Client billing: Manage overdue payments and penalties
6. Employee and business data management: Create, format, file, and present weekly reports on sales, deliverables, hours, and tasks
7. Collect documents for tax season
8. Organize receipts and other important documents
9. Submit and retrieve files to and from the business accountant
10. Keep track of deadlines and other important fiscal dates

Filing

Files should be organized for sanity and ease of use.

11. All database management: data building, entry, updates
12. Cloud setup and management: DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive
13. PDF file creation and management: convert, merge, and split docs into PDFs
14. Digitize handwritten drafts, faxes, and dictations
15. Retrieve and sort essential documents from clients/customers (medical files, filled forms, etc)
16. Review documents/form responses from clients/customers and organize them according to your requirements
17. Create and update training manuals/SOPs for each team
18. Proofread documents and other offices/business materials
19. Turn raw data into a detailed report and slideshow for team/s
20. Backup physical files with digital
21. Strategize and set up a complete transition to digital files

HR and Networking

The lifeblood of your business is your people. HR tasks should always be handled skillfully, with nothing falling through the cracks. Your clients and network should also feel special. That’s how you stay top-of-mind.

22. Hiring: Job posting creation and placement on career websites
23. Hiring: Resume review and initial contact with shortlisted candidates
24. Hiring: Interviews and further shortlisting
25. Hiring: Contacting references and doing background checks
26. Training or orientation for on-site and remote employees and freelancers
27. Communication and task tracking with freelancers/subcontractors
28. Welcome, goodbye, and holiday gifts for staff, clients, suppliers, and network
29. Liaise with team/s for tech support, finance support, etc.
30. Create training materials and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
31. Create a PDF of company SOPs and values
32. Find and watch for relevant events in the industry
33. Book fares and hotels
34. Establish business trip itineraries
35. Run internal activities and challenges and set up prizes
36. Find and connect with industry experts
37. Nurture relationships for future guests on blogs, podcasts, and webinars

Project Management

Perhaps one of the most in-demand tasks for virtual assistants (VA), taking the reins for your projects. Every single one of the task categories above also falls under this umbrella.

Project management can mean expertise in a certain niche to oversee projects or a VA to run the engines that power your projects, including everything from research and internal communications to managing the software you use.

38. Create a business-wide project management system online
39. Set up platform and user accounts for selected project management tools (Asana, Trello, Monday, etc)
40. Update user access to tools and folders according to tasks
41. Set up boards, cards, labels, channels, etc, on tasks and communication channels in the chosen project management system
42. Set up deadlines and a central calendar
43. Set up FAQs and SOPs
44. Set up communication platform and accounts (Slack, email accounts, etc)
45. Set up channels, shortcuts, labels, and folders in Slack and email
46. Establish task and project completion submission protocols and channels
47. Record meetings and minutes and important bullet points
48. Transcribe video and audio, podcasts, and meeting recordings for ready use in projects
49. Research: Collate data, stats, and studies for the business processes (medical, legal, industry trends, etc) and audience/competitor research for projects or proposals
50. Subscription management to tools and software used by team/s
51. Purchase and shipping supplies or disbursements of funds for reimbursing team/s

Customer Communications

One of the most important cornerstones of your business, communication tasks can keep you tied to a desk instead of strategizing for growth.

These tasks need to be handled with finesse, so you want to delegate these to people who know what they’re doing.

52. Receptionist and phone management: incoming phone calls, leave voicemails, check and organize messages
53. Email management: respond to client/customer/supplier/network inquiries, spam checking and clearing
54. Organize technical support tickets and customer support
55. Nurturing positive relationships: greeting cards, invitations, newsletters, and thank you notes
56. Meetings and appointment setups
57. Calendar management: establish, update, and manage important events
58. Create forms or surveys for customer feedback
59. Manage push notifications/emails you send out for one-time events
60. Develop and deliver slideshow presentations for clients or customer-facing materials
61. Establish customer care scripts and FAQs

Social Media Management

This is a huge part of communication in the digital age. You need to be on social media, and it is easily outsourced. If you think not, look at all the doctors and lawyers on TikTok. That’s social media and it’s effective marketing.

Your business’s social media presence should be holistic and consistent. This means people can expect the same level of service whether they contact you on your website or your Twitter. This means you have someone or a team, depending on the demands of the task.

62. Fast response: Reply to comments made on the business’s blog and site contact forms
63. Fast response: Reply to tags, mentions, and comments on social media
64. Create social media accounts that match your business and your target audience: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube
65. Create and update social media profiles. Updating your bios can help your marketing a lot more than a static bio that never changes
66. Write, edit, and share posts on social platforms
67. Perform a social media audit: analysis of traffic, shares, mentions
68. Competitor research on social media: keywords, visibility, post types, follower/like/view/share counts, etc.
69. Hashtag research and relevance: Research key hashtag conversations of the day and find out if it fits in with the company’s messages and marketing objectives.
70. Audience engagement: Likes, replies, comments on other business pages/posts
71. Audience engagement: Community creation and moderation
72. Audience engagement: Run regular mini-contests and events and promotions
73. Audience engagement: Setting up giveaways and free samples of new products
74. Regular updates: scheduled and ad hoc posts to respond to relevant industry news/current events
75. Create boards and pinnable images for Pinterest
76. Upload photos to your company cloud/Drive, Instagram, GMB, and other listings

Graphic Design and Video

People are visual creatures and your business needs visual elements for brand identity. Every piece of content you churn out needs graphics.

Canva makes light work of generating graphics for a variety of mediums and channels. If you need more in-depth skills outsource to a graphic designer.

Video is also established as THE marketing collateral you can’t do without. Doctors, lawyers, teachers– they’re all on YouTube and TikTok. Why? 72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service by video. 84% say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. Those video marketing statistics mean you should do a video.

Your graphic and video designer can do a lot in contributing to an uptick in your opt-ins.

Graphics

77. Study brief and advise clients on design strategy and audience engagement in the design pitch or proposal
78. Illustrate and communicate the client’s vision and ideas according to design best practices
79. Design site and landing page mockups
80. Design logos, ebook/whitepaper covers, headers, icons, and other graphic elements
81. Produce infographics from your existing blogs or site pages
82. Design brochures and product spotlights
83. Collaborate with your copywriter for social media and site content
84. Design visual elements for your ads
85. Design video thumbnails
86. Design blog images and thumbnails for site previews and social media
87. Account management with stock image platforms
88. Create and establish branded templates by theme or product for ready use
89. Create your style guide with your brand’s selected fonts and colors
90. Review designs for any errors before they go live
91. Update brand design elements (subtle changes in typography and colors make all the difference) according to current trends as needed

Video/Podcast

92. Study brief and understand the client’s or the project’s objectives
93. Pitch a storyboard with key messaging and audience segmentation as needed
94. Collaborate with the copywriting team for scripting
95. Submit all pre-production details and timeline estimates for approval
96. Set up lighting, sound, and camera for optimal filming (with and without the specialist)
97. Create videos from your existing blogs and site pages
98. Add/edit branded intros and outros on your existing videos
99. Editing music and background
100. Clean up video and audio to remove visual and audio noise
101. Save and edit rough cuts (b-roll) for possible BTS content about your business
102. Add subtitles or annotations
103. Add branding watermarks
104. Record, edit, and add voiceovers
105. Create and add branded CTAs (Like and Subscribe, “See below for discount code” etc)
106. Upload files to video platforms/hosts: YouTube, TikTok, Vimeo, etc
107. Edit audio files by removing background noise and improving volume levels
108. Account management with stock footage platforms
109. Record, edit, and set up podcasts
110. Account management for podcast platforms/hosting

Copywriting

Copywriting touches on every aspect of your business. Your business taglines and product descriptions. Your Call-to-Actions (CTAs) and ads. Your social media posts. Your blogs. Your newsletters and reply templates. Your internal FAQs Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and company materials.

A lot of writing can come easy for you. After all, it’s your business and you know it better than anyone. But just as much of writing can be difficult and fussy, like when you need to follow guidelines for an ad or a guest post. Save time and outsource your copywriting.

111. Draft your business-specific documents and templates (e.g., if you’re a lawyer, declarations, and other legal documents. If you’re a coach, personalized welcome packs for new clients, etc.)
112. Collaborate with your Google Ads specialist to draft ad copy for your review and approval
113. Draft a social media calendar with themes and captions in alternating lengths (long-form, short-form)
114. Establish formats for long-form captions for brand identity and voice
115. Outline a site map with page names and headings
116. Draft site content
117. Research guest post destinations and guidelines
118. Draft and submit guest posts
119. Draft press releases and newsletters and submit them to relevant industry sites and journals
120. Connect with influencers and experts in your industry for collaboration and guesting (yours or theirs, blogs or podcasts)
121. Draft how-to guides for your products or services
122. Draft how-to guides for relevant tools in your industry
123. Draft company style guide for marketing
124. Collaborate with your project manager/HR to edit company FAQs and SOPs
125. Write product descriptions
126. Craft compelling content for specialized landing pages
127. Write and insert CTAs in your existing site content and blogs
128. Establish a content calendar for your blog with themes and guest post plans
129. Connect with customers for testimonials; editing those testimonials for clarity and brevity
130. Write case studies from customer testimonials
131. Create blogs and social media captions from your existing content: videos, podcasts, etc.
132. Create templates for your email replies
133. Write newsletters and email marketing materials
134. Collaborate with your email marketing specialist to write content for your email drip campaigns
135. Proofreading everything: ads, social media captions, emails, company materials, product descriptions, product copy on labels and packaging, etc.

Email Marketing

Depending on your business, email marketing can need a dedicated specialist or even an entire team to handle it. 87% of marketers use email marketing to disseminate their content and 80% of SMBs still rely on email marketing for customer retention. 4.3 billion people use emails.

These email marketing stats prove email is still where you nurture your leads, whether they come from your site, social media, or your videos.

136. Set up or polish your email marketing flows on your chosen platform (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, etc)
137. Upload your lists and organize them into specific, effective marketing segments
138. Collaborate with your graphic designer and copywriter for design templates and content
139. Test all email materials for user- and mobile-friendliness on any device
140. Set up your triggers and email drip campaigns
141. Set up automated replies, not just auto-responses
142. Monitor open rates, and response rates, and set up IFTTT triggers and content
143. Monitor leads moving along the funnel and sends personalized content separate from the established drip campaigns
144. Handle email marketing responsibilities including, creating a new list of email contacts, email newsletters, and promotional copy.
145. Create connections with chatbots and tickets for personalized content
146. Update event and discount codes
147. Purge email lists of bad contacts and unqualified leads
148. Track and analyze campaign results
149. Tweak the campaign according to data from the campaign results
150. Create ad hoc campaigns according to relevant industry or current events

Google Ads

While email marketing can be done for free (well, aside from what you pay for content and your email marketing platform subscription), Google Ads can be cheap and effective in bringing in pre-qualified leads.

That’s the reason why some businesses tend to DIY and experiment AND end up burning through their money on Google Ads. Ouch. You need a Google Ads specialist if you’ll maximize your ROI in Google Ads and minimize loss.

151. Find appropriate, high-traffic websites to place ads on
152. Review the performance of your ads regularly
153. Make a report and suggestions for adjustments according to the performance
154. Decide your “conversion” indicators
155. Keep track of your conversions
156. Keep track of ad position and display network placements
157. Monitor and exclude negative/non-relevant keywords/search terms that trigger your ad to appear
158. Monitor search term reports and keyword performance
159. Monitor keyword trends
160. Review impression share reports
161. Schedule your ads: depending on your product and services, they don’t have to be on all the time
162. Calculate and balance your maximum CPC
163. Manage your keywords and ad groups
164. Adjust keyword bids
165. Manage geographic targeting
166. Manage your ad budget, testing and gathering data for the best, effective use of your budgets
167. Propose affiliate marketing for your products or services
168. Monitor and manage affiliate marketing
169. Check and adjust campaign settings
170. Check and review site links and landing pages
171. Monitor remarketing campaigns
172. Monitor competitors
173. Do quarterly reviews
174. Compile reports for campaigns

SEO, Data, and Analytics

Ahh, SEO. Just like Google Ads and email marketing, it brings you qualified leads. When done right, SEO can even help build your brand identity and visibility. It’s a strong foundation of success in digital.

An SEO specialist can come in, evaluate your site, find and fix issues, and show you what else you need to do to keep your website in tip-top shape.

175. Test and fix your website with an SEO Audit to make sure it’s indexable
176. Develop/update a topic strategy to guide your SEO
177. Evaluate organic rankings and traffic
178. Optimize all your existing content
179. Create a content strategy to fill gaps in your topic and theme
180. Collaborate with your copywriter for context-rich content
181. Evaluate content quality
182. Purge low-quality content
183. Crawl your website and fix critical crawler issues
184. Conduct keyword research
185. Establish keyword targets and organic traffic goals
186. Do a site and blog analysis
187. Do an in-depth competitor analysis
188. Set up Google Analytics and Search Console
189. Track your keywords
190. Manage XML sitemap and webmaster submissions
191. Set up SSL certificates
192. Optimize meta for your topic strategy
193. Monitor site uptime and speed
194. Check and fix your site’s mobile friendliness score
195. Monthly check upward/downward rankings and snippets
196. Sort the content and evaluate behavioral metrics
197. Review organic traffic trends
198. Review linking domains

Development and Automation

Your website is your virtual storefront, so you want it to look good and function at its best. This is especially important when you run a shop. You lose sales when your website doesn’t work.

After an SEO analysis, your web dev can also get in and make the necessary fixes on your metrics and site performance.

199. Collaborate with your SEO specialist for site optimization
200. Evaluate and optimize your site’s functionality and security
201. Evaluate and update your website to meet current standards
202. Collaborate with your Google Ads and email marketing specialist to set up and link landing pages to campaigns
203. Manage web design, planning, and developing
204. Manage hosting and site platform
205. Build user interfaces and prototypes from approved designs
206. Build other products using HTML, Javascript, CSS, etc.
207. Build, deploy and test apps across browsers and environments
208. Install, customize, and update WP plug-ins and themes
209. Troubleshoot site issues
210. Collaborate with graphic/video designers to add tags to images and videos on site
211. Do backup and strategies for data safekeeping
212. Collaborate with your copywriter for online contact forms and other content submission pages
213. Manage your product pages
214. Check and fix all CTA buttons
215. Check and purge bad pages and links

When you outsource, you buy time

Are you still doing any of the above tasks? See the opportunities when you let them go. Outsource them and realize that you’re investing in more than work excellence and profit.

When you outsource, you get a qualified team at hand. With a qualified team taking care of tasks, you buy time. The time you and your core team can spend on deep work in your business, leading to growth. Or enjoy your pursuits, your family, and friends, leading to happiness and satisfaction, and that also inspires ideas for growth.

Grow your team digitally and remotely. It might just be what you need for business success.