Have you ever felt like you’ve lost track of time ever since you became self-employed? You are not alone. Having a business is not all fun. It takes months of planning and getting organized before a business can become successful. There are different aspects of the business that need looking after. Unfortunately most of these aspects have to be done simultaneously. You don’t get to choose one over the other since they are of equal importance.
Luckily, you don’t have to do everything by yourself. In this article, we will share with you ways you can use freelancers in your start-up. With the help of freelancers, it will be as if you have a team of employees at your disposal without the steep cost.
1. Project Manager
They say that when one is launching a business he/she wears a different mask depending on the task at hand. Not everyone gets to do this well though. Nothing gets done absolutely well when there’s a lot of multi-tasking involved. By hiring a Project Manager (PM), you won’t need to do this. You can set regular meetings with this person and that’s it! Just imagine how easy it would be to simply compare numbers at the end of day while a different person takes care of the nuts and bolts for you. The PM can keep an eye on several projects and manage people directly. Be sure to provide clear instructions and set goals for this person though so it’s clear by the end of day on what he/she needs to deliver.
2. Admin
Having challenges responding to emails or getting organized? A Virtual Assistant (VA) can take care of this for you. A VA is like having a personal assistant on the go. Email and calendar management, research, flight arrangements, are but a few of the administrative tasks that can be assigned to a VA. There are tools as well that can be utilized so that the VA can have access to your information without putting any at risk. For instance, LastPassis a tool that can be purchased online. LastPass makes it possible for you to share your password to the VA without letting him/her actually view it. This tool makes it possible for your VA to gain access to different sites, take care of administrative tasks while you manage the business from the field.
3. Accounting
I’m quite sure there’s a huge number of entrepreneurs who won’t mind hiring someone to take care of keeping the books balanced. A freelance accountant will be able to provide you with the same quality of work as you would expect from an accounting firm. However, you will get the chance to ask questions as needed and have conversations one to one.
4. Social Media Management
With the number of social media sites nowadays, keeping up with one platform alone is difficult enough. When you are concerned about marketing it’s important to get your business out there. This means maintaining accounts on different platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. A Social Media Manager (SMM) is responsible for coming up with strategies, creating posts, monitoring followers, keeping your audience engaged and interested in your service/product. If there are upcoming product releases, promos etc. an SMM can help you create noise and ensure that it is well received by the community of customers.
5. Video Editing
There are a lot of possible uses for hiring someone capable of editing videos. If you’re considering to have a video uploaded for your website/Facebook account or perhaps considering to add your podcast content to your blog, a Video Editor can do wonders for your business.
6. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
There’s a huge focus on SEO recently. Entrepreneurs are slowly seeing the value of having their websites search engine optimized. Why is this important? SEO is responsible for making your website stand out against its competitors. An SEO Expert takes into consideration the keywords people search online and makes sure that these keywords can be found on your website. It makes your website easily accessible by your target consumers. In comparison to the other freelancers that are mentioned in this article, you might want to consider spending more in hiring an SEO Expert because of the value-add it can bring to your business.
7. Design
Your website should not only have an appealing style but should have the structure and design that works best for your business. A website designer does this and more. A website designer does research to check how your competitor’s website look, checks on trending themes or plugins that can help your website stand out and look for ways the interface could be user friendly for customers to access.
8. Analytics
So how do you know if your website received a lot of visitors lately or how long they’ve navigated to search for certain articles? You would need someone to understand the metrics and what it means. Bounce-rates, CPM, CPC, funnels are just some of the terms used in measuring analytics. There are tools that can help understand this better and some tutorials accessible in YouTube. Some debate whether this aspect of the business is worth hiring someone to look into. If you have the mindset to understand the terminologies, time to do research on which metrics are best to use and tools readily accessible to help you gauge this then why not? But if you’re after convenience without sacrificing knowledge that can help you expand your business then I suggest not to think twice about hiring someone to help out.
9. Lead Generation
Perhaps you are aware of where to find new customers but never had the time to come up with email marketing or other strategies on how you can reach out. You can hire a freelancer to take care of lead generation for you. This person will be responsible for creating email templates or coming up with strategies on how you can find potential clients through social media platforms or other avenues.
10. Customer Service
Once you get the attention your product/service deserves, you will definitely need someone to answer inquiries or resolve issues within a certain threshold. A Customer Specialist can provide the support either via chat, email, or call. This person will be equipped with product knowledge to revert to customers and will follow a flexible or fixed schedule depending on the need.
Having a start-up business is exciting but can also be challenging because of its multiple facets. You don’t have to manage everything on your own. Leverage the expertise of others and lessen the stress a start-up business can bring.
If you have a question about self-employment and what the self-employment program through Vocational Rehabilitation is all about, please contact us! At Portals LLC, we endeavor to empower our clients to reach their employment and independent living goals.