By Teresa Morrow

You look at your to-do list and the word overwhelm comes zooming in your head at warp speed. Add on top of it, the upcoming holiday season: family gatherings, extra grocery shopping, sprucing your house for company, it can be too much to handle.  However, if you delegate some of your work tasks by outsourcing them, you will be able to celebrate your holidays with less stress and more bliss.

 
Outsourcing refers to when a business owner allows another service provider such as a virtual assistant to handle certain tasks such as email communication or newsletters, calendar maintenance for meetings and travel plans, and online marketing and promotions for the upcoming year.

By outsourcing these duties to another person, you will free up your time to visit with your family and friends while your business is able to continue to operate and even grow during this time.

Here are a few tips to remember when outsourcing:

* Research online for outsourcing companies and search for those criteria you wish to delegate (i.e. administrative, marketing, web site or blog maintenance).

* Ask your colleagues, co workers and associates for a referral of the company they use for outsourcing.

* Be sure to write up a detailed description of tasks you would like to outsource.

* Ask for references if you would like to hear others experience with the company.

Set a timeline when tasks are expected to be completed.

* Make clear the expectations for their availability during the holidays.

* Articulate best source of communication (email, phone, text) between you and outsourcer.

You have all the good intentions this year you will not allow yourself to get overwhelmed. Each year comes and goes and you wish you would have done things differently and gotten some help.  An effective way to get help over the holidays is outsourcing tasks to a virtual or personal assistant. By outsourcing, you allow yourself the opportunity to celebrate the holidays instead of dreading the holidays. Go outsource for the holidays!
 
 

Teresa Morrow is on Board of Advisors with Women in Ecommerce (http://www.wecai.org) and Editor at Large at WE Magazine for Women ™ (http://www.wemagazineforwomen). She has over 15 years working with various industries to include property management, landscape architecture and financial planning firms in executive administrative positions. She cares about her clients and is available for a 20 minute free consultation. You can contact her via email at Teresa@keybusinesspartners.com or visit her website at http://www.keybusinesspartners.com.

More great holiday gift-giving articles and ideas can be found in  our new Holiday Gift-giving Guide at http://bit.ly/1Z6LSF