Outsourcing in the photography & mom worlds

How many different hats have you worn today?

Were you Photographer, marketer, writer, book keeper, editor, student, mom, wife, girlfriend, web designer, chef, personal assistant (to yourself), fashion stylist (to yourself and your family), and on and on and on?

I know I certainly was... well, I was photographer, Mom, wife, girlboss, writer, and marketer. But this year I made the decision to take off some of the hats.

Today was a prime example.

1.Woke up, meditated

2. Woke up my son, made us breakfast.

3. Went to my workout class.

4. Went to shoot a birth

5. Came home and dinner was made, and I enjoyed it with my son and husband.

6. Gave my son a bath and put him to bed.

6. My emails had been organized.

7. I checked on the health of my facebook ad campaigns and web traffic.

8. Sent out my editing.

9. Now I am writing a blog.

Did you catch that part in numbers 5-9?

Dinner had been made, because while I was out shooting a birth, my babysitter took my son to the grocery store, and she came home and made chicken and rice soup that was ready in the crock pot for us.

My emails had been organized because I hired a virtual assistant to clean up the mess I make of my inbox (I'm that person, that left to my own devices, racks up 6K+ emails.)

I checked on my facebook ads from which my other babysitter (who is an accounting major) collected all the data, so I can make an intelligent choice about if I want to tweak the ads.

{Interested in my data collection system? Its part of the digital marketing for photographers course!!}

I sent out my editing to someone who LOVES editing, that I have trained on my process.

I'm now spending my time on content because it's what I love.

HOW did that happen??

I made a choice this year. I decided I was no longer going to be completely overwhelmed. I was going to set up my business and my home so that it supports HELP. My sales numbers support these helpers and I spent time finding THE RIGHT PEOPLE to help me.

Did you know that you DON'T HAVE TO DO IT ALL??

I totally understand that outsourcing any individual task is a project within itself. You have to figure out who to send it to, how much you are willing to spend, and then train them how to do it. It stinks...BUT ONCE YOU DO IT. Girl, OMG.

Did I mention the babysitter did the laundry and the dishes today too? And I am sitting in bed writing this with a glass of wine at 9:30 pm after spending the whole day at the hospital shooting a birth?

It was not an overnight thing. I had to find one contractor at a time, outsource one task at a time. But NOW, I can focus so much more on what I love to do:

1. Spend time with my family

2. Create images and teaching content that I love

3. Run a successful and profitable business that serves my family

The mom from my birth today said, "I don't know how you do it. You have clients, you just wrote a book, you are teaching, AND you are potty training your 2 year old?!" I cracked up.

IT IS OK TO GET HELP! It doesn't make you weak! It actually makes you so much better.

I know you are sitting there saying, "But, how do you pay for all of that?" I wholeheartedly tell you right now that the minute I made the decision in my gut that MY business, the company that would hold MY name and MY work was going to be bigger and better than even I could imagine, everything changed.

Once you make that decision. You will find ways to figure it out. Opportunities and resources will cross your path at just the right time. But you have to be the one to make that call. It will not happen despite you.

From one photographer to another, and one mom to another... even moms of fur babies...You can do this. You just have to make the decision about what your business and life will look like.

Go make it happen.

I can't wait to see what you create.

Ashley