Outsource THAT! More things you can and should let someone else handle.

 In a previous post we talked about the first five items on my list of super-easy-to-outsource tasks. This week we’re finishing off with items six through ten.

You can watch the video below for all 10 items or scroll down and read instead:

6. Answering Service:

Yes, you can!

It may sound strange but there are lots of specialized services out there for therapists that will let you outsource answering your phones.

They’re staffed by people who specialize in working with mental health professionals and understand the nuances of the work. They know a client might be in crisis when they contact you and they are familiar with the privacy concerns you are dealing with.

A service like that can be invaluable, because a lot of times when your phone is ringing you’ll be in session for an hour, completely unavailable. Or if you’re a millennial, like me, or just not a phone person, you might be better with email and texting and not great answering phone calls anyway.

One of the best way to make money as a therapist is by simply answering your phone, so you definitely don’t want to be your own hold up on this one.

7. Social Media:

If you have a practice these days, really, you need a social media presence.

You don’t need to be on all the platforms and in fact that’s not usually recommended, but you want to be on at least one. You need to be marketing yourself, and right now the best way to do that is through social media.

You can outsource this easily, so if it’s something you don’t like, or it feels like a waste of time, you don’t understand it, or you have no idea where to start and how to increase your audience, get rid of that stress and let someone else help you bring in business.

Lots and lots of people are happy to manage your account or accounts for you and they’ll do a great job.

Again, this is something I outsourced for a while (until I changed up some strategies), and the person I hired to do it for me was better at it than I was. It’s one of those things you tend to stop yourself from doing, wondering, “how will they learn my voice, how will they do what I need?”

But a lot of times those things just don’t get done at all, because they get put off. So you’re worse off in the end because it isn’t getting done, which makes outsourcing it an even better idea—having it done is better than not, right?

Honestly, though, people who do this well will end up doing it better than you can, so stop hesitating and start looking for your very own social media guru.

Because it isn’t overly time-consuming for those experts, it won’t cost you hundreds and hundreds of dollars unless you have a larger business where you need a more complicated strategy. But for the typical therapist, you can do this inexpensively and it gives you more credibility, so it’s a win/win.

8. Website Maintenance:

Listen. Most therapists are not good at website maintenance.

Let’s be real—we’re just not.

So you might not be good at the maintenance, good at troubleshooting client issues, fixing problems that come up or setting it up to begin with. So have someone else set it up, or have someone else maintain it.

You do not need to spend thousands of dollars on website set up. Well… some of you might, depending on what you want! But for a simple practice and a simple website, it doesn’t have to be super expensive. You could even set things up on your own and then just pay for maintenance or do the opposite and pay for a set up that makes maintenance a breeze. Or outsource it at ALL those levels. Especially if this is a stressor for you, definitely look into it.

And definitely check out My Digital Maven, a business I set up exactly for the purpose of helping therapists with their websites.

9. Blog Posts and Ads:

Any of these things you’re doing because they’re necessary in today’s world —regular blog posts, Google ad words, social media, etc.— are things that can be outsourced.

For a lot of us, this stuff is necessary to build a business and bring in clients.

Some of you who have been in private practice for decades and have a reputation and visibility in your community might not need these things but for most people, particularly starting out, you DO need them.

So it’s great that blog posts, ads, and social media can so easily be outsourced to someone else.

For blog posts, lots of people are passionate about writing about mental health issues and they know how to connect with and talk to the layperson, the people who need help and need it to make sense to them.

One thing therapists tend not to do well is translating our writing into layman’s terms and speaking in a way that clients just get. Even if you’re good at talking to people, you might not be great at putting it on paper because let’s face it, we’re pretty used to academic writing.

There are lots of sites where you can find a freelancer who will help you out with this for a reasonable rate, like upwork.

10. Organizing Your Client Files:

Again, this is something you can get help with from someone with administrative skills. You can get someone to come into your office once a week or once a month to do any of those tasks you need help with.

This was an issue for me because I tended to put things in random folders and while I might have client information organized, I didn’t have other things I needed at my fingertips.

So have someone come in and review your systems. They can make sure things are filed correctly, and if it’s a struggle for you, they can set up a system that works, or you can stop things in a “to file” box that waits for that person to come in on a regular basis and make sure files are up to date and everything is in the right place.

If you have someone who knows how to that and does it well, particularly someone who enjoys it, then bringing them in will bring them personal satisfaction and help you out. Again, this is a situation where not only is it off your plate, an admin person will probably do this better than you do anyway.

So those are some things you CAN outsource.

A few things you CAN’T outsource?

The therapy itself and writing your notes. If you need help with those notes, consider signing up for the QA Prep Paperwork Crash Course. 

What have you outsourced? Let us know in the comments below, and tell us the pros and cons!