Building a creative life can be tough, especially on the financial front. Because of that most creatives try to do everything themselves including building a website, writing promotional copy, building a blog, doing the accounting, etc. It may seem to save money to do it yourselves but often it will actually cost you much more than it would to pay someone else to do it.

Say what?

Yep, the end result of actually paying someone else can quite often put more money in your pocket than it would if you tried to do it yourself. Why is that?

Because when you are not creating your primary work you are not building your portfolio, you are not honing your skills, and you are not able to take on as many contracts or produce as much inventory to sell. Simply put, you could be stunting the growth of your business and missing out on money making opportunities.

So how do you know when to contract out the work you need done?

Well, let’s say you spend 20 hours building a website but your business is making custom clothing. What is the value of the clothes you could have created in that 20 hours? Maybe $400 or $500 worth? Wouldn’t it be better to pay someone else to build a website for $400 while you make that money doing what you do best? Chances are you’ll end up with a better website done in less time because you’re paying another creative to do what they do best.

Even if you don’t have a lot of cash to work with you can still employ others to do what needs to be done. Send out an offer to barter to your network, mailing list, or on a Craigslist ad. Look for students or new entrepreneurs trying to build a business who would be willing to do it on the cheap. Offer to do a write up on your blog or put a link on your site in exchange for a discount.

Bottom line–never do it yourself if you can pay someone the same or less than it would cost if you had to pay yourself for the time you would spend on the task. I know this idea seems foreign but if you can spend more time creating, you build your reputation, portfolio, and client base that much faster. Which in the end means more business and more money.