Can you automate the work?
Maybe you don’t need a freelancer…
You can automate just about any process you do using your computer. For example, you can move data from a database into Excel (or vice versa). You can collect data from websites. You can submit data using forms. Just about anything where you do the same thing over and over again.
Answer these 3 questions:
1. Is the work done on a computer?
2. Is it repetitive? Do you do the same thing over and over again?
3. Does it require little in the way of decision-making?
If you can answer “yes” to all three questions, you might have a good candidate for automation.
In other words, you (or someone else) can write a little script that makes your computer do the work automatically.
Most people never consider this, but it is surprisingly easy. You can do it without any computer programming too.
The bonus is that when you set it up on the computer, it gets done automatically, whenever and as often as you want. And once you have set up the script - the work gets done for free.
Free is one of my favorite words, after all.
There are a number of products out there that can help you do this.
You can find a lot of them pretty easily by going to Download.com and searching for some combination of the following words:
automation
tasks
desktop
Windows
scripts
macros
The one I’m most familiar with is Macro Scheduler. (Full disclosure – they are one of the clients of JMR, our marketing & PR firm.) The software is a couple hundred dollars – and it’s pretty easy to use.
If you want, there are consultants you can hire to do the automation for you. Most of the websites that sell these products have forums where you can connect with developers. The forum for Macro Scheduler is here. Or you can post your project to sites like Rentacoder.com.
Random Posts
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Add New Comment
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment