25 Excellent Service Outsourcing Resources to Make You More Efficient

Service outsourcing resources are great for assistants to utilize on occasion to provide maximum effectiveness.

Quite often we work alone and do not have any team members that we can recruit during instances when extra help is needed. In addition, sometimes an extra set of hands are needed, such as during a move you are overseeing, so in-person help is needed. Whatever the reason, it’s helpful to have a list of resources handy for these unique occasions.

Here are some top service outsourcing apps and websites to add to your toolbox for such times:

In-Person:

Care.com

Care.com is best known for childcare services but they actually feature an errand runner section on their site as well.

Chime

Chime helps you to find an amazing babysitter in your neighborhood. They boast only providing top babysitters (they look for glowing reviews and check references) and meet every single sitter in person.

Craigslist

Service people also post ads on this site, however they have not undergone any kind of background checks.

Favor

Popular service for food deliveries, but they can pick up items at any store as well. The runners are quick and send texts to keep you posted on the status.

Google Express

Get fast delivery of everyday essentials from stores like Costco, Walgreens, Toys"R"Us and Petsmart.

Handy

Schedule cleaning or handyman services as soon as the next day.

Instacart

This is a great service for having your grocery shopping done for you. There are options to have groceries delivered in one hour or you can schedule a delivery a few days out. It's a great workaround if you would like groceries from a membership warehouse club but you do not have a membership.

Postmates

Get any product delivered in less than one hour.

Task Rabbit

Great website for finding the right "tasker" to take care of needs around your home. Sometimes it can take a few hours or days to get the tasker scheduled, so this site is great for items that can be booked out in advance.

Wag!

This resource helps to find a dog walker or dog sitter near you.

YourMechanic

Get over 500 car repair services at your home or office.

Zaarly

This website allows you to hire local, handpicked home services for short tasks and errands. What sets this company apart is that the businesses on their website have been interviewed to ensure they provide quality work and great customer service.

Virtual:

Amazon Mechanical Turk

This service is an interesting approach based on the idea of separating a job into pieces for different people to work on.

Belay

Formally eaHELP, this website features top-notch virtual assistants as well as bookkeepers and more. When it comes to their VAs, they boast a rigorous selection process. This is an option for ongoing support only.

Fancy Hands

This company charges a reasonable monthly fee for their service. You do not have a dedicated virtual assistant, but the upside is that you will always get a response quickly. I mainly have used them for research and received decent results. If you google "virtual assistant services" you will find there are many companies like this one'; it just is the only one I have personally used in the past.

Fiverr

This is an online marketplace offering tasks and services. The gigs range over a wide array of topics; some examples are "I will perfectly handle your research” to "I will be your virtual assistant.”

Freelancer

Great website for project based work and smaller jobs. It's similar to Upwork.

HourlyNerd

Hire highly educated subject matter experts for specific project-based work.

LinkedIn ProFinder

Helps you hire top local freelancers for a wide array of projects. There's a lot of virtual help, but they do include some in person as well. A few examples of how their freelancers can help are through data entry, research assistance and event coordination.

Magic

Magic is a special phone number you can text to get on-demand personal assistance services. Some examples of services are finding a mobile dentist, rescheduling meetings and booking flights.

Mezi

This app acts as your personal shopping bot, assistant and concierge.

Operator

Operator helps people shop for exactly what they want at any time with a simple text. It’s designed to feel personal; a person on the other end presents you with the best options based on what you are looking for and completes the purchase after you make a decision.

Time etc

This service gives you a U.S.-based Virtual Assistant. The cost is an hourly rate for completed tasks, so it’s great for getting your money’s worth.

Upwork

This website helps you find top-rated virtual assistants for freelance help. The site also includes services from freelancers in other sectors, such as writing, accounting and more.

Zirtual

This company allows you to hire top-notch dedicated virtual assistants. This is a monthly service, though, so it’s only worth it if there are at least 12 hours per month of assistance needed.

Is there a great resource you recommend that I haven’t listed? Please let me know and I will add it to the master list on the websites and apps page. You may reach out to me through my contact page.