Knowing When to Call in a Pro

On Mondays, I share my thoughts on Working @ Home.

This past week, I threw in the towel on a technology problem I've been frustrated by and called in a consultant.  The headache in question was related to my Catholic Moments Podcast, a weekly thirty minute talkfest related to my CatholicMom.com web site.  A major feature of the podcast has been the telephone interviews I conduct with authors, musicians and other folks doing noteworthy things to spread our faith and raise great families.

Since the debut of the podcast, I had been using Skype to conduct the interviews and recording them on my macbook as they were conducted.  During several conversations, I experienced dropped Skype calls because of our internet connection.  The results were very frustrating, and also an embarrassment - it's awful to be in the middle of a conversation with an invited guest and have the phone line go dead.  I began to dread using Skype because I never knew when it would konk out on me.  After one particularly bad experience, I finally decided to consult with a professional podcasting consultant who had been recommended to me by a trusted friend.

Enter Cliff Ravenscraft, the Podcast Answer Man. With a couple of quick telephone conferences, Cliff was able to advise me on equipment purchases and  help me assemble and use my new equipment.  His service was friendly, responsive, and related in terms even a rookie podcasting mom could understand.

Had I taken my normal route of consulting "dummies" books, I'm certain I would still be losing sleep and performing at a sub-optimal level.  Once I determined that putting together a quality podcast in a time efficient manner was important, the end goal seemed to justify the expense of bringing a consultant on board.  I am incredibly pleased with the return on my investment.

Do you have areas of your business or personal goals that could benefit from the perspective of a consultant or coach?  Can you reallocate resources to locate the funds necessary to bring in such expertise?  If the answers to these questions are yes, consider dropping the "dummies" books and get ready to achieve your goals with greater speed and efficiency.