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Important Lesson for Warriors

by ericmartinez
13 replies
This needs to be addressed.

In internet marketing and internet business there is a disturbing trend that may be a cause of popular books such as The 4-Hour Work Week.

Many internet marketers are struggling to get by. They spend tons of money on new products and courses. I am all for learning and attaining knowledge. No problem.

I spend some time as a mentor/consultant for a limited number of internet marketing clients. I have witnessed a disturbing trend that is very common here in this forum.

The solution for most Warrior's problems is : Just outsource it

This is dangerous

The problem is not outsourcing itself. The problem is that many people outsource what they cannot do themselves and do not understand. Such as SEO and PPC. What occurs is that they get into this mindset that they don't need to improve their own skills since they can just outsource everything. Outsourcing is a very good way to get low-quality work done if you are not sure what you are looking for. It is also a great way to spend all your money quickly.

I have seen numerous incidents of people getting blatantly ripped-off by hiring people on E-Lance to manage their SEO and PPC. In the case of SEO, I have seen cases where people will outsource their SEO for $400/month and get nothing but crappy un-anchor-texted low quality backlinks that the search engines wouldn't care for. Not to mention, it was all done in 5 minutes using automated software.

Important Lesson - Never outsource what you don't understand and can't do yourself if you had a gun to your head. Reason being, that you are in no place to judge the work you are receiving. You will get ripped off if you allow yourself. Never leave your business in the hands of others.

How to fix this - When outsourcing, post exactly what you want done. If you are outsourcing SEO, write a complete blueprint on what you want the provider to do. Do not let them decide how they will run your SEO campaign.

Disclaimer: Yes, I know that some E-lance providers deliver good work. This is true. But there are many many more providers who do not have a clue. Think about it this way. Think of all the resources you have had access to. All the WSO's, e-books, products, courses. Before you outsource an important element of your business, do you firmly believe the provider knows more than you? Do you firmly believe that they will do a better job than you? Would it be that hard to just learn and do it yourself?

Thanks,
Eric
#important #lesson #warriors
  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Would it be that hard to just learn and do it yourself?
    Excellent advice - except the reason for outsourcing is time saved. By outsourcing repetitive or time consuming tasks you free up time for other things.

    However, outsourcing is not a replacement for knowledge. You cannot give decent instructions to an outsourcer if you don't know what the task requires. You have no way of judging if the work is good or poor if you don't know what to expect. Learn to do it yourself first - and then outsource if you want.

    Of course if you are hiring a programmer or other work requiring specialized knowledge, you won't know how to do it. Even then, however, you can learn enough to know what to ask for and what to expect.

    kay
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  • Profile picture of the author Marx Vergel Melencio


    Outsourcing is investing in people, and I'm always careful and thoughtful in my investments.

    Most large corporations invest in people. Those who do it right grow bigger by the day.

    If I were just starting off doing business in this industry, then this is what I'd do:

    1) Build a business plan. I'd talk to an investment and business planner with knowledge and experience in investment planning and building plus managing offline and online businesses so we could exchange ideas until we finalize an investment and business plan.

    2) Build a marketing plan. I'd talk to a marketing planner with knowledge and experience in building offline and online marketing plans so we could bounce ideas until we finalize an offline and online marketing plan.

    3) Study my business and marketing plans then talk to someone with knowledge and experience in implementing business and marketing plans so we could exchange ideas until we finalize an implementation plan.

    4) Determine tasks which could be outsourced then talk to someone with knowledge and experience in outsourcing such business and marketing tasks. This should be a person with knowledge and experience in such business and marketing tasks, manpower sourcing/recruitment, employee remote training and management/supervision so we could bounce ideas until we finalize an outsourcing plan.

    5) I'd talk to the people I'd be working with as my offshore employees so we could exchange ideas until we all know our duties, responsibilities and the exact results we need from doing those duties.

    6) I'd constantly monitor/track each of our overall performance in contrast to the results I get for my business so I could talk to the people I'm working with and exchange ideas until we finalize solutions and improvement plans.

    7) I'd make sure I implement the growth and expansion plans attached to my investment and business plus offline and online marketing plans.

    8) I'd make sure I can balance my time for my family and for my business while doing everything above so I won't veer off my purpose for doing business.

    I'd be reasonably careful and thoughtful before outsourcing and I'd also keep in mind that talking to people I work with (including your offshore staff) to exchange ideas would be best in terms of establishing a professional working relationship with them and could even motivate them in doing their tasks.
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  • Profile picture of the author jedz
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    Outsourcing has been a major element to success for various companies overseas. It is a justifiable fact that internationally established business institutions markets employee leasing to various parts of the world. You will never know unless you try the services of the company. Trust, proof and references are the big factors in choosing the right outsourcing company.
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    • Profile picture of the author yukinari84
      Nice post.

      You should definitely never outsource anything that you can't do yourself.

      It may seem easy to just take the easy way out, but in the end you will be doing damage to your business in the long run.
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      • Profile picture of the author dremy154
        Originally Posted by yukinari84 View Post

        Nice post.

        You should definitely never outsource anything that you can't do yourself.

        It may seem easy to just take the easy way out, but in the end you will be doing damage to your business in the long run.

        I think that outsourcing has it's place, but like you said, it should not be a REPLACEMENT FOR KNOWLEDGE.

        I would say that the things that are safe to outsource, as long as the person is reputable, would be graphics, article and copywriting.

        This is not to say, however, that you shouldn't learn these things for yourself. Why?


        Because, the more knowledge you possess, the more tools you have in your arsenal, and these are things that you can market, and use to create quality products. Knowledge=Power!

        IF YOU DO outsource anything, keep this in mind: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, especially in internet marketing; if it is worth paying for to have someone else do, then it is not gonna be "dirt cheap".
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        • Profile picture of the author sylviad
          The best advice I've read on the subject is:
          1. Learn how to do everything yourself.
          2. Figure out what works for your business and what doesn't.
          3. Decide what you can/want/have time to do
          4. Outsource the rest, using what you discovered in 1 & 2 to put together a proper plan for the outsourcers to follow, complete with reporting back to you with details of tasks done and any results if they are available
          This gives you a much better idea of what to expect from the outsource provider, and enables you to give that person what he or she needs to get the job done as it pertains to your specific business - as opposed to a generic business.

          Example: The marketing plan you give the person must relate to your business because it will be different from an unrelated one. The person could be targeting the wrong market or doing so using the wrong approach.

          Example: You wouldn't want to waste a ton of money on PPC or some marketing task if your sales page doesn't convert - and you have no idea whether it does or not.

          Sylvia
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          • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
            Well since the response so far has been positive I guess my comments might be controversial.

            I disagree.

            There are many reasons I pay other people to do things, especially things like fixing my car - I don't have the inclination or the time to bother doing it myself. These days it's so complicated I wouldn't know how most of the time either.

            Do you really think that in order to have a business you must become an expert at every area you may ever possibly need just so that you understand the intimate details when you get someone else to do it?

            This is not a reasonable expectation of most business owners.

            To run a restaurant do I need to become a master chef just so that I can cook the food if he doesn't show up?

            I don't have the time or interest to learn lots of programming languages just so that I can outsource programming.

            I think the opposite about outsourcing - I think it's MUCH better to get someone else to do something you don't want to, and that's something they love doing and is the focus of their passion.

            Just because it's easy to ignorantly outsource things you don't understand - that's not the same as it being a peril you must look out for.

            This is the reason relationships are important - and I do believe that THAT is something more IMers should cultivate (good working relationships rather than promises from strangers who they don't know and weren't refered to).

            This is not some difficult problem to solve -it's normal life - you need to work out who you can trust and how to get things done.

            If you don't know how to do something but need it outsourced - just find someone you trust that does understand it enough to get it outsourced for you.

            It doesn't need to be complicated.

            Andy
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            nothing to see here.

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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    ericmartinez,

    Is there a way to say thanks 10 times!?!?!? Books written by people that clearly DON'T know the subject are ALL OVER! It is INCREDIBLE!

    Kay King,

    If you have programs written, you have to do SOMETHING to mitigate license infringment, configuration problems, dangerous code, and TROJANS! Ever see "office space"? Stuff like that DOES happen! One high point in the movie that drives it is Bob and Bob, who CLEARLY don't know what they are doing. They fire people that are doing well, carelessly "fix" a problem that might NOT have been a problem, but could subject them to many other problems. They ALSO give a careless person a PROMOTION! HE works together with the fired people to create a TROJAN to steal money.

    BTW the trojan they explain uses a REAL case. I once worked at a bank to work on such an application. The idea is that a rounding error is added into the NEXT payment so it might be higher. Some people may lose almost .005, and some people may gain .005 BUT, in the end, it balances out to within one penny. The bank may keep that, or store it for the next run. IF, the rounding errors on 1000/day were added to another account, instead, it could average about $5/day or $1800/year per thousand disbursments. BTW they often deal with 30/360 day months/years on such things to make them simpler. IMAGINE, if NOBODY checks the code!

    BTW I DID just do the proper thing. I certainly didn't write a trojan.

    For IM, a trojan could capture the persons passwords, email list, email address, etc...

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Devilishboy
    nice advise i really appreciate
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  • Profile picture of the author hushy
    Thanks for the advice. I was thinking of out sourcing. Mainly because it would save me time. As I am still employed to make ends meet and help pay for this business. I really do not have a lot of time in a day to be able to do some of these things myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
    Or, hire (or partner with) competent advisors that are implicitly trustworthy, and put them in charge of overseeing the things you personally don't understand on a technical basis.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Andy, I once had a bad CV joint. I KNEW what it was! I TOLD them what it was, and some idiots claimed it was a rock, etc... I could have DIED! I took it to another place, and THEY found the problem, and fixed it. On an earlier car, some jerks didn't bother to properly screw in the calipers and, when I tried to slow down on a BUSY freeway, the car started to spin. It is a good thing I didn't stop short, I could have died. I managed to go back, and tell them to do it RIGHT!

    Hey, I may have gotten an extra 6 years out of my water heater because I knew to replace the sacrificial anode!

    We ALL know about trojans here! And there HAVE been licensing problems.

    So I am not saying do EVERYTHING! Just know enough to CHECK, etc...

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by BIG Mike View Post

      This is one of the reasons you'll hear me repeat the need for an "Education Plan" when first starting out - this is the period when you've got far more time than money and it's worth spending that time broadening your technical knowledge about what you're doing. That will provide the fundementals for down the road when you've got to outsource to grow.
      Although I reluctantly agreed with some of what you said earlier, THIS is what I think everyone else, including me, is saying.
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