The most important thing I've learned in IM...

by DavidO
16 replies
... is to outsource!

For years I tried to do everything myself, working round the clock 7 days a week writing articles, backlinking, blog posting, profiling, bookmarking and all the other countless techniques we have at our disposal. Progress was slow and it seemed like I was just spinning my wheels most of the time.

Worse even... I constantly felt like I was sliding backwards. WSOs were stacking up in my folder. I'd get excited reading about the latest RSS techniques but I was still only halfway through October's backlink list (and it was March for crying out loud!). Something had to give...

Recently I've discovered some great services, mostly available from other IMers right here in the WF. This has allowed me to cut my promotion efforts by 95% and concentrate on what I'm good at: content creation and design.

Never again will I spend hours on end registering and filling out site profiles. One of our esteemed warriors is now offering a great WSO for this very same purpose. Of course it's automated... doing this manually is absolutely soul-killing. Nobody should have to do it.

Naturally I was nervous the first month or so after I let go of the reins. But I needn't have been. Even though I'm no longer doing my own promotion, my main site just went up a notch in page rank and my SERPs and traffic are better than ever.

You know what? Now I don't care about the latest SEO tricks. I've got professionals with automation at their disposal handling all that.

Of course this doesn't come for free... but prices are more than reasonable and the time it frees up is priceless. It's an investment... the more I pay in, the more profit I get out.

Newbies, I realize you're in a tough spot. Unless you've got good funding you have to make some money before you can invest. Also, it's good to be hands on for as long as you can stand it because it teaches you so much. You have to get the big picture.

But as soon as you start making some money reinvest it in professional services. As your income goes up so should your support network. You can't do it alone. If ever there was a "guru" secret, this is it!
#important #learned #thing
  • Profile picture of the author Simon Haestoe
    "Of course this doesn't come for free... but prices are more than reasonable and the time it frees up is priceless." <-- awesome. I could easily think that.

    Will have to check into this when I start making some money off of this Actually... I think I would have used it if I just had some money to invest; not necessarily money made in IM.
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  • Profile picture of the author jennypitts
    Originally Posted by DavidO View Post

    ... is to outsource!

    For years I tried to do everything myself, working round the clock 7 days a week writing articles, backlinking, blog posting, profiling, bookmarking and all the other countless techniques we have at our disposal. Progress was slow and it seemed like I was just spinning my wheels most of the time.

    Worse even... I constantly felt like I was sliding backwards. WSOs were stacking up in my folder. I'd get excited reading about the latest RSS techniques but I was still only halfway through October's backlink list (and it was March for crying out loud!). Something had to give...

    Recently I've discovered some great services, mostly available from other IMers right here in the WF. This has allowed me to cut my promotion efforts by 95% and concentrate on what I'm good at: content creation and design.

    Never again will I spend hours on end registering and filling out site profiles. One of our esteemed warriors is now offering a great WSO for this very same purpose. Of course it's automated... doing this manually is absolutely soul-killing. Nobody should have to do it.

    Naturally I was nervous the first month or so after I let go of the reins. But I needn't have been. Even though I'm no longer doing my own promotion, my main site just went up a notch in page rank and my SERPs and traffic are better than ever.

    You know what? Now I don't care about the latest SEO tricks. I've got professionals with automation at their disposal handling all that.

    Of course this doesn't come for free... but prices are more than reasonable and the time it frees up is priceless. It's an investment... the more I pay in, the more profit I get out.

    Newbies, I realize you're in a tough spot. Unless you've got good funding you have to make some money before you can invest. Also, it's good to be hands on for as long as you can stand it because it teaches you so much. You have to get the big picture.

    But as soon as you start making some money reinvest it in professional services. As your income goes up so should your support network. You can't do it alone. If ever there was a "guru" secret, this is it!

    WOW... David did you actually take time out of your long nights to right this? LOL... I totally agree and understand what you are talking about. In the beginning I started doing this part time because of my "9-5" job, but when I was laid off, I hardly slept, between family, kids, IM and trying to make it; I slept three hours if that . Now I have learned that although I have an online business and my computer is my working tool, I AM NOT ONE :rolleyes:, SO I OUTSOURCE!!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author wealthyminds
    I have a great team of experienced SEOs and developers, and have provided services since 2007. I'm not showing off here, but if it is a professional service you need, then I'm the right person that you want to talk to.

    Here's my URL: Professional SEO Company
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    • Profile picture of the author inter123
      I have been doing Internet Marketing for about 4 months. Though I have lots of previous experience in programming not much in other areas.

      I am taking the view of earning $100 per day by my own efforts before any sort of outsourcing.

      Its best to have an overview of how all the different aspects work so no one can take any sort of advantage. In a sales orientated world there are many decent people but there are also lots of dubious schemes too.
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  • Profile picture of the author PaulaC
    Definitely agree with you 100% on this. We have just starting outsourcing our back linking and it has freed up a massive amount of time for us.

    It was work we didn't really like too much either so it's absolutely fantastic that someone else is doing it all for us.

    We now have time to concentrate on the more important stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
    My IM efforts really took off after I leveraged the efforts of outsourcing time-intensive tasks. That one move freed me to actually run my business instead of being mired in the details. My income skyrocketed after that.

    TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author Power and Wealth
    Originally Posted by DavidO View Post


    Newbies, I realize you're in a tough spot. Unless you've got good funding you have to make some money before you can invest. Also, it's good to be hands on for as long as you can stand it because it teaches you so much. You have to get the big picture.
    Kind of tough to outsource tasks if you don't even know what they are. You definitely need to know what's what before you can expect anyone else to do it for you effectively.
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    • Profile picture of the author butters
      Just to echo what xpert says... You can only outsource once you have gone through the motions a few times. It's easy to say outsource but if you don't know how to effectively build links or understand what a good article takes then you are burning money. You need to understand what to do because if it is done wrong, you need to be all over your outsourcies back and make sure it gets done correctly.
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      • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
        Originally Posted by butters View Post

        Just to echo what xpert says... You can only outsource once you have gone through the motions a few times. It's easy to say outsource but if you don't know how to effectively build links or understand what a good article takes then you are burning money. You need to understand what to do because if it is done wrong, you need to be all over your outsourcies back and make sure it gets done correctly.

        I've said it a thousand times. You DO NOT need to know how to do a task in order to outsource it. You need to know what exactly you want done, and why...

        If I need a piece of software, or want a facebook app developed, I don't have to know a lick about that crap.. I just have to know what exactly my market wants, and give the specs to the programmer that I'm outsourcing to...

        then manage the project.
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        • Profile picture of the author butters
          Originally Posted by mr2monster View Post

          I've said it a thousand times. You DO NOT need to know how to do a task in order to outsource it. You need to know what exactly you want done, and why...

          If I need a piece of software, or want a facebook app developed, I don't have to know a lick about that crap.. I just have to know what exactly my market wants, and give the specs to the programmer that I'm outsourcing to...

          then manage the project.
          Software is different but lets put it in terms of general outsourcing of articles, backlinks etc... Now, outsourcing somthing like this and you have no clue if it works or not is pointless. You have no idea if the articles which are being written will work or not because you never done it. If you ask for a backlinking service and don't specify the type of links you want, your gonna get a load of crappy spam links. If your going to outsource, especially as a newbie, you should be able to do it your self so if any problems occur, you aint just standing there scratching your head.
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          • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
            Originally Posted by butters View Post

            Software is different but lets put it in terms of general outsourcing of articles, backlinks etc... Now, outsourcing somthing like this and you have no clue if it works or not is pointless. You have no idea if the articles which are being written will work or not because you never done it. If you ask for a backlinking service and don't specify the type of links you want, your gonna get a load of crappy spam links. If your going to outsource, especially as a newbie, you should be able to do it your self so if any problems occur, you aint just standing there scratching your head.

            That's why I said "know exactly what you want".

            I've never done my own backlinking... ever. Not one time. In fact, for the first part of my time online, I didn't do it period (not even outsourced).

            Then, I read up on it, figured out what I thought i needed for it... found someone that could offer that. Paid them. Checked up on them and made sure it was coming out to my specs... and never looked back. I've been through a bunch of service providers along the way that couldn't meet my requirements... that doesn't mean I did it myself, I just found a new service provider.

            Articles. I have written my fair share of those, but all that you really need to know is whatever your desired specs are and WHY. Then, find someone to do it. Mine are super simple, use my keyword in the title, the first sentence, and anchor text in last paragraph. Link to my home page once and a landing page once.


            I do agree with one thing that you said though..
            If your going to outsource, especially as a newbie, you should be able to do it your self so if any problems occur, you aint just standing there scratching your head.
            But I would add that, knowing HOW to do something doesn't REQUIRE that you've done it before.


            I'm not saying don't be educated on the WHAT and the WHY of doing something, because you should be... but you don't have to have months in the trenches doing it all yourself in order to know those things. If you can give specs, manage, and delegate - you can outsource.


            Just my opinion... it's worked out very well for me.



            Keep in mind too, that I'm assuming we're talking about someone that actually has business sense, and money to invest. If they don't have those, then yeah... maybe they should spend a few months in the trenches until they earn some. My point is that you don't HAVE to.
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            • Profile picture of the author butters
              Originally Posted by mr2monster View Post

              Keep in mind too, that I'm assuming we're talking about someone that actually has business sense, and money to invest. If they don't have those, then yeah... maybe they should spend a few months in the trenches until they earn some. My point is that you don't HAVE to.
              Yep you don't have to , back linking sucks I guess it is my preferred way of doing it.

              Also to know how to do something, you must of done it, if you haven't done it, how do you know if it works?
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              • Profile picture of the author mr2monster
                Originally Posted by butters View Post

                Yep you don't have to , back linking sucks I guess it is my preferred way of doing it.

                Also to know how to do something, you must of done it, if you haven't done it, how do you know if it works?
                That's what I'm saying! You don't have to know HOW to do something in order to pay someone to do it for you.

                I don't know how to fly a plane, operate a CNC machine, install a new clutch, program a computer... or to bring it closer to home, write php, write great sales copy, make incredible videos, design attractive looking site, etc... That's why I pay people that DO know.

                I get better results, a whole lot quicker. I know it works, because it's working for others. Reverse engineering.

                If you operate that way, you will NEVER progress at a fast enough rate to keep up.

                It's crazy to think that you have to know how to design in order to hire a designer, or know how to write well to hire a writer, or know how to code to hire a coder, etc. In fact, the ENTIRE PREMISE of the service industry is based solely on people NOT knowing how to do something and outsourcing it to someone that does.


                Do you think all those small businesses hiring SEO consultants and web designers et al KNOW (or even care to know) how to do website stuff and SEO? NO... They have a guy for that... They measure their ROI, and if it works it works.. if it doesn't they move on.
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  • Profile picture of the author monopuff
    Once you have a good system in place that you know earn you money, then you can start to work out what you can pay out to still make a profit... Often times what you pay to outsource is much less than your time is eventually worth, which of course it a good thing.

    When just starting out however there's nothing like hard work to get you where you want to go.
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    • Profile picture of the author genetaylor
      Ross Perot once said "Here's what you do first: learn the business from the ground up....listen to me....from the ground up". I bet if he had finished the thought he would have said "then outsource everything you can" !

      If you are too young to know of him, Ross Perot was a billionaire.
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  • Profile picture of the author unsmashed
    Automation is the key. Especially with all the API's and technologies out there -- why be stuck doing something over and over when a computer can do it 100 times faster, AND they don't complain!
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