What would you do with a 4 member internet marketing team ?

[Spencer Jones]

I am building my in-house internet marketing team consisting of a content writer, a graphics guy, an SEO guy and a programmer. I have some solid business strategies in mind.

But I would like to know what the warriors will do if you have this four member team at your disposal ? How will you use these guys to make money ?

Just looking for more ideas...

Thanks
Dr.Spencer Jones

[talfighel]

To be honest, none of the above.

I would fire all of them and start learning to do things on my own.

[Danny Shaw]

The sky is the limit! If I had such a full time team I would use a few certain tactics to make instant cash and then set up several long term winners. My background is seo so if your looking for another member pm your plans.

[Japles]

While I agree that you should know how to do everything that you are outsourcing, I wouldn't want to do it all myself once I learned.

To handle all of these things by yourself takes time. A lot of time.

I would rather spend my time creating other forms of passive income or getting my tan on by the pool.

Heres what I would do if I had a 4 member IM team:

1. Writer - Someone who writes clear and helpful content.

2. Organizer - Someone who, for example, installs WordPress, uploads and updates plugins, and schedules content releases.

3.Backlinker - Someone who will handle the backlinking to your site.

-after 1, 2, & 3 are set up and running, you can relax a little by hiring a..

4. Project Manager - Someone who will take over your job of overseeing and making sure things are going according to plan.


A team like this could build 5+ sites a week, if done properly.

Outsourcing is great and gives you the freedom to make more money while working less. And how can you go wrong with that?

[Spencer Jones]

Thanks Danny & Japles,

Here are some of the options I am thinking about...

1. Make money as an affiliate
2. Create own products and services
3. Client based outsourcing

Which one would you guys go with, why ?

Or will you try an entirely different business model ?

Thanks...

[Trivum]

Originally Posted by Spencer Jones

Here are some of the options I am thinking about...

1. Make money as an affiliate
2. Create own products and services
3. Client based outsourcing

I think each of those presents a different work "lifestyle."

1. Affiliate -- maybe the least amount of hassle because you only answer to yourself. But you may have other things about it you don't like -- may not feel as satisfying, may not like the process involved in affiliate work, may find it harder to become successful in the beginning, etc.

2. Own products/services - You'll have to answer to end-users there (B2C). Support will become a major factor for you. Also, you may need to constantly update and add to your content offerings. (depends on your niche)

3. Outsourcing - You'll have to answer to other businesses (B2B). Support will also be an issue. There are different challenges there from B2C.

All three could make you money, of course. You'll probably need to sit down and really try to envision what your work will look like -- responsibilities, challenges, what type of people you'd need to deal with, what you would like to focus on MOST (you'll have to focus on everything for all of them, but you'll have different areas of emphasis for different approaches), etc.

[Alex Blades]

Sounds like a good team, you should put the programmer to work and the rest will fall into place. Have him start by creating small applications, and the other guys will know what they have to do

[Spencer Jones]

Originally Posted by Japles

While I agree that you should know how to do everything that you are outsourcing, I wouldn't want to do it all myself once I learned.

To handle all of these things by yourself takes time. A lot of time.

I would rather spend my time creating other forms of passive income or getting my tan on by the pool.

Heres what I would do if I had a 4 member IM team:

1. Writer - Someone who writes clear and helpful content.

2. Organizer - Someone who, for example, installs WordPress, uploads and updates plugins, and schedules content releases.

3.Backlinker - Someone who will handle the backlinking to your site.

-after 1, 2, & 3 are set up and running, you can relax a little by hiring a..

4. Project Manager - Someone who will take over your job of overseeing and making sure things are going according to plan.


A team like this could build 5+ sites a week, if done properly.

Outsourcing is great and gives you the freedom to make more money while working less. And how can you go wrong with that?

Regarding the project manager task. Very important position, that can mean a difference in my returns both time, energy and money wise. I am thinking about assigning that role to one of the 4 members.

[Techmaverick85]

Completely agree with whoever said that you should be able to tackle the tasks by yourself, but I've got to the stage where although I know what I'm doing, the sheer volume of work is too much, and I'm starting to outsource.

I think you have the skill sets there to vary what you do sufficiently. Review sites, niche sites, landing pages for affiliate products can allow you to monetise in many different ways, meaning that if you get slapped by any single one of them, you're not going to suddenly find your profits locked and destroyed.

Then once you've got a nice, dependable passive income, start building your own products. Whether it's an info product, plugin or an SEO type of service. You can then spend your personal time on recruiting affiliates, promoting and scaling.

Just my 2 cents

[Alex Blades]

Completely agree with whoever said that you should be able to tackle the tasks by yourself, but I've got to the stage where although I know what I'm doing, the sheer volume of work is too much, and I'm starting to outsource.

He is right, but with a team in place you can crank out products fast. Everything could be in place before the actual product is done. I have a graphic designer and programmer, wish I could get someone to do the SEO

[Japles]

Originally Posted by Techmaverick85

Completely agree with whoever said that you should be able to tackle the tasks by yourself, but I've got to the stage where although I know what I'm doing, the sheer volume of work is too much, and I'm starting to outsource.

I think you have the skill sets there to vary what you do sufficiently. Review sites, niche sites, landing pages for affiliate products can allow you to monetise in many different ways, meaning that if you get slapped by any single one of them, you're not going to suddenly find your profits locked and destroyed.

Then once you've got a nice, dependable passive income, start building your own products. Whether it's an info product, plugin or an SEO type of service. You can then spend your personal time on recruiting affiliates, promoting and scaling.

Just my 2 cents

I like this business model as it offers variety and has the potential to combine multiple streams of passive income.

The last thing you want to do is rely on one site (or one stream) for all of your income.

If something bad happens, or the site goes down, you are left without a backup plan.

I would go the affiliate marketing route and create niche sites, review sites, and landing pages. Have your team help you with these.

Some examples:

1. Start a Blog - You could start a blog on a niche that interests you. Blog frequently (or outsource) and provide world class information. Make your blog different and fun to read. Include pictures and colors. Large fonts. Use seo, social media and all that fun stuff to market your blog. Make sure you're building a list. You could put ads on your blog and make a large chunk of money from adsense if you get enough traffic. Build relationships and trust and after some time you can market some affiliate products to your list. After a while you could even come up with your own ebook or product that solves a problem within your niche.

This plan includes 3 potential streams of income.

2. Build a Review Site - I suggest reviewing and promoting a product that has yet to launch. This way you can build hype and avoid competition that will allow you to rank well in google for your keywords. Go to Joint Venture (JV) Marketing + Networking Community to find hot products that are near release. When the product hits and people are searching for a review, yours will be the first one they click on. Be honest in your review. Mention pros AND cons and provide an affiliate link to the product at the end of your review.


You could use your team to do a variety of these tasks and make sure they are going according to plan.

The more sites you can knock out, the more streams of passive income you will generate.

However, strive for quality over quantity and make sure each site you create reflects your best work before moving onto the next one.

Hope this helps

[Spencer Jones]

Experience taught me that internet marketing is not to be done single handedly by one man. Majority or may be all of the marketers that are making 6-7 figures are outsourcing or outtasking one way or the other. So this is something that everyone that needs to be successful should seriously consider.

[kennytan]

For me, I'd do a research on this forum to find out what's selling and then make use of the 4 people from their expertise to create a medium range product and sell it as wso twice a month.

Leveraging the ready strength is much more effective than outsourcing to others.

[Kim Standerline]

I wouldnt, you should work to your own strength and if that's organising an outsourcing team, then so be it.

I couldnt possibly run my online business without my outsourcing team who consists at the moment of a programmer, graphics guy, support desk help and content writer. I must admit I could do with an SEO guy as well

Why would I need to learn all of the above when my time is better spent making money, I'd never have the time if I had to do all of the above. They dont work exclusively for me so I only pay em for the work they do.

You should never be scared to outsource.

Kim

Originally Posted by talfighel

To be honest, none of the above.

I would fire all of them and start learning to do things on my own.

BTW Spencer it's nice to see you again...

[Julius Minor]

Originally Posted by Alex Blades

Sounds like a good team, you should put the programmer to work and the rest will fall into place. Have him start by creating small applications, and the other guys will know what they have to do

I agree.. Software is Huge!!
Programmer- Software Development (Your Product)
Content Writer - Blog, Press Releases, Articles, Social Media, Sales Page and Email Swipes
Graphics Guy - Blog Graphics, Banners, Logos, Sales Page Graphics and Ebook Covers etc...
SEO Guy - Blog Optimization, Backlinking, Social Media.. so much more!

[rajeevsh]

That depends entirely on your strengths.

If I were in your place, I'd let them all go for now and get someone who is very good technically if you are an out and out business guy. Create decent software products, and the two of you can put together some sort of equity as well.

Once you start getting some customers, you can start expanding your team. At the start, I'd be as frugal and do just those things that will add value to my customer, and absolutely nothing else. So, the designer, the SEO guy, etc. all come in later. I'd perhaps even let go of the programmer if he's average or above average.

Get someone really good otherwise you will be wasting your time. Managing people — and managing mediocre people — is the most difficult thing. So, just have one good programmer and grow with him. As you go, there might be a need of more people and that's okay. You will get them then.

The problem with software development, if you aren't a really good developer yourself, is finding one. You can't do with someone who is good, average or above average. That will bring you to halt at some point of time.

But that's my version of things, and how I'd do it.

--

In your case, I'd most probably set up a service on one side to get some money flowing in (writing, graphics, etc.) while I build a few sites. The site building and affiliate marketing part can take a little while to really get going, so for about 3 months or so, a service can be a good sidekick.

If you can get business, the services part will grow without any major problems. There's also a pretty decent opportunity to scale.

The key here is that you aren't "outsourcing" per se; you say you have an in-house team. That means that their success and failure is completely your responsibility. When you are outsourcing to some other company, or even a consultant, they can take care of a lot of the work, without a lot of supervision. They are also responsible for what they deliver.

But I can tell you from experience that it won't happen with in house employees. You will need to supervise; you will need to keep all of them on the right track. So, your role in developing the team, setting up processes, getting business, getting scale, etc. becomes rather important.

I'd spend a couple of weeks training them on exactly what their roles are, what I want them to do, and put together processes so that their work is checked before it's delivered, and I'd start with some kind of a service while I build a few sites. If these people are really good, you can even offer high-value services.

[RockingLastsForever]

Before I hired 4 people to do various jobs I would have worked out what I planned to use them for. You seem to have done the process a bit backwards if you're not sure what the plan is for them or are you just asking what WE would do?

I'd put them to work on some projects I've got in mind but haven't had time to start yet. Get the ball rolling.

[Big Rob]

Can I borrow them?
I'll have them back before midnight and run them through the car washbefore I do

I like the plr site idea above.

Get that programmer pumping out WP plugins

Start a WFH thread doing services for others

Get them a Keurig , a stocked refridge, and a hot receptionist to gawk at and you're golden.

[Anonymous Affiliate]

Let me see if I understand correctly: so you've gone about building a team before you know what to actually do with them? Err....

My advise? fire them all, and hire a SEO expert, a Paid Traffic expert, an Affiliate Manager and a Conversion expert.

Internet Marketing is all about traffic + conversions. Hire experts in either of those two fields.

[Joan Altz]

Originally Posted by talfighel

To be honest, none of the above.

I would fire all of them and start learning to do things on my own.

Yes, I agree 100% with you.

If you must use others, outsource. Even if I have weaknesses in some IM areas (AND I DO!), I am constantly trying to improve, and I just think in the long run it is better to keep pushing yourself to learn all of the ropes really well - even if it means a tougher, longer road to success.

[salegurus]

Ummmm, Usually you have a plan/idea and then you put together a "team" best suited to
complete the project... You seem to be putting the cart before the horse...

PS. Ive always wondered, every man and his dog on the sub continent seem to have their own "team". How do you guys afford them?

[Spencer Jones]

Thanks for all the ideas guys.

For all those that questioned, if I am hiring them without a plan - I request that you please read my original post. I do have some solid strategies planned for the team.

I am not hiring my team out of the blue.

[Spencer Jones]

Originally Posted by JackSarlo

content writer, a graphics guy, an SEO guy and a programmer.

Create a plr membership site... writer creates ebooks, articles in various niches. Graphics guy creates the graphics for the salesletters/squeeze pages, programmer creates the html files for salesletters/squeeze pages.

Your membership site hence gives plr ebooks, articles, etc complete with html pages (squeeze and/or salesletters).

SEO guy works on SEO for your prl membership site.

So just like existing plr membership sites - try to make something fresh and better.

Thanks for bringing that up, really great idea. I do have a PLR site sitting dormant for couple of years which I can tweak and relaunch for some quick profits.

Thanks again...

[Spencer Jones]

Originally Posted by Kim Standerline

Why would I need to learn all of the above when my time is better spent making money, I'd never have the time if I had to do all of the above.

Absolutely. That right there is the #1 problem that keeps over 90% of internet marketers stuck and circling the same mountain. Outsourcing very early is the best way to be insanely successful online.

Just for example let me mention one of my greatest success online. Yea that's the one mentioned in my signature. How I made over $10K in 7 days. It wasn't an easy job at all. I was working like a machine and that's how this great success happened. Wanna know what all stuffs that I did single handedly ?

Here are just some of the things that I did in a couple of days, resulting in me achieving that huge success -

1. I did the keyword research
2. I created html websites
3. I installed wordpress blog
4. I created sales graphics
5. I wrote content for the websites and blogs
6. I wrote promotional articles
7. I did the article spinning
8. I built the backlinks, which can be categorized in to tonnes of further lists
9. I created youtube videos and submitted them
10. I wrote and submitted press releases
11. I wrote followup email messages
12. I handled the customer support
13. I came up with the bonuses
14. I created the graphics for the bonuses
15. I crafted the broadcast emails
16. I closely watched what the competition is doing and changed my offers to offer competitive bonuses

Those are just a few. You know what ? This sort of insane work is what it takes to create a massive success. And if you look at the tasks above I was handling the work of the -

1. content writer
2. SEO guy
3. Graphics designer
4. Costumer support guy
5. Programmer
6. Video guy

If I can always have that sort of super human ability then I won't need any help at all. But you and me are just humans and that's why we need to outsource if we need to be successful.

Hope that clears all doubts...

Dr.Spencer Jones