So... I just made an account on oDesk...

On oDesk, I've had the best results with contractors from the Philippines. Just be sure to check out their ratings, reviews, and work history and get someone who has done the sort of work you're looking for before.

a few tips for choosing contractors on freelance sites:
- choose 90%+ positive feedback (oDesk goes by "5 stars" so go with someone with 4.5 stars or better)
- at LEAST 100 hours work history, to avoid scammers or lazy contractors
- discuss the project in FULL DETAIL *before* hiring to make sure they understand
- prepare a word/PDF document which outlines *every single little detail* for the project so the specifics are clear
- spend a few hours interviewing more than one candidate. you might get a better deal that way

Thanks for the tips.

I went ahead and posted my first job earlier and got some responses from people I was fairly sure were just canned responses that hadn't really read the post. So I'll definitely keep in mind that tip about adding a "password" to the job posting.

I am hopeful that I've found someone I can work with not just this week but also in the future... They've been good at responding to my messages and seem to write clearly both in their responses and in a sample they gave me. They are working on a test article for me now, but if it's as good as the sample I'll be satisfied with the price.

It sounds like they've worked with SEO before too and may be capable of helping me with things other than articles if I decide to go that route in the future.

Overall, I have to say my first impressions of oDesk are a lot better than what I expected. I guess time will tell if the whole experience stays that way.

Here is what you need to do to succeed in outsourcing on oDesk.

Whenever you are posting a job, add a line half way down that says something like "please put the answer of 3+3 as the first character of you application to eliminate spam applications".

You will be AMAZED at how many spam applications you get from robots!!!

Secondly, choose FOUR candidates and offer them a trial job. The trial job must be exactly the same.

You can then find out who is the quickest, who actually does the job correctly, how much time they charge you for it, and how they adhere to deadlines.

Every time I split test four people I always find ONE that stands out. There is always at least one that just can't do the job, one that charges way too much, and one that is slow.

Once you spend the time and money doing this split test you should be left with a very good candidate who will save you a lot of money in the long run!

^ I wish someone told me these tips when I first started outsourcing!

Cheers,
Dave

I probably wasn't as patient as I should have been but it has actually paid off to be honest. After checking out well over a dozen applications, I actually only contacted two and one was much better about getting back to me - so that is the only one I hired and they have been doing very well for me so far. The job is not complete, but I have received the first handful of articles back and I am very pleased with the results especially for the price.

@Kieran Duffey, good summary

AdFocus said:
> choose 90%+ positive feedback
> at LEAST 100 hours work history

There are problems if you do this. You may be excluding newer providers that recently joined which would be more than qualified. Also, the feedback is not that accurate. Many, if not most, simply click off 5/5 for everything and everyone, unless they really were not happy with something. As a service provider, you sometimes get difficult clients who simply don't understand or don't want to. My situation may be a bit different because I provide PPC management services. But I can see where SEO providers may face the same thing, writers probably less so.

Your 100 hours of work history is quite high too. Again, you are excluding newer providers. Not all projects are hourly as well. Maybe oDesk shows hours worked but most others don't. Most categories such as web design and writing are very competitive with hundreds of providers. There can't be that many with so many hours worked on projects. Many buyers also post their projects on more than one freelance site, further diluting this and I'd say, at least in my category, 25% of projects never select a provider.

The best thing in my opinion is to choose the provider which seems to understand the project (you must provide enough information for this not just "build me a web site") and gives the best response. It's like a resume. I've seen resumes with poor grammar and lots of typos and even abbreviations. Those get tossed in the garbage.

> discuss the project in FULL DETAIL

Now this is where I totally agree. I've seen so many projects with a one line description, I don't even bid on those as it's a waste of my time, even if a standard response would take only a couple of minutes. As Jason said, open and clear communications is really the key, on both sides. That starts with you, the buyer, in fully describing the project.

Trim down to the top candidates and interview them. Curiously, even though I provide a toll-free number, I get interviewed very rarely. I guess my proposal is very good but still. A few other times, I've been told I'm one of two or three the buyer is considering. Yet, I don't get a call or email to be interviewed which I find a bit strange.

Don't forget there is more than just oDesk. I got some work on Freelancer (formally GetAFreelancer) but was disatisfied with them for a while. Rentacoder is another site although more expensive especially for the service I provide with fewer projects. My main source is currently eLance. Don't forget Craigslist. Many post there and I've gotten a few contracts there although I've been told buyers get many responses, most of them junk.

> choose FOUR candidates and offer them a trial job.

That might be against the TOS of some freelance sites. But if it can be done, a good idea.

Kieran has great points. One thing he mentions is signing an agreement. Very important for both buyer and provider and if there's a dispute, this agreement is what the freelance site goes by. Not all sites provide a dispute settlement service.

If you plan to have more projects, best to find someone competent that you like and are confortable with instead of going from provider to provider.

I just made a post on my blog about that topic, especially outsourcing for content: How I do outsourcing so far | Passive Income SEO.

Beyond what I say in my post, I never had problems with spam applications but I think in the future I'll use the above suggestion of having a hidden question, no doubt the best applicants probably read the job description. I think it's really important to select 4 people and give them a paid trial job. Then keep the best one for future work.