Do you Outsource or Do all Yourself?

I now "insource", as I call it (that's to say, I employ full-time VA's who, between them, cover all the stuff I used to outsource and do some other work for me as well).

Before I had the VA's, I used to outsource "techie stuff" sometimes, because that's far from my forte, though I'm gradually learning a little about it.

When I started off, I outsourced too many things, much too early, and it was a big mistake, that held me back, overall, because (a) I didn't learn how to do things for myself, and (b) I wasn't even well placed to judge what I was outsourcing (and that can be really hazardous!).

I may be stating the obvious, but it's much easier to outsource things you do know how to do, yourself, than things you don't know how to do!

Outsourcing has a skill-set all of its own, and I think it's often quite a bit more difficult than some realise. I usually advise people starting off to outsource only what they really have to, to be very careful how they do so, and to get some guidance from others they trust, who have outsourced whatever-it-is successfully before.


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I try and do most work myself.. If I do it myself then I have no one to blame but myself if no sales come in, lol.

Apparently, my biggest problem seems almost the 'exacting' opposite of Alexa's post above.

I have never outsourced anything. As a result, it has taken years of study and I am still not as proficient as I had hoped to be. In essence, I am starting to regret having not outsourced some of the tasks, as I now believe doing so would have saved me from the on/off love affair I have had with all things marketing.

Truth is, roughly 10 months ago I got pissed off over a $300 purchase that I made to implement a membership idea I had. Having used the sellers product before, and having had success with it...my expectations were high this purchase would be a stepping stone to me utilizing everything I had learned.

For the record, I don't want the above statement misinterpreted as having purchased some easy button to riches or some shiny object done-for-you bs...not at all.

Anyway, that measly $300 purchase of what can only be described as junk... Had me so mad, I let my entire online marketing business go, and jumped back into a brick-n-mortar business. One that did exactly what I despise... Cost me more time, more money, physical labor, etc... And while I did see a profit of 5x my initial investment... I hated the fact (outside of earning a living) that I easily could've outsourced the pieces that burnt me out online.

I think it's important to outsource. I also think it's important to know about what your outsourcing, or you wouldn't know if those tasks were being done to match your desired outcome.

Having spent years running small businesses offline (mostly myself) it often baffled me that some business owners don't care about the customer, or delivering a quality product or service. Heck, many of those who I contracted labor from would flat out tell me to do just enough to get the check...

But, as I refused to work for halfass contractors offline, I too felt it was important to study the indepth role being an online business owner shares in similarity.

Sadly, there are dynamics on all sides to business. And one is educating the customer to know the differences between quality and dogshit...cause many simply do not know.

Thus, if you don't know anything about a certain component your business requires to be successful (online or off) -just remember; "when you outsource those tasks...You are essentially the customer, and You need to due your due diligence to determine if the work you recieve is quality or dogshit?" and it will reflect in your success or failure.

While I believe the only way to truly succeed is to leverage other talented peoples knowledge and abilities (as is so offline) - it remains Your responsibility to ensure Your customers recieve the highest quality or Your success will be short lived.

All the Best,

Art

I like to do it myself it helps save money and time. I dont like waiting for people

I do all the work myself. I mean... i do have all day to do it myself, so why wouldn't i? I dont do crap anyway. I'm starting to learn about graphics design and creating those "image style" / "graphic style" sales pages. I could probably pay a Wordpress guy to do the technical stuff for me... but i think it will benefit me in the long run to learn how to be excellent with Wordpress functions myself.

I outsource almost everything. The key is to know where to find capable and reliable people that can do the work cheaper and faster than me.

I outsource what I know I'll get a return on, but still do a lot myself. I'm looking to outsource even more this year.

I do run one niche blog though which is almost completely outsourced (writing, admin, paid services for sale.) I handle the email marketing side of things as well as product creation and promotions. I'd love to do that for another one of my sites, but I'm a huge focal point and I know I'd have a lot harder time selling if I wasn't the one writing the content. I'm very distinct with the way I go about things so trying to hide it isn't an option.

I have a pretty simple system.

1. Devise.
2. Plan.
3. Setup (often outsource portions).
4. Get it turning a profit.
5. Operate to stability.
6. Outsource.
7. Rinse, repeat.

Tom

Currently do it ALL myself! I'm not to the point yet where I can outsource the work. Working toward that...

Usually I do everything myself. But sometimes I outsource small things to people from fiverr. Usually when I have lots to do.

I am at the point where I may have to outsource some work. I do have a webmaster for that side of my business but my work is flowing in so fast at the moment that I may have to hire somebody else to do some of the writing.

I outsource all the jobs I hate doing, and cherry pick the jobs I do myself.

It does help I have built up a team of contractors, who work with me all the time and we have weekly Skype meetings to make sure deadlines are being met, and to discuss future projects.

All that comes with time and experience though, but out sourcing the jobs you hate to do is usually the easiest route to take with outsourcing

I used to do it all myself, but that's mainly because I couldn't afford to, and I had a lot more free time back then.

But I've been fortunate enough to grow so fast, and I have so many other priorities, it's hard NOT to outsource. The hardest part is just finding people you can trust and training them.

Yes, Lexy, I have been increasing prices a little and am considering outsourcing IF I can find the right person. That is the hardest part.

You make really good points. I know they were aimed at someone else but I will also keep them in mind.

If you are just starting off to save money you can do it yourself but once your business has grown it would be a good idea to outsource some of the smaller task.

I also did things myself.

When I did article marketing, I wrote everything myself and added them myself to all sorts of directories.

Adding funds to my pay per click account, tweaking ads, tweaking my website.....I have done everything on my own.

I do what I can myself and outsource what I cant...

If I may :

If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not, you're putting yourself out of business.

Lee Kuan Yew

Hi jazzd1;

Simple answer for me is I do it all myself.

However I can identify tasks I would like to outsource - only when I can AFFORD it.

LB.

Well, everybody should start by doing everything themselves. When you know it and work comes in a bulk, then you can outsource. You have to find people that are capable of doing the same level of work as you or higher. You still got to check their work if its at par with your expectations.

I would say it depends on what you do.
For instance, on my websites, I write all the content myself. All of it. No one will care more about my websites than I do!
However, some work you can definitely outsource. A logo design, a whole website design, some of the SEO work or even all of it... depends on what you are able to do yourself and what you could do yourself, but maybe someone else will do it better, and you can focus on something more important in the meantime.

As some successful businessman said, "let your money work for you". I outsource things I can't do as it will save me more time and money. I can then spend those time looking for other opportunities. You just need to look for people you can trust and who can work for you in a regular basis.

I outsource everything that I don't already know how to do, or will take me too much time

It will eventually come to a point where your time is more important than the money spent on outsourcing. For some, it will be sooner than others.

It all depends how you value your own time.

I for one, built a small team of VAs that I closely work with and trained. Of course, looking for VAs is a job in itself.

Is it worth it? Heck yes!

Some good points here, Much depends on what you want to do, in some cases it is very difficult to manage an engineering project if you have little or no knowledge of software development.

That is not to say that you can't get it done, but its likely to cost you a lot more just because of the "communication gap" that is the biggest problem that affects most "would be" outsourcers.

You can get really amazing work done for less than you ever imagined, but there is a learning curve, you really do have to know what your doing and what you want done.

Which means, identifying the technology you want to use, how you want it done and writing it all down in a spec, when you do that you can often get work done on a far cheaper basis because the provider knows that they are not going to end up spending hours trying to figure out what you "really" want.

That is the biggest stumbling block to getting projects done by outsourcers or freelancers.

Outsourcing is a great way to get big things done...

It can also be a great way to spend a lot of money and get little in return, its all about the experience level and knowledge of the buyer.

Communication is the key to outsourcing success.

I first started with creating my own content so I could get the methods down tight and to understand them. Once I got to a point in my business, I then started with outsourcing. To focus on more marketing promotions and save time.

i do it myself mostly, but outsourcing crosses my mind a lot..

Depends on how I feel and how much I want to make. Sometimes I do the work myself , but if I don't feel like doing it, I hire someone.

I once outsourced some php work I needed done for a website I was building for a client in my area. I'm no professional, but I know basic html, wordpress etc.. So I did the simple stuff and had someone from India do the php work for pennies. I basically got paid 300$ for putting up an html template.

Most of the time, I work myself. sometimes I hire some freelancer for SEO work.

I do most of the stuff in house as I like to be in control of my business and I like things done as soon as possible. In saying that, I do on occasion outsource some of it. I try and stay focused on the things that are more importsnt to me and only outsource things such as graphics as they are so time consuming at times, so it would not be viable for me to spend too much time on this.

Both

For most marketers and bloggers, it's recommended to start by keeping costs down

(And investing more time)

However, outsource is the way to maximize, and scale to effectively use your time

I think it is important to outsource some things as they will give you better results and often a second opinion about what is actually good towards adding towards your blog. It is important to also double check everything and make sure it is the quality that you are looking for before you use it. I have outsourced articles but will often spend a couple hours adding to them, fixing any spelling errors, and overall making it something that I enjoyed as well

We have our Experts for our marketing campaigns. After that, new tests (new campaigns) are outsourced to professionals because you save money and get more back

As AlexaSmith says above that outsourcing is a skill by itself, so I agree. So whether you need to outsource any or do all yourself depends entirely on you. If you have the moneyto invest and want to grow successful in a short period, outsourcing is needed. That way you can do what you are best at and let others do what will take you time yo learn and implement.

But I have seen many not willing to invest a single cent before earning anything. So for them, it takes a long time.

I outsource a lot of writing.

I tried outsourcing graphics but I do a better job then all the freelancers I've tried.

I wouldn't call it outsourcing, but I guess I do.

I have worked with a lot people over the years, and 3 or 4 of those people stood out to me, so I kept working with them again and again. I would call it a kind of team, although I don't directly employ them and we don't directly work together, but when I need something they offer I always go back to them because we have formed a bond and I know I can trust their work.

If you think you do not have enough time to do the work or, you do not know how to do the work, in this case you can hire freelancer. On the other hand, if you think you can do the work yourself, you should do the work by yourself. Thanks

I Do All Tasks myself , First Because I don't trust To Freelancers , Second No One Know My Project Details More Than Me

Just My Idea And I don't Force any One To Do It

Good Luck ,