Do you really want these fools representing your business?

Chris... You're absolutely right... and that's where most make a
big mistake. Much of the talk I see regarding outsourcing revolves
around the idea that it's a substitute for personal knowledge and skill.

HUGE MISTAKE!

As you correctly point out, outsourcing is for people who have the
knowledge and skill to complete the task but have developed their
business to the point where it is more EFFICIENT to TEACH someone
else how to do it properly.

Outsourcing is NOT for someone who has a few bucks to spend and
is too lazy to learn the skills themselves. Those people get what they
get... And rightfully so.

True words mate. I've been outsourcing for many years in many different tasks. But the fact is that you can't outsource complicated tasks, pay people 1,5$ or lower and pretend to get quality , when on the other side you earn 20$ every hour. Most of those jackass are too greddy and they lose in a long run. When it comes to outsourcing I make sure to take deep interviews with everyone and I'm sure that they get paid the right for their time.

Yes. And also you may need to outsource things you can't do. Like programming or graphics. You just need to be able to evaluate the work you get, not necessarily do it as well yourself. I can't do graphics at all so I must hire.

So, hire to people who can do it well and offer training as needed. If you can buy the training that's better than creating it. Saves you time. So long as it is good training.

This is a point that most people overlook when they are outsourcing.

Most people will outsource the things they don't understand, in order that they will not have to learn about it. They hope that the outsourcer is more knowledgeable than they are, and that the outsourcer will save the day.

But more often, the outsourcer is equally as clueless as the person doing the hiring, which results in both doing a bad job.

One should always understand the processes and steps involved, in order to better "manage" the process... Yes, that is what most business owners should be doing... "Managing" their business, not passing it off to others and praying for the best.

When I was a younger man, I worked for a day labor firm for a bit.

One guy hired me to go out to a home to do a handyman gig. It was just a "gig" to me. I did not know how to do much more than to swing a hammer.

When I got to the job site, the job foreman who hired me to do work for the "handyman" firm said, "There is the bathroom. I need you to replace the tub in there, and install the new one, then put up the new ceramic tile."

I said, "What should I be doing first?"

The foreman said, "I don't know. You figure it out." Then the foreman took the day off...

I looked at the guy who had gone on the job with me, and I asked him if he knew anything about the job we were being asked to do.

His response, "You got me. I just do what I am told to do by my employers."

I felt bad for the person who owned the house, because my co-worker and I were figuring it out as we went. We were both absolutely, astonishingly clueless. Yet, we were expected to make this lady's bathroom look beautiful.

I remember that experience as if it happened yesterday instead of 25 years ago...

That was when I realized that some business owners were better "sellers" than "do'ers".

Yes, outsourcing is a disaster for many folk new to IM. It's just a waste of time and money; the "outsourcer" doesn't have a clue, nor do the folk he hires. It's the blind leading the blind.

I hesitate to blame the product creators who say "outsource it!" They have no control over who buys their products. (Mind you, on bad days, I'd like to SLAP them, hard...)

Over the years, I've done out-sourcing, but it's nowhere near as simple and easy as it seems.

As a rule of thumb, IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING, YOU SHOULD NOT OUT-SOURCE IT.

(Sorry for shouting.)

You can out-source graphics, design and website creation, because you can see the results in front of you.

Ditto for getting someone to write a sales page, blog post, or article.

However, link-building, blog commenting, product creation etc, and similar, if you can't do it, you can't train others.

And you will need to TRAIN your outsourcers.

Train using video.

Give them a short task before you hire them for longer projects.

Never believe someone who says he "knows how" to do something. On average, you'll need to work with between 5 and 10 people before you find someone who's even half-way competent, and you'll still need to train them.

Once you've trained them of course, they stay awhile and then they flit off.

As I see it, the big problem is that many folk new to IM treat it as an ATM machine. It can be, BUT you need to know what you're doing, and you must be prepared to train the people you hire.

Tsnyder, re "What it does do is identify you to the world as someone they don't want to do business with."

Sadly, these "outsourcers" never think this far ahead. To them, everything online is anonymous. :-) They never think as far as relationship-building, and online reputation management, or credibility.

Bottom line: if you can't do it yourself, don't even THINK about outsourcing it. Trying to takes these kinds of shortcuts will hurt you if you stay in IM. Learn how to do it yourself... then, you have a chance of building a business. If you don't/ can't learn, you're throwing away money.

Sorry to be negative, but the incompetent "outsourcers" give everyone in IM a bad name.

Cheers

Angela

Exactly! I think the biggest problem is that business owners don't understand that the brand they're creating for themselves doesn't end when you're on a forum or commenting on a blog. What you do -- both good and bad -- is how people are going to judge you. If you come in and spam a forum, you're always going to be thought of as a spammer, no matter how good your work might actually be.