Outsourcing:The worst/best part of successful IM...

Hello MarketPro,

Sorry to hear about that. Like ProductCreator said above, don't give up just yet.

I've been on both sides, that is, I've been hired and I have hired others so I can understand how frustrating it can get - especially when you expect something to be done and it isn't finished by the deadline.

The first question I would ask you is where did you hire the person(s) from? Secondly, where exactly do they fall short? Is the work not up to the mark or have they not finished the work at all?

Sagar

I've got Tim Ferriss's book, this is where I first learnt about outsourcing. I am also an avid reader of Chris Rempel's work and follow his affiliate marketing strategies to the letter. The plan is to make a bit of money from affiliate marketing and then move into product creation and use the leveraging of affiliates to make BIG money.

Why is it so difficult just to get people to write good content, put it on templates I provide and I even give laymans terms instructions.

I have been on getafreelancer, elance and most of the people are a bunch of clowns, unreliable, don't speak english etc

I think you do need to outsource to make $1000/$2000 per month...

I know and understand your frustration!

I think everyone who's been knee-deep in the IM world for awhile probably can relate too.

It can be hard in the "virtual" world to get any level of commitment or loyalty from your staff. I realised this SO fast!

One thing I've found is that a smaller team can be far more effective than having one person for x task, one person for y task, one person that works once a week, one person that only commits to x amount.

I've cut my team down drastically to only the people I KNOW will commit full time, always turn in their work on time, always produce quality - a team I can really build an organisation-feel from.

Other than that it kind of is a trial and error sort of world. Some you hire will be (for lack of a better word) crap but then you find a shining star (I've had one for 8 months now and she is AMAZING)

Look for referrals from WF members, clients, friends.
Look for reviews on Elance, GAF etc
Look for examples of their work
Do smaller test projects to test them
Start on min' pay and give gradual raises for continued loyalty and great work

Hope that helps

Outsourcing projects one-by-one works for me.
Staff leasing does not.

When outsourcing, I like to put jobs up for bid and hire a different writer each time unless I find a good one to work with me.

When it comes to staff I hire them to work at my office. Then they get the guidance they need.

One thing I like to do is put every process into a binder of process manuals. THat way if I ever replace someone their job is systemized. You can PDF the process and give it to someone offshore if you want but I prefer english speaking employees who understand their job beyond the book.

Good luck with your business

I wrote about this to my list a few days back.

You might find it interesting (even useful)!

About Working IN Your Business
http://aweber.com/b/fK5V

All success
Dr.Mani

I believe what gurus always say that to move to next level of IM you need to outsource leg works.

I have proven this to many of our customers who are constantly acquiring our services. It always depend on where you outsource your leg works.

Don't waste your time training people, then later on they will leave you after you trained them, hire people who are already trained to do what you need them to do for you.

Sorry to hear your bad experience in outsourcing.

I need to admit that outsourcing is a bit risky. There are lot of things that you need to consider when you decided to outsource your project or your work. The first priority should be the sample and references so you could check their work.

If you could give me the details of your needs, I would be more than happy to help and give you the best offer.

You can start outsourcing if you already have enough of the earnings to be able to pay a good writer or an SEO or a linkbuilder. You are also the one responsible to choose the very best who can work with what you expected. Outsourcing can be of an advantage if you have worked with the right people, and almost often they will help you boost you business to increase your revenue.

I'm also in the process of ramping up my outsourcing. It's definitely not as easy as some claim. Like any business, finding good people isn't easy. I think it's a matter of trying several/many people, keeping the good ones and chucking the rest. The key is not to get discouraged until you get to that point.

Actually I had great luck with good people on elance, and right here on warrior forum. I am having some articles written as I sit here writing to you.

It takes a while to know right away if a provider is good or not. For instance I expect someone to respond to my inquiry within the hour.

I have outsourced very successfully in the past. The secret lies in telling the freelancers specifically what you need as you post a job on one of the freelancing sites. I like to use Custom Web Design and Programming. Freelance Programmers. Outsource Web Development Outsourcing

Thanks,
Sebastian

It seems everyone here has had different experiences with outsourcing.

There is no doubt that outsourcing when done correctly will help you to live the internet lifestyle much faster than if you tried to do everything yourself, i.e become a jack of all trades.

One should be working on your business not in it...

For now, I am solely concentrating on affiliate marketing, I started seriously in August 2008, and it took until February 2009 to cash my first clickbank check.

I know what to do, I have sporadic sales here and there, but to really ramp things up I need to outsource.

In the next six months I want to move on to product creation.

I have been on GAF, elance, met one or two decent people, but these days I tend to work with people from the warrior forum, and I have met some real gems here.

I suppose it is because we are all marketers here, so we all have a similar idea of what needs to be done to get ranked higher in the search engines, which will lead to more sales.

Anyways, enough from me

The struggle continues... lol

I do believe outsourcing is the smart way to go about Internet Marketing.

You can get the work done cheaply, effectively and quickly in order to have time to dedicate it to what you like doing and have more experience doing.

Most of the times, the difficult part is to find a good place to outsource.

Just my 2 cents.

You need to make sure you're outsourcing the right things - there are some areas of business that can be outsourced easily - for example, anything to do with writing and graphics design. However, when it comes to promotion, it's a bit harder to outsource effectively.

Check my sig.

Ed