Why you absolutely must outsource in order to grow your business - and your profits!
Beginning the search for a virtual assistant, freelance writer, graphic designer or IT specialist to outsource some of your daily work may seem like a daunting task, but it can be easier than you think. While the idea of having someone to pick up the slack may sound appealing, the thought of finding right professional may seem a bit overwhelming. The Internet provides a bevy of resources to help you in your search for a qualified professional for your outsourcing tasks, no matter what type of help you need.
There are several sites on the Internet dedicated to connecting businesses and freelance professionals for short-term and long-term projects. Most of them work on the same system, although you may find slight differences among them.
Freelance job boards are a good starting point when you are searching for a professional partner to team up with and get things done. Some of the more popular sites include www.elance.com, www.guru.com and www.rentacoder.com. It never costs a business a fee to post a project on these sites and you can begin collecting bids on your project immediately. As the business owner, you control the choices on these job boards. You post the work you need done along with some pertinent details about the specifics and the deadline for how long you will accept bids.
The interested freelancers then submit a proposal detailing their plan for your project, their bidding price and answers to any specific questions you ask. As the outsourcer, you peruse the proposals at your convenience until you find one that seems like a good fit. Then you simply offer the job to your chosen individual or firm, they accept your offer and you are off and running.
Freelance job sites like these can make your search for outsourced talent quick and easy so you can get on with the business of running your business.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Three Common Tasks You Can Outsource
You can save a lot of time in your business by outsourcing some of the different parts of your online business. While you will always want to keep your finger on the pulse of every aspect of your business, certain tasks can easily be outsourced to talented freelancers, leaving you with more time and energy to focus on other things.
If you earn income on your website with Adsense ads, you know it can be a time consuming procedure tracking the ads and tweaking your site content to increase sales. You can outsource your entire Adsense campaign to a competent virtual assistant who can not only track your Adsense program, but can also write fresh content for your site to keep the search engine spiders happy and site visitors returning.
You can also outsource your sales processes by using affiliates to market your information products for you. When you create an affiliate program for your products, you agree to pay a percentage of the sales to others who publish sales pages and promote your products. By agreeing to pay your affiliates a healthy percentage of the profits, 50% for example, you can let them do the sales work for you while you collect a passive income. You can then spend your own time creating new products to put on the market.
A third task that lends itself well to outsourcing is the eBay auction portion of your sales funnel. If you use eBay to sell physical products, you know there is a great deal of time involved in processing orders and preparing them for shipping. This type of work, however, can be easily systemized, which makes it ideal for outsourcing. You can create a step-by-step process for fulfilling orders and maintaining customer service. All of your customers needs get met in the same way, assuring quality control, and you gain several hours back in your weekly schedule.
If you earn income on your website with Adsense ads, you know it can be a time consuming procedure tracking the ads and tweaking your site content to increase sales. You can outsource your entire Adsense campaign to a competent virtual assistant who can not only track your Adsense program, but can also write fresh content for your site to keep the search engine spiders happy and site visitors returning.
You can also outsource your sales processes by using affiliates to market your information products for you. When you create an affiliate program for your products, you agree to pay a percentage of the sales to others who publish sales pages and promote your products. By agreeing to pay your affiliates a healthy percentage of the profits, 50% for example, you can let them do the sales work for you while you collect a passive income. You can then spend your own time creating new products to put on the market.
A third task that lends itself well to outsourcing is the eBay auction portion of your sales funnel. If you use eBay to sell physical products, you know there is a great deal of time involved in processing orders and preparing them for shipping. This type of work, however, can be easily systemized, which makes it ideal for outsourcing. You can create a step-by-step process for fulfilling orders and maintaining customer service. All of your customers needs get met in the same way, assuring quality control, and you gain several hours back in your weekly schedule.
How to Evaluate Bids When Outsourcing a Work Project
If you use an online freelancing site to outsource work projects, you know it can be frustrating to determine how to choose the right person for the project award. There are several criteria to take in account to make sure you pick the person with the best skill set for the task.
The first thing to consider is the amount of experience the professional has in the area of your project. Have they completed similar projects for other companies? If so, did they receive quality feedback reflecting a high level of skill and commitment to the job? Did they ask questions when they were unclear on the details or did they decide to “wing it,” resulting in the need for re-writes and extra editing time?
Feedback from previous employers may also offer insight into whether or not the freelancer had a positive attitude regarding the project. Even if you are outsourcing a one-time project, dealing with someone with a negative attitude can be a significant drain on your time and energy. Try to pass on that potential problem if you can.
Obviously, one area where you can differentiate between bidders is in price. Don’t fall into the trap of automatically assuming the lowest bidder is your best choice. When you are outsourcing to a writer, for example, you will often find many writers who will offer to prepare 500 words of content for just $1 or $2. You may find you are sorely disappointed, though, when you see the final product. These extremely low-priced writers often have very little grasp of the ins and outs of the English language. You may wind up needing to have the content completely re-written by another writer. Every business owner wants to get the most for their money, but cutting corners may cost you more in the long run.
The first thing to consider is the amount of experience the professional has in the area of your project. Have they completed similar projects for other companies? If so, did they receive quality feedback reflecting a high level of skill and commitment to the job? Did they ask questions when they were unclear on the details or did they decide to “wing it,” resulting in the need for re-writes and extra editing time?
Feedback from previous employers may also offer insight into whether or not the freelancer had a positive attitude regarding the project. Even if you are outsourcing a one-time project, dealing with someone with a negative attitude can be a significant drain on your time and energy. Try to pass on that potential problem if you can.
Obviously, one area where you can differentiate between bidders is in price. Don’t fall into the trap of automatically assuming the lowest bidder is your best choice. When you are outsourcing to a writer, for example, you will often find many writers who will offer to prepare 500 words of content for just $1 or $2. You may find you are sorely disappointed, though, when you see the final product. These extremely low-priced writers often have very little grasp of the ins and outs of the English language. You may wind up needing to have the content completely re-written by another writer. Every business owner wants to get the most for their money, but cutting corners may cost you more in the long run.
How Do You Find a Good Assistant for Outsourcing?
If your business has reached the point where you have more work than you can handle, it could be time to start considering outsourcing. Outsourcing is the term used when you assign certain projects or tasks to freelance workers who are not regular employees of yours.
You can outsource a one-time situation, on occasion or on a regular basis with a contract. Many small-business owners, especially solo-preneurs have found outsourcing to be a valuable way to extend their ability to cover all the tasks that need to be taken care of in their business.
So where do you look for outsourcing? There are many different sources of freelancers available on the Internet. Each one will have a wide variety of freelancers and services. Most include various categories of work such as content creation, IT work, graphics work, video or audio content creation, accounting, sales etc.
Here, some things in keep in mind as you look for the perfect person to help you accomplish all the aspects of your business.
• Ask for recommendations or testimonials from previous clients. Like most situations, testimonials are likely to only speak to the positive. If a freelancer has several testimonials readily available, however, it does speak to their consistency of work.
• Do they have a website? Look at the site and noticed the detail involved. Are things spelled correctly, laid out neatly, easy to navigate? If an individual doesn't put the time into their own website to make it look professional, they may not be the best choice for your business either.
• Look for feedback. Many on-site freelance work sites allow an employer to provide feedback to a contract worker after the job is completed. Generally speaking, this feedback is not accessible by the freelancer for editing, so this should be a reliable source of information.
• Ask for referrals from people you know. Check with your colleagues and find out if they do any outsourcing and what services they use. If they have had good luck with a particular source or service, they should be happy to share the information.
The list is actually quite endless. Of course finding the competent, quality freelancer you're looking for is a little more complicated than simply clicking on a website. Take the time to do your homework, ask around for recommendations and take it slow when you first start out and you’ll be well on your way to finding the perfect person for your needs.
You can outsource a one-time situation, on occasion or on a regular basis with a contract. Many small-business owners, especially solo-preneurs have found outsourcing to be a valuable way to extend their ability to cover all the tasks that need to be taken care of in their business.
So where do you look for outsourcing? There are many different sources of freelancers available on the Internet. Each one will have a wide variety of freelancers and services. Most include various categories of work such as content creation, IT work, graphics work, video or audio content creation, accounting, sales etc.
Here, some things in keep in mind as you look for the perfect person to help you accomplish all the aspects of your business.
• Ask for recommendations or testimonials from previous clients. Like most situations, testimonials are likely to only speak to the positive. If a freelancer has several testimonials readily available, however, it does speak to their consistency of work.
• Do they have a website? Look at the site and noticed the detail involved. Are things spelled correctly, laid out neatly, easy to navigate? If an individual doesn't put the time into their own website to make it look professional, they may not be the best choice for your business either.
• Look for feedback. Many on-site freelance work sites allow an employer to provide feedback to a contract worker after the job is completed. Generally speaking, this feedback is not accessible by the freelancer for editing, so this should be a reliable source of information.
• Ask for referrals from people you know. Check with your colleagues and find out if they do any outsourcing and what services they use. If they have had good luck with a particular source or service, they should be happy to share the information.
The list is actually quite endless. Of course finding the competent, quality freelancer you're looking for is a little more complicated than simply clicking on a website. Take the time to do your homework, ask around for recommendations and take it slow when you first start out and you’ll be well on your way to finding the perfect person for your needs.
Are You Ready to Outsource?
Business is booming and you have more work than you can handle. You really aren’t ready to bring on an in-house employee, but what can you do to keep up with everything? It is time to consider outsourcing some of that work to a freelancer.
Outsourcing is becoming an increasingly popular way for small businesses and solo-preneurs to increase productivity while keeping costs under control.
The best place to begin outsourcing is with a task that you don’t do well or one you don’t particularly enjoy doing. When you are struggling with a project due to lack of skills or lack of interest, it is bound to slow you down and take more time than it needs to from your hectic schedule. By outsourcing that task, you eliminate the time drain and the frustration. You are freed up to work on tasks that are in your expertise, which adds to your bottom line.
Not up on the latest technical skills involved in building a profitable web site? Hire a top-notch web designer and turn the project over to him. A quality partner will spend time understanding what you need as well as what you want in your site design. By carefully looking at your target market, your products and services, your desired outcomes and your budget, you will work together to develop a plan. Once all the necessary information is gathered, your new virtual partner will complete your project while you devote your time to other things.
Outsourcing can be used for a wide variety of office tasks. From accounting and payroll to content production to graphics and websites, outsourcing can help you add an extra pair of hands to your small business – which translates to extra hours in your work week. Try outsourcing some of your business processes today and find the extra time, expertise and money you need to drive up your profits.
Outsourcing is becoming an increasingly popular way for small businesses and solo-preneurs to increase productivity while keeping costs under control.
The best place to begin outsourcing is with a task that you don’t do well or one you don’t particularly enjoy doing. When you are struggling with a project due to lack of skills or lack of interest, it is bound to slow you down and take more time than it needs to from your hectic schedule. By outsourcing that task, you eliminate the time drain and the frustration. You are freed up to work on tasks that are in your expertise, which adds to your bottom line.
Not up on the latest technical skills involved in building a profitable web site? Hire a top-notch web designer and turn the project over to him. A quality partner will spend time understanding what you need as well as what you want in your site design. By carefully looking at your target market, your products and services, your desired outcomes and your budget, you will work together to develop a plan. Once all the necessary information is gathered, your new virtual partner will complete your project while you devote your time to other things.
Outsourcing can be used for a wide variety of office tasks. From accounting and payroll to content production to graphics and websites, outsourcing can help you add an extra pair of hands to your small business – which translates to extra hours in your work week. Try outsourcing some of your business processes today and find the extra time, expertise and money you need to drive up your profits.
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