Why I am outsourcing everything

i started seo by outsourcing...i got the tools and knowledge just to understand what it was i was paying for and WHEN to pay for WHAT services...like making sure links are varied, as well as the velocity of links, etc. i always come out cheaper outsourcing to providers of say bookmarking, profiles, and in-text web 2.0 links separately, than the all-in-one guys. but 95 percent of the time i take care of the on-site seo and content generation since that's what i'm strongest in, and I enjoy playing around with LSI...

Anyone know some good person to outsource to, been looking to outsource my repetitive tasks

I thought I would share the success I have had in the past with outsourcing.

1. Do it yourself first- Like a lot of members have already mentioned you have to be very knowledgeable in what you are doing before you outsource it.

2. Make sure you have the budget- One of the worst things you can do is outsource when you really don't have the money to spare. Make sure your cash flow is stable before outsourcing or you will go broke in the process..

3. Test providers- I've worked with a lot of different people I have met in forums, outsourcing websites. When you hire people I have found a couple of things

a) Hire larger companies as opposed to small ones. Larger companies will sometimes let you have a free trial period and will usually be more competitive in their pricing. Single providers or smaller companies sometimes get overwhelmed and will tend to over extend themselves so will have a harder time with communication.

b) Pay them little by little especially for larger projects. Once you establish trust with a company depending on your business model you could get paid first before you pay them out. The best kinds of businesses get their cash first before they pay out.

4. Use technology and arbitrage to your advantage- I love working with companies based out of the US because they tend to offer better pricing and because it simplifies accounting (no 1099 forms etc). I also rented a VPS from which I could monitor the work that was being done and have a common place where I could install and the software that I needed. It is much easier to do quality control when you can monitor the work that is being done.

5. Provide detailed step-by-step instructions- I built several documents with screen shots and step by step instructions that I distributed to the companies for the workers to have as a reference.

The most important thing of all is to make it a win-win for everyone involved.
I am writing this document as both a reminder to myself and in hopes that this
helps some of you who are thinking of outsourcing.

99lives said:

I work with Globolstaff. Drop me a DM and I'll get you in touch with the manager I work with. She is great.

There is another provider here, on BHW. I'll check my Skype cause he is my contact and I'll send it to you via DM (or post it here, if he doesn't mind). I haven't work with him, but he looks promising. You can also search the forum, he has a sales post here.

Here are some of my SEO providers on Fiverr. But I have like 10.
http://fiverr.com/messageinabox/provide-200-social-bookmarking-links
http://fiverr.com/christo/write-and-spin-articles
http://fiverr.com/roughan/write-3-u...-my-linkvana-account-for-your-chosen-keywords

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Hey 99, Just wanted to really give you my appreciation for turning me on to globolstaff. I'm putting very sophisticated link building packages together and they're certainly an option I'll explore.

Do you have any tips and or advice as to how to set up the service and any thing that you'd suggest to be careful of?

Thx

I agree with you almost. I always prefer to outsource content and link building task. However, before outsourcing link building task I always do the basic SEO task myself. I at least build 1000 one-way backlink before I ask other to do the job. It make me feel safe.

This is a way I do it:
1. Learn to do things to perfection, by trial and error method
2. Document it, create a complete working manual, written in a simple way and answering all the questions so simply, that even a chimp can understand that.
3. Hire the cheapest workforce possible - students for example.
4. Give them the manual for 2 days, and tell them to prepare the questions for you.
5. Let them shadow you at computer for one whole day, make notes and discuss everything with them.
5. Let them work from home, according to the manual, but they have to deliver you the reports DAILY, with what they have done (Reporting is a part of a job, make it that way.)
6. Treat them well and pay them well, but in a first moment they try to cheat you or are lazy, fire them. Once you have a manual even a chimp can understand, you will always find people that are interested in working from home and can not find any other job.

I applied this model successfully in my offline business, however in IM I have not learned the things to perfection, that is why I did not apply it there yet. But my plan to make it happen is in the beginning of 2013.

Why they always say hire people from Filipino ?

srishunyata said:

Hey 99, Just wanted to really give you my appreciation for turning me on to globolstaff. I'm putting very sophisticated link building packages together and they're certainly an option I'll explore.

Do you have any tips and or advice as to how to set up the service and any thing that you'd suggest to be careful of?

Thx

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Hi: send me a PM. I'll give you the contact info of the manager I work with and some tips.

99lives said:

7.- There are a lot of services and apps. USE THEM. But remember the first rule: use them yourself before giving it to your team. ASK THEM if they like it. If they can work faster with it. If they don't, then don't use it. It's not only for you, it's for everyone.
Al the services must be SIMPLE and with limited options. I use Teambox, Dropbox, Skype, Google+ Hangouts, Gtalk (Adium for me), Google Docs, Freemind, Whunderlist and Balsamiq Mockups (I've heard Mockingbird is cool, but I haven't try it yet).

That's it. If I can help, let me know.

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good list of resources youve got there. balsamiq is great for getting your website ideas down in a visual way.

one question ive got for you is this - how have you got on with recruiting a project manager?

wasnt sure from your posts whether or not you were outsourcing that too by using a single outsourcing company who appointed a project manager to you, or had you appointed a business manager of your own to act as your interface between you and your individual outourcers and outsource companies?

if the former, do you feel somewhat exposed along gthe lines of 'all your eggs in one basket' and if its the latter, have you appointed an employee from your own country (and therefore your own timezone) or have you gone for a full time project manager who lives and works in the same time zones as your outsourced staff?

to me, this is the single most important appointment and i would love to hear more from you on this point.

thanks button has been hit.

My question for OP and anyone who follows this time tested model is what, if anything, do you do to guard your business secrets? Lets say you have four or five vworkers slaving away 20 hours a week on your projects. One or more of them can quite possibly reverse engineer your business model and enter the market as a competitor.

I know I'm being very vague here but a lot of time what IMers are doing is in a small niche that has so far escaped the attention of a large well organised group or a desparate out of work lone wolf...

yea i have seen a lot of great deals on fiverr

nipester said:

My question for OP and anyone who follows this time tested model is what, if anything, do you do to guard your business secrets? Lets say you have four or five vworkers slaving away 20 hours a week on your projects. One or more of them can quite possibly reverse engineer your business model and enter the market as a competitor.

I know I'm being very vague here but a lot of time what IMers are doing is in a small niche that has so far escaped the attention of a large well organised group or a desparate out of work lone wolf...

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My business models are not easy to replicate, cause I add the offline component, usually a partnership with the provider. I don't do affiliate marketing, tho.

But what I have seen the most is that people who have a day job don't magically decide one day to become a fulltime entrepreneur and risk the paycheck. IME.
But a good idea is to split task. The linkbuilder is not the one who does keyword research, nor the one who processes the orders, etc.

But don't be too paranoid. Worst case scenario, they copy you. Est case scenario, you escalate your business to the top.

britcpa said:

one question ive got for you is this - how have you got on with recruiting a project manager?

wasnt sure from your posts whether or not you were outsourcing that too by using a single outsourcing company who appointed a project manager to you, or had you appointed a business manager of your own to act as your interface between you and your individual outourcers and outsource companies?

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VERY good point. Currently, my project manager is in the same outsource company. So, if there is a problem, he can walk 10 fits and talk to the guy in person.

if the former, do you feel somewhat exposed along gthe lines of 'all your eggs in one basket' and if its the latter, have you appointed an employee from your own country (and therefore your own timezone) or have you gone for a full time project manager who lives and works in the same time zones as your outsourced staff?

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The project manager, as I said, is in the same office as the workers. I have people in my timezone. A small, cool office, with 2 guys and 1 girl. I like to call them "The A-Team", cause I have selected the best of the best. I pay them well but, what's most important, working there is awesome. But that would be a whole different post.

Thanks for mentioning the Fiverr usernames to trust! Going to order their services soon! Have tried before with Fiverr and had rubbish results!

Interesting read! I am looking to find people to outsource some specific Facebook tasks to. But how does one go about finding these people? I mean, when I google for "outsourcing company phillipines" I get plenty of hits but mainly for larger companies that do data and seo. Can any of you guys point me in the right direction? Thanks.

Agreed. The hardest part is getting quality service providers after that it's easy. Every time I outsource something I write a review for myself about their quality/speed/price/etc. After dozens of people you get a list of really good service providers.

Whoever you decide to outsource to just dont hire Indians or Pakistani's.

95% of the time (and this is over the a period of 7 years) it always ends in a bad way due to Indians being able to do every job under the sun (sarcastic).
For example an article written by an Indian is obvious as they nearly always screw up on context, verbs and adjectives etc.

This is why I outsource only to people who reside in the USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Kenya and other countries where English is their first language.

99lives said:

This is gonna be a short post:

If you have the money, outsource you link linkbuilding and content generation. ALL of it. Search for quality result, trusted, KIND providers and you will be fine.

I have always had the money and, now, I'm not sure why I din't do that sooner. It leaves you with SO MUCH free time to do other stuff, like concentrating in new business opportunities.

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I love outsourcing too just because sometimes the people you outsource too have more experience and expertise than you in some areas. Also gives you more time to work on ideas.

not to be rude, but wtf is a "VA"?

A "VA" stands for "Virtual Assistant".

utuxia said:

not to be rude, but wtf is a "VA"?

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