Well, perhaps the information in this article will help relieve some of your fears and help you get off to a good start. Just remember, you are not alone. Every marketer out there once stood in your shoes. This article will share some of the rules for success they used and if these methods worked for them, they can work for you as well.
To begin with, understand that no one excels in every facet of business. But everyone has one or more things they do really well. So it is essential that you recognize your skills and concentrate on them – everything else can be outsourced to a professional.
What I mean by outsourcing is to hire freelance workers with the skill sets you need for a specified period of time at a negotiated price.
This just makes the best sense for business owners (especially internet businesses) because in the present day economy it isn’t wise to take on the responsibility of full time employees.
So let’s talk about capitalizing on your skills and outsourcing those duties you are not so good at (or won’t have time for).
It is important to remember that you want to have a good source of income from your business in order to buy the “good life” for yourself and your family. But if you had all the money in the world and didn’t have time to enjoy it, what would you have gained?
You can’t tie up every waking moment with your business and neglect your family. So assign yourself the duties of building your business, and the other jobs to freelancers.
Right Choices
If you pick the right people, your business can be up and running in a short time and you will begin to see an income quickly. But it is important that you choose your freelancers well.
Most folks don’t have a big nest egg at the beginning of their business and start up costs can deplete funds in a hurry. For that reason, there will be a temptation to hire the cheapest workers you can find.
This would be a bad move on your part, and here is the reason why.
There are some good sites online like elance who have thousands of freelancers listed, looking for work in every genre you need. It is easy to hire professionals at prices ranging from cheap to expensive, but mostly they charge very competitive rates. Usually the cheapest ones are located in third world countries or countries with emerging markets. Most of these countries have a lower cost of living so they can work for a lower wage and still fare very well.
But countries like the U.S., Canada and some European countries require a higher wage to live. Some people might think this is a ‘no-brainer’ – hire the cheaper labor.
But cheap can be the most expensive…
The problem with that is language and cultural differences can be a terrible problem to overcome. You must be able to really communicate with your workers and have your instructions properly understood in order for the relationship to work. Some of these people are not professional or skilled but even the ones who are really skilled and professional at what they do will not always be able to thoroughly understand your requirements and this will reduce the usefulness of the product they produce.
An example of this would be the employer who hired an ESL contractor to rewrite some articles for his blog because of his incredibly low bid. With the contractor’s limited knowledge of English grammar and word usage, the resulting product was useless to an English speaking audience. The sentences were strung together in a random fashion which had no logic and no meaning. To have used them on his blog would have been folly. Needless to say, he had to pay to have them edited or rewritten again, causing frustration, lost time and money. As I said before, cheap can be the most expensive in the long run.
When advertising for a freelance worker –
- Do be very clear about what the job entails. State clearly what you expect from a provider, when you expect it to be completed and list your budget limitations.
- Don’t hire someone solely on the basis of price. Cheaper is not always the best.
- Do establish communication with your top candidates prior to awarding the job. Send an email and see how fast they respond. This will give you an opportunity to gauge their language skills and their understanding of what the job entails.
- After you choose a contractor and make the award, monitor the jobs progression by setting milestones and requiring weekly status reports.
- Don’t just award the job and disappear. Be available for questions and problem solving – this sets the stage for a good working relationship.
- Do pay promptly when the job has been satisfactorily completed.
- Do take the time to give feedback on the contractor’s performance. Your comments become part of their work portfolio and can help or hurt their ability to get good jobs in the future. So be fair and remember they will also be giving feedback on you as an employer so their remarks can help or hurt you as well.
Outsourcing really is a great way to get your business up and running more quickly so you can be making money right away without killing yourself in the process. Whether your site is about dating and relationships, where to look for a new Weber 721001 Cooker or how to grow long hair, there will be tasks which must be done and one person can’t do everything, so avail yourself of the opportunity to outsource and make your life easier and your business more profitable.
He blogs at http://rocketrider.net, and with his wife, is looking forward to retirement in their home at the base of the Canadian Rockies.