Knowing what and when to outsource can be very tricky

I have to be honest – I’ve had really bad experiences when hiring outsource workers. Like really, really bad ones.

Go Cheap, Go Chinese!?

At first, I thought I should look to China and get the cheapest labor I could find and that they’d still be really good.

NAHHHH! It blew on my face – huge communication barriers, mostly my fault, put a stampede on my project as I was unable to pass my vision to them in a manner that they’d get the concept.

Plus, the 12 hour time difference doesnt help at all – I had to stay awake to make the meetings and that would really screw my day.

Then I realized there’s a reason they’re so cheap – the technical part came out decent (they really know their stuff), but the part that required finesse, failed miserably. Again, my responsibility to make sure they got it.

Outsource Much?

Here’s another issue I had to face head first since the beginning (and that still confuses me sometimes):

1. Should I outsource even though I dont really have the margin to cover the outsourcing cost, just to free my time in order to focus on big picture? Or..

2. Should I keep my margins high by doing most of the work myself and saving outsource hours for bigger projects?

The thing with option TWO is this: how would I close bigger projects if I’m stuck doing small work?

So what’s the solution?

Outsource as much as you can – but KNOW what to do with your time.

Dont hover over the outsourcing people when you should be focusing on more important things. In other words, letting them do the minor things means NOT thinking about the minor things – so give’em instructions, strict checkpoint deadlines, and move on.

Last tip: sometimes softwares can be the best outsourcers – for example:

ViralUrl email marketing allows you to save time and money when building a list of subscribers. The Synnd software is a social media marketing robot – that can save HOURS of work. And the right plugin can save you tons of SEO time – try Jeff Johnson’s free traffic plugin to start.

BIG ONE – if you know any good outsource/freelance agents – PLEASE post their contact info on the comments. I’m always looking for new people to work with.

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