aims of this book -...

In this book, we’re going to look predominantly at the world of

micro-outsourcing, and look at how utilizing specialist resources

for almost any conceivable task can help us to:

• supercharge our productivity and creativity

• speed up development time,

• reduce our real costs

• turn us into leaner, quicker production machines

We’ll also take a glimpse into the wider arena of outsourcing, and

how wider scale outsourcing of processes and business tasks can

move us towards a model of greater automation – what many

people would consider to be the holy grail of running a business

on auto pilot.

That said, before we jump in, I am going to lay down a word of

caution and warning. This book was not written to provide a

magic bullet that means you do not have to put in the work.

It is not a push-button ‘make a multi-million dollar fortune with

one click of a button’. However many promises you have been

made in the past by people selling bright shiny objects, you won’t

get that from me.

aims of this book

My promise to you is that by the end of this course,

you will have a greater understanding of what

micro-outsourcing is and how you can use it

strategically in your business.

Whether you’re a solopreneur, a new or established

small business, or just looking for some guidance

and inspiration to take your business to the next

level, this book and training course is for you

I’ll show you how, by treating your outsource

resources with respect and treating them as an

extension of your own personal team (even if you

are a team of 1+), they can help you to build long

term, invaluable and profitable relationships that

give you an ‘always on’ resource whenever you

need it.

What to expect

I will show you how you can

save thousands of dollars

per year by outsourcing,

some of the best places I go

to get services, and also how

to further obtain massive

discounts on advertised

outsource prices by as much

as 50% or more.

“ “

What you will get is the benefit of over 15 years experience in

the online and digital arena.

I have worked through the dot-com bubble, run and sold a

number of highly successful online businesses, and worked as

a highly paid digital consultant on multi-million pound projects

for some of the biggest global brands, including the world’s

largest advertising agency, a top 3 global digital agency and

international wealth managers.

I have run offshore global development teams and 3rd party

media and search agencies, managed multi-million dollar client

marketing budgets, and worked with countless private clients

& small businesses to show them how to be more cost

effective and more profitable in their activities.

I’ve also been “in the trenches”, working in small companies,

start-ups and currently run my own rapidly expanding digital

publishing company where I use many outsourced resources on

a daily basis.

What you’ll get from me

Founder micro.ly

Some of the things you will learn...

5

SLASH

DEVELOPMENT

TIME - SAVE 00’s

OF HOURS WORK

WHAT YOU CAN

OUTSOURCE TO

MASSIVELY

INCREASE YOUR

PRODUCTIVITY

INCREASE YOUR

PROFITS &

PRODUCTIVITY

SIGNIFICANTLY

SAVE 50% + ON

ADVERTISED

PRICES AND

RATES

HOW TO SAVE

THOUSANDS IN

COSTS PER YEAR

WHERE TO

FIND THE BEST

RESOURCES AND

GET THEM TO

WORK FOR YOU

As entrepreneurs, the biggest resource that we lack is time.

With so many things to do, so many great ideas to turn from a

concept to a profitable reality, so many opportunities to

explore, research and develop….. if we just had more time to

do things.

The problem that we face as being ‘the company’ is that we

are a team of one – we have to multi-task, juggle all of the

‘to-do’ list items whilst desperately trying not to drop the ball.

Sometimes we manage this with ease, sometimes we get

through manic periods by the skin of our teeth, and other

times….well, we are only human, and sometimes we simply

tell ourselves ‘it’s OK’, dust ourselves off, and get back on the

treadmill to face another day.

And it can be stressful, hard and demoralizing if we feel that

we’re swimming against the tide, and for every push and

stroke that we make to move forward, a big wave and

constant current seem to push us back. It becomes a mental

war – we know that we’ve got businesses to run and build;

whatever business we are in, we can see the vision and the

end goal (if we couldn’t, then we wouldn’t be doing it, right?)

we are running

businesses – we don’t

put in the long hours,

the weekend working

and sleepless nights

for the fun of it……we

are entrepreneurs –

it’s in our DNA, it’s in

our blood

An introduction

“ “

Module 1

So we wonder, we ponder - how do we go from being ‘an army of one’, that has yesterday’s

tasks still to complete, before we can even begin to think about today’s tasks, and those

for the next week, months ahead……and as our minds drift to thoughts of the daily personal

tasks that need to be completed, in addition to those for our business, we keep coming

back to the same thought:

“Surely there must be a better way? If only I had

somebody that could help me with X and Y, I

could be more productive, more profitable, more

cost effective and more competitive.

and give me time to focus on the bigger picture…

my vision, my long term strategy

and my BIG business goals”

“ “

What if there actually was a willing team out there that could help you move forward, to

alleviate some of your time constraints, and plug the skillset gap? As individuals, we

cannot be amazing at everything (even though we would like to sometimes think that is

the case), yet there are vast numbers of specialists out there, willing to trade their skills

and expertise to help you.

2. The growth of micro outsourcing

8

9

If we go back twenty, even to thirty years, the information

consumed by people was channelled through traditional

media (books, press, TV and radio), in addition to those

people around us that were influencers – think ‘schools,

family and work’.

Access to information outside of our immediate ‘networks’

was limited, and so our knowledge of the ‘outside world’

was limited.

The way of thinking of the general population was hugely

impacted by those people in the circles of influence, as this

was primarily where people got their key experiences and

knowledge from.

In short, access to information was limited, and so too was

the knowledge around how other people did things outside

of circles of influence.

Access to people, resources and skills was largely localised

– if people required specialist help with specialist tasks, the

first port of call was largely through word-of-mouth

recommendations or the local phone directory, and the

geographical range of tasks was small.

The growth of micro outsourcing

Module 2

10

Fast Forward

Fast forward to the digital age, and

information, technology and access to global

knowledge is ever present in our lives. Access

to information is a mere click away; from global

news services running ‘always on’ twitter

feeds, to social networking and a global army

of reporters, we have never been in a stronger

position in our lifetimes to access information

and connect with people.

One of the key impacts that

this access to information

has delivered, is a greater

knowledge about global

resources and the global

workforce that, in recent

decades, was inconceivable.

“

“ In the modern digital age, we, the ‘social

media generation’ have access to a vast

array of communications tools and

technology – internet, social media, video

conferencing, mobile communications,

email, video mail, instant messaging,

mobile messaging, forums - all of which

have served to open up our way of

thinking, and given us a greater volume of

information to think about.

And with that information there has been

an increasing propensity and willingness

to look at new ways of doing things.

11

Changes in working culture

From an employment perspective, an

interesting thing has happened over recent

decades.

There has been a seismic shift in people’s

attitudes to work, not just through access to

information, but because of significant

changes in the global economy.

Older generations looked upon employment

opportunities in the mid to late twentieth

century as opportunities to build careers –

jobs for life that would provide stability and

security for their families.

The chance to “get a good job with a good

company”, and work your way up through

the ranks, possibly into a managerial role, to

bring increased financial reward and status

to those fortunate enough to be given the

opportunity.

The opportunity of a “job for life”

However, in recent decades, symbolised by

mass unemployment and global economic

downturns, the notion of jobs for life, outside of

employment with the Government and Civil

Service, has largely disappeared.

Whereas older generations may only experience

a couple of changes of employment within their

lifetime, the average number of jobs that the

new generation of workers will experience in a

lifetime is in excess of 10.

People are now, more than ever, willing to offer

their skills to an increasing number of

employers in a lifetime, and in return, looking

for greater rewards.

They are looking to take greater control of their

own careers, looking for greater flexibility to

meet the demands of modern life, and willing to

make sacrifices in order to achieve a greater

degree of work-life balance.

Module 2

12

Global Workforce

There can be a global dilemma for

organisations to manage in the modern, global

economy.

A skilled workforce will demand greater

compensation for what they consider to be an

increased skillset, in line with rising costs of

living.

In the case of supply and demand, the demand

for their skills has increased, and so therefore

they conclude, should their pay.

In a geographically constrained sector or

industry, this can work to an extent.

An employer may be willing to increase pay

for skilled individuals who are accessible

within a geographical area, and have to be

physically present in an area to carry out a job

– think mechanics, plumber, electrician, builder

or machine worker.

For an employer who depends on these

skilled individuals, there is limited choice

available to replace these workers, outside

of bringing in a workforce from outside the

region, country or continent.

The economic equation of ‘supply and

demand’ comes into play, and providing

that the demand is present and the supply

is a finite resource (i.e. there are a limited

number of people available and willing to

do a job), then the opportunity to bring

costs down is limited.

Module 2

13

However, not all jobs are localised, and not all tasks need

to be completed ‘on site’, and with the emergence of

technology, there has been a vast expansion in the

number of jobs, tasks and activities that can be

completed away from a specific place of work.

Rather than relying on a localised workforce, who will

turn up to an office, factory or place of work on a regular

basis, there has been a move from a localised to a global

workforce.

A global workforce where workers are not constrained to

being in a specific place at a specific time, but one in

which technology has turned the world into a ‘global

office’.

The business world has had to adapt to a new way of

working, and with it has emerged a new mainstream

business vocabulary, including “telecommuting”, “working

from home”, “Remote access” and “working off-site”.

And whilst not all industries, corporations or individuals

have fully embraced this new way of working, it has had

a significant impact on the expectations of the global

workforce, and highlighted a greater desire from people

to obtain and maintain a greater degree of work-life

balance.

In 2013, Yahoo CEO Marissa

Mayer revoked the companies

‘work from home policy’ – a

move which Forbes magazine

described as an ‘EPIC FAIL’.

“

“

14

So why does Forbes consider this a huge backward step for Yahoo and what, I hear you ask, does this

have to do with micro outsourcing? Well, let’s look at some of the key issues that a corporation cutting

back on flexible working may face:

Higher stress

levels the daily commute

adds hours onto the

working day/week

Lower

productivity An unhappy

workforce will not be

as productive as a

happy workforce

Higher fixed

costs Office space doesn’t

come cheap. Neither

do resources, services

and facilities

Higher personal

costs:

travel expenses, plus

additional costs such

as childcare

Poor retention of

good employees a company risks the

goodwill and loyalty

of one of its biggest

assets – people

Lack of loyalty An unhappy worker

will feel significantly

less loyalty to a

company

15

Taking all of these key factors into account,

along with general changes in working culture,

it is no surprise that in recent years we have

seen a significant growth in the freelance

market…

…..both in terms of individuals that offer their

services, and the number of sites that provide

platforms for these people to market

themselves.

We’ll look more closely at the many benefits of

micro outsourcing, and specifically the benefits

to smaller businesses, entrepreneurs,

“bootstrappers” and individuals running small

businesses from home

And also, look at some of the best resources on

the planet for getting your outsourced

requirements met.

Summary

Module 2

3. What is micro-outsourcing ?

16

17

What is micro outsourcing?

Module 3

‘Outsourcing’ has traditionally been a word synonymous with

big corporates and multi-national organisations. The

perception is often that of companies in the Western World or

North America creating or winning significant work orders, and

sending them overseas where the labour costs are significantly

cheaper.

And in many companies now, it is standard practice now to

have offshore development teams that complete technical

development and delivery of projects.

But what of micro-outsourcing?

Well, as you’ll see in the following diagram, micro outsourcing

sits in the middle ground, between the “micro-tasking”, and

corporate outsourcing, where entire departments, functions

and services are managed and run by remote, 3rd parties.

What we are ideally looking to build is our own special contact

list of quality, dependable people, that for whatever task or

activity we need to be done, we have a ‘team’ we can always

call upon, with the reassurance of knowing they’ll do a great

job for us.

What we don’t want to be doing is

rolling the dice every time we need a

piece of work doing – we don’t want to

gamble with quality, reliability or

dependability.

We want to grow our very own virtual

dream team!!

18

Micro tasking: a project into tiny,

clearly defined tasks

that can be completed

in minutes or hours

Micro outsourcing: is a hybrid, and will

typically involves both

micro tasks and simple

outsourcing

Outsourcing: contracting work &

services out to a 3rd

party supplier, often

‘whole’, larger tasks or

projects

complexity & cost

tim

e t

o c

om

ple

te

mins

hours

days

Micro tasking vs. micro outsourcing vs. outsourcing

Module 3

19

In an age of ‘cloud’ computing and ‘crowd’ sourcing, in

many respects, micro outsourcing takes the best bits from

both of these phenomenon's:

From a ‘cloud’ perspective, you have a completely scalable

workforce, easily managed via technology – that you can

increase or decrease in size as-and-when you need it, and

only pay for what you need or actually use. No waste here!

From a ‘crowd’ perspective, you have access to a global

workforce that can be called upon to assist with your

projects, and effectively get mass participation when

needed (e.g. if you are running a design competition) or

split it manageable chunks of work (e.g. if completing

repetitive, tedious tasks such as data entry or research)

BUT – as we have just mentioned, whilst there will be

elements of work that can be considered as micro-tasking

that can be completed via ‘anonymous micro-taskers’ (e.g.

click a facebook ‘like’ button for $0.01), micro-outsourcing

should be driven by relationships, not just tasks.

Cloud & crowd

Module 3

IDC Research estimates that in the USA alone, by 2015

there will be 14m home-based freelancers and

independent contractors, a growth of over 2 million

compared with 2010.

20

The importance of relationships

Module 3

In Rich Schefrens book, the ‘Internet Business Manifesto’,

he clearly articulates the need to define this difference

between ‘out-tasking’ and ‘outsourcing’, and how focusing

purely on cost should not be the primary driver.

The key factor is, over time, to develop relationships with

outsource resources, so that whether you are working on

‘mini-projects, or on your wider business systems, you

have the available resources to assist you in achieving

your goals.

Look at it another way, in any successful business there

will be an end to end process (system) that is comprised of

a number of key steps (activities) in it.

By clearly defining these processes and the required

activities you need to complete the process end-to-end ,

you will be better able to identify what these steps and

activities are, what you require assistance with, and which

of these elements you will look to outsource over time.

We’ll look at this later on in the book

21

A great friend of mine, Alex Jeffreys, is a master of

productivity and effectiveness, because of his ability to

‘work inside a box’

Alex has developed clearly defined systems and process that

form the basis of his core business. By working within a

clearly defined system, Alex is able to break down his end-

to-end processes into key activities and tasks.

These activities then become manageable, bite-size chunks,

which can be worked on without unnecessary distraction. By

concentrating on his own unique abilities, and outsourcing or

delegating those things that others are better placed to

complete, the net result is a finely tuned system, a massive

leap in productivity and greater profitability.

By adopting similar principles and ways of working, not only

are you able to concentrate on the things that you enjoy

doing, you are able to do the things that you are good at

doing.

Your productivity is higher, you lose the distractions of

peripheral tasks, and the sense of achievement is far greater,

as the speed to complete tasks is so much quicker.

Alex ‘in a box’ Jeffreys

Business systems: Working inside a box

Module 3

4. So, why outsource ?

22

23

Why Outsource?

One of the big challenges facing entrepreneurs,

small businesses and individuals looking to grow

their businesses, productivity and profit, is the

challenge of being a team of one that in the digital

age, is required to have multiple skills, equipment

and time to master the steep learning curves of all

of the many disciplines that we need to run, grow

and market our business.

If we try to go it alone in all of the tasks we know

that we need to carry out to complete any given

project, be it the launch of a new website,

information product creation and launch, e-book

and video creation, marketing campaign or social

media initiative (to name but a few), the core

challenges that we face are around spreading

ourselves too thinly over many tasks.

We may master a few, but not be able to focus on

what the leading strategic development coach, Dan Sullivan, refers to as our unique abilities ™

In other words, we all have specific skills that

we excel at, but rather than being able to focus

our time, efforts and energy on the things that

we really excel at, too often we take on a

‘scattergun’ approach and try to do a bit of

everything.

The net result is that we lose momentum,

frequently encounter ‘stop-start’ phases in our

day, and spend (and waste) a lot of time flicking

between activities which require a ‘start-up’

phase before we can get into our rhythm – time that could be better spent being productive.

Module 4

24

So let’s take a look in a bit more detail at some of the key benefits of outsourcing, and how

this can make a true difference to the effectiveness of our businesses.

Key benefits of outsourcing

1. TIME EFFICIENCY 2. FOCUS 3. GEO COSTS 4. OPPORTUNITY 5. SOLUTIONS

6. KNOWLEDGE 7. SPEED 8. EQUIPMENT 9. COSTS 10. TAX

11. MULTI-TASK 12. DIVERSIFY 13. MULTI-PLATFORM 14. STRATEGIC

Module 4

25

1. Time efficiency

A great wealth of studies have been conducted over

the years on ‘time and motion’. The net conclusion

always coming back to the same point that when we

are faced with a large number of tasks to complete,

where we have repetitive tasks to complete, the speed

with which these can be completed is increased

significantly.

By focusing efforts on batches of ‘similar’ tasks, we are

able to get into a rhythm.

It is the reason why factory workers will are dedicated

to specific tasks in a production line, rather than doing

a little bit of everything. The workers develop greater

speed, dexterity and productive capabilities by

focusing on specific tasks.

In the same vein as factory workers, if we have a

specific set of tasks that we need to complete, we

should look for opportunities to outsource these to

individuals who specialise in these tasks – people who

are in ‘the zone’ and are able to produce the same end

result, often of a higher quality and in a much shorter

timescale.

Module 4 Key benefits of outsourcing

26

2. Focus

If we are able to outsource a number of tasks on our ‘to-do’

lists, and focus on our specific set of activities and get into

our own ‘zone’, we are able to avoid the many distractions

that either come our way in an average day.

As an example, in creating this book and resource packs, I

outsourced the task of getting screenshots and compiling

them into the final rendered images. I agreed a fixed price

to create a fixed number of images, which allowed me to

focus on my core activity list.

If the freelancer completing the project had taken longer to

complete the task due to outside distractions, it is not an

additional cost that I would have absorbed (as it was a fixed

price), but in addition, the temptation to distract myself

whilst getting the screenshots from 300+ websites has

been removed.

No needless surfing the net, or going off at a tangent when

I see an interesting article or piece of content. The net

result – I was able to focus on my core tasks, knowing that

the images would be delivered on time and budget.


27

3. Geo costing


In the global economy, there are massive

discrepancies between average incomes

across continents and countries.

If we take a look at the average annual

incomes across a small range of countries,

we can see the difference between

incomes in North America and Europe,

compared with the Far East and Eastern Europe.

28

If we take a look then at an example of how we

may look to allocate a fixed budget for a range

of tasks that we may need completing, where

country ‘A’ has an average worker cost of $5/hr,

and country ‘B’ has an average worker cost of

$30/hr, a total project budget of $1,000 would

give us:

$1,000 @ $5 per hour = 200 work hours

(Country A)

$1,000 @ $30 per hour = 33.3 work hours

(Country B)

Now assuming that the tasks we need doing

can be done equally well by workers in both

Country A and country B, if we outsource our

tasks to an individual from country ‘A’, we are

getting the same work completed for 1/6th of

the price

Or look at it another way, if we were to spend

the full $1k budget, we would get 600% more

work completed for the same price.

Imagine now you go to get your car fixed

at a local garage – both of the garages are

of equal quality, and the work they

complete will be the same, and one

quotes you 600% more than the

other….which one would you choose to go

with?

Now a word of caution: I am not

advocating that in every instance,

cheapest is best, or that every task can

and should be outsourced to countries

where the costs are significantly lower.

Merely that it should be a consideration,

and part of the skill that you will develop

as an effective outsourcer will be learning

which tasks to outsource and to workers

in which continent.

Module 4

Geo costing: an example

29

4. Opportunity cost

Whilst we may think that doing everything ourselves is

ultimately saving us money, if we want a true picture of costs,

we also need to factor in not only the cost of our time, but also

the opportunity cost of our time. That is, the cost of not doing

something at the expense of doing something else.

Now, if we were to split the various tasks involved in a mini

project (we will cover this in detail in a later chapter) and

outsource these tasks to ‘specialists’, due to time efficiencies

and focus, they will be able to complete each task considerably

quicker than we can do ourselves.

In effect, we can significantly shorten the time taken to

complete a project, and by running tasks in parallel, we can

complete the project at a lower cost and in a fraction of the

time.

In essence, if we try to complete all of the tasks ourselves, we

can only work a certain number of hours per day or per week –

however, if we have a small team working on a small number of

tasks, then we can have a number of these tasks running at the

same time, so for example, tasks 1, 2 and 3 in week 1, tasks 4,

5 and 6 in week 2.


30

5. Expertise = solutions

Whilst we may like to think of ourselves as masters of many

skills, the reality is that there will always be people with

enhanced skills that they can offer us.

Whilst we may be able to visualise an end result, we can often

come down to earth with a bump when we realise that the

learning curve to learn and master skills, such as coding, app

development, marketing, optimisation, design and copywriting

(to name but a few) is steep.

The net result is that it’s easy to get demoralised, to feel

defeated before having even started, and move onto thinking

about what we can actually complete, from concept through to

delivery, with our own skills. Start to reach out to specialists,

who we can work with to bring ideas and visions to fruition, and

a whole new world of opportunity and solutions are opened up.

However, we need to be realistic, and understand that there are

skills that need to be developed in managing specialists, but this

is part of our personal development. We have the visions, and

these visions need to be described, interpreted and ultimately

delivered by the specialists.

I once asked a friend of mine who

repaired TVs how he calculated the

price for the repairs that he did. He

said that “50% of the price was for

actually doing the repair; the other

50% was for knowing how to do it”.

“

“


31

6. Market Knowledge

Knowledge of a specific marketplace is a

critical factor in being able to work effectively.

From knowing about the latest trends,

techniques, regulations and competitor

landscape, to knowing where to turn to

develop helpful resources and contacts, it can

all be incredibly time intensive.

Specialists who work in specific markets,

niches and skills, will have developed this

knowledge and access to resources as part of

their day-to-day work. This can be incredibly

valuable, as now not only can we overcome the

barrier of learning how to do something, but

we also can build a little team of people who

know exactly what to do, where to do it and

how to do it in the most efficient and effective

way.

Depending on the tasks we have on our project

or campaign ‘to-do’ list, this may translate more

effectively to some tasks than others. But

think of instances such as SEO and content,

where we want to carry out link building, guest

blog posting, keyword and competitor analysis.

The preparation time and research involved in

doing this effectively can be significant, but if

we are able to identify elements that a specialist

can conduct quickly and cost effectively on our

behalf, then the momentum we need to keep our

projects progressing along doesn’t come to a

grinding halt.


32

7. Speed to market

As we’ve already looked at, the speed that we can move at

by utilising external resources can significantly reduce the

development and launch of our projects.

Depending on the segments or niches that we are working

in, one of the other key benefits is when we need to get to

market quickly.

For example, think of ‘time sensitive’ and seasonal scenarios

(e.g. holiday periods, Christmas and New Year), or one-off

events.

Again, even with great planning, these can often involve

short lead-in times, and by trying to complete everything

ourselves, there is a danger that deadlines and opportunities

are missed.

Utilising outsourced resources means that, with careful

planning, we are able to run a number of tasks (even

projects) in parallel, opening up a far greater number of

opportunities.


33

8. Equipment

Equipment is expensive, and we’re not just talking hardware

(PC’s, laptops, video and audio equipment), but also the

software and licences needed. For tasks that we are going to

complete on a daily basis, it makes sense to invest in our

own equipment and resources. But what about the

equipment needed to create or develop something that we

may only use occasionally?

Are we really going to go out and buy professional quality

audio or video equipment to do a quick 30 second clip (let

alone learn how to use hardware such as complex editing

equipment), or does it make more sense to utilise the skills

and equipment that a professional has available.

Not only is the end product more professional and of a

higher quality, but the speed at which they can use the

equipment is infinitely quicker than we could ever manage.

Think about it – if you needed to change the tyres on your

car twice per year, would it warrant going and buying

professional equipment to do this (or trying to do it yourself

with very basic equipment), or would you go to a

professional tyre fitter, who in a fraction of the time can

change them, as they have the skill, experience and

equipment to do it.


34

9. Overheads

One of the biggest costs that any company can incur is

that of personnel. Costs that are not necessarily

apparent in the salaries paid to the employees, but

these costs include:

- Training - Telephone

- Travel expenses - Software licences

- Hardware and equipment - Sickness

- Maternity and paternity - Annual leave

- Desk and office space - General expenses

In addition to these costs, there is also the cost of

having staff on site, and ensuring that they are adding

value and generating revenue for the company.

For small companies, or even individuals looking to

expand a team, these factors need to be taken into

account before we can calculate the value of bringing in

permanent employees. And what if were to bring in

staff who have a specific skillset – what if the direction

of the company changes marginally, and these skills are

no longer in demand to such an extent?

The beauty of being able to

outsource to specialists is that we

can do it on a ‘needs’ basis.

If a specific job needs to be done,

then we can call on them to do that

task or set of tasks, and when it’s

completed, and we have paid for the

work done, then our obligation ends.


35

10. Tax efficiencies

Outsourcing can be used to help offset tax that we

may need to pay on earnings and profits.

Using outsourced resources, if tracked and recorded

correctly, means that the expense incurred from

using freelancers or outsourced contractors can be

offset against our revenue.

This is a topic beyond the scope of this book, and

should be looked at in more detail with a qualified

accountant or financial specialist.

But it is worth taking the time to explore this further

based on your own personal circumstances, to see

the full benefits that it can bring.

From my own personal experience, it has always

served me well, and is something that I factor in to

the running of my own companies.


36

11. Running parallel projects

As we looked at in benefit 4, outsourcing can bring

us substantial benefits in the form of cost and

time reduction. If we take this, and then use it on a

slightly wider scale, we open up the potential to

not only speed up the completion of individual

projects; we also have the potential to run multiple

small projects in parallel.

As an example, imagine that your business

involves creating websites, where the key revenue

streams are generated through affiliate

partnerships and on site advertising, such as

AdSense.

If you were to develop and launch these sites one

at a time, then your revenue streams would be

limited by the time it took to develop, launch,

market, build and ultimately monetise your site.

Utilising outsourced resources, however, it would

be possible to develop and launch multiple sites,

going through the same process as for an

individual site.

Clearly it will require additional management

and time to manage, but running

development in parallel can give you the

opportunity to significantly ramp up your

production of projects, ultimately providing

you with greater opportunities to add

multiple income streams into your business.


37

12. Diversification

Depending on the niche or segment that you are working

in, diversification can help to protect your income streams

and business from adverse movements in the marketplace.

In recent years, site owners with an over-dependence on

Google to deliver traffic via a limited number of revenue

streams have been susceptible to being penalised by

Google by one of the increasing number of updates

brought in – think Penguin & Panda

Through diversification, the potential negative impact of

adverse market movements or trends can be limited.

Using outsourced resources, for example, can allow you to

build, grow and monetise multiple income streams across

multiple properties and segments.

So whilst your knowledge and expertise may be in one

specific niche, it is possible to leverage outsourced

resources to help you research, grow and develop across

new niches.


38

13. Multi-platform

In the digital space, there has been a tremendous

growth in new segments, and the growth of multi-

channel and multi-platform has provided new

opportunities to benefit from.

And whilst diversification across segments and

niches can help you expand into new markets,

outsourcing can help you expand your business

activities into areas that you may previously have

thought were out of reach.

In addition to having an online website presence,

for example, utilising mobile specialists and social

media specialist can help you grow your business

and help you tap into new audiences that access

information and services via a range of platforms.


39

14. Scope

Over a period of time, we all develop skills in specific

tasks, be that activities including marketing, design,

development or product creation. If we restrict

ourselves to only working with these skills, the

potential to expand and develop our business

activities and revenue streams is significantly

restricted.

We run the risk of becoming a ‘one trick pony’, and

missing new opportunities & developments in our

marketplaces.

Imagine a scenario where a business is entirely

focused on traffic and revenue from a desktop site,

and resolutely resists developing a mobile or tablet

optimised site. What happens to that business if, in 5

years’ time, the audience for their specific content or

services has moved almost exclusively to mobile and

tablet?

If we work with our specialist skills, and work with

individuals that possess additional skills to

complement ours, then the potential to fill any skills

gaps and grow the scope of our business is increased

significantly.

.

This is not to advocate that we stray from

specific business models or try to spread

ourselves too thinly, but it means that we can

move with changes in the market if needed.

And protect the investments that we have

made to date, in terms of time and money invested in our businesses and their assets


5. The emergence of the freelance culture

40

41

The emergence of the freelance culture

In the first 3 chapters, we’ve looked at what micro

outsourcing, and also looked some of the key benefits

of outsourcing work. In this chapter, we’ll look in a bit

more detail at who are the people/individuals that we

actually outsource our work to……freelancers and small

outsource agencies.

As we’ve discussed, with the growth of digital we’ve

seen a transformation in the way that we access

information, how we have greater access to a global

workforce, and how companies have had to adapt to the

changing world of work by way of more flexible working

patterns and telecommuting or working from home.

For many individuals, the notion of working for

somebody else, on their premises and to ‘their rules’ sits

well. It provides a certain security, and a certain level of

regularity and structure to not only their day, but to

their lives.

But there are also individuals who, as they have become

more skilled in the digital arena, and have become an ‘in

demand’ asset, have chosen to utilise their skills and

expertise outside of the traditional confines of work,

and work on a more consultative or freelance basis.

Module 5

42

Why do people freelance?

Well, for many freelancers, it gives the flexibility that

working for a company doesn’t. They are able to choose,

who they work for, set hours that fit in with their personal

and family lives, and often provide a greater sense of

satisfaction and freedom to work on assignments and

projects that give them greater scope to develop their skills.

Freelancers also get to work on interesting projects that

they choose to work on (not because they are given it to do)

and because invariably it provides a greater sense of

achievement and control over their lives.

Jobs can be offered and accepted online, freelancers can

work collaboratively using a wealth of online tools (and of

course email, telephone and video chat), get real time client

feedback, invoice and get paid online, all from the comfort

of wherever they choose.

And alongside this desire to work in a more flexible and

freelancing capacity, a great number of specialist freelance

sites have developed in recent years to meet the demand of

both the people willing to offer their services for hire, but

also to meet the growing demand of people who require

their services.

People who work from home tend to have less stress and are more productive, partly because they don’t invest time and money in commuting….and also because they can balance their personal and work lives

“ “

Brad Harrington

Boston College CWF

Module 5

43

In addition to the ever increasing number of

employment sites, primarily offering job seekers the

opportunity to search and apply for permanent jobs and

contract roles, freelance and micro-task sites have also

grown significantly in popularity, reach and level of

sophistication.

These sites are not advertising ‘jobs’ in the traditional

sense, but ‘gigs’ and ‘micro-tasks’. They are virtual

places where the demand of specific skills is met by the

supply from those with the skills to carry out the tasks.

These are not sites where people are looking for a

‘traditional’ career, but where they are prepared to offer

their specialist skills to those who are willing to pay for

the benefit of their knowledge and experience.

They are essentially transactional task sites, where

people offer their specialist skills and services to

people who require and are willing to pay for these

services.

Module 5

44

On the flip side, as the requests from individuals have

become more diverse in the range of services they

demand, and more specific in terms of what they

require the workers to do, the sites servicing this

marketplace have evolved into sites capable of

meeting even the most particular of requests.

Sites that offer a multitude of services for a few cents

(think Mechanical Turk) or a few dollars (think Fiverr),

through to sites offering individuals and ‘virtual agency

teams’ that can complete tasks from concept through

to go-live (think oDesk, eLance, Freelancer)

But these micro-tasking sites are just a fraction of the

picture. With social media and specialist industry sites,

there are a wealth of places for people to showcase

their skills, capabilities and credentials.

From blogs, to portfolio sites, to LinkedIn and specialist

industry sites, the opportunities for quality freelancers,

outsource workers, micro taskers and ‘giggers’ are

everywhere.

Module 5

45

Embrace micro outsourcing and have fun

With the growth of demand for an increasingly diverse yet

mainstream task-list, has come an increasing number of

people who have said ‘I can do that’. And this is only set to

expand further.

Add into the mix the people whose minds have been

opened to the possibilities of what they can actually get

done virtually if they so require, and you have the fuel to

keep the micro-tasking fire burning for a long time to come.

Even now, whilst I am no longer surprised at what is on

offer, I am still amazed at the sheer variety of skillsets,

gigs and micro-tasks being advertised from a global

workforce to a global audience.

But whilst there are many benefits to freelancers of this

way of working, let’s make no mistake – the entrepreneurs,

homeworkers, companies and individuals that also run their

businesses using these services are benefiting massively.

Lower costs, scale, scope, diversity, lower timescales and

bigger profits.

And have FUN doing it. Yes, it’s work, but l repeat;

EMBRACE IT and HAVE FUN

Those of us that have

embraced these new micro-

tasking marketplaces are in

a great position to move

quickly and efficiently with

the times, steal a march on

our competitors and

ultimately, expand our

businesses at a scale we

choose.

“ “

Module 5

6. So what exactly can you outsource ?

46

47

So, what exactly can you outsource?

The answer is…..pretty much anything!

It depends on what industry, business or niche you

are in, what your skillsets and core strengths are,

and which areas you may need to get some expert

help with.

But in reality, anything is possible…..it just takes a

little bit of imagination, some great planning and

your input, ideas and entrepreneurial flair.

Here’s a small sample of over twenty areas of

work that you can look to micro outsource. And

within each of these areas, if you drill down

deeper, there are many ‘sub areas’ that make ideal

candidates for outsourcing.

And to make it a bit more fun and interesting, I’ve

included some real examples of bespoke work that

I have commissioned, especially for this course.

Like I said previously – I love to give value !!

.

What can you outsource?

Module 6

48

1. Graphics & Design

What can you outsource? Module 6

You have to love the internet for giving us access to so

many quality graphics and design resources! The sheer

volume of sites and resources are immense, and the

quality is generally excellent.

In terms of what you can outsource, the list is endless,

but some of the key areas to consider outsourcing are:

• Logo design

• Brand design

• Concept designs

• Web & blog design

• Stock photography

• Stock asset design (e.g. for apps)

• eBook covers

• Sales letter design

• Designs for print and brochures

TRY THESE SITES:

http://www.99designs.com/

http://www.designcrowd.com/

http://www.crowdspring.com/

49

2. Video


As with graphics, there are countless sites offering fully outsourced video services,

ranging from personalisation of a simple video template for a few dollars, through

to fully managed video creation services. The range of services are incredibly broad,

and include (but not limited to) the following;

• Simple video template personalisation

• Concept video storyboarding

• Video creation, mixing & editing

• Video testimonials

• Video transcription

• Video seeding & distribution campaigns

• Simple video intro’s

• Video whiteboard stories

the options are endless!!

TRY THESE SITES:

http://www.fiverr.com/

http://www.elance.com/

http://www.odesk.com/

http://www.emerse.com/

50

3. Testimonials (written, audio, video)


Testimonials can be a great way to provide social

‘proof’ of the product or service that you’re

offering….even provide a testimonial of you!

Ideally, you will be able to show testimonials of real

customers, and a great way to do this is to get

people to beta test your product (or send out free

copies/samples for people to try)

Why not outsource the research and communications

part of this process, and get an outsource service to

do the bulk of this activity – you can just provide

guidelines of who to contact, the initial copy and

information to send.

Alternatively, you can pay to have people review

your products, and you can outsource this to a

selection of providers, and publish the reviews.

TRY THESE SITES:

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4. Audio & Music


Looking for some nice audio to go with a

presentation, or maybe some bespoke music clips to

put into an app or website….or maybe even just a

custom track to upload onto a site like SoundCloud

for some additional marketing reach?

Whether you’re after a full on track, or some audio

sound clips or sound bites, sourcing sites that supply

either ‘off the shelf’ clips to purchase, or those that

will create something bespoke from scratch is pretty

straightforward.

Depending what you are willing to pay, you can go

for the low budget end, at sites such as audio jungle

and fiverr, or look for some music by a musician that

you like on the likes of MixCloud or SoundCloud,

reach out to them and see what they can do for you

within your budget

TRY THESE SITES:

52

5. Voiceover


Testimonials can be a great way to provide social ‘proof’ of the

product or service that you’re offering….even provide a testimonial

of you!

Ideally, you will be able to show testimonials of real customers, and

a great way to do this is to get people to beta test your product (or

send out free copies/samples for people to try)

Why not outsource the research and communications part of this

process, and get an outsource service to do the bulk of this activity

– you can just provide guidelines of who to contact, the initial copy

and information to send.

Alternatively, you can pay to have people review your products,

and you can outsource this to a selection of providers, and publish

the reviews. Have a listen to the samples that I got created in the

video training course!

TRY THESE SITES:

53

6. Animation


Depending on whether you are looking for a short intro video,

a marketing video, dynamic banner ad or similar, there are

some great resources out there to get some professional

looking animations done for any budget range.

For under $10, you can get some great ‘personalised’

animations (created from templates, with your details, logo

and text incorporated into the sequence). A ‘green screen’

background and you’ll pay a little more, but it gives you the

flexibility to incorporate additional design elements into the

finished animation – alternatively, animators on sites like

fiverr will customise animations to synch with your

voiceovers or audio tracks, and edit it all for you for a little

extra.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are some top quality

animation specialists that will create some amazing

animations from around the $1k/min mark.

TRY THESE SITES:

54

7. Paid Search


Paid Search, including Pay per Click (PPC is not just Google!), is

definitely an area of marketing that, should you not have an in-

house paid-search guru (or want to avoid the steep and potentially

expensive learning curve) that you should consider outsourcing.

Whilst there are plenty of paid search experts advertising services

on the various freelance sites, my general feeling on this is that if

you are going to dip your toe into the paid search market (or dive

headfirst), then going the route of an established agency is one

worth considering.

Why? A greater level of security for your investment, and you

have a greater level of recourse on your budget that will be spent.

Additionally, there are so many different aspects of paid search to

consider, in a constantly changing landscape, that having a trusted

agency hold your hand through the potential minefield is an

expense that I believe is worth absorbing.

TRY THESE SITES:

55

8. Social Media


Social media should be an integral part of your online activity.

From Facebook and Twitter, to YouTube, Vimeo and Pinterest,

social media is everywhere.

In terms of activities and services available, the choice is

extensive, and from an outsourcing perspective, can include

services at the ‘task’ end of the spectrum, such as growing your

Facebook likes & fans, growing your YouTube channel subscribers

and increasing your Twitter following.

At a slightly more advanced level, there are numerous companies

and sites offering a range of social media plugins, where for a

monthly fee, you can add a range of ‘off the shelf’ social media

plugins, applications and monitoring tools into your social media

properties or sites.

At the bespoke end, there are a great number of media agencies,

large and small, that you can potentially outsource work to, to

develop your own customised social media solutions

TRY THESE SITES:

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9. SEO & Link building


Social media should be an integral part of your online activity. From

Facebook and Twitter, to YouTube, Vimeo and Pinterest, social media is

everywhere.

As with Social Media, the choice of tools and services available is

extensive, and from an outsourcing perspective, can include services at

the ‘task’ end of the spectrum, such as keyword and competitor research,

simple link building, optimisation of sites and content creation

At a more advanced level, there are distribution and content discovery

specialists able to support in your wider optimisation activities, through

to specialists in local, national and international SEO activities.

At the bespoke end, media agencies will offer fully managed services,

covering all aspects of SEO, traffic and conversion optimisation. Whilst

this can be expensive, depending on your budget it can be a prudent

move to start by looking at some good local or regional agencies, and

test to see what your ROI is, compared with the costs of running SEO

campaigns. Fresh Egg & Mavens are agencies I have used many times.

TRY THESE SITES:

57

10. Copywriting


If writing web content, sales letters, squeeze pages, brochure

content or killer sales pitches is just not your thing (even scripts

to give to give to your voiceover artist or animator!), then there

are a wealth of services offering outsourced copywriting

services.

Whether you’re looking to outsource the entire content creation

for a site(s) that you own, or just a page or a few paragraphs for a

sales letter, the key is to ensure that you write a detailed brief

for the copywriter, explaining what it is that you are looking for.

We’ll cover this in a later chapter, but essentially you need to

provide information about things such as your user base, target

audience, tone of voice, keyword & key phrase targeting

(especially if it’s for SEO).

Expect to pay ‘per article’, per page or per ‘X’ hundred words, and

as a tip, when you have it submitted for approval, run in through

a tool such as ‘copyscape’ to ensure its not duplicate content

TRY THESE SITES:

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.godotmedia.com/

58

11. Translation & Transcreation


Whilst translation of content is essentially taking content in

one language, and creating an ‘identical’ version in another

language, transcreation involves taking this new version

and writing it in a way that resonates with the audience of

that country – in terms of culture, dialect, culture…even

sense of humour.

It’s a big thing to consider when outsourcing translation

work – you do not want to get stung by an amateur

translator that simply pumps your much valued copy

through Google translate and say they have translated it!

Using specialist translation agencies, who have vast pools

of native speakers (‘locals’) can make a big difference,

especially when translating things such as PPC ads, sales

copy, company introductions and emails. Whenever I have

used translators, I will give them a trial piece of content,

then find a ‘native’ of that country to review it – does it

sound like it was written by someone from that country?

If so – great…..if not, then ask for it to be re-done by a

different agent and go through the same process again.

TRY THESE SITES:

The benefit of outsourcing to an agency, is

that you have more recourse should things

go AWOL, BUT you may lose the personal

touch of doing it through an individual.

Whichever way you go, translation is a

great tool to have in your arsenal, especially

when looking to maximise audience reach –

think Google local!!

59

12. Media Buying & Advertising


As with all forms of online marketing, there isn’t simply a ‘one size fits all’

solution to buying media, and is beyond the scope of this book to go into detail.

What you will need to consider is the size of your budget, and what your

available budget is. If your budget is relatively modest, then sites like

BuySellAds are very good for researching the general marketplace, and getting a

feel for how far your budget will stretch. This is not so much outsourcing

though, as self serve or DIY.

If you are looking to move more into the content discovery space, where your

ads (visual ad links in the form of ‘see also’)will appear on 3rd party sites, then

Outbrain and content.ad are good places to start.

If your budget is larger, then the potential to work with the bigger media

networks is an obvious avenue to go down.

I’ve listed below a great site – Performance Marketing – run by Pace Lattin, one

of the most ethical and knowledgeable individuals in this space. If this is a new

area for you, I highly recommend paying his site a visit & digesting the masses

of helpful info available.

TRY THESE SITES:

60

13. Programming & development


In 3 words – spoilt for choice!

Access to quality developers and programmers has been made

incredibly easy with the emergence of sites such as oDesk, Elance and

Freelancer.

One of the key decisions to make will be around whether you are

looking to outsource end-end projects, or parts of projects, and what

your level of knowledge and understanding is. If you have clarity around

what you wish to have developed, and are comfortable project

managing the process, then great

If it’s a relatively new area for you, then you will need to give some

thought to how you will manage the process. On sites such as oDesk,

you are actually able to choose whether you hire ‘independent’ workers,

or agencies that are part of ‘agencies’ – and if your project is more than

putting up a simple webpage, the latter option is worth considering, as

the agencies can help you with the staffing and management of the

projects. Start small & build up your knowledge and confidence!

TRY THESE SITES:

61

14. Project Management


One option to consider, if you are going into say, development of apps,

widgets or sites, is to consider hiring a project manager, who can

manage the development cycle on your behalf.

As always, I would recommend starting small, and build up to larger

projects. Look at feedback and comments, and ask to see evidence of

completed work and projects. Good people should be more than

accommodating with this.

And remember, you are looking to establish great relationships with

people for both current AND future work. If you can find a great PM,

then you will be in a great position to look at scaling your project

schedule up in the future, should your business model require this.

And a good PM should be able to add great value to your business

systems and processes. It’s also worth noting that a PM doesn’t just

have to be for technical projects – what about managing areas such as

development of your end to end sales process, campaign management

and affiliate on boarding.

TRY THESE SITES:

62

15. User Experience (UX) and User Interface Design (UI)


OK – so you’ve got the idea for a great site, the next hot app or

killer tool, and now you’re trying to get that onto paper or a

screen…..

A top-notch UX or UI resource can be invaluable to your

business on so many levels, as they will be able to assist with

not just the look and feel, but the underlying processes and

‘journeys’ that your customers, prospects or visitors will go

through when they interact with you.

Getting input from an experienced UI/UX specialist can be

invaluable, and save a lot of heartache and additional work

down the line.

As with all disciplines, there are a number of avenues that you

can go down, from outsourcing a small amount of work, to a full

blown project, and the choice of whether to go with an

independent specialist or a bigger agency. Again, my

preference has always been to start small, and build up the

relationship, trust and optimum way of working.

TRY THESE SITES:

63

16. Mobile App development


Apptastic! You’ve got an appsolutely brilliant idea for an app you are

going to develop and launch – I’m so appy for you ;-)

As with the other tech areas that we’ve looked at, mobile app or

mobile site development is red hot at the moment. So a word of

caution – don’t be overcharged by the mobile developers who are

looking to cash in on this demand. That said, the best developers

will not be the cheapest.

So, again there is the choice to go to an ‘independent’ mobile

developer, or to a specialist mobile development agency. And as

with other tech development, you will need to consider your which

option suits your needs, budget and willingness to manage.

Another interesting option is to look at a site such as Apptopia – a

marketplace to buy and sell apps. Depending what your business

objectives and requirements are, it provides a quick route to market,

and there is always the potential to find something similar to your

requirements, and then you could pay to have it modified. This can

be cheaper and quicker than developing from scratch.

TRY THESE SITES:

64

17. Business Services & Administration


For an individual or small organisation, general business

administration and day-day business management can be incredibly

time-consuming.

And time spent doing general administration is time spent not

doing more productive or profitable activities, such as networking,

marketing, sales or product development.

Fortunately, there are some great services available, both local and

international, offering services from mail handling, PA services and

general administration services, through to financial administration

and more niche specific business activities such as document

editing, proof reading, data entry and translation.

If you go with an outsource company, you will typically have the

added benefit of ‘flexible credits’ – if you buy blocks of hours, you

can use this across multiple services or people, giving you a diverse

virtual team that you only pay for what you use.

TRY THESE SITES:

65

18. Sales


For any business, converting sales leads and prospects into paying

customers and clients is critical, both to the growth of the business

and to the cash flow.

Outside of using affiliates to drive online sales and conversions, the

potential to use outsourced sales teams to drive new acquisitions is

often overlooked and underestimated.

Whilst many outsourced services will only focus on B2B sales, it is

still an area for consideration, especially if your target audience are

business owners.

From sales of products or services, through to sales of tickets for

events and seminars, using highly skilled and trained sales

professionals, without the need to hire a permanent sales team of

your own, can be incredibly beneficial, especially if your sales

requirements fluctuate throughout the year.

And utilising companies that are targeted against conversion, sales

and ROI numbers can provide a great investment safeguard.

TRY THESE SITES:

66

19. Market & Competitor Research


Depending on your business or niche, research can be a great

business process to outsource.

Whether you are looking for simple research – keywords,

competitors, market competition etc. - having an individual or team

of researchers working on your behalf can be invaluable, and save

an incredible amount of time. In addition, it can often be a simple

process to teach an outsource resource to do on your behalf.

For more complex research, data extraction or analytical work,

again, this can be ideally suited to the outsourcing model.

And depending on the tools that you or your team use, from

analytics through to email auto responders and social media

monitoring tools, having skilled people manage this for you is a

great efficiency driver.

At the other end of the spectrum are companies that will offer fully

outsourced, bespoke research services on almost anything

TRY THESE SITES:

67

20. Telephony


‘Telephony’ services could cover a multitude of services, ranging from

simple virtual assistant answering services, through to fully fledged PA

services, outbound and inbound call centre services, and even telesales.

Again, it will depend very much on your business or niche, but one of the

great advantages of outsourcing telephony services is the ability to cater

to different continents on a 24/7 basis.

It is quite possible to structure a telephony service across multiple

continents, ensuring that your business is able to respond to telephone

enquiries and sales calls to and from a global audience. And if your

business has an international client or customer base, providing multi-

lingual services is a great value-add.

In addition, an outsourced telephony service can provide a channel for you

to develop your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) activities,

including things such as follow-up calls after an event or webinar, road

show or online enquiry.

TRY THESE SITES:

68

21. Email & Communications Management


1. Personal & business email management

(1) managing your general inbox & email

account

(2) managing email responses and

replies to be sent

(3) scheduling of email correspondence

(4) management of any email software

that you use

2. Email campaign & list management

(1) Using a dedicated outsource resource to

manage your campaigns, software setup

(2) on-going management of lists and email auto

responder sequences

(3) communications around specific campaigns &

offers

(4) satisfaction surveys and emails enquiries

about services and products.

Email management is a critical aspect of business and personal time management that, if

organised well, can have a dramatic impact on our available time and productivity.

For the purposes of this book, there are 2 key areas to consider that may be a good fit for

outsourcing: personal/business email management & Campaign /list management would be

more pertinent to specific niches and business types, such as internet marketers.

69

22. Email – helpful tips for managing email


If outsourcing of your email & communications is not

a good fit for you initially, there are a number of

‘quick fixes’ that you can implement to help your

email management:

(1) Restrict checking of email to once or twice daily

Instead of checking emails intermittently throughout

the day, which can be a big distraction to our train of

thought and planned activities. Instead, try limiting

this to ideally once per day, and if this is too difficult

to begin with, limit it to twice per day.

(2) Use email auto response messages

This ties in neatly with the reduced checking of

emails. Instead of feeling that you need to reply to

emails instantly when they come in, particularly if

the sender has asked for an immediate response or

has marked the email as ‘urgent’, try setting up an

auto responder.

Let the sender know you have received the email,

manage their expectations in terms of the reply and

inform them what times you check email messages.

(3) Use email folders

If you are a regular subscriber to online

newsletters, social media updates and blogs

etc., set up filters in your email account to send

emails from specific senders, or with certain

keywords in the email subject title into a folder

– it helps keeps your main inbox clear for

important email.

(4) Set up dedicated email accounts

Taking this one step further, why not set up a

dedicated email account for all of your social

media, subscriptions and non-business critical

correspondence. Use the email for all of your

registrations to lists and trial memberships etc.,

and limit your access to this to prevent wasted

time

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22. Email – useful resources 22. Email – useful resources


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23. Tasks & Chores


Possibly not one of the most glamorous or high profile areas, but I

strongly believe that some of the services on offer today can save a

massive amount of both ‘real’ time and ‘thinking’ time.

We’ve become incredibly well adjusted to using internet shopping

services in our daily lives, and an increasing number of people are using

services such as home delivery services on weekly food

shopping…..saving time on the trip to the supermarket, the shopping

itself, even the unpacking. Set up recurring shopping deliveries, and you

can save a massive amount of time and effort…..time that could be spent

doing something more productive.

In addition, for those people who do not have the luxury of a permanent

‘onsite’ housekeeper or au pair, it’s always worth considering using some

of the specialist services that are out there in abundance in our local

communities for anything and everything……. assembling IKEA furniture,

cleaning & ironing, home maintenance and DIY, gardening, car valeting,

running errands….the list goes on.

The point is this: your time has an intrinsic value. If your daily life is

consumed by ‘itty bitty’ things that take up a disproportionate amount of time, your productivity and profitability can be significantly impacted.

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23. Tasks & Chores


A great exercise to do is to look at how you

actually allocate and spend your time, on an

average week.

Be honest with yourself, and you may just

be surprised at how your time is actually

spent.

With some tweaking and fine-tuning, you

should be able to significantly reduce the

time you spend on tasks and chores, and

then you can look to reallocate a percentage

of this time to focus on;

• Productive business activities

• Quality family time

• Leisure and recreational activities

• ‘Caveman’ time

The net result should be a more productive and

profitable ‘you’, with more time and energy to

allocate to productive activities, without the

feeling of guilt for not ‘doing more’

(yes – we all have it!)

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

Morning

Clean house

(2 hrs)

Weekly

shopping

(2 hrs)

Cleaning

(3 hrs)

Afternoon

Lunchtime

errands (1hr)

Lunchtime

errands (1hr)

Car wash &

Valet (2 hrs)

Washing

(3 hours)

Evening

Midweek shop

(2hrs)

Ironing

(2 hours)

TOTAL HOURS

3 hrs

2 hrs

1 hr

4 hrs

8 hrs

Sample chart - time spent on ‘chores & tasks’ per week

7. Outsource resources

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74

Finding outsource resources

Outsource resources Module 7

OK – so now we’ve taken a whistle stop tour around

outsourcing, the benefits of outsourcing and dipped into

some of the potential areas that you can introduce micro

outsourcing into your businesses, we’ll now take a look at

where to go to find these outsource resources.

In this section, we’ll take a look at three of the key avenues

that you can go down to start you off on your outsourcing

adventure;

• Outsourcing companies

• Freelancers / small agencies

• Outsourcing & premium job marketplace

We’ll finish off by looking at some of the top resources out

there that you can potentially utilise for your own projects or

on-going requirements.

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1. Outsourcing companies


As we’ve already looked at, the ‘traditional’ focus of outsourcing has been more aligned with

‘offshoring’ of services typically used by larger organisations – in other words, moving entire

departments, processes and services to locations away from the main business hub……such as

moving (or ‘offshoring’) an IT department to India. Essentially, this is moving a full-time,

‘permanent’ resource to a geographical location that offers key benefits, such as cheaper

labour.

With micro-outsourcing, however, many of us will not have large scale, entire departments to

move offshore. Our requirements are likely to be diverse, and our requirements are likely to

fluctuate over time, from day to day, week to week, or project to project. Moreover, rather than

have an ‘always on’ demand for resources, our requirements are likely to be more piece-meal.

One day we may require assistance with some administration and data entry, another day

assistance with creative work, others just an extra pair of hands to assist us with our

workloads.

To cater for such demand, an increasing number of companies have emerged and grown to

cater for such demand, whereby they offer a range of such services, when you need it, at a

scale that you need it. Think of it like ‘buying credits’ – you purchase a certain number of hours

of assistance, and then depending on your requirements, you can ‘spend’ these credits on a

blend of services that meet your requirements – like a mix-and-match pick n’mix!!

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1. Outsourcing companies


Many such companies are located in countries that can

provide geo-costing benefits, such as India and the

Philippines, and also have access to a highly skilled and

diligent workforce.

And as we’ve already looked at, despite your ‘virtual’ team

being located many thousands of miles away, with the use of

technology, video chat and online tools and applications,

your team can be instantly accessible.

A key benefit of such companies is the ability to ‘scale’

quickly to your fluctuating requirements.

Imagine that you need a number of tasks to be completed

quickly at the same time to meet a key deadline – using an

individual worker would not allow this….

….but using an outsource company that has access to

hundreds of workers when needed, means that you can

quickly scale up or down to meet requirements, and also

gives you access to a team with a far wider set of skills and

specialisms than any individual could ever offer.

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2. Freelance resources


The internet offers us a veritable treasure trove of amazing

freelance resources – from individuals operating as

independent freelancers, to groups of freelancers operating as

small agencies offering a range of services, the web is literally

awash with top notch talent!

If you are looking for creative resources, a great way to source

individual designers is to look through the mass of online

portfolio sites out there such as dribble.com, flavors.me and

behance.net.

Sites such as these provide profiles of individual designers and

creative individuals, along with portfolios of their work.

And whilst not all of them allow individuals to post links to

their personal design sites, many of them do, so with a little bit

of research and building out your own personal ‘light box’ of

favourite designs and designers, it gives you a great place to

then approach people about specific projects you may have in

mind.

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2. Freelance resources


Similarly, if you are looking for individuals to work on video, audio

or photography projects for you, again, the depth of resources is

extensive…

Sites like Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Vimeo, Fotalia, Deviantart and

iStockphoto all provide a great start point to source and make

contact with individuals whose work may really appeal to you.

Design competition sites such as 99designs and infographic

submissions sites also provide a great source of inspiration and

ideas that may be of use in your projects, not to mention contact

opportunities.

In addition, there are a huge number of blogs and dedicated

design sites, covering a whole spectrum of disciplines, where

some of the top and emerging talents are actively engaged and

participating in conversations and providing content – again, with

some research and polite introductions, it’s possible to build

yourself a really useful mini resource pool of talent for when you

need it.

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3. Marketplace & Premium Job sites


We looked earlier at the massive growth of specialist online

work marketplaces, where people post projects they want

people to work on, and where freelancers can bid to work on

these projects.

Listed here are 5 of the biggest online work marketplaces, and

a great place to find freelancers.

Typically, the sites are free to register and post projects on

(although some do have ‘premium options’) – the sites earn

revenue by taking a % of the hourly or project fee that you

pay to the freelancer.

It’s well worth clicking on the links and taking a look around

these sites – to help you gauge what types of jobs people list,

and the range of people that are available to work.

Before you post a project on these sites or hire a freelancer to

work on your project, I highly recommend registering for the

bonus material at the end of this course, to ensure you are

fully prepared to brief and manage your project, and therefore

avoid the common mistakes and pitfalls that people can fall

into. It will save you significant time & money!

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Here’s a few quality resources

to give you some inspiration…

4. Resources


Category: premium job marketplace

Ideal for: posting jobs and micro task projects

Pricing: based on project(s) posted

FREELANCER

“the world's largest freelancing,

outsourcing, and crowdsourcing

marketplace for small business”


Ideal for: posting jobs and creative micro task projects

Pricing: based on project(s) posted

MICROLANCER

“Microlancer helps you get digital creative jobs

done, no matter how simple or small. Our service

providers do incredible work on everything from

business cards to book covers to logo design.”

oDesk

.


Ideal for: small & larger projects, especially tech.

Pricing: based on your project size & skills needed

oDESK

“oDesk is the world's largest online workplace,

where savvy businesses hire, manage and pay a

talented workforce of on-demand professionals”

One of my favourites for larger tasks – some great messaging and time tracking tools

eLance

.


Ideal for: small & larger projects, tech & creative

Pricing: based on your project size & skills needed

ELANCE

“Elance is a global, online, staffing platform

where companies organizations and individuals

can hire independent freelance professionals and

use online collaboration tools to manage teams

and projects”

Guru

.

GURU

“With a global pool of over 400,000 Gurus eager

to hear from you, we can help you find the ideal

technical, creative or business specialist.”

Plus lots of tools to manage your tasks, projects

& freelancers


Ideal for: smaller to large projects

Pricing: based on task or project size

Category: budget outsourcing & micro tasks

Ideal for: creative, marketing, fun & bizarre!

Pricing: Starts at $5 per gig (‘extras’ available)

FIVERR

“The world's largest marketplace for services,

starting at $5”

Fiverr is the daddy of micro tasking and micro

gigs…if you can think it, someone will be offering it

SEO clerks

.

SEOCLERKS

Category: budget SEO outsourcing

Ideal for: SEO, social media, marketing & technical

Pricing: From a few dollars upwards

“A marketplace for affordable SEO services from

thousands of experts and freelancers”

One of the best SEO & social media outsourcing

sites out there – an absolute gem if you’re on a

budget. A big favourite of mine.

Category: budget micro-tasking

Ideal for: small, repetitive tasks

Pricing: from a few cents per task upwards

MICROWORKERS

“Micro workers is a place to crowd source your

micro jobs to more than 400,000 workers

worldwide”

CROWDSOURCE

“Discover how the Crowd Source platform can

help your business solve problems faster, at a

higher quality and a lower cost than ever before”

Focused on content

Category: premium content services

Ideal for: almost any content requirement

Pricing: based on project tasks and size

Category: budget outsourcing & micro tasks

Ideal for: creative, marketing and content

Pricing: From a few dollars, based on task size

TASKARMY

“Task Army is a directory of online services from

trustworthy freelancers”

Emphasis is on micro tasks – a smaller site, but worth checking out

PEOPLEPERHOUR

“Get anything done, in as little as 1 hour…..People

Per Hour is a talent community based on trust

and reputation, where you can get any Job Done

remotely within hours”


Ideal for: small tasks


ONEHOURTRANSLATION

“One Hour Translation provides high quality

professional human translation of over 73

languages and over 2500 language pairs”

Useful for documents, copy and sales letters

Category: online translation service

Ideal for: translation of content


CROWDFLOWER

Crowd Flower is one the largest crowdsourcing

services, specializing in micro tasking…Over 1

billion micro tasks submitted by 5 million

contributors. Scalable solutions that deliver fast,

accurate results.

Category: micro task outsourcing

Ideal for: small, repetitive tasks

Pricing: from a few cents per task

Category: virtual concierge & assistant service

Ideal for: administrative and business tasks

Pricing: approx. $10-13 / hour (try 3 hours free)

ASKSUNDAY

The World's Leading Virtual Assistance Service.

Ask Sunday provides virtual administrative

executive services for business & personal needs.

Agents accessible by email, phone, and the web

Category: Virtual Assistant & concierge

Ideal for: administrative and business tasks

Pricing: approx. $7 / hour

Tasks Everyday

“ From competitor and market research, through

to data entry, bookkeeping, customer

management, email support, sales & marketing

support, transcription , editorial and design work,

tasks everyday can do pretty much anything! “

DESIGNCROWD

Design Crowd is an online marketplace providing

logo, website, print and graphic design services

by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.

Category: premium creative services

Ideal for: almost any design requirement


Category: design contests

Ideal for: web and logo design, branding & logos

Pricing: Contests start from a few hundred dollars

99DESIGNS

“The #1 marketplace for graphic design, including

logo design, web design and other design

contests”

Launch a contest, and have designers submit

designs for your project. You choose the winner

Category: info graphics

Ideal for: anything related to info graphics

Pricing: Info graphic creation on per project basis

VISUAL.LY

“Visual.ly is the worlds largest community of info

graphics and data visualization.” Great resource

for anything ‘info graphic’, with a service to

create info graphics for your business, and for

you to submit info graphics to.

Category: Video marketing & distribution

Ideal for: Video marketing campaigns

Pricing: Per project & ‘per view’ basis

Emerse

“We distribute and seed new video content for

brands around the world on a daily basis. Using

our proprietary optimization towards video

sharing and massive publisher network” -

fantastic company to work with – I have

personally run multiple campaigns with them

SKIMLINKS

Not technically ‘outsourcing’, but a great site to

outsource the management of your affiliate links

into one central place. A range of products and

tools to help you monetize and enrich your

content. Saves loads of time. AWESOME!

Category: affiliate management

Ideal for: monetising online content and sites

Pricing: FREE

linkedin

.

Category: premium professional network

Ideal for: researching for quality freelancers

Pricing: free to register. Premium services available

LINKEDIN

“225 million+ professional members Build and

engage with your professional network. Access

knowledge, insights and opportunities”

Great resource for researching

Next steps | the missing modules

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103

Interactive & video training course – the missing modules

Next Steps:

If you’ve not already registered for the full video training course, then shame on you!! Seriously though, when you register for the full training course, you’ll get a comprehensive package of easy to follow videos, interactive resources, PDFs and templates… ..along with project case studies for social media, mobile app and plugin development, along with a whole load more goodies!

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The essential ‘next step’ video modules: (over 2 hours of HD video)

1. Recap of key learning's so far 2. Getting started 3. Effective researching 4. Planning your project 5. Planning your budget 6. Posting a project on line 7. How to reduce costs + secret tips 8. Selecting & hiring a resource 9. Managing the outsource process 10. Getting the job done 11. Scaling up your outsourcing 12. Golden rules of outsourcing


Next Steps:

also….

http://www.outsourcerenegade.com/

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amazing BONUS video modules that include:

1. Mobile application – video case study 2. Video creation and voiceover – video case study 3. SEO & Social Media – video case study 4. WordPress plugin – video case study 5. Mobile app – creating a winner mobile app brief (video) 6. Content & translation – creating a killer brief (video) 7. Creative design – create a design brief designers will love (video) 8. Outsourcing calculator 9. FREE WordPress Plugin – developer licence


Next Steps:


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amazing BONUS video modules that include:

• A range of templates, calculators & PDFS • 7 interactive resource guides, including over 250 of the

best outsource resources available, including; • The best budget outsourcing resources • Premium Job & Project Marketplaces • The best Virtual assistant, Personal Assistant,

Outsource agencies and task sites globally • Awesome community sites & CRM resources • Killer portfolio sites and design resources • Project resources • Tools and resources for managing your team • The best time tracking and budgeting tools


Next Steps:



Next Steps:

http://outsourcerenegade.com


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