Outsourcing Tips For Local Marketers

If you are providing marketing services to local businesses or doing local marketing for your business you might not want to do all the work yourself. Fortunately there are many opportunities to outsource web work for quite a bit less than you would pay domestically. For programming jobs I have done well with sites like Scriptlance.com which has mainly Indian and Pakistani programmers. I have had less luck with them with the jobs which involve language skills. Some people have done very well with Phillipine based outsourcing sites when language skills are more important.

I have found the langauge skills of the Phillipine workers to be of a higher quality than the Scriptlance crowd, however they still are not good enough for me for article writing purposes. Of course, I am very picky when it comes to article writing. For true, original high quality articles I stick with countries that have real native English speakers and I just pay more.

Here is a list of Phillipine based outsourcing sites where you can post your jobs:

www.craigslist.org– Yes, posting jobs in the Manilla section of Craigslist really works. I received quite a good response when I tried it.
Bestjobs.ph
Virtualwebsourcing.com
Remoteworkmate.com
Virtualstafffinder.com– Chris Ducker’s has an excellent website and concept. He is actually in the Phillipines organizing his staff for you. This is where I am going to look for my next virtual assistant.
Agentsofvalue.com

If you are looking to outsource small programing jobs I highly recommend Scriptlance.com. I have posted over 70 jobs on the site and the results have been excellent.

Here are some of the better known Freelance sites where you can get work done on a one off basis.

Freelancer.com
eLance
Odesk.com
Guru.com
Vworker.com (Formerly known as Rent A Coder)

You should also check out Fiverr.com. It is simply amazing what people are willing to do for five bucks.

The most important point to remember when hiring someone to do work for you on any of these sites is to be very, very clear with your instructions!

Most of the time you will be dealing with somebody who is not a native English speaker. Before you post any job spend a considerable amount of time writing out the step by step instructions for your project. If you are dealing with web work you can even set up a sample folder on your server where they can work on your project. The clearer, the more detailed your instructions the more successful your project will be. Do not underestimate this. Vague has no place in outsourcing. Be crystal clear with what you want the outsourcer to do.

Hire slowly. I know that you are anxious to get the job done. But, if you hire someone who is not qualified to do your work you will just have to start over. This will not only delay your project even more but will leave both parties frustrated. Often freelance sites will have a review system, take the time to look at the reviews. If you have a larger project that they will be working on over time give the candidates smaller test jobs and pay them for it. Take your time in hiring. You will save time in the long run.

Do not over pay and do not under pay. Check on the job board for similar projects and see what they are paying. One of the worse scenarios is to underpay somebody for the work and have them put your project on the back burner and not get it done. Outsourcing is amazingly cheap. You can get qualified workers from $2.50-$5.00 per hour. Of course, the cost of living is much less in many other countries so this actually translates to more money than you might think for the outsourcee. You want to pay them enough that they value the work. It is not a bad idea to pay a little more than the going rate. Your outsourcees will value working for you and be even more motivated to do excellent work with the hopes of more work in the future.

Pay quickly. This costs you nothing and gives you tremendous credibility. Remember, on most job boards the outsourcers can rate you too. If you have great reviews you will attract the best workers for future jobs. Once the job is done I always pay right away and in full. Check out my reviews on Scriptlance. When you have 80 independent people saying that I pay quickly you can be pretty sure you are going to get paid correctly and on time when working with me. I have no problem attracting the best workers on Scriptlance.

Communicate throughout the job. Many sites have message boards where workers and outsourcees can communicate throughout the job. You need to be available to answer questions. Decide on your methods of communication. Skype, email, message board etc. You need to have the lines of communication open. Miscommunication is the number one reason for problems between outsourcers and outsourcees.

Be aware of cultural expectations for long term workers. In the Phillipines it is customary to pay a bonus of one month’s pay to an employee who stays with you for one year. It is good to be aware of these cultural expectations to avoid any misunderstandings.

Use milestones for longer projects. It is a good idea to track progress for longer projects. There are services which can help you with this process such as Basecamp and Collabtive.

I hope these tip have helped you get a better idea where to start with your outsourcing. Outsourcing is a great way to leverage your time. I would love to hear your comments or about your own experiences with outsourcing. Thank you, Matthew Meyer.