Outsourcing X-Factor

Outsourcing:

If you don’t have an assistant…

You are the assistant.

Mike Warren
What We’re Going To Go Over
My Experience

The Story Of Burn Your To Do List

What You Should Outsource (How to pick the most important things)

Deciding What To Outsource (Considering budget, time per task, etc.)

Where To Find People To Hire (Including my opinions)

Creating A Job Ad

After The Job Has Been Accepted

Training Providers

While They’re Working For You

How To Pay Workers

Rewarding Workers

F.A.Q.

Any Questions You Have 

Why Outsource

Time Management
Expense Management
Focus
Innovation
What Can Be Outsourced
Phone calls
email
Accounting
Research
Follow‐up
Websites/blogs/social media/SEO
Mailing
Writing publishing
Anything that is repetitive
What is a VA?

Entrepreneur who specializes in ongoing, one on one support

Not an employee – no taxes, government reporting, insurance, no overhead, no

equipment, no overtime, no fringe benefits

You are their client – not their employer

What is a VA?
Full or part time

On going duties or project based

Performs research, marketing, telephone support or admin tasks

Creative, Industrious, Flexible

Far Less Expensive than an employee

• $3‐$5/hour
What is a VA?
Work from their own home

Computer and technologically savvy

Self starters – work independently

Detail Oriented

Experienced in office support

Why a VA?

The Average Small Business Owner spends up to 40% of their time on routine
administrative tasks.
• US Small Business Administration
Why a VA?
Do you have a full time job?

Do you have other investment projects?

Are you working in the business – not on the business?

Why a VA?

Are you devoting proper time to marketing and networking?

Are you doing the same thing over and over and over?

Are you by nature NOT a detail person?

Why a VA?

Do you know the hourly value

of your time?
Example
Example: Daily To‐Do’s
Buy a domain
Write sales letter
Create a “thank you” page
Post blog comments to foster relationships with potential JVs
Create a survey to see what prospects want
Find a shopping cart
Install shopping cart
Etc.
Example
What do you need to get each one done?
Buy a domain – Might include keyword research
Write sales letter – Need copy skills
Create a “thank you” page – Need website skills
Post blog comments to foster relationships with potential JVs – Need time
and knowhow to post intelligent comments
Install shopping cart – Someone good with techy stuff
Deciding What To Outsource…
Factor #1: How often do you need each thing done?
If your business plan only requires one website, you only need to buy a
domain ONCE.
Will you need multiple sales pages?
How many pages need to be linked with your shopping cart?
Deciding What To Outsource…
Factor #2: What’s your budget?
If you have more time than money, only outsource the crucial stuff for
now.
Do NOT hire before you have the money.

Not only is it putting people’s livelihood at stake but it will only stress you
out.
Deciding What To Outsource…
Factor #3: What are your skills?
Can you write copy?
Do you know how to do tech stuff?
Are you great at customer support?
Deciding What To Outsource…
Factor #4: How long does each thing you need done take?
You might be excellent at customer service… but if it takes you 2 hours per
day your time may be spent elsewhere.
If keyword research is a one‐time thing you’ll never need done again… it’s
a lot faster to do it yourself.
Deciding What To Outsource…
Factor #5: What’s the most important?
What’s making you the most money?
What do you NEED done?
Examples: Customer service, writing articles, making phone calls.
Obviously the most important things should be amongst the first things
you consider outsourcing (as long as they’re train‐able).
Don’t go for bells and whistles right away – outsource what you NEED –
ESPECIALLY if you’re on a limited budget.
Locating VA’s
www.elance.com
• No Requirements to Register
• One Time $10 verification fee
• You Post the ad or search for people
• Elance provides statistics
• How Long
• How much paid
• You negotiate the fee
• You pay elance directly
• They charge 6‐7% service fee built into negotiated fee
• Higher quality candidates
• More expensive ‐ $50 minimum bid
• Candidates need to pay in order to apply to jobs so you’re not getting tons of “Spam” bids
• Great for AWESOME premium virtual assistants
Locating VA’s
Locating VA’s
www.odesk.com
• No Requirements to Register
• You Post the ad or search for people
• Odesk provides statistics
• How Many Hours of Odesk Contracts
• Hourly Rate
• You negotiate the fee
• You pay odesk directly –
• They charge 10% of what you pay the VA
• Can find very inexpensive providers
• Quality is inconsistent at best
• Have heard most excuses from this site
• Best for menial type tasks (copying and pasting data, backlinks, etc)
Locating VA’s
Locating VA’s

www.guru.com
• No Requirements or charge to Register
• You Post the ad or search for people
• Guru provides statistics
• How Many Projects quoted during the month
• Total Earnings
• Reviews
• Hourly Rate
• You receive quotes
• You pay guru a deposit and authorize release when completed
• The contractor pays Guru – not you
Locating VA’s
Locating VA’s

www.va4u.com
• No Requirements or charge to Register
• You search for people
• VA4U provides:
• Bio and skills list for each person
• You choose location where you look
• You send the person your job description
• You send the candidate your job description
• You negotiate directly with the candidate
• You pay the candidate directly using PayPal
Locating VA’s
Where To Find People To Hire
Craigslist USA
Can find excellent candidates who don’t know about telecommuting jobs
Can get flagged very easily
Quality is inconsistent
Have found some great article writers here
Where To Find People To Hire
Craigslist Philippines
Can find extremely inexpensive workers
Hit‐and‐miss (My experience is far more misses, though I know some have
had excellent results)
Quality is inconsistent
Can find your super‐cheap workers here
After The Job Has Been Awarded
Give clear and concise instructions
• Explain all the details and give examples
• Make it clear you’re open for communication (but that you expect not to
answer questions twice)
• Give milestone work (this way you can check without getting in “too deep”)
• Ask for progress reports daily
• If you’re training for a custom‐task, make a quick video
If you may want ongoing work explain that this the initial job is a trial so
both of you can gauge your satisfaction in working together
Training Providers
If you’re training for a unique job position…

• Video is great. Jing is free for 5 minute videos or you can get JING Pro for
$14.95 a year.
• You can gauge how long each task takes you
• If for some reason things don’t work out with this provider you will have
immediate training for a new provider
• People seem to learn a lot easier by watching things in motion versus
having to read long explanations
• You can show examples
• Can also get them transcribed
• Always explain in “blanket form”
• You may also consider tests to grasp understanding
• Google Docs is great for multiple choice tests
3 Questions For Providers To Answer
Every Day
1.What did you get done today?
2.What obstacles or challenges did you face?
3.Do you have any questions for me?
While They’re Working For You…
• Take the time to give feedback so that expectations are clear on both ends
• It takes 300‐500 repetitions of something to master it the “right way”, but if
someone learned the WRONG way, it takes 3000‐5000 repetitions to “right”
it.
• You don’t want to get stuck later on with performance you’re not happy
with but knowing you never said anything
• Since you’ve worked out a trial period, you can legitimately see if the
provider can do what you want (or not) – and let them go if they can’t do
what you want.
How To Pay People
Always go task basis
• This way people don’t take their time
• Is generally a LOT faster
• You never feel slighted
• There are no surprises
• You have fixed costs you can budget for
Keys In Paying People
Always go task basis
Pay on time (If you want them to be fast for you, you need to be fast for
them.)
Express gratitude for the work they’re doing
Random bonuses (but NOT raises all the time… more on that soon.)
Incentive bonuses can work very well (“I need at least $4,000 a week. I’ll
give you 20% of everything above that for the next month.”)
Rewarding Workers
Know their culture
Don’t do anything prematurely
Sometimes words of affirmation may be all they need (so take the time to
get to know them)
Special paying time‐limited jobs are another option
F.A.Q.
Q: What about those Filipino workers that are so cheap?
A: I’ve hired at least 50 – probably closer to 100 – of them.
Pro’s:
• Cheap
• College educated
• Pretty good English
• Decent skills
Future Trainings

• Crowdsourcing
• Fiverr.com