How to Outsourcing and what is it ?

Outsourcing is a skill to master. So many people get great results through outsourcing their workload and to the contrast so many folks waste precious money, effort and time dealing with freelance contractors. In this guide I would like to outline about the things you can do to make your life easy in online business.
Outsourcing was meant to relax you and lose your pain but most of the times people spend more time by training and giving instructions to the contractor. If you are just starting out and don’t want that pain then continue please because this is the How to Outsource guide that will make your life easier.

Know Your Outsourcing Needs

First define how much time and budget you have. Set a few deadlines that you want to achieve this within a given time frame. Find out how much your time is worth. There are few reasons you may want to outsource your work:

• You don’t have the time to do it yourself
• You don’t have the skills to do it yourself
• You need to get things done faster

Whatever the reason is, you got to find the perfect guy/girl for you. Set a budget for the project and how much you want to spend for this project. Add 40% additional to this budget. Say your budget is $1000, then add an additional $400 to it. This is for the over head cost that may be required in the project.
Set a time frame for your project. Let’s say you want to get this done within 1 month. Then keep an extra 2 more weeks in hand to be on the safe side if anything goes wrong or for the finishing touches.

How And Where To Find The Perfect Guy/Girl To Outsource?

There are plenty of resources to find your match for this project you have in hand. There are companies, agents, market places, freelance sites etc but the best way to do business with someone is to do with them as direct as possible. Most outsourcing companies don’t let you know who is actually doing your work. This is bad both for you and your contractor. The more middle man you have in between, the more time will take to finish your project. Here are few methods you can try to find a freelancer to outsource:
Freelance Marketplaces: oDesk is the number one outsourcing website in the world. You can join, verify your credit card and then post a job for free. After you post your job you will get lots of contractors applying to your job. You can get overwhelmed by odesk very quickly because you will be receiving 100s of inquiries depending on the type of job you posted. By default more than half of the people who have applied to the job will be the ones who cannot complete your job so it’s a bit tricky to filter out the real pros from the noobs.
You can do a manual search on odesk for the contractors you are looking for. In this way you can contact then and start the ball rolling quickly. Another website you can use is Elance. It works just like odesk but has a different standard. You can expect a bit high end contractors over there.
Contest Websites: 99Designs is a website if you are looking for a graphics or logo designer. This website allows you to host a design contest for a prize. For this prize designers will submit their work. You can get to see the completed design and then choose a winner. This type of website is great for you because you can see upfront of your project and then happily pay the best designer.
Internet Forums: Forums are good places to find your perfect contractor. There are many internet forums where you can find people to outsource. Such forum I can recommend is Warrior Forums. This is an internet marketing forum dedicated to the internet marketing community. If you want to have articles writing, SEO, link building and design tasks to be done then check out the warriors for hire section. There you can directly connect and hire your service provider.
Micro Freelancing: Sites like Fiverr has gained popularity because of the $5 price tag. You can outsource pretty much anything and everything from logo to writing to speech and you name it. But for a low price you cannot expect a world class work. Most of the gigs (they call it) are worthless because you will be getting a late delivery and cannot ask for a change in most cases. If you are a serious buyer and cannot afford to lose time and money then keep fiverr for your least important tasks.
Search Directly: You can do a google search for your contractor. Most of the advanced pros have their website setup and offering their service. You can find high quality freelancers through this but let me tell you, it won’t be cheap. Since you will be contacting them to do your work and they are not, it will be your headache and not theirs. I am a freelancer myself and when people contact me, my prices are almost double than what people pay me in odesk but I deliver a great quality work.

Things to Ask Before You Hire a Freelancer

If you hire the wrong person for the job, you will be paying more money and time in order to fix their mistakes at the end. Here are few things you should clarify and be sure about them:
How Much Knowledge They Have Over This Subject?
Don’t count how many years they have worked or how many degrees they posses. It is about how much they know. Does the contractor know more than you or do they know less? Do they know how to handle a project and what they have to do in order to complete it? For an example if you are hiring a logo designer and your website is about medical practices. Do they know what type of colors people usually use for medical logos; do they have good sense of colors?
Do You Work Fulltime or Part-Time?
People who are working fulltime, you can expect a faster turnaround time than them who do it part time. There are many reasons you should not hire someone who is working part time. If your contractor is in school or has office work, then you will have times when you need an urgent update and the guy you hired is not responsive for a while. If your project doesn’t requires an immediate attention, such as you want articles to be written then part time freelancer won’t be a problem for you.
How Many Projects You Have Done Before?
It is important to know what kind of work they have done in the past. Do they have an online portfolio with live links? Do they have testimonials and the people who gave are they real? It is very easy to spot the not if you have common sense. Ask the provider what exactly you did on that project and how long it took for them to complete. If they cannot provide enough evidence of work that leaves you in doubt then consider hiring someone else.
Are You Online? Can I Reach You On Phone/Skype?
You should work with people who are real online. They should not use a fake name or username. You are doing business with them; you will give them money and secret information so you have to make sure they are real. Ask them if they can be found on google, facebook or other. See how they are online. If you can’t find them ask them why they are not. Ask for their phone number or skype name. A real freelance contractor should be easy on passing their contact number/skype ID to the employer. If possible give a call talk to them and know who they are.
What Are The Payment Terms/Options You Support?

If you are using a marketplace such as odesk then it won’t be a problem for you to pay the funds. But if you are working with the contractor directly then ask them what type of payment process they use. Your contractor should support paypal to process payments. If your contractor doesn’t supports paypal then there must be another secure way to process the funds. But since the contractor is offering their services individually they should be able to manage paypal shopping or at least a secure credit card processor. It is good if you purchase a few debit cards just for your freelancing stuff.
When You Will Deliver The Project?
Ask them when they will deliver/complete your project. Don’t get indefinite time frame like few days or few weeks. Get a definite timeline such as by 30^th of this month. See how they perform and make sure they keep sending you updates as they complete each phase. Wait for the deadline to come and see what happens. Some contractors will complete your project before time, and some will not. You have to keep an eye for them who are aware of it. If they say “hey I know this was supposed to be completed by 30^th but I had to take 1 more week for the final touches.” –these are words of responsibility and you should keep these people in your team.

Some Helpful Tools for Better Outsourcing

• Skype –free PC to PC video/voice calls and screen sharing
• DropBox –free file sharing service ideal for transferring files
• Google Docs –online document to keep track of your tasks and share with your contractor
• LastPass –free password saving and sharing service.
• Jing –free screen recording service for instructing your contractor

So there you have it how to outsource your business like a pro. I hope this guide will be helpful in finding the right contractor for your outsourcing needs.

By. Blogkori.com