In a industry where talent is difficult to find (and even harder to keep), a growing ecommerce business needs constant attention and re-invention to remain successful. If you are finding it difficult to hire staff to develop new features, design cool graphics, or update your marketing initiatives, step outside your company and compare the variety of outsourced providers available.
Use my tried and true process below to cherry pick the most expirenced provider at the lowest cost. Learn how to filter out the amateurs so you can negotiate with experienced professionals. From owners to webmasters, this outline will prepare you with the information you need to start outsourcing your next project!
While there are many resources to locate and communicate with providers, I am focusing on a specific website where I have had an extremely positive expirence with. Feel free to apply these methods to other sites that serve the same purpose.
Why Outsource
The single most powerful benefit of the Internet is the speed of communication. With email, we are able to communicate with people all over the world in seconds. This allows us to work with individuals who charge less, but are able to complete the project to spec, within budget, and on time. I’ve worked with providers from India, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and found that with clear instructions, you are able to get your projected completed for a fraction of the cost you would pay within the US or a more developed country. Many of the providers also have specializations that give them exceptional prowess in areas you may need help with. The top three benefits being:
- Cost – as stated, you will pay a low hourly or per project fee-usually $2-$10 an hour (depending on the task).
- Speed - within hours, you will have dozens of providers bidding on your project ready to execute-many can start work immediately.
- Variety- with outsourcing, you open up the possibilities of getting multiple bids from providers with different levels of experience and skills; you would have otherwise not found locally.
I have found that nearly all projects that I undertake can be preformed by external contractors. The projects that don’t qualify are those that are very complex, that require more business planning and evaluation, or projects that cannot be easily defined in the written word.
What to Watch Out For
Outsourcing comes with some of its own inherent problems. Although, we will be able to avoid many of these problems by following the process below, there is always the chance for miscommunication, malicious intents, and bad synergy. Become more familiar with the potential pitfalls, and you can learn to side step many of them.
- Language - when working with foreign providers, where English is not their primary language, you will encounter communication barriers. Specifically when you have very complex tasks that require long and tedious work flows/explanations. I have found that investing the extra time to provide screenshots and very direct instructions tends to eliminate 80% of miscommunication.
- Communicating - typically, most of the communications will occur via email, instant messenger, or VOIP. When working with providers in different time zones, sometimes a dozen hours ahead, it can be difficult to develop and coordinate a team environment. Usually, the providers work during their business hours, while you are off soundly sleeping. This is obviously a major issue if you are launching the project, or have mission critical tasks that need to be performed.
- Completion- it is extremely important to define when the project is considered complete. With my process, I define the timeline, as well as penalties for if the project timeline is not met.
- Experience - when posting a project, you will probably receive dozens of bids. It is important to choose the best provider, not necessarily the cheapest. I always require a simple trial project to test their skills. Most serious providers will agree to one.
- Security- when you begin the project, you will need to supply your software, server access information, proprietary data, etc…Its important to cover your bases when opening up your systems to outsourced providers-there is always the chance that they will mistakenly overwrite files, delete information, etc…
Get Started – How It Works
I primarily use one service, which has served me well for the last 3 years. Having posted dozens of projects, I have never been swindled or take advantage of. In fact, I have had fairly positive experiences with nearly every provider I have worked with. I build relationships with many of the providers and send work their way on a regular basis.
The site I choose to post projects on is called getafreelancer.com (or more recently, freelancer.com)-we call it GAF for short. The way the system works is that you sign up for an account, which is free. You then have access to post a project to their database of providers. A $5 refundable project fee is taken for each project posted. This is to ensure you are serious about hiring a provider, and is partially refunded upon project cancellation or project completion. If you decide to cancel the project, you get your $5 back. If you choose a provider and complete the project, you get charged a small percentage (3% or so) of the project bid amount. To learn more about their fee’s check out https://www.getafreelancer.com/faq/view.php
Define Your Project
There are a few key points to mention within your post. Many employers write one or two lines of text which is ambiguous and bound for disaster. The more clearly you define what you expect, the greater your chances of success. This template is best used for smaller scope projects that do not require exhaustive explanations. For larger scope projects, more time is needed to prep the project. I will use a recently completed project as an example.
- Start by explaining what the project is about. I include a couple of sentences to define the project:
I am looking for unique articles to be written on health care products. I would like to start with twenty articles. Part of the research process will be to find sites with information on the products. My goal is for you to write the articles from research based upon these sites and the reviews customers left on these sites (for each product respectively). - Breakdown the work to be done for the project, step by step:
Each product article is to be broken down into these sections:
- Features – what is the draw to this product.
- Materials – what is it made of.
- Options – what sizes, color, etc… does the product come in.
- Add-On’s – what can be used with it, or does it need to function.
- Issues – what are potential issues with this product; taken from reviews on other sites.
- Directions – how does it work, include links to user manuals from manufacturers sites.
- Final Thoughts – overall consensus on the product.
- Prices of products-based upon websites that sell the products. - List out your requirements that must be met for the project:
Requirements:
- Must be written in EXCELLENT English.
- Must have correct spelling, punctuation and grammar.
- 100% unique, and must pass Copyscape.
- I will own the full copyright of articles, and you may not reuse articles.
- Articles to be 500 words each.
- I am after QUALITY – not quantity.
- Keyword to be used in the title and up to 4-5 times in the article. - Define the timeline of the project, when it will be completed and the consequences if the project is not completed on time. I have only had one instance where the project timeline was extended, and we were able to agree to a reduction in price due to the missed deadline.
All articles must be completed and posted to GAF PM within 2 weeks of project winner acceptance, as per the timeline below:
First 10 articles – 1 week from acceptance date
Final 10 articles – 2 weeks from acceptance date
If this timeline is not met, than the employer will have the option of cancelling the project and re-posting for another provider to bid on. All deposits will be refunded to employer. Alternatively, employer may negotiate a reduced rate with provider to compensate for the overrun. - Finally, add in requirements for the bid, and explicit instructions in the bidding process. I have found that you will weed out 90% of providers this way-many of which didnt bother to read your project description:
In your opening bid, simply say “I am interested”. Then make a PM with the following details. I will delete all bids who do not meet this requirement.
1. How much money to complete the project.
2. A 150 word sample article for the product “Skin Care Lotion XYZ” meeting the writing requirements above.
Communicate with Providers
Out of all the bids you receive, only a handful will be legitimate. Carefully review their bids and choose a few that look promising. I create a PM (private message) to each one asking them a few pointed questions on the project; how they accept payment, if they will accept full payment when project is complete, reconfirm the deadline of the project, and finally, if they do not meet the deadline, do they agree to cancel the project so I can choose another provider.
I have found that those providers who stick with you to the end, and follow through with professional and detailed answers, will nearly always complete the project on time, to spec, and within budget! To get started, pick a small project that is less than $100 and work through these steps to find a provider.
