Outsourcing Conspiracy Rebuttal Part 2

“Outsourcing” is a huge buzz word lately. Not just in the online world but also offline. In order for outsourcing to be profitable for you, first come up with a plan of WHAT you can outsource and understand how to best use your newly found “free time” to make more profits to justify the outsourcing.

For a more detailed account, check out my first installment of the Outsourcing Conspiracy Rebuttal here.

To continue the series, based on The Outsourcing Conspiracy by Jon Morrow and Brian Clark of Copyblogger, here are a few solutions to their second “problem.”

Problem #2: Outsourcing Puts You in the Project Manager Role

According to the authors, the inherent problem with outsourcing is managing all the various projects along with managing the team members’ deadlines and personalities. The more team members you hire, the greater number of fires you eventually have to put out.

There are numerous ways to combat this problem so let’s start at the beginning.

1. Hire your virtual assistants or freelancers carefully. Speak to any potential candidate on the phone (or by Skype) and get a feel for how they conduct themselves. Do they sound professional and know what they can handle or do they seem wishy washy and unsure of themselves? Are you having a good conversation together or do you feel like you’re speaking to yourself? This simple 10 minute conversation will be your first insight into whether you can have a good working relationship with this VA.

2. Ask very direct questions about how they would handle potential problems. Make up an example of a problem you’ve had in the past and ask their opinions about how they would handle it. If you get someone who is unsure of themselves or unsure of the job responsibilities, you’ll be bombarded with questions day and night. Look for someone who is reliable and proactive enough to find the solutions to whatever problem you might encounter (without going over the boundaries you’ll establish).

3. Establish company or project procedures so anyone can step into the job and get it done. A whole manual could be written about this one point but essentially develop a very detailed outline or flowchart of what each outsourced job entails. If you’re outsourcing your content management, figure out an editorial calendar so the VA knows what types of articles should be published on each day of the week. If you require specific formatting for your blog posts, write it down. Same for any special reports you write. Keeping a written account of everything will eliminate any questions.

4. More established businesses can hire Project Managers to oversee the virtual assistants or freelancers. If your outsourcing budget can handle both VAs AND a project manager, that can truly free up a lot more time to develop more streams of income or a plan for how to best evolve your business. Keep in mind, however, that Project Managers or Online Business Managers will most likely command a higher pay rate so look at your budget carefully.

Outsourcing doesn’t have to be difficult if you take the time to plan and also to hire your virtual assistants carefully. There are many VAs who pride themselves with being proactive or able to resolve problems quickly and these are the people you want to hire. Don’t be afraid to ask if they consider themselves to be proactive. Be honest and upfront with your candidates about what you expect of them so there are no surprises down the road.

Lastly, any business owner who does not like to manage is just waiting for disaster to happen. No matter what your business model, business owners need to be involved and know what’s happening with each of their sites or businesses. By leaving the complete operations to a hired assistant, who most likely will not have the same kind of vested interest in the business, is simply foolish.