Issues To Avoid Tips For Success

The 'Set and Forget' Mentality

Outsourcing is still work. If you think that someone else will just run the business for you, you are wrong! People need instructions, then need checkpoints, critiques, and encouragement. You can't just shove a project in someone's face and say "Do it good" and expect any kind of results.

Not Wanting To Waste Time

My big mistake when I started outsourcing is that I quickly realized I was spending MORE time teaching someone how to do stuff that I could do myself quicker! Does that even make sense?

Yes. For one, I was hiring too cheap, and so the people were inexperienced. But also, it just takes time to find a rhythm with long-term hires, especially if you have specific requirements of what you want. They may not know how to use keywords, or may not know how to properly space paraphrase, or use headings, or that big images look better.

So yeah, in the beginning, you may spend time teaching people how to do what you want done. But it's time well invested if in the future they are able to do the job exactly how you like it without intervention on your part.

I wasted a lot of money hiring people for stuff that I just didn't want do deal with. I'd say, "I want twenty 500-word articles based on these keywords by the end of the month." That was it. At the end of the month, they delivered some crappy articles that were 500 words long and based on my keywords.

To have a rewrite would cost me more money. To scold them wouldn't make the articles any better. I just paid for the articles, ended the contract, and ended up spending hours re-writing them. What else could I do?

Thinking They Care About Your Business

The tables suddenly turn when you're the boss! Don't make the mistake of thinking that the people you hire care about your business as much as you do.

Don't get me wrong - lots of people have pride in their work and do a good job. But they will work to their instructions, and expect to get paid for their work.

I guess this section sounds a bit rude, but I don't know how to phrase it. Basically, imagine how you feel going to work, getting your job done, and being done at 5PM. Now imagine that the person you just hired things the same about the work they're doing for your website.

Remember Your Responsibilities

As a business owner you can't just slack off and expect the work to get done! You have some things you need to take care of.

1. Write clear instructions on how to do the job
2. Provide positive feedback and critique
3. Pay on time!

I find that if I am disappointed in a job that I hired for, there's usually a direct link to some mistake I made. The most common one for me is not providing clear enough instructions or details on my exceptions.