Online Outsourced Teams for growing small businesses with talent from around the world.
A blog dedicated to discussing using outsourced workers through online freelance websites for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Work - It Can Be Anywhere You Want To Make It
If you have the right skills you can work anywhere you want in the world by working on projects for your customers from the leisure of your laptop. If you have a computer and an internet connection you can have access to a global client base that is actively looking for contractors to hire. Check out oDesk if you have not done so to learn about the opportunities that are available for you based on the skills you have. Some of the most frequent projects that are listed are projects that anyone of almost any skill level could accomplish including basic data entry, writing blog comments, link building, participating on twitter, facebook etc. Other projects require lots of specific skills like graphic design, programming, engineering, or business related skills such as preparing business plans, marketing strategies and PR media kits and go to market strategies. There is projects out there for all different types of people so search the categories you are most capable of accomplishing and start filling in work in available hours during your week and hopefully you can make being an independent contractor into a full time job for yourself. Learn to make your office anywhere you desire it to be, by checking out oDesk and start bidding on projects today.

Online Outsourced Teams for growing small businesses with talent from around the world.
Online Outsourced Teams for growing small businesses with talent from around the world.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Want to buy a product from China?
Do you have a small business or even maybe a small eBay business that you want to grow by offering new products, however you are getting bent over by local distributors. Finding out how to work directly with manufacturers in China, India, Philippines, and other locations around the world is often thought of as a difficult undertaking and risky adventure especially for a small business owner. However with today's access to people through the internet and online outsourcing companies like oDesk that provide checks and balances and reliability it is possible to hire someone on the ground for a very reasonable hourly rate or fixed rate to help source product ideas for you with manufacturers in China.
When hiring an outsourced individual to support your needs with sourcing products it is best for your first time to use someone that has a great reputation in community and logged lots of hours and completed many similar projects. This way the person you are hiring will already know many of the questions to ask you that you may not know about the process.
If you have a great idea and want to see it materialized into a product and shipped to your door but are unsure how to do it all start looking around oDesk and other outsourcing websites and you will find someone that can help get your ideas in front of the right people so you can receive quotes, designs, etc.
Make sure that your sourcing agent is knowledgeable about the product in its entirety. I recommend providing a bonus option if the person meets all of your objectives including price, any project oversight, and general assistance to ensure that the transaction goes according to plans.
Additional articles for entrepreneurs that are looking for professionals available for hire online.
When hiring an outsourced individual to support your needs with sourcing products it is best for your first time to use someone that has a great reputation in community and logged lots of hours and completed many similar projects. This way the person you are hiring will already know many of the questions to ask you that you may not know about the process.
If you have a great idea and want to see it materialized into a product and shipped to your door but are unsure how to do it all start looking around oDesk and other outsourcing websites and you will find someone that can help get your ideas in front of the right people so you can receive quotes, designs, etc.
Make sure that your sourcing agent is knowledgeable about the product in its entirety. I recommend providing a bonus option if the person meets all of your objectives including price, any project oversight, and general assistance to ensure that the transaction goes according to plans.
Additional articles for entrepreneurs that are looking for professionals available for hire online.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Set Up Salesforce With Support From Online Outsourced Developers
If you are thinking about setting up salesforce for use at your start up company consider having an expert help you with the set up process. You can hire a developer that has lots of experience setting up new companies onto online customer relationship management systems like Salesforce, zoho, SugarCRM and many other platforms that support companies manage their sales team and customer relationships.
Rather than spending the time required to set up all the features you need to use for your workflow get a developer to do it right and then instruct you and your team with how to utilize the tool according to your business needs.
Make sure when you are selecting a person to hire that they are asking you lots of questions about how your business operates, how many people will need accounts, what type of information you need to store in the system, what product details are important, how many accounts and contacts you will be importing etc. If they do not have any questions for you regarding getting you set up it is best to find someone else a little more knowledgeable about actually implementing a CRM system for a new company. You will need to be actively involved in the set up process so the system meets your requirements, otherwise you may end up needing to have lots of changes later down the road or before the CRM system is really usable.
Rather than spending the time required to set up all the features you need to use for your workflow get a developer to do it right and then instruct you and your team with how to utilize the tool according to your business needs.
Make sure when you are selecting a person to hire that they are asking you lots of questions about how your business operates, how many people will need accounts, what type of information you need to store in the system, what product details are important, how many accounts and contacts you will be importing etc. If they do not have any questions for you regarding getting you set up it is best to find someone else a little more knowledgeable about actually implementing a CRM system for a new company. You will need to be actively involved in the set up process so the system meets your requirements, otherwise you may end up needing to have lots of changes later down the road or before the CRM system is really usable.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Need an iPhone Developer for your Business
Many companies are evaluating whether their business can benefit from having a presence on the Apple iPhone or iPad. If you have a business that already heavily uses the web to interact with customers than thinking of a mobile strategy to either service your customers or provide them additional value is a strong strategy that should be evaluated immediately before competition makes a stronger presence on these platforms than you do. Set up a time to meet with a business professional that has experience in the mobile application space for a business evaluation concerning the viability of developing a mobile application.
Developing creative mobile advertisements is another play for small businesses and entrepreneurs to evaluate and consider as a possible way to market and brand your company to your target demographic based on the types of apps you choose to run ads on. An engaging ad that has features of a mobile app are strong way to engage with your customer through a mobile advertisement.
Either path can be a successful strategy to increase your business by using mobile as a platform for reaching your customers. A online outsourced team or individual that has experience developing iPhone apps can help you with the development of a basic app. If you have an existing software program work with seasoned veterans at an outsourcing company to have them help you port the software to the new app that you can then place in the Apple app store.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Consider Consulting Online to Other Companies to Generate Revenue
If you have a specific skill that you can contract out to other businesses, this can be a great way to fund your own start up company without stopping your regular day job or asking family and friends for seed capital to get a new product developed and out to market. Take a look through projects available on oDesk, Go Freeland, eLance, and Guru to see if there are jobs available for yourself to complete.
No matter your level of expertise in a specific industry you should be able to find jobs that you can bid on to earn a few extra dollars to support your own plans for starting a company. Helping others do there basic business tasks such as market research, Social Media strategies, or doing some coding or engineering if you have those skill sets can help you refine your approach to starting your own company.
If you bid on a new project everyday you should be able to get at a minimum of a few extra hours of work per week which can be a big help when first developing a new company with all of the paperwork that must be filed and initial start up costs. Utilize online jobs to suppliment your early revenues for the company and if you are in the business services industry using these sites to begin to build a client base in an excellent option. If you are a bookkeeper looking to start a practice getting some early clients through an online outsourcing site may not earn you the ideal hourly rate you would like to earn but you will be busy with work and be developing clients that you can work with in the future and use as references for future clients.

By generating revenue early you will help avoid a small business failure of waiting too long for the right clients rather than taking the business in that you are able to attract.
No matter your level of expertise in a specific industry you should be able to find jobs that you can bid on to earn a few extra dollars to support your own plans for starting a company. Helping others do there basic business tasks such as market research, Social Media strategies, or doing some coding or engineering if you have those skill sets can help you refine your approach to starting your own company.
If you bid on a new project everyday you should be able to get at a minimum of a few extra hours of work per week which can be a big help when first developing a new company with all of the paperwork that must be filed and initial start up costs. Utilize online jobs to suppliment your early revenues for the company and if you are in the business services industry using these sites to begin to build a client base in an excellent option. If you are a bookkeeper looking to start a practice getting some early clients through an online outsourcing site may not earn you the ideal hourly rate you would like to earn but you will be busy with work and be developing clients that you can work with in the future and use as references for future clients.
By generating revenue early you will help avoid a small business failure of waiting too long for the right clients rather than taking the business in that you are able to attract.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Need Writers for Producing Blog and Web Content
If you have a website one of the most important things you should be doing to create a better presence for the site inside of the major search engines like Google and Bing is by creating unique and engaging content about your topic through blog posts. Using a blog to generate traffic to your website and develop your credibility as an expert in your industry can assist your online presence to differentiate yourself from others. However it is not always economical to be doing all of the writing yourself, especially if you must focus on the day to day activities of running your business. Reaching out to an individual or small team on a service like oDesk can be very rewarding and produce long term results that benefit your companies growth. Article writing is a core component to any online marketing strategy whether you are posting just on your own blog or also participating on facebook, twiiter, and several other sites, having original content is an asset to your businesses social media presence with its website.
What you need to do to start blogging with an outsourced team member online.
1. Post a job position - include the industry you are in and some general ideas about the content you will want produced.
2. Review applicants to project, request portfolio examples, if you are looking for someone for a long term project or several articles on a single topic, it is not unreasonable to ask for an opening paragraph for an article on a topic to compare with others.
3. Upon hiring a new article writer it is usually best to provide them with several important pieces of information - number of words per articles you want 300 - 500 usually is a good number to focus on. - how many articles you need written. - your company website and generally a sample blog article or two you have written or published on your site that you would like to have be an example for future articles.
Keep your website current with new blog posts and become an authority in your industry online to help drive customers to your website.
What you need to do to start blogging with an outsourced team member online.
1. Post a job position - include the industry you are in and some general ideas about the content you will want produced.
2. Review applicants to project, request portfolio examples, if you are looking for someone for a long term project or several articles on a single topic, it is not unreasonable to ask for an opening paragraph for an article on a topic to compare with others.
3. Upon hiring a new article writer it is usually best to provide them with several important pieces of information - number of words per articles you want 300 - 500 usually is a good number to focus on. - how many articles you need written. - your company website and generally a sample blog article or two you have written or published on your site that you would like to have be an example for future articles.
Keep your website current with new blog posts and become an authority in your industry online to help drive customers to your website.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Is a Virtual Assistant the right addition to your start up?
Have you ever thought it would be nice to have a part time helper to go through email, call back random phone calls, coordinate schedules for meetings with customers and vendors, and all of the other basics that a business owner must manage every day just to keep the company moving forward. Most small business owners have, but decided again hiring an executive assistant or secretary as the budget just doesn't allow for the luxury of an extra person at the earliest stages of starting a new company.
This can all be forgotten now, hire a virtual assistant that helps you from the comfort of their own home while you go about your day they provide you updates, check messages for you and help keep your virtual presence open at all times of the day despite you being in a meeting or working on your product develop or whatever other duties you need to have accomplished for the day. A good virtual assistant can be found for a couple of dollars an hour and most are willing to work part time schedules as you may only need help for 4 hours or day or even less, but that added help reduces your busy work load tremendously and makes sure that those trying to reach you are handled properly and not wondering if they should call again or send you another email just cause you haven't responded immediately.
Some of the items that I feel are great for Virtual Assistants to do on a regular basis:
1. Check Email - Message you for mission critical items
2. Answer phones through a 1 800 service or retrieve voicemails and provide you transcript copies of voicemails so you can just read them in your email.
3. Call back individuals from Voice Mail
4. Schedule meetings
5. Assist with expense tracking - weekly / monthly / quarterly
6. Manage customer and vendor lists
7. Monitor company twitter account - make scheduled tweets to community
8. Help promote website and brand online
9. Create market research packets about competition
10. Online postings - Craigslist / classifieds, online marketing, etc.
This can all be forgotten now, hire a virtual assistant that helps you from the comfort of their own home while you go about your day they provide you updates, check messages for you and help keep your virtual presence open at all times of the day despite you being in a meeting or working on your product develop or whatever other duties you need to have accomplished for the day. A good virtual assistant can be found for a couple of dollars an hour and most are willing to work part time schedules as you may only need help for 4 hours or day or even less, but that added help reduces your busy work load tremendously and makes sure that those trying to reach you are handled properly and not wondering if they should call again or send you another email just cause you haven't responded immediately.
Some of the items that I feel are great for Virtual Assistants to do on a regular basis:
1. Check Email - Message you for mission critical items
2. Answer phones through a 1 800 service or retrieve voicemails and provide you transcript copies of voicemails so you can just read them in your email.
3. Call back individuals from Voice Mail
4. Schedule meetings
5. Assist with expense tracking - weekly / monthly / quarterly
6. Manage customer and vendor lists
7. Monitor company twitter account - make scheduled tweets to community
8. Help promote website and brand online
9. Create market research packets about competition
10. Online postings - Craigslist / classifieds, online marketing, etc.
Find Web Developers - Online Outsourcing
All new companies today are faced with the decision of how to set up a website to show off their business and begin to market their products. Even local grocery stores and other very traditional businesses are best served to have a basic website and online presence to take advantage of Google maps on smartphones like the iPhone. Finding the right web developers can sometimes be difficult, especially when you dont want to spend upwards of a several hundred dollars for simple website with your business information, location, and any other pertinent information for your customer base. These types of web developer an designer tasks are perfect for online outsourced teams ad individuals. You should be able to set up a project proposal for a basic website fairly easily and get bids that are very competitive between a couple of hundred dollars for a basic website with a blog. If you are not experienced with working domain registers and hosting companies most web developers will not only design your website for you but also help you host it so that it becomes visible to the web.
Sites like oDesk and other freelance websites often have several tests that are available for the aspiring contractor web developers using the system. Check out how the person has done for the basic information concerning the subject. If someone did poorly I often pass, there are enough candidates to choose from that unless you are in a real pinch for cash, saving a few extra dollars is not always the best even though that is often the goal with outsourcing online, make sure to pick someone with a quality filled portfolio.
Sites like oDesk and other freelance websites often have several tests that are available for the aspiring contractor web developers using the system. Check out how the person has done for the basic information concerning the subject. If someone did poorly I often pass, there are enough candidates to choose from that unless you are in a real pinch for cash, saving a few extra dollars is not always the best even though that is often the goal with outsourcing online, make sure to pick someone with a quality filled portfolio.
Outsourcing Online for Entrepreneurs
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur and are seeking support from additional people with skills you do not currently possess yourself you can find talented individuals from around the world that can contribute greatly to your idea becoming a reality. Using online outsourcing sites help you find the right talent at the right time for the specific project you are working on and you do not need to retain the people full time or contract out a large company to support you with the tasks. Entrepreneurs can find support for everything from business plans, to marketing strategies, for the business side to graphic design, engineering support, product design and project management depending on how much time you want to commit to directly managing the day to day activities of your team.
Of course you often will have to be very active to get the best work out of your team and it may take you a little while to find the right people for the jobs you need done, by working with reputable online outsourcing companies that build in the right checks and balances between employers and contractors, using outsourced employees in places like India, the Philippines, China, and many other areas can be very cost effective and get the basic jobs done quick. You will even find contractors for all levels of jobs applying from Eastern and Western Europe and also North America. You can pick to stay in country if you are not comfortable with hiring an overseas team for your project and you will still be able to take advantage of many of the plus's using online outsourced help provides entrepreneurs launching new companies.
Of course you often will have to be very active to get the best work out of your team and it may take you a little while to find the right people for the jobs you need done, by working with reputable online outsourcing companies that build in the right checks and balances between employers and contractors, using outsourced employees in places like India, the Philippines, China, and many other areas can be very cost effective and get the basic jobs done quick. You will even find contractors for all levels of jobs applying from Eastern and Western Europe and also North America. You can pick to stay in country if you are not comfortable with hiring an overseas team for your project and you will still be able to take advantage of many of the plus's using online outsourced help provides entrepreneurs launching new companies.
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