First off, special thanks to Amit for the invitation to contribute a post to his blog. Amit has set the bar high for good content on his blog, and I hope to live up.

I think this is a good follow-up post to Miles’ excellent post. As I read his post I started reflecting on my own business - you know, what I’ve done well, and what areas need improvement.

Well, in my own business there’s one area that could use improvement: more outsourcing.

I know, you’ve heard it before, right? Of course. But it’s true. If you analyze your business and find that you’re single-handedly running the show, congratulations - you’ve just identified your own bottleneck!

If you don’t start looking for ways to outsource some tasks now, eventually it will limit the amount of profits you earn and probably contribute to burn out as you struggle to keep up with everything. If that sounds like you, this post is designed to help you get started.

Where should you start? Website design and article writing.

Website Design

But wait, why would you pay someone to create a site when there are HTML editors available for free? Well, unless you are very comfortable with HTML and you have good graphics skills (i.e., you know Photoshop or an equivalent program), I don’t recommend building a site yourself. Let’s face it, affiliate marketing is only getting more competitive. If you want to compete in most markets today - you’re going to need a professional looking site with graphics - period.

But isn’t that going to cost a thousand dollars or more? I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that you can find people on Elance and/or Rent-A-Coder that will deliver a simple but professional looking site for $150-$250. Additionally, you may be able to reuse the same website template as you tackle other related markets. So, that one time investment may pay off two or three times.

Article Writing

Article writing is another good task to outsource. Whether we like it or not Google has forced us into becoming info publishers. I think Amit mentioned that he’ll have at least 25 original articles on his site before starting a new campaign. I do the same thing. The good news is that it’s not hard to find good article writers on Elance. In case you’re new to the process of outsourcing your article writing, here are some guidelines I use:

• Start small. When looking for a new provider, I’ll usually start with an order of no more than 10 articles. If the project turns out well, then I’ll try a larger order.
• Always go with a provider with good feedback. I like to go with people with a 90% or better positive feedback rating.
• Look for a provider with writing samples. When working with a new provider I like to see a few samples and I look for someone with “SEO” in their description. This indicates that they know how to write good articles for the web (e.g., Good and balanced keyword use in the title and throughout the article body).
• Only use original content. State in your project description that all articles must contain 100% original content. I’ve never received plagiarized content, but I’ve heard from others that it happens. Picking a good writer with good feedback will reduce the risk.
• How much should you pay? I generally pay about $10 an article. This seems to be the going rate for my markets. Bonus tip: if the person did a good job with the articles, make sure to leave positive feedback and tip over the agreed price. You want to start building relationships wih your providers.
• Find 2-3 providers. I like to have 2-3 “go-to guys”. In case one is too busy to take my project, one of my other preferred providers is usually available. I’ve also had providers disappear from Elance for whatever reason. This is another reason to use more than one provider.

Anyway, those are just a few tips and recommendations to help get you started. Of course, if you’re just getting started you may not have the budget to hire anyone at any price. That’s understandable. But really make it a goal that you will start to outsource at the very first opportunity.

If the idea of outsourcing sounds a little overwhelming or intimidating, don’t worry, once you get your feet wet it becomes easier.

Thanks for reading and here’s to a happy and prosperous 2008!

- Doug Partridge