One of the hottest outsourcing trends taking shape in 2008 is hiring Virtual Assistants to perform crucial and time-intensive Internet Marketing Services. Small Businesses are swamped trying to keep up with all these activities such as updating their various Social Networking profiles, managing affiliate programs, tracking website stats, perform ongoing keyword research, setting up shopping carts and managing their email campaigns and autoresponders - phew!!! This is just a snapshot of the many Internet Marketing services that are fast being delegated to  web savvy Professional Virtual Assistants.

So where can you find these types of Virtual Assistants who have current, up-to-date Internet Marketing know-how? There are many freelancer sites like Elance, Guru, Ifreelance as well as Virtual Assistant related networks like VAnetworking.com - those are all great resources. But a new marketplace at VAClassroom is quickly becoming the one-stop center for recruiting Internet Marketing Virtual Assistants. Their marketplace showcases the profiles of their graduates who have completed their popular Internet Marketing VA Training Program. In this program, VAClassroom members are being trained in Affiliate Marketing Research and Management, Keyword Research, Social Media Marketing, Blog Management, Web Content Submission, Email Marketing and many other "in-demand" areas. The Marketplace is solely focussed on Internet Marketing related projects and is broken down into a number of skill-specific categories including:

- Affiliate Marketing

- Search Engine Marketing

- Web Analytics and Testing

- Blogging

- Social Media Marketing

- Email Marketing

- Web Content Editing and Submission

VAClassroom also offers a handy Search Tool to look for VAs with particular expertise.  For example; let’s say you are seeking a Virtual Assistant to manage your Word Press Blog, you could type in "Word Press" and will receive the listings for those Virtual Assistants with that respective skill.

If you are serious need of delegating some Internet Marketing support services for your business, then the VAClassroom Marketplace will give you the ideal Virtual Assistant community you are seeking!

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Ironically, in the last week, I stumbled upon three different sites that are promoting Outsourcing Strategies and Tips gleaned from successful web entrepreneurs. With the roaring success of such books as "The 4 Hour Work Week", it seems that a number of new resources are emerging to capitalize on the Outsourcing boom we are seeing take place on the Web.  The reality is that many SMBs (Small/medium Businesses) are quickly recognizing the power that effective outsourcing has for taking their web endeavors to the next level.

Here are the three resources I stumbled upon this week:

1. Outsourcing Outtakes - This resource is set-up as a Online Video Ezine which provides short video interviews of Successful Web Entrepreneurs sharing some different Outsourcing tips and strategies. Look like an interesting resource. I have viewed one of the videos thus far and to be honest the tips weren’t ground shattering, but I have subscribed and will continue to see if these video interviews have good value.

2. TheOutsourceCode - Now, this is a new series of CDs by Dr Mike that again provide some tips and strategies for leveraging the power of outsourcing for any new or existing web business. I see that their site now says that their tool has been sold out. The tool was retailing for $497  (as my memory recollects), which seems a bit pricy, but I haven’t fully reviewed the series, so can’t comment on whether it is worth the investment.

3. OutsourceandDelegate - I had a review of the Sales Letter for this new tool and I think this one could have some good value. The author, Dan Lok talks about the Ceiling effect that all to often occurs with small businesses who are trying to be "all things" for their business and not effectively delegating or outsourcing tasks. He illustrates this phenomenon with a nice little "organizational flowchart" image, which includes "YOU" as the CEO, VP of Marketing, Affiliate Marketer, Customer Service Rep, SEO Strategist etc….Wearing too many hats and taking on too many tasks can cause your business to hit a "Critical Mass" bringing your success to a grinding halt. The cost of this tool is $47 (pretty cheap) and he actually offers a Free Audio series that you can test drive before you buy the product which is nice.  I am going to buy this one and will send some more feedback later!

Being a SMB ourselves, we are always looking at ways to better delegate and outsource those tasks that are pulling us away from our core (revenue-generating) responsibilities.

It is cool to see this growing interest and demand in the outsourcing realm as it bodes well for Outsourcing Solutions like ESalesGuru.com which we are slated to launch at the beginning of August!

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Last week, I had a good dialogue with one of my outsourcing partners regarding the topic of “Expectation Management”. Have you heard of this lingo before? My partner enlightened me on this new terminology and the important of practicing Expectation Management in all our outsourcing endeavors.

First of all here is a definition of ”Expectation Management” that I came across:  More

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Well, I am typing this post with “Frost-bitten” fingers as a serious cold front and snow storm has rocked my neck of the woods in British Columbia (Canada). I also experienced a lesson in futility this morning as I shovelled my whole walk for an hour only to have a nice strong cross wind blow all the snow back on the driveway. Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me

Now, on to the topic at hand….

With the rapid evolution of the Internet Marketing landscape, I am seeing first hand the growing challenges ebusinesses are facing in maintaining a current, competitive and cutting edge emarketing platform. Not to mention….it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire and retain talented Internet Marketing Specialists that have the diversity of skills they need. Companies are experiencing continual skill and services gaps. As an avid subscriber to many emarketing publications, I have to say my head is spinning at the continual flux of this industry…it is truly hard to keep up!

As a result, we are seeing more and more ebusinesses outsource certain Internet Marketing tasks and functions in order to keep competitive and cost-effective. We are seeing progessive businesses transition to a dual staff approach - an inhouse team and virtual workforce. This is quickly becoming the norm!

As mentioned a couple posts ago, I promised I would give you a “behind the scenes” look at our new outsourcing portal and the unique role it will place in the Internet Marketing Space. Our web service, www.esalesguru.com has been specially designed by Internet Marketing Professionals to specifically target the existing and emerging trends in the Internet Marketing industry. Businesses using our service will be able to quickly fill skill and service gaps by outsourcing certain functions to a network of talented Internet Marketing Specialists. Our outsourcing solution will serve as a one-stop shop for accessing the A-Z of Internet Marketing Projects and Services including such skill areas as:

• Affiliate Marketing Managment
• Search Engine Marketing (PPC and SEO)
• Marketing/Sales Copywriting
• RSS/Email Marketing
• Blog/Viral Marketing
• Social Networking / Mobile Media
• Online Media Buying/Planning
• Online Lead Generation
• Internet Market Research, Analysis and Planning
• Website/ Landing Page Design
• Advertising Design (HTML, Rich Media, Banners)

So you might be saying to yourself…so what. There are already outsourcing solutions like www.elance.com and www.rentacoder.com on the market. While this is certainly true and I actively use those web services myself, ESalesGuru.com is all about Internet Marketing and connecting ebusiness with highly skilled Specialists and Firms to meet their evolving emarketing needs. So, a service like rentacoder will build a software or web app for you. Our service will in turn provide the marketing arm for the web product.

One other distinctive feature of Esalesguru.com is the pre-screening process we have put in place for Professionals/Firms applying for our Elite Membership. As I read through some of the forums pertaining to Outsourcing Marketplaces, one common thread I continue to hear is the time and effort it takes businesses to weed through the “so so” contractors before they find the “Gems”, so to speak. Our pre-screening process is intended to enhance the quality of Internet Marketing Professionals we are retaining in our marketplace. Our hope is that this initial pre-qualifying process will eliminate some of the legwork involved in securing the right contractor.

So, as I banter on, you probably can see that I am rather excited about the upcoming launch of esalesguru.com in January. I will be sure to keep you in the loop on further details as we get set to launch here. Until next time…

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