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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Well, I have done my share of outsourcing in the past couple years and I would have to say that the "Make-it or Break-it" factor for Outsourcing comes down to Great Project Management. Once a company awards a project to an outsourced partner, there is a tendency for the "Out of Sight - Out of mind" phonemenon to happen. You outsource the project and then get busy with other priority tasks and the project managment starts going down the tubes along with the project! That is why I can’t emphasize the immense value of being a pro-active "hands-on" project manager that is keenly in-tune with the ongoing progress of your outsourced project!

So, now that you have made pro-active "Project Managment" a priority, how do you now facilitate a "Win-Win" Outsourcing Relationship?

In my own outsourcing endeavors, one of the best tips I ever received was "Treat Your Outsourced Firm as a Partner!" This little piece of wisdom has enabled me to build some very positive and collaborative outsourcing partnerships. I never treat them as an employee or less than myself, but rather as a valuable partner. This approach will more times than not lead to a "Win-Win" Outsourcing Partnership. So, here are a few quick and dirty tips for faciliating healthy and successful outsourcing partnerships:

1. Treat the Outsourcing Professional/Firm as a Valuable Partner (As mentioned above)

      2.    Clearly define expectations and peformance measures for the project from Day 1

      3.    Be a Pro-active Project Manager - Be in-tune with the ongoing progress of the project, so that you can be well-prepared for any pitfalls that may  surface (And believe me, they will surface!)

     4.    Strike the balance between Loose Managment and Micro Management -  It is important not to "suffocate" your outsourced partner, but clearly outline project goals, timelines and follow-up and performance reviews and then let them go to it! If you provide the right managment framework, then it should not  be necessary to be constantly hound them as the timelines will be already defined.

     5.     Practice Open, Honest and Respectful Communication - This goes a LONG way to building great long-term partnerships!

     6.    Ensure that you have a working knowledge of the project - This point is KEY! If you are managing a project of which you have absolutely no knowledge or experience, then will make it that much more difficult to effectively evaluate the progress of the project. If you don’t have the knowledge, then it is important to find someone "in-house" that can "speak the language" of the partner and has a good understanding of the project requirements and process.

So there are a few points to chew on….Again, from my own experiences, Effective Project Management is the cornerstone for building successful outsourcing initiatives!

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Well, as you might recall from my own predictions of the Internet Marketing Trends for 2007, I had said that there would be a great emergence of niche social networks seeking to grab a little market share from the kingpins like MySpace.com and Facebook.com. Well, that prediction certainly was not rocket science, given the massive growth in social network participation in 2006 - MySpace has seen a staggering 4300% increase in visits over a two year period, surpassing even Yahoo mail!

But, I am not writing this post to talk about social networks, but rather the parallel I see with the emergence of a number of niche Outsourcing Services also seeking to grab some market share from big outsourcing marketplaces like Elance.com and Guru.com. Elance is a great marketplace for accessing outsourced talent across hundreds of categories. However, with the rapid growth of outsourcing, certain categories and new niche marketplaces are emerging to address this growing demand and sharpen the focus in particular industries and service areas.

Rentacoder is probably the oldest and best known web-based outsourcing service that carved a nice niche in programming and web-development and that has certainly served them well. I would recommend Rentacoder to anyone looking for a good programmer, webmaster or web developer.

A new outsourcing service, Greenbrim.com has come on the scene and is captalizing on the globalization of Accounting, Audit and bookkeeping services - cool idea. They have found the right time to target an industry that has been steadily increasing in the outsourcing realm over the last few years…  In Thomas Friedman’s (Publitzer Price-winning New York Times Columnist and Author) "The World is Flat", he makes mentions of the outsourcing trends in the accounting field and says that in 2003,  25,000 US tax returns were done in India, 100,000 in 2004 and roughly 400,000 in 2005. It is a no-brainer to see the global shift taking shape in this industry.

As you know, we are launching our own niche outsourcing portal, specifically tailored to the existing and emerging Trends in the Web Marketing industry. This niche Outsourcing Service will seek to meet the rapidly growing demand for skilled Internet Marketing Specialists equipped to navigate this fast-moving ever-changing industry.

There are certainly many other types of niche outsourcing services emerging daily and it will be exciting to watch how business processes change and adapt to this growing movement!

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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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