Outsourcing is a key part in helping me stay competitive and keep my costs down low. I truly believe in outsourcing. Finding the right people who have the right skills to do the things they’re good at. I hate anything administrative, but I love marketing, sales and business development. In recent months, I hired some very important people to take the things I don’t like doing off my plate. In particular:
- I hired a virtual assistant who takes care of everything. She replies to my emails and my voicemails, she sends out my weekly newsletter and she helps with customer support issues. She’s based in Virginia.
- I outsource all of my client’s podcast production work to an amazing woman in Atlanta, Georgia. She has15+ years experience in the television field, so she knows her stuff.
- Although I can do graphic design, I have found an amazing graphic designer in Malaysia who does this work for me, including designing podcast covers. He’s fast, inexpensive and brilliant.
- I can also install blogs and build websites, but I now outsource all this stuff to my brilliant programmer who lives in the Ukraine.
My time is so free that I can focus on the things I really love to do – develop new products, promote my business and close sales. So, my questions to you:
- What are you currently doing that you hate and would love to delegate?
- What questions do you have about delegation?
- Are you concerned that delegating will take up too much time to explain?
- If you are outsourcing, what has been your experience?
Hi,
This is an interesting book, I’d like to download a copy since it’s not available in Malaysian bookstores.
Does anyone know where I can get an audio version?
Also, could you please put me in touch with the Malaysian Designer. I’d like to support someone I can visit and have a coffee with!
Cheers
Mike Cabarles
michelle, I welcome USD in Malaysia especially when I have to pay double the price of American books that you do there. So there’s give and take. you buy our labour, we buy your content. OK?
I’ve actually thought a fair bit about this question too, Michelle. I worked with an outstanding blog designer/developer from Argentina last year.
At the end of the day, he was the best guy that I knew, came highly recommended, communicated in perfect English, and did outstanding work — at a price that was very good for him in Argentina and very good for me, paying the bill from America.
If I gone with an American to do the same work, the client likely wouldn’t have been able to afford the project.
But at the same time, I am also a guy who complains when a technical support call to India takes 5 times longer than it should. Yet, I know the business reasons behind why I’m talking to someone in Bangalore and not in Bangor, Maine.
The global market is now local.
My big problem with the kind of outsourcing that you’ve mentioned, Leesa, is that it seems to involve service people from so many other countries outside of Canada. I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t be helping these professionals make a living (and in developing countries, perhaps vastly improve their standard of living), but why is it necessary to take your dollars away from the local economy? Is is a purely financial decision? (i.e. are you looking for cheap and easy?)
I don’t know why, but something about the whole thing just strikes me as exploitive for some reason. No judgement on you is intended – just curious and trying to figure out what really bothers me about the whole thing.