You may think the ultimate goal of outsourcing is to save you, or your company time and money but it’s not. The ultimate goal of hiring an outsourced agent is to make you money.

Outsourcing is essential for any company or individual looking to make their operation as hassle-free and profitable as possible. It not only saves your time and hassle, but by bringing on creative professionals, experts in their respective fields, you’ll gain fresh ideas and knowledge you just don’t have. In the end, you end up with a product that is either of a much higher quality than you could have produced yourself, or one that’s done long before you could have finished it--and you’ve not had to put aside any of your other projects to get it done. By outsourcing, you’re almost always guaranteed a return on your investment—if you go about it the right way.

Companies have been outsourcing since the birth of industry and even before but the internet has made the process much easier, much quicker, and much cheaper. That goes double for freelancers. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people across the globe who offering their services in myriad fields from copywriting to coding and anything in between. Sites like Elance, RentACoder, GetAFreelancer, and even Craigslist have made finding and hiring qualified professionals extremely easy and cost effective.

I began my writing career in 2001, shortly after graduating college, but turned to outsourcing my skills as a freelancer in 2007. Since then, I’ve worked with and for a variety of clients ranging from individual entrepreneurs, not-for-profit organizations, affiliate marketers, international websites, and even Hollywood models and television personalities. In that time, I’ve learned quite a bit about how newcomers often approach the freelance outsourcing market and I want to save you some hassle. What I have to say may center around the writing business (it’s what I do) but these outsourcing truths are universal and can be applied to any field.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Probably just what you expected me to say, right? However, if you remember the old adage about getting what you paid for you’ll understand where I’m coming from; it’s truer than most of us would like to believe.

I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of ads on freelancer sites posted by people looking for "professional" writers who will work for half a penny per word or less. Most of these are posted by amateur affiliate marketers and MLM wannabes in the article writing/spinning/posting sub-genre of copywriting. The worst part is they actually find folks to write for them! Anyone who actually understands internet marketing will tell you that original content that brings value to the reader is the only real way of generating sustainable traffic and earning conversions.

Can you just imaging what quality these folks are getting for less than a penny per word?

I can tell you. More than once a client has come to me with a pile of nonsensical garbage that a non-native English speaker has cobbled together for a few bucks. They’re desperate to have me "fix" their articles and sales letters and squeeze pages because they’re not getting any results—none. Why would they? If a potential customer or client can’t understand the text on your websites, why should they buy from you?

The same is true in any outsourcing situation. Can you imagine relying upon a computer software engineer who was the lowest bidder (or even the next up) to build a mainframe solution for a multimillion dollar company? What about hiring a voice actor for your podcasts who has a speech impediment just because they saved you a few bucks?

You wouldn’t do it, would you?

Unfortunately you can’t just go with the highest bid and expect the best quality and guaranteed results either. Some freelancers charge way too much for what they provide. Some bill you for time when they’re out doing there grocery shopping or on the links. Take your time when hiring a freelancer. Carefully weigh what they say they can give you against what you really need. Does their price seem incredibly low? Is it too high? Is it just right?

Caution is the word of the day.

Freelance outsourcing websites have opened up the global market. I’ve met some wonderful folks working in the copywriting business from Australia, the UK, Canada, and even within my own tiny under populated state. Currency exchange rates and differing labor rates can make it extremely tempting and sometimes profitable to hire outsourced talent from halfway across the world. Is it the best option for your company? Maybe.

It all depends on the type of end product you’re looking for from your service provider.

If you need contextually relevant content such as a bio page for your website, eye catching graphics for an ad campaign, or even a something as dry as a moderator for your online forum it’s best to begin your search for a freelancer close to home. Start within your neighborhood (if possible) or even within your state. I would strongly recommend choosing someone inside your own country and would almost never recommend outsourcing to someone half a world away.

Why do I recommend looking close to home? It’s simple really. By looking in your own figurative back yard, you’re more apt to find freelancers who are more like you. The speak like you, think like you, watch the same television shows as you, even buy the same products as you do.

But now you’re thinking: isn’t one of the benefits of outsourcing having another pair of eyes and a new perspective? Yes, it is. But if you work with someone who you can easily communicate with, your project goals are more likely to be understood correctly, your service provider should be more able to understand how to approach those goals, and you’ll have a better outsourcing experience overall.

If you need a product that is relatively universal such as website coding, simple document translation, or electronic engineering blueprints outsourcing to India, the Philippines, Alaska, or even Norway may just be the perfect solution for you. Why? Because with non-contextual products you don’t need to worry whether or not your service provider understands metropolitan sensibilities, or suburban America, or how Canadians feel about Wayne Gretzky. All you need to worry about is that they understand the specifics of the project they are working on and the benchmark to which the final product will be compared.

Would I hire a Japanese firm to design a new line of cell phones? In a heartbeat--some of the most cutting edge electronic gadgets I’ve ever seen have come from Japanese designers. But would I hire a Japanese copywriter to craft my resume? Probably not. Would you?

This one sounds simple but you’d be surprised how many folks get tripped up in their search for the right freelancer with which to work.

When searching on the web, don’t just jump on the first site Google gives you and think you’re going to get the best results. It’s important to match what types of providers inhabit the site with your project goals.

If you’re project doesn’t require a specific expertise or if you want to get the largest number of providers competing for your project as possible, Craigslist may be the way to go. It’s not just for selling your old junk anymore. In fact, there are freelance websites out there that troll craigslist on a daily basis looking for job opening that fit their particular demographics. Chances are, if you put well written ad on craigslist, you will get responses.

If you’re uncomfortable casting your net that wide, or need someone with a specific talent (designing a web-based storefront that is both functional and appealing to the eye for example) you may want to look on RentACoder. Though you will find other professionals on the site, writers and graphic designers, etc., 90% of the folks on RentACoder are there because they know how to speak computer languages and can write you code that will do what you need it too.

If you need multiple projects (such as designing graphics for your website, coding the html that goes along with it, and creating the content for it) an all-in-one site such as Elance may be your best bet. Many outsourcing sites play host to very many professionals with varied backgrounds and unique skills but Elance is a little different in that each skill set has its own section of the website. So, within minutes of landing on the site you can post an ad in the Graphic Design section for a digital artist, in the Coding section for a web designer, and in the Copywriting section for a writer to put meat on your site’s bones. You also find folks capable of administering your blogs, offering legal advice, and folks who can help you brand your products and market your site.

While you can pick one site and stick with it (you will find writers haunting the digital halls of RentACoder) would you buy a porterhouse steak from a gas station convenience store?

It’s your money right?  So shouldn’t you be getting exactly what you want for it?  Why settle for the first thing your freelancer drops on your desk?  Ask for revisions and be sure you are happy with the final product as it is delivered to you.  Many business owners and even some individuals spend so much time focusing on their customer’s needs they forget that, when outsourcing, they are the customer.  And the customer is always right--most of the time.

No, you can’t keep asking for new copy, or design tweaks and expect to get them for free.  You also shouldn’t ever contact your service provider months after you Okayed the final deliverables and say “you know, there’s just this one little thing that needs some polish.”  By that time, the project’s over and if you didn’t get 100% of what you wanted, it’s your fault.  Also, it’s considered bad form to return a whole project to the service provider when the changes you need are few and/or simple in nature--like changing the contact person’s name or email address--unless you gave your provider the right information and they got it wrong.  In that case, demand that they fix the problem.

However, it is a freelancer’s responsibility to deliver what you hired them to.  90% of them know that their business’s survival depends on their customer satisfaction rating and they will do anything (within reason) to make their clients happy.  It just makes sense.  Most freelancers will include free rounds of revisions in their project proposal.  Some will charge you for any revisions right off the bat.  All will charge you for revisions if revisions become excessively time consuming or go beyond the scope of those laid out in the original project proposal.  The bottom line is to be sure of what you’re getting before you ever giver the service provider the go ahead.   

I always include revisions, at least one round, in any project proposal.  Most of the time, I include unlimited revisions for a set period (two weeks, a month, etc.)  It’s just good customer service.  I like to think I’m good at what I do, but I’m not vane enough to think that everything I touch turns to gold.  Yet 90% of my clients never ask for any revisions what-so-ever.  Why?  I don’t know.  But they should.

This is really a bigger issue than it should be and leads to a host of other problems that we’ll get into a little further down the list. 

A provider should only be expected to meet your needs and give you what you want.  Good providers exceed them and give you what you need.  No provider will ever be able to read your mind and give you what you really need when you don’t tell them what you want.  Sound confusing?  So don’t project descriptions that are wishy-washy, vague, or completely open ended.

An interesting thing happened to me a while back.  I was contacted by a potential client inquiring about a press release.  When I asked them if there release was for online distribution or intended for traditional media they asked me why.  Both formats, I explained, have different expectations of what a press release should look like, read like, and how it should be submitted.  After deciding that their release was better suited to the web, I asked what service they would be using (PRWeb, FreePR, etc.)  They “hadn’t thought about that” and wanted to know if that was important.  I again explained that each service has a different format which they prefer to use.  After some debate, the client asked me to “just write a press release” and they would decide what to do with it.  So I did.

Three months later, the press release hadn’t ended up anywhere but their blog.  Clearly the client had no idea what to do with a press release and probably didn’t need one to begin with.  That’s pretty common--Press Releases are hot in the marketing world right now so everybody wants to use them even if they don’t know how and don’t really need to in the first place.

I felt I had done that client a disservice because a press release that’s never really released doesn’t do a darned thing.  However, the example illustrates my point precisely.  Without a clear goal in mind from the beginning, you’ll just end up doggy paddling around in circles.

Usually caused by having no or vague goals in mind, this is when a project grows significantly outside its original parameters.  It could mean expanding a 10 page report into an E-book, contracting for one webpage and then requesting four, or hiring a writer to provide copy and then expressing dismay that they didn’t provide you with html coding. 

Scope creep is one of the surest ways to ensure a failed outsourcing experience.  When you contract a provider you are entitled to ensure that provider gives you exactly what they are obligated to.  In return, you are obligated to expect only what you ask for.  Be sure of what you want and need and get it in writing before you ever agree to hire a provider.

This one is self-explanatory.  You wouldn’t buy a car without a test drive.  You wouldn’t hire someone to build your home if they didn’t have references.  You wouldn’t go out to eat at a new restaurant unless one of your friends suggested it.  Why would you hire a provider without seeing what he has done for others in the past? 

It is your responsibility to hire a provider who suits your needs.  You can’t always depend on the provider to tell you when their skill set just doesn’t match what your project requires.  Most providers will be more than happy to let you see samples.  Good providers enjoy showcasing the quality of their work, they are proud of it, and they want potential clients to know what others have said about the service they provide.  If your provider either doesn’t offer or refuses to submit samples, choose another provider.  It’s that simple. 

Even someone fresh into a trade should come in with some experience.  For example, when I started in the copywriting business I didn’t have a shred of proof to show that I could write copy for websites, sales letters, email campaigns, or anything else that a copywriter might be called upon to do.  However, I had been writing short fiction for years and had several samples (both in print and online) to show potential clients.  Even that was better than saying “sorry, I don’t have anything to show you but I know I can give you what you need.”

Nobody is going to believe that and they shouldn’t have to.

While shopping around is a good thing, you shouldn’t change providers at the drop of a hat.  Once you’ve find a provider that can reliably produce what it is you need, hold onto them.  You’ve spent so much time and effort finding them, interviewing them, and vetting them that it would be a waste to forget about them the instant a project is done.

Not only that, switching providers can be extremely cumbersome and adds to the cost (both in time and money) of any project.  For example, hiring a new provider to work on a website designed by another usually means that the new provider has to take time to learn what the first provider has done before they can start on what they are expected to do.  Additionally, the second provider will never have the same aesthetic sensibility as your first provider and this may mean that the product they deliver will have a much different look, feel, or style than the products you have previously outsourced.

Nowhere is this more evident than in copywriting.  If you’ve had a writer ghostwriting your blog or newsletter for weeks and suddenly decide you’re going to work with someone cheaper, the consistency of your product will take a hit and the end consumer will notice the shift (however subtle) creating doubt in their mind.

Does that mean you shouldn’t keep an eye open for someone better?  Definitely not.  Whether another provider can do something quicker, better, or for less cost can have a significant impact on your bottom line.  As a result, you should always passively scan the market for a “better” provider.  And by all means, if your provider isn’t giving you what you need, drop them like a hot potato.  There’s no need to waste money on inferior products when there are so many providers out there to choose from.

Somebody once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  You can’t expect a service provider to give you a better product, higher conversions, more web traffic, a more ergonomic back office system--or whatever the product you’re looking for may be--if you harness them with the same old format and content restrictions.

You’ve gone through all of the trouble of finding a professional to do work for you, why would you not trust their judgment.  I’m not saying you have to agree with every suggestion they make but if you hired them for their expertise, shouldn’t you at least listen to what they have to say? 

I do a lot of work for affiliate marketers.  I have written tons of landing pages and squeeze pages for them.  With each iteration they expect a fresh flow of traffic, higher conversion rates, and more cash in their pockets, however, those pages all look and feel the same.  If you’ve spent any time on the interwebs, you know what I’m talking about.  Bright red headlines a mile long, buckets of bullet points, bland white backgrounds, opt-in boxes promising miracles—you’ve seen them even if you didn’t know what they were called.  The same thing will never get you better results yet when I suggest differing from the theme I’m always shot down.

What do I do?  I give the client what they want.  Ultimately, that’s my goal, as it is the goal of any service provider.  It’s the client’s job to listen to what the experts have to say and it’s their responsibility to decide whether or not they want to listen.

Outsourcing can save you time and money no matter what business you are in—if you do it the right way.  Save yourself some grief and avoid these common pitfalls if you can.  Your outsourcing experience will be all the much more pleasant for it.

I hope you’ve found this introductory guide helpful.  Please feel free to contact me via my website:  www.therealrobertpalmer.com.

And for more information about those stale squeeze pages check out my other hub.