The Outsourcing Guide

The view on outsourcing has changed drastically in the past 10 years. And you're a small business owner, it's something you should seriously consider. Gone are the days of sweatshops in Guam, you can now hire PhDs in China and India who probably speak better English than your nephew to handle your day-to-day business for a fraction of the cost of hiring someone in person. If you still want to hire within the US, you can hire someone to work 'remotely' (via computer) to complete various web-based tasks.

Below are just some of the ways you can outsource your daily business needs:

Web and Graphic Design:

Looking to build your own website, but don't have a clue where to start. As someone who's been doing CSS/HTML for the past 10 years. It can be an incredibly complex task to start from the ground up with any site if you know what you're doing, but it can be an insurmountable task if you don't have a clue about web design.

-Elance
Elance is a website that features a huge collection of freelance professionals from all over the world--ranging from marketing specialists to web designers. It's incredibly easy to post a classifieds on their site and let people bid it out.

-Basekit
Do you know photoshop, but you're clueless when it comes to web design? Basekit has you covered you can actually upload an image from photoshop and turn it into a website through their innovative software. Best part? They're currently free!

"Virtual" (Personal) Assistants:

This is the latest crazy as everyone wishes they could have a personal assistant, but very few of us can actually afford to pay someone $10/hr+. I currently have a VA based in the Philippines (Did you know English is a nation language there?)

-ODesk
Need a ton of SEO content created? Looking for a personal assistant to handle those day-to-day tasks. Odesk had a variety of specialized and general assistants, so you can build a team to fit your business' needs.

-Crowdflower
Ever wanted to hire 1,000 people all at once? Well, that's just one of the way you can utilize Crowdflower! Their database of talent is at your disposal and there isn't a job too small or large that they can't handle.

Online Market:

-Shopify
The application is literally endless. You can create a retail business featuring your products in literally an afternoon.