The expanding reach of the Internet and growth of online collaboration tools have all changed small business outsourcing dramatically in the past 3-4 years. 

Let us take a look at 10 key trends for using independent contractors for projects and even ongoing staffing needs, and how they shape up in 2009:

1.  The “Outsourcing Life” is hip  

Popularized by the best seller The 4-Hour Workweek, more people are realizing that they can get their work done by someone else even if they are a solo entrepreneur.  According to statistics published by US Small Business Administration, 56% of US small businesses with 100 employees or less, have fewer than 5 employees. If your business is one with no employees or a very small number of employees, you may find yourself over-stretched for time, and in need of outsourcing in both your personal and professional life.  Driven by the economy and the need to watch expenses, more businesses will opt for contracting relationships and hold off hiring new employees as long as possible.

Small businesses are also continuing to push the envelope on what can be outsourced.  They are discovering elements that can be outsourced even in previously “core” activities. For example, an Australian small business we work with specializes in online marketing, but also uses multiple telemarketing providers to cross sell their product range to customers.     

How to benefit from this trend:

• Re-examine what you consider to be activities only you or your employees can do.
• If not the entire activity, can some parts of this at least be outsourced?
• Be prepared to invest some time up front in training your outsourcing partner.

2.  Have we met? Not likely! 

Trusting people you never meet face to face is gaining acceptance.  Use of Skypeconversations and social networks like Facebook and Twitter exemplify how people who have never met strike up relationships with each other.  These media are increasingly becoming the means for small businesses to reach out and establish trust based relationships with their outsourcing partners. 

A decade ago you may never have thought of outsourcing to someone outside of your local city or region.  Now it is commonplace to find vendors and independent contractors across the country or even across the world. 

How to benefit from this trend:

• If you are a vendor, establish a presence on the networking sites of your choice -LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. to create an online brand presence.  Make it easy to be found and for customers to get to know you.
• Evaluate which mode of communication gives you the best results. Also take into consideration where your customers are located and how they prefer to be contacted. Sign up with Skype, or other email and Internet marketing tools.

3.  More power for the hour – new ways to price services

Payment schedules structured to incentivize success are gaining popularity.  Two common types of payment methods are “Fixed Price” (where the vendor takes much of the risk – this is often highly conflict prone) and “Time and Materials” (this gives the vendor flexibility in defining scope but is expensive and asks the buyer to micro-manage). 

We’re seeing pricing structures that combine the best of both.  For example, web page design will be fixed at a price per page.  Subsequent changes requested by the buyer are paid for using an hourly rate for the effort.  The combination pricing can save the buyer as much as 30% of the total cost and avoid conflicts. It also aligns interests of the buyer and the vendor. 

How to benefit from this trend:

• Split your project into 2 parts:  the part that is well defined and unlikely to change, and the part that needs to change as you see results of each phase.
• “Fix Price” the well defined part, while agreeing upon an hourly rate for the rest.

4.   ”We need to talk”

In real estate the mantra is “Location. Location. Location.”  In outsourcing the mantra is “Communication. Communication. Communication.”

Operational structures that clearly define responsibilities and establishing ways of communicating play an ever more important role in successful outsourcing.  Small businesses are realizing the importance of such rigor in defining operational structures. 

For instance, you might establish a regular review schedule to effectively manage a project and stay on top of progress.  This is preferred over putting a project out for hire and then going weeks without any status update.  Email, instant messaging and collaboration technologies make it easier to conduct frequent reviews.

How to benefit from this trend:

• When you outsource a project, establish a routine of daily or weekly status review calls based on project size.
• The duration of the calls again depends on the nature of your project, but typically 1 hour or less works best.
• This is important especially when you are working with a new provider.

5. Taking the relationship to the next level - outsourcing ongoing processes

Small businesses are opening up to outsourcing ongoing processes, in addition to projects.  Task (or project) outsourcing (e.g., file my taxes) is primarily a one-off activity while process outsourcing (e.g.,  manage my accounting) requires a relationship approach.  Process outsourcing also places greater responsibility on the vendor to become closely familiar with the client’s business and the client’s customers.

How to benefit from this trend:

• For the projects you are outsourcing, see if some of the activities you do before and after the project can also be done by your outsourcing partner.
• When outsourcing processes, evaluate providers for a strong understanding of the legal and regulatory issues associated with the process they would manage.  

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A VMA is trained to work with small to large business and to help you with many projects. They are skilled on the Internet and are constantly upgrading their knowledge of various websites and research online that can benefit their clients.

If you hire someone in-house to do your marketing for you as an employee you will have a greater cost than if you outsource your projects to a VMA. You will also find that a person in house may have sharp or dull skills in the area of marketing.

A VMA has current skills because they are always working online and they have years of experience in their own business.

Although many small businesses do not know the benefits of a VMA they are hiring them for short or long range projects. Here are some of the benefits to working with a team of VMAs:

• You receive a pool of talent that would otherwise not be available to your business.

• They give you the time and energy to work on your core business while they perform the tasks that you do not like to do or that you do not have the time to do.

• You save money because you do not have to pay healthcare or other benefits for the VMA.

• You do not have to pay a salary because each VMA works as part of their own business, and takes care of their own taxes and expenses.

• You do not have to provide office space or supplies for the VMA.

• You pay only for the time that it takes them to do the tasks.

• You will not have to train the VMA because they take care of their own training.

• You have someone with an expertise in the Internet and in Marketing.

• They only work when you have work for them to do instead of being on a constant payroll.

Most small business owners find that the money they save by outsourcing their products to a VMA is worth it because it allows them to get more done. Their VMA is constantly marketing so they have plenty of projects to do.

The small business owner also is able to work collaboratively with the right team of VMAs so that they can create the best business possible. In many situations this allows the business owner to become a top producer in their chosen field.

Through articles and social networking VMAs help a business become visible on the Internet and you can become an expert in your field. You might find that your business grows faster because of their help and you will feel more relaxed doing your core business.

Virtually yours,
Linda Belan
Your Outsource Solutions, LLC

Thousands of eBooks are produced each day and most are created as free downloads to those who are in need of the information. By giving information away free it shows that an individual is an expert in their field and the target market becomes interested in other services.

When you are working in your business and understanding that you need to have a series of eBooks for sale and for free, you might ask yourself, “How can I get the time to write them?” The fact is that those thousands of eBooks are not always written by the individual business owner. Instead, they are written by a highly skilled “ghostwriter” who happens to be a Virtual Marketing Assistant (VMA).

A Virtual Marketing Assistant is a perfect person to get your eBook written and out to your target market. They can help you write it, design it and get it out on the Internet to the target market you want to reach. They will research that market for you and see which sites are best to get your eBook in front of those who need the information.

Another thing that a brilliant Virtual Marketing Assistant can do is create a marketing campaign to get your eBook read and reviewed by those who count. You can start out small by offering a free eBook and once that one is out and about you can start developing the ones for sale.

Your Virtual Marketing Assistant will help you from the inception of what you want to do to completed project. They are skilled at putting together copy for the Internet that shows your business in the best light.

You may know that what is written for the Internet is different than what you would write off line. With your marketing assistant you will not have to worry about the difference because they already know.

Some business owners may think that to hire a Virtual Marketing Assistant would be too costly for the business but there is another way to look at it. Think of this as an investment in your business. Your VMA has one goal for you and that is to help you make more money.

EBooks can help you launch your business into the mainstream of the Internet and have more clients coming back to you than you can imagine. This is a phenomenon that many people have found to be lucrative as a side business.

You can ask your VMA to create a mini-eBook that is a give away and that is used to get people to purchase other ones that you have for sale. This is yet another way to use your VMA effectively.

Virtually yours,
Linda Belan
Your Outsource Solutions, LLC

Social Networking is the hottest way that people are connecting with one another to build relationships on both a personal and business level. If you are like most business people this is one of the ways that you use for marketing who you are and what you do. There are so many social networks and so many things to do that you might have a challenge finding the time to get connected.

A Virtual Marketing Assistant can be the person to help you with these things. They can help you develop your networks and then help you manage them. If you already have a network, they can help you expand it, get in touch with more people and systematically grow this aspect of your business.

If you look at the way that President-Elect Obama has created a presence on the Web so that people know who he is and what he is about, a good Virtual Marketing Assistant planned this and got his name out. This was something that was necessary in order to help him win the election.

A Virtual Marketing Assistant can help you with your social network in the following ways:

Create a Social Networking Strategy. When you first start looking at the Internet and Social Networking as a way to create your marketing, you will need a strategy. Your Virtual Marketing Assistant can help you define a systematic strategy that they will implement on the Internet for you.

Help Identify Social Networking Environments. Your Virtual Marketing Assistant can help you identify the social networking websites that are best for you and your product. They will help you align with these that can get you the most exposure for your target market.

Create And Maintain Your Profile. It is a good idea to update a profile regularly so that it remains fresh and people get to know you. A Virtual Marketing Assistant can make sure that your profile goes out to the many social networks and is updated on a regular basis. You will receive your profiles with their usernames and passwords for your records.

Create And Maintain A Blog. Although you may not know how Social Networking works with your blog, the Virtual Marketing Assistant can help you by creating and maintaining your blog. This is one way to establish your brand and to establish you as an expert in the field.

In addition, a Virtual Marketing Assistant can help you develop your marketing plan in ways that you may not have thought possible. They are less expensive than having an in house marketing team and they are skilled at what they do. They do the marketing for you so you can spend your time working on the business that you love.

Virtually yours,
Linda Belan
Your Outsource Solutions, LLC

There are thousands of merchants that offer these programs and they can create a substantial amount of cash if your website is one that can generate a lot of traffic. The challenge for you as a small business owner is that you may not understand how to do this to get the most opportunity for your business.An affiliate program is basically a coordinated effort between a website owner and an advertiser to create more traffic for both parties. The website owner puts a link on your site that goes to the affiliate site. This allows you as the small business owner to earn extra money when people click on a retailer’s site.

Most small business owners do not know how affiliate programs can benefit them and they are not sure which ones will work best. This is where a Virtual Marketing Assistant can come in because they can help you identify the affiliate programs that are best for you business.

The Virtual Marketing Assistant is skilled at Internet research. They can help you target several affiliate programs and place them tastefully on your blog or website. They can help you design a campaign that will target your specific market and help the advertisers at the same time.

Virtually yours,
Linda Belan
Your Outsource Solutions, LLC