I have a confession to make.  I am not a good organizer.  I have never been and I don’t think I ever will.  In fact, the probability of injuring myself while organizing something is almost the same as the probability of injuring myself while snowboarding. 

The reason I am sharing this with you is because you may be falling into the trap of doing everything by yourself.  Managing a business can be overwhelming.  And with so many things to do and so little time, it is easy to get caught up with all the things that we have to attend to.  We must create a plan and not attempt to do everything ourselves.   

There are two things you can do to help you in managing your time.  Use a business journal and outsource your work. 

USE A BUSINESS JOURNAL 

I make use of a business journal.  And I highly recommend that you do too.  Among other things, a business journal helps you to keep track of everything that is going on in your business.  It helps you take note of your successes and failures and more importantly, it keeps track of the route you took to reach those successes and failures.  Knowing these things can help you duplicate your successes and avoid repeating the same mistakes. 

In addition to the things mentioned above, a business journal also helps you to look at your current processes and issues and to find possible sources of solving these issues.  To get you started with your business journal, I have written below some questions which you may want to answer:

1. What have you done today that would benefit from a more systematic approach? 
   
2. Regarding “task completion” do you suffer through the “small stuff” or can you set it on “auto pilot”? 
   
3. Which of your responsibilities is taking too much time for its value? Write down how you can organize, systemize, or automate it better. 
   
4. Are your repetitive tasks “money pits” or “cash registers”? 
   
5. Which of your responsibilities can be better automated to increase your total output daily? How? When? Why?

If you have a perspective that is unclear or unrealistic, it may also be to your advantage to get your business journal out and start scribbling.  Write down what you are doing right, what you are doing wrong and then figure out how you can do it differently to make your goals happen.  Reconnect with your dreams, goals and plans.  Decide what you will do differently and commit yourself to doing it.

If you have a dozen things to fix, write them all on your journal and address them one at a time.  Concentrate and focus your effort on the task that is the easiest to fix yet will produce the most impact.  By doing this, you will find that more time will open up for you.

Stop procrastinating and work on your business journal now.  Remember that without clear milestones leading to the direction of your goal, you will end up lost and running in circles.     

OUTSOURCING 

Hiring additional employees becomes a necessity when your business grows.  It is all part of growing the business.  When you reach this point, you have to decide whether you want to hire locally or to outsource the work.   

I have tried both options.  I have outsourced work and have encountered many issues.  Among other issues, I have experienced the staff lying, padding their hours and working on other projects on my time.  I got fed up, fired nearly everyone and decided to hire locally.  I thought that having people in the same office would allow for synergy to take place which would result to accomplishing more in less time. 

Yeah, right.  Now, I was faced with issues such as watching movies at work, IMing friends all day and working on a personal MySpace page.  I can assure you.  That wasn’t part of the job description I gave them. 

So, I am now back to outsourcing.  I have taken all the things I have learned and have used these to my advantage.  I have learned what to look for and what to watch out for and I intend to share them with you so that you too, can benefit from outsourcing your work. 

When you decide to outsource, always keep in mind why you are doing it.  You are outsourcing to move your stress to someone else.  If outsourcing is becoming a stressful situation for you, then it defeats the purpose.  Analyze what you are doing wrong and make the necessary changes immediately. 

Let us discuss the steps you need to take when outsourcing. 

Find a Good Outsourcing Venue 

The first thing you need to do is to know where to find people to outsource to.  Spend extra time and effort in your search as finding good people is critical to the success of your outsourcing experience.  Below is a list of all the options I have tried: 

1. Craigs List  
   You may have better chances of finding people from Craigs List if you live in a big city.  In fact, Brad Fallon swears that he finds good local people when he uses this site.  But if you live away from a major city, the chances become dimmer.  In my experience (I live an hour away from a major city), all I get are spam replies from wannabe SEOs in India. 
   
   
2. RentaCoder  
   While I have had good success with RentaCoder, I have decided to stop using their service as their interface is horrible and is something that I cannot accept. 
   
   
3. Agents of Value 
   I had a good start with Agents of Value but unfortunately, this didn’t last long.  Their productivity went down and I had no real way to verify what they were doing.  When my “dedicated team” started sending me completed work that was not mine, I had good reason to believe that they were working on other projects too. 
   
   
4. Guru.com 
   My experience with Guru.com has not only been disappointing, it has proven to be expensive too.  As a result of working with them, I had to do a major repair in my office.    
   
   
5. Traffic Assistants 
   The first time I outsourced with them did not result in a good experience.  I went a second time under a pen name and experienced the same terrible service.  The poor communication and poor work they were producing was highly frustrating. 
   
   
6. oDesk 
   Out of all the options I have tried, oDesk has been the best option for me.  It gives me randomized screen shots of my team’s computer monitor which allows me to see exactly what they were working on at any given time.  They also have certification tests for applicants which allow you to measure their skills before you waste any more time interviewing them.

Understand your Staffing Needs 

Once you have decided where to get people to outsource to, it is now time to list down the work you need to get done.  This will help you decide the kind of people you need to hire as well as the number of staff you need. 

Know your budget and work within your budget.  If your budget is 200 hours per week for outsourcing, instead of hiring five full timers (40 x 5 = 200), you can opt to hire part time specialists.  This will quadruple your staff size while being able to maintain your budget (10 x 20 = 200). 

Opting to hire part-timers will also protect you from sudden loss of staff.  If you hired a full time SEO and he suddenly stopped showing up for work, your work will be halted and you will have to start the hiring process over again.  On the other hand, if you decide to get three part-timers and one part-timer does not show up, you still have the other two part-timers who can keep the project moving along. 

Post the Job 

Clearly state what you want.  Be specific.  If a candidate did not read the job posting, reject them immediately.  You are looking for star workers here and keep in mind that there are many great and talented people who cannot find work. 

Indicate the Job Title and provide a Job Description.  Identify the Skill Sets needed as well as the Qualifications required. 

For an SEO position, the very first qualification I have is for them to pass the SEO test in oDesk.  Now, if you require this of your applicants, I would recommend that you take the test too.  If you take the test and pass it, you should be able to 

Search for Prospects 

It is common knowledge that the best workers don’t always look at the classified ads.  This is also true for the best people on oDesk.  They are often too busy working with their current projects that they don’t always look for openings.  It is up to you to find them and to invite them for an interview.  oDesk has a search function to find the right candidates.  You can find this on the left side of the screen.  Click on “Advanced Search” and input the following: 

• Title:  I prefer to only see SEO-related information on the title. 
• Feedback Score:  Choose a feedback score of at least 3.0.  This way you know they have completed at least one project and have gotten an average feedback.
• Hourly Rate:  I put a minimum of $8.00 and a maximum of $25.00
• Provider Type:  I prefer working with “Individuals” as I have a better experience working with them than I have working with a company.
• Last Activity:  Within the last 15 days.
• Tests Passed:  Choose Search Engine Optimization
• Check “Is oDesk Ready.”  If they haven’t done that yet, they are not worth pursuing.
• English Level:  This is a “self-assessment” and is not an accurate and valid rating.  I have fired some providers because they could not communicate in English even though they all had five stars on this.

Once you find a good prospect, click on a link to their profile.  Look at the upper-right section and look at their hourly rate, total oDesk hours, location and current assignments.  Hourly rates should be appropriate to their location.  A $20.00 rate in India is a red flag as much as a $4.00 rate in the U.S.  Check to see their current assignments too.  Anyone who has five or more assignments may be too busy to attend to your project.  If you hire them now, you may only be faced with disappointment.  Wait for a week or two to see if their schedules have opened up. 

For your job posting on oDesk, you should be able to get between 10-25 applicants over a three-day period. 

The Interview 
Prepare a series of questions for your applicants to answer.  Ask questions that will allow you to get to know them.   

When I interview an SEO applicant, I want to know how well versed they are in the market as well as the tools they use.  I want to see if they know who the top SEOs are in the US and the UK, even if they are in India and I want to know what they read.  I ask what their biggest failure is in an SEO project as well as what their strongest areas are. 

Also take time to Google their name.  If you can’t find them on Google, ask them why.   

Test Project 
When you find someone who matches your requirements, have them do a test project.  Limit it to five hours and use a junk domain if you have one.  Keep the project short and measurable.  In the same way that you wouldn’t give your 16-year old the keys to your Porsche to learn how to drive, neither should you give the site you want to promote as a test project. 

When doing this test project, keep in mind that you are not only testing their skills but their communication skills as well. 

Hiring 
If the test project goes well and they have proven their worth, you may now hire them.  When hiring people, always hire more than you need.  Know that some staff just disappear and this will leave you in a helpless situation especially when a major deadline is fast approaching.   

Never base your decision to hire on money.  Someone who charges $150.00 per hour and gives you an income of $500.00 per hour as a result of their work is definitely a better investment than someone who charges $5.00 per hour but drives you nuts and does nothing to increase the revenue.  

Finding Your Project Manager 
I have never hired a Project Manager.  I have always promoted from within.  An ideal Project Manager has to be a “workaholic” and has to have the same values as you do.  You will never see this information in a resume nor will it come out during the interview.  This information will come out as you spend time working with each other. 

These are the qualities I look for in a Project Manager: 

1. They show up.  This shows their dependability and in today’s workforce, this quality is gold.  I have had employees/contractors who have suddenly disappeared without warning.   
   
2. Displays a “Keen Eye.”  They notice areas which are problematic and fix them without being told.   
   
3. Meets Deadlines.  They complete projects within the specified time frame and in the event they miss it, must have a reasonable explanation as to why it is late. 
   
4. Offers Suggestions on Project Improvement.  They give input on how a certain project can be done more effectively.  They provide an alternative approach which could lead to more traffic, conversions, revenues, etc. 
   
5. Consistently Exceeds Expectations.  They should not be giving you undue stress nor should they take up too much of your time.  Ideally, they should be low stress, low maintenance but offer high value. 
   

Approach the one who you’d like to become the project manager and run the idea by them.  Do not make an offer until you have an understanding of their reaction.  If they are enthusiastic about the idea, then proceed with the offer.  If not, you may wish to pull back and wait for another one to show their potential. 

Promotions should not come with a raise.  The only raise you should give are the once-a-year raise to keep up with the cost of living.  The biggest mistake I have ever made is to give raises based on performance.  What you can do instead is to offer bonuses based on performance.  The reason for this is simple.  While you may experience an upswing in their performance when an employee is given a raise, this tends to dwindle as time passes by.  However, if you reward their excellent work with a bonus, they tend to push hard to get that extra bonus week in and week out. 

The formula for retaining employees is easy.  Pay them what they are worth, give them a bonus for great work, praise them verbally and keep your promises.   

Firing 
In one episode of Seinfield, they said that the best way to end a relationship is to take it off like band-aid.  Just rip it right off.  Painful but brief. 

Since oDesk takes random screen shots of the employee’s desktop, it is easy to pinpoint poor performance and verify what they are working on.   

You should never feel bad about firing an employee.  If they can no longer produce the quality of work you require, keeping them will only hurt your business.  It would be better to let them go and minimize your losses.  If you need to cut down on costs, never fire the employee who makes the most.  Instead, fire the employee who produces the least ROI.   

The critical thing to remember to is change all the passwords they know first before firing them.  Never fire them without changing the passwords.  Always protect your business first.  Firing employees without changing passwords exposes your business to potential harm from infuriated former employees.