Product Creation & Outsourcing
A couple of posts back, I had touched on creating products for a niche, and quickly highlighted that I needed outside help to create the product. In the process of writing an ebook, I realized that the material I was covering needed photos in order for the reader to really understand the content. I had a few options to accomplish this, but they were all going to depend on cost, time necessary, and availability of my time and others.
Long story short, I found out that a very close friend of mine did 3D animation on the side (pretty good at it as well) and could provide me the images I needed for a reasonable cost! I couldn’t believe it, and I initially thought ok….this product is going to be great and released real soon, and I’ll be making money!!!! Well that all may be true, but the timing in which I expected all this to occur was completely thrown off by the learning experience known as Outsourcing.
As the blog sub-title says, “I’m taking a non-expert’s approach” to most of this Internet Marketing stuff, and while the process has been very educational, it has also left me with a few internal bruises & scars. Ok, here’s what you need to know (based off of very recent experience) when you are going to outsource part or parts of your business/product creation.
1. Make a DETAILED plan and description of EXACTLY what you need done. This means if you want 10 photos taken that demonstrate the proper way to season & marinate a slab of ribs, you need to identify:
Photo #1 - Take an overhead shot of a thawed out slab of ribs from a distance of 1-2 feet. Make sure plenty of light is on the ribs. Be sure the meaty side is face up so the camera gets this view.
Photo #2 - Arrange the seasoning containers like so from left to right on a table with a blank wall in the background: Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Tenderizer, Salt. From a squatting or kneeling position take a photo from 1-2 feet away of the ingredients with each of the labels facing the camera.
Photo #3 - Using a left to right motion with the wrist only, shake a dusty coating of the garlic powder over the top of the ribs, starting with the left side first. Only apply one coating. Take an overhead picture looking straight down at the ribs from 1-2 feet away.
Get the idea? you need to be as clear as possible for the person doing the work for you. Assume the person doing the work knows nothing about making ribs or whatever your project is, and you will have a much better chance at getting this right the first time.
2. Try your best to hire someone that is moderately familiar with the subject matter of your product. Since I was on a tight budget, I had to take a bit of a hit here, but in the process I again quickly & painfully learned that this can be key especially if you’re looking for the work to be done right the first time for a schedule you’re trying to keep. Since I didn’t do this, I had to explain several basics that I overlook since I’m knowledgeable about the subject, which played a major part in the project completion date being delayed.
3. Don’t be afraid to use audio and or video. Each of these can help a ton in the beginning if the person doing the work for you knows nothing of the subject matter!! Unfortunately, I didn’t learn this until too late. Using audio or video to aid the “outsourcees” can be a tremendous timesaver, and can provide the outsourcee with invaluable subtleties you may be trying to get across, but not specifically stating. In other words some things are easier to describe visually. In another example, I needed demonstrate how baseball and football players posture on the field of play is different by position and game situation. Using video, I could show from different angles in how I needed the 3D image created, and other subtleties such as head/hand position.
4. Review the finished work you get back in detail, and be sure to put yourself in the shoes of your target customer when reviewing it. Make sure that 99% of exactly what you wanted is in the finished work, and if it is not accurate, it is vital to get it right the next time. I didn’t get exactly what I wanted because I was not detailed enough on the front end with steps 1 and 2 that I just covered. Needless to say I realized mid-way through the process that I needed to do what I stated in steps 1 and 2, but by then I lost a good chunk of time and missed a really good product launch timeframe. Anyhow, when you provide feedback make sure to provide any missing details the second time around that may not have been communicated the first time.
I don’t want to project that outsourcing is a bad thing. In fact, now that I’ve gotten some of the major mistakes out of the way, I’m looking forward to outsourcing more in the future. I noticed that the successful, rich Internet Marketing gurus all have two major components in place that piggyback each other. One, they are very consistent in all their marketing efforts - namely the fundamentals (lead generation, email listbuilding, traffic generation, etc.). They each have a number of things they do each day, week, month that keeps the leads, sales, and marketing flowing. Secondly, they do not do the actual “grunt work” on their own. The gurus have either hired someone in house, outsourced to a service like workaholics4hire, or find someone on a service like elance.
I’m sure that this list of Outsourcing keys is not yet complete, however I am positive that this list will prevent the mistakes and resulting fallout and will definitely make me far more efficient in the long run. I’m also positive that this list will be useful regardless of what work I’m outsourcing. Feel free to take advantage of these tips, and if anyone has some additional suggestions I’m more than open to them.
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