By James Adams

Recessions bring danger and opportunity to your career, so it’s important that you rise to the challenge and distinguish yourself from the crowd so you can prosper. Perhaps the most danger lies in the sense of job security where you think that your experience and tenure means that you will survive the bad economy.

As hundreds of coworkers and unemployed workers compete for your job, many of them have more qualifications than you and show willingness to work for less money, so staying competitive in the workplace is more important to you now than ever before.

Here are 7 ways to distinguish yourself from the crowd in a recession:

1. Keep your resume updated: Do not make the assumption that you will have a job tomorrow. Dust off that resume or start making a new one now. Make sure it includes all your latest accomplishments and offers reasons that demonstrate why you are a valuable asset who can boost an employer’s bottom line.

2. Have a good attitude: A recession can mean that people from all walks of life have trouble maintaining their lifestyle, causing a doom and gloom environment at the office. Distinguish yourself by remaining upbeat. Bring a ray of sunshine with you everywhere you go and you will get the attention of supervisors, managers, and executives as a person they need to help the company through difficult times.

3. Get beyond the paper and market yourself: Insiders have already picked over jobs advertised in newspapers and on online job boards, so relying on those sources leave you at a disadvantage. Competitive job markets mean that you must find ways to get to the people with real hiring authority. Market yourself as a product essential to success. Employers need people like you who can make a direct impact on their bottom line. Bypass traditional job ads and contact decision makers directly. Online sources such as ZapData can provide names and mailing addresses you can use as you market yourself.

4. Use social networking to connect with opportunities: Take the time to build your social network on Facebook and Twitter. By making connections now, you will have access to more referrals when you need them. This type of strategy can take time to implement, so get started on it now.

5. Make yourself stand out: While at work, you need to get out of the shadows and into the limelight. Let your company see you as a problem solver, a self-motivated creativity engine willing to take the lead on new projects. Don’t make it all about yourself either: praise others, ask questions, and let it be known that you are a team player who is vital to the success of your company.

6. Improve your productivity: Working long hours may contribute to the perception of your value, but you probably will stand out to your employer by producing more in less time. Efficient workers produce the most and will likely survive layoffs more than those who stay content with the status quo. Look for ways to do your job better and faster and you will remain while others are gone.

7. Develop your skills: Difficult economic times represent good opportunities to go back to school. You can learn new, recession-proof skills or you can develop your existing skills that increase your value to a new or existing employer.

By following these 7 ways to distinguish yourself from the crowd in a recession can make the difference between prosperity and the unemployment line. Get started making your own opportunities now so you can excel during troubling times.

Author Information

James Adams is a full time analyst and writer at a leading UK based ink cartridges specialist where he spends his time writing reviews of new hardware like the HP 350XL.

Photo Credit: Harrison Keely

Over the past several months, Matt’s Musings has welcomed a number of contributors who have offered their unique perspectives on a number of subjects including writing, marketing, SEO and business. I like to think that these contributors have added value to my personal blog and am grateful for what I have been able to publish thus far.

Just in case you missed who contributed what during August 2010, I am offering to you the following recap of the month’s guest posts:

Using YouTube Videos To Pick The Right Domain Names — Duncan Heath, in the first of two articles he contributed in August, offers how YouTube can help you find a domain name that will instantly attract visitors. Capitalize on the video phenom to get your new website off to a fantastic start.

Being Creative Under Pressure — Creativity and pressure don’t work so well together, right? Well, pressure is a fact of life and Sonia Mansfield shows us how to keep the creative juices flowing no matter how crazy things can get.

Let Your Negotiating Skills Turn Your Into A Money Maker Outsourcer – Lior Levin explains how letting others handle some of your tasks can be beneficial, even a source of revenue. You can’t and shouldn’t do everything yourself.

Top 7 Timesaving Tips For Entrepreneurs — Entrepreneurs have a lot on their plate which means that making good use of their time is essential to their success. James Adams shares seven tips we can all use to make good use of our time.

Is Blogging Good For The Mind, Body, And Soul? — Lior Levin returns, this time sharing his personal journey into blogging. Read how an introvert loses his solitude to become a blogging extrovert.

3 Things Not To Say To An SEO Client — Duncan Heath returns and gives us sound advice on how to deal with clients for all things SEO. Lose the gobbledygook and speak a language your customers can understand. They’ll be grateful and you’ll come across professional.

How Any Business Can Benefit From SEO — Kara Taylor explains how beneficial SEO is to large and small companies alike. Certainly, small businesses have financial constraints, but they need to optimize their sites in order to be competitive.

If you’re interested in contributing an original article to Matt’s Musings, please click on the contact link to find my email address and send your inquiry my way. Please check the site’s archives [site:matthewkeegan.com] to make sure that you aren’t repeating something published here over the past six months. All contributions are passed through Copyscape before publishing; I reserve the right to edit as needed.

By Kara Taylor

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a hot topic these days. It seems every time you turn around someone is talking about SEO and how it is essential for any company that wants to make a go of it in today’s business world. But what exactly is SEO? And does your business really need it?

Well, SEO is a marketing strategy that is intended to give you a stronger, larger web presence. And with consumers turning to the internet more and more for their product and service needs, SEO is, indeed, a key part of finding new customers and increasing the visibility and profitability of your business.

Site Optimization

Optimizing your web presence can only be a positive thing. After all, how can people know how amazing your company is if they can’t find you? When looking for a product or service people are more apt to turn to the Internet, particularly the search engines than the yellow pages. If you have a poor ranking and a minimal web presence, then potential customers won’t be able to find you online. And that can mean lost sales.

You may think that only large business need and can afford to utilize SEO as part of their marketing strategy, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, a smaller business can sometimes benefit even more than larger companies who may already have a solid web presence.

SEO Strategy

While both large and small companies can benefit from SEO, there is a difference in how it is applied to each. Other things besides business size that need to be taken into consideration when developing an SEO strategy is whether or not your company is local or global and if you deal with products or services.

It goes without saying that a larger company will have more money available for marketing and therefore more money that can be allocated for SEO. On the flip side, larger companies will need a larger SEO strategy in order for it to work.

Larger companies will most likely also already have an established web presence with a high traffic website. Their SEO strategy therefore should be geared towards tweaking the existing website and making it more efficient in drawing traffic by implementing more and better keywords in product and service descriptions, emphasizing competitive pricing and delivery service.

Small Businesses

Smaller businesses may have newer or smaller websites and not as high a volume of traffic as larger companies. While keyword placement can help to direct traffic to the site, a much better option is to use link building in order to increase the website’s ranking and direct traffic.

Increasing your online visibility will help increase your sales and put your business on the map, even if you are a local company without global aspirations. Local people turn to the Internet for their information also. The proper linking and keyword use will put you on top of the game.

Link Building

If your company’s website is new, link building is essential regardless of the size of your company. You want to make sure that you are listed when people search for your product or service on a search engine. And, in order to be recognized and indexed you need to use link building.

The right link building will also ensure that your website is high up in the search results. The higher you are ranked, the more people will be able to find you. Think about it: when you search for something online, how often to you click past the first page of results? Not very often.

Your Strategy

SEO doesn’t just benefit the big chain companies. Smaller companies can also get use out of SEO. The key is to make sure that the SEO strategy is personalized and geared towards your business whether you are selling a product or providing a service.

Author Information

Kara Taylor is an experienced blogger and a specialist in SEO, social media and website content. She uses her knowledge to give expert advice on a variety of topics on a Q&A site. When she is not blogging, she loves to learn new recipes and cook for her family.

Photo Credit: Sachin Ghodke

By Duncan Heath

1. “I Don’t Know”

Let me just caveat this straight away and say that telling your client “I don’t know” is not a bad thing to do. It becomes very bad, however, when you use this phase in isolation and don’t follow it up with anything helpful. SEO clients tend to believe that you should know anything and everything about websites, the Internet and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Whether they expect more of their consultants than in other industries…I can’t say…but it sure feels like it sometimes.

When you are asked an SEO question that you don’t know the answer to, you should of course not try to wing it and make out like you do. This technique usually has two different variations:

1.)    Make out like the client is an idiot for not knowing the answer themselves as it’s so obvious, and shame them into never asking again.

2.)    Start talking gobbledygook about CSS, viewstate, algorithms and noindex commands until the client loses the will to live and moves on.

The best thing to do is admit that you’re unsure of the answer but you will find out for them and let them know as soon as you can. This will not only let them know you are honest, but that you want to help and you know how to find the answer. What more could a client want?

2. “That’s Just Google”

Most SEOs know that Google is heavily relied upon to provide traffic, often more heavily than is comfortable to be honest. Unfortunately, due to Google’s dominant market share we have to play the game and hedge our bets by focusing a lot of our time optimising for this search engine.

Whilst the Big G can be the provider great wealth, it can also take this away in a fell swoop with one or more changes to its algorithm. Largely speaking, if you play by the rules you should be okay, but we’ve all experienced in the past some drops in rankings or traffic that have come as a surprise and need investigating.

When this happens, possibly the worst (and most patronising) thing you can say to a client is “that’s just Google, sometimes it does that”. This is not helpful in the least and does not instill confidence in the client. They know that every effect has a cause, and if you don’t understand the cause then you will not be able to alter the effect. If you don’t know the answer, offer some possible solutions, but again tell the client that you will research the problem, get to the bottom of it, and work to put it right.

3. “But look at the traffic!”

Believe it or not clients aren’t interested in rankings. They’re not interested in links, and they aren’t even interested in traffic. So what are they interested in?

…Money…

A client pays you to do a job and they expect that job to provide more money to them in return. It’s very simple, and yet lots of SEO’s forget this, instead getting hung up on ranking number 1 for a big term or delivering 100 percent more traffic each month. If you are not making your clients a positive return on investment (ROI), there are no metrics in the world you can throw at them that will make them happy.

Author Information

Duncan Heath is a marketing expert working for a Tanda client, who specialises in offering solicitar credito (loan applications) in Mexico. He writes about all things web and client management.

By Lior Levin

Anyone who has ever blogged will tell you that blogging has had an impact on their life and I, personally, will be the first one to tell you that this thinking is true.

I have become a blogging enthusiast which I compare to finding something in life that makes you feel really great — you just want to share it with the world! Needless to say my friends are hearing about blogging all the time; some are into it themselves and others just haven’t tasted the good life yet.

But, is blogging good for the mind, body, and soul? Is so, how? The only way I can tell you is by sharing my take on what blogging has done for me.

What blogging does for the mind.

Traditionally speaking, I have not been known as an outgoing person, rather most people would consider me to be a good listener. Not that listening was a talent of mine; I didn’t figure I had anything worth saying. And, if I had something to say I wasn’t sure it would come out as sounding intelligent, so I just kept my mouth shut. I think this sort of behavior describes someone who is introverted.

I was still acting like that when I first started blogging because I wasn’t really blogging — I was blog reading. Then, I got up the nerve to leave a comment one day and suddenly realized I had blogged! Nobody came back and told me that my comments were stupid or “virtually” laughed at them. I have to tell you I only wrote a few lines, but I was pretty proud of myself as I had voiced an opinion.

Still, I was treading slowly, picking my blogging comments carefully. At first, I was spending 15-20 minutes at blogging sites each day and catching up on the thoughts of others, but have since increased that practice to a couple of hours daily.

Did that make me feel good about myself? You’re darn right it did! I discovered that I had lots to say, plenty of opinions to share and judging by the feedback people were interested in what I had to share.

Blogging is good for the body

When I tell people blogging is good for the body, they laugh. But, I see them giving me the quick once over and they’ll admit that I have lost a few pounds (10 in fact.). They find it difficult to equate blogging with weight loss because how can you lose weight when you are sitting on your butt?

I admit there is a fine line here, but let me explain: I used to be an avid junk food eater. It was common for me to have a bowl of chips by my side or a chocolate bar in my pocket for in-between meals.

Now, I have a new rule to follow: there is no food, drink or smoking allowed in my computer room. So, with all the time I spend there blogging and gaining enough confidence to start a new business thanks to blogging (another story), I just don’t have the time or desire to gorge myself which explains the weight loss. Regarding smoking, I went from using a pack a day and am now down to five cigarettes. So you tell me: is blogging good for the body?

Blogging is good for the soul

Your soul is the center of your being and where you form your beliefs. It is where your religious beliefs lie, but it is also the core of who you are. I found blogging gave me confidence to speak up. It showed me that I was intelligent, interesting and had something worth saying. It allowed me to believe in myself so I could move on to do things in my life that I may have never done otherwise. It also allowed me to form a circle of friends and to allow others the right to their opinions as well.

So is blogging good for the mind, body and soul? I think I have proven that it is. Blogging for me is like having a virtual psychiatrist.

I hope you are enjoying blogging as much as I do. If you’re not yet posting your thoughts and knowledge — you should be!

Author Information

Lior Levin is an owner of a SEO agency working with a nursing wear company called Milk Nursingwear and also with a task management start-up called Producteev.

Photo Credit: Artem Chernyshevych

It was summer 2008, just about the time when Barack Obama had finally dispatched Hillary Clinton in his bid for the Democratic nomination. John McCain was running away with the Republication nomination with no one, perhaps even himself, expecting him to name Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

My eyes were scanning the political scene, trying to come to grips with all the changes coming to Washington. No matter who won that November, I knew America was about to embark on historic change by either electing the first president of African descent or the first septuagenarian since Ronald Reagan.

New Gig

I had just been contacted by someone who wanted me to write three articles each week for the next two months covering premium European automobiles. That’s right up my alley, because at least half of what I write is cars-related.

We discussed the parameters of the gig, negotiated a price, drafted a contract, signed it and got started on the work. Immediately, I began to feel the first wave of resistance.

Changed Plans

Case in point: customer initially requests the premium Volkswagen Phaeton sedan be included with my write-ups of the three German brands–BMW, Mercedes and Audi– recognizing that this car competes well with its upscale German rivals. Yes, Audi is a division of the Volkswagen Group, but the Phaeton does (or did) poach sales from that brand.

No sooner had I submitted the Phaeton article when I received an email saying she couldn’t use it, noting that Volkswagen isn’t a luxury brand. Well, no kidding.

Try Again

Undeterred, I submitted the next article I was working on–covering the Audi A8–and it was immediately accepted as was my third article written on the Volvo S80. I then moved down my list to the Saab 9-7x and was about to complete that article when I received a panicked call from my client saying she needed the replacement for the first article right away.

Turns out her “loose” deadline with me was a hard deadline with her boss and I had just two hours to get the article to her. No problem (at least this time), as I had written about this same Saab model for another client the previous month. I promised she would get what she needed within 90 minutes, just enough time to do quick edits and submit it to her boss.

I should have seen what was coming next, but I was truly blindslided by what took place.

Wrong Article

Upon submitting the follow-up article, client calls me back and tearfully says that it was the wrong article. Her boss wanted the article to be about the 9-5 sedan, not the 9-7x SUV. Oh, joy, I thought: this project is really going to be more of a hassle than what it is worth. My notes indicated the next write up was to be about the 9-7x, but I soon realized that she hadn’t cleared those titles with her boss.

Her boss was upset with her which meant she wasn’t too happy with me. When I explained that I was working with the agreed upon titles, she half-apologized and changed the subject.

Managing Expectations

That first batch of articles had me writing five titles and getting paid only for three. I knew if I didn’t draw the line soon, I’d have seven more weeks of battling through my work. Instead of shopping the two unused articles, I decided to place them on my blog. I then set out to clarify my position to keep this difficult client under control.

Yes, I began to manage her expectations by doing the following:

Stopping my work. I told the client that I would not write another article until she cleared those titles with her boss. There was no way I would continue to allow her problems to become mine.

Establishing kill fees. Though not part of the original contract, I told my client that if a previously agreed up title was changed after I had written it, then I expected to be paid for the title whether she used it or not. No pay, then no work.

Clear changes first. I also insisted that any other changes in our agreement, including the delivery of the articles, had to be cleared by me first. That “loose” deadline was firmed up; I began to get my completed work to her at least one full day before she needed them.

Moving On

The changes worked or at least they brought some sanity back into what was an obviously stressful relationship.  When I completed the gig, I was ready to move on.

Oddly, the client thought that the gig was open-ended despite what was spelled out in the contract, meaning that she could extend it at-will. I put an end to that thinking by rightly stating our original agreement had finished and that I was moving on to a new gig immediately.

Even without a new job lined up, I knew that moving on was the best thing for me. Sometimes the expectations of difficult clients can be too much to manage!

See Also — Planning to Collaborate? Think This One Through!

I haven’t plugged too many other websites in a some time, but I figure now is as good a time as any. I’m experiencing a bit of a lull before I start a fresh, new project next week and can’t see myself having much time to add to this blog again until after Labor Day. When opportunity knocks….

Dramatic title notwithstanding, I have to say there are a number of web places I frequent which have helped me out immensely. I believe in giving credit where credit is due so here goes:

Copyscape — So much stuff is ripped off online that keeping track of it all is a must. Because I accept guest posts across several blogs, I need to know that the articles I publish are unique. Copyscape has helped me toss two articles back which means I saved myself from the embarrassment of having to toss them after they were published.

Twitter — Is microblogging crazy, or what? Yes, I spam the heck out of Twitter-what else is it good for?! Seriously, I’ve connected with some new clients including one who used me for one gig and is considering me for a much larger second one. Seriously!

Thesaurus — I rarely open up a dictionary anymore and I can’t recall if I own a thesaurus. There are times I need to reach for a word that offers clarity on something I am trying to convey and this site is a must-have tool for me. Extremely helpful for when I’m working on a magazine article.

YouTube — Who knew that YouTube had such great tunes? No, I’m not talking about the garbled mess a lot of people upload, but dedicated channels with clear, crisp tunes? I’ve been discovering DC Talk and Toby Mac, my youngest son’s favorite artist and I must say his music is inspiring and enjoyable. Love my ear buds….

Google Analytics — Google is ‘da bomb for most things Internet. When it comes to helping me track traffic and where people come in, what they read, where they go and what they do and more, Analytics is an indispensable tool.  I just hate it, however, when I discover I broke the code and data isn’t being recorded.

Curiously absent from my list are most social networking sites. That’s because I have chosen to avoid most of them for a season so that I can do what I do best — writing for my clients and getting paid for my work!

2010 just might be remembered by me as the Year of the Publicist.

No, I’m not a publicist. But, I have connected with quite a few people who are over the course of the past few months–professionals who are eager to tap my network of blogs to help promote their clients and/or products. That’s good, because it helps me get my work done.

My main area of writing expertise is in the automotive industry, but I also cover campus and consumer-related topics on various websites and blogs. Any assistance I can get along the way is certainly welcome.

Publicist Defined

So, what exactly is a publicist? I’ll use Merriam-Webster’s second definition of that term to explain: “… one that publicizes; specifically : press agent.”

Publicists can work in any industry. Their job is support one or more clients by getting the news out through various media events, press kits or directly by contacting people who might be interested in that news. Granted, their reason for doing what they do is centered on helping a client, but those who are experts at their craft know that the recipient plays a critical role in disseminating information.

Publicist Assistance

What can a publicist do for you? Many things including the following:

Share breaking news about a company, person or product. This is helpful for me because in order for me to be relevant I need news that is timely. Announcing the release of a new product after the fact doesn’t help my cause. I must maintain an edge in my reporting, something a good publicist can help me accomplish.

Connect you with the source. You can write about someone, but the best thing is to connect with your source directly. A publicist can arrange an interview for you, perhaps much faster than you can pull off on your own. Let the publicist provide an important edge in reporting or story development.

Think outside of the box. The best publicist is the one who goes beyond your needs, perhaps adding a tidbit of information or suggesting an angle for you to pursue as you develop your story. That’s important because you can’t know everything going into an interview. A publicist should be in the loop and willing to help you develop a winning story.

Publicist Problems

Of course, there are some downsides in working with a publicist including:

Publicists get paid for spreading the news. If you pick up a story suggested by a publicist, then they get paid for what you wrote.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can mean you’ll be sent lots of irrelevant information.  Too much unrelated data means you’ll have to shift through some nonsense.

You’re not always treated as an individual. I’m amazed that some publicists contact me without making an attempt to get to know me.  I can’t tell you how many times I get queries addressed generally such as “Dear Journalist” or in some other generalized manner. Why bother? I almost always ignore that information.

The gatekeeper who doesn’t lift the gate. I understand that publicists need to protect their clients, but making it difficult to make contact with an important player doesn’t do anyone any good.  Geoff Williams, writing for Writer’s Digest said that sometimes “…publicists forget that they’re not the story.” Yes, sometimes you have to go over a publicist’s head in order to craft your story.

Negative News

Don’t expect a publicist to share negative news about their client. They are in the business to share information that is positive. Off the record, you may get some feedback they wouldn’t say officially, but be tactful by not attributing that information to the publicist.

Build relationships with publicists, not walls.

By James Adams

Successful entrepreneurs are busy. That is just a fact. For most of us success is forged with hard work and long hours that are very full of activity. Finding ways to make the most of each moment and save time where we can is an essential part of maximizing our efforts each and every work day. As hard as you’re working, it is likely that taking the time to evaluate your modus operandi will reveal some time drains that you can eliminate, thus saving valuable minutes or hours. The result will be more efficient use of the clock, which might lead to a bit more free time. Fat chance, huh? You never know. But let’s not waste any time getting to the top 7 timesaving tips for entrepreneurs.

1. Know your goals and your game plan: If you don’t know where you’re going, then any path will do. But if your destination, your goals are defined, you will have clear direction about how to spend your time. You’ll find it much easier to rule out certain actions, freeing valuable time for those things in your game plan which must be done. If you haven’t written down your goals, do so today. It will sharpen your focus tomorrow and every day beyond.

2. Schedule everything: Time has a way of leaking. A short break to check email turns into 30 minutes away from important tasks. Ditto for phone chats, sports news, a look at this weekend’s weather, etc. Schedule a short discretionary session online a few times a day and stick to it. You’ll pocket a surprising amount of time to spend in better ways.

3. Learn the power of saying no: This flows from our first point. When you have clear goals and a plan for getting there it is easy to see which work related “opportunities” simply don’t fit those goals. This makes it so much easier to rule out a half day seminar that sounds great but isn’t consistent with your current direction, for example. Four hours saved is precious!

4. Focus on the top of your priority list: The old saying is, “make the main thing the main thing.” That never hurts. While an entrepreneur must wear at least a few hats, know which one is most important and which are secondary. Wear that primary hat 80% of the time, whether it is the product development hat, the network building hat or the sales hat.

5. Outsource wherever possible: In the early days entrepreneurs may not have the money to outsource anything! When you grow beyond that phase determine what is worth paying someone else to do, especially if it saves time that can be spent in greater productivity. Determine the monetary value of your time and you’ll have a guide for deciding where outsourcing will save you money. If you have employees then outsourcing becomes delegating.

6. Document your time saving practices and make them part of your routine: It might have been Zig Ziglar who first said, “Work every day like it’s the day before vacation.” When a holiday is just a few days off we go into productivity overdrive. If we can harness that attitude it will energize us. Even if we can’t function at that level indefinitely, it will help us get a great deal of work done in short bursts. With dedication those bursts will become longer, more sustainable. That attitude also gives us razor sharp focus in determining our tasks for the day.

7. Schedule time off to refuel and achieve balance: The counterpart to the previous principle is that maintaining high productivity requires down time to regroup and restore our energy. Schedule “axe sharpening” as Stephen Covey would say. You will return to work swinging a sharper axe with more energy. A sharper focus, a keener attitude and a renewed vision will translate knowing what things you need to do and getting more of them done. You won’t feel guilty about time away if you know it will improve your performance when you are back in work mode.

Entrepreneurs who succeed point to their time saving/time usage skills as a major contributor to achieving their goals. Start today by recapturing your vision and then using that to sharpen your goals and your game plan. You’ll be refreshed and energized. You will enjoy your work more. You will be doing the right things for the right reasons and the next rung of your success will be closer than ever.

Author Information

James Adams works at an online ink supplies store where he covers the latest tech releases, reviewing products such as the T0715 and posting on his favoured topics of art and design on their blog.

By Lior Levin

If you are looking for a great online business with hardly any startup costs and a great market then you need to become an outsourcer. No special education is required, and the only skills you need are to be a good negotiator, middleman, go between or whatever you want to call yourself, although my name for it is the “outsourcer”. Here are some tips to get you going. First though a brief explanation of what an outsourcer is.

The Outsourcer’s Job

There are tons of individuals that offer freelance services to clients. For example, writing web content, directory article writing, press releases, transferring domains, trouble shooting, or transcribing and this is just a few examples. The outsourcer becomes the jobber. He will go and find clients that are in need of these types of services. Then ultimately he will act as the go between for the freelancer and the client.

In summary both of these parties have now become the outsourcer’s client. So the outsourcer will offer to do the job for $50. for example, then will turn around and hire a freelancer to do the job for $35. So the outsourcer has made himself $15. for just being the middleman. Sounds like a good plan doesn’t it? It is, but it does have it quirks.

The Outsourcer Workplace

Freelancing Sites

These are sites that provide the meeting place between freelancers and clients. Now clients or freelancers do not have to go though a middleman (outsourcer), they can deal direct with each other. However, there are individuals being the outsourcers, who will bid on these freelancing jobs and then hire the freelancers to do the work for them. The focal point for all this to take place is on these freelancing sites. Some sites are better than others, and although they all offer the same type of service they do differ.

ScriptLance.com – This is a freelance site that often is considered as a beginner’s site. This means for individuals that are just starting into the freelancing business. Outsourcers will often use this site because they can pick up the services of new freelancers who are not established and will work for low pay.

Freelancer.com – This site works on the same premise as being a freelance directory but is a step up in respect to scriptlance. Here the freelancers have a little more experience although many of the jobs are low paying. A lot of this has to do with the fact that there are a lot of outsourcers that use this site as well. Most of this is based on the premise that many of the freelancers do not have English as their native language therefore they will work for very low wages. This gives the outsourcer the opportunity to capitalize on hiring these individuals at a low rate and still meet the average price the clients will offer.

Elance.com —  Both the freelancers, clients and outsourcers conduct themselves in a more professional manner here. There is a mixed group in that many projects are conducted directly between the clients and the freelancers, but there are also many outsourcers that use this as their working foundation as well. What makes this site different is several factors.

The clients are willing to pay more for higher quality work. Their expectations are far greater however compared to clients on the other mentioned sites. The freelancer is willing to produce much better caliber work because they are getting paid well for it. The outsourcer here does well but often will favor bulk work or large volume contracts.

So why an outsourcer?

So the big question is why in the world would a freelancer go through an outsourcer when they have the opportunity to go directly to the client? Good question, but there is a sound answer for this. Freelancers are good at what they do, but many of them just want to do their job without the extra tasks of having to deal directly with the client. They make their money doing their job not at the admin. part of it. So really the outsourcer is looking after all the administrative type duties for them.

He is the one setting up what the job entails, how it is suppose to be done, the deadlines, the approvals and ensuring payment is made. This can be time consuming for the freelancer and many times it is much easier for the freelancer to deal with an outsourcer as opposed to the client. In addition to this, with freelancers many times it comes down to a lack of confidence or poor presentation skills and they are not able to land the jobs, whereas an outsourcer is a pro at this.

So now you have the basics of becoming an outsourcer, so how about it? Are you a negotiator? If so then it can make you money.

Author Information

Lior Levin is an owner of a SEO company working with a nursing wear brand called Milk Nursingwear and also working with a task management start-up.