You know, I keep telling my friends that I don’t want to do the work anymore, I just want to be paid to make decisions. I get the usual “Ahh, that old line again” and it’s usually followed with “Where are you working at the moment?” and I tell them that yes I do work in an office, still. But not for much longer!

As all of my projects eb and flow there is one thing that keeps recurring throughout the process. I outsource. I get other people with the time, skills and interest in doing the things that I don’t.

An example, an easy one but and example nonetheless, is the development of a website. I know this is a regular suspect and people may be familiar with it but it’s really straightforward to get a website developed by going to a number of online marketplaces for software development. Three big ones that I’m aware of are:

• Elance – I’ve found this to be the best so far. It’s much easier to manage multiple jobs through Elance and the tools supporting submitting a project, evaluating responses and managing the project to delivery are quite strong.
• Guru – I haven’t really used Guru but I plan to in the future to see how easy it is to manage a project.
• Rentacoder – Another big one that I’ve used before. This is probably more focused on software / web / design activities.

These sites have everything you could really imagine in relation to software development, web development, graphic design, desktop publishing etc etc. They even branch into this such as accounting, legal, copywriting, PR, the list goes on and on. To date, I’ve only really used it for graphic design and web development, however as the opportunities arise, I’ll be trying other services as well.

The really great thing about these types of sites though is that they’re usually cheaper than you can buy locally because a) it’s an extremely competitive marketplace, and b) jobs can be delivered from all across the globe, sometimes from locations with cheaper rates than locally.

I’d recommend you try it out and test it by doing something small. Get someone to develop a logo or do some stationary or fix a wordpress theme problem.

There’s a couple of tips that I think are relevant to outsourcing in this method, which probably apply to any contracted services, but here goes:

• Be very clear about what you require – I’d recommend sitting down and writing out what it is you require before submitting a project request. If you don’t know what it is you want, you wont get a successful outcome.
• Pay upon delivery – Depending on the size and duration of your project, make sure you keep your supplier incentivised by withholding a certain amount of the agreed project value. For smaller projects (e.g. less than $200-$500, I would withhold the lot until successful delivery of the project. This makes sure you get what you set out to purchase.
• Use the escrow – Make sure you use the escrow services to protect yourself from losing cash. This essentially allows you to show the supplier that you’re committed however, they don’t get the money until they’ve delivered.
• Track all changes – Make sure you use the site to track all your conversations. If there is a dispute, there will be a clear record of any decisions made and should lead to a quick and easy resolution.
• Don’t be afraid to negotiate – You’d be amazed at what happens if you ask someone if that is there best and final offer as you’re considering other bids. Price reductions, free inclusions, extended warranties all appear from thin air.
• Shop around – This is one of the best things about these tools, you can get a great range of bids and it allows you to shop around to find the one that best suits your requirements.
• Remember Quality / Time / Cost – Just remember that, as with any project, quality, time and cost all balance out. If you’re getting a really cheap price compared to other proposals, there’s probably a reason (i.e. quality will be reduced or they’re not delivering the same amount of work). The old rule “you get what you pay for” still applies here.
• Protect your intellectual property – This is more something to be conscious of. Some of the tools (e.g. Elance) allows you to set up terms including non-disclosure agreements. I don’t really now how you would enforce them so I think it’s smarter to just be aware of the type of information you’ll need to provide to your supplier to get the job done.
• Make sure you support the system – I know this is a small thing but I think it’s important to provide feedback and support the marketplace. Provide constructive feedback so that the suppliers and future purchasers get the best from the system at hand.

Another option for outsourcing more people focused tasks is to use a Virtual Assistant. I haven’t really used one of these yet, however when I do I’ll be sure to post some details.

So, get out there and start leveraging a world of skills so you can make decisions, not do the work.