This is a guest post by Dave Doolin.
David invited me to write an article about my “red clay” perspective on outsourcing.
First, a disclaimer: I’ve outsourced around 6 figures worth of work in the last 4 years, over $90,000 in 2008 alone. I’m a big believer in getting the right help for the job, and I’ve put my money where my mouth is. But I’m also a huge believer in self-reliance and just “getting it done.” That said, let’s get on with it.
What You’ve Read About Outsourcing Is…. Incomplete
Most of what I read about outsourcing in the blogging community is well-meaning, and not exactly incorrect, but it is incomplete. It seems mostly about the excellence of outsourcing: “Profit! Riches! Yes! Outsource! Outsource! Rah rah rah!” While I agree in principle, this irrational ebullience is a little short on specifics. And the specifics are where it really matters.
Nevertheless, outsourcing, in general, is a good thing. You must outsource to scale up. Outsourcing tactics flow from outsourcing strategy, so it’s critical to get your strategy correct. In this context, strategy means having some vision of how you want to operate your business, and the milestones you need to pass to get there. Everyone’s strategy is different (that’s a good thing).
Let’s use my vision and strategy as an example. Succinctly, I want a “4 Hour Work Week,” with a twist. The twist being that I refuse to be dependent on a single point of failure, viz, I’m not going to be held hostage by a vendor of any product or for any service. I’m looking to build a smallish business which is flexible and allows me to stay “close to the metal.” (Reasons for which are the topic of another longish series of articles.)
Being independent is part of that red clay, do-it-yourself mindset. See, my father’s kin come from that part of the country where the dirt (red clay, technically, terra rosa) mostly grows rocks. Geodes, actually. (But they call them something else in those parts.) The soil is ancient. Paleozoic. Worn out. Few nutrients unless you’re in the bottom lands. Which flood, of course. Farming in that country requires tremendous self-reliance. It’s not lucrative. As it turns out, my grandfather Cornelius moved the family to better land in Iowa (I believe in the ’90s), then passed away in ’22, whence my grandmother moved my father back to Kentucky. As a teen, my father supported my grandmother during the Great Depression, in Louisville, successfully escaping family roots in Pulaski County.
But the red clay ran deep. Even when my father earned a management position in the 1950s (a very big deal in those days), he still had a home workshop, and still did most everything around the house. And we had the garden. Which was big enough to feed our family of 4. I was driving a garden tractor at age 7.
Times, They Are A-Changin’
Unfortunately, skills for surviving a depression don’t work that well during a technical revolution, when the economy is expanding rapidly with easy credit. There’s too much to know and not enough time to know it. And while you may be learning real skills, your competition is leveraging a relationship (or a dozen) to put you out of business.
So why insist on starting out in the virtual mailroom? It’s not 1937 anymore… red clay. Dirt farmers are fiercely independent… or they are nothing. I know enough design to get by; I’ll never be held hostage by a designer. I know enough about every other aspect of my business to run it by myself if I have to.
I’m not growing my business as quickly as others, perhaps, but I can’t be put completely out of business either. This is my strategy. Your’s will surely be different and that’s cool. There’s more than one way to succeed.
Enough of that, let’s switch back to the “4 hour work week” and get some outsourcing done.
There Is No One Right Way to Outsource
Recall: I’ve spent around $100k on outsourced work. I’ve had great success; I’ve had real failure. And one thing is certain: there’s more than one way to outsource. For any claim anyone makes about outsourcing, I can likely provide a counter example (with invoice) from experience.
Here’s one: “You need to build strong relationships with providers.” That’s not necessarily true. I’ve had graphics work turned around at a reasonable price within a couple of hours… from ads on Craigslist. Same with technical writing and documentation.
On the other hand, for some work, without a strong relationship with the provider, you’re almost guaranteed to fail. If that relationship is good, it’s practically a guarantee of success. In one situation, I had a programmer who understood my vision well enough to implement – correctly – on relatively vague descriptions of how I wanted the finished product to perform. In another case, I ended up firing someone. No matter how detailed my specification, he insisted on building his vision of the product instead of my client’s vision of the product.
Relationships don’t always matter, but when they do, they matter a lot.
Where DIY Pays Back
When it’s my money on the line, I like to learn enough about the whatever-it-is to get it done myself (that red clay runs deep), within reason. If it turns out to be something I’m not strong at, or don’t want to do, I definitely outsource, where that DIY experience pays back in two ways:
- When I outsource tasks I’m currently doing myself, I save an enormous amount of time specifying the work, because I have a picture of what needs to be done, roughly how it gets done, and, critically important from the providers point of view, I know what’s possible and what isn’t. I already speak the provider’s language, and I’m not going to be adding an “anti-gravity unit” to an “underwater barbecue.” (That is, specifying something impossible to build. Trust me, there are people happy to play you for a fool and take your money.)
- I can perform due diligence on the deliverable. Since I know about what the work requires, I know where the corners get cut and where the mistakes are made. In other words, I know when I get good stuff, and when I get crap. Knowing this difference has saved me, and will save you, untold grief.
In the end, you have to decide what works best for you. Outsourcing everything can get you ramped up pretty quick. Outsourcing can also leave you broke, held hostage by your provider, with no viable product, and having learned no marketable skills. Do it all yourself and you may see your market grabbed away by competitors who move faster. But you will have learned new marketable skills. And that’s not a bad thing either.
There are always new markets to conquer. To really get outsourcing done right, you may find yourself learning far more about something than you think you ought. For example, back in the day I pulled a motor (Chevy straight 6 250. In a tree. In Manchaca Texas) to change the journal bearings. Nowadays, I go to Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed. Was pulling a motor “smart?” I dunno. It was fun, though, and definitely red clay. And I’ve never had a hassle with an auto mechanic. Not ever. I take that back, sort of. I’ve been overcharged exactly once. Instead of fighting it, I simply inform people that I was overcharged and now go somewhere else. Not really a hassle. (Turns out this shop developed a reputation for overcharging.)
This is just the first layer of the outsourcing onion. There are many more layers. For example, sometimes it makes sense to outsource work you’re really good at. And supervising outsourced work can eat up great crazy gobs of your time. But this is where this essay needs to end.
Tell me, how much red clay runs in your veins?
About the author: Dave Doolin blogs at Website In A Weekend, where you can learn how to blog.
David has been blogging for 15 years, and generating a six-figure income at it for the last 12. He is the founder of Blog Marketing Academy. 
David Risley has been building and operating authority blogs for 15 years, and operating a six-figure business doing it for a decade.
So, thought I would chime in briefly. Like Dave, I'm a big believer in outsourcing. If anything, I need to do it more than I do.
But, I agree with his point about single points of failure. I've seen cases of marketers getting screwed by designers or coders who don't follow through on schedule…. it ends up making them look like an ass… and it is the marketer's fault because they don't know how to do much of any of it on their own.
So, while I do hire others who are better at things than I am, usually I know how to jump in there and do it myself when I need to. This is important, especially when bootstrapping an online business and you don't have a sea of dependable people you can hire whenever you feel like it.
OK, back to you.
Hello Dave,
I outsource professional doctors for 5 out of 6 offices that I currently manage. Is it expensive? Yes, but it gives me a flexibility to work only 3 times a week and spend the rest of the time with my family, riding my MTB and building my blog.
I agree with you 100% that it is very important to work with people who can deliver quality product for the money. I use the same guy for my website for the last 10 years. He is just good at what he does and always deliver.
My billing and therapies are done by other people as well. However, certain things I just prefer to do it myself. I fired my secretary about a year ago because she was playing On Iphone all day long for a very long time. My office is completely computerized and automated so she really had nothing to do. When I took over I scratched my had and thought to myself: “Why did I keep her for so long when computers do all the work?” The other thing I do myself is writing reports for my patients. The rest of the things I outsource. Life is too short and I certainly not looking back in my first two years of practice when I worked 6 days a week.
Great post, Thanks
I think the DIY aspect is pretty important, too. For one thing, if you don't know anything other than a vague overview of the concept you can end up with a product that has nothing to do with what you wanted. I haven't had this problem but a friend recently asked a website guy to build her a blog. He told her he could. She coughs up the money, gets her site.
Now she learns his idea of a blog is not a blog. He gave her a website with one page that has the long scrolled page for blogging but it's not a blog. She's paying a monthly fee and she's to send him one article a month and he posts it.
That's not a blog. When confronted NOW he tells her he's not set up to do WordPress or anything like that. $400 later.
Unfortunately she leaped before she had a firm grasp on the concepts and now she's stuck until she has funds to make the change and until she spends the time learning more about what she really wants.
I wish I could say this is the only time I've seen this. As much as I hate the techno stuff I know I need to understand it enough to get what I want and to be able to take it over if needed. I think your phrase “due diligence on the deliverable” is so important. Great post and really hits home for me.
I've been held hostage. It sucks, bad.
Dave, thanks for the opportunity. This was a fun article to write.
Good Article. I also like knowing what I am doing on a specific task myself and being involved in the mechanics first before thinking of outsourcing. I also think in regard to a blog that I could outsource articles but they would not be my writing style or personality so I am not real thrilled with outsourcing the work. No if it is just a website or blog for affiliate marketing purposes then that is a different story. You have to be careful what you outsource and how it is going to effect your image or brand.
My take on Outsourcing is it works well when you have a clear brief, that your Outsourcer has a clear deadline and that you build in come extra time then it works
It frees you up to concentrate on things that really make your business work, there is an element of trial and error involved and I've had better service from sites like Fiverr than from monthly contracted workers
once you find some good partners look after them, they are worth their weight in gold
People like this destroy the credibility of all web designers, and ultimately drive down prices.
I realize that the blogging community tends to disdain credentials, but your friend's experience is one of the reasons that professionals form professional societies and support credentials.
It turns out you don't really need that much technical ability for blogging… but as you note, you do need a little!
Dave – I totally agree. I think it's best to start doing everything yourself, then outsource things bit by bit as you can afford it and when it becomes drudgery. By then, you know what you want and you know what a good job looks like.
I think the main problem is that it takes a while to be able to afford to hire someone, if you don't want to put it on a credit card.
Excellent
I predict you die a very wealthy man
Nice clear as day post Thanks
Stumbled
I have had my fair share of ups and downs with outsourcing also. Plenty of downs. So True that there is not “One Right Way To Outsource”. Even when it goes pear shaped I try to look at it positively and think of it as an investment. There is quite a steep learning curve also to the whole outsourcing thing. It's also very easy told hold off and not outsource when you so easily and cheaply could, but can't be bothered with the hassles/risks.
I was so pleased to read this. I am constantly being told that I shouldn't be doing … whatever it turns out to be … by the experts. I like to keep control of my business. I only outsource what I just can't do. Learning new things is all part of the joy of being in business.
Good stuff, Dave… I have been thinking of outsourcing more stuff than I currently do right now. I believe I have had enough of DIY and I need to leverage my time. It does take some patience to learn all the bits but if you do that, you are more equipped to know what to look out for when hiring someone. Kind of a 37 signals, Rework mindset….
Holy effing particular kick “a” writing Dave D! great analogy.
we here in Indiana are very fierce on our farming heritage though our clay is grey, but of the same “sticky” makeup.
Me– I wish I was willing to outsource more but dang man, I am SOOOOO particular about stuff and NOOOBODDY can do it as good as me!!! maybe that is why my business, though successful, is only a small percentage of what it should be.
to me, the key is balance. Balance between that PERFECT quality and the need to quit bitchin' and get the work done.
Good stuff man… have always admired ya!
AL
Great post I was very pleased to read this. I somehow don't like the idea of outsourcing for both ethical reasons and I like to keep control of my business and learning new things is a lot of fun. However, if I do choose to outsource I will do it ethically and only for the things I just can't do myself to my satisfaction. Right now I have no money to outsource
Yep, blue-grey clay. Some of that stuff is limestone-derived from the last two glaciations, and will fizz if you drop a little acid on it. You must be north in Indiana, or near the Ohio side, because there's a big wedge of red clay running from about Cloverdale to Mauckport.
Giving up control can be liberating. The key is understanding that your standards may be far higher than your customers standards, stuff you may think is important may not matter. This is sort of like taking out of few paragraphs of a blog post: if it's good anyway, readers won't know the difference. Outsourcing some things can help you overcome the “perfection problem.”
Outsourcing can be very lucrative when you are able to bill your clients on a pass-through basis, surcharging for profit.
Thanks, John. I'm already incredibly wealthy in experience and possibly (not!) knowledge. Wisdom and revenue wealth come and go, apparently, it seems, at random.
Hi Everyone:
I've been self employed for 20 years. Outsourcing is no different that hiring and working with any other type of employee. For either an inhouse or outsource program to work, clear guidelines and timeframes must be specifed up front. Its an owners role to make sure those schedules are met. I, like all people can struggle with this. The hardest thing to make a change when the agreed upon things are not met.
I do agree with Dave, that some sort of nominal knowledge of a process is invaluable.
What a timely article. My email has been jammed with outsourcing offers recently and frankly some looked quite attractive. But I found myself asking myself, “Self, how are you going to know it's being done right?” I think I must have some red clay running through these veins as well. DIY is the best way I have ever found to plan for the next step. It's like the old days when you “got the paper system right” before you put it on the computer. It is always too expensive to try to automate (or delegate) what isn't working well in the first place.
I tried some outsourcing to the Philippians cause everyone “knows” how great it is. Well the content was bad and inconsistent so I cut it off after a week. Now I use a paid service that employees over a 1,000 writers and whenever I get Philippine English in an article, I blacklist the writer.
This is really interesting, because I've considered outsourcing, however, because of a tight budget I haven't yet done it. But I like to be in 'control' like you say, at a grass roots level, ie. I can do it myself if I have to. As a result I can do basic design, marketing, promotion, networking etc – things that are key to my business and existence.
I can spend hours poring over the wording, doing all the editing and copywriting work, but what I've also discovered is that because my heart and passion is 100% in what I'm doing (I totally believe in all/any products/services I offer) I find I LOVE doing it. Maybe as and when I grow, it may be a different experience.
Thanks for sharing thoughts on this; a valuable insight.
Amelia.x
PS. oh, and sometimes I have found skill swapping a cheaper alternative to paid outsourced work!
This goes very much along my lines of outsourcing – learn to do something yourself at least in its basic form first, then you'll be able to recognise if the people you outsource to are doing this right.
I used to use this concept as an employee. I, as the team leader, needed to at least partly understand what my team members were doing, otherwise how could I tell if they were having problems, or stick up for them if they got a complaint?
There is a lot of good value concepts within this article. The biggest problem with most amateur outsources is that they don't know what they want. The difference between someone whom succeeds and someone that doesn't in my opinion is defining the goal of the outsourcing project succinctly and accurately. Moreover, understanding the different components required to make the business.
Article writing is a very problematic activity. Personally, I've tried the Philippines, I've tried India – in fact I've tried all over. Outsourcing to anywhere but a native English speaking country I've found to be a false economy. Whilst article writing in western countries is expensive – you get value added – if you outsource anywhere else you'll end up spending more time than it's worth correcting English and finding yourself with work that doesn't add value.