One of my blog entries about outsourcing when it comes to development and design, just wanted some feedback on it. I think people use outsourcing the wrong way with the wrong approach and end up with code and design they cant use, tell me if my advice is on the right track. Here was the article I wrote on my super kc blog.
Guide To Understanding Webmaster Outsourcing
You will find that most of your most valued staff will come from outsourcing online. Although outsourcing has its perks, many people find themselves lost and unsatisfied with the results. Outsourcing is tricky and requires a certain approach in order to be successful. I wanted to touch on a few tips and direction which will guide you on how to get the most out of outsourcing as a webmaster. First lets talk about what you can outsource with great success. The key to outsourcing is finding individuals that will provide a specialized skill that is crucial to complete your project. What you should avoid with outsourcing is attempting to find an individual that possesses more then one skill net needed to complete a project. For example, locating an artist to build a logo is a great use of outsourcing. However, finding a web designer to build you a website is not a good use of outsourcing and I will explain why. You can expect an artist to have the ability to draw with success, that is true. But you cannot expect a webmaster to be able to handle the coding of a website, its design, graphics, and writing; all in one. Let me give you an example of how to properly outsource the creation of a website.
How To Hire A Web Designer
Lets say you want a website. In this example, lets say you want a simple website with a company logo, a simple video explaining the product, a way to order the product, and also an admin area that will allow you to change certain things on the site with ease. Here is the proper way of outsourcing it.
Step One: Hire The Web Designer
The web designer is the individual that will bring all of the elements together. They are not the artist or programmer. Provide your web designer some live examples on the web that you would like your final website to look at, and also provide them sketches of how you want the layout to look like.
Step Two: Hire An Artist
The artist will draw the logo of your company. Provide examples and any information you can. Always request the logo be provided in a Photoshop and PNG format, and JPG format.
Step Three: Hire A Sales Writer
Explain to the writer your product and services. Explain to him the web pages you need content built for, and the end results you desire. If your website allows your customers to purchase instantly then explain to your writer that you need a sales pitch to close the customer on site.
Step Four: Hire A Perl Programmer
Certain things on your site might need changed in the future like pricing, a paypal email address, or ads. Hire a perl programmer to build a backend ‘administrative’ panel that will provide a SSI variables to the site. Your web designer can help you with this.
Step Four: Start Integration.
Give the completed logo and written sales ads to your web designer to start building into the website. Once a ‘proof’ site has been made you can refine the look and feel of it. Send your web programmer the web address to the installed perl script received from your programmer along with instructions on how to integrate the variables into the design. This will allow you to modify certain aspects of the web page in the future with a web based control panel.
Step Five: Additional Artistic Work
Send over the proof site to your artist along with detailed instructions on what illustrations you need created for the website. Support your product with illustrations that help show the process or there concepts. When completed send these illustrations to your web designer.
Step Six: Write For Your Video
Send your writer the website so he can see the progress and request him write an outline for a video presentation of the product.
Step Seven: Hire a Video Designer
Remember, your video designer has to have all materials to build your video. Provide him with your artists raw graphics, the website, and the writing from your writer. Also put him in contact with your artist and writer to request additional resources. Specific to your video designer the purpose your trying to achieve, what size you need the video, and provide him an outline on the video itself. Leave nothing to there imagination.
Step Eight: Final Integration
Send all resources to your designer to finalize. You should receive a final with your video integrated, a fully functional administrative panel controlling the aspects of the website, and a strong sales pitch.
A Lot of Work?
This might seem like a lot of work but it is absolutely required to have a decent web page. Web designers are not artists, writers, programmers, and video designers — they are just people that ‘put things together’. When you find a web designer that will do everything for you (unless they are a Super KC), then your going to get low quality sites, and they rely on you to still provide everything. You will get left with something that won’t get the job done at all and will get tied into needing a ‘webmaster’ to keep it up and going. When your outsourcing, isolate each skill set and manage the collection of the resources yourself.
Quick List of Things That Cannot Be Outsourced
You cannot outsource marketing. You cannot outsource extremely advanced programming without a project manager. You cannot outsource lead or sale generation. You can’t outsource someone to manage aspects of the business such as affiliate marketing. Doesn’t matter what they promise, outsourcing cannot generate you leads or business; otherwise they wouldn’t be in the business they are in.
Things That Can Be Outsourced
You can outsource any type of data entry, writing, art & graphics, web design, and simple programming.You can outsource the physical creation of just about anything and consulting. You can outsource things such as posting ads on craigslist, but I don’t recommend it because results are always subpar.
Hope this article helps those who are considering outsourcing.
Guide To Understanding Webmaster Outsourcing
You will find that most of your most valued staff will come from outsourcing online. Although outsourcing has its perks, many people find themselves lost and unsatisfied with the results. Outsourcing is tricky and requires a certain approach in order to be successful. I wanted to touch on a few tips and direction which will guide you on how to get the most out of outsourcing as a webmaster. First lets talk about what you can outsource with great success. The key to outsourcing is finding individuals that will provide a specialized skill that is crucial to complete your project. What you should avoid with outsourcing is attempting to find an individual that possesses more then one skill net needed to complete a project. For example, locating an artist to build a logo is a great use of outsourcing. However, finding a web designer to build you a website is not a good use of outsourcing and I will explain why. You can expect an artist to have the ability to draw with success, that is true. But you cannot expect a webmaster to be able to handle the coding of a website, its design, graphics, and writing; all in one. Let me give you an example of how to properly outsource the creation of a website.
How To Hire A Web Designer
Lets say you want a website. In this example, lets say you want a simple website with a company logo, a simple video explaining the product, a way to order the product, and also an admin area that will allow you to change certain things on the site with ease. Here is the proper way of outsourcing it.
Step One: Hire The Web Designer
The web designer is the individual that will bring all of the elements together. They are not the artist or programmer. Provide your web designer some live examples on the web that you would like your final website to look at, and also provide them sketches of how you want the layout to look like.
Step Two: Hire An Artist
The artist will draw the logo of your company. Provide examples and any information you can. Always request the logo be provided in a Photoshop and PNG format, and JPG format.
Step Three: Hire A Sales Writer
Explain to the writer your product and services. Explain to him the web pages you need content built for, and the end results you desire. If your website allows your customers to purchase instantly then explain to your writer that you need a sales pitch to close the customer on site.
Step Four: Hire A Perl Programmer
Certain things on your site might need changed in the future like pricing, a paypal email address, or ads. Hire a perl programmer to build a backend ‘administrative’ panel that will provide a SSI variables to the site. Your web designer can help you with this.
Step Four: Start Integration.
Give the completed logo and written sales ads to your web designer to start building into the website. Once a ‘proof’ site has been made you can refine the look and feel of it. Send your web programmer the web address to the installed perl script received from your programmer along with instructions on how to integrate the variables into the design. This will allow you to modify certain aspects of the web page in the future with a web based control panel.
Step Five: Additional Artistic Work
Send over the proof site to your artist along with detailed instructions on what illustrations you need created for the website. Support your product with illustrations that help show the process or there concepts. When completed send these illustrations to your web designer.
Step Six: Write For Your Video
Send your writer the website so he can see the progress and request him write an outline for a video presentation of the product.
Step Seven: Hire a Video Designer
Remember, your video designer has to have all materials to build your video. Provide him with your artists raw graphics, the website, and the writing from your writer. Also put him in contact with your artist and writer to request additional resources. Specific to your video designer the purpose your trying to achieve, what size you need the video, and provide him an outline on the video itself. Leave nothing to there imagination.
Step Eight: Final Integration
Send all resources to your designer to finalize. You should receive a final with your video integrated, a fully functional administrative panel controlling the aspects of the website, and a strong sales pitch.
A Lot of Work?
This might seem like a lot of work but it is absolutely required to have a decent web page. Web designers are not artists, writers, programmers, and video designers — they are just people that ‘put things together’. When you find a web designer that will do everything for you (unless they are a Super KC), then your going to get low quality sites, and they rely on you to still provide everything. You will get left with something that won’t get the job done at all and will get tied into needing a ‘webmaster’ to keep it up and going. When your outsourcing, isolate each skill set and manage the collection of the resources yourself.
Quick List of Things That Cannot Be Outsourced
You cannot outsource marketing. You cannot outsource extremely advanced programming without a project manager. You cannot outsource lead or sale generation. You can’t outsource someone to manage aspects of the business such as affiliate marketing. Doesn’t matter what they promise, outsourcing cannot generate you leads or business; otherwise they wouldn’t be in the business they are in.
Things That Can Be Outsourced
You can outsource any type of data entry, writing, art & graphics, web design, and simple programming.You can outsource the physical creation of just about anything and consulting. You can outsource things such as posting ads on craigslist, but I don’t recommend it because results are always subpar.
Hope this article helps those who are considering outsourcing.
