Are You Batch Processing Your Outsourced Work?
November 26, 2009 by Tyrone
Over the past couple years I’ve been very privileged to participate in Yaro Starak’s coaching programs and learn from his teachings. Recently I’ve been listening to his audio Mindset series in the car quite a number of times, not because I don’t have anything to listen to, it’s because I want to. What I have noticed every time I listen to this series is a new idea will come to mind and it keeps me grounded in how I should be approaching my Internet business.
A specific topic Yaro talked about is batch processing and it’s an important system for any Internet business. This topic wasn’t directed to outsourcing, though I wanted to share with you how relevant it can be.
What is Batch Processing?
Let’s take a look at an example in relation to emails. Emails are probably one of the biggest distractions in modern society (sorry guys, in my opinion it is), though they are necessary because it is considered a main form of communication between a client and a business. Now you can have the option of checking your email every hour of the day and replying to people answering their questions or you can batch process them at most once a day or twice a week (ultimately this is what you should strive to achieve). What batch processing does is it allows you to process all your tasks at one time rather than processing them as they come.
Rather than answer an email straight away, which takes 5 minutes to complete and interrupt your current task, you can process all your emails once at the end of the day, that allows you to have a focused effort. So you get the emails replied to in 30 minutes compared to the 50 minutes it would have taken you if spread these over the day.
In my Dragonboat business I let customers know that I personally check my email twice a week on Tuesday or Thursday and if the matter is urgent, they need to send the request to my support team who checks the ticket system twice a day on my behalf.
What Are Tasks You Can Batch Process To Be More Productive?
VIDEO 7: How To Pay Your Virtual Staff
October 20, 2009 by Tyrone
This is video 7 of the 10 part series on how to outsource your Internet business. If you have not seen any of the previous videos in the series, I recommend watching them beforehand at:
- Video 1: Why You Should Outsource Your Work
- Video 2: Should I Hire A Contractor Or Virtual Staff?
- Video 3: How To Find People To Work For You Full Time
- Video 4: How to Find People From Onlinejobs.ph
- Video 5: How To Contact A Candidate
- Video 6: How to Hire People To Work For You Full Time
In video 7, I’ll show you how to pay your staff using a popular payment method that is used Worldwide called Paypal. You can set this account to pay your virtual staff and to send money to them every month or on a regular basis. I demonstrate step by step in this video on what to do and how to pay your virtual staff. To learn more about this, press the play button below to begin:
Video 7: How To Pay Your Virtual Staff
If you have any comments and questions about the video tutorial, please click “Read the rest of this post” below to leave your comment.
VIDEO 6: How To Hire People To Work For You Full Time
October 19, 2009 by Tyrone
Welcome to the 2nd week of the 10 part series on how to outsource your Internet business. If you have not seen the first five videos in the series, I recommend watching them beforehand at:
- Video 1: Why You Should Outsource Your Work
- Video 2: Should I Hire A Contractor Or Virtual Staff?
- Video 3: How To Find People To Work For You Full Time
- Video 4: How to Find People From Onlinejobs.ph
- Video 5: How To Contact A Candidate
Today we begin video 6, and I show you in detail how to hire a virtual staff for your Internet business. I’ll provide you with all the templates and emails I use to test a candidate suitable for the position and also show you how to hire this person to work for you full time.
To learn more about this, press the play button below to begin:
Video 6: How To Hire People To Work For You Full Time
If you have any comments and questions about the video tutorial, please click “Read the rest of this post” below to leave your comment.
ActiveCollab Review: Helps You Manage All Your Projects
July 13, 2009 by Tyrone
In today’s post I would like to share with you an excellent piece of software that I use in my business. I had been struggling in the past to manage multiple projects all at once and when you have 3 staff working for you full time, you need to have good systems in place to manage them. Furthermore, it can be a real disaster when you take on more work without having a project management software in place. You will receive more emails from your clients and programmers and before you know it, you will have forgotten who sent what.
This is why I turned to ActiveCollab. A few weeks ago I did a podcast with Adam Lever from Big Screen Promotions and on the topic of How To Outsource Your Internet Business. In the podcast we discussed about how to outsource your Internet business and also mentioned a few software products that were freely available. One we mentioned was Dot Project and this is an open source software that is quite basic. I personally felt it wasn’t enough to manage the projects and opted to another option.
ActiveCollab – A Project Management Software I Love!
When I found ActiveCollab it was originally open source and was free up until Version 1.0. Then the team decided to charge a license fee starting at $199.00 which I believe is well worth the price. A lot of times I don’t buy software or recommend it unless it either:
- Saves time
- Saves money
- Easy to use
Getting Started In Your New Internet Business
I always think it’s fun and exciting to start a new Internet business. I know for me that I would do something that I’m interested and passionate about. Otherwise the new venture doesn’t last for long. As it’s just as important to have passion, motivation and interest, there are a few areas that help me succeed in business.
Promoting Your Internet Business
I would call this the “show me the money” part of the business. Without money or income, there is no business. Therefore it’s important to promote your business and turn your promotional activities into sales. At every opportunity, try to promote your business through passive means: e.g. through your stationary, letterheads, emails, brochures and any other promotional material you may use. Even if it’s just an article you write for a directory, remember to put your website address at the bottom of it. In the past, I made stickers of my logo that I could easily stick on my products. Also I made sure that every email I sent out to a customer had a company logo in it. This all helps with creating the brand for the business.
It’s crucial to develop a marketing plan that will not only sell your products, but also your brand. Here are some other articles I recommend to read to help you promote your Internet business:
- Spreading The Word: Turbocharge Your Traffic
- Converting Traffic Into Sales Part 1: Generating Leads
- Converting Traffic Into Sales Part 2: Profiting From The Back-End
- 12 Sales Effective Marketing Tips
Operating Your Business
This is the “lifeblood” of the business and I’m amazed at the amount of businesses that still operate without having good systems in place. An electrician I use from time to time asked me how I maintain my book work and said he doesn’t know how to do it. I was shocked because I’d known him to be trading for over 2 years and he probably doesn’t know how much money is being made in his business or let alone lost. What I am saying is to not be like my Electrician friend and make sure you buy an accounting software to track all your accounts and paperwork. I would suggest hiring a book keeper because it will save you the hassle and time of doing it all yourself. Some good software packages out there that are under $500 like MYOB Accounting and QuickBooks will be more than sufficient when you start out.
Another area that most people forget or get caught out on are getting the appropriate insurances for your business. The most common are public liability insurance, fire, burglary, vehicle and workers compensation insurance. All these can be easily found via a quick search on Google. I would recommend ensuring both public liability and fire insurances are in place before even running your business.
Keeping Pace And Staying Up To Date
This may sound all too overwhelming when you have to promote, operate your business and keep up to date with your industry. Believe me it’s not as hard as it sounds. Take the first step and join a trade association or your local Chamber of Commerce. You will find it both informative and beneficial to your business. To know what is happening in your area and within your industry can help you make better decisions for promoting your product or service. Whether it may be time to change a product line or add more services to your business, you will be keeping up with the industry and making sure you are not missing out on opportunities. Also it’s a great way to network and promote within your trade associations and Chamber of Commerce. Simply write an article to contribute and it can be used as great public relations (P.R) for your business.
Also I emphasise to have a well prepared business plan created before starting your business, because this will be your starting point. A business plan is useful for so many areas for your business from sourcing finance to implementing a growth strategy for the next 5 years. Once it’s written down, it will become a living breathing document that you can update and review over time. I’ve just finished preparing my business plan for this business which took nearly 3 weeks to complete but I can tell you that it is well worth the time and effort to do. Learn how to put your own business plan together and I can guarantee you that you’ll get finance and negotiate business deals much easier.
The Future Of Your Internet Business
Starting your Internet Business is rewarding and if you look into those areas I have mentioned, then you will have a good foundation to running a successful Internet Business. Take action today and know that you deserve to live your dream.
Tyrone Shum
Internet Business Coach
