Outsourcing Increased My Productivitiy By 200%

Recently I’ve been testing some new ideas with “outsourcing” for Internet Business Path and from what I can gather, it’s been able to increase my productivity by at least 200%. What I did before outsourcing work to people was to create a mindmap of what the business needed in order to grow and continue to run without my input. Below is the mindmap of my businesses in it’s simplest form:

If want to create one, a really good software to use is FreeMind. It’s very easy to learn and very powerful for any business because it allows a business owner to laid down their ideas in a logical path. Since applying a mindmap to my business I’ve been able to design the system to increase my productivity by 200%.

How Do I Outsource If I Don’t Have The Money?
Firstly let me say, if you don’t have the money to afford $3 – $5US an hour to pay someone to handle your tasks that needs to be done repetitively, then you shouldn’t be in business. Okay, I’ll be fair and tell you this: I had the mindset previously to do everything myself because it was always about not having enough money. I know how you feel when you first start running an Internet business or is still a one man show, but it’s having the courage to step out of your comfort zone and learn to delegate tasks to other people to do. It’s not going to be perfect at the beginning, but with a little training, some trial and error and time you will be able to leverage your time and increase your productivity.

Outsourcing Administrative Tasks
An example that I’ve been able to outsource for $3 US an hour is the ability to get my virtual assistant to check and reply to customer service emails every second working day. Provided that I have given the guidelines and information for how to respond, I have eliminated at least 10 hours a week of my time that I used to spend replying and following up emails. When you think about it, it only costs me around $30 US for a virtual assistant to free up 10 hours of my week. Isn’t that worth the trade off when my time is worth $500 per hour? There are many other examples I could give you on how to outsource your work, you can read more of it in my Internet Business Blueprint report.

A Web Developer Will Solve All Your Website Issues
If you’ve read my business timeline, you would know that I graduated with a Computer Science degree from UNSW. Even with a degree in Computing Science I’m still not a good programmer and I choose not to be. I would rather leave the technical issues for a web developer that I can hire on an ongoing basis and pay them to work on my projects. It would take them a couple of hours to do something that would take me all week. Hence the websites I design and this blog you are reading has been designed by a web developer I hire and I simply project manage the process to achieve a great result for my clients.

A Bookkeeper Will Keep The Tax Office Happy
If you’re like me and hate seeing piles of invoices and accounts unreconciled, then I know you would hate book keeping. It’s a crucial part of your Internet business and without it there’s no way to measure how well your business finances are doing. There are systems that allow you to keep track of your business online, but not all of them are compatible with the tax laws within your country. Therefore I still purchase accounting software that is meeting Australian standards, such as MYOB Accounting. I hire a book keeper to help make sure my accounts are up to date and to generate reports to show me the financial health of the business. I hire a book keeper on a monthly basis where I can have all my paper work batched and she will enter the information at one time. She makes sure that my books are up to date and tax is paid on time and I don’t get calls from the tax office. She would save at least 20 hours + a month of book keeping that I would have had to do myself, all for the cost of a dinner with my partner.

I’m Still The Writer And Internet Marketer
I love writing and expressing my ideas on Internet Business Path and will continue to do so for a very long time. I found that it’s a great way to communicate with people from all over the world and I love receiving feedback and comments. I do this because I’m passionate about Internet business and if you know me I usually share my ideas with my friends and family most of the time. I could outsource the writing to a ghostwriter quite easily and let someone else do the marketing, though I have learnt that these are my strengths and communicating and promoting my business is my passion.

Tyrone Shum
Outsourcer

12 Sales Effective Marketing Tips

MARKETING YOUR INTERNET BUSINESS may already be your strength, or you are struggling and just getting by. No matter how your business is performing everyone can benefit by exploring some low cost marketing opportunities that will help grow your business. You don’t have to spend loads of money on advertising, it just requires some creativity and planning. Furthermore, not only does it add more dollars to your bottom line in money not spent on advertising it can also boost your confidence. Here are 12 tips for you to implement into your Internet business.

12 sales effective / low cost marketing tips:

1. Press Release – send a story about yourself relating to your business via email to a newspaper or magazine relevant to your industry. A story will increase your businesses public awareness and credibility and it is free marketing for you as well. Don’t forget to include  a professionally taken photo of yourself.
2. Send Email – contact your existing clients and offer them something via email to entice to visit your website.
3. Public Speaking – offer a presentation at your local service club like Rotary or Leagues and ask if they would be interested in allowing you to present a subject of interest. Don’t do a sale pitch, offer something to people that will be of value and record the session to use for later public broadcasts. You can also use this in your credentials to show people you have spoken in public and is good for press releases as well.
4. Keyword Marketing - not enough businesses use this method and it’s low cost as long as you set your target and budget correctly. You can buy keywords relating to your business from as little as 5c per word. Be really specific and make sure your target audience sees your advertisement.
5. Post Advertisement On Noticeboard - your local shopping centre, schools, universities will have noticeboards for you to post up notices and advertisements. Use them and take advantage of them because many people still read noticeboard and give them an incentive to call (maybe include a tear off at the bottom of your notice).
6. Networking – join a business club or a forum in your area sharing the same interest. Attend these events regularly and swap business cards.
7. Setup A Stall – sometimes just setting up a store at your local fair or market creates brand awareness for your business and is a great opportunity to talk to people in the community and hand out brochures to offer your products or services.
8. Cross-Promote – contact other businesses that offer complimentary services or products to yours and work out a co-operative marketing strategy to promote together. It’s a win-win to help each other out.
9. Promote On Your Car – A very cost effective way if you drive around a lot. You can purchase magnetic signs to stick on your car with your business details. You will definitely get people looking because not enough people do it.
10. Give Away Vouchers – When a consumer purchases your product or service give them a discount voucher for their next purchase to entice them to come back to spend again.
11. Talk To People – Don’t worry, they’re not going to bite you! Talk to your friends and acquaintances, they will be more than happy to refer your details if you approach them nicely.
12. Write A Guest Post – This is becoming more popular across the Bloggersphere where you offer to write an informative article for other bloggers. They may have readers that you want to attract and they are interested in what you have to say, then it’s a great way to market your Internet business.

Try to implement a couple of these ideas over the month and test your results. The best way to find out if they work is to ask your customers when they contact you, “How did you hear about us?”. This is the best way to measure and learn from your customers as it can help you determine what is working and what is not. It’s all about trial and error to find the best marketing method for your Internet business.

Tyrone Shum
Marketing Tipster

How To Use Free Promotions For Your Internet Business?

In my opinion, the most challenging task about running a successful Internet business is how to effectively market your website with low cost strategies or using free promotions. Here are some guidelines on how to acquire free Internet business promotions for your website to drive more traffic and increase your revenue:

1. If you have started to promote your Internet business, keep it constant. If you promote your site with persistence, it will catch your audience’s attention.
2. Be patient. Try each method in promotion until you acquire the best, free promotion there is. You have to accept trial and error for your Internet business to reach the top.

Free And Effective Promotions To Try
There are many ways for your Internet business to be seen. Here are some free Internet business promotions you could try until you find the most effective.

• Free promotions such as search engines and directories would give your web site the deserved traffic you always wanted. Make a point to check your Internet business ranking to know whether or not this type of free promotion is right for you.
• Make a deal with other Internet business blogs on trading links which could help both web sites.
• Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about Internet business Promotion? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs? Make sure to use words that could easily interest the audience.
• Find free classified ads that could boost the promotion of your Internet business. These ads could be seen by other people who you are not targeting for, but may as well be interested in your services.
• Free and low – cost internet banners are spread all through out the World Wide Web. Banners that pop up at the top of a page or in a separate window would automatically catch your target audience’s attention.

If your Internet business and its free promotion did not work even after accomplishing these methods, analyse your website. Track down all visitors, advertisements, and transactions. Then locate errors in your Internet business blog. Upload new files to your Internet business blog continuously for audience to return for new products and services. Monitor your own Internet business to see if it’s up in the market or down.

Then be ready to try the methods again and surely it will work.

It has always been said that the best things in life are free. Yes they are. And as soon as your free Internet business promotion proves to the audience its worth, then you’ll believe it’s true.

Tyrone Shum
Free Promoter