Monthly Archives: January 2014

The safest city in the USA & the most dangerous city in Mexico

January 12, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: America, Semi-Popular | Tagged | Leave a comment

It is an irony that the safest city in the USA and the most dangerous city in Mexico are right across a river from each other. El Paso is the most crime-free city in the USA. If you disregard the fact that many of the locals are the worst drivers in the country, it is a very safe place. On the other hand Ciudad Juarez is right across the river from downtown El Paso and is the most dangerous city in Mexico. Prostitutes are routinely murdered, and the cartels do plenty of shootings there as well.

It is interesting to note that many companies outsource to Mexico. Mexico does not have the cheapest manufacturing costs, but they do have the fastest turnaround for truck shipments to destinations in the USA. The average trucking time from central Mexico to the focal point of the continental United States is 17 hours. If you want to get goods from China, Malaysia, or Costa Rica to the United States, they have to be put on a truck, then a boat, then unloaded, then customs, then a train, then a truck, and it could take months to deliver your goods.

Mexico is a great outsourcing destination for manufacturing and not bad for call centers either. If only they could control their horrible drug war. Mexico could become a much more popular spot for future manufacturing operations, resorts and more. It is sad that the government is not in control of their own country. Personally, I feel that Mexico was governed more efficiently by the Aztecs — although their culture was based on routine slaughter of neighboring tribes who they sought to conquest! I guess some things never change.

Tweets:
(1) El Paso, the safest city the US is right across the river from Ciudad Juarez, the most dangerous city in Mexico!
(2) If you disregard the fact that half the residents have road rage, El Paso is the safest city in the USA!
(3) The Aztec culture was based on routine slaughters. Sounds like the cartel culture!
(4) Safest USA city is across from most dangerous Mexico city. Yin-ville and Yang-ville.
(5) Mexico is good for call centers. If only they’d call an end to the drug war.

You might also like:

Don’t expect to get paid more due to your GPS coordinates!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/19/dont-expect-to-get-paid-more-due-to-your-gps-coordinates/

The BPO across the border
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/08/the-bpo-across-the-border/

Google’s Algorithm for Blogs is Harder Now

January 10, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: SEO, Social Media | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

I wrote another article about how Google changed its algorithm regarding how blogs place in search results. Please keep in mind that this change happened in September 2013 and it was very pronounced. I do not do SEO for a living. I just noticed because I track my statistics for my notary blog and outsource blog regularly and train myself to notice things. The first relationship is between how good your blogs are and how you place on Google. The trick here is that a good article is not enough. You need to have incoming links and a way to get seen as well.

Blog tags are a wonderful invention, but are they all they are cut out to be? Using blog tags you can link up lots of blogs to each other in all types of ways based on keyword frequency. You choose tags based on whatever keyword you are trying to accentuate. The problem is that an incoming link is only given credit if several conditions are met:

(1) The link needs to come from a page with similar keywords. If you have tagged certain keywords, then we will assume you have the keyword relevancy. That is easy.

(2) The page that you link from needs to be indexed by Google. If a page gets low traffic, Google might not index it, which means you might get zero credit for an incoming link from that page. What I found is that Google will ignore a page which gets less than about 25-35 clicks per month. This problem wouldn’t affect a larger blog, but for small blogs getting less than 40,000 visits per month, your tags will only do you any good if they are for unusual keywords, or for particular entries which for some reason get lots of traffic. Newer posts that have been recently promoted might get a few hundred visits right away, but your older blog entries might get very little traffic even if your newer posts link to them. My outsource blog is tiny and my tags will not get me much play until I grow. A sad fact of life.

(3) If people actually click on a particular link, the value of the link becomes tremendously bigger. Very few people click on tags, but people would be more likely to click on a link in the body of an article, especially if it were dressed up in such a way that they would be encouraged to click on it. I often put suggested reading links at the bottom of articles and they get clicked on a fair amount, especially if they are highly relevant.

The value of a visit from Google
I noticed that despite how much harder it is to get blog traffic, for each additional click to my blog, I get many additional clicks to my site. Roughly 8 site visits per 1 blog visit. What an amazing correlation! I also learned that visits directly from Google give you much more reward in site visits. How does this work? I think that Google tracks how much traffic it gives you and then rewards you by giving your site higher placement as a result. It is a very helpful cycle, but you need skill to manage this relationship.

What is the solution?
Honestly, I am so overworked, that I make this mistake often — I do not put enough links on my posts until after the fact. Since blog entries on my blogs are generally only popular when they are initially promoted, putting the links on after the fact doesn’t help much. The solution is to pre-publish your blog articles and put as many quality outgoing links to other content as possible BEFORE you promote it. Put lots of good tags, and optimize the content so that you can put more tags as well. You can find creative ways to insert more of your essential keywords into the article to gain relevancy for your keywords.

Google is a wonderful tool. Try hard to master the art of blog promotion with Google. Facebook and Twitter have done miracles for me as well and should ideally be used to promote articles with good tags and outgoing links.

Tweets:
(1) #googleanalytics Google’s algorithm for blogs is harder now. It’s harder to get traffic period!

You might also like:

Social Media: The analytics are deceiving
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/05/27/social-media-the-analytics-are-deceiving/

The Google algorithm has some serious issues
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/04/the-google-algorithm-has-some-serous-issues/

Stand up comedian at a stand up restaurant in India

January 5, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Humor, Popular Posts | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Well, what do you know? A stand up restaurant! I wonder if anyone ever considered having a stand up comedian perform at this stand up restaurant. I’m a stand up guy. Maybe I’ll improvise a routine right now. I wonder if anyone will mind. Let’s try.

Comedian: This is a great crowd!

Audience: (glances briefly at him)
Comedian: Something interesting happened to me on the way to the show today. I was on a flight from Singapore to Bangalore, and I decided to do a little comedy. I did a take off on take offs. But, the sound of the engines was so loud, that nobody heard the punch lines! The flight attendant had to assist by pointing to the emergency exits with both hands, and then pointed to the comedian during the punch lines with both hands… Then, she held up a sign saying, “The captain has turned off the no laughing sign”.

Flight Attendant: You are free to laugh as much as you like in the cabin areas. For those of you who do not want to hear these jokes, we will be offering ear plugs for $5 per passenger. If you experience turbulance, it might be due to the fact that the people behind you are bouncing up and down with laughter. For the vegetarians on the plane, we have a choice of corny jokes, and tomatoes to throw at the comic if you don’t like the corny jokes.

Comedian: I wish my ex-girlfriend were here. She can’t stand me, but here she wouldn’t have a
choice!

Audience: (several look inquisitively at him)

===============
Comedian: I wouldn’t want to be a proctologist at a place like this. How can you get hemeroids if you never sit down?

Vipool: Are you a proctologist?
Nuntheny: My uncle Ramesh is very constipated and needs to see a proctologist right away.
Shankar: My family doesn’t have this type of problem. Just have a bite of aunty’s
cooking, that will kill any infection and burn a hole through any hemeroid — or ulcer for that matter.

Comedian: Remind your aunty not to invite me for dinner.

Ramesh: I think I heard an anecdote about aunty’s cooking the last time I had
constipation. I was told the problem would be over in a few minutes. Just have three bites of
aunty’s dahl and everything will turn to mush. HOT going in… HOT going out…

==============

Comedian: I guess you save money with a restaurant like this. You don’t have to hire a hostess to get people seated.

Comedian: If I commit a murder here, at least they won’t give me the chair!

Vipool: No danger in that, your jokes are not exactly killing right now.
Nuntheny: Oh no, please do not commit a murder!
Shankar: What are you talking about — kill Vishal over there — that BASTARD!

Comedian: It looks like if you like my jokes, I stand a high chance of getting a standing ovation.

Comedian: This is my first trip to India. I heard that you have arranged marriages here. I want to know if anyone had an arranged divorce.

Vipool: We don’t do it that way. See that bridge in the distance? If we don’t like the marriage, we just jump off. If we don’t die from the fall, we’ll die from ingesting the polluted water in the river.
Shankar: Or, we could end our marriage by jumping in front of a train. There is a good train track for that three blocks up, then take a left.
Comedian: Oh, it’s nice to know you have a choice!

===================

Comedian: I noticed that at Indian toll booths, they use two attendants at each booth. If America would get its head screwed on correctly for once, we would realize that this is a very effective way to solve the unemployment problem overnight.

Comedian: I went to the hills and three people tried to sell me a hat all at once. They surrounded me and kept hounding me to buy a hat. I told them I already had a hat, but needed pineapple, chocolate, and a tour map. So, they disappeared, and came back to harrass me exactly 75 minutes later. All three of them started trying to get me to buy pineapple from them. I told them I had already eaten.

Comedian: I had trouble getting here tonight. I took a cab ride, but the cab driver who spoke fluent English, couldn’t understand my thick New York accent. So, I was forced to figure out a way for him to understand me. I tried speaking slowly. I tried writing everything down, but he couldn’t read English — he could only speak English. So, I decided to mirror his thick South Indian accent.

“Dear respected sir, I am very much in need of a ride to Rajeev Nagar near Patna Temple in Bangalore section 14 next to Uma’s bakery emporeum to Pati Pati restaurant.”

Audience: (Standing as they may be, the audience is finally on the floor roaring with laughter)

Vipool: Your Indian accent is so funny. It is hard to picture that sound coming out of your mouth! We were not expecting that.
Nuntheny: Your South Indian accent is so funny I can’t stand it anymore!
Shankar: Screw your lame jokes. You should come here every night and imitate us. You’ll make great tips. We just want to hear us the way you hear us.

Comedian: I hear you
Audience: (no reaction)
Comedian: (Thick South Indian accent) I HEAR you
Audience: ah ha ha ha …. ha ha ha….

Tweets:
(1) A stand up comedian at a stand up restaurant in India. “They can’t understand my New York accent!”
(2) The captain has turned off the no laughing sign, you are free to laugh in the cabin areas now

You might also like:

An American teaches Indian companies to be more American
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/09/23/an-american-teaches-indian-cos-to-be-more-american/

How to get outsourcing work without lifting a finger
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/25/how-to-get-outsourcing-work-without-lifting-a-finger/

Is it better to have a woman do your phone calls?

January 4, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Management, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

I do a lot of my own phone calls.
But, I learned that my female counterparts are more popular with our clients than I am. Hmmm, what am I doing wrong? Is it me, or is it my gender? I just had a lady do some of the calls that I normally do, but, she got a much higher sign up rate for our newsletter list than I get? Part of it is gender, but she is also slower and more patient — clients like that. Interestingly enough, I once hired a guy with a high pitched voice. He was very popular over the phone because people THOUGHT he was a woman.

But, is hiring a woman always good?
Speaking slowly, clearly, listening, and being able to answer questions is very important. I am a boss, and in a huge hurry because I have more tasks than I do time. People like someone who has the time to go a little slower, so hiring someone else who has less on their late is a great idea.

But, when should you hire a man?
People respect men more as authority figures as a general rule. I am a very gentle guy, but I get more respect as an authority as my company than my saleslady. The irony is that she is much tougher than I am, but because of her gender, she is treated as less powerful than I am. The fact that she is not the owner is part of the reason she is treated as less powerful. But, actually, she is very powerful, because she influences me. If she says a particular client is trouble, I will “write them up” in my files, and that client could be in trouble with us in the long run! I would say:

For call lists that involve a person of authority, a gentle man with a manly voice might get a better result than a tough woman!

Boy, the world is such an unfair place!

Tweets:
(1) Proven fact — it is better to have women do many types of customer service phone calls!
(2) Women are more patient with phone customers. They listen better than men. Ironic, considering guys spend so much time listening to them!
(3) Women listen better to phone customers than men. Ironic, considering men spend so much time listening to women!

You might also like:

The 2% rule; Only 2% of companies are worth hiring
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/21/the-2-rule-only-2-of-companies-are-worth-hiring/

Would you pay extra to have a better employee?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/17/would-you-pay-extra-to-have-a-better-employee/

Google has changed its algorithm

January 3, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: Analytics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Google changed its algorithm to promote blogs less

It is so ironic. The minute we published a blog entry a few weeks ago about how Google gives too much promotion to blogs, and not enough promotion to actual websites that offer valuable services — Google changed its algorithm. As of August, 2013, I am seeing a lot less blogs on Google searches. This is good and bad. I like to look for good service providers online. I might be able to actually find them now. But, what about the multiple blogs that I write for and promote?

I am noticing that we are not losing that much ground in our incoming traffic statistics from Google searches. The Google algorithm makes it hard to show up on main keywords for blogs. But, if you have certain phrases, or longer keyword variations including two, three or more words, it is easier to show up well. If a blog entry is promoted in Google+ then you have a much better chance of showing up, and Twitter can make the difference as well. Blogs that get traffic will show up better, and if they get traffic from particular keywords, that helps as well. The Google algorithm is complicated and always changing.

We are sad, because we try so hard to show up on particular keywords, and it is sometimes really hard. Power of Attorney is one of our favorite keywords that we have written multiple blog entries about. Perhaps we will have to write thirty, with a few popular entries in that bunch to show up well on Google. Remember, Google gives more weight also to newer articles, so if you value traffic from a particular keyword, keep writing fresh content!

Tweets:
(1) A year ago, I was saying that Google gives too much promotion to blogs. That ended!

You might also like:

The 2% rule; only 2% of companies are worth hiring
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/21/the-2-rule-only-2-of-companies-are-worth-hiring/

Active vs. dormant followers on Twitter
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/09/27/active-vs-dormant-followers-on-twitter/

What if classically trained musicians ran IT companies in India?

January 1, 2014 by 123outsource
Categories: India, Of Interest, Semi-Popular | Tagged , | Leave a comment

When you think of refinement, what type of people do you think of? Do you think of Mercedes engineers? Do you think of Samurai? Or, do you think of classically trained musicians? Think about it. If you are in a profession that requires intricacy, refinement, and mastery, a background in classical music would be a huge plus! The irony of what might really would happen would be that the musicians would bang their head against the wall in frustration when the people around them screwed everything up.

I wrote another quick article about how tabla and sitar lessons could help you succeed in business more than anything else. Well, it is true! Classical music teaches refinement, timing, grace, subtlety, and cooperation with others. What other recreation besides ninjitsu can teach you all of that?

The beauty of a classical music training during your youth is that you notice things. Your ears are tuned to hear subtle (or not so subtle) differences. You notice how different players on a team hand projects off to each other at the prescribed times — or don’t. If anyone makes an error at any stage, you notice. A classical music background can also be a detriment because you might become overly critical of the clueless morons that surround you which can drive you (and them) absolutely crazy!

If these reasons to engage in classical music are not enough, think of how nice it sounds to listen to Mozart. And besides — many do it for the wine and cheese that follows the performances!

Tweets:
(1) When you think of refinement, what type of people do you think of? Classical musicians?
(2) A classical music background is a detriment because you’ll be overly critical of the uncultured!

You might also like:

Slow by good, verses fast and sloppy programmers
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/16/slow-but-good-verses-fast-sloppy-programmers/

Communication is not always possible
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/10/16/communication-is-not-always-possible/

Why your sitar & table lessons are the most important training for business
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/09/why-your-sitar-tabla-lessons-are-the-most-important-training-for-business/