Author Archives: 123outsource

Steve Jobs watched his programmers carefully — so should you (2016)

December 23, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Software Development | Tagged , | Leave a comment

I wrote an article with an identical title a few years ago. It was so popular, I thought I’d write another version.

The psychology of the programmer
Most programmers and outsourcers in general do not want to be watched. They don’t want to be trained. They want to lock themselves in a dark room and just “bang out code.” Unfortunately, in real life I have found that the minute you are not in constant communication with a worker, the quality of their work will slide and the timeliness and efficiency will be very bad as well. Additionally, the minute I am not watching, programmers do off on tangents, start doing things that were not assigned, and waste a lot of resources. Then, when you question them about their failure to follow directions, they often throw a temper tantrum. None of this is acceptable. In my experience you have to micromanage programmers to a particular extent.

Steve Jobs watched his programmers too, but…
Steve Jobs has a similar opinion except that he was much more demanding than I was. He demanded amazing things from his programmers and chastised them if they made any mistakes. In real life, he could get fancy programmers because he ran a very prestigious company. If you hire programmers for odd jobs at a small company, you will not get the best. And if you criticize them too much they’ll quit, or get into a serious argument with you. Steve Jobs was a perfectionist and a visionary. He ran a huge organization with a huge programming budget. He could afford to pay high salaries, demand the best people, and stretch them to the limit. He had the luxury of being able to fire people on a whim if they didn’t measure up to his rigid expectations. Unfortunately, the rest of us can’t really get away with what Steve could. Let’s face it, there will only be one Steve Jobs!

Looking over people’s shoulders
Programmers are notorious about missing deadlines and not following directions. They just don’t know how to manage their time, and they just don’t care about the experience of the client. You need to keep on them and make sure they finish work on time. In fact, I would not hire a programmer for anything more than a test project until you are absolutely sure they honor deadlines which is less than 10% of them. Programmers also rarely follow all of the directions, so you have to always be double checking everything that they do. Programmers will typically blame the client for not making directions clear enough, so make sure directions are in writing. It makes sense to hire an outside consultant to check their code for quality and cleanliness as well. If you outsource to India, you are likely to get what is called “spaghetti code” which is a disorganized mess.

Watching programmers closely will help you spot a bad attitude
Are your programmers blaming you for not giving clear enough directions? Is there some excuse why they didn’t check their work? Do they want to avoid you or not have you constantly check their work? These are all signs of a bad attitude. Unfortunately, most programmers who work for anyone less than Facebook, Google, or Steve Jobs have a terrible attitude as they are the bottom of the barrel. By keeping a constant vigilant eye on them, you will spot their bad attitude quickly which could save your project.

The moral of the story
Most companies don’t want you watching what they are doing, and neither do most employees. The collective pressure to not pay attention to where your money is going is so oppressive that you might be tempted to give in. Steve and I say don’t. Watch people carefully and you can bring out their best. If you don’t pay attention it will be like a money drain. Fire people who don’t want to be watched as fast as you can. If that means your business will be smaller, that might be a good thing. The main thing is to be in control of what is going on. The minute you’re not in control — you’re in trouble!

A stand up comedian at a stand up restaurant in India (2015)

December 21, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Humor | Leave a comment

I wrote a blog article on this topic a few years ago. I wanted to do another version of it since it was so popular.

I had a friend in Bangalore who liked to go to this vegetarian place. I noticed that there was no place to sit down. Everyone ate standing up. So, I thought it would be kind of comical if a stand up comedian did his routine at one of these stand up restaurants.

RAMESH: The food is so bad here I can’t stand it — but, I have no choice.

COMEDIAN: You’re right. And you can’t protest either by having a sit in.

RAMESH: If I were a hippy, I could have a be-in or a love-in, while simultaneously having a stand-in.

COMEDIAN: Yeah — you can say, “I won’t sit down until I get what I want — let’s start with a comfy chair.”

RAMESH: Exactly. I heard in Japan, rent is so expensive, that at small eateries, you have to eat standing up just like here. Only in Japan, after exactly six minutes they kick you out — so eat fast.

COMEDIAN: Yeah, those ramen take a while to eat. The broth is so hot, plus those shrimp cakes get stuck in my teeth. I really need to start flossing more.

SUJATA: Once I went to a place where the seats were bolted down so close to each other, I got stuck between two of the chairs. They had to use a rupe to pry me loose — I joked that they were flossing me out.

COMEDIAN: Boy, I hope the chairs didn’t get a cavity from having you there too long.

SUJATA: I was out quick, but if I were in charge I’d give those chairs a root canal. That’s why I eat here. At least I won’t get stuck, plus the rotis are good.

COMEDIAN: I was at a street food restaurant last week. Every day they have a different type of bread. I asked if they were rotating rotis. They didn’t get the joke. They said, “No — today chapati.” I said, “Never mind.”

SUJATA: Also, restaurants like this save money. They don’t need a hostess to seat you.

COMEDIAN: You’re right. Do they have a young lady asking where can she stand you?

RAMESH: Last time I went, the hostess asked HOW she could stand me. I said, “I’m really easy to get along with actually.”

COMEDIAN: Well, I like these stand up restaurants because I’m a stand up kind of guy.

SUJATA: And thank you for not asking stupid questions about our arranged marriage system.

COMEDIAN: I don’t have to — I’ve got it all figure out now. But, do you also have arranged divorces?

RAMESH: Actually, I’ll tell you a funny story about that. My friend Shankar has a housemate who is a young lady who is not very traditional.

COMEDIAN: Maybe he should get a more traditional female housemate

RAMESH: You see, a traditional lady would not be a housemate to begin with as that violates tradition.

COMEDIAN: Oh, got it. Kind of like a pimp with a health plan.

RAMESH: Something like that. So, after ten years Shankar’s friend Vipool said to him, “Isn’t it time to get married?” The irony is that his friend who has been married for ten years lives in separate rooms with his wife and hardly ever talks to her. They are more like designated roommates than married people. Shankar replied that he lives with woman in separate bedrooms who he barely talks to and Vipool does the same — so what’s the difference. Vipool replied — “Gee, I never saw it that way before, you are right, the end result is the same.”

SUJATA: I beg to differ. An arranged marriage is like a designated roommate system, but one in which you have children with the roommate.

COMEDIAN: I may be a comedian, but having children with your roommate is no laughing matter.

SUJATA: You are right, but at least in India, children normally have two biological parents while in the U.S. only 27% of children do.

COMEDIAN: You have a good point. On a final note, I would caution Indians from having too many children with their roommates otherwise there won’t be room in their flat to eat — unless they eat standing up like we do here. You’ve been a great crowd. Good night!

VIPOOL: Hey, I heard you were talking about me. Well, now we have an alternative to an arranged marrige. It is an abridged marriage. If you don’t like the marriage, well, see that bridge over there? I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

What does Warren Buffet look for when he hires people?

December 18, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Hiring & Firing, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Warren Buffet is a long term thinker and a very practical man. Business advice from the master himself might seem deceptively simple. In a sense it is, but in a sense it is not. Warren likes to hire people who can handle entire projects on their own with minimal intervention. Otherwise, his business cannot grow as he would be busy micromanaging people. I understand his philosophy well as I spend all my time micromanaging people or doing tasks myself. From time to time I find people who will do some of my tasks, but never all of them, so I am always busy catching up on work.

The problem is that most people have limited work skills and are not that loyal. I find that not one person I’ve ever met will just bow down to me and do whatever task I give them no matter what I pay them. I’m not sure it is possible to find someone who will be reliable to me in the long run, but I’ll keep hoping.

Warren has been in business so long, he can probably tell early in the interview if the person seems like they will be reliable in the long run. Over the years he developed an intuition or gut feeling about people. For the rest of us, finding the right people is a lot harder.

Most people cannot function on their own initiative. In most organizations there is a mean guy who is the manager who makes sure the others keep working. If you hire people directly without an intermediary, you need to make sure they keep working. You might have to go through hundreds of people to find one who you can truly rely on.

Since I have very poor intuition, I prefer to see how people do on test jobs. If someone does well and asks for more, that indicates that they want to work. However, it doesn’t indicate how helpful they’ll be when they get busy. You really need to see how people behave during their first four months, and first year. If they do well for twelve consecutive months, it might be time for a promotion.

Finding people who are motivated might cost a lot more than what you are paying now. If you hire people who need to be micromanaged, then micromanage them or they might not function at all. Sometimes the only way to motivate people is to pay them a lot more than they would get paid elsewhere. It is a shame that people can’t just love their work and own their work naturally. But, that is the way the world works. Also, certain industries tend to attract reliable people. Doctors, Attorneys, Accountants and Insurance people tend to be reliable while the people I work with are not. All I can say is good luck!

Judge a book by its cover; Judge a company by its office (2016)

December 16, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Hiring & Firing | Leave a comment

As children we are taught not to judge a book by its cover. We are taught not to judge people based on appearances. I was watching a TV show about cops in New York who were explaining to their children that just because someone looks scary that they are not necessarily a bad guy. However, experience has taught me that if there is something scary about you, some negative character trait will turn up somewhere. You might not be a criminal, but some other bad tendency will surface. If you associate with bad people, there will be something bad about you. The apple never falls far from the tree, so people — let’s use our common sense here.

You can learn a lot from the salesperson
So, how does this silly discussion apply to the world of business? Doing business is a little like being a cop. You need to judge your instincts. You need to assess situations and offers. You need to know the right companies to hire. You cannot tell much by talking to the salesperson over the phone. They are always pleasant and up beat. However, if the salesperson can’t answer questions and tells you that everything you want is easily possible, they are probably talking nonsense as I have never seen a company cooperate more then 20% with me in the long run — there are always many snags and limitations.

Communication is the indicator you’ve been waiting for.
If a company sends illiterate looking emails to you, it is a sign that their service is not that good. When I get poorly written emails from companies and then call them, the oral communication is always unbelievably bad. I am not perfect myself, but I judge companies on how good their writing skills are. See how clearly they talk to you. Do they like talking to you? If not, then don’t use them. Some people talk too fast, others mumble, while some garble. Try to find someone who communicates clearly. I deal mostly with foreigners, so they will have accents, but that is okay. If their English is educated sounding and clear, that is the main thing. Additionally, a company with a poor phone line that is so bad that they are constantly making you repeat yourself and then blaming you for not using a better phone — is not a company you should use. So, judge a company by their phone lines, conversation, and emails. But, my favorite indication of a company is their office.

The office is the window to a company’s soul
Charlie Munger always used to do walk arounds in people’s offices. He wanted to know if the company would be a good investment. He could tell a lot by how the employees acted. Did they have good body language? Did they look happy? Did they dress well? Did they slouch? I do many walk arounds at companies. When I ask questions, I seldom get good answers. When I ask people to email me back, I always have to wait for weeks only to get a useless answer. I can tell by the energy of the workers that they are mentally dull most of the time and not interested in their work or in their customers. I am more interested in companies that are alive.

Decor means a lot too
Some offices are not very thoughtfully decorated. Others have cheap or incomplete decor. I went to a spa at the Singapore airport that had nice plants, beautiful tile floors, Japanese sliding paper doors, and aroma therapy. I felt immediately relaxed upon entering. I went to another spa in Los Angeles where they had beautiful pictures of the Buddha, fancy pillows, and plants too. I felt relaxed there too, and their spa services were much better than another spa I went to with cheap looking decor. There was one case of an office with a very plain and inexpensive decor. They offered good service to me for years, but then the boss lost his temper and I stopped using their service. Sometimes there is a delayed reaction in business. If you see a bad sign in someone you’ve hired, it is like a ticking time-bomb. You know something will happen, but you’re not sure when, where or how. In this case it was 17 years before something happened.

How do you judge overseas companies
It is harder to judge a company that you can’t visit. My suggestion is to visit it anyway, or don’t use them. Invest in getting to know people personally. It is too risky to do any type of business with people you aren’t sure about. But, if you use companies that you don’t have time to visit, try to do that office walk around without physically seeing the office. You can learn a lot by interviewing a few of their workers. Instead of seeing haggard looking people slouching around, you can hear the slouching over the phone. You can hear the “I’m tired and want to go home” tone in their voice. Many of the signs are there. Blind people can’t see, but compensate by using their other senses more elaborately. If you can’t see a company you want to work with, try to be like a blind person and learn about them using your other senses.

Summary
Remember — Christianity says judge not lest you should be judged. In business you have to judge. So, try to be intelligent about how you judge. Look for the signs, and try to look around in as many ways as you can to see more signs. Additionally, when you compare companies, you might consider comparing hundreds rather than two or three as most companies are not what they are cracked up to be — except for spas in Singapore!

The Startup Lab — simulations in business

December 9, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Startups | 1 Comment

There are startup incubators. Unfortunately, I know nothing about them. I bet they help the promising startups with some very senior level business experts. Senior level people might have solid business knowledge, but they can’t think of everything, and can’t predict what idea will take off. But, if they do see an idea do well, they can contribute money and expertise to make it better. Startups might be new, but to make them do well, you need some old-school business talent to fuel their success with the inspiration of younger people. But, what would happen in a startup lab?

I could see that a startup lab could be a business that has all of the tools for a startup to grow. The startup lab could have social media experts, marketers, call centers, and other staff. The lab could work for or host multiple startups and see how each one did. For a startup to succeed they need cash, marketing, and people to get the work done. The lab could arrange for all of this. But, if the lab did all the work, what would be the role of the entrepreneur and why would the lab need the entrepreneur?

Perhaps the lab could give the entrepreneur a salary and a cut of the profits. If the entrepreneur didn’t perform well after all of the financing they gave, they could can the entrepreneur and find someone better to work for them. Venture capitalists often work like this. However, venture capitalists don’t grow the business using their own mechanism.

Another take is that the lab could test how good an entrepreneur’s business decision making skills were. They could put the muscle into executing an entrepreneur’s ideas. But, if the entrepreneur had too high of a rate of bad decisions, that particular entrepreneur would get weeded out. That is an expensive way to weed people out, but would make a great reality show. In a sense they could make a simulator that would show fast results for the entrepreneur’s decisions. Or, entrepreneurs could track decisions made by other entrepreneurs and track the results. Either way, a simulator would be a great learning tool.

Another idea for a startup lab is to wait to see if the startup is doing well. For the more successful ones, they could get an extra boost by having the right team to help them grow. In a sense, that sounds like what an accelerator might be.

Putting aside how fun simulations can be, the important fact in business is what happens in the long run. If your business grows slowly, but stays afloat, that is much better than one that grows fast and then dies. Remember what the rap artists always say:

“The faster you rise — the faster you fall.”

Ann Handley’s writing style and why it works

December 5, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Marketing | Tagged | Leave a comment

If you have ever visited marketingprofs.com, you will quickly realize that they make masterful marketing simple and understandable to the masses. Marketingprofs handles a wide variety of popular marketing and social media topics that concern us all such as: How to write a better title for our sales emails or ways for marketers to be more data driven.

One of the aspects of the writing style which I like the most is that it is easy to digest. The writing is in clear English and no decyphering is necessary. Another thing that is cute is the constant integration of themes about puppies, kitties, snacks, desserts, childhood, or other relatable themes. It is much more pleasant to read an article that has themes you can not only relate to, but that make you feel good.

Additionally, there are many graphics, charts, and other visual aids that make the reading experience more three-dimensional. Right now, I’m reading a chart about how people express laughter online. Haha wins the game with 51.4% of the total laughter while lol only is getting 1.9%? Could this really be true? Of course emoji’s often follow the verbalization of the laughter. Next, the age of the laughers was analyze in yet another chart. As a marketer I find all of this analysis very interesting — and that is no joke — lol-not!

I’m reading another article about how to woo bloggers into long term relationships to promote your brand. What I’m seeing in this article is something I saw a long time ago — subheaders. The subheaders here all have a very simple type of grammar which I have found tends to make it easier for readers to stick on the page mentally. People who spend too much time online get mentally frazzled and have some degree of ADD. Here are some of the subheaders used:

1. Identify your audience
2. Find the right bloggers
3. Create a real relationship
4. Help bloggers to grow
5. Understand what motivates each blogger
6. Show respect
7. Live up to your commitments

As you can see, each subheader starts with a simple verb in the imperative conjugation. Then, a unique continuation of the sentence fragment follows. Not all of the verbs are calls for aggressive action. Some are more introspective like understanding and some are more philosophical or philanthropical like helping others to grow. I particularly like the point about living up to your commitments as many people in social media do not publish links on time (me included although I always do it) and many others are in such a hurry to get their link that they will disrespect you (point 7 on the list) if the link doesn’t go up in lightening speed even if the link wasn’t spelled out clearly in the text of the email.

What I don’t like about marketingprofs is that they password protect their blog. If you don’t login you can only see half of the text of each article — the top half which omits the bottom line (haha.) I have so many passwords for different accounts I had to use the password retrieval feature today just to get in. Also, their focus is very narrow. It is completely focused on marketing while I would prefer a small amount of diversion into the world of business, entrepreneurship, startups, and other types of business articles that I love so much to read.

But, in any case. Marketingprofs can take you to a deeper level of understanding about online marketing and social media and especially content creation. They create content in a fun and relatable way. I hope you visit their blog and enjoy it. Anyway, thanks for reading my article — hehe☺☺

What does Mark Cuban say about startups?

December 4, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Startups | Leave a comment

Startups are a popular topic for discussion. I started a startup fifteen years ago. Most businesses fail in the first year or two mostly because the person in charge just doesn’t have what it takes to compete, or perhaps because there is not enough market for their service. In my opinion, a startup should be done by someone who knows his business inside out. The business might be new, but the business person should be seasoned. What seasoning? Cajun! The problem is that we normally do not have all of the skills we need, nor do most of us have the discipline that we need. Lastly, we normally create our startups in our 20’s or 30’s when we just aren’t seasoned! People who create businesses in their 50’s tend to do better. They have had a lot of experience going through problems at work, dealing with things, mastering people skills, hiring, firing, and seeing the long term effects of decisions. Young people just can’t duplicate that. But, what would Mark say if he were guiding you?

I read an article on Entrepreneur written by Mark Cuban himself where I learned what his “rules” are for entrepreneurship. It makes a lot of sense when you see it from the long run. Here are some of Mark’s points with my commentary below.

1. Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love.
Honestly, if you are not obsessed with your work,how can you succeed? You need to take your work home with you, talk about it with your friends. If your friends don’t say, “Is your business the only thing you talk about?” Then you are not in the right space for success if you ask me.

2. If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession
Warren Buffet buys stocks that he would keep for life. Of course he buys and sells just like the rest of us. But, he wouldn’t buy the stock if he didn’t have absolute faith in the company. Your business should be the same in my opinion. I have a friend who is always talking about exit strategies. I don’t want an exit strategy. My business is my baby. I agree with Mark on this point as well.

3. Hire people who think will love working there
It is not easy to hire people who will love working for me. My work is nitpicky and grueling. Everyone I hire I have trouble with. Why? Because they don’t love the work. I agree once again with Mark’s point (3), however living up to this standard is tough. I might have to go through one thousand people to find one who loves working for me. It might be easier if my job included photographing bikini models.

4. Sales cure all. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales.
The best business model in the world doesn’t work if you can’t make sales. I started my company with a product that sold — advertising that works and courses that get you in business fast. But, not all business have realistic products to sell. Better see if your idea sells before you invest too much in it.

5. Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them.
I focus on the core competencies of my business. However, over time the competencies changed. Mark says to hire the best in your core areas. But, what if they are hard to find or don’t exist in a niche market? I hired people who understood my products well, used them for themselves with great results and were masters of selling my wares. My business did well as a result. I guess I followed Mark’s advice fifteen years before I read it.

6. An espresso machine? Coffee is for closers.
I disagree with Mark here. Sure, you don’t want a corporate culture of people who gossip all day in the coffee room. But, coffee is a stimulant, and many people need it to get that burst of energy in the beginning of the day. Small amounts of coffee have been proven to be good for your heart as well. I drink my coffee before I “go to work” which for me involves rolling out of bed and commuting five feet to the left where my computer is. I just have a Starbucks dougle shot.

7. No private offices. Open offices…
Mark claims that there is nothing private in a startup. By no offices, I think he means private rooms in an office suite.There is also no room for those who want swanky comforts like personal secretaries or flying first class. In my opinion, if everyone is not on the same page in a startup, you will have a lot of friction, disloyalty, and trouble. Even in a small business that has been around for a long time, users, cheaters, lazy people, and troublemakers can cause a lot of grief even if there is only one of them.

8. As far as technology, go with what you know.
I disagree with Mark here even though he is richer and smarter than I am. You might start off with technology you know. But, technology changes fast, and what is right for your startup may easily be very different than what you are familiar with.

9. Keep the organization flat.
Having managers that report to managers can create all types of complications. I’m not sure what Mark means by keeping it flat. If you are the owner, then everyone needs to either report to you, or you need to devise an internal system of checks and balances where everyone checks everyone else’s balances.

10. Never buy swag.
Having logos on company outfits is not critical in a startup. Perhaps that is the opposite of what a startup needs. Maybe everyone needs to wear atypical outfits. The main point is that people’s hearts need to be uniform in a startup — not their clothing.

11. Never hire a PR firm.
I cannot comment on this point as I have no experience with or without PR.

12. Make the job fun for employees
An engaged employee is much more productive and fun to be with than a disengaged one. Contests, parties, events, and other fun ways to work get people in the right mood. Conversely, not being mean to people is another good way to maintain a neutral mood. If an employee is so much trouble that you have to spoil the mood just to deal with them — perhaps you shouldn’t be dealing with them assuming you can live without them.

If I were Mark, I would include point 13: Have an insatiable desire to learn and master new skills and hire others with that same desire. Thanks for reading my commentary. Hope you liked it!

Outsourcing was first used as a business strategy in 1989

December 2, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Leave a comment

According to Robert Handfield’s “A brief history of Outsourcing”, outsourcing was not formally used as a business strategy until the year 1989. Outsourcing is the delegation of particular tasks or projects to an outside company or consultant. These days, outsourcing is very popular and standard, especially for large corporations who have global networks of skilled people ready to assist.

In the past, it was considered not advisable for companies to outsource critical tasks or core competencies. However, now many companies are doing exactly that. In my experience, smart companies in the United States do not outsource purely to save money. They divide their workload into segments or components. They find which tasks are the least critical and outsource only those. Saving money on important tasks can get you into trouble and can backfire as a strategy if the provider company doesn’t get the job done correctly and on time as that can cost you a client.

Traditionally, companies outsourced tasks they just couldn’t handle themselves. Publishers outsourced composition, printing, and fulfillment regularly. Outsourcing support services didn’t start appearing until the 1990’s with tasks such as Human Resources, Data Processing, Mail Distribution, Programming, Security, etc.

Outsourcing is a great strategy to deal with the problem of fluctuating demand. If your business is sometimes very busy and other times very slow, you can decrease your permanent employees and hire other companies to handle your overflow. However, the real costs for outsourcing are deceptive. Many companies quote particular rates, but the real price for them to get the job done within particular time constraints are hidden as many companies do not guarantee delivery times.

Outsourcing can also reduce training time. If there are certain tasks you want to focus on, then you can train people for those. You can outsource other tasks which are not worth training your own people to do. Many small businesses engage in multi-tasking and have dozens of tasks to do. New and even old employees typically only want to do two or three of the dozens of tasks, so to get them done it is often easier to find an outside consultant.

Is it better to do everything yourself at varying levels of competency or to hire twenty consultants who are each experts in their niche field? This is a question only you can answer. But, outsourcing to freelancers, overseas BPO’s or domestic companies will give you some insight into the quality of what you are paying for.

In today’s world, outsourcing could be for various reasons. Searching the world to find the best people to give you the best results is one of the reasons for outsourcing. Cost effectiveness is another. Overflow management will continue to be a reason as well. Strategic partnerships are a standard business practice among larger companies and corporations. The problem is that for smaller companies, it is hard to find reliable service providers as the high quality providers tend to be monopolized by larger outfits. So, as a small business owner, blindly mimicking the tactics of the big boys is not an effective strategy. You need to research companies one by one and sample their work to see who is a real strategic asset for you and who is just an unreliable buffoon!

How to be as successful as Scott Eddy on Twitter & get 500,000+ followers

December 1, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Social Media | Tagged , | Leave a comment

We all want to be huge on Twitter, yet so few of us get anywhere. I notice that the click ratio for my tweets is never that great even if the article is amazing. So, to get good clicks from links on your Twitter account you need a really large Account. Last time I checked, Scott Eddy had more than 671,000 followers. I started following him when he had only about 440,000 followers which was only two years back. I have six Twitter accounts myself. I had two for Notary, two for Outsourcing & Marketing, an acupuncture twitter and one for Travel. I found Scott Eddy while searching for interesting travel tweets. In any case, to get big on Twitter you need to have several ingredients in place.

1. Follow 1000 people per day.
In real life, it is hard to follow 1000 people per day. But, if you can identify which type of targetted profiles will be most likely to follow you back or even share your content, you will get a lot for your following time. You need to unfollow those 1000 after three or more days ideally. When your Twitter account is small, it might not be so easy to do this. But, as you grow, you can easily follow a 1000 and then scroll down 1000 deep in the people you follow to delete the old ones you have been following for 72 hours or whatever you deem the correct amount of time is.

2. Interact
Successful people on Twitter always make a habit of answering people’s questions. They often retweet their fans if their fans have something tweet-worthy as well.

3. Follow people back
I made the mistake for years of not following everyone back. Most people will dump you if you don’t follow them back. It’s hard to grow a huge following if 70% of your followers dump you. It takes twenty seconds a day to follow people back.

4. Create a Persona
If people get to know you via your Twitter profile and blog, they will engage with you better. Making your tweets more personal, and having photos of what you do, where you go, and you yourself wins the game. My Notary blog helps people to get to know me. The result is that it is a lot easier to sell them courses, advertising and more since they feel they already know me. Scott does exactly this as he has great photos and blogs of all his travel as well as retweeting really great content created by others.

5. Post a diversity of content
Quality is king. If you post poor quality content, your followers won’t come to your profile regularly. However, diversity counts too. Post a few really amazing quotes, links to great blog entries from others, as well as your own personal content.

6. Use analytics to see what your audience likes
Each audience is its own animal. You need to study your audience to see what they like. As you find what they like, you can spend your time writing blogs that cater to their interests. On the other hand, if you write about what you think is fascinating, that enthusiasm could become contagious.

7. Post, Post, Post
Successful people on Twitter post around the clock. That way if you visit their profile regularly, you will always find new content. Nothing is more fun that finding new content from your favorite account. Additionally, you can reach people who are on different schedules if you tweet at all hours of the day or night. If you only tweet in the afternoon, you will never reach particular people!

8. Amazing photos
I rarely use photos on my social media, but I should. I do on my more critical paid promotions. But, amazing photos can draw in the crowds in social media.

9. Lists and keeping organized
Some people attract others by having amazing lists that they created. I use lists to follow others. I see that other people will have lists of thousands of followers. To me that is wasteful. I want my lists to be focused so I can only see tweets from people who I want to see tweets from. Lists allow you to organize tweets in many creative ways. The minute I started using lists, my growth rate was immediately enhanced.

10. How come nobody said that before.
Scott Eddy is the master of having quotes so good, yet so unique that I’m always saying, “How come nobody said that before?” I asked him if he made them up or found them. He said a little of both. Here are some examples:

“There should be a calorie refund for things that didn’t taste as good as you expected”
“Getting results from other people is one of the hardest things an #entrepreneur has to do #startup.”
“Friendship is so weird…you just pick a human you’ve met and you’re like “yep I like this one” and you just do stuff with them.”
“Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes!!”

11. Combining travel, social media and wine
Some social media profiles are too focused while others are about a particular person’s life and have no theme. Scott Eddy has a lot of travel related content, regular commentary on wine, as well as social media dn business tips with an entrepreneurial twist. I find that his combination of elements makes his profile one that I want to go back to regularly as I share all of his interests. I actually do something similar with my main social media profile. I combine general business, outsourcing social media, programming, and call center themes all into one profile.

12. Keep doing it
There is a lot more to know about Twitter than what I just described. But, if you put a lot of time into your profile and keep it going over years, you can accumulate hundreds of thousands of followers. My growth rate on twitter is exponential, and not constant. The more I have, the easier it is to grow. I believe this is because Twitter introduces more people to me the larger I become

What if you got your business advice from Yoda?

November 30, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Management | Leave a comment

In the world of startups, outsourcing and business, there seems to be a critical lack of common sense. People are in a huge hurry. Few invest in training their employees. In foreign countries they rarely even invest in a proper phone line where they will be able to hear their prospective clients. The business world is insane, greedy, and idiotic. So, what is the solution? After watching the Star Wars series multiple times, it seems clear that the only way to learn any good sense in business is to learn from a Jedi Master. Obi-Wan Kenobi would be a good choice, but Yoda has about nine-hundred years more wisdom than good old Obi-Wan. So, the choice is obvious.

What if you wanted to get an idea of what business to go into. What would Yoda say?

20 YEAR OLD: “Yoda, I want to start a business, but I need to know which one to start.”

YODA: “Search your inner feelings young one. The feeling that stays with you will be the one. Hmm.
Search you will, but find you will not. A work ethic you do not have. Success will not be possible. Perish you will — hmm! First you must learn to work you must. Do you know how to fix droids?”

I wonder what Yoda would say to BPO owners who refuse to train their workers.

BPO OWNER: “Yoda, what can I do better in my business?”

YODA: “Answering the phone correctly your workers do not. How can you possibly succeed in business if you can’t even answer the phone correctly? Hmm! Double checking your workers output you do not. Sloppy work they do. Attention is not there. You will never be able to use the force with this attitude. Hmm.”

But, what would Yoda say to the more disciplined business owners. Would he have a different point of view?

YODA: “Where do you see your business 200 years from now? Hmm?”

BUSINESS OWNER: “Hmm, I never thought about that. That is so far in the future.”

YODA: “Far in the future it is not. In a blink of an eye it could arrive. Think you are there, and it shall be done — hmm!”

BUSINESS OWNER: “Wow. I’ll have to meditate on that reality. First let me think five years into the future.”

YODA: “Seek you must, first five years, then ten, then twenty. Hmm. Keep seeing farther. Find the consciousness that keeps your business ahead — it is the superiority of the consciousness that makes you win. It is by using the force that your consciousness becomes supreme. But, without discipline — this is impossible. Discipline you have — cultivating it you will.”

BUSINESS OWNER: “So, what is the best technique to develop the force within me?”

YODA: “Forget about that MBA program you must. Time it will take, knowledge you will gain, consciousness of the force and real life experience it will not teach. Learn to meditate you will. The force will develop within you. Also, learn to play the ancient Chinese game of Go from planet Earth you must. Earth has many people of wisdom. Too bad they destroyed their planet in a nuclear holocaust seven hundred years ago. Earth was once a planet of great beauty, but the humans there did not treat their planet with love — hmmm. Lost it they did. Escape they could not. Die they did. But, some of their culture was preserved — learn you must, benefit you will — hmm.”

A startup that helps startups

November 29, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Startups | Leave a comment

I heard of a startup that was created to help other startups. But, in reality, startups generally fail. When you do have a startup, you need the stability of a senior level person to make sure you do well. It is critical to have seasoned mentors guiding you and a way to get reliable staff. In real life, companies that do well have generally been around for a while and have a very stable following and a very reliable and stable staff. The only way a startup can do well is to break the mold and have a brand new way of offering a service that nobody else has thought of and also get their system to grow faster than the competition can catch up. I think that Uber is one of the best examples of this type of startup.

However, I feel that startups would do better if they had older and wiser people guiding them. And, it is a fact that entrepreneurs that do well are normally older and have decades of experience behind them. Entrepreneurs in their 20’s have a much lower chance of doing well than entrepreneurs in their 50’s. The key to success as an entrepreneur is not only having a new idea, but having tremendous drive, and very solid business skills as well as industry knowledge and experience. Someone in their 20’s by definition doesn’t have very much experience, and probably not very good judgment either.

So, what would startups need help with? They would need help finding help! HR would be the most critical task.

(1) H.R.
A startup that could help startups find reliable outsourcing companies and freelancers to help them do all types of tasks would be amazing. Tasks could range from call center, data entry, custom software, web design, social media and more. Not only would hiring be a task for the startup to do, but keeping track of whether the company was doing a good job, and if there were issues. The startup could also help replace bad freelancers and outsourcing companies.

(2) Market Research
It might be difficult for a new startup to be able to do market research. So, they would need a good mentor to help them research, or even do part of the research for them.

(3) Marketing
You can’t have a business without clients. But, what if a company out there would get clients for you and charge a commission after the fact? They would be your lifeline. In real life, there are many agents out there. But, how good are these agents, and how do you find them?

(4) Social Media
Social media is yet another aspect of marketing. But, if the startup could get you started on social media, that would be a tremendous service. However, social media work is expensive, and a startup working on a shoestring might be better off doing this type of work themselves.

(5) Strategy
People creating startups might have a lot of drive. Or, they might just want to escape the 9-5. It is also possible that nobody in their right mind will hire them creating the necessity for them to become an entrepreneur. Young people creating a startup might have a lot of drive, but might not have good judgment. Someone older and wiser with 30 years of business experience might be a God-send to keep them out of trouble in the strategic realm.

(6) Financing
Startups typically need cash from somewhere. I always started my businesses by bootstrapping. I never borrowed, and I build my businesses little by little. You can invest $100,000 in a business you know nothing about and you’ll lose your money fast. But, if you build little by little, you learn the business well by the time you have spent $100,000. You’ll also know if you have income by the time you are ready to invest any serious money.

(7) Finding Partners
As a general idea, partnerships are very risky as no two human beings are going to go the same direction their entire lives. However, if a startup specialized in finding you the right partner to cooperate with, that might really make a huge difference in your life.

That’s all for now. There are probably a lot of other tasks a startup helper could do. But, that is a good beginning!

Jamaica has more female bosses than anywhere else in the world

November 20, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Success | Leave a comment

This fact may surprise you, but 60% of Jamaica’s managers are women. Part of the reason for this phenomenon is that men become attracted to the musical culture and sometimes to crime, while more women are on the straight and narrow. Moreover, the lyrics of the music today in Jamaica celebrates criminal activity which further perpetuates the problem. Additionally, I might add that in the motherland of Africa, women tend to lead families and get things done while men fall into bad habits. On the other hand, in Islamic parts of Africa, the men have to do everything for the woman — according to a Muslim West African who I met at Beni Hana while enjoying the seafood special.

In the United States only 43% of managers are women and in Japan the number is a mere 11%. While the success of women in Jamaica is wonderful, is this a sign of achievement or an indication of an underlying problem? Men are not doing that well academically and have a much higher crime rate than women in Jamaica. This trend seems to mirror sociological trends in the black communities in the United States in many ways as well.

Jamaican and Caribbean culture is laid back as a rule. However, women have more motivation to earn. Perhaps it is instinctive so they can support their children or children which they will bear in the future. Or perhaps they are not attracted to the idea of smoking ganja for the rest of their lives. Other developing countries have similar behaviors in the slums. India for example has many men in slums who fall into alcohol dependency while the women tend to stay sober. Men in Indian slums will often beat up their wives to get money for alcohol or hooch which is India’s dangerous form of moonshine. While I was in India, an elderly lady went blind from ingesting tainted hooch. The mafia who brewed it put in too much battery acid which is how it gets its kick. I hope they remember to put just the right amount of battery acid in their next brew of pooch so that nobody else needs to be hospitalized.

My friend once told me about an organization that specializes in micro-loans. These loans are for people (mainly women) in the third world living in abject poverty to be able to afford small investments to get a tiny business going. Some needed some metal bowls to sell their goods in outdoor markets. Others needed to be able to buy some basic inventory. The needs were so simple, yet out of reach without wealthy people from the West giving them a chance. Most of the borrowers were women. Why were the men not interested in getting ahead? Had the men given up or had they given in to substance abuse?

Other Caribbean countries are also experience some similarities in these types of trends as 70% of the students in Universities across the West Indies are women.

I personally feel that there is a reason why religions like Judaism and Islam ban intoxicants or “sorcery” which could be interpreted to include drug production and use. Drugs not only ruin lives, but ruin entire societies. Worse yet, the effects of drugs on society empower women — and what could be worse than that?