Category Archives: Semi-Popular

Is it time to Uber-size your outsourcing business?

May 10, 2016 by admin
Categories: Innovation, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Uber is always in the news
Every time I go online, I see news about Mark Cuban, Startups, Apple, Uber, Richard Branson, Innovations, and more. People either love Uber or they hate them. In the Notary industry which I am heavily involved with, there is a company called Snapdocs which used an Uber-type model to run their business. They have Notaries all throughout the United States who get text messages whenever there is a local job available. The Notaries can accept the job or barter for better terms. Snapdocs has somewhat transformed the Notary industry in the United States — and it will never be the same.

Can your BPO use Uber thinking?
But, how can your outsourcing or BPO company apply Uber-type principles to better running your operation? In some ways you can. Most outsourcing companies have between five and fifty people in a particular location. Or, some of them might work from home. Uber operates on a nationwide or worldwide level. If a job is inputted into the system by a customer, any service provider who is close can claim the job. Outsourcing is geo-specific, as you function in a particular area, but — you cater to the whole English speaking world.

Job Offers
Uber operates on the principle of having small jobs taken care of quickly at an affordable price and in a nice way. If you deal in huge programming contracts, the Uber model might not be appropriate for you. But, if you dissected your huge jobs into smaller parts, you might be in business. If you have ten people who answer inquiries all day and all night long on a commission basis, they could answer inquiries as fast as Uber drivers pick up customers. Your reps could answer questions, give quotes, and advice too, all in real time (within minutes.) Smart companies offer samples or smaller jobs at reasonable prices to gain the confidence of new clients. Small jobs could be dispatched, priced, and finished overnight using Uber modes of operation.

Call Centers
Smaller call center contracts could be sold the same way. If a smaller client wants service for one day per week, this small order could be fulfilled well using Uber type principles. Many small businesses have a horrible time finding good call centers who are responsive to small clients. Most do not take an interest in small clients and don’t return calls. If yours is the one that is responsive, you might dominate the small-client market and clean up!

Think Small
Uber type principles are good for small jobs. But, how can you make money doing small jobs? First of all, if you accumulate a lot of small jobs, you can make a lot of money. Secondly, small jobs might pay higher per hour than large jobs giving you a better margin. Third, small jobs can turn into regular clients if you take care of them well — which most companies do not as most companies are only interested in big jobs.

How Do You Do It?
Just have an online system where clients can put in their work requests. Make sure that a team of people is around to answer requests on a first come first provide service basis. Once the request is handled, work goes on just like any other job that you are taking the old fashioned way.

Should You Do It?
If you have a really cool modern system, and it catches on with good marketing, you could become a huge company overnight. Most other companies are very sluggish about offering quotes or getting back to people. If you are the one that is effective, polite, and does good work fast — you could conceivably take over!

You might also like:

Is Amazon too tough on their workers?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/06/10/is-amazon-too-tough-on-their-workers/

When you slow down, I slow down
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/05/04/when-you-slow-down-i-slow-down/

Good business karma or bad business karma?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/03/08/good-business-karma-or-bad-business-karma/

America invented & forgot about customer service
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/03/02/america-invented-forgot-about-customer-service/

What if you got your business advice from Yoda?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/11/30/what-if-you-got-your-business-advice-from-yoda/

You don’t get to the next level in business by being in a hurry
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/11/13/you-dont-get-to-the-next-level-in-business-by-being-in-a-hurry/

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Find outsourcing companies around the world on 123outsource!

April 4, 2016 by admin
Categories: About Us, Semi-Popular | Tagged , | Leave a comment

On 123outsource.net you can find companies that do every type of outsourcing including:

Accounting
General Business Process Outsourcing
CAD & Engineering
Call Center
Creative Writing
Data Entry
Medical Billing
Medical Transcriptions
Social Media
Software Applications — Mobile Apps & Programming
Web Design

Americans are visiting our site more.
The good news is that we have become more popular in America in the last year. Our stats have doubled for American browsers without advertising. This means that the quality of our directory has gone up due to my diligent screening of listings. We remove listings if they do not answer their phone, or if they do not communicate professionally over the phone. We also interview the workers at some of the companies to assess the quality of their staff which can really vary.

If there is one thing that overseas companies want more of, it is American, British and Australian clients. And in 2016, we are delivering a lot more of those! The clicks from America is steadily rising.

Younger workers want a positive social atmosphere

March 12, 2016 by 123outsource
Categories: Management, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Most companies are owned by older folks or people who are focused on work. But, to attract the younger crowd these days, you need to focus on what they want. Millennials expect a lot from their job and from their boss to the point that it might seem like you are working for them and not the other way around. In addition to salary, they want a positive social atmosphere, fun, and they want to grow their skillsets and develop in a way that will enhance their future career. Many are willing to sacrifice salary if they feel that growth is a possibility.

The point here is that the boss of such a company has to think not only of the most efficient way of getting work done, but how to create jobs that will provide satisfaction and evolution to their younger (and demanding) counterparts.

India’s work culture
In India, the traditional cultural model for the workplace is to have some older guy who is an ogre who is very harsh and critical towards workers. The workers who like the boss tend to huddle around him as they feel insecure without the stability of a superior thinker and leader around. The millennials or younger generation in India (and America), but especially India in the tech sector hops from job to job faster than you can say aloo-gobhi-paratha. In real life, to have any meaningful work relationship that grows into something you need to stick to the job for at least four years, not four months. It takes a year just to develop trust in an employee enough to trust them to do any meaningful and critical tasks.

Designing a dream job
If it were me designing the perfect job, I would make the worker pay their dues for a year doing work that is not fun to prove themselves. People jump boat so fast, that why should you invest in their comfort when they are not even going to be there. But, having a guaranteed fun job after twelve months is enough to entice a serious employee to stay. They will see the others who stuck around having fun doing all types of tasks. Even if you cannot have someone do meaningful work forty hours a week, they could do 10-15 hours a week so they could feel they were growing. You could have them do innovation, manage others, and more tasks that might make them feel important.


Does fun just happen spontaneously, or do the proper conditions need to be met? For me, fun happens when I am doing fun things with fun people. Fun is also unexpected, and you never know when you will find a task to be interesting or get a good laugh. Sometimes you need to throw in some unexpected or unusual activities in your day to increase your chance of having fun. Many call centers have regular contests, outings, and activities to boost the fun quotient.

Hire fun workers even if they are not good workers
My recommendation for having a fun work environment is to hire a certain percentage of people who are fun, even if they are not as good workers as you might desire, they will boost the spirits of the others. In China, they hire pretty girls to play ping-pong and talk to their male workers just to make them feel better. The girls can’t do any type of “real work,” but they do raise morale. It might be more efficient to hire people with desirable social (or physical) traits who are also capable of doing something productive even if they are a little less productive than the others. Or, you could have all workers be somewhat fun — with some being more fun than the others. How many fun people to have is up to you, but my only definitive piece of advice is to avoid people who are dampers to people’s enthusiasm or those who are hostile to others with little or no provocation as they will ruin the mood of your company really fast.

Don’t ruin the “fun”
Another easier way to have fun lies deep in the mystery of the Chinese culture. In China, fun is a type of noodle typically made from rice or mung beans. Fun is often a wide type of noodle which I enjoy eating. If you don’t know what to have for lunch at your company, try a group lunch where you eat fun — after all, you are what you eat. Unless you pronounce it the way they do in “other” (non-Cantonese) dialects in which it might be called “fen” which would ruin the “fun.”

Do you need more BPO or Outsourcing clients?

February 18, 2016 by 123outsource
Categories: BPO, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

We get all types of responses to our blog entries. Instead of voicing an opinion about what we are writing about, people normally announce how they have a call center and want clients.

If you want new clients for BPO or outsourcing projects, you can post a comment on this blog entry, and we might publish your comment as well. Now is your chance!

Good luck everybody!

You might also like:

How to get more clients for your BPO or Call Center (compilation)
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/08/20/how-to-get-more-clients-for-your-bpo-or-call-center-compilation/

Six problems that only someone working in BPO would understand
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/06/15/six-problems-that-only-individuals-working-in-a-bpo-industry-would-understand/

A Filipino company gets a 250 seater job contract from 123outsource.net!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/11/05/a-filipino-call-center-gets-a-250-seater-job-from-123outsource-net/

Compilation of best management and success blog entries
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/02/06/compilation-of-best-management-success-blog-entries/

How to write a resume for an outsourcing job (2016)

January 1, 2016 by 123outsource
Categories: Getting a Job, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Many people write to me and tell me they are applying for “the job.” They are so clueless that they don’t realize that there is no job. As a job applicant you need to know who you are writing to, and about which job. Next, you need to be aware of the specific skills and requirements of the particular job. If you are not well suited for the job, nobody will hire you. So apply for work that you are suited for and go to trade schools or anyone who can help you sharpen your communication and technical skills.

How to be in tune with the mindset of the employer
Employers want to know several things about you. Are you loyal or do you jump from job to job. It is costly to interview, train and fire workers, so they will prefer that you stick around. Next, the boss will want to know if you have relevant experience. If you are applying for medical billing, but your experience is in data analysis, you might not be a good fit. On the other hand, if your data job involved a lot of data transcription, you might be a viable candidate for medical transcription as it is related. The boss will also want to know if you are a good fit with the other employees. Do you communicate well and get along with others? The important thing to apply to resume writing is that you have to impress the boss that you will be a reliable and good fit for the job at hand — make sure your resume communicates that clearly.

What type of paper should you use?
Recently in America I’ve been hearing that using fancy off-tone paper is considered to be old-fashioned. So, I’m not sure how to guide you in terms of the paper you’re using. Try to figure out what successful applicants in your industry are doing and do the same thing. If they use plain white paper, then do the same. If they use heavier paper stock, then be aware of that. In my opinion, a higher quality of paper indicates a higher quality of applicant — but, that’s just how I think!

Go backwards through time
A good resume will show what you have done most recently at the top since that is more relevant to the current situation. Inverse chronological order is the right order in a resume.

What to omit?
If you are a jack of all trades and you are applying for a computer job, you might omit non-computer oriented jobs from the resume, or just not elaborate much on the non-computer related jobs. This way you save space that you can devote to clarifying what your job tasks were in the computer jobs. If you spent the entire resume trying to impress the boss with how many fashion jobs you have had, he will steer you in the direction of a fashion job and tell you that the interview is over.

What should you stress?
Keep in mind that the way a prospective boss reads your resume is different from how you read it. First of all they want to see if you stick to a job, or quit after six months. Nobody wants to hire a quitter because they are going to invest time in training you. So, try to only take jobs that you will be willing to stick with in the long run otherwise you ruin your reputation. If you are applying for a job where Java code editing will be crucial, your resume should be tailor-made to emphasize all of the Java related work you did at your other jobs. If you did .Net editing too, that is related as well. I would not omit critical aspects of your other jobs, but make sure to stress what you did that will be needed in the future job you are applying to. Rather than mailing out hundreds of resumes to people who will ignore you, it might make more sense to create customized resumes for particular companies who you’ve talked to who have an actual interest in you. This is called targeting and customizing to your audience and is a popular and effective marketing technique. Just keep in mind that the boss wants to know that you are an exact skill match, that you can communicate, and that you won’t quit, otherwise you’ll be immediately disqualified.

As an employer myself, I was trying to find .Net programmers. The resumes I received discussed about twenty four technical skills that the applicant had. I wanted someone with seven years of .Net experience, and that was the only requirement. The resume was a waste of time as it didn’t tell me what I wanted to know. It told me how much programming experience they had, but not how much .Net experience they had.

What else do you put on the resume?
You need to state your job objective and mention your specialties. You should summarize the types of jobs you have held as well, your education, and any other salient features that might help you be a good employee. Resumes are often one page. Sometimes you need to have two or three pages. Many readers will not have the patience to read on and on unless the information is absolutely necessary. So, when filling your resume up with facts, ask yourself how important each fact is, and how much is enough. It never hurts to have an industry professional review your resume either.

Past jobs
You need to describe your past jobs, what you did, what particular skills and tasks were necessary. You might even briefly describe what you learned, what you liked, and what you didn’t like. Employers will want to know why you left your previous job too. Terms like personality conflict and boredom are easily understood. However, it might be better to just say that you weren’t happy there. A scheduling conflict is another way to end a job that didn’t include a hostile argument. You might be more popular if you say, “I felt like I wasn’t growing” — as nobody wants to hire someone who gets bored easily or gets into arguments. How you describe why you left or were fired from a past job matters. Your boss will get a very bad impression of you if you quit jobs on a whim or get into arguments with people. They do not want to repeat nightmares that they have had in the past with difficult employees.

How do I document my education?
State what schools you went to and when. What degree did you get? If you are doing outsourcing, it would be very helpful if you attended schools to help with English writing, call center or programming skills. Were there any special areas of focus? What did you major in? Stick to Universities and High School, or whatever the highest two degrees you have earned are. If you went to special trade or music schools, you can list that too to make an impression.

Professional memberships
You might appear more dedicated to your field if you have some professional memberships. These are less critical and should be at the bottom of your resume. It is more impressive to a boss if you actually had some level of participation in these groups. Anyone can be a non-participatory member, but how many help out or actually lead meetings?

Be aware of how others perceive you
Younger people think a lot about what they want. But, rarely think about what the boss wants. Try to realize that the boss just wants someone who gets the job done and doesn’t care how you feel about it. On the other hand, they don’t want someone who won’t like the work either. If you give the impression that you like certain tasks, but don’t like others, you will appear too picky. No employer wants an employee who picks and chooses which tasks he/she does and quits if assigned a task he doesn’t like. It is better to say what you like most, but that you are willing to do all other tasks. I would not talk about what you don’t like to do unless you absolutely can’t stand it. People who run a business have to do all types of tasks they can’t stand — why should you get to pick and choose? Additionally, nobody likes an employee who jumps from job to job. You’ll never rise up the corporate ladder jumping around. Find a profession and company you stick to. If you do a good job, you might get promoted to management which means you get to do a different type of task in the long run even though you were willing to stick to the initial task.

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!

Business Quotes That Will Inspire You

October 4, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Quotes, Semi-Popular, Success | Leave a comment

Here are some business quotes to inspire you into deeper thinking. Enjoy…

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” — Chris Grosser

“Are you living for paper, or living for the dream?” — from the Notorious B.I.G. movie.

“We’re all working together; that’s the secret.” — Sam Walton

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” — Sam Walton

“The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.” — Aristotle Onassis

“Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.” — Peter Drucker

“An organization, no matter how well designed, is only as good as the people who live and work in it.” — Dee Hock

“If you want to kill any idea in the world, get a committee working on it.” — Charles Kettering

“Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana.” — Bill Gates

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You might also like:

17 entrepreneur success quotes
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/03/28/17-entrepreneur-success-quotes/

Leadership quotes from amazing leaders like Steve Jobs, Lao Tzu, Donald Trump, etc.
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/10/17/leadership-quotes-from-amazing-leaders/

Best motivational quotes
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/09/10/best-motivational-quotes/

What does Warren Buffet look for when he hires people (compilation)
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/02/06/compilation-of-best-management-success-blog-entries/

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“It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” — Tom Brokaw

“All lasting business is built on friendship.” — Alfred Montapert

“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” — Henry Ford

“Success or failure in business is caused more by the mental attitude even than mental capacities.” — Walter Scott

“Which social network is the best to market your business? Facebook, Twitter, or word of mouth?” — Myself

“Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.” John Kenneth Galbraith

“Corporations: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility.” Ambrose Bierce

“I buy when other people are selling.” — J. Paul Getty

“My own business bores me to death. I prefer other people’s.” — Oscar Wilde

“Honesty is a very expensive gift, Don’t expect it from cheap people.” — Warren Buffet

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.” — Warren Buffet

“You never know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out.” — Warren Buffet

“In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” — Warren Buffet

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” — Albert Einstein.

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You might also like:

How to create a company culture like Google’s and have fun doing it
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/03/14/how-to-create-a-company-culture-like-googles-have-fun-while-doing-it/

The Lamborghini effect in Social Media Marketing
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/09/06/the-lamborghini-effect-in-social-media-marketing/

7 rules for women entrepreneurs to live by
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/01/30/7-rules-for-women-entrepreneurs-to-live-by/

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Interesting Startups from around the globe

September 27, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Semi-Popular, Startups | Tagged | Leave a comment

Startups are a huge topic of conversation with young people today and on Social Media. I also find startups interesting as I have created many businesses in my short life, and a few of them have been very successful as well. Chinese investors are going all over the globe including places like Israel, Boulder, CO, and others to capitalize on venture capitalism involving startups.

After you see the various names of new companies, you might ask yourself: does it help to have a goofy sounding name if you are a startup? I think we all know what the answer is!

OurCrowd
OurCrowd from Israel helps regular affluent people invest in startups with the same verms that top venture capitalists get. By utlizing crowdsourcing, they are helping smaller investors capitalize on early stage wealth creation.

LafaLafa
This Indian startup sells mobile first coupons and has a cash-back app. It was chosen for the 500 startups accelerator programme which is one of the best accelerators in the world

Rubicon Global
Leonardo Dicaprio just invested in this trash startup. They use software to manage a network of independent waste haulers that bid on picking up trash from convenience stores and other types of businesses as well. I guess there’s truth the the saying, “There’s money in muck.”

IronSource
This company helps mobile developers find clients and find advertising for their apps. This Israeli company already has half a billion users per months.

Zutalabs
This Israeli company has a palm sized printer that walks across a piece of paper printing text on it.

Elio Motors
Elio Motoers is a top 2015 automotive startup. They make three wheeled vehicles and will be on display at the next Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

YotPo
Yotpo helps eCommerce sites fill their review sections with genuine reviews. They send an email to customers right after they bought a product and have technology to make it a snap for them to write reviews from their smartphones.

ShoeKicker
This deal hunting startup ranks particular models of running shoes by price. A shopper can quickly find out where they can get the best price at the moment.

Percentil
This European used clothing startup specilializes in “nearly new” clothing as well as coordinating pick up and delivery. They are a great alternative if you are fed up with the other startup ThredUp.

How do you inspire people who do boring BPO jobs?

September 20, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Motivation, Semi-Popular | Leave a comment

This must be the world’s oldest question besides the whole chicken and the egg paradigm. How do you inspire people to do boring jobs? In the real world, not all of us can do interesting jobs. We can not all be doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs. In fact, most Indian chiefs got out of the market when the business went South a few decades ago. Many of us have to do repetitive phone calls, data entry, check lists, and other boring back office work. So, what is the secret to making it tolerable or even fun.

Many of the larger call centers have mastered this art by having regular competitions, fun activities, and excursions. But, we can’t all do excursions all the time, especially when we are tied down by families.

Keeping the work place fun and positive is a good start. Even if your job is boring, if the job environment is pleasant or fun, that makes it all the better. Contests and competitions make things interesting too. Having group meals can give a sense of belonging as well. Seeing an opportunity for long term career advancement should also be on the horizon. People want to know that they can move ahead in the world. Another motivation technique is to let people know the bigger picture of how important their work is, who it affects and how. Many workers simply have no clue as to how their work affects the world until they screw up and get blamed for inconveniencing 10,000 people in some huge way! It is better to let them know in a positive way before they screw up!

On the other hand, the simple act of appreciation goes a long way. A simple, “nice job!” or other act of recognition goes a long way. A pat on the back (don’t try this in India with the females.) Just don’t get too carried away with the pats or you might go from having unmotivated employees to having sexual harassment lawsuits! Good God!

Best Motivational Quotes

September 10, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Motivation, Quotes, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Do what you’ve always done and you’ll get what you have always got.” — Sue Knight

“Winners don’t do different things; They do things differently” — Anonymous

“A journey of a thousand li begins with a single step.” — Lao Tze

“A journey to attain 1000 social media followers begins with a single stumble” — disgruntled Stumbleupon member

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it” — Henry David Thoreau

“If you are willing to do more than you are paid to do, eventually you will be paid to do more than you do.” — Anonymous

“Don’t hate the playa, hate the game” — Unknown Rap Artist (sorry, had to add that one)

“Whenever you see a successful person, you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.” — Vaibhav Shah

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin

“The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.” — Bruce Feirstein

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out” — Robert Collier

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.” — Jim Rohn

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” — Thomas Edison

“Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential” — John Maxwell.

“I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself” — Robert E Lee.

“There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through understanding and trust” — Klaus Balkenhol.

“It is often the case that the person with the most authority in an organization speaks the least” — Myself

“He who conquers others achieves some success; But, he who conquers himself achieves the highest level of success” — Myself

The difference between a successful person and a very successful person is that a very successful person says no a higher percentage of the time — Concept from Warren Buffet

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” — Albert Einstein

“Leadership is an action, not a position” — Donald McGannon

“Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar” — Orrin Woodward.

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” — Peter F. Drucker.

You become what you meditate upon. If you meditate on wealth, you’ll attain it. If you meditate on God, you’ll attain God. But, if you practice levitation instead of meditation, you’ll be in danger of being reincarnated as a bird! — Concept from spiritual Masters in India.

“Peace comes from within” — said by many Gurus in India

Never hire a blogger to help you blog; Hire industry relevant people

August 31, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Semi-Popular, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

These days more and more of us own or write for blogs. There are also hundreds of social media “experts” and bloggers advertising their services on freelance sites hoping to bag their next gig. The question is, which one of them do you hire, and why? I tried negotiating with many bloggers, and the results were horrible. Not only did most of them lack any formal writing background, but they wanted commitments for large amounts of money when I had no indication that they would do good work.

The “What ifs” of hiring a blogger
What if their work wasn’t popular? What if the blogger couldn’t come up with ideas that were any good (none of them could by the way.) What if they weren’t reliable in their work? What if it took too much time to prep them before they could produce their first piece? Can I get a sample? None of the bloggers wanted to invest even five minutes in my cause to give me a few samples unless I would pay them for it. Such a stingy unfriendly attitude! The result was that I didn’t hire even one of these bloggers. I hired a comedy writer instead. He had a strong professional writing background, was really funny, friendly, and appealed to some (but not all) of my audiences! But, what “writers” captivated my audience the best? You’ll never guess.

The disgruntled call center agent
You will never guess where one of my most popular outsourcing blogs came from. It came from a frustrated call center rep. His writing was filled with grammatical mistakes, but it didn’t matter. First of all, my audience is not so particular about nitpicky things. Secondly, I was able to do a cleanup of his work in two minutes. The bigger issue was, the minute I laid eyes on his work I loved it. He captured seven different points of frustration that a call center worker could have and explained them perfectly in a way that everyone could relate to. You could feel his frustration and anguish in every paragraph. I knew the crowd would love it, and they did.

The frustrated call center manager
Two years ago I interviewed this very frustrated Indian guy. He was down on India and down on the entire Indian call center industry. He only would work for Filipino, US, or Central American outfits. After dealing with a hundred or so of India’s “finest” call centers myself, I began to see why he felt the way he did. But, he gave me fifteen ideas for articles to write about. He was an expert at call center metrics, call center marketing, and more. So, by talking to him for 45 minutes, he filled my head with exactly what people wanted to read about. No blogger could do that!

The upset Notary Public
We also run a Notary blog. I create most of the articles myself. We write about Notary marketing, technical & legal issues, Notary comedy and drama articles, and more. We keep it diverse so our audience won’t get bored. My articles are generally popular. But, the other guy who writes popular articles for me is not a blogger — he’s just another Notary. He happens to be smarter, and a lot better organized (not to mention experienced) than the other Notaries. But, he is not a professional writer. He is just a Notary who happens to be a good writer. He also comes up with winning ideas that our readers enjoy reading about.

So, where do I look for a writer?
In the real world, the guy most suited to writing your articles might not have the background necessary to get industry specific content to fill the article. You really need a team. You need someone who can pick great topics, someone who can get relevant information, and someone who can polish your writing work. Sometimes you can do it all yourself, while other times you need help. Sometimes a good social media agency or social media company is the best resource, but not if they hire incompetent or uncooperative employees.

Find people who work in the industry you are writing about to help you. You might have to look hard to find cooperative people, but they are out there. Even if you don’t “need” them, use them anyway to create a diversity of points of view in your blog. Nothing is more interesting than a blog with multiple writers — all of whom have unique and wonderful writing styles and perspectives!

You might also like:

Why you should hire a Comedian instead of a CEO to help you co-blog
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/06/13/why-you-should-hire-a-comedian-instead-of-a-ceo-to-co-blog/

10 quick factors that differentiate a good blog from a bad one
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/08/03/10-quick-factors-that-differentiate-a-good-blog-entry-from-a-bad-one/

Want to be popular at blogging? Write how-to blogs!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/06/30/want-to-be-popular-at-blogging-write-how-to-blogs/

People who take the first job offer they get might be unhappy in the long run

August 26, 2015 by 123outsource
Categories: Hiring & Firing, Semi-Popular | Tagged | Leave a comment

When you are out of work and short of cash, you might be tempted to get a job fast. But, this is not always a good idea. When we are in a hurry, we often lose track of the long term goal which is to have a meaningful and rewarding career.

A smart employer doesn’t just interview two or three people. He/she/it knows that finding the perfect person takes a lot of digging around. And just because you make someone an offer doesn’t mean they will take it. Most employers make contact with 100 people to find a single employee. Not all 100 will result in interviews, but might involve a short email conversation about the job at hand. So, why should a job seeker be any different?

In order to compare multiple offers, you need to have multiple offers. It might make sense to interview at one hundred companies. That way you might get a handful of offers and pick the one that caters to your long term goals. Or, you could sell out and find something that pays well in the short run.

It might take two or three extra weeks to interview “enough” companies to get a good choice. That will seem like a long time, and the lost income will see like a lot too. But, if you are stuck fro two or three extra years at a job or company you are not happy with, that will seem like an eternity.

And one last point. A lot of job satisfaction happens when you work with people who you feel good about. Do what Warren Buffet’s buddy Charlie Munger does and do a “walk around.” Walk around the company, shake some hands, get to talking with a few people. Size them up. See if they are the types that you want to be working with in the long run or if you are just being desperate. You might be much happier in the long run doing a dull job with wonderful people rather then a dream job with nightmare coworkers! Think ahead!