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A few months ago I decided to change my website server. The
Small Business Success site has seen a dramatic jump in traffic
over the last 6 months and I was starting to see some downtime –
the last time was 3 days. Not good!
I was on a shared server which means that you literally share
your server with others and you have no control over what
happens. After a bit of research it seemed that I needed to
upgrade to a Virtual Private Server (VPS), which is a cross
between a shared and your own dedicated server. Great, I thought
so I signed up.
But wow, I took one look at the Control Panel and all the new
wizzy stuff inside it and my mind went blank. I had been using
my current server since I started my site in 2001; it was
simple, uncomplicated and perfect for my lack of technical
skills. Of course I came up with the usual comment, ‘OK, I’ll
have a more in depth look at how to use this next week’ and of
course next week never came!
Finally, after receiving another monthly bill for the new
(non-utilised) VPS I decided to act. The issue was:
a) Do I put all my pending income producing tasks on hold and
spend precious hours learning how to transfer all my site files
to the new server and pray that I don’t get it wrong. Or …
b) Go out and find someone who could do a server migration in
his sleep and take on my stress and worry.
Easy choice; option b)! So off I went to Elance (www.elance.com).
This is a great site where all the techies sit waiting for
non-tech-savvy people like me to post a job and then they bid.
At the end of your bidding period you simply select the one best
suited to what you want.
The transfer was duly done last weekend and I hardly did
anything. Wonderful!
A few months ago I decided to change my website server. The
Small Business Success site has seen a dramatic jump in traffic
over the last 6 months and I was starting to see some downtime –
the last time was 3 days. Not good!
I was on a shared server which means that you literally share
your server with others and you have no control over what
happens. After a bit of research it seemed that I needed to
upgrade to a Virtual Private Server (VPS), which is a cross
between a shared and your own dedicated server. Great, I thought
so I signed up.
But wow, I took one look at the Control Panel and all the new
wizzy stuff inside it and my mind went blank. I had been using
my current server since I started my site in 2001; it was
simple, uncomplicated and perfect for my lack of technical
skills. Of course I came up with the usual comment, ‘OK, I’ll
have a more in depth look at how to use this next week’ and of
course next week never came!
Finally, after receiving another monthly bill for the new
(non-utilised) VPS I decided to act. The issue was:
a) Do I put all my pending income producing tasks on hold and
spend precious hours learning how to transfer all my site files
to the new server and pray that I don’t get it wrong. Or …
b) Go out and find someone who could do a server migration in
his sleep and take on my stress and worry.
Easy choice; option b)! So off I went to Elance (www.elance.com).
This is a great site where all the techies sit waiting for
non-tech-savvy people like me to post a job and then they bid.
At the end of your bidding period you simply select the one best
suited to what you want.
The transfer was duly done last weekend and I hardly did
anything. Wonderful!
Considering Outsourcing
This is a long winded start to my quick thoughts on
outsourcing. So when should you think about outsourcing?
·
When your time is precious. Some tasks should be
considering too mundane for you to devote hours to. Ask yourself
whether the time invested in the task could be better spent on
income producing activities
·
When your knowledge about the task is weak. Can you
justify the hours necessary to fully understand what needs to be
done, especially if you are not going to put that knowledge to
use on a regular basis?
·
When it won’t be fun. Let’s face it, not everything we
do is fun, even if you know what needs to be done and how to do
it. Sometimes those important jobs get put off just because we
know it will be boring. Procrastination of this sort can be a
killer for those important jobs that need to be completed
What Are Your Options?
There are tasks which need to be done on a regular basis such
as keeping finances up to date, answering e-mails or phones.
These tasks can be done by Virtual Assistants (VA’s) who offer
their services from remote locations via Internet, telephone or
fax. They are self employed so this frees you from all the
hassles involved with full time employees and you can hire then
on a part time or on a specific project basis.
The second option is more for an online or website skills
requirement. This is the approach I have already mentioned which
is the online freelancer. Two prime sites are Elance (
www.elance.com ) and Guru (
www.guru.com ). If you are looking for custom written
scripts or software then take a look at RentaCoder (
www.rentacoder.com ). They are all easy to use and take can
away a lot of the pain involved with setting up and running an
online presence!
I’m sold on this idea of outsourcing and will be looking at
many other ways to leverage and make better use of my time! What
about you?
Robert Warlow
Small Business Success
http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz
Small Business Success is a resource dedicated to helping small
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