In a previous post, Bill O’Hanlon listed several resources for finding a “virtual assistant” and outsourcing some of your business needs. I (Ryan) highly recommend taking a look at the websites that he mentioned, especially Elance and Brickworks.

Two years ago, when I first hired an overseas outsourcing ompany, I used a small web-design firm in Bangalore, India. I found the company by searching “Craig’s List” postings in India. The process of hiring the company was quite nerve-racking, because all that I had to go on was the outsourcing company’s website. I had no idea how reputable and honest they were. After I recieved a quote of $150 to re-design my website, I sent the company a deposit of $50. I did not hear from them for over 30 days and my email inquirys went unanswered. I assumed that I had gotten “scammed” and had lost my money.

However, one morning I woke up to an email and link to my newly redisigned 5-page website. It was beautiful and exceeded my expectations. I gladly sent them the additional $100 that I owed them (via Paypal) The website redesign would have cost well over $2000 in the U.S.

Since then the web has evolved to create much better ways of hiring a virtual assistant or web programmer. For instance, Elance is a third-party resource that can hold your money in escrow until a project is completed to your satisfaction. They also publish user-rankings of the providers so that you can get a better sense of the quality of the company’s work. It’s not a fool-proof system but it is much safer than what I went through 2-years ago.

Good luck and come back for more information on how to lower your business expenses using a Virtual Assistant or Outsourcing Company.

cheers - Ryan

Bye the way - Outsourcing isn’t just for website design and technology needs. My virtual assistant in India performs many tasks such as; transcribing my audio files, adding graphics to my power point presentations and doing research on web topics that I do not have time to do. Basically, they can do anything that doesn’t require being in your office.