photo by Rob Shenk

When something needs to get done in my life, for the most part, I have been a do it your self kind of guy.  In fact, I am the kind of guy who enjoys fixing things.  In a former career, I worked as a professional carpenter.  So I am pretty handy around the house.  When I first started out as a carpenter, a lot of people would ask me how I learned what I knew.  They were always surprised when I answered that I watched a lot of DIY TV shows and I read books.

Even when it comes to getting other types of things accomplished, I usually have tried to do things myself.  I am pretty good at reading a book and applying what I have read.  However, doing everything yourself has 2 very major drawbacks.

• It is very time consuming to study and acquire the skills necessary to do a job right.
• I will never be as good as the person that does what he does everyday, day in and day out.

Very recently, I have had a bit of a revelation in my life.  I have learned about the power of outsourcing.  Let me tell you, once you learn about what can be done with outsourcing today, a whole new world of possibilities can open up for you and your business.  I know that sounds like a lot of hype, but I am not exaggerating.

In the May 2009 issue of Success from Home magazine, well known author of Rich Man, Poor Man Robert Kiyosaki uses his Cashflow Quadrant to illustrate the 4 types of people that make up the world of business.  I am not going to go into great detail here, you can either read the article or pick up his bestselling book, Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant, for more detail.  However he states that the 4 types of people are usually:

1. Type E- employees, these people find safety and security working for someone else and building someone else’s dream.
2. Type S – self-employed or small business owner, these people have their own businesses but because they are usually uncomfortable delegating many tasks to others, they fail to grow.  Many times these people may be heard saying, “if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself”. Many of these people have simply traded employment for a job.  That means that even though they don’t report to a boss, their business still does not give them any time freedom.  So in effect, their business is a job.
3. Type B – big business owner, these people learn to develop systems to manage and effectively delegate tasks.   Because of their systems they can more effectively leverage their time and money to create large enterprises.  These large enterprises can then run on autopilot, rewarding the owners without their having to having to be there all of the time.
4. Type I- stands for the investor.  These people leverage their money to create passive income from real estate, stocks, and other direct investments into businesses.

Robert Kiyosaki recommends that you position yourself to become a member of group B or I.

Mike Dillard, a well known highly successful MLM’er, said recently that you should wait until your making at least $5K a month from your business before you do this, but I believe that you can do it sooner because it is so inexpensive.  I use a company called Odesk to find highly skilled people to help me (Odesk calls them providers), but there are several other companies out there that do the same thing.

Here are 3 things that I recently outsourced:

• I was running a marketing campaign recently that required funneling a high volume of calls to a voice mail service.  I did not have the time to collect the calls from the voice mail and weed out the tire kickers.  So what did I do? I hired a virtual assistant (VA) out of the Philippines to do it for me.  I paid around $2.00 an hour to get that done and the person did a fantastic job.
• Bookkeeping – I have always been the guy that waited until the last minute to do my taxes.  Throughout the year, many legitimate deductions were lost because they were never recorded.  Well I solved that problem by hiring a bookkeeper through Odesk for a very reasonable price.  From now on when tax time comes around it will take me about 10 minutes to get the report from my bookkeeper to my accountant.  In addition, I expect to save a boatload of money on taxes this year because all the legitimate deductions that were being flushed away because of my poor record keeping will get taken advantage of.
• Programming – this one was huge for me.  I wanted some pretty sophisticated changes made to some websites that I run.  In the past I might have bought the book and tried to do it myself.  But no longer, because I am a reformed (and smarter) man today.  I outsourced the work to skilled programmers on Odesk.  The changes were done in about 2 hours.  Now I can even think like the big boys because the way I see it,  if I want something sophisticated done I am only limited by my imagination.  The sky is the limit.

Those were just a few examples but you are limited only by your imagination.  Here are 5 more ideas for you:

1. Hire a VA to follow up on the leads that come into your business.  Think of the impression that your prospects will have if someone contacts them to follow up and says “Hi, this is so and so, and I am following up on an inquiry you made with Mr. Johnson’s business.  How can I help you?”.
2. Don’t like to blog, but realize the need for one?  Hire someone to write one for you.
3. Do you need an e-book written, perhaps as a give away to get people to opt-in to your list?  You can outsource that to a freelance writer.  Lot’s of people do that.
4. Do you need some SEO (Search Engine Optimization Done)?  Some people hire a small army VA’s to do nothing but write comments on other peoples blogs with links back to their blogs.  These trackbacks cause the search engines to pay more attention to you, pushing your site to the top of the organic listings.
5. Need to do the social media thing to promote your business on Facebook, Twitter and My Space, but don’t have the time?  Believe it or not, you can outsource that too.

So in conclusion, the best piece of advice that Ican give you is to not wait, and to outsource what you can now.  It will free your time up to do the more profitable tasks in your business, like marketing.

If you need a link to Odesk, click here.

If you like what you read here, please use the comments section to leave a comment.  Thanks.

A lot of the pictures that I have found come from and are hosted on morguefile.com.  It seems that they had complete drive array crash and now have to restore their files from backup.  This is going to take a few days.

When they come back up I will download the pictures and host them on my server, until then I have to be patient.  When I made the decision to use hosted images instead of downloading them I thought about this possibilty.  However, I thought “that will never happen”.  Well, it looks like it did and I learned a lesson.

Next up, is Jim Hickey’s www.jchickey.com.  I was at first just a little curious about this blog because I have a friend named Jim Hickey and this guy resembles my friend a bit.  For a minute, I thought my friend was blogging without telling me!  However, Jim’s site is stuffed with so much make money from home info it is like a middle aged woman trying to squeeze back into her dress from her high school prom.  It is as they say, overflowing.

Finally, I found www.lostartofblogging.com.  When I got there, I instantly fell in love with this guy’s writing style.  There is true expository talent found over there in addition to the numerous valuable tips on blogging.

Social Media Will Change Your Business

Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up…or catch you later

 In other words, if you have a business it does not matter if it is small or large, it does not matter if you are network marketing or have a traditionally structured home based business, you need to be must start blogging.  This article will tell you why.

I don’t think that I can state it enough when I write here, if you want to rise above the competition, you must establish yourself as an expert in your field.  You can use a blog to easily establish yourself as that expert in your customer’s mind.  When that happens, if they have a need for your product they won’t even consider getting their need filled somewhere else.  That is because they know where to find an expert and that expert is you.

Let me give you a few examples.  I have a friend that owns a wine tasting business.  She gives wine tasting parties and sells wine.  However, in addition to her wine tasting parties, she could use a blog to write articles on how to choose a wine.  She could give wine reviews.  She could write an article on how to store wines, etc…  She could put video up on her blog on what to look for when you are swishing the wine around in your mouth at a tasting.  These are all things that her customers want to know. 

Now, I know what you are probably saying – “Kevin, I can do all of those things with a traditional website”.  That is true, but I am going to let you in on a secret.  Google and all the other search engines love blogs.  Let’s just say that they get special consideration.  However, it is because that they love them so much that blogging will help you get at the top of the search listings.  You will get free organic traffic.  So in my friend’s case, let’s say that I am a consumer and I am searching for some information on a wine for tonight’s meal and I find my friend’s wine blog.  There is some interesting content there so I decide to opt in to get the free information or newsletter that she produces.  (hint - there is another little nugget right there for you, more about that later)  What has my friend just done?  Right – she has just captured a new name for her list.  She has another potential new customer.  The secret is in the list.

How about another example. Suppose that you are a contractor.  Right now, the contracting business is tough.  How can you differentiate yourself from every one else?  Well, how about some videos on your blog that show all the extra steps that you take to do the job right.  Does your competition do any of that?  No, they are competing on price.  However, just doing that one little thing will put you head and shoulders above the competition and can help justify in the consumer’s mind why your price is a little higher.  People will pay for quality if they know what they are getting.  When consumer’s are hiring contractors, half the time it is a crap shoot.  But, if you took the time to explain why dealing with you is not a crap shoot, then “ba da bing, ba do boom – you just made a sale, baby!”  Oh, and while they are there have them opt-in to get the free e-book ¹that you wrote on “How to Choose a Quality Contractor”.    There is that hint again.  You just captured the name of a potential customer that you can market to in the future. 

I know of a roofer in San Diego that does this very same thing. When he is on the roof, he video tapes and explains what he is doing.  If you do a search for roofers in San Diego, he always appears at the top of the listings because not only do the search engines love blogs, they really love video and blogs.

My final traditionally structured business example is for a friend of mine that just announced that she has started a natural healing business.  She could write an e-book with valuable content as a give away to capture names, she could do videos showing her techniques, she could write articles.  Then, when someone has a pain in their neck and wants natural healing (that is their need) they will call her because she provided valuable information that established her as expert.

If you have a network marketing business, you can do the same thing.  If it is health related, do some articles on the need for healthy living.  Maybe you can touch on the problem with depleted soils and the need for supplementation.  Travel businesses can talk about travel deals or travel tips.  Or, you could have a general business marketing tips site like this one.  Over time as you establish trust and position yourself as an expert, people will come to you when they have a need.  That need may be a product need or a need for an opportunity.  Be sure to give a way free information as an enticement to have people join your list as I have done here.

If you would like further information on how you can use business blogging to help your business, please use the form below to contact me.  As always, if you have comments for the comments section they are appreciated.

1. If you don’t know how or can’t write your own e-book, read my article on outsourcing to learn how to get someone else to do it inexpensively.

So today, I had a discussion with a friend of mine. She looked at the business that I am building and said, “it looks nice, but it looks like a pyramid to me”.

This friend of mine is one that I greatly respect, but as soon as she said that to me I wanted to shout “OF COURSE IT IS A PYRAMID!”

Isn’t just about everything a pyramid? Let’s take a look at every corporation and every job that I have had. There are a few guys at the top making a whole bunch of money, while there are a whole bunch people at the bottom (me and the other hapless souls caught in the rat race) making them rich. That’s called capitalism.

The difference between the corporate job and my opportunity is that my opportunity gives you a track to run on to get to the top. The chances of my becoming CEO of the corporation that I work for is.. “ah, let’s see, I have to do some calculations. Carry the one, divide by 2 …Oh, here it is… – zero.”

When I started at XYZ Corporation (let’s leave them nameless), I don’t remember sitting in HR and getting a pamphlet that was titled “How to become CEO of XYZ Corp”. Does anyone remember seeing one? Of course not. They can’t give you one of those, because they need to keep you down in the salt mines working, so that they (the guys up top) can go home and give their kids the best educations, drive the best cars and go on first class vacations.

So what do you do if you want some of those “fancy schmancy” things for yourself? Well, one obvious choice is to become CEO of XYZ. However, for most people that is not going to be a reality. Remember, HR is not giving out those “How to get to the very top” pamphlets anymore. So are you stuck, shoveling salt out of the mine and wiping the sweat from your brow for the rest of your life? Well of course not, you can start out on your own.

Now I am not saying that you have to do what I do. You could start almost any kind of business. If you like to cook, start a catering business. Like to build things? Start a construction business. However, the one thing that I like about a business model like mine is that you can start it with very little capital (notice I did not say no capital) and can work part time while you still keep your day job.

The other thing that a business model like mine does for you that the tradtional business doesn’t, is that it gives you a tremendous amount of leverage to generate a passive income. For those of you who don’t know what passive income is, that is when you make money when you are asleep. That is why I bought and still buy (BTW, this is the absolute best time to buy) real estate. You want your money working for you so that you don’t have to work for your money. If you still don’t understand the concept, ask your CEO . He will tell you all about it, because while he is sleeping peacefully the factory is still running with employees making money for him while he lies on his satin sheets in his fancy pajamas.

The reason that network marketing businesses get such a bad rap is that all the Aunt Susies and the Uncle Joes of the world tried one, and they failed. So of course, “those things don’t work”. However, I am going to give my readers a tip.

The reason that so many people fail is that they either don’t take the time or don’t know how to…

get the proper education on how to build a business like this

. You don’t become a doctor or a school teacher without spending time educating yourself, do you? Why do think that this would be any different?

Do you guys want to know what I do to educate myself? For one thing, I take classes. Have any of you been to night school? Just like a real school I take prospecting, closing, and other classes. I probably spend about 6-8 hrs a week in class. I read books. Right now I am reading a very good book on how to write web copy. My point is, if you want to be CEO, just like the guy who is CEO of XYZ, you have to be the best in your class. You have to treat your business like a business, the CEO’s certainly do. That is how they got there.

One, final thing before I close. Another thing that trips people up is that they get involved in money schemes. These businesses have no real sustainable product. Those types of businesses may look good at first, but they are the ones that fold up quickly. You get in, the guys at the top made all the money and you get nothing in the end. If you want to do this, make sure that there is a real product behind the company that you jump into the game.

If you want a quick free primer to educate you on this industry, read the free e-book “7 Great Lies in Network Marketing”.  Click on the book on this page to get your copy.

P.S.  – Today, 5/14/09 I found this link that gives the FTC’s (Federal Trade Commision for those that don’t know) definition of a pyramid.  So it you don’t believe some of what I am saying, you can read there what they have to say about it.  CLICK HERE FOR THE FTC

Of course, I am joking, but with all of the emphasis on on-line marketing using attraction marketing techniques, marketers have forgotten about offline techniques.  However, we must not forget that there is a whole world of people that desperately want what you can offer them, financial freedom, more time, and control of their own lives.  If you check some of the network marketing magazines out on the stands, you will find large ads being taken out by even some of the biggest names that you know are marketing online.  That is proof that even the big leaders that market online recognize that they can’t neglect the offline world.  There is a huge opportunity there.

If you are not yet a huge online leader and taking a full scale ad in an industry magazine is not yet in your budget, how else can you efficiently reach all of those people sitting at the coffee tables right now wondering how they are going to break free and create financial freedom for themselves?  One thing that you can do is call them.

Now you are going to say wait, “Kevin, I don’t want to use the phone, I don’t want to face all of that rejection  I don’t have the time”.  If you said that, I would agree with you.  But, what if I told you that there was a cost effective way to call thousands of people a day and create 30-50 interested prospects every day for your primary opportunity?  Does that sound interesting?

Here is a secret that you probably did not know.  Back before the worldwide web, the thing that your upline did not tell you, the thing that you really needed to do to succeed in this industry was to cold call people on the phone.  The way that many of the big fish in this industry started out and built massive organizations in this industry was by buying lists of leads and cold calling them.  They just did not want to tell you that because they knew that Average Joe was not willing to do that and if he heard the truth about what it took, Joe would not join him in business.  Now, for you there is a tool that will make those calls for you while you are out at the movies with your family.  Imagine what it would be like to soar to the top of your company’s pay plan with hundreds of interested people to talk toand you did it all using the phone while everyone else was competing online for ads, e-magazines, and blogs .

The system is called Phone Broadcast Club.  It is an auto dialer and it has worked great for me.  It has a one time cost of just $100 plus my dial time.  I just load it up with some minutes (costs less than 1.5 cents per call) and some leads.  In your back office they even give you leads (they are little older) or of you can buy fresher leads if you prefer.  Once  I start the system, when I come back I have 30-50 interested people to talk to.  People who are looking for a home-based business.   I love it and if you want one too, check it out at www.fastphoneprospector.com

Have any of you ever watched any of Mike Dillard’s videos?  I recently watched a great one that he produced called Black Belt Recruiting.  To most people it probably looks like Mike is very smooth and is delivering all of his lines off the top of his head.  It makes him look like an expert and a leader.  Mike Dillard is all of those things, and more.  However, I found out that everything in his video is scripted.   How do I know?  I heard him say it on another video.

Now, if Mike Dillard uses a script to create his videos, I know that I need a script to do mine.  The problem is that even for a 2 minute clip, if you are not used to the camera, it could take you hours to produce one clip that is flawless enough to publish on the internet.  However, as I mentioned to you earlier, I have a new secret weapon.   Do you know why Barack Obama is such a great orator?  My secret weapon is the “secret weapon” used by the president himself and is instrumental in helping him communicate so effectively to the American Public.  By now, many of you know that I am talking about a teleprompter.

You can't see it in this picture, but the copy from the laptop (or your monitor) is projected onto the glass so that I can look right at the camera and read the copy

If you were going to buy a teleprompter to do your video, expect to pay at least $1000.00.  But, you can make one like I did for a lot less.  All you need is some wood and piece of acrylic or plexiglass.  I used the wood to mount the glass at a 45 degree angle and I loaded special software to mirror reverse my script onto my laptop .  I then shot through the glass while reading my script.  It looks very professional and I can produce a high quality video in one or two takes.  Take a look at the picture of mine here, or Google “how to make a teleprompter” for more ideas.

I have plans to modify my teleprompter to make it adjustable.  The piece on the top prevents glare from overhead lights.   This one was done in a hurry.   I may even publish some plans so that others can build their own.  I also saw some special teleprompter 2 way glass that I may incorporate into the next version.  However, this one certainly did the trick.