Start Now!
March 17, 2010
WELCOME – (If you are new)! The intentions of this blog is to provide tips, share opinions, offer suggestions, etc. to people who are sick of working the 9 to 5 and want to do something you are either passionate about or think will be lucrative (often times these two go hand-in-hand). Over the past few months, I have been exposed to some of the many facets of internet entrepreneurship including adwords, logo creation, encryption, site design, favicons, html validator, google analytics, website optimizer, wordtracker, legal-zoom, etc. The reason that I was exposed to so much is because I had an idea and I decided to go for it. “I made it happen for myself” – John Mayer. If you have an idea, thought, invention, passion, niche, etc - Start Now! The hardest part is starting and you will be amazed by how you can accomplish if you commit. It sounds simple, but set small goals for yourself whether it is purchasing a domain name or emailing your mentor.
One resource that I could not live without is elance. This is a platform where you can either offer work (Provider) or hire individuals or companies to do your work (You). Simply post your job and receive bids! This resource allows you to indirectly be an expert in many fields, at a reasonable price. If you have never heard of elance or want to learn more, check it out at http://www.elance.com/.
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN USING ELANCE AND CHOOSING A PROVIDER:
Time Zones: There are providers from all over the world. Please keep this in mind when choosing a provider as it is difficult to communicate because of the time differences.
Language Barrier: The way someone from one country interprets something may be drastically different then the way someone from another country may interpret the same thing.
Background Check: Make sure to thoroughly investigate a providers ratings, earnings, repeat customers, feedback, website, etc. to determine if they can do your job.
Specific Job Description: If you are posting a new job, be as specific as you can in order to generate realistic bids. If you feel that you have a novel idea, provide as much detail within giving away your idea. The last thing you want is to hire someone who is not capable of completing the work you need done.
Do NOT Pay for a Project Up Front: In my opinion, the more milestones that you create, the better off you are. This will allow you to be very specific in regards to setting due dates for smaller ‘sub-tasks’.
