I talked earlier about how outsourcing tasks to places like “GetAFreeLancer” and “ELance” was a benefit to your business. I’ve since come to realize that, while it has it’s place, it’s not really the best solution. In fact, it might even be detrimental to your business. Especially if you’re pursuing the goal of the four hour workweek.

Why is that?

It’s time consuming. You have to list the project. Then you have to take the time to describe the project explicitly or take the chance of it being done wrong…even then the chances are good it won’t be done to your expectations. You have to peruse all the bids and then hope you choose the right person for the job. You’ve spent hours just reaching this point….and now you have to wait for the project to be finished.

The bidders main interest, more times then not, is completing the project as fast as they can so they can be paid. Quality control is not really in their vocabulary.

They are expensive…yes, I stated earlier that it’s a cheap form of getting work done but I’ll be showing you a better, cheaper way shortly.

Any effort you may have put into teaching them aspects of your business is lost as soon as the project is finished. You’ll have to repeat it all over again should you ever do something similar in the future.

If the project’s not done to your expectations you can start the process all over again…and lose all those precious hours once more.

Hardly the way to achieve the four hour workweek.

What if I could show you a cheaper more effective way?

What if you could hire someone full time for what it would cost you for one project through “GetAFreeLancer”? Someone far more suited to the task at hand.

Let me introduce you to Replace Myself…a membership site that has sent me on to the next level in my marketing. There’s two main elements to it. Hiring full-time outsourced workers and providing training for these workers. There is a wide selection of workers available complete with the skills you’re looking for but the training provides for a more well rounded employee and can enhance the skills they already possess. The training modules cover a whole gamut of skills from Adwords, Video Marketing, WordPress, SEO and more. There’s eleven modules advertised but I received fifteen. Three were tagged as bonuses so it would seem there’s one that’s not mentioned in the sales page. In any case, by the time your employee completes all of the modules there’s not much that they won’t have at least a basic knowledge of…and it’s done with minimal involvement on your part.

Is that not the key to a four hour workweek?

The employees available through Replace Myself are all from the Philippines and that’s a major advantage. They are all schooled in English. They are hard workers and very loyal. They all have college educations…it’s part of their culture.

And they can be hired for as little as $100 per month although the average is closer to $200 per month.

For a full time employee capable of doing most any task you need done.

That will free you up to work on the important stuff.

Like product creation…or golfing.

There’s been two major turning points in my Internet Marketing business.

Getting Alex Jeffreys for a mentor…he taught me the basics and so much more, got me motivated and continues to do so…and joining Replace Myself. Doing so is going to take me to the next level and beyond.

CLICK HERE NOW to view a video that will start you on your way to the next level in your business…and to the four hour workweek.

The bonus videos available in the Quick Start package are worth thousands of dollars on their own…they totally blew me away.

If you have any questions about Replace Myself…mention them in the comments or email me through the contact page. If I can’t answer it, I’ll pass it on to the owners…they are very, very quick with their replies.

I truly believe that Replace Myself is a valuable resource and it would be greatly appreciated if you would “Sphinn” this article to help let others know of it.

There’s been some questions on the procedure in choosing and hiring people so I made a video that hopefully covers it.  As you can probably tell videos aren’t my forte.

A professor stood before his philosophy class with some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked his students if the jar was full…they all agreed that it was full.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly and the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked again if the jar was full. Again, they all agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else in the jar. He then asked once more if the jar was full to which the students responded with a resounding..YES!

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under his table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students started to laugh.

Now, said the professor as the laughter subsided, I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things…your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions…and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else…the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, he continued, there is no room for the golf balls or the pebbles. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents, visit with your grandparents. Take time to get regular medical checkups. Take your parents out to dinner, play another round of 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house or fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first…the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and asked what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled and said…I’m glad you asked.

The coffee shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

The Gazzman, Gary Simpson

Rod Macbeth

1) Was Born in 1955 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

2) Has lived here all of my life save for ten years spent in Richmond, BC when the job market took a nose dive.

3) is a Gemini.

4) Has spent 34 years as an electrician. Due to a repetitive rotator cuff injury, arthritis and a small tendon tear in my right shoulder I’m no longer really able to work in my trade any longer. This is largely behind my decision to pursue Internet Marketing full time. Although, after 34 years, I’m ready for a change.

5) Used to smoke but quit eight years ago.

6) Used to be a heavy drinker. Quit that nonsense twenty-two years ago. The single best thing I’ve ever done.

7) Has had Type II diabetes for six years.  It’s the type controlled by pills and diet, not insulin. Thank goodness for that. I may have got it due to my drinking as none of the usual factors like being overweight or having a family history of diabetes applies to me.

8 ) Used to play the bagpipes and was the pipe major of a Pipe and Drums band. No, I won’t tell you what a Scotsman wears under his kilt. That’s for you to find out at your own risk… which is considerably less risky for the ladies.

9) Used to play the drums in a heavy rock and roll band.

10) Is a headbanger.

11) Enjoys all types of music with a few exceptions.

12) Doesn’t watch TV…hasn’t for fifteen years.

13) Is not into sports. Used to be but got tired of listening to inane colour commentators and supporting huge salaries for playing a game.

14) Has been a computer addict since getting his first one.

15) Has been surfing the internet since before most people knew it existed or what it was.

16) Plays “World of Warcraft” extensively and is the Guildmaster of a successful guild and moderator of probably the largest WoW related forums save for Blizzard’s official forums.

17) Has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour.

18) Loves animals of all types…well snakes maybe not so much.

19) Has no real desire for material things beyond the necessities. Excluding the best computer I can afford.

20) Has no driving desire to be wealthy but does buy lottery tickets.

21) Has a very low tolerance for having to repeat himself.

22) Loves the old Clint Eastwood and James Bond movies.

23) Has read “Lord of the Rings” several times…so many I’ve lost count.

24) Favourite song is Led Zeppelins’ “Stairway to Heaven”. Do you know how they got their name? Eric Clapton remarked to the band members that they’d go over like a lead balloon.

25) Dislikes traveling. Would like to have his own “Scotty” to beam him to exotic locales and beam him home again…along with his own bed and computer system.

I tag:

Anne Marie Dennis

Gigi Messina

Gary Simpson to come up with another 25 …<Evil Cackle>

A project I`ve been working on is coming to completion. At least I hope so. I was hoping to have it out some time ago but ran into some hurdles. It`s become even more important as the benefits I`ve been receiving for my bad shoulder are about to run out so an income stream from all this is becoming much more important. I haven`t mentioned my shoulder, and how it`s largely behind me entering the Internet Marketing field, as it was going to be brought up in my “About” page which I have yet to get around to doing. (see above about planning going out the window ) Anyways, I’m an electrician by trade, have been for over thirty years, and I’m no longer able to raise my right arm above my shoulder for extended periods of times. This is due to a combination of chronic bursitis and a small tendon tear. Needless to say, I’m not of much use as an electrician with that kind of a limitation so here I am trying to do this Internet Marketing thing.

Being that I’ve fallen behind in my posting and things have kind of got out of sync in terms of what Alex has taught us, and when, I’ll be trying to do a post on each module in the near future. I’m going to give each one another listen then post on it. They may become a little spread out as there’s other things I want to post on also and projects that need my attention but I hope to get caught up fairly quickly.

I think this quote is appropriate for how things have gone in the past couple of weeks.

“The best plans of men and mice often go awry” Robert Burns

So why did I balk at using it in the online world until seeing it discussed by Alex Jeffreys when I was used to using it in the offline world? I suppose it was largely because I felt I could do the tasks cheaper myself but, as I have learned, I was fooling myself to a large extent. The biggest mistake was not viewing my online business the same as I did my offline one even though the same principles apply. Every business, be it online or not, requires a certain amount of investment both in time and money. The trick is knowing when your time is better spent doing something else.

What do you feel your time is worth? Do you feel you’re worth $10 an hour? $20? I found that to be a hard number to determine initially as I was basing it to a large extent on what I made as an electrician, more accurately, what the going rate was for one. That, of course, wasn’t going about it right as Internet Marketing is not Electrical Contracting. What I finally did was figure out my monthly expenses and base what my time is worth on that.

Once I arrived at that figure it was far easier to see where I could use outsourcing to my benefit. While outsourcing copywriting and graphics work was pretty apparent to me from the start I had a little lesson in how Web Hosting could also be something to consider. I’m pretty good at the techie stuff. I can set-up a blog in no time and am comfortable digging around in the code to make changes but is it cost beneficial for me to be doing so? I’ve come to find that putting up my own blogs makes sense but digging around in the code maybe not so much. This became apparent when I noticed that the link text was being hidden on my comments page due to the colour of my headers. After mucking around for an hour or so and not finding a solution I sent an email off to Sheryl at ProHost Management asking her if she could fix it for me. This was at midnight or so and the following morning I woke up to find that she’d found a solution and the text was now visible. Needles to say, Sheryl will be hearing from in the future should stuff like that crop up and I’ll be spending my time doing something more beneficial…or fun.

The reason I brought the trouble with my links up is to illustrate that sometimes you have to look a little deeper into where outsourcing can prove to be more beneficial. I also have hosting with Hostmonster who have provided me with quality hosting for some time, and still do. They are cheaper then ProHost but don’t provide the same level of support and there’s where I started to look at Web Hosting as a form of outsourcing. While I initially opened up an account with ProHost for their Social Traffic Hosting package I’ve come to realize that the extra support…outsourcing…will also be of great benefit to me.

So look a little deeper at the tasks you’re doing. You may find that you’re far better off to have someone else do them while you concentrate on doing things you’re more proficient at. Also look past the price and more at the services and features offered. Don’t just concentrate on the present, look to the future. While some features may not be beneficial to you at this time they may in the future. Changing services later can prove to be costly and/or inconvenient.

“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” Vince Lombardi

Then my outsourcing didn’t pan out as expected. Some of it is taking longer then I’d hoped, which is fine. I’d sooner see the time being spent to put out a good finished product then rush it and get something that’s second rate. The results from the three outsourcing sites I used, ELance, GetaFreelancer and oDesk Outsourcing, for one project have left a bit to be desired. Interestingly enough, eLance has provided the smallest response of the three. Several providers have asked for a deposit and I was wondering what you folks reading this think of that. It’s nothing major, rewriting existing copywriting, so I personally feel that a deposit is unwarranted but I’m new to all this and could use the views of others.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. I’ve learned lots, and that in itself makes for a successful week, and I did get a few smaller items out of the way. One super thing that happened is I got a personal taste of the awesome support that Alex Jeffreys students are providing for everyone. I was wondering what a fair price would be for the outsourcing of a project and figured I’d see if Twitter would provide an answer. To no surprise it didn’t but one of my fellow students shot me a direct message and he is now having a look at it. I’m not going to mention his name as it involves something he’s really not interested in doing any longer but to say I appreciate this is a huge understatement. It’s kind of getting down to crunch time with me and getting this product out is pretty important. So having someone offering to help, and especially with something they’d prefer not to be doing, out of the blue like this is really awesome and so greatly appreciated.

I’ve expressed a couple of times in the forums how I think we have such a great community already but this really brings it home. While Alex Jeffreys course in itself is providing great value I really feel that the community that’s been built around the course and him may very well prove to be the biggest thing of it all. The future looks bright.

“We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone … and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.” Sandra Day O’Connor

There’s several things to consider in choosing an AutoResponder but the biggest is deliverability. If your mailings aren’t getting through to your subscribers then your not going to be making any sales. One of the biggest causes of mail not getting through is spam traps. With so much spam out there Internet Providers all have tools in place to filter out spam. If your AutoResponder company does not have a good name and reputation your chances of having your mailings fail to reach your subscribers increases substantially. On the other hand if your AutoResponder company does have a good reputation your chance are increased dramatically. Even the use of simple words like free can cause your mail to get trapped if you choose the wrong company. It may happen anyways but the chances are far less. This is where the bigger names like AWeber and GetResponse become so important. Their reputation is so high among Internet Providers that mail delivery is almost guaranteed unless you ARE a spammer.

What’s that I hear? Other companies are cheaper you say? Well, what price do you put on the success of your business? Is it worth losing everything you’ve put hours of effort into through the choice of a bad AutoResponder company. It can happen. Spam complaints can see your host closing down your site, you can even lose your domain. All for saving a few dollars a month. Let’s have a closer look at pricing. You’ll be hard pressed to find an AutoResponder company that charges less then $20 a month give or take a few dollars. Where the increased prices come into play is that companies like AWeber and GetResponse have tiered pricing. So while some will charge $20 a month for 10,000 subscribers AWeber and GetResponse prices increase after you exceed 500 subscribers, to around $30, and again after passing 2,500 to around $50. At a glance that may seem like a big increase, especially the second one, but is it really? If you’ve been building your mailing list properly you’ve been targeting people interested in your product or niche not going after huge numbers. After all, wouldn’t you sooner have a list of 100 buyers then 1,000 tire kickers? That being the case, by the time you reach 500 subscribers you should be seeing a return from your mailing list and a $10 increase in your monthly AutoResponder should not be of any great concern. By the time you reach 2,500 you could be making a comfortable living off of your mailing list and what’s $50 a month for the service that provides you your living to a large extent?

When I was in the process of choosing an AutoResponder I did a lot of research as I knew how important it is. Among other things, I posted on as many forums related to Internet Marleting as I could asking what AutoResponder people felt was the best. The overwhelming response was that AWeber and GetResponse are the best. The responses mentioning other ones were almost non-existent. So which of the two is the best? In terms of price and features they are pretty much identical but AWeber enjoys the support of a lot of the industry and a lot of things like templates and the like default to AWeber. Whichever you choose, or if you elect to go elsewhere, just remember that choosing an AutoResponder is a big choice in the future plans for your business. PLAN FOR SUCCESS!

“Success often comes to those who dare to act. It seldom goes to the timid who
are ever afraid of the consequences.” Jawaharlal Nehru

As mentioned, posting journals and having partners are great tools but they don’t mean squat if you can’t hold yourself accountable. They are aids only, accountability is only achieved through one’s own efforts. While posting journals may not be the way to go for all people everyone should be religiously keeping a journal. I can’t think of a better way then looking at your short term to-do list and your did list to account for what you’ve achieved over time. If you go back a week and most of your to-do list is still there you have problems. If it stills mostly there after a month you’d best have a long look at yourself in the mirror. This, of course, is where planning plays such a critical part. I’ve always planned but not to the degree suggested in the course and I can see where it would have helped. My planning was with a pretty broad brush and could have used a lot more finesse. I have a long ways to go in learning how to plan properly but have already seen improvements in my habits and most of all for accounting to myself. I’ve always kept track of my activities in a notepad scribbler and have found it to be invaluable. It’s all there for you to refer back on things and to check on your progress. Also, you’re not loosing or throwing out sheets like you might do with individual ones and you can’t walk away from being accountable. It’s all there for you to see, what you did and what you didn’t do. That’s been my biggest asset.

I’m in no way trying to downplay what having a partner can do for you and/or what posting your journal may achieve but I feel accountability has to start within yourself.

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable” Moliere

“Forward to Basics“. This module focuses on the basics of running a business and having it run smoothly. The core of it is planning and organization. Short term, mid-term and long term planning or, put another way, daily, weekly, monthly, quartly and yearly. By planning your tasks you enable yourself to focus more and you greatly improve your productivity. It hasn’t even been a week since the first module and I’ve seen my productivity go up greatly. This in itself may not be a new concept to some of you, although I’m guessing most of you don’t do it, but one element that’s discussed is breaking your tasks up into priorities and labeling them A, B or C. By doing this you’re focusing on the tasks that need to be done and leaving the lesser ones for later. I started with talking of putting up a new site as it illustrates how well this can work. You may plan to spend four hours to put up your new blog but easily use up the whole day and still not finish. However, by planning your tasks you have them written down and can just move everything forward until such time that you can complete them. You may even find that some of the B’s and C’s weren’t even necessary. Longer term planning helps to make sure you don’t pass over other important A tasks that can so easily be forgotten.

You may find it hard to plan far ahead, I know I certainly do, but as you progress it should become easier. Reading the forums I get the sense that some people take some things too literally, which may not be the best way to approach things. I feel you need to adapt courses like this to your own needs, abilities, goals, etc. Personally, I’m not in this business to try and make millions of dollars but to make a comfortable living with the least amount of effort. That’s not to say I’ll turn away the opportunity to make millions but I’m obviously going to approach things differently then someone who is after that kind of money. I’m also single and have no family so my plans are going to differ from those with a family. All these factors can affect the way you plan and the ease with which you can do it. I am finding that by always doing a “did sheet“, keeping track of tasks completed, and making a daily and weekly plan that I find myself thinking of things that can be done next week. I’m guessing that as I progress further that it will advance into thinking of things months ahead. The main thing is to make sure you plan at some level. At a minimum plan tomorrow today. If you can plan farther ahead all the better. “Forward to Basics” is much more then just planning and delves into other areas to prepare us for building our businesses and to say I was impressed is an understatement. I’m looking forward in anticipation to the next module.

“Attitude is everything, shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll be amongst the stars.” Authour unknown