Dear Mr. Internet: I have all kinds of new marketing ideas for my business, but never seem to have the time (or skills) to implement them —help! Greg Anderson CRS RE/MAX Advisors West Chaska, MI

Dear Greg:

Your question hits on one of the biggest conundrums in our industry: it's not that we lack for ideas, instead it is the execution of these ideas into practical, consistent, business-generating solutions that seems to be the problem.

Typically, when we attempt to put a new plan into place through our own efforts, we often feel the frustration of using too much time that yields less than desired results. There is a better way however, an incredible secret that allows you to do so much more with better results, yet allowing you to work less than you do now.

Work On Your Business, Not In It...

The key is hiring the right talent for the right job —that is "outsource" every aspect of your business that doesn't require your direct involvement. Now there are a few minor details like, how to find those skilled people, where you put them when they do their work, and how to afford their services. In a traditional (i.e. "offline") business setting, these are significant issues that often stop projects before they ever get started.

Online however, these roadblocks to your business growth simply "go away" when you know the "what, where, and how" of finding the appropriate "virtual" human resources —otherwise known as "Virtual Consultants" (VC). A VC is a professional who can complete highly specialized project-based tasks via the Internet —thus eliminating the need to be within geographical proximity to the person that hired them.

Have Talent "Bid" For The Privilege Of Working For You

Using eLance.com you can easily find VCs for just about any kind of project you can dream up, in just hours! Here's how it works:

STEP 1 - Register As A "Buyer" Of Services - there is no cost for you to use eLance (the winning bid service provider pays part of their fees to support it), however you must register before you can start posting projects for bid.

STEP 2 - Post Your Project - sometimes referred to as a "Request For Proposal" (RFP). eLance provides well designed, context related forms that make it very easy to be specific about what you need to accomplish (the more explicit you are in describing your needs, the better the results).

STEP 3 - Choose Your Expert - within hours you should start receiving bids from skilled people all over the world (though primarily from the U.S.). eLance's built-in rating system (unrated through five stars, based upon previous client feedback), the ability for prospective providers to post "portfolios" of their work, and an extensive array of filtering and sorting options makes it a snap for you to pick just the right person for your job.

It's as simple as that. When the work is done, you pay eLance, who then pays the provider. It is worth noting that some providers are "eLance Guaranteed" which means their work is guaranteed to your satisfaction or you don't pay. Here are some examples of how I and others have personally used this incredible resource to great advantage:

• Within 24 hours of posting an RFP for an editor of my new book (265 pages), I had 22 bids and finally picked a five-star, eLance Guaranteed editor for $250! I also have found someone to write my "killer" press releases for much less than I could ever do it.
• Crystal Petit an agent out of Calgary Canada found a Web designer to completely redesign her site at http://www.calgarylistings.com for $100 Canadian!
• Judy McCutchin of DallasHomes.com fame (http://www.dallashomes.com) found someone to write like her dog Chester for her site's Chester Chronicals.
• Iggy Dybal (http://www.iggy.net), an independent agent out of Kansas City found a programmer in the Philippines who wrote special spreadsheet macros to help him manipulate his direct mail database —he was thrilled with the results especially after paying only $100!

Transform Yourself From A "Human Doing" To A Human Being

With the power of eLance, you are now in the position to outsource just about any kind of business-building project you can dream up including direct mail campaigns, FSBO systems, listing presentations, etc. And, the people you find are likely to do a better job and cost less than you trying to do it yourself.

This means you no longer have to feel "stopped" in growing your business because of lack of resources, talent, or time. Even more importantly however, is that you can change your business focus from so much "doing" into "being" (i.e. from worker bee to visionary) —a place where business and life is much less exhausting and infinitely more rewarding!

Published: June 22, 2001

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Michael J. Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®) is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry and small business. He is also the exclusive Internet columnist for REALTOR® Magazine, the architect of the revolutionary e-ProductivityTM system and leading voice for the use of Virtual Assistants in small business. You can subscribe to his free monthly leading-edge newsletter ePOWER NEWS by going to ePowerNews.com.