Archive for the ‘Outsourcing Tech’ Category

The Lazy Man’s Guide to Outsourcing Customer Service

how to outsource customer service

Outsourcing work is an appealing idea – It can save you money, resources, and sometimes, a great deal of stress.

Farming out your customer service cut overheads significantly, but it’s definitely not a one size fits all solution and there are no magic outsourcing beans.

If you going to take the jump with any sort of outsourcing where company will be directly interacting with your customers, it’s important to weigh up your options carefully. Shabby service will almost guarantee a mass exodus of customers.

In this article you’ll find some best practices for outsourcing customer service, and a practical guide to help you decide if this type of outsourcing is the right choice for your business. Find out more


100k developers are dead – Why and exactly how to build software at a fraction of the price

Use virtual office software that allows you to communicate efficiently and provides accountability.

It is possible to develop high quality scalable software for a fraction of the cost and time in comparison to the classic San Fransisco Valley development model? By optimizing any of the these three factors: Creating a bullet proof hiring process, having an efficient virtual work space, and accountability; we think you can.

In the production of Time Doctor we’ve hired dozens of developers from all over the world (we currently have workers in 8 countries) at a fraction of the cost of what we would have paid in San Fransisco and have built in almost instantaneous scalability into our company through our hiring techniques so we can quickly expand or contract dependent upon what we need done. Here are the rules we’ve followed to do this. Find out more


SVN, Git, Mercurial, and CVS – Comparison of version control software

Comparison of SVN SoftwareIf your next big business idea is based on software development, involves an elaborate technical concept, or simply requires a large distributed team working on one task, you need to learn two words by heart: version control.

Version control (also called subversion control, or revision control) helps large projects from spinning out of control by letting individual programmers (or writers, or project managers), each tackle a project from a different angle without getting in each other’s way and without doing damage that can’t be undone. There’s a great visual introduction to version control here if you are completely unfamiliar with the concept.

Which version control is right for your project?

There are a number of solutions out there, and we’ve put together a definitive feature comparison so you can decide the best solution for you. It is a fairly technical topic, so if you don’t have a software background, read our comparison carefully, and consult with your lead technical personnel before you make any final decisions. Find out more


Phenomenal design done dirt cheap – how to outsource graphic design jobs

Outsourcing Graphic DesignSo you need a logo, or a banner, or maybe even something as simple as letterhead or a business card? You need it cheap, and you need it done well. One of the single most frustrating things about running a small business or early-stage startup is knowing how important it is to have effective visuals yet also how little there is to spend on it.

Maybe you’ve tried coming up with something yourself. Maybe you’ve called in a favor from a friend who has an old version of Photoshop or hired a student you found on Craigslist. There are plenty of places you can turn to when your budget is limited and your need is great, and we’ve seen them all. Most of them turn out to be dead ends that waste time and money. If you want great design, at great prices, you can now outsource most design jobs, meaning that the graphic design process is now faster, more affordable, and more reliable than ever…
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15 essential tips for outsourcing decision making

Outsourcing mistakesIf you’re a business owner or manager and are considering outsourcing of any type, you’re probably aware of the huge risks that can be involved. If you’re not – you should be: placing the future of your business into the hands of strangers can quickly go pear-shaped.

While hiring staff that you may never meet face to face, might seem like a gamble, there has never been a better time to try to leverage online outsourcing, especially once you know how to avoid some of the more common pitfalls involved.

So what specific steps can you take to ensure things run smoothly?
We’ve drawn up a list of the best practices to help you avoid outsourcing mistakes; these 15 best practices will hopefully save you time and energy and shield your business from the sort of mistakes that could bring your efforts undone.
Find out more


9 of the Best Free Resources for Entrepreneurs

Resources for EntreprenuersStarting a business and running your own company can be tough if you don’t have the right tools, especially when it comes to things like scheduling, project management, and communication…

While a quick web search will bring up thousands of resources, it can be incredibly hard to sort through the clutter and find the tools that actually work well.

Not only have we found the best tools available online, but we’ve also focused on those that are either entirely free or free for basic use . With these resources, you’ll find new ways to communicate with your team, present your ideas to prospective customers, make meaningful customer service connections and much more.

NOTE: all prices are quoted at the time of writing, and we do not profit out of any of these recommendations.

DropboxFiles you save to Dropbox are available from the secure Dropbox website and your computer or mobile phone. If you invite others to share the file, they can view it and make edits. This feature allows teams to collaborate on documents, and share individual items and folders among groups of users.

Files saved to your Dropbox can be accessed on the go from your Android, Blackberry, iPad or iPhone, and the company provides clients for Windows, OS X and even Linux.

The service offers 2GB of file storage free, and you can get more storage by upgrading to a paid $9.99 or $19.99 per month subscription. Find out more