There is a time to cut costs and a time to ensure quality at any price.
Right now is not the right time for either service extreme.
Like many small business owners, my company is experiencing a crunch. While looking for ways to remain relevant and competitive, I joined oDesk.com,which is a marketplace for freelance programmers and writers.
oDesk has a very structured hourly-centric system that exposes the service extreme:
Offshore freelancers are willing to work for $4.00 per hour
New freelancers and those with lower feedback scores
Freelancers with high feedback scores are charging a premium for their services.
The group of freelancers in the middle constitutes a thick cluster of fierce bidding competition.
All of this is good for the freelance marketplace. The cream rises, the crud curdles and the best of the middle joins the elite after building some feedback.
Take a look at the freelance question from the viewpoint of your business. Can you afford to cut costs, taking a chance on offshore talent? On the other hand, can you really afford to pay a premium for the elite freelancer? oDesk clearly states that you are paying for time, not a product. If you get poor results, you’ll just have to hire someone else to fix the mess. If you went for the low-end solution, chances are, you won’t want another bargain basement solution. If you were disappointed with the boutique brand, you’ll wish you had gone to the middle. Either way, the fix means yet another expense.
What if you could present your problem without risk? Instead of paying for time, why not pay a fixed price for quality?
My Digital Tinker service initial consultation will ensure that I can even do the job. The proposed solution is one of a menu of fixed cost services. You won’t pay a dime until the job is done.
How does this benefit you?
You get to pre-qualify the service.
You control the cost.
You control your cash flow.
Your business needs every dollar to be well-spent. Contact me for help with your data management challenges.
Download the Digital Tinker Data Cleansing Packet.
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