Why You Should Outsource Inside the United States

Outsourcing Inside the United States

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Outsourcing is a pretty hot topic right now, and understandably so. The idea of hiring overseas web designers, PHP programmers, and content writers at half the US market rate and a no benefits package is very  appealing.

Numerous blog posts portray outsourcing as a one size fits all solution to online business problems. Why write content when you can load it off abroad for two bucks a page and zero effort? Who wants to spend time organizing a new website when you could set the project on auto pilot? From my experience, this story book description of outsourcing is flat out misleading.

The Myth of the No Cost Employee

I’ve outsourced a fair number of projects to the Philippines and India. Typical assignments for these offshore contractors include WordPress design, e-book creation, link building, and content writing. While I’ve been satisfied with my results, the labor does not come with out a cost.

For example, a customized WordPress theme will run me around $300 – $400 on average in the Philippines. Mediocre content that can be used for article submissions and web 2.0 sites runs me about $4 – $5 per page, and a custom design e-book costs about $75. My point here is that while these tasks are being off shored on the cheap, but it still ain’t free.

Time: The Hidden Cost of Outsourcing

Whenever I’m outsourcing work somewhere abroad, I’ve learned to put together a very straight-forward and detailed instruction process. With most off-shore employees, no details of a project can be assumed or left to chance. This type of comprehensive instruction requires a lot of front-work and step-by-step instruction that can be soul crushing.

Outsource in the United States

Alternatively, there are plenty of opportunities to off-load work cheaply and more effectively inside the United States that are being largely ignored by the internet marketing community. A recent example is a WordPress website I hired out to a web designer with a traditional 9 – 5 job. This guy is sharp and a great problem solver, but is only compensated about $40K per year from his employer. He also has a couple of small kids to take care of.

You think he couldn’t use a couple of side projects over the course of a year? And he was happy to create my WordPress site for just $200. In addition to paying less than what I would have paid someone overseas, the overall experience was much less painful. Sure, I had to give the designer a clear understanding of what I wanted to accomplish, but the process was much easier. I even gave the designer the freedom to “use his best judgment” for some elements of the website. I usually don’t have this sort of luxury when I offshore a project, and it was very refreshing.

The Bottom Line

See Who Outsources to the USA? for a validation of this guest article.

Believe it or not, I’m not an outsourcing hater. In fact, I still leverage offshore employees to complete some of the time consuming and repetitive online marketing tasks, like link building. I just want you to be aware that you don’t always need to go offshore to get a great deal on web design projects. More often than not, you might find a better one close to home.

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About the Author: Brett Alan is the owner of StartSEOCompany.com. Visit the website to read his regularly updated blog.