Outsourcing Product Creation
[private].[/private]You may be very surprised to learn that many of the top marketers don’t even create their own products! Yes, they might come up with the original idea but many times they outsource major parts of the creation process.
In staying with the ultimate ProFromGo goal, which is to create a product that meets our two special criteria (which we will cover in more detail once you reach the “Product Creation” section), we will cover two of the most commonly marketed digital products: eBooks and software.
Just to give you a slight glimpse ahead, here are the two special criteria that we want all products created with the ProFromGo approach to satisfy (eBooks and software satisfy both of these special criteria):
- Special Criteria #1
The product must be digital. - Special Criteria #2
The product must be able to be resold an infinite number of times.
The majority of the work involved in creating these digital products can be narrowed down into two activities: writing & programming.
Since most successful digital products are generally reports, guides, eBooks, manuals, software, or template packs (web design templates, AdSense-ready templates, graphics, etc…) I think you can probably see how the majority of the work falls under writing or programming.
Please do not feel that you are limited to written reports, software, or web design tempates & graphic packages. If you can think of any other ‘product’ aside from the ones mentioned that satisfies our ProFromGo special criteria #1 and #2 then by all means, have at it!
As far as the common types of work involved in creating the main sorts of digital products you can actually outsource nearly the entire product creation process!
If you intend on creating a written product (i.e. eBook, report, how-to guide, etc…), then you can use the sites mentioned on the last page to locate a high quality writer. ScriptLance, Elance, and RentACoder all provide excellent resources for finding a top notch writer as well as programmer.
Outsourcing Tasks Focused Around Writing…
When outsourcing writing, be sure to give the writer an outline of the project you’d like them to complete. Outlines are the easiest way to summarize a written project into an easy-to-read and -follow format prior to commencing the work. An outline can be jotted down in just minutes and a good writer can take a short outline and turn it into a long written piece!
Here is an example of an outline I wrote for the “Outsourcing” section of the ProFromGo PRO area. This outline is in MS Word format (.doc) so you might need MS Word to access it or you could try opening it with Google Docs if you don’t have MS Word.
• Click Here To Download The Example Outline
Outsourcing Programming/Software Development Tasks
Software is one of the best digital products you can sell online. There is a great amount of “value” associated with software and, depending on what you intend your software program to accomplish, there is a huge market for useful software programs in any niche.
The greatest thing about a software program is that if you can dream it up, chances are there is a programmer out there somewhere who can build it for you.
Anytime you would like to outsource programming or software development tasks, there is an industry standard known as a “vision document” that is used to communicate all the nitty gritty details of how the program/software is supposed to work and what it’s supposed to do.
You may have a great idea for a software program and then get halfway through the vision document and realize your idea needs a little refinement, but that’s not a problem! Refinement only makes a project BETTER and sometimes it takes a little bit of refinement to get your idea past the drawing board and into the development phases.
The word “vision document” sounds so technical and may even seem a bit intimidating to anyone who isn’t familiar with one, but don’t let it scare you!
Here’s the best way I can think to summarize what a vision document is all about:
I have a special surprise for you too! I have a complete vision document that is sort of a generic example of everything a vision doc is supposed to be! You can download this, analyze it, and then substitute all of the respective information regarding your own software idea right into this very vision document and you’ll be all ready to provide your programmer with the details of your project.
Once you have your vision document ready, all you need to do is find a good programmer using one of the resources I mentioned to you a bit earlier in the “Outsourcing” section.
Just go to one of these sites, post your project without giving away all the pertinent info, (or else an unethical marketer scanning the freelancing site may come along and snag your idea) and once you have tested a few different programmers using the three step approach outlined earlier in this section, you can provide them with your vision document and give them guidance along the way.
Click here to download the example “Vision Document” provided by ProjectConnections.com
Just to save you the trouble of clicking back through this section, here are the links to a few great sites where you can find reliable programmers and freelancers:
Be sure to give the programmers a few test assignments before giving them a big project so you can develop a working relationship with them and make sure they are the right person for the job! Kind of like a practical job interview with a test assignment…
Elance  | RentACoder  | ScriptLance  |
