Best tips/ways of outsourcing

1. Clearly define the scope and schedule for your project
This might seem obvious, but any successful outsourced project always starts with a clear statement of what you are hoping to accomplish. Define your project requirements up front. Service providers need accurate, complete information to present you with realistic proposals and to quote you a reasonable price. Be specific about the deliverables you expect the vendor provide. Give vendors as much information as you can about what you need delivered and the way in which you need the work done. Also, be clear and realistic about your schedule requirements - project schedules can have a huge impact on project costs.

2. Evaluate a service provider like you’d hire a full-time employee
When you’re evaluating proposals from service providers, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Just like hiring a full-time employee, selecting a vendor is a very subjective experience. Check their references and ask for feedback from other clients who have used their services. Engage in a dialog - if you have any concerns about a vendor’s specific capabilities, voice your concerns. Don’t just stew about it and hope for the best.

3. Look for specific experience fit
Ideally, the service provider you select will have specific experience with the type of project that you’re undertaking. You don’t want to be somebody’s “guinea pig. ” This is especially crucial when outsourcing complex technical projects such as software development. For example, if you’re looking for someone to develop an application for the Palm PDA, make sure they’ve actually completed commercial projects on that platform for other satisfied customers. This advice holds true for other types of projects as well. If you need a business plan for opening a retail store, you’ll get best results if the consultant you hire has verifiable experience in the retail sector.

4. Don’t choose a vendor based solely on price
Though it might be tempting, never select a vendor based solely on price. Experienced buyers who have outsourced many projects and evaluated hundreds of proposals almost always recommend discarding the highest-priced and lowest-priced bid. Buyers report that their most successful projects are the ones where they felt the vendor offered a balance of good value and quality results.
5. Review portfolios and samples
Examine the vendor’s previous work (their “portfolio”) and make sure that their previous work meets your expectations for quality and style. If you’ve evaluated a vendor’s portfolio, references and previous experience and are still unsure of their capabilities, consider asking them to do a quick mock-up or provide a basic outline of a work plan. A service provider who really wants to win your business might be able to give you a rough concept so you can better understand their approach to solving your problem. But never cross the line between asking for a mock-up and insisting that a vendor provide you with finished work “on spec. ” No qualified professional expects to work for free.

6. Start small
When engaging with a service provider for the first time, start with a project that is relatively small and simple in scope. This will give you a better idea of the provider’s style and capabilities before you entrust a “mission critical” project to them.

7. Tie payment to clearly defined project milestones
Just as you should be clear about project scope, make sure that you define a work plan for your outsourced project with clearly defined milestones. Having scheduled checkpoints where you review the status of the project as it works toward completion-is an easy way to ensure that you meet your final deadline and that the final product meets your standards. Tie the vendor’s payment to these milestones. A good guideline for IT and software development projects is to pay no more than 20% to 30% of the total project price up front, with the rest of the payments awarded based on the completion of 3 or 4 milestones.

8. Negotiate ownership of work up front
For any type of outsourced project, make sure that you are clear about who owns the resulting work product and any important components of that product. Make sure the service provider understands how you intend to use the deliverables that they are agreeing to provide. For example, the development of a custom software application for your personal use would be substantially different from the development an application that you intend to package and re-sell.

9. Don’t forget about support after the project is complete
For technology projects, it’s a good idea to specify a warranty or support clause so that you are assured of some amount of continuing support from the vendor after the project is complete. It’s much easer to negotiate a support clause before the service provider begins work, rather than after the completion of the project. Even creative or business services can benefit from a support clause. Suppose you need some changes to a business plan based on feedback that you get from potential investors. Or maybe you find that you need that snazzy new logo delivered in a new type of file format. Specifying some amount of free support or negotiating discounted prices for future modifications can save you time, money and headaches later on.

10. Get it in writing
During the course of a service engagement, the scope of the project, deliverables or even the agreed upon price may change. Make sure that you clearly communicate any schedule, scope or payment changes to your service provider and get confirmation from them - in writing - that they understand and agree to the changes. Similarly, keep a record of any agreement changes requested by the service provider and whether you accept or reject those modifications. Save copies of any email exchanges that you have.

You can access top-notch expertise any time you need it without the overhead of hiring full-time staff. By staying focused on your core competencies and hiring expert freelancers in your other needs, you can compete with the delivery capabilities of larger organizations while maintaining your independence.



How to make by Google adsense


How Much Can You Earn With AdSense?

The commission you receive per click depends on how much advertisers are paying Google for the particular ad. You will earn a share of that amount. I've heard of earnings anywhere from 2 cents to $15 per click.

Getting over $1 is probably very rare, although it does happen from time to time. However, you will find that most of your earnings will be on the lower end of the spectrum.

It's important to note that I cannot estimate how much you will earn based on your traffic. People always want to know what the average amount is per click.

No one knows the answer to this except Google, so don't let anyone try to tell you any different. It would be impossible for myself or any AdSense publisher to give this information because the ads all cost different prices and we have no idea what advertisers are paying.

However, there are some niches that obviously pay more. So it is logical to believe that keyword phrases like sex, make money, etc. may earn you more per click since these are highly competitive keywords that are searched for quite a bit on

The more competitive the search term, the more the advertisers pay and the more you earn as a publisher.

Even though Google will not reveal how much you are earning for each ad that is clicked from your site, you can still login to your account at any time and see the total amount of revenue you've generated that day, week, month, year, etc.

For example, if you see that you've made $12.60 today from 9 clicks then you can calculate that your average click-thru commission was $1.40 per click. That's as detailed as their stats will get. Also remember, that's only an average. You won't know how much each specific ad brought in.

The amount you'll earn also depends largely on the amount of targeted traffic you receive to your own site, how well the ads match your audience's interests, the placement of the ads on your pages, and of course the amount you receive per click.

Ideally, you should create a site on a topic you know a lot about. That way you'll have a much easier time creating a generous amount of content on that subject.


My sites have been around for a long time and I have a great deal of traffic so that's a big reason why I earn so much. I promote my sites on social media, create YouTube videos etc. Making a lot of money with AdSense is all about numbers. The more traffic you have, the greater the earning potential.

My checks weren't always this large. I think my first month's earnings in 2003 totaled less than $20. However, as my traffic increased, so did my checks.


I cannot emphasize this enough. AdSense is NOT an overnight get-rich-quick opportunity. Even though this may look easy, please don't underestimate the amount of work I've put into my sites over the years.

Creating Your Website for AdSense

Before you even begin your site, make sure you've come up with a topic that you feel you know plenty about. That way it will be easiest to write a lot of content.

The more content you have, the better chance you have getting accepted into the program. Also, the more content and traffic, the greater the earning potential.

If you want to make a lot of money, prepare to write a lot of content and learn how to market your site. Don't expect to throw up a 10 page site and make $1,000 per month. That's unrealistic.

Now let's talk about building your website. There are two ways you can approach this:

1) Do it Yourself (DIY) from scratch

2) Use Site Build It! (SBI!)
The Do It Yourself Method

I've actually used both methods for building my site and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. So the option you choose, depends on what you're comfortable with.

If you use the DIY method, you will have to go and get a domain (yoursite.com) and then sign up for a web host and build your pages.

Decide if you want a static website like this or a blog. If you don't know the difference, this article will help you out.

Averaging between $3 and $10 per month, the DIY method is usually the most cost friendly of the two but you are mostly on your own in terms of learning how to create your web pages and adding the AdSense code to your site.

Web hosts are generally there to house your site. They don't specialize in helping you market and optimize your site for the search engines to help you get traffic. So don't expect a lot from them in terms of helping you market your site and making money with Google AdSense.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. I had to learn how to build this site on my own and it wasn't very difficult.

 I now manage all of my static sites with Dreamweaver. 


Consider Using Site Build It! (SBI!)

This is a revolutionary web host like no other. I use it for my site, flat-stomach-exercises.com, and AdSense is the #1 way this website earns money.

I don't make a ton of money because it's not my primary site, but the site definitely pays for itself and then some! I actually just created this website to test the website building system out.

The reason SBI! is different from the other do-it-yourself hosts is that first it provides all the web page building and marketing help all in one place. Your domain registration, web hosting, website builder, and marketing help come with the price.

They provide you with a brainstorming tool so you can research and select a "profitable" niche based on monthly keyword searches/demand. Then they guide you to building your website using their Video Action Guide.

Now, it's important to note that SBI! does not build your site for you. That's up to you. They simply provide the guidance so you can optimize your site for AdSense or other programs.


How to Join AdSense Once you have 20-30 pages on your site, go to http://adsense.google.com to apply.

When you are accepted, simply copy and paste the provided HTML code into any page that you'd like to show the ads. You can opt to display text ads, image ads, or a combination of both. It's up to you.

You can either display the ads vertically along side the page like Google does or in a banner-like formation horizontally across your pages. You can even customize the colors to match your site's theme.

Experiment

Test ad sizes, images vs. text, play around with colors, you name it. I personally like to have my ads match the background of my site so they blend more.

Some people prefer to make their ads stand out by using bold/contrasting colors, but that never worked well for me. I think it's because they look so much like ads.

Read a blog post I wrote where my readers and I discuss our best performing ad units/sizes.

To display the ads vertically along the right side of the page, just copy this code into your site and paste your AdSense code where indicated.

<table align="right" width="300>
<tr>
<td>INSERT ADSENSE CODE HERE</td>
</tr>
</table>

You can change the width of the table to suit your needs, just remember that it needs to be wide enough to fit whatever AdSense code you selected. You can also switch the alignment by changing the align attribute from "left" to "right."

Create Channels

Channels allow you to see what units are working best. So if you are adding an AdSense unit to your header, you should create a channel called (name it Header, for example) so you can track its performance in your reports.

I think it's important to maximize your click through rate (CTR) so you can attract more advertisers (just my opinion based on logic.) So I remove channels/units that perform significantly lower than others.

Advertisers want to advertise on sites that will give them the most clicks, right? So it makes sense to optimize your account's CTR as much as you can.

So how do you create channels?

When you are creating a new ad unit, you are presented the option of creating a custom channel on the first screen...


Avoid Free Hosts

I know times are tough economically and a lot of you don't want to pay for a website. But the facts don't lie. Successful website owners invest money. Period.

I have yet to open up a magazine and see a successful site featured hosted on Blogger.com or another free host. Never. And I've been out here since 1998.

If you want the search engines and people to take your site seriously, you have to own your site. And if you don't do this, I question your dedication.

Even if it means you have to wait and save your money for 6 months to buy a domain and hosting. I'd rather you do that then take shortcuts with free hosting.

The other problem with free hosts is they can remove your site without warning. This happened to a gentleman just last week who emailed me. There was nothing I could do. If you don't own your site, you don't own your income.

How Come I'm Not Making Much Money With AdSense

People often ask me why their earnings are so low and there are many reasons for that.

1. Not enough traffic

If your site has less than 500 visitors per day, it's going to be difficult to make much with AdSense. You have to remember that only a small percentage of people will click on your ads (1-2%) so if you have 500 people coming to your site in a day, that's 5 clicks.

Also, most clicks will earn you less than $1, so hopefully you can see that it takes a great deal of traffic to build up income with AdSense.

2. Not enough relevant ads displaying

Some niches have more, relevant ads that Google can display. This will drastically impact your click through rate. If the ads aren't relevant to your content then your visitors aren't going to click.

That's why it's important to make sure your site has a lot of content so you can help Google display the most relevant ads. Granted, sometimes there aren't relevant ads available, and there's nothing you can really do about that.

However, just having a few sentences with some images is not helping Google find the best ads because you have so little content.

3. Low paying niche

Let's face it. Some niches pay more than others. If you have a finance site, the ads will probably pay more than the ads on an entertainment site.

So the niche you are in plays a big role in how much you can make. That's why it's hard to estimate how much anyone can earn with AdSense. There are just too many different variables.



Not Getting Approved?

People often ask me why they can't get approved for AdSense. It's tough to answer because I do not work for Google, so I can only guess.

Many times it's because there are not enough pages on your website. I tell people to shoot for at least 20-30 pages at the very minimum, and make sure your content is very niche -- centered around ONE topic.

Google doesn't like sites that cover too many different topics because it's hard to target ads. The more focused your content is, the better.

In addition to more content, aim for longer articles (at least 700 words or more). Google does not like "thin" content sites that look as if they were created just for AdSense. Put some meat on those bones and make it look as if you put some effort into your website!

Also, check your grammar, spelling, layout etc. Remember you are partnering with Google and they don't like to see messy sites with poor/confusing navigation structures.


Getting Disabled From AdSense

Recently, a lot of publishers have been getting their accounts disabled for "fraudulent or potential fraudulent click activity."

This has frustrated a lot of AdSense publishers because many claim they have done nothing wrong and how in the heck does Google define "potential?"

No one really knows.

Remember, Google earns its money from advertising. The ads that appear on your pages are costing someone money every single time a click is registered.

Google monitors clicks very closely -- especially if your account is new.

So if they sense A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G out of the ordinary or feel you are getting traffic from places that may may produce bot/automated/fraudulent clicks, they will disable your account to protect their advertiser's money.

They used to disable when they confirmed fraudulent clicks, but now they will disable even if they see potential risk with your account -- whatever that means.

Then they refund the advertiser their money -- which is why you don't receive a check for money earned if you are disabled.

Unfortunately no one really knows exactly what the threshold is for determining your account has "potential fradulent clicks."

And to make things worse, their communication when you are disabled is automated and there are usually no warnings -- which is unfortunate and frustrating for people who have done nothing wrong. There's also no way to reach out for definitive answers and appeals usually fail.
It's Not Our Money... Unfortunately

As frustrating as it is to get disabled from AdSense, keep in mind, Google is SHARING their advertising money with us.

If there was no AdSense program, all of that money we're earning would be Google's anyway. So ultimately it is their money, not ours.

I know that's tough to hear and I can imagine it does feel like your money was taken from you, but when we all "accepted" the terms and conditions upon signing up, that is basically what we were agreeing to.

There are no guarantees with AdSense.

Now I do believe that the system has kinks, and I believe some innocent people are disabled, but that's why you cannot put all your income eggs in one basket. Google has to protect their advertiser's money.

No one is safe from getting banned... not even me... and it's just one of those things that comes with the territory if you decide to join the AdSense program.

Google will always safeguard their advertisers because they are their customers -- not us. And if they feel their money is being wasted on fraudulent clicks (even if it's only potential), they won't stand for it.

Google AdSense Alternatives

If you were disabled from the program, here are some alternate programs you can try...

Media.net
Chitika
Kontera
Infolinks
Clicksor

Don't ever depend on AdSense as your main income source. Diversify and learn to make money in other ways.

How I Increased My AdSense Earnings by $1000


What I did was so simple, I’m almost ashamed to dedicate a post to this.

I hope you forgive the simplicity of what I’m about to reveal, but sometimes the simplest changes make the greatest impact.

In early November I added a 728×90 unit to the header of my Site Build It! site, Flat Stomach Exercises. That unit began earning around $40 per day for the first few days and then leveled off to $30-ish per day.

20 Ways to Make Money With Your Website

Affiliate Marketing

This is how I earn a living online. Affiliate marketing is the process of referring products or services from your website and earning a commission for every sale made.

Learn more about affiliate marketing here.
Become a Reseller

A reseller is a lot like an affiliate except you have more control over your profits. Typically you buy the product at wholesale, set your own prices and earn on the markup. I resell hosting and domains and earn a nice residual income.

Look for reseller programs in your niche by Googling [your niche] + reseller programs.
Sell eGoods (Templates, eBooks, Software, Reports, etc.)


The key to building longevity online is to have your own product to sell. Digital products are convenient because the cost of production and delivery is very favorable.

I use Adobe Acrobat Professional to create my eBooks. Watch the video below for details on how to convert a Word document into a secure PDF.

Sell Hard Goods

Hard goods are tangible goods that you can touch (crafts, jewelry, clothing, etc.) WordPress has plugins you can use like WP e-Commerce, for example. If you have a static site like this one, most hosting companies have shopping cart solutions you can install. You can also use PayPal.
Google AdSense

AdSense is a contextual CPC (cost per click) network allows you to partner up with Google and display their advertiser's text and/or image ads on your website. When a visitor clicks your ads, you earn revenue.

Learn more about AdSense here.
Media.net

Media.net is a decent alternative to AdSense for some websites. If you were banned from AdSense or are looking for an alternative, this may be a good choice.
Chitika

Chitika is another CPC network with a variety of ad types. One unique feature of Chitika is the ads only show up when people find your site via internal or external search.

Let's say someone finds one of your pages by searching for "blue hats" in Google. They will see Chitika ads related to blue hats. If another visitor just surfs on that same page by clicking through your site, they won't see any Chitika ads.

I tried Chitika on this site and the conversions were poor. This network seems to be best for shopping sites due to the kinds of ads in their database. Not many ads were relevant to my content.
Clicksor

Clicksor is another contextual CPC program that is known to be less strict when it comes to getting accepted. If you qualify, you can become a Premium Site Partner which will provide more revenue options and reports.
Bidvertiser

This CPC program allows other advertisers to bid on your site and the highest bidder gets the display. Bidvertiser is known for paying a higher CPC, but it seems to work best with sites in categories specified by Bidvertiser.
Kontera

Kontera displays intext ads on your website. In other words, their program automatically hyperlinks certain keywords within your text and links them to related ads.

I'm not a fan of this CPC program. In my opinion, the ads look very intrusive. Nevertheless, they've been around awhile and are worth the mention here.
CPM Networks

Unlike CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per thousand) networks pay you per impression. Most networks require you to have a good amount of traffic to qualify. Nevertheless, they're worth checking into. Burst Media, Value Click and Advetising.com are 3 popular networks.
RSS Feed Ads

If your blog has a high RSS feed readership, you may be able to generate some cash displaying ads inside your RSS (XML) feed. Feedburner, Bidvertiser and Pheedo all have these services.
Sell Custom Merchandise

Sites like CafePress and Zazzle allow you to sell your own designs on various merchandise (T-shirts, mugs, hats, etc.) You can incorporate widgets and links to your products within your website to help generate additional sales.

If you're a skilled graphic designer, you can really drum up some business with this method. The key is to create the designs to match the theme of your site.

I use Zazzle. Learn more about them here.
Sell Ad Space

Once you have at least several hundred visitors per day to your site, you can start thinking about selling ad space. If you're a WordPress blogger Kamoona (free) and OIO Publisher are two popular plugins.

I used OIO Publisher on my WordPress blog. It worked well, but I didn't like that you couldn't sell ads by impression. You could only sell by number of days. Hopefully they'll ad this feature because it's a great plugin otherwise.

For static website owners, you can use OIO, OpenX (free) or AdPeeps. I use AdPeeps to sell ad space on this site and I absolutely love the script.

Yes, it's pricey at $99, but it's so flexible. I can sell ads by day, clicks, impressions or the month. There's even an advertiser self-service option where you can give your customer the option of choosing how many days, clicks, impressions, etc. they want to buy upfront.

There are also coupon code and location targeting modules you can buy as add-ons.


How Would You Promote Your Site or Blog?


This is a follow-up to the poll results we had in February on AddMe.com. Since 84% of you indicated that you weren’t sure of which marketing channel you wanted to pursue, this article will help you get a better understanding of each marketing method.

Only 1% of you said you would use banner advertising to promote your site.

This can be an effective strategy, but you have to know what you’re doing. The key to any type of advertising campaign is to make sure you are targeting the right visitors. It may sound like common sense, but I see many business owners struggle with the concept of targeted traffic. Targeting your traffic simply means that you are focusing your marketing efforts on a specific type of visitor based on certain factors such as demographics and interest. By fine-tuning your target traffic, you can improve your ROI while increasing conversions. Getting started with banner advertising isn’t hard. You just need to understand the concepts of you’re doing.

The goal is to find 3rd party sites in your niche that you believe can bring targeted visitors to your site. As you are researching, start building a list of potential publishers. Once you have a decent sized list, begin contacting the webmaster of each site and start negotiating for ad placement. If you prefer not to find publishers yourself, you can always look for an ad network like Advertise.com, AdRoll, or BuySellAds.com.

Another 1% of you said you would buy traffic to promote your site.

Sounds easy right? Buy traffic and generate sales. Not so simple. This is where experience can really come in handy. As you may know, there are thousands of traffic sellers online. In addition to figuring out who to trust, you have to also understand the source of the traffic. Where is the traffic coming from? Is it coming from a website, domain redirection, pop-up? What exactly is it? Is it real traffic, is it bots, or is it some pay to click program? These are important questions to ask because the answer could mean the difference between a successful campaign and one that will drain your money. Again, the goal here is to find a genuine source of the traffic that will generate leads or sales for you.

Another 1% said you would promote your site with PPC traffic.

There are 2 types of PPC traffic: search and content. Most of us are familiar with search networks like Google and Bing, but there other big players on the content advertising side such as Advertising.com, Facebook and LinkedIn. Should you use PPC to drive traffic to your site? There is no easy answer. You have to consider some things like costs and the ability to target your audience. Then, once you start running the campaign, you need to check stats and fine tune. One thing you should know though – PPC traffic can get pretty pricy, especially when you’re dealing with the top tier networks and highly competitive markets. There are some affordable networks out there, but the quality usually goes down when prices are “cheap.”

3% of you said you would use social media to promote your site.

There’s been a lot of debate regarding the use of social media to promote small business. There is really no right or wrong answer – the success of a social media campaign depends on your strategy and execution. As you may know, social media takes time to do right. You have to connect with people and engage. Social media isn’t something you set and forget. What does this mean? For a small business with little to no experience in social media, it can be a major time-suck. Time can be spent on not only learning the system, but also managing the profile and communicating with customers on a daily basis. If you don’t have time to dedicate to managing these accounts, you’ll either have to find someone in your company to handle it or outsource the job to someone who specializes in social media. If you don’t have the time or budget for social media, then at the very least, you should consider creating simple profiles at all the major social networks and hold on to them until you have more time to manage them in the future.

10% of you said you would use SEO to promote your site.

Search Engine Optimization was the preferred choice of small business owners who are planning on promoting their sites online. Numbers don’t lie, and there’s good reason why SEO was the favorite among people who had an idea of how they wanted to promote their site. SEO is a great investment for small businesses, and it offers benefits that most other marketing channels cannot provide. Top organic search engine rankings are the ultimate goals for most online businesses. By achieving top rankings, you’ll not only save money on advertising, but also get targeted traffic to your site on a regular basis.

You know the saying, “You get what you pay for”… this usually holds true for online marketing. If you want traffic that produces real results, you need to invest in quality advertising. Anyone can buy cheap traffic, but if that traffic doesn’t convert, then there is no point.