Hi, everyone. So, for today we're going to be discussing different platforms for finding talent for your projects. Now, this is going to be very important because having the right people on your team is a huge factor in whether or not you'll actually be successful. Painful, but it's true. Having the right people can make or, yeah, it can totally take your project in a big different direction. So first off, you need to determine the nature of your relationship with these people. So first off, never outsource your core lines of business unless it's absolutely necessary. An example of this is when I started doing contract work and I was bringing in talent and talent acquisition is huge part of our work. At first it was just me and I had to hire a consultant to show me how to do those things and how to get started with that. So once I had the skills down then I was able to bring it all in house and be able to do it efficiently. But yeah, initially I really needed to be trained and taught how to do this. So, if you're a software development company, and you build applications or different programs, don't outsource that work because that's a core line of business. You need to keep it in house. If you have a vision for an application and you learn it, then if you need to hire someone in the beginning to do it, then that's fine. But the goal should always be, bring it in house as soon as possible and when you can afford to. So first off decide whether or not you're going to outsource. Next, you could hire someone as a 1099. You could have someone as an employee. A lot of this is going to depend on how much money you've got available. So when I was first starting I had everyone at a 1099 status because I couldn't afford the overhead. And if work was slow then I wasn't able to keep paying for people's mortgages and all that. So, initially, everyone was 1099. But, now I don't do 1099 work at all. I have everyone on full time salaries, benefits and all that because I can afford to and it strengthens your competitive offerings. When somebody works for you, you can control the nature of that relationship. With my employees, we have non-compete agreements where they can't go to our competition and do work for them. There are pros and cons, disadvantages, advantages to every sort of nature but first determine that before you start going and looking for talent. So back to what are your core lines of business. Keep this in mind. So there a lot of different platforms for designers. Now all of them have different pros and cons, advantages and focuses. So Elance is a very popular one. 99 Designs, Guru.com, Odesk.com, Vworker.com. Now the main difference is going to be the dispute resolution and some of them are better than others. But there's also some other big differences, as well. So we'll just go through a few of these different options. So Elance, there's a one time charge of $10 for unlimited job posts. There's 165,000 plus specialists. Pros, it's got a work room where it saves messages and screen shots and files. This is always good to have, especially when it comes to conflict resolution. At the end, if you hired someone who wasn't that competent, you need to have papers, you need to back everything up. And I've found this as well when I've hired people who weren't that competent or contracted out work. Having everything detailed down is imperative to you being able to either get money if you have to sue, or being able to figure something else out. But if you don't keep your strong records from the beginning, it's a lot harder to collect. Learned that the hard way, which is why I'm telling you guys now so you don't have to go through that. Okay, so cons, there's often language barriers. So do your research because it can be expensive for dispute resolution. A lot of the contractors on Elance are in other countries. And one of the reasons for this is that the cost of living here in the US is a lot more expensive, especially in the DC area, than other countries. Especially if you're looking at some parts of India, some parts of Pakistan. So, or even if you're looking at here like northern Virginia versus say Alabama. Northern Virginia is a lot more expensive and you have to take your cost of living into account because you're not a charity you're a business you have to be able to support yourself. So, ODesk. Free for companies, 750,000 plus specialists. The pros are that there's a work journal that guarantees you pay for exactly what is worked on an hourly basis. This is an excellent thing to have because, I don't know how many times this has happened, and you see it a lot with mechanics as well when they're like, well I spent 7 hours adjusting your mirror. And you're like, dude, that doesn't take 7 hours. I'm not paying for it. So take that into account. So that's actually a very good thing to have, because you do want to have your time logged exactly down to, right on point. That's one thing I've come across, too, is that it's so easy for contractors to say they spent the amount of time on something. But you can look at it and be like, dude, you could have done that after a six pack of beer or played Xbox and then you're billing for that time. No. So, that's a good trait. Cons, poor user support. Definitely take that into account too, because when you're finding people online, there isn't that face to face interaction that comes with interpersonal relationships within your community. So if you find someone through another person or a referral, they've got an obligation to do right by you because then the reputation can spread. But if there's someone on the other side of the world they don't have that incentive. 99Designs is very affordable. There's 950,000 plus specialists. The pros are you don't pay for billable hours, there's many choices, and many designers compete. The cons are that there's poor user support, and it's easy to lose intentions in translation and, yeah it can be tricky. But I have had some students who have done very well with all of these sites. But then I've also had some who have definitely had some bad experiences. So when you're selecting somebody who's overseas or not in your area and you don't really know their back history, don't just trust that people will get their work done. You have to be able to stay on top of them. Schedule meetings, schedule phone calls, and check in with them as well. And have deliberate milestones so that you can make sure those are met instead of waiting until the very last minute when you're like, so, do you have this done. I'm meeting with investors tomorrow. And they're nowhere to be found. You don't want that to happen. So Guru. Guru is a very popular one, wide price range. So if you want entry level and you've got a very tight budget, then that's fine. But if you've got a much higher budget and you really want top of the line products, then yeah, Guru can be a great one. Talent pros are in all industries, design, management, finance. Cons, poor user support. You're gonna see poor user support with a lot of these sites, though. So it's easy to lose communication in translation. That happens a lot. One thing, too, that I'd suggest, if you're looking at management finance and accounting, and you're getting consulting on that, make sure that they know the rules and regulations that are relevant in your area. So GAAP, accounting practices, general accepted accounting practices, there's very specific ones for the US versus Europe versus Australia. Make sure that they know what rules and regulations are in place for us. So in summary. Make sure to do your research. Many companies are not a one size fits all so you're going to need some customizations. So make sure that you have that taken into account as well. Understand the nature of the relationship. You don't want to outsource your core lines of business to someone who's not invested in you and your company. Mm-mm. Don't want to do that. If you have to hire a consultant then absolutely, you need to bring them in and train you how to do it in house. And don't, yeah, keep your ego out of it. You've gotta know where your weaknesses are, cuz that'll keep you going. And, yeah, thanks a lot. Bye.
