Need some more time at the office? Perhaps you’ve got a project that needs several hours of tedious work. You could hire an assistant or a temp to come in and handle these tasks, but if that’s not an option in these economically challenging times, try virtual outsourcing some of your research, data entry, word processing or travel planning to a virtual assistant on the Internet.
Virtual outsourcing isn’t anything new. In September 1998, Business Week interviewed people at several US-based virtual outsourcing firms, and they discussed how their companies help small- and medium-sized businesses reduce their overhead expenses.
In 2006, this American Bar Association article discussed virtual outsourcing for legal firms.
You can even outsource your social networking, although that seems to defeat the purpose. Make sure the virtual outsourcing firm has some privacy guarantees.
This post at Elance has more details and a list of 25 examples.
Related posts on billso.com
- 9 December 2007: The mobile office in Honolulu
- 29 January 2007: Quiet time
- 21 August 2004: Reverse outsourcing
- 6 August 2004: Do NDAs mean anything in India?
- 1 June 2004: Irish IT staffers turn on their CEO after outsourcing announcement
