In this post on outsourcing we're going to go over a few things that shouldn't be outsourced. These are the things that you want to keep very close to the vest for a number of reasons.
The first thing you don't want to outsource is product design. As much as I hate to say this, if you can't design the thing yourself, don't do it. Unfortunately, if you have this great idea for a new widget but don't know how to make it and you give it to somebody else to do, there is nothing to stop him from just outright stealing it. That is one of the sad things about Internet marketing that I personally don't like. There are a lot of opportunists out there who will steal your idea just as soon as look at it. So if you can't do it yourself, find something that you can do.
If that's not an option then seek out somebody who you know a very long time and who you trust. This may not be so easy. My personal circle of friends, as large as it is, consists of only one person with any technical skills and any Internet marketing experience. So if I had an idea for something and couldn't create it myself, I would pretty much be out of luck.
Another thing you don't want to outsource is testing and tracking of your sales letters and campaigns. The reason for this is simple. You want to know exactly what is going on with each. This requires a hands on approach so you can make changes on the fly.
For example, let's say you're doing split testing of two sales pages. One of them has testimonials and income proof and the other does not. You want to see how big a difference there is in conversions between the two. Naturally you would expect the site with testimonials and income proof to convert better. If you're testing new ads, you want to know how effective they are. If you're testing new advertising sources, such as e-zine ads, you want to track your clicks to see how responsive these ads are. At least early on in a campaign, these are things that you want to take care of yourself.
Another thing you can't even consider outsourcing is networking and meeting new people. You can't hire others to do this for you. The people you will ultimately work with will want to get to know you personally and likewise you will want to do the same. Relying on someone else's opinion of how “good” another person would be to work with is just not a good idea. Everything is better when handled on a personal level. Networking is one of the key things you need to take care of on your own.
Getting back to testing and tracking, another thing you don't want to outsource is the choosing of where you will advertise and how you will advertise. After all, this is your product and nobody knows better how and where to present it than you. Of course you can ask for suggestions and opinions of certain advertising avenues, especially if you're not too knowledgeable in this area, but ultimately, these are decisions that you want to make on your own.