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Offshore outsourcing and Possible risk factors http://ping.fm/Y6nKE

Essential Points to Bear in Mind for Becoming Successful Marketer http://ping.fm/YoZX4

Offshore outsourcing must be done wisely to maximize the business benefits

Offshore Outsourcing refuses to slow down anytime nearer in the future as enterprises continue to outsource their non-core business functions to minimize their business costs. Though, Offshore Outsourcing is regarded as the best thing business can do, there are lot of risks involved in outsourcing if not done properly.

Remember, the figures that you hear – more than 40 % of savings in cost are not to be taken for granted. Initially, one can expect cost savings around 20-30% and then as the year progresses, your cost savings begin to increase.

Companies must choose their offshore outsourcing partner after a complete research and must go for outsourcing only when they are being benefited either tangibly or intangibly. Vendors who can deploy video conferencing and other tactics for regular knowledge sharing can be of great help in enhancing the brand of the business.

In short, offshore outsourcing is arguably the success formula, but only when done wisely.

Choosing a Copywriter

What do you charge? That's often the first question a prospective client asks a copywriter, but it should instead be the last question.

Not that it isn't valid - of course you need to know if you can afford this person's services - but until you ask some other questions, it's irrelevant.

Ideally, before you begin contacting writers, you should have some idea of reasonable copywriting fees, along with a budget for your project. If you really have no idea, do a search for copywriting fees - some writers do post their fee list on line. You can also visit copywriter forums and just ask "What's an average price that I might expect to pay for a sales letter or a page of web copy?"

But back to what you need to know before you ask the price:

1. Does the writer have experience writing for your field? This doesn't have to be precise, but the same general area, at least. Think food, natural health, real estate, automotive, technology, consumer goods, etc.

Is he or she familiar with the kind of work you do and the terminology that you might need to use in your copy? It matters - a lot. For instance, I would turn down a project that called for writing about the stock market, because I simply don't know the language. Another writer might find it easy to write.

Does he or she usually write for the Business to Consumer market, or the Business to Business market? Many writers can switch easily from one to the other, but some cannot. I write for one client who had decided to "give up on copywriters" entirely after he mistakenly hired a man who specializes in writing about business to business industrial equipment. His style and consumer understanding simply did not "fit" with selling a men's "beauty" product.

If you're searching for a fundraising copywriter, you'll want to know that the person you choose is somewhat familiar with your cause. One person might be excellent at writing for animal rescue and dismal at writing for a church group or a literacy campaign.

2. Can you see samples of past work? You need to do this so you can decide if this writer's natural style is compatible with your own. Since good copy is conversational, can the writer create a "conversation" that sounds like you? They don't have to match your tone exactly, but they do need to be able to mimic it.

3. Do those samples show that the writer understands basic "buying (or giving) psychology" and writes to tap into the emotions that motivate?

4. When you talk with the writer, does he or she seem enthused about what you're doing? Is he curious about your products? Does she ask questions about the business? Does he already support your cause in some way?

5. Does he or she talk to you in language you understand - or toss around a lot of "Hundred dollar words" that sound important but don't mean much to you?

6. And then, a point that many might think unimportant - do you enjoy talking with this person? You'll be working closely for however long it takes to write and possibly revise your copy. Will you look forward to those calls, or dread them?

7. Finally, if the copywriter has passed the first 6 check-points, you need to ask about the cost. If you've gone through those items and have chosen 2 or 3 writers that you think will do an equal job for you, then certainly - choose based on price. Otherwise, talk with the writer and see if you can trim down the project a bit to fit your budget.

Choose your writer based on what he or she can do for you - so that the rest of your time, effort, and money isn't wasted on a campaign that gives no return on your investment.

Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter who specializes in making people feel good about buying products or services, or donating to worthy causes.

She has extensive experience in writing search engine optimized web copy, direct sales letters, postcards, space ad copy, press releases, and more. She is also available for marketing plan creation and editing services.

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Business process outsourcing, whats In? and whats out?

With time, every business domain undergoes periodic churns, propelled mostly by changing market dynamics, competition, innovation and technological advancements. In this context, business process outsourcing is certainly not an exception, although as compared to other major business domains, it has a relatively shorter history. Even in it's short history, which can be traced back to somewhere around 20 to 25 years, the outsourcing domain has witnessed significant changes, both in terms of physical and characteristic changes. Since understanding these changes and their implications is necessary for both clients and providers in order to carry out the outsourcing function in the most appropriate manner, we have meticulously identified some of the most significant changes that have occurred in the outsourcing domain over the last two decades. Here are some clues as to what's IN and what's OUT in the outsourcing domain:

What's IN:

An increased focus on giving preference to long-term business objectives over short-term business gains. For example, cost reductions, which was the primary objective earlier, is presently given the same importance as improvements in process quality and customer satisfaction levels. An effort to forge and sustain long-lasting business relations with the service provider. Earlier, most outsourcing deals were based on limited period contracts, something that often fueled insecurity and suspicion amongst the involved parties.

An increase in the number of small & medium enterprises hiring outsourcing services. Earlier, outsourcing services were hired mostly by multinational companies, troubled with rising operational costs and growing inefficiency.

The use of automated customer service tools and systems, which aim to reduce the workload of customer service professionals and also to improve transactional security. For example, automated systems such as the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) have made it quite safe for customers to make online credit card transactions.

What's OUT:

The intensity of protests against outsourcing that were fueled by incremental job losses. Over time, most people have realized that something that is good for U.S. based businesses, can also prove good for the nation as a whole and possibly even help the global economy.

The end of an era when providers were referred to as "third-party" providers. The term may still be used, but more often it it is now being replaced by "strategic partner". This may appear cosmetic, but it actually signifies a drastic change in the general perception of outsourcing.

The monopoly of a few service providers, clustered in a specific, geographical location. With the advent of significant changes in IT and Telecommunications, a chance to undertake outsourcing projects is now available to any firm or country that has the skills and expertise for achieving the desired goals and objectives. The wishful thinking that outsourcing will eventually reach saturation and that it will be the end of it all. With emerging sub-domains such as KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing), the industry does not appear to be heading that way.

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Three concern of IT consulting company while hiring non immigrant HR.

Information Technology consulting companies in United States hire foreign nationals from other countries. Dealing with immigration issues is one of their major challenges. Having worked in a Law firm and Information Technology consulting company, I can relate to the challenges that a business owner goes through. I am not an expert, but from my experience I would like to share my observation on IT Consulting companies that have say less than 50 employees. Let us name this group as IT-50 Business owner. Typically IT-50 business owner handles almost all the functions such as Business development, Recruitment and Immigration on her/his own. In my opinion here are the three major CONCERNS faced by these business owners, when hiring a Non-immigrant worker:

To hire an employee in the shortest possible time

While some companies choose to process their work permit applications in-house, others hire Immigration attorney/consultants. Typically an immigration team comprises of the business owner, Immigration Department (In-house or outsourced team) and Immigration Lawfirm. One of the biggest concerns is to hire a Non-Immigrant worker in the shortest possible time. This means the Immigration team needs to be aware of the time line, have checklists and systems in place to collect the documents from the prospective employee/employer. These documents need to be submitted in time to the Immigration Lawfirm for processing the work permit applications as per USCIS guidelines . Premium processing option is offered by USCIS for some petitions for quicker decision. Both the prospective employee and the employer needs to be aware of the document requirements for work permit and make sincere efforts to submit in time. In my experience I have found that having an efficient Immigration Department (In-house or outsourced team), that truly cares, commits and does timely follow up will definitely help in cutting the time in terms of proprietary work.

Record Keeping

For an employer to run his company with peace of mind, he wants to ensure that records pertaining to both the employer and employee are kept safe and are compliant with Governmental regulations. Many companies receive training from Immigration attorney/consultant to ensure compliance and proper record keeping. Some Immigration attorneys/consultants visit the employers' facility to provide on the job training.

Employees need to be taken care of THROUGH the immigration process

In my experience this seems to be the biggest concern for IT-50 business owner. Immigration is a very important component for an employee's retention. Hence the IT-50 business owner wants to make sure that the company provides proper and correct legal support. Some are very keen in hiring Immigration attorney/consultants that are conversant with the language/culture of the employee. This makes communication easy and facilitates smooth flow of the process. In addition to employee's immigration issues, an IT-50 business owner wants his dependent's Visa issues also to be addressed in correct and timely manner.

Action Exercises

Here are the two things you can consider doing:

Review your Immigration team's performance. Are there any areas you can reduce the time taken to communicate effectively? Do you need to create checklist or automate? Just do it.

As you know Immigration is a very important component for an employee's retention, survey your current employees, find out one key area that needs their attention and implement it right away.

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