For the first 3 years of my online marketing career, rarely did a day go by when I didn’t encounter some sort of technology-related setback — whether it was a malfunctioning shopping cart, hosting problem, buggy program, or some other issue. Over the years, these setbacks zapped a lot of time, money and personal energy. In fact, I almost ‘quit’ my online business on several occasions, partly out of frustration related to technology. Today, things are much different. Through a lot of trial and error, and with the help of some very good mentors, I’ve learned how to turn my lack knowledge about technology into an asset for my business, rather than a burden.

In this 3 part series, “Technologies Woes and What To Do About Them,” I’ll be sharing the wisdom I’ve gained when it comes to dealing with technology (believe it or not, it really is your friend). I’ll show you not only how to overcome your lack of technical experience, but how to turn it into an asset for your business. Being a “techno-dunce” (like me) can be rife with worry and frustration…it certainly doesn’t have to be! I honestly believe that you can achieve amazing success online, even if you only know the very basics of how online technology works.

Technology Woes and What to Do About Them: Part I

Like many online marketers, I don’t have much technical experience. I don’t know how to program, design a website, or even write basic html. There have been many times when I’ve told myself that I should take a few formal training courses in these areas, or at least buy a few “Dummies” books. But, I never have. I’ve always found one excuse or another for not learning these things.

As a result, I’ve had to ‘force’ myself, in a sense to find a way around it. If I didn’t, I knew my business would eventually run out of steam. This alone was motivation enough to find a cure to my ailment.

Now again, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t learn the basics of html, programming, web design, and other tech-related subjects. It can certainly help a great deal. However, as an online entrepreneur, it’s also important to be open and willing to delegate tasks. It’s far too easy to fall into the mindset of “No one can do it better than me.” And that’s definitely not the right mindset to have if you want to build an online business. You’ll be working at a snail’s pace compared to what you could do if you had some help.

Personally, my lack of understanding about technology has been a blessing in disguise, because it’s forced me to delegate the tasks that I’m not good at, which in the long-run has been a very good thing. It’s allowed me to build my business faster than I could have on my own.

With that in mind, a good portion of this post is going to be about hiring others to do technology-related tasks for you, rather than doing them yourself. We’ll talk about the right way and the wrong way to go about outsourcing the tasks – there are some clear cut difference that you must be aware of.

In the beginning, I did everything the wrong way.

For instance, whenever I needed a basic web template created, I’d contact my template designer, who lived in the Philippines, who may or may not be available to create the template. If she was, she might take a few days, and we may have to go through several drafts before it met my exact needs. Pretty soon, a whole week would have passed before the little template project was done. We’d have to fight with the time zones the entire time, being sure that we coordinated (my morning would be her night, and vice versa).

Or, I would need a script created to automate some sort of manual task that I was doing. So, I’d need to find a programmer, explain what I needed, then *hope* that he or she completed the script in the right way.

Needless to say…this is no way to live, or to run a business!

In fact, operating this way is downright reckless. I know, because I’ve run more than one online business into the ground operating this way. All in all, it’s resulted in literally hundreds of hours of wasted time and thousands of wasted dollars.

So, if that paints a picture of the wrong way to do things, what then is the right way (in other words, what method actually works)?

The Right Way to Go About Outsourcing Technology-Related Tasks

I still remember when the *light bulb* went off about technology. I was visiting my father at his home in Boise, Idaho. We were eating dinner, and I was complaining about a shopping cart that I was using for my business. There was one very specific function that it didn’t do. I had been working with a programmer in Romania, but much to my disappointment the billable hours were adding up fast, without much progress being made on the software.

Now, my dad isn’t rich, or even known as being a good businessman. But, he was able to immediately see just what it was that I was doing wrong.

He looked over at me and said, “Stop Hiring Overseas!”

At first, I argued with him, explaining all of the benefits of outsourcing programming work overseas and why it was the greatest thing to ever hit the Internet marketing world. But, he would have none of it. In fact, he eventually got up from the table in the middle of my speech and left to go watch TV.

I laid in bed that night, thinking about what he was said, and slowly…I began to come to my senses. I realized that he was right.

“Hire someone in Los Angeles” he had said. “Someone you can look at in the eye.”

But, I had replied, “A local programmer is going to cost so much more than an overseas programmer.”

“Trust me,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Although my Dad couldn’t seem to explain the logic behind his advice, he was still right.

So, I decided that I would use this method to find a programmer first. Instead of chasing down a new programmer or web designer in Romania, the UK, Australia, or India every time I needed something done for me that I couldn’t do myself, I would find a programmer that was local to me, and begin meeting up with him or her face to face. I would build a long-term relationship with this person.

When I actually put all of this into action, a whole new world opened up. No longer was I fighting with time zones, having communication problems with my programmers, or waiting days and weeks to get even the simplest tasks done. All of these time-wasting activities went away. On top of that, a bunch of brand new benefits also emerged.

Although I paid more per hour to my local programmer, he often did a much better job than my overseas programmers, and he completed the job more quickly. This wasn’t because he was more skilled or smarter necessarily, but because I was able to interact with him face to face (the value of explaining something fact-to-face to someone is absolutely immeasurable!) All communication barriers faded away. Instead of finding myself frustrated by my inability to communicate easily with my programmer, I found that the two of us would end up actually brainstorming together. He not only understood what I was saying, but he would offer ideas on how to improve upon my specifications! As a result of all this, I’ve actually saved an enormous amount of money in the long-run by hiring locally.

Today, I work primarily with local programmers, graphic artists, and web designers (although at times I do outsource non-locally for certain tasks). Not only do they create high-quality assets for our internal infrastructure, but they’re also able to create software applications that serve thousands of customers all over the world. And, all this without me knowing a lick of code.

As you’ve probably seen, a lot of Internet marketing coaches advocate outsourcing overseas, and I did too at one time. But, I’ve come to realize that it usually not the optimal way to do things. Far from it.

Outsourcing Non-Locally

If you don’t want to recruit someone from your local city, the next best thing is to at least stay within your country. This will keep the time zone problem at bay, and also ensure that you’re speaking to someone who speaks your local language fluently. This is often more challenging that meeting up face-to-face with someone, but it can still be effective. My team today is a mix of local and ‘virtual’ contractors (virtual being those not located in Los Angeles).

Outsourcing Overseas

For certain tasks, outsourcing overseas can be beneficial. These tasks include anything “admin” related. By this, I mean basic tasks, such as research, basic writing tasks, and data entry.

These types of things often don’t require that I work with someone face to face. They are basic enough that I’m able to explain them through Skype, and by using some screen sharing software (I’ll be talking more about the tools I use in Part II of this series).

In the next post I’ll be talking in more detail about how to effectively collaborate with non-local contractors, both in your own country and overseas. These little ‘tricks’ will ensure that you don’t waste time with the wrong contractor, and that communication remains strong throughout your working relationship.

Until then - if you are hitting your head against the wall about technology - find someone in your local area to help you. Chances are, there are hundreds, or even thousands of people ready and willing to assist. I believe that doing so will remove a lot of the frustration from your business building life, and allow you to move forward faster and more confidently with your projects.

A great resource for finding talent in your local area is Craigslist. I’ve used it extensively, with a lot of success. Simply find the employment classifieds section at your local Craiglist page, and post what you’re looking for. There is a minimal fee, but it’s well worth it for the level of exposure your ad will likely get.