The Outsource Report
POS:
Michael seems to make some moneyNEG:
Very over pricedAs a product reviewer I get access to all kinds of tools and training. Every once in a while I come across a product that is truly revolutionary. That changes the way I think about my own online business and that offers such value that I get excited to have the privilege to promote […]
As a product reviewer I get access to all kinds of tools and training. Every once in a while I come across a product that is truly revolutionary. That changes the way I think about my own online business and that offers such value that I get excited to have the privilege to promote it to my readers. Unfortunately “The Outsource Report” is not such a product.
The basic concept about the outsource report is simple to understand from the heading. Its about outsourcing the work for your online business to countries with a lower economic standard and taking advantage of favorable exchange ratios. This report advocates using a website (that will charge you a monthly fee) to hire worker from the Philippines to do such tasks as blog writing, SEO, graphics design, and other things that can be delivered online.
The main report is in PDF format and while it is well written it is also full of fluff. Its approximately 70 pages long and the first 12 pages of it (17%) is dedicated to explaining why you should want to outsource. While a page or two would have been fine, there is no need to have this much of the report dedicated to convincing you that outsourcing is a good idea. Why? Because you just bought an outsource training. You dont need to be convinced its a good idea. The fact that you just bought a product that teaches out to do it is evidence that you are already convinced.
The graphic above is taken from the sales page and it also makes a very enticing promise. “Hire World Class Employees For Less Than Minimum Wage”! Well who would not want to do that? Id take a World Class Employee for $50K a year if I could get my hands on one. Unfortunately this is a promise that I just dont see being delivered. You see on the sales page (and in the members area) are two ‘case studies’. These case studies are basically just Michael reading conversations between himself and Philippine outsources he was considering hiring (he did hire both of them).
In the first case study he speaks to a man who is bragging about his SEO skills. This gentleman mentions his accomplishments, one of which seems to really impress Michael. The worker tells how he took a website with an Alexa ranking of 2,000,000 (dead site) to an Alexa ranking of 300,000 (slightly less dead site). For anyone who does not know what an Alexa ranking is, lower is better. Now going from 2,000,000 to 300,000 might sound impressive to someone without a lot of online knowledge because its a big number jump but the fact is that 300,000 is still a very bad Alexa ranking. A site with a 300,000 ranking might get a couple hundred hits a month. Honestly its nothing to brag about. All the while you can hear Michael in the video saying how ‘phenomenal’ and ‘awesome’ this mediocre result is. The truth is this is not the work of a “World Class” SEO expert. Its the work of an average person getting paid a very low wage.
In the second case study he runs into a woman who he might consider hiring for SEO work. The woman responds that she has no SEO experience but she is experienced in bloging, logo design, and some other online work. He continues the conversation but she becomes unresponsive. He actually had to send her another email asking her why she had not responded. Two days later she finally responded with an email saying she was unwell and Michael asks her to write a 500 world article. What was provided was 500 words, in a single paragraph, with grammar so poor that even a writer as bad as me was able to see it was low quality. In essence this worker did not have the desired skills, did not respond promptly to an interview, and when asked to do a sample writing provided a low quality article. Once again not exactly what I would call a ‘World Class” worker. Michael hired her anyway.
Through both of these Michael is very excited about how little he can hire these workers for. Unfortunately he is focusing on the low wage and not paying much attention to the fact that the work these people provide seems to be of a quality to match their low wage. These result of this low quality is shown when Michael showcases some of his income. At one point he shows his JVZoo account and even comments himself that his conversions are ‘dismal’ (at about 1%).
Also none of this addresses some serous issues when you outsource. Things like time zone differences, language issues, and the fact that you cant keep a close eye on the workers. Also when outsourcing to places like the Philippines you can sometimes have issues with internet and power outages. Not that Im against outsourcing. I myself was a freelance software developer for a long time, which is outsourcing. Also I regularly outsource graphics design work. However you have to be aware that outsourcing comes with its own set of management difficulties, difficulties that get exasperated when your hiring a worker from a developing country half a world away.
In addition to the PDF training this product also comes with some legal documents that you can use with the workers you hire. These are things like NDA (non disclosure agreement) and Employee Contracts. While the employee contract might have some value because it will clarify responsibilities and expectations the NDA actually made me laugh when I saw that its included. Why good is signing a NDA with someone in the Philippines? So if he runs off and starts telling everyone all about your personal business are you going to file an international law suite against him? Even if you did (which you wont) what would you get out of the guy as far as damages? We are talking about someone who makes $250 a month here. Asking a worker like this to sign a NDA does nothing but stroke your own ego by making you feel important.
Besides all of this there is one huge thing that makes me really not like this product. Without this one thing I might consider this training worth buying to learn how to hire workers for menial or redundant tasks. What is that one thing? The price. It starts at $37! Really $37 for a PDF report that basically tells you to go to XYZ website, signup, pay a monthly fee, and hire low cost workers from the Philippines? Come on really! I just dont see anything here to justify that cost.
**UPDATE: If you have not yet heard of this product that is because the launch date has changed. It is now being released on the 11th od December, 2014.
A quick note about the reviews I do on this site. The product vendors give me access to their products for free in order for me to do my review. However I make no promises to them regarding the results of my tests or what I will write in my review. Should you click a link that takes you to a sales page for a paid product for sale this link will be an affiliate link and I will be paid a percentage of the sales price should you decide to invest in it.
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Hi Brett,
From what I read in your review, you were absolutely right in rejecting it.
I am a Brit and spend half the year in the Philippines and I also laughed at the ‘reported’ conversation with the Filipina. No answer for three days and the excuse was the ‘standard’ Filipino one of being ill. I must have heard that excuse a thousand times.
I love the Philippines and in general find the Filipinos to be great people, but take my word for it, confidential information never remains confidential for very long. As you said, a disclosure notice is worthless over there, even within the Philippines and certainly not outside it.
I would not outsource anything remotely technical to the Philippines but I have to say that the average Filipino has an incredible imagination with no limits and their work on graphic design is normally top notch (if you find the right person:-)
Also bear in mind that $250 (Approximately 10,000 pesos) per month is about right for the work outsourcing entails, but the owner of the business would get at least the same amount so the cost to you would be double, or more, unless a monthly fee is agreed and that is NOT a good idea.
And, by the way, even the President of the Philippines drops grammatical clangers in his speeches, so never expect ‘perfect English’.
Your review Brett was spot on and the guy who wrote it must be missing something (in his head).
Well done!
Well, to start – another great review.
Outsourcing is great – if used correctly. But, to offer “training” on how to get cheap labor to do certain tasks…it goes back to “you get what you pay for”.
What is most disturbing to me is this:
“This report advocates using a website (that will charge you a monthly fee) to hire worker from the Philippines to do such tasks as blog writing, SEO, graphics design, and other things that can be delivered online.”
Ok, let me make sure I understand what you illustrated in your review…I buy a $17 PDF report, that instructs me to use a monthly fee website… to hire workers to do certain tasks that can be done online? But, there is a huge language barrier, time zone issue, etc.???
Listen, I am down with helping people while outsourcing some work…but not this way.
Thanks for the review.
Well you almost got it. The price is not $17 though. Its $37. Well actually it starts at $37 and is set to increase throughout the launch to a final price of $67. I also agree Im not against outsourcing in general. I spent around $20,000 for graphics design this year alone with freelancers. Also as I said I was a freelance developer for a long time. Freelancing is basically outsourcing. But this for sure is NOT the ideal way to do it, also the price of this report is laughable.
Wow, $37 is pure insanity…just maybe the developer will adjust his pricing on the 11th of December for the launch…LOL!