Jesse Schoberg Social 03

Over the last several years there has been a gradual increase of businesses creating flexible workplaces that allow people the option to work remotely.

Covid19 has accelerated this trend exponentially. The businesses that resisted remote working have had to transform themselves overnight and tackle cultural and technological norms.

It is yet to be seen what the new normal will look like on the other side of the pandemic but there is a good chance that remote working will remain at a high level.

Jesse Schoberg shares his insight and expertise on how to source remote teams and stresses the importance of content marketing for eCommerce entrepreneurs.

Originally from the States, Jesse has been living around the world for more than a decade. A developer by trade, he's been managing remote teams for over 15 years. Recently selling his other projects, he's now co-founded DropInBlog where he focuses his time as CEO.

Remote Work and Outsourcing

The Covid19 crisis is proof that remote working is possible. Over the last several months teams have been connecting through Zoom or other video conferencing platforms of choice.

I feel like this particular moment in history is showing everyone, ‘Oh yeah, I guess we could be doing it that way.’

— Jesse Schoberg

As the move towards remote working picks up momentum it has a greater impact on outsourcing.

Now that more people in western countries are working remotely, outsourcing is no longer about getting the biggest bang for your buck but more about getting the best talent from a much wider pool of people.

You’re not just sourcing from your local community, you are sourcing from the whole world.

— Jesse Schoberg

For many businesses, a prerequisite to remote working and outsourcing is a change in mindset in reference to input vs output.

The concern about remote hire is always that you won’t have the team in the office where you can look over their shoulder to make sure they are getting the job done. When the mindset changes to output, business objectives become the focus and this ultimately leads to increased productivity, performance and profits.

Defining exact outputs, processes and expectations at the beginning is highly important and will greatly reduce the chances of running into problems later.

The outputs will vary widely by role and by level but learning to define that is a skill. It does take time and you will stumble a little bit.

— Jesse Schoberg

How to Hire Remote Workers

Start by hiring on an hourly basis and pay only for the hours that the person works. If you didn’t give them any work, then they have not worked and therefore you don’t pay them.

There are a lot of places to go to find people who work by the hour. One of the biggest and most famous is Upwork and another that works really well is called FreeUp.

Upwork has a gigantic pool of people from all over the world. Everything from the bottom of the barrel to all the way to the top end. The downside is that you can get a lot of applications that require a fair bit of sifting.

FreeUp is similar to Upwork, but they curate a little bit more for you and control a bit more of who delivers the services. Once you post a job they drop one or two people If those aren't suitable candidates they give you another person to try.

I like to give people a real task test. People’s resumes are useful but until they actually do the work, who cares where they went to school or what prestigious company they worked at.

— Jesse Schoberg

If you have more than one valid candidate for a role then create a paid task test for them to complete. Keep it relevant to the position you are hiring for and provide the same test and instructions to all candidates.

Shortlist based on the results of that test. Compare the output and the cost. It’s not always about racing to the bottom for the hourly rate because the cheapest option isn’t always the best. Someone who charges $30/hour may have done a far better job in less time than the person who charges $10/hour.

Spending a few hundred dollars to make sure you get the right person is a much better investment for you.

Start with hourly workers before taking the dive into full time salary people so that you can learn how to manage someone that works for you two hours a week instead of 20. With more experience of outsourcing and remote employees you can look into hiring salary based workers.

How to Manage Remote Workers

Keep it simple. Get them set up on email first and assign tasks. See how they progress and if you are happy with their output then move them into whatever project management system you are using once. Once they are a little more vetted and you know they will be part of the team and you can get them more involved in the systems you have in place.

I try to bring in one person and turn them into a team member. Maybe that team member only works for me for five hours a month to do one task, but I nourish that relationship. The longer they're with you, the more they get to know you and the better the working relationship becomes.

— Jesse Schoberg

Managing remote workers is about strong communication and well defined processes and expectations. Remember, they are working remotely so at the beginning they will need a lot more information as they are getting to know and understand your company and its culture.

Content Marketing and Blogging

The way to drive traffic and increase your profit margins is through content marketing.

Anybody who is serious about eCommerce will go hard on content because they know that it takes time to build organic traffic or augment paid traffic that leads to free traffic flow forever. Sometimes people are shortsighted and figure it will take too long to get organic traffic. They want results now.

Content marketing is about playing the long game. It takes a while to create and publish the content for Google to pick up on. Consistency in putting out regular and relevant content that your audience wants to see is key.

DropInBlog is a really great blogging product created by Jesse Schoberg to help businesses blog really well. It is simple, clean and packed with all the features people need to generate traffic to their websites. Check it out in the links below.

If content marketing is not your strong suit then you can outsource and build a remote team for it. They can do the copywriting, the SEO research and the graphics to get all that done. With your involvement the majority of the work is done by a team you outsource. .



Takeaway #1 Remote working can be done.

Takeaway #2 Make outputs your focus.

Takeaway #3 Define your processes and expectations as early and clearly as possible.

Connect with Jesse Schoberg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jesseschoberg

Personal Blog: https://schoberg.net


DropInBlog:

Company site: https://dropinblog.com

Shopify App: https://apps.shopify.com/dropinblog-seo-friendly-blog


Hire by the Hour:

Upwork: https://upwork.com

FreeUp: https://bit.ly/getfreeup


Hire by Salary:

JobRack: https://jobrack.eu

Dynamite Jobs: https://dynamitejobs.com


Productized Services:

Content and Social Media by Janine Mapa: https://janinemapa.com

Design by Many Pixels: https://www.manypixels.co/