Do all social media sites have the same benefits? Although some people think so, they are not. Every social media site has its own special purpose.

Facebook is meant to help you share who you are on a personal level with people. But don’t think for even a minute it isn’t essential for business success. Friendships are built and alliances made because of this tool.

Twitter is a little different. This social media platform allows for short, blips of conversation—144 characters worth. It helps you get the word out about going on, events and new product promotion. Blogs are online journals that give you the opportunity to teach, share and educate. As people comment, you can start some great conversations and from there, build your following.

LinkedIn offers your online professional resume. There’s a strategy to using this social media platform and as an entrepreneur or business person, you’d be wise to learn more about it.

How do social media platforms benefit business?

Learning how to use social media platforms to get the word out about your business is laser-focused genius. This strategy involves more than just social networking, so if you’re one of those folks who thought social media began and ended with daily Facebook status reports, it doesn’t. It extends far beyond.

Networking on social media sites, i.e. social networking, is a way of building relationships with colleagues, prospects and customers. You won’t find an easier and more efficient technique to reach and expand your target audience without emptying your bank account.

Definition of Social Media

Media is the plural form of the word medium, which for the purpose of our discussion is anything used to disseminate information. Newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV are all forms of media. They provide information. Social Media is a specific method of communication that allows for social interaction with the information it provides.

The interaction were talking about ranges from very simple; posting a status report or a LIKE on Facebook, to more complex; commenting on someone else’s Facebook post, tweet or blog. Social interaction on YouTube might encompass commenting and voting for a particular video.

Learn all you can about this valuable tool for growing your business. Your data base will benefit, as will your visibility, from a social media platform. Begin by watching this two minute video!

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

Many entrepreneurs fuel their ideas by developing services and/or with product creation. They put a lot of time and hard work into making their businesses viable. What’s viability without profitability?  A great way to give your business a financial boost is to start a membership site. You’ll not only bring prospects right into your back yard, you’ll also gently close the gate behind them by giving them a reason to stick around awhile.

What Exactly is a Membership Site?

A membership site is a private website that allows access only to members who voluntarily sign up. There’s usually an incentive for prospects to be a part of a membership site; such as a free gift, a newsletter or exclusive content. Members are sometimes given the opportunity to interact with other members, making the site even more valuable. If you don’t have one yet, it’s probably time for you to create a membership site.

Where Do I Start?

Good question. It usually follows, “How will I know I’m ready to have a membership site?” The answer? Right now. Begin right where you are, even if you don’t feel ready. As long as you have at least one give-away, you can begin. Too many entrepreneurs put off having a membership site because they don’t feel worthy to begin; they don’t think they have enough (products, services, freebies, etc.) to start with. My question to these entrepreneurs is “If not now, when?”  If you wait until you feel completely ready, you’ll never begin and for every day you wait, you miss opportunities to connect with people who want what you have to offer.

Try This

Here’s an idea. If you don’t have a download or a sample product you can send out right now, create something of minimal value. Offer charter members a really low price to be the first to join your membership site. Just begin. In time you’ll develop other valuable incentives. The value of an object in motion, and that includes your membership site, is worth far more than waiting until you have something weeks or months down the road.

There’s a difference between cost and perceived value. Record a 30 minute teleseminar on a topic related to your business and give the download away to new members. How to’s, Secrets and Steps have a perceived value. They can actually change lives. It won’t matter to your prospects/clients that it only took you 30-45 minutes to produce. Watch the short video. Your membership site will make a huge impact on your business. Don’t wait. Go for it!

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee, http://www.123Employee.com. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Business Live! http://www.BeyondBusinessLive.com inspires entrepreneurs to meet challenges head-on in with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyles of their dreams.

Today’s globalization, increased competition and rapid technological changes have led most companies to view outsourcing of business as the solution to staying competitive. However despite the fact that outsourcing reduces operational costs and in some cases can help the organization increase its efficiency; it also has negative long term effects that could affect not just the company but the society it operates in as well. A few of the risks and negative impacts that outsourcing exposes organizations to include; unmonitored competition, increased unemployment, unscrupulous providers and possible organizational failure in the long run.

Increased unemployment
Outsourcing of business processes is a relatively new phenomenon that was sparked off by the advent of internet business. As such the full impact of the practice is as of yet unknown, nevertheless it is not the win-win situation that most economists point it out to be. The first major problem of outsourcing can be attributed to the government’s lack of a clear and concise policy that governs the practice. This has bred unchecked and unfair competition among companies in the industry. The tenets of free market economies state that governments should let market forces govern the market, however there is also a need for guidelines that safeguard the existence of small and emerging enterprises. A need that is being largely overlooked thanks to the cut throat competition brought about by outsourcing.

Impact on the local job market
One of the other reasons that organizations give in a bid to justify outsourcing of business to offshore locations is that the labor force is not only cheaper but more educated than the domestic labor market. While this may be beneficial to the third world countries; such as the Philippines and India that get most of the outsourcing work, the impact on the domestic job market is drastic. This has led to company employees being unsure of their current job security and has resulted in low morale levels in organizations. In addition there is the possibility of employees who have lost their jobs going to work for the competition.

Unscrupulous providers
The outsourcing revolution has led most companies to believe that there is no other alternative. So in most cases small companies that can’t afford to set up their own outsourcing departments have to rely on the services of outsourcing companies. However these outsourcing companies handle the business processes for a number of companies, including organizations that may be rivals. In such a situation outsourcing of business may lead to organizations unwittingly exposing their operational secrets. Unscrupulous outsourcing providers may also sell organizational secrets to competing companies or collate the data and use it to start their own business.

Aside from the reasons mentioned above outsourcing may also contribute to changes in the way certain organizational processes are conducted. This leads to a decrease in the efficiency of the company, due to time lapses and delays occasioned by poor coordination which could result in potential conflicts between the company and consumers, the company and the employees or the company and its outsourcing providers. Though outsourcing of business is being touted as the solution for reducing organizational costs, it should also be noted that in some cases the overall cost of the practice may be more than the additional costs that would have been incurred.

Daven Michaels Author of the book Outsource This!

Outsourcing is a great way to utilize social media to build a database of potential customers. By using the power of video marketing, Twittering and blogging you can build a list of prospects in quick order. The Internet gurus and millionaires say that “your list is gold,” meaning that a database of targeted prospects can be marketed to over and over, sending them new product launches and email campaigns. Your customers may not be ready to buy when they visit your site for the first time, but capturing their email addresses means you can build brand loyalty, keep your image fresh in their minds and market to them when they are ready to buy.

An Internet savvy and knowledgable outsourcing rep firm not only saves you a lot of money in labor costs, but uses free social media sites to funnel visitors to an opt-in page where the prospect fills out a “name and email” form for freebies or additional information. This technique works efficiently to capture emails and the chance to market your products and services over an extended period of time. I’m sure that each and every one of us has signed up for a free ebook or white paper giving us valuable info on our topic of interest. A database is the #1 marketing tool for successful Internet businesses.

An outsourcing rep or virtual assistant can create profiles on sites such as Twitter or Facebook, upload powerful videos to popular sites like Youtube and create opt-in pages that generate targeted traffic. This traffic clicks on the links that are embedded in the pages and are encouraged to sign up for a variety of free info products. Does your outsourcing firm provide this kind of service? If they don’t, you are missing out on the most powerful conversion tool on the Internet. Without a list, you have no one to market to. Visitors to your website who are not yet ready to buy will disappear, never to be seen again. Don’t let this happen to your business. Hire a outsourcing firm that not only saves you money, but builds your business like a partnership.

Daven Michaels is an award-winning outsourcer and author of the book, ‘Outsource This!’ Daven has been honored more than any other individual or outsourcing organization. You can get more information on outsourcing by visiting www.123Employee.com

Becoming an affiliate for outsourcing services and speaking at seminars can be a lucrative business opportunity for you. Recommending an affiliate program to a live audience is the fastest and most profitable way to make sales. Just posting articles and videos about the service you are recommending may not be enough to drive the kind of sales you are looking for.

Let’s say you are an accountant. Later in the month you have been invited by your industry to speak at a major regional seminar regarding how accounting firms can find better ways to cut costs and increase productivity. As an affiliate for an outsourcing company such as 123Employee, you are armed with the info and resources to recommend to the audience the solutions to their needs. Making the case to a seminar of industry professionals on how outsourcing can change the way they do business, you can create an income stream for yourself by selling the attendees the services of 123Employee. Make your case, then sell the services at the back of the room after the speech.

The commissions on a good affiliate program can be substantial. On top of the commissions you make personally selling the program to others, you can make even more when those attendees sell the program later to their associates because of the 2nd tier commissions that are part of a good affiliate program. One speech can literally make an income equal to an entire month of revenues for your business. In these tough economic times, you need all the help you can get. Not just with outsourcing your business tasks to an overseas rep, but also recommending an affiliate program that can solve the issues of your industry peers.

There is a lot of money that can be made with a good affiliate program. A program that helps business with their bottom line, pays a great 2 tier commission structure and provides solid business solutions that you can use and recommend.

Join 123Employee today to see how in every way, affiliate programs are changing the way people do business on the Internet and in the real world of networking and seminar speaking.

Daven Michaels is an award-winning outsourcer and author of the book, ‘Outsource This!’ Daven has been honored more than any other individual or outsourcing organization. You can get more information on outsourcing by visiting www.123Employee.com

The reason why BPO has emerged the most talked about source of generating profit remains to be undebatable, and retains not an issue for it has proven its worth. Philippines is a third world country yet being homed by world class English speaking labor force, it has been integral in this remarkable achievement. Having a literacy rate of 94%, the Philippines also has a large pool of IT professionals and a cost-competitive telecoms infrastructure. In the 2002 Global Technology Index research done by the META Group, the country ranks third in Knowledge and Information-based jobs. Every year, three million college graduates join the workforce, bringing in an immense source of talent.

Now, when outsourcing is being talked about, the first thing that comes in people’s mind is call center outsourcing. Primarily because there are a lot of call center companies here due to the proficiency of Filipinos in English ans Spanish. As a result, the call centers form the largest part of the BPO in the country. But besides call center, there are still others that are being outsourced. Some of these are data analysis, research process, IT operations, engineering design, medicare, legal support services, art,animation,editorial and DTP work, software development and environmental services. These and more regarded the industry as one of the fastest growing industry worldwide. It has become a great advantage to the economic stability of the country.

For the record, the Philippines has out shadowed India to become a competitive BPO destination. When you choose to outsource to the Philippines, you reduce and control your operating costs, gain access to world-class capabilities thus, maximizing your productivity. Recently, growth outburst in the Philippine’s outsourcing industry were notable not just from mushrooming number of call centers but also from higher-end services.

FACT:It was calculated approximately that 112,000 people who were working in call centers in the Philippines in the year 2005, bringing in profits of US$1.12 billion for the year. This is a sharp increase from 2000 when call centers employed 2400 people and earned US$24 million.

FACT:Understanding How to Source and Succeed at BPO is seemingly easy. Although seven out of ten companies are forging ahead with BPO, many business technology executives are still learning how best to plan, manage and maximize the benefits of their BPO projects. There is a growing sense that while BPO is driven primarily by significant cost savings, BPO should be approached as a strategic tool for redefining business processes and spurring innovation.

It has been agreed that making Business Process Outsourcing your source is the most fruitful way to boost your business. Outsource Now!

Daven Michaels is an award-winning outsourcer and author of the book, ‘Outsource This!’ Daven has been honored more than any other individual or outsourcing organization. You can get more information on outsourcing by visiting www.OutsourcingOutsourcing.Com.

Business process outsourcing may not be the best type of business in the world but it is one of the particular industry that really helps out amid the disaster of the global financial crisis. India and the Philippines are the two countries which have benefited the most from outsourcing, there maybe some financial struggle along the way but this industry is sure to just ride the wave. In the Philippines, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry expects growth this year of between 35-40 percent on revenues of around $7 billion. Business process outsourcing provides a lot of solutions and not at all the cause of the problems.

The BPO sector expects annual growth of around 40 percent with revenues hitting $12 billion by 2010 and employing one million people compared with 300,000 this year. Considering that India came to absorb this BPO industry first and that they generate some $40 billion in annual export revenues, the story is much alike and it bounces through whatever challenge it faces. BPO was initially viewed as negative as looking at it partly one would consider that BPO countries are taking away jobs from the Western world just so Fortune 500 companies can cut costs and provide cheap labor by hiring people elsewhere.

India leads the world when it comes to outsourcing with more than half the global business while the Philippines is a distant second with around 10 percent. The importance of BPO lies in its potential to create jobs and income generation. Due to world crisis, a lot of companies will really think BPO as a better investment for their business and more businesses will choose Philippines as a primary BPO destination.  There is a need for every existing company to survive and if by participating in BPO will help them achieve that goal then they would go ahead and do it. Tall buildings are now being structured and built specifically to cater to this need. There are about 250,000 new graduates every year all of which can speak English. The courses they graduated would vary from  Engineering, Computer, Science, Arts and Linguistics. This pool of manpower is a great way to utilize and better market your products and services.

Daven Michaels is an award-winning outsourcer and author of the book, ‘Outsource This!’ Daven has been honored more than any other individual or outsourcing organization. You can get more information on outsourcing by visiting www.OutsourcingOutsourcing.Com.

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is booming in the Philippines. The most common BPO services here in the country are call centers, software development, transcription, encoding, animation, human resources, accounting and payroll outsourcing. BPO is implemented as a cost-saving measure for tasks that a company requires but does not depend upon to maintain its position in the marketplace. There are also a lot of new BPO opportunities, aside from the most common BPO services mentioned above, that anyone can embark on. Outsourced writing is one. For a long time now, writing and editing works have been subcontracted to smaller institutions and writers which became known as Ghostwriting. Ghostwriting was revolutionized with the advent of the internet. New company websites, portals, forums and blogs are created every second. With that comes along the increased demand for content. You have to remember that Content is King.

Blogging is now commonly being outsourced. A lot of Filipino bloggers are now considered as probloggers as they have taken jobs in blogging in behalf of the companies/persons that hired them for their blogging service. Bloggerwave gives another option for bloggers. Bloggerwave will ask you for your valuable feedback to advertisers with respect to their web sites, products, services, and companies. The best part of this is that bloggers get paid! 😉

Why Outsource to the Philippines?
Business process outsourcing or BPO is an emerging industry in the Philippines. This industry was regarded as one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The BPO boom is led by demand for offshore call centers. It is estimated that 112,000 people were working in call centers in the Philippines in 2005, bringing in revenues of US$1.12 billion for the year. This is a sharp increase from 2000 when call centers employed 2400 people and earned US$24 million. Overall, Philippine BPO is forecasted to earn US$13 billion for the year 2010.

This emerging industry in the Philippines is fueled mostly by customer care, medical transcription, software development, animation, and shared services. Though customer care call centers form the largest part of the BPO boom locally, the Philippine language proficient information technology, human resource, and finance/accounting professionals are a significant contributing factors as well. The proficiency of many Filipinos in English and Spanish were major factors in the growth of BPO in the Philippines.

The Philippines has the largest number of accredited accountants in Asia, with the number growing yearly. Filipino accountants are also renowned for their flexibility in working with multiple accounting standards. The Philippines Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) report for 2004 cited the Philippines as among the top 10 choices for offshore operations. Major companies that already operate in the Philippines include AIG, AOL, Barnes & Noble, Chevron, Citigroup, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, JPMorgan Chase, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, and Trend Micro. Notable BPO vendors include Accenture, Convergys, and Unisys.

A survey by Kelly Services, Inc. based in Michigan, showed that India is no longer the first choice of U.S. companies looking to setup their offshore backroom operations. The study cited companies eyeing the Philippines as the better site due to quality. Filipinos enjoy a comparative advantage over American workers for two reasons. First, labor costs in the Philippines are a fraction of those in the United States. Second, most BPO workers in the Philippines are college graduates. Many overseas labor sourcers also prefer Filipinos over Indians when it comes to customer support and customer interaction due to Filipino relative ease and familiarity with American culture and U.S. slang.

Daven Michaels is an award-winning outsourcer and author of the book, ‘Outsource This!’ Daven has been honored more than any other individual or outsourcing organization. You can get more information on outsourcing by visiting www.OutsourcingOutsourcing.Com.