Introduction (39 minutes)
  • Course overview
  • Join our community on Slack!
  • What is outsourcing?
  • What is it good and not good for?
  • How much should I budget?
  • Section 1 review material
  • All the course review sheets in one PDF
Getting Started (70 minutes)
  • Where to find outsourcing firms and freelancers
  • Introduction to Elance
  • Going further in-depth with Elance
  • Introduction to Upwork
  • Going further in-depth with Upwork
  • Introduction to Freelancer
  • Other techniques and platforms for finding contractors
  • Section 2 review material
Dive Deeper (63 minutes)
  • Choosing your ideal subcontractor strategy
  • Deciding between a firm or freelancer
  • Understanding how to choose from the best outsourcing zones
  • Understanding price & autonomy
  • The "Goldilocks Syndrome"
  • Section 3 review material
Posting Expertise (84 minutes)
  • Writing the right title
  • Practicing with titles
  • Writing the right description
  • Getting hands on with writing descriptions
  • Getting the settings right
  • Reviewing your settings
  • Section 4 review material
Plan Your Outsourced Idea (Optional) (48 minutes)
  • The Sx5 framework for solidifying product ideas
  • Coming up with strategy, Sx1
  • Coming up with scope, Sx2
  • Section 5 review material
Documentation (71 minutes)
  • Creating an overview
  • Adding the functions section
  • Going further in-depth with functions
  • Creating the pages section
  • Creating parameters
  • Creating the users section
  • Adding comments
  • Section 6 review material
Building a Low Fidelity Wireframe (128 minutes)
  • Intro to sketching
  • Materials for sketching
  • Sketching it out
  • The finishing touches
  • Upgrade to a tool, getting started with Pidoco
  • Getting used to the features in Pidoco
  • Creating a quick sitemap
  • Site elements to start with
  • Using templates to save time
  • Handling images in Pidoco
  • Adding and controlling layers in Pidoco
  • Annotating everything
  • Alternative: Using Balsamiq for quick wireframing
  • Alternative: Using Balsamiq continued...
  • An example project created in Balsamiq
  • Section 7 review material
Creating a Demo for Outsourcing (Optional) (48 minutes)
  • Introducing M.A.P.
  • Adding interactivity to your prototype
  • Collaborators and reviewers
  • Creating a tablet version
  • Section 8 review material
Selecting the Best Person (41 minutes)
  • Reviewing bid language
  • Bid language
  • The response rate test
  • Dissecting the bid rate
  • Section 9 review material
Strategies for Getting the Best Price and Experience (44 minutes)
  • Strategy: The $50 test
  • Strategy: Rapid cycling posts
  • Strategy: The Keyer question
  • Strategy: Repeat the project back to you
  • Strategy: Get them off the platform
  • Strategy: The long term strategy
  • Strategy: Messaging freelancers
  • Strategy: Dividing specializations
  • Section 10 review material
Outsourcing Best Practices (83 minutes)
  • Five pillars for evaluating contractors
  • Six red flags for contractors
  • Response rate sets the tone
  • How important is site reputation?
  • How to handle referrals
  • Is outsourcing a long term solution?
  • How to handle extra work
  • Legality with outsourcing
  • Fixed rate versus hourly rate - use my method
  • What is good? Avoid this trap
  • Outsourcing and protecting your IP
  • Section 11 review material
Managing Your Ongoing Project (23 minutes)
  • Getting introduced to Asana