Outsource Your Work with a Smile
I’m usually not a big fan of outsourcing. In a previous job, my husband was paid to fix the code that was written by the outsourced team. Yep, they paid to outsource it and then paid to have my husband fix it. That’s certainly not the first time I’ve come across outsourcing where the quality suffered.
But this is a little different. An article in today’s NY Times talks about Serebra Connect. The task-auction site is an offshoot of Serebra Learning, an eLearning company based in Canada.
SerebraConnect is sort of an eBay for your task outsourcing. But here’s the feel-good catch: Most of the work on SerebraConnect is being completed by students in developing countries who have taken courses from Serebra. SerebraConnect was launched in October 2007 to give these students a chance to use and develop their new skills.
Need a PowerPoint revised? How about a logo designed? This is a great idea for small businesses. The article mentions "a Madison, Wis., company posted a PowerPoint project that would
have cost $2,000 in Madison, a woman in the Philippines offered to do
it for $200, 10 times her $22-a-month pay as a teacher." Great experience, and cash, for the seller; great value for the buyer.
How does it work?
Sample tasks posted on the site: creating a logo for a dental practice,
translating e-books from Arabic to English and building a Web site with
Flash. The average price is $200. It is free to post or bid on a task.
The buyer sends the payment to Serebra to hold until the task is
completed. Serebra then takes a 10 percent to 15 percent cut and sends
the money to the seller via PayPal or MasterCard’s Payoneer. Sellers on
the site are rated on a five-star scale based on reviews from buyers as
well as how many Serebra courses they have completed.
How can these folks afford SerebraConnect classes? It sounds like they run anywhere from free to $12 for students located in developing nations.
As much as I dislike outsourcing, I find this to be a great idea. I like how it is actually working to help people, to provide learning and experience, as well as money.
What do you think of this concept for outsourcing?
Cheers!
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Find Michelle Lentz here on Write Technology, on Twitter, Pownce, and FriendFeed.
