Daryl James Articles

Study: Workplace flexibility growing in US - Click To Read Article
Workplace flexibility programs have maintained popularity in the face of the harsh economic situation in the U.S., and in some cases are even being used by employers to avoid layoffs, according to a recent study by the Families and Work Institute (FWI).

Study: U.S. outsourcing pace doubled in three years - Click To Read Article
Between 2005 and 2008, the number of American firms that employed an offshoring strategy increased by more than twofold, according to a new study.

Small businesses turning to contractors - Click To Read Article
The number of small businesses looking to hire independent contractors has risen over the past several months, as the recession prompts companies to change the way they manage their workforce.

Remote workers are happier, study says - Click To Read Article
Employees say that having the option to work from home gives them greater flexibility and satisfaction, according to a new survey.

Recession impacts salaries, attrition in Indian BPO sector - Click To Read Article
Earlier this month, the association that supports and promotes India’s business process outsourcing predicted a bright future for the sector. While the past year has presented challenges, there is undoubtedly strong growth ahead, NASSCOM said at the CEO Summit 2009. In fact, Som Mittal, the president of NASSCOM, forecast that outsourcing to India is likely to increase threefold by 2020, earning aggregate revenues of $225 billion. "While the short-term challenges exist, the potential for this industry is tremendous and the industry will not be demand constrained," he said.

Philippines BPO outsourcing market expected to grow - Click To Read Article
Experts widely predict that despite the global economic downturn, the demand for business process outsourcing will continue to increase – particularly as firms get creative about ways of driving down costs. Amid this trend, there is evidence that traditionally smaller outsourcing markets such as the Philippines are advancing on larger rivals like India.

Indian outsourcing services maintain growth in recession - Click To Read Article
India’s role as a top player among outsourcing destinations has remained unchallenged for quite some time. In fact, AT Kearny has listed it at the number one spot on its Global Services Location Index – which ranks attractive offshoring destinations – since the list’s inception five years ago. However, in recent years, there have been many who have questioned whether the country could withstand competition from other locations with competitive pricing and a specialized skill set.

74% of executives view outsourcing as recessionary survival tactic - Click To Read Article
A new survey from Capgemini finds that nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of executives said they view IT, finance and accounting, HR or procurement outsourcing as a vital element in their recessionary survival strategy.

38% of software development professionals use outsourcing - Click To Read Article
More than one-third (38 percent) of software development professionals at companies use some type of outsourcing to meet their organization’s needs, according to a new survey.

10 tips for an Eye-Catching Freelance Profile - Click To Read Article
So you’re a freelancer at an online outsourcing site with 25,000 providers to choose from. Seems like it might be hard to stand out to prospective outsourcing buyers. Here’s some quick advice...

10 Ways for Freelance Providers to Give Themselves a Raise - Click To Read Article
The global economic downturn has everyone nervous. However, being a remote freelance provider means that you've already extended your reach beyond your local in-house position, and are ready to take advantage of the exponential increases in outsourcing opportunities in the global marketplace. More businesses are discovering the value of outsourcing to remote freelance workers, and you've already started establishing your reputation. There's no better time than now to hone your competitive freelance edge, both to increase the volume of your work, and to make yourself even more valuable to your next outsourcing employer. Here are 10 ways to boost your freelance marketability - and your hourly rate - even in this economy...

10 Activities for Local-Remote Workteam Building - Click To Read Article
I was sitting in our conference room working on a project with a few on-site co-workers the other day - 5 professionals meeting to discuss a specific work-related project with the occassional sidebars about family, golf, airplanes, dating, and politics - when I started to think of the other 8 remote individuals that are part of our workteam. I started to think of the value that interpersonal relationships contribute to the overall success of a workteam and the greater company which employs and tasks it... When the meeting ended, I took a few minutes to sit down and come up with the following local-remote workteam activities...

How to Conduct Effective Outsourcing Interviews - Click To Read Article
Though the newest member of your workteam may not be walking in the front door of your office any time soon, outsourcing to a freelance professional is often like hiring another on-site employee. Though the web is filled with multiple search tools, skills tests, and verification and feedback systems that can help you find quality freelance candidates, the interviews you conduct with them will ultimately be the basis for your final outsourcing selection. To help you streamline your interviews, we’ve compiled a few points to guide you through this all-important process.

9 Ways Social Media Can Expand Your Online Marketing - Click To Read Article
When every news report warns of global doom and gloom, the business owner’s first instinct is to cut all extraneous costs. You run your production team lean, run your sales force lean, and everything else goes into the deep freeze. Too many people see marketing as something irrelevant, as vague feel-good fluff that neither makes the product nor closes the sale. That’s crazy talk. We’ve come up with ideas for marketing yourself through the latest social media and the old-fashioned general Internet...

Make Money as a Freelance Customer Support Representative - Click To Read Article
Customer support representative, as a discrete freelance job or as one facet of the "virtual assistant" position, is a great opportunity for a remote provider with strong interpersonal skills and a natural ability to solve problems. But it can be hard to stand out among applicants for a remote freelance job involving human language and "common" interpersonal support skills. Following are some tips to improve your chances of landing that freelance customer support representative position:

A Brief Overview of Today's Outsourcing Buzz Words - Click To Read Article
Offshoring, Homeshoring… in this global outsourcing economy, you can add -shoring to anything and make it a freelance buzz word. But what do all of these outsourcing terms mean? Here’s a brief overview of some remote freelance work vocabulary...

How To Get Your First Freelance Interview - Click To Read Article
When a professional decides to begin his/her freelance career, they have no specific and directly applicable freelance work history or feedback/references to offer potential outsourcing companies. In addition, most new freelance providers start out with a poorly written profile because they are in a rush to apply to any and all available jobs, hoping that there might be some outsourcing manager who might be willing to take a chance on their skills - at least enough of a chance to offer an interview. If you are a new freelance professional, take a day off from applying to outsourcing jobs and start applying for outsourcing interviews by polishing your professional freelance profile. Focus on the following:

Outsourcing Your Website's SEO - Click To Read Article
Ready to optimize your site so that you get a notable increase in traffic? Here are some ways to boost your SEO (we’ve also included a list of resources if you want to delve deeper).

How to Effectively Manage Remote Workteams - Click To Read Article
As an outsourcing company, we work with offshore workteams as a matter of course. The two most pressing challenges we continually face are those of managing and measuring the outsourcing performance of our remote workteam, and facilitating communication between local co-workers and the remote workteam as they collaborate on projects. With most local workteams, outsourcing managers can set a series of milestones and checkpoints, and manage to those deliverables. However, when outsourcing to a remote workteam, this approach becomes problematic due to the distance and lack of regular workteam visibility. Here are a few of the things we believe are keys to successfully maximizing outsourcing workteam relationships:

How to Write a Killer Freelance Bid Cover Letter - Click To Read Article
There are hundreds of ways a freelance professional can ruin a bid cover letter. Outsourcing buyers often have to weed through a list of 30, 50 or 100 freelance candidates, and every little detail that's off irritates the person who reads your cover letter. It's the freelance professional's first -- and perhaps only -- chance to impress a potential outsourcing buyer. One mistake and they're immediately crossed off the list (freelance professionals who understand this harsh reality can use it in their favor). So, how does a freelance professional write a more refined and effective bid cover letter? These tips will help to make your cover letter stand out from the freelance crowd...

When, Why and How You Need to Hire a Freelance Project Manager - Click To Read Article
Most successful outsourcing buyers post their first freelance project to fill a specific skill need or budget gap on a particular project, finding a skilled worker or two and seeing the project completed successfully. Then, as success breeds success, their needs continue to expand and more freelance professionals are eventually hired. Suddenly, these outsourcing buyers find themselves managing a growing remote workteam, which is usually more demanding than anticipated and ultimately a resource stress. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the requirements of keeping your remote workteam in motion on an outsourcing project, perhaps you need to consider hiring a freelance project manager.

8 Warning Signs That an Outsourcing Job is Failing - Click To Read Article
While outsourcing specific skills can be a great alternative for businesses, the realities of human resources can still sometimes rear their ugly head. Just as new hires for in-house positions can turn out to be unproductive, outsourcing freelance placements have that same unfortunate potential. Rather than letting these issues scare you away from outsourcing to freelance contractors, use the following tips to help your outsourcing outcomes to be successful. Ultimately, these warning signs are relevant for in-house jobs as well as those jobs which you are outsourcing.

How to build a distributed marketing team - Click To Read Article
I have been working in the freelance marketing world for more than 10 years and have been considering outsourcing some of my projects to a remote team. I recently had the chance to sit down and speak with Josh Breinlinger, Director of Marketing for oDesk, and manager of their successful distributed marketing team to learn a bit more about the whats and whys of managing a team of remote workers. Here's what he had to say...

Gartner: New technology jobs will be filled by social scientists - Click To Read Article
One of the fastest-rising technology trends seen over the past few years is the use of social networking by consumers and businesses alike.

Outsourcing ‘has become a mandate’ for recession-hit firms - Click To Read Article
Amid the recession, companies are increasingly using outsourcing to achieve specific cost-saving goals, the findings of a new survey suggest.

Workers still concerned about job security - Click To Read Article
Despite emerging signs that the economy is beginning to stabilize, a significant number of employees remain concerned about the security of their job.

Survey: Hiring expectations improved in emerging markets - Click To Read Article
The global job market may not have returned to its pre-recessionary levels, but prospective workers in many countries should see improved opportunities for new positions in the coming months, according to a new report.

Extroverts excel at working from home, research says - Click To Read Article
Working from home or in a freelance career is an attractive prospect for many employees – but is this arrangement suited for everyone? An article in Business Week explores the personality traits that successful home-based workers typically possess.

Report: 40% of companies to hire contract or temp employees - Click To Read Article
There are signs that the current recession could end soon in the U.S., which means employers may be considering their hiring strategy for when the economy turns around.

Global IT companies expect recovery in 2010 - Click To Read Article
In news that hints at increased job opportunities for IT workers across the world, a new study from AT&T shows that CIOs and technology executives expect economic recovery to begin early next year.

Software developers can start earning from Palm Pre apps in September - Click To Read Article
This week, Palm announced the latest phase of its strategy to take on Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry by offering a range of innovative applications for users to purchase for the Palm Pre. According to the company, software developers will be able to begin charging customers for downloading their applications from an ecommerce beta program in September. The move follows last month’s release of the Mojo Software Development Kit, which was viewed as a step forward in Palm’s efforts to strengthen relationships with developers.

These days, Twitter is a job-skill must - Click To Read Article
There is abundant evidence that Twitter is not only being used as a way for people to discuss their everyday activities. In fact, Twitter has evolved into a major component of many companies’ marketing strategies. This means businesses are scrambling to make sure they are not left behind when it comes to making the most of these 140-character messages that can reach countless "followers."

China commits to raising outsourcing profile - Click To Read Article
India may still be the dominant country when it comes to offshore outsourcing, but that situation could change in the coming years as China makes a bid to challenge its rival. Earlier this year, the government chose 20 cities as outsourcing hubs to attract more international investment and provided them with tax breaks, labor hours systems and employment subsidies. Now, the country has announced further policies designed to boost the sector. On Wednesday, the Chinese government said it would increase the financial incentives given to companies working within the outsourcing industry, particularly within the 20 hub cities.

Palm releases kit to software developers - Click To Read Article
After a long wait and much anticipation, software developers can finally gain widespread access to the Palm Mojo Software Development Kit to create apps for the Palm Pre. On Thursday, the Mojo SDK was made available on the company’s webOS developer page, which also offers guidelines, a forum for developers and other documentation intended to assist in the process. But will the release of the kit help alleviate the lack of applications available on the company’s new smartphone, a factor viewed by some as a potential roadblock to its success?

India and the U.S. remain tense about outsourcing - Click To Read Article
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s visit last week has been dubbed by some the High Technology Cooperation Dialogue. Pressed by Indian governmental and business leaders about what it sees as an increasingly protectionist stance in the U.S., Clinton pledged support for working with India for better high-tech relations, but offered no specifics. "Outsourcing is a concern for many communities and businesses in my country, so how we handle that is something that we’re very focused on doing in a way that doesn’t disrupt the great flow of trade and services that go between our countries," Clinton said in an interview on Indian television.

Laid-off IT workers strike out on their own - Click To Read Article
The multiple opportunities available to laid-off technology workers who want to work for themselves has been highlighted in a new Computerworld article. Some IT employees have been using their skills to start their own consulting businesses, while others turn to online employment marketplaces to find freelance and contract jobs.

Downturn boosts freelance opportunities in U.S. - Click To Read Article
As the effects of the economic downturn continue to impact the hiring budgets of firms worldwide, some workers are finding a bright spot: rising opportunities for freelance and contract work.

Actions for Successful Remote Freelance Work - Click To Read Article
As an online freelance provider, I use technology every day to provide my outsourcing managers with transparency, visibility, and open and honest communication. These three critical areas are the real deliverables with respect to outsourcing, and the most successful freelance providers recognize their value when building long-term outsourcing relationships. Relating to these three outsourcing concerns, there are some relatively simple things that a freelance remote worker can do to help themselves succeed. Here are five actions for successful remote freelance work...

6 Ways to Market Yourself Online - Click To Read Article
Though times are tough and seem to be getting tougher on a global level, successful freelance professionals will need to be ready to respond when the outsourcing market changes. In an increasingly competitive outsourcing environment, freelance providers must work harder and smarter at making themselves more visible. A key step toward increased outsourcing marketplace competitiveness and success is tying your online freelance presence more closely to your other personal online marketing activities. Here are 6 ways that you can lead more potential outsourcing buyers to your freelance profile:

Integrating Your Virtual Freelance Staff with Your In-House Team - Click To Read Article
Most outsourcing assignments start small--you hire a freelance provider to complete a specific project. Then, when the provider proves they can be relied upon, you start giving them more hours and increasingly vital outsourcing tasks. Soon you may find your remote freelance provider fully integrated with your in-house staff, changing the relationship between outsourcing buyer and freelance provider. Here's what we've learned (on the job) when it comes to integrating outsourcing and in-house workteams.

Budget Salvation! 10 Ways for Small Business Owners to Save Money - Click To Read Article
You may have noticed that the economy is on shaky ground pretty much everywhere. It's been in all the papers. While everyone from the consumer to the corporation is on edge, the small business owner is probably the most nervous. They share the concerns of everyone, while also worrying about their budget in relation to the future of their business and their employees. The real challenge for small business owners is how to make their budget dollar go further - expenses can't be slashed any further because they're already running lean, and they don't want to stifle potential business growth out of economic fear. So, how does the small business owner balance the budget to ensure the prospects of future success?

Top 5 Qualities in an Outsourcing Company - Click To Read Article
What do freelance providers look for in an outsourcing company? What makes a company a preferred outsourcing buyer? We asked some of our freelance providers to think through their most rewarding outsourcing experiences and define the top qualities they observed in those buyers. Here's what they told us...

4 Critical Principles of an Online Outsourcing Marketplace Feedback System - Click To Read Article
Feedback systems are such a fundamental part of making an online outsourcing marketplace work that it sticks out like a sore thumb if you don’t have one. They are designed to improve the experience of both the outsourcing buyer and the freelance provider. As a whole, these systems allow outsourcing companies to establish their own reputation as a reputable employer while reviewing the reputation of freelance providers in an effort to find the most capable and proven talent. Outsourcing companies submit feedback on freelance providers and relay their positive or negative experience so other buyers can review feedback before entering into an outsourcing relationship with that freelance provider. In theory, the entire process works great...depending on a few critical principles...

How to Make Better Outsourcing Decisions - Click To Read Article
Virtual outsourcing is an exciting opportunity that offers multiple advantages for small to mid-sized businesses, including: 1. low-cost, low-overhead work without the typical initial recruiting/hiring expenses 2. a wide and more diverse global pool of skilled freelance talent 3. a mutually beneficial pay-for-performance compensation structure 4. flexibility within a predefined project arrangement, and 5. real-time management tools. Though outsourcing managers are left with the same ultimate hiring decision when contracting freelance professionals as when hiring in-house staff, the virtual world offers the following unique human resources option...

Are you Freelance Ready? - Click To Read Article
Most freelance assignments start small--non-staff providers are hired to complete specific outsourcing projects. But when these freelance specialists prove to their outsourcing employers that they can be relied upon, there is soon an increased allowance for more remote working hours and the performance of increasingly vital tasks. Soon freelance providers may find themselves fully integrated with the outsourcing organization's in-house staff, thus marking a change in the relationship between outsourcing employer and freelance provider. We've been there--oDesk hires freelance providers to work with our in-house staff on several different outsourcing assignments, and on some projects, one type of worker is virtually indistinguishable from the other.

Why You Should Include Open Source Work in Your Portfolio - Click To Read Article
Very recently, one of our product architects posted a job opening on our site to find an additional engineer to add to our growing team (in a remote provider capacity). He received inquiries from a number of interested freelance provider candidates and then proceeded to interview to find the top provider for the team. Once he had narrowed the list down to just a few freelance provider candidates, he researched their work history in more detail, finally selecting a particular candidate in India largely based on an example of his work. What it ultimately came down for my co-worker in his freelance selection process was reviewing prior work on open-source projects. Why should you care about open-source work?


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