Sharing The Workload – Chapter 3

Hopefully I’ve not scared you off by listing the negatives for all these options – that was never the plan. I just want you to think strongly and think carefully before you make business decisions based on the options above. I see so many people starting sites on their own and getting burnt out within months, and I see others start up sites with friends and then run into various problems, ruining not just the websites, but their relationship with that person in the process. I’ve seen people outsource and then received results that were less than to satisfaction, and I’ve seen people hire employees, only for the employee to turn around in three months, tell them where to go, and then start up their own competitive site.

I’ve seen all this because I myself, have experienced it. I don’t hyperbole or theorize here – I speak from experience, and from my knowledge of being in this industry. I’ve went into partnership with friends on a site, then questioned why I’m busy working all day while they’re spending their time playing video games. I’ve hired employees, taken months to coach them and teach them the ins and outs in this industry, and then suddenly they no longer return my phone calls, and I find out they’re starting a competing site, using the knowledge I taught them. I’ve paid money for people to do web design or coding, been told that they can do the job, then sat back appalled as they fail to do any of the goals that were expected of them. And I’ve worked alone. I’ve felt the stress of this job. I’ve taken the SEO for Dummies book on vacation with me – hell, on days where I’ve been so sick I can’t even leave the bathroom, I bring the laptop in there so I can write articles or respond to e-mails in between throwing up my corn flakes! And I’ve sat there struggling with ideas for a new site, bouncing ideas off no-one but my dog, without anyone to help brainstorm and think of new ways to make profits.

But on the other hand – there’s nothing greater in life than doing hard work on your own, and being rewarded for it. Creating a site from scratch, putting the hours in all by yourself to learn how to make money with that site, and then seeing your first casino whale, or first high limit poker player under your tracker – that’s just an incredible feeling that you have to really experience for yourself. I’ve hired permanent employees who have stuck with me through thick and thin, never even contemplated going into business for themselves, and doing me proud day in, day out. I’ve outsourced aspects of my site like web design and content writing, and been amazed and delighted at the results, especially for the costs. And I’ve worked with partners before, and realized how much more progressive things can be when you have brainstorming sessions, with everyone working towards the same goal, and how much easier it can be to really get rolling on a new site.

While I’m on this topic, one thing that is extremely important – contracts. Be sure to, when possible, use written contracts. Let’s say you go into partnership with someone, and after a year to two years of hard work and earning money, they decide to just coast, and not bother doing much, if any work. Or maybe something came up in their life that means they can’t focus on the affiliate work as much as they could. Should they still have 50%? You’re going to think no, they’re going to think yes. By having revolving contracts, with clauses that cover any potential issues, that are written out before you get into any business, it can make everything so much easier, and more importantly, legal.

To summarize, as with every aspect of this job, before you do something new, do a checklist of the positives and negatives. In your circumstances, would it be better to do it alone or with a partner? To outsource, or to hire permanent employees? And always have a contingency plan in case things don’t go well. If you hire someone to focus just on search engine optimization, be sure to set some time to actually learn about it yourself. If you’re going into business with a friend, be sure to understand their work ethic first, and try and separate the personal life from business.

And throughout all of this, just remember the most important thing, regardless of whether you do it alone, or whether you have a team of 30 people and fill up a 1400 square foot office, the goal is always the same….

Make Money. Lots of it.