The question I get is: “How do I use ‘the cloud’ for my business?”
More specifically: “How do I use Amazon’s EC2 and S3 for my business?”
About 18 months ago we switched the hosting for my blog to use Amazon EC2 Cloud Computing and Amazon S3 Cloud storage.

It wasn’t simple.

(since…we’ve moved everything over to Amazon’s web services)

Why I moved to “the cloud”

My goals with moving my blog to “the cloud” were to:

• understand how to use the cloud effectively
• document how to use amazons cloud
• see how much it would cost (about $80/month to host my blog, which gets between 1000-2000 visits per day, and runs LOTS of bandwidth with all the videos)
• and make everything accessible to people who maybe don’t have a tech staff

My experience setting it up

I had one of my GUYS set up everything and document every step of the way.
He did an amazing job of it.
We’ve been running my wordpress blog on amazon’s EC2 cloud for about 18 months and have learned A LOT!
We’ve been through crashes, downtime, expensive time, and now cheap time.
We’ve figured out things to do and things not to do.

Documentation for how to use Amazon’s cloud computing

You’ll notice 2 things about the doc:

1. The dates on the title page are older. We’ve updated the document, we just haven’t updated the title page.
2. It’s written by a Filipino. He’s a programmer, not an english major! (you’ll laugh at some of the language

Who this is for (and who it’s NOT for)

This document is for you if:

• you’re technically inclined
• you want to use “the cloud” but don’t want to spend all the time figuring stuff out
• you’re interested in using reliable dedicated servers at a reasonable price

This document isn’t for you if:

• you struggle with FTP
• the word “server” scares you
• you’re not making money with your current website

Why I’m doing this

I want feedback!
I know the document is rough.
I want a few people to follow it and implement what it goes through in their business. Take notes and let me know what’s missing, what you don’t understand, and how you figured it out.
I’m interested in making this document a more thorough guide so more people can take advantage of this resource for their business.
If using this interests you, read through it. See if it’s way over your head. See if it makes sense. See if anything jumps out at you immediately as being lacking.
I hope to make this a guide which more people can use.

It’s free!

Derral has done a great job in setting up his business with outsourcing.
The quality of the video is pretty bad. The audio is much better.
It’s surprisingly difficult to get good video+audo recording in today’s world.

Here’s a summary of the case study.

1. 1:15 – He does website design, programming, and SEO for people.
2. 1:55 – the joys of internet connection problems
3. 2:25 – problems with hiring local people to do the work for you
4. 2:50 – Cultural differences with India
5. 3:30 – A “Yes” in India isn’t the same as a “Yes” in the USA
6. 5:20 – Copying and Pasting an email template
7. 6:00 – How he filters people in hiring (this is really good)
8. 8:00 – His experience giving a first task
9. 8:45 – How much writing is possible…just don’t expect this
10. 10:15 – Looking for a technical person (HTML, PHP, CSS)
11. 11:00 – Giving leeway
12. 11:25 – Another Filipino going above and beyond
13. 12:15 – When Derral realized he had replaced himself
14. 13:00 – Don’t find a jack-of-all-trades
15. 14:10 – Kinds of people to hire <<-- Video quality gets much better here
    • English Writer
    • Technical person (programmer)
    • 16:20 – how to test a programmer
    • 17:30 – PHP is a more important skill than “wordpress programming”
    • Graphic designer
    • SEO (he talks about this at 25:55)
    • Video Editing and video marketing (he talks about this at 26:20)
16. 19:00 – filling their downtime to generate passive income
17. 21:55 – Keeping people in stable work so they don’t look for other work
18. 22:40 – Letting them finish something before starting something new
19. 23:45 – What you can do when you have a programmer working for you
20. 24:25 – Not outsourcing keyword research
21. 26:45 – SEO takes time!!!
22. 27:00 – How we both haven’t outsourced social media yet (if you have, please contact me!)
23. 28:12 – When to get a project manager
24. 30:00 – How much to be involved with the project manager
25. 30:50 – using screen capture will make your life easier
26. 31:40 – TREAT YOUR PEOPLE WELL!!!
27. 32:30 – Giving praise
28. 33:00 – Specific hiring tips (and an interruption)
29. 34:00 – Contract work (freelancers) doesn’t work as well as hiring full-time
30. 36:40 – Video works great for getting exactly what you want done
31. 37:00 – Going from sceptic to success story!

Dean has a full-time job in the Aerospace industry.

At the same time he is running a 6-figure side business by outsourcing all the work.

What’s he doing?

- Web development/design
- Local Business Marketing

In this case study there are so many things to learn about using a Filipino VA for doing either one of those businesses.

One MAJOR question this case-study answers is:
“Can Filipino’s do client facing work?”
The answer is YES!

Here’s a summary of the case study:

• 2:15 – they build wordpress websites for companies
• 3:30 – time spent and what he does as a “web development” company
• 5:00 – what they charge people to do websites
• 6:33 – how many people he has working for him in the Philippines
• 6:55 – how much he pays people
• 7:40 – paying bonuses to his Filipino employees
• 8:25 – NEVER tell other people your Filipino employee’s name
• 9:00 – Can Filipino’s do client facing work?
• 9:50 – What his Filipino workers are doing in his business
• 10:30 – His VA creates training videos for him for his customers
• 11:20 – Hiring a technical person and teaching them technical things
• 13:22 – What skills to look for when hiring a technical person
• 14:00 – Hiring for WordPress skills and for English skills
• 15:40 – Dean’s hiring process – mostly in writing
• 16:12 – Posting a job on OnlineJobs.ph
• 17:00 – How to tell how good their english is!!!
• 18:00 – Skills to look for: PHP, Mysql, AJAX
• 20:00 – Using Google Apps to give them emails from your company
• 21:30 – He uses Basecamp to manage projects because his customers find it easiest
• 23:00 – Doing what you’re good at THEN building niche sites
• 24:30 – Building a team with what you’re good at
• 25:25 – Being the CEO of your business
• 26:00 – Last words: Use ReplaceMyself.com
• 27:00 – Your VA’s will become your friends.

You can find Dean’s podcast on Small Business Ideas and Tips on iTunes.

Here’s a summary of the case study.

1. 1:22 – Their business model (local business marketing)
2. 3:00 – tasks they’re outsourcing (social media)
3. 3:40 – documenting tasks and teaching new people how to do them.
4. 4:35 – starting with a blank slate
5. 7:50 – asking your Filipino workers to teach you
6. 9:30 – starting with 2-3 people
7. 10:12 – following instructions
8. 10:20 – where they found people to hire (OnlineJobs.ph)
9. 10:45 – George’s twist on my hiring strategy
10. 11:50 – emailing them and then waiting to see who emails back
11. 12:20 – looking at someone’s delay in response time as a hiring test (this is great!)
12. 13:00 – Don’t cherry pick people!
13. 15:10 – Filipino’s don’t like to disappoint
14. 15:50 – Contacting people vs putting a job out there (<-- This conversation is worth the whole interview!)
15. 18:00 – Laying out specifics before giving a task (good and bad of doing this)
16. 19:30 – Learning to delegate
17. 19:45 – “It doesn’t matter how good you can do it, if it doesn’t get done…WHO CARES!”
18. 20:20 – Things their Filipino workers do with article marketing
19. 21:20 – “OPSEO” and “MOWSEO“
20. 23:00 – How MOWSEO saves you time and makes your sites more successful
21. 26:30 – Getting stuff done you hate doing
22. 27:30 – How to outsource repetitive tasks
23. 29:40 – Using a different Skype account for interviewing people

His “local groupon” business model is brilliant.

Here’s the replay of the webinar we did.

We met when he took me to play golf at Trump National.
I told him I thought he should be doing “local business marketing.”
The rest is history.

He’s succeeding.
He’s making money.
He’s outsourcing all the work.

For your listening pleasure.

Things to learn from Scotts experience:

1. Scott was struggling with building niche sites (1:15)
2. Sticking with what works for you (the grass isn’t always greener!) (1:50)
3. Scotts business model (2:20) – I love this! He’s learning from OfflineBiz
4. Make sales first! (2:58)
5. Everything’s confusing, how to gain confidence (4:20)
6. How much money he’s making (5:25)
7. What work his outsourcers are doing for him (6:24)
8. How much to pay his GUY in the Philippines ($75/week) (6:40)
9. Things his GUY in the Philippines does for him and his clients (6:50) (includes wordpress, graphics, videos, video editing, video marketing)
10. The work Scott does vs the work his GUY does (8:05)
11. A glimpse at Scotts workflow process (8:40)
12. Teaching someone to do something you didn’t hire them to do (9:02)
13. Scotts hiring criteria and hiring process (9:43)
14. Mindset and tasks for how to keep someone busy (12:35)
15. Scotts final words on business model and the highest payoff tasks (14:44)

Do you have a success story you’d like to share with me? Please Share Your Success!.

It’s not “How do I find a trustworthy employee?”
It’s not “How much should I pay them?”
It’s not “How can I know if they really have the skill to do the work”?

Nope.

The biggest question I get is:

“How can I be sure that they are actually working while I am paying them?”

AND “If I am paying them by hour how can I know that it takes them as long as they claim?

Over the years this has been a major pain for me.
I mean, if someone’s only working 15 hours/week it’s pretty hard to know that.
It’s hard to know if they’re working 2 jobs or just one (for me!).

I tried using Odesk’s screen capture software to validate things…what a pain in the butt.
That took more of my time to manage than it was worth.

I tried using manual time tracking software (like DotProject) but that didn’t work either.
Too easy to fake, too difficult to control.

Then I stumbled upon a system that came really close to what I wanted.
I’ve been working with it and tweaking it for the past 2 years.
Finally, I have the PERFECT solution for knowing exactly what’s going on.

An elegant outsourcing tracking solution that:

1. Works for tracking outsourcers
2. Is inexpensive and simple to use, with virtually no ramp up time
3. It tracks, down to the SECOND, how much time people are spending on what activities and what web pages – telling you EXACTLY what they are doing, and where your money is disappearing.

But not only that…. Turns out it allows you to increase their productivity and save at least 10 hours of productive time per person per week.

Seriously, how you ever wondered how productive are your Filipino employees?
(or any employees for that matter) Do you really KNOW?

Now you can.

Introducing http://www.TrackLabor.com – Productivity and Time Tracking for Outsourced Workers.

.

It was really popular (and REALLY profitable) from 2000 – 2006.
Since then, everyone say it doesn’t work anymore.

I’ve heard people say “You can’t do direct linking, Google won’t allow it.”

While direct linking doesn’t work as well as it once did, I’m here to say:
YES! “DIRECT LINKING” DOES STILL WORK!
I know because we do it.

Here’s proof.
I took screenshots of an adwords account and of affiliate income from the past 6 months (November – April).

Expenses:

Income:

To sum it up

For members of ReplaceMyself.com, the business model we use is outlined in detail in the “Business-in-a-Box.” All members have access to it.
The “Business-in-a-Box” is designed to be given to a Filipino employee and have them implement it for you.

Like I’ve always said, this isn’t something that will make you rich. It’s not designed to make you $100,000,000,000.
It IS designed to help you get someone working for you quickly, with little to no intervention on your part, and hopefully have them start making money for you.

We just finished updating the “Business-in-a-Box” training so it’s current and has all the training someone needs to get started doing it today.

No, I’m not getting rich off this income.
Does direct linking still work?
YES, yes it does.

If you’re already advanced at SEO, skip past my notes below and see why I asked him to do this webinar.

Here are the notes I took during the webinar

• PPC and SEO build on each other – when you do both they boost each other
• All traffic isn’t created equal – target BUYERS for your traffic
• Google measures bounceback rate – if your site has a high bounceback rate you’re losing SEO
• 5 Steps to SEO success
  1. Pick the right domain
     Get your keywords in your domain
     Add buyer keywords into your domain
  2. Write a 500-600 word article
     Make the articles targeted to a single keyword
     One article per page
     Outsource it
  3. Use your main keyword (the keyword in your domain) in your headline
     Use the keyword first!
     Engage your reader with the headline. Don’t be boring.
  4. Use your main keyword in your Title tag
     Don’t use more than 3 keyword phrases in your title tag
  5. Get keyword targeted backlinks to your site (42:00)
     If you’re not going to get backlinks to your site, there’s no point in building your site.
     get 200 good links each month
     space them out over the month
     randomize it
     8 places to get links to your website (51:00)
     • free directories
     • paid directories
     • reciprocal linking
     • social networking profiles (not so effective)
     • social bookmarking sites (effective)(use a proxy when setting these up)
     • blog posts (very effective)
     • press releases (very effective, but expensive)
     • articles – (very effective)

     Order in which to do this:

     1. a couple of articles
     2. blog posts with original content that link to your site
     3. related sites
     4. social bookmarking

     This is the #1 thing I outsource!

  Here’s why I had Charles do this webinar:
  One morning I had an idea about some software we should build based off of some of the tactics my GUYS are using to get links to our sites.
  I wrote it all down as a plan for building the software.
  Later that day I was talking to Charles and he was explaining to me what the Backlinks Ninja software was.
  I was in shock!
  Backlinks Ninja does virtually the EXACT SAME THING as the software I had described in my plan that morning!
  When I realized this, I asked Charles to do a webinar explaining some of the SEO basics and explaining what this does because it’s something my GUYS are already doing…except we’re doing it manually.

  If you have your guys doing SEO, I highly recommend using Backlinks Ninja to help automate their efforts so they’re more efficient and efficeive for you.

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