OUTSOURCING THE “NOT-SO” DIRTY WORD

by Miguel Lloyd

In the fall there will be a new show on NBC called Outsourced. In our country where we are at plus 9% unemployment and are also in what some would say is “under siege” by the undocumented worker, this subject is one that gets many Americans in a really bad mood. For good reason, I might add. With that being said, there is a dynamic that doesn’t come up nearly enough in this debate though. Why don’t we outsource to more American made, owned and managed businesses?

You see, there is much talk of the manufacturing jobs that have been outsourced, but that seems to be where the conversation stops. When you call your credit card company, you either are talking to a computer prompt or someone who is trained to sound as American as they can. With that being said, their are tasks that Americans still have a good handle on. Specifically…creativity.

In my industry of marketing and advertising, creativity is King! If your idea is a failure one of the main issues that you may have is a a lack of good old fashioned creativity and ingenuity. Its tough though, when you are trying to stay on top of your payroll, health benefits, taxes, inventory, staffing, etc., to learn how to use social media effectively and produce effective ads that will drive customers through your doors, websites or cause your phone to ring. That’s where American outsourcing comes in.

Most small businesses, and many mid-sized businesses do not have a marketing person on staff, and even the ones that do, many times they are overworked. What many businesses don’t realize is that there are some tasks in our businesses that can be performed for you at low cost or very nominal costs, through commission based agreements. There are professionals like the staff of P2P Media that are more comfortable serving clients directly on an “as-needed” basis. Your earn more opportunities with the client through your productivity. Not through the obligation of employment contracts, that include required health benefits, payroll taxes and other liabilities for the employer.

At this point in our history, one good thing for our American economy is that jobs that involve effective ways of marketing to Americans, is still something we are the leaders in, but that is changing faster than we would like. This country was built on the inventiveness and ingenuity that our democracy encourages, but as we are effective in spreading democracy and capitalism throughout the world, so will our abilities to create. Some of the richest people in the world are now coming out of former and current communist ruled countries. These people were bottled up for years and now they are exploding everywhere. They are now owning our sports teams, media outlets and lending obscene amounts of money to our COUNTRY for that matter, because of THEIR inventiveness and creativity!

What’s the point (you might ask)? Start putting more of America’s creative people to work today. Don’t call them up and ask for “free” guidance, no more than you would your lawyer, accountant, or benefits coordinator. Don’t Facebook friend them just to read their blog and get great ideas and run with them. They are writing as an outlet and to provide you something to “go on” as to the extent of their ability and their knowledge of the market. You may be surprised how effective they can execute that plan you devised based on what you read. Not to mention, how much is your time worth? If writing and creating is not your strong suit, it may take you weeks to create something that a marketing professional has in their head, right now! They may be able build your next great sales campaign within hours, leaving you to complete the much less painful tasks of your business. When you look at it that way, how much have they truly “cost” you?

Create value, by putting them to work and holding them accountable for results. You may be surprised at the results of your outsourcing efforts. It its not just your major projects like TV commercials and media buying, but things as small as the designs of your ink pens. They all are paramount to the effectiveness of your brand to your market. Not to mention you are employing skilled labor that will sow back into your local, county, state and our national economy.

At some point, the survival of middle America, has to supersede profits, to a degree. After all, whether, white or black, man or woman, Democrat or Republican, American born or LEGAL immigrant, we are all in the same boat.