Elance for outsourcing © Jeff Miles

Books like The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss have underscored the importance of outsourcing, even to the point of being able to run a multi-million dollar business alone from anywhere in the world without any employees.

One good place to turn for outsourcing is www.elance.com. Elance was founded in 1999 to help businesses efficiently find freelance help for their projects. It also helps entrepreneurs all around the world help their businesses grow by providing services to clients.

So, essentially, Elance is a virtual workplace and it’s considered the leading website for hiring and working on demand. 

At Elance you can hire freelancers in the following categories:

•    Web and Programming.

•    Design and Multimedia.

•    Writing and Translation.

•    Administration Support.

•    Sales and Marketing.

•    Finance and Management.

•    Legal.

•    Engineer and Manufacturing.

If you are trying to find someone to do some work for you, first you have to create an account, of course.  Then, let's say you need someone to write a sales page for your website. You have two options. You can browse the provider list and see if a particular person specializes in the type of service you want. You can read their profile, look at their feedback, look at their samples. You can contact them directly and make arrangements. Payments go through the elance site. You'll usually have to pay 50 percent up front. Elance gets a commission, so that is how they are able to provide this service.

Your other option is to post your project and accept bids. You provide a description of the service you need. If it's a sales page you post that in the copywriter section (make sure you post in the proper category so that you attract the right bidders). You can post your budgeted amount for the project but that's optional. Elance will display the number of bids you've received and the time that the bidding will close.

As bids come in you review them, look at the person's samples and feedback. Sometimes the bidders will ask questions so it's good to log in every day and check for questions. If you write a clear, detailed description of the project at the beginning, this will help cut down on questions.

If you are having a hard time choosing from several qualified applicants, you can ask them to take a test of your choosing, if you'd like. You can also give a test if you want to make absolutely sure the person is trust-worthy and has the necessary skills.

Even though Elance is a place to get work done at an inexpensive rate, you shouldn't pick a bidder solely based on price. Look at the way the bidder presented themselves. Were they friend and articulate? Did they following your instructions?

When you've picked one bidder you make payment arrangements and set a deadline. Be sure to leave feedback after they complete the project. Feedback is crucial to the Elance process. It's how clients know that you are trust-worthy and vice versa. The more feedback you have, the better, so you can attract quality bidders.