Increasing Profits by Outsourcing Software Jobs (google money forum)
No commentsBy Chet Lawrence
Pay an individual outside of your company to complete a software project for you and you could find yourself saving money in the process. This is a concept which may seem counterintuitive to some but those who have embraced the idea of outsourcing realize the cost savings associated with the process is one of the benefits. Outsourcing results in an overall cost savings for a number of reasons. Outsourcing contributes to reduced labor costs and greater productivity. Additionally, outsourcing virtually increases manpower giving companies greater capabilities.
Reduced Labor Costs
For many the most important reason for outsourcing is to reduce labor costs. Employers may not be obligated to offer benefits such as social security, Medicare and workers’ compensation to the workers who are completing the outsourced work. Additionally, these individuals often have their own offices and computer equipment and are capable of completing their work offsite.
Labor costs can be a significant part of a company’s budget for the year. A company that is able to reduce their labor costs will be able to enjoy a greater profit margin without making any other changes to their business operations. There are certainly other changes which can be made to increase profitability but reducing labor costs is a guaranteed method of increasing profitability while other methods of increasing profitability such as marketing different niches will not guarantee success.
Greater Productivity
Another benefit of outsourcing is increased productivity. Greater productivity can be another cost savings benefit for companies. When work is outsourced there are a number of factors which contribute to increased productivity. Productivity may increase due to workers being assigned appropriate projects, workers being more efficient and less cases of underutilization.
Assigning workers to tasks that are beyond their capabilities is one way to cause a decline in productivity. While challenging employees to think for themselves and take on increasing responsibility is worthwhile, giving an employee and assignment he is not qualified to complete can be damaging to productivity because of the learning curve involved. This is why it is so important to outsource complicated software tasks to experts in the industry. They are often able to complete complex tasks quickly and efficiently.
Outsourcing also makes employees more efficient because by allowing individuals to focus on only one task at a time there is less time spent transitioning from one task to another. Many employees and employers think multi-tasking is a way to increase productivity but it can actually have the reverse effect. Employees with too many responsibilities may feel pressured to work on each task each day. This can be detrimental because each time the employee switches from one task to the next it is necessary to get back up to speed with the new task and remind himself where he left off when he stopped working on the project.
Finally, outsourcing can lead to greater productivity by reducing underutilization. For example outsourcing very specialized projects requiring expert analysis is preferable to maintaining this expert on staff when their services are only needed occasionally. If this were a salaried employee he would be greatly underutilized. However, outsourcing these occasional projects to an expert prevents the underutilization phenomenon.
Increased Manpower
Another way outsourcing can save you money is through providing your company with increased manpower. This is especially important for smaller companies who would normally be precluded from attempting to secure larger government projects. This is because there are typically requirements regarding the number of employees a company must have available to work on the project. Maintaining a network of qualified individuals gives a company more bargaining power when negotiating larger contracts.
Outsourcing is really ideal in this situation because it enables the company to work with highly qualified individuals when necessary without having to retain these individuals as salaried staff members. This is significant because niche experts often become so specialized that working as an independent contractor is really their only option because as a salaried employee they are more of a liability to companies than they are an asset. This is because many companies do not want to bear the burden of keeping these individuals on staff when they can outsource the work to them on a per contract basis.
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Conducting a Trademark Search Online
By Chet Lawrence
Is there such a thing as free trademark search? The answer can be a yes and a no, why? True enough there are a number of preliminary sites that you can access without any charge, but you’re not aware the company’s terms pertaining to service or product names.
You must do a comprehensive research before you can actually tell the availability of a name. What is a trademark? According to its definition, trademark is defined as a word or unique name, phrase, symbol, logo, image, design, or may be combinations of these different elements that distinctively identify the service or product you offer to customers; this distinguishes a particular company from their competitors. By means of a trademark registration, you can get government protection while you’re doing your business. This is a trademark benefit that only registered companies enjoy. Another benefit is that no other company can use your name, or a similar name, nor offer products and services that are like yours. There are even times when the benefits enjoyed by a company extend beyond their chosen industry.
The Internet is widely used nowadays, and it is a great tool to make a free trademark search online. There are websites that you can visit to check existing trademarks if you want to apply for one on your own. Make sure that you plan for a unique trademark that will set you apart from the rest.
1. United States Patent and Trademark Office or USPTO - they have their own site where you can do some searches of Federal trademarks. While you’re inside their site, check out the PT depository library and download it. You may also want to check the list of goods acceptable for identification. The site also contains other documents about the basic facts of trademarks. But the site is not that complete. In fact, you can’t find a list of state trademarks, DBA records, newspapers, company directories, product announcements, and many other important papers. The site does not offer an intelligent search that gives emphasis on spelling variations, synonyms, word placement; you have to enter the variations manually.
2. State Secretary Website - depending on your state, you can find a searchable database by state online. Usually, this site doesn’t include a list of federal trademarks, other state’s listings, and a common-law database. If you can find a state site, you must determine if it’s updated regularly and if it can intelligently search.
3. Yellow Pages - the users are allowed to make a nationwide search by entering the name of the business and make sure that you leave the remaining fields blank. Like the USPTO website, yellow pages don’t make intelligent searches unless you enter the variations.
Free trademark search online can be of great help for you. So take advantage of the free resources available on the net. Gather all important information that you might find useful. If after some time you’re not satisfied with the result, then you can easily hire a private company or an attorney to make a thorough and detailed research.
If you want to file a trademark application, you can file this with USPTO. They will ensure that there is no existing trademark that is similar or looks just like your mark. But just a reminder, the USPTO office wasn’t organized mainly for applicants but for the existing trademarks. Their main objective is to search possible infringements in your filed trademark.
Securing a trademark application has certain roadblocks that you need to deal with, so while there is still time, do your homework and have that search done in time. By visiting the depository libraries, you can search existing trademarks manually. If you want to conduct an electronic trademark search, you can utilize TESS. Don’t forget to visit TARR to track your application’s progress.
Expect that before your application will be approved, it will be subject to scrutiny. The USPTO will make sure that your application is unique and is not identical to the existing trademarks. The slightest resemblance of copyright infringement can send your application rolling to the trash bin. If you don’t want to encounter any problems with your application, make lots of free trademark searches and be prepared. This way, your application can be easily approved.
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Learn To Write A Good Salesletter
By Carson Ray
Writing a sales letter is tough and writing a winning sales letter is even tougher. Many sales managers break their heads thinking why they can’t get it right. Well, to answer this question they should put them in people’s shoes and ask what “benefit “would I get by reading this sales letter? Remember that word “benefit” which is the crux of this discussion. Many sales people take bits and pieces of information from here and there and create mess out of a sales letter. They literally throw everything on people and then get what they deserve, instant rejection.
One should always remember that a sales letter works only when you have a product to sell and an offer to make. A sales letter should not be an introduction of your product or company. Remember every word is important in the sales letter and do not waste a single one which would distract your potential customer’s attention. They are not interested in the features of you product but an offer or a benefit to them. Think from the customer’s point of view and ask yourselves why should I read the letter? Is there any benefit or offer to me which cannot be refused? Can you convince me that it is really a good offer?
After keeping in mind these things, sales managers should apply thought in presenting their letter. The header or the headline is very crucial to any sales letter. It should target directly to the customers of your product. One also needs to be little tactful in use of words. But if you are not good at the trade do not attempt to do it and rather be simple in writing it. The headline should not be more a line, so try to be as specific as possible but with maximum affect. Nobody has time to read each and every letter in this fast paced era of instant satisfaction. If you are not able to convey your message to the audience in stipulated time, then you have lost those customers. The headline should start with a benefit being offered to the customer. This ensures that the customer goes to the body of the letter at least.
Now, having made a good effort with the heading, it’s the time to work on the body of the letter. How to maintain the level of enthusiasm that you created in the customer’s mind with the heading? Once again it is important to remember to not to focus on features of the product you are trying to sell but on the benefits and offers you are making to them. Things like how much money it is going to save them and how it would affect their lives should be mentioned in the body of the letter. Make them realize a need for it and compare it competitor’s product. Remember, a person reading your sales letter will constantly get questions in mind as to how this will benefit me, after each and every sentence. So be ready to clear those doubts and answer the questions. Being little informal in the approach wouldn’t do a harm and try to grab the attention by relating things to real life things. You can add a little bit of humor but unless you are sure that it won’t be in the bad taste of the reader. Bring in few previous clients to give testimony of your products. But keep the testimonials believable and something that people can relate to.
Once you’ve made clear about the product, do not forget to prompt your audience to take action. If it is an email, prompt your reader to click on a link to act now or provide a contact number if it is a direct mail. Also remind them again that if you don’t act now you will forfeit the offer as the offer is for limited time only.
Once you are done with the letter, one of the important parts of the sales letter is P.S. Many people simply read the beginning and end of the letter. So, try to convey something that will prompt them to go back to the letter and read it. It will be a perfect end to the sales letter.
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Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
