How would you bypass oDesk ?

Question

Let's say you found, on your own in a 3rd world country, a very bright you want to hire as a virtual assistant (or, more accurately, as a Virtual Vice President of Marketing), and who doesn't know about oDesk, eLance, etc. And let's say, for some reason, you don't want to introduce him to your 100,000 competitors looking to hire him, either pay him more or cause him to multi task and not be able to focus on the work you gave him.

How would you hire him directly ?
1) How would you pay him ? Does Paypal work internationally ? Any alternatives to Paypal (I would rather not use Paypal if I can help it) ? Hopefully something where you can automate weekly payments.
2) What software does he need to install on his computer so you can get screen shots every 10 minutes or less, the way it works with oDesk. The software needs to keep track of the time he spent on the job.

Bryan Hancock · Answer

I would think the labor laws vary by country. ODesk is already so cheap! Why spend the effort to bypass them? Is this something you are planning to run as a business or are you trying to save a few bucks on services?

Joel Owens · Answer

For menial tasks I would use Odesk or Elance etc. I do not let them have access to what I consider needs to be safeguarded as business secrets. I would only let a person on the ground here have access to that.

David Wedemire · Answer

Why not just stay with ODesk. It's cheap enough

Abdenour Achab · Answer

Another way of putting it is, I am trying to find a way to outsource entrepreneurship. A few years ago, Ron Starr (a veteran Real Estate investor and educator) replied to somebody in a real estate forum and told him "You cannot outsource entrepreneurship". But then, in a different thread, he said that he learned in his science classes that you should never say that something cannot be done. I wouldn't outsource entrepreneurship here in the US. Two twin brothers already tried that when they asked Mark Zuckerberg to develop a social network platform for them. Zuckerberg developed it alright .... and then kept it for himself. I am trying to think of a way to outsource a big chunk of a business, that cannot be done abroad alone, to somebody in a third world country, in a way that I will only do the part that requires a presence in the US.

John Jackson · Answer

Labor laws!!! HA! Who gives a crap about labor laws? I have shoes that fit, and a 10 year old in Bangladesh has a job....nuff said.... WHEEEE!!!!!!!!

Abdenour Achab · Answer

Neither run as a business nor save a few bucks. Let's say I expanded the effort to find a very bright person in a 3rd world country, and gave him the following instructions: ---------------------------- Begin Instructions ---------------------------------- We are starting a new pre settlement funding business. Use Google to learn what such a business is (I pay you while you learn), create a web site to market the business (copy similar web sites without violating copyright law, then customize it as you wish), do online and off line marketing campaigns (here is a credit card with a $1,000 credit limit - you figure out how to market - I pay you while you learn), and make my phone ring with good quality prospects. Pay: base of $2/hour (not a real pay - just a non refundable advance on the bonus to be earned in the future) + bonus based on a formula that gives you X bonus points for each closed deal (X = % of the deal), Y points for the profit on each deal (Y = % of the profit), and -1 point for each time waster that calls my number (mostly a pay for results scheme). -------------------------- End of Instructions -------------------------------------- As you can see, those instructions are quiet different from what many VAs get (such as, run one of each of the 10 ads I am giving you on Craiglist everyday). VA may not be the right term for such work. "Virtual Vice President of Marketing" may be more appropriate. I would have to pay the VA for a year or so before closing the first deal, and he would have a lot of control over my business. If he is not ethical, after he figures out how to do the business on my dime, he can take the business (including the contents of the web site, lists of lawyers who've expressed interest, etc.) with him and sell it to a new would be competitor (it's as simple as making the would be competitor's phone ring). It would be much easier for him to do that if he belongs to a network such as oDesk, eLance, etc. The other concern is, as I have stated earlier, taking on other projects and not focusing on mine, and/or higher base pay projects. One more thing: I would rather not use Paypal.

John Jackson · Answer

I've paid people in India or the Phillpeans with paypal that did VA work for me. Not sure about the software that track times. I think you'd have to search for a time tracker software. I guess he could take the screen shots with screentoaster, screengrabber etc. and send it to you...or, take a screenshot using the CMD SHIFT 4 keys on a Mac etc.