Released on: November 2, 2007, 4:09 am

Press Release Author: 247Marcom

Industry: Internet & Online

Press Release Summary: Outsourcing part of a company's operations, as we all know,
has its inherent benefits. Over the years more and more operations and processes
have been outsourced to countries like India, Philippines, Brazil among others.

Press Release Body: Recently, Lenovo® moved its global marketing operations to its
Hub in Bangalore, India. The trend is sure catching up, with India being a best
choice destination for outsourced marketing services. Large corporations have
realized the benefits of outsourcing their marketing operations to benefit from
'single window' operations, quality of the service or deliverable, scalability,
consistency of messaging, and of course a natural jump in marketing ROI. There is an
upsurge in the number and type of companies that offer outsourced marketing
services.

So, even if you run a small to medium business operation, you can ride the
outsourcing wave and enhance ROI, without getting into the hassles of long-term,
small print legal contracts. You may want to get content written for your website,
enhance an existing website with SEO, design a new website, launch an Adwords
campaign, get some business or marketing plan consultation, get branding and graphic
designs, keep relationships with your customers alive with E-mail marketing or
whatever - you now have good outsourcing options.

That is the upside.

The downside? Choosing the right partner. There are number of disaster stories where
a relationship that began on a positive note, soon soured. So, what are the key
things that you should look for before getting into any agreement?

Here are a few tips.

1. Management: It always helps to find out the background of the people running a
small operation. What kinds of companies have the head honchos worked for, their
educational background, expertise etc. Are they a small mom and pop shop churning
out projects by the hour? What kind of skills does the team have?

2. Comfort Level with English: Some outsourcing vendors will have the technical
expertise to design a website for you for example, but what they may lack are good
language and communication skills - spoken and written. If you can't understand
them, neither will your staff or customers. Do a thorough check on their portfolio
and websites.

3. Working with them: Will you or your staff be comfortable dealing with them on a
day-to-day basis? Have a chat with them to understand their thought process and
whether you feel comfortable working with them. Do they have what it takes to work
on projects targeting American or global customers?

4. Technology and communication: What are their work hours? Which time zone do they
fall under? How will they attend to urgent changes in your projects? Are they 'well
connected' - check if they use VOIP, have US or your country's local phone numbers,
speed of E-mail replies,
use of IM's etc.

5. Marketing prowess: Do they understand the role of marketing in your overall
business plan? How well can they contribute with ideas? How will they integrate the
campaigns or projects into your overall plan? Ask them for some ideas. Check on what
industry segments they have worked for - figure out competencies, innovativeness and
creativity.

6. Cost advantage: By all means look at how much you can save by outsourcing, but do
not have cost as a sole criterion to choose a vendor. What you should look for is
VALUE. Some vendors may be a little expensive than others but it may be worth your
while to try them for the quality of work they will deliver.

7. Operations: How will you work with them? Will they need to estimate for each
project separately? Would you like a $ per hour kind of contract or a fixed fee? How
will you pay them? Do they have an account in a global bank so you can wire transfer
fees? What about taxes?

8. References: Check their references and write to them. Do not hesitate to ask
specific questions based on your unique requirements.

Once you have worked out all these modalities, you are good to go with your new
outsourced marketing services partner and begin reaping the benefits.

For more information or for comments, please write to feedback@247marcom.com. Visit
us at, http://247marcom.com/.




247Marcom is a marketing and communications services consultancy with expertise in
| Web design | Web site optimization | SEO services | PPC or Adwords management |
outsourced Web site management | website content development | Internet Marketing
Services | Content Development | Online Marketing Services |

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