Whatever you are doing to make money online, chances are that you could benefit from having some people help you out with your projects. The thing is, while many of us would love to have our own office and have some staff members working for us, this is not always within the means of all of us. After all, if you hire workers, you will need to pay them an hourly wage, plus have to worry about things such as taxes, vacation pay, etc.

But, there is a way to make this possible. Instead of actually hiring people who will work in a physical office location, you would recruit a few virtual staff members who will be available to help you out with your projects. The main advantage of online outsourcing is that you won’t need to pay them a salary, you will just pay them to do specific projects when you need them. For example, you could pay an outsourcer $10 to design a logo or $50 to write the content for an entire website.

Of course, the question remains: where do you find people to be part of your virtual staff? There are 3 options.

Classified ads sites (Craigslist, Gumtree, Backpage, etc)

If you want to give local people the opportunity to earn money from home, then you can post an ad one one of these sites. Be sure to describe what the worker will need to do and what skills they will need to have (writing, web design, graphic design, etc.) Even though the economy is recovering, there are still many people who are unemployed and unable to find work in their field. This means you will probably get a few people who will respond to your ad.

The only downside is that you will have to pay them a bit more than if you found people on a forum or a freelancing site. But it will still be cost effective, as there are many people would be willing to work from home, even for $10 an hour.

Freelancing websites (GetAFreelancer, Freelancer.com, Fiverr, Microworkers, Odesk, etc)

These sites are basically marketplaces where service providers meet clients. You will post a description of the project and your requirements. Workers will then bid on the project and you can select one or more people to do the job (except on Fiverr, where all jobs are $5 and you contact people directly to see if they are interested in doing the work).

IM forums (Warrior Forum, Digital Point, etc)

IM forums have a section where service providers can make a thread detailing the services that they offer and clients can post threads detailing services that they need. IM forums are a great place to find people who will do some work for you on a regular basis.

Tomorrow, we will explore some ways to ensure that you are only recruiting the best people and how to manage the whole operation.

If you’ve ever sold an ebook, or other digital product, you know that maximizing your profits can be a tricky task. If you take the time to take a look at your products and figure out how they can work better for you, you can increase your revenue significantly.

If you have one digital product, you might be able to convert it into another format to generate more profits. Let’s say you have an ebook that’s getting some sales. Have you considered taking your content, and making an audio, or video product out of it? A video that helps to illustrate the points you make in your ebook could be a great addition to your product catalog. As for an audio product, an audio version of your ebook would do well. Many people enjoy listening to audio books at the gym, in the car, or even when they’re just out for a walk. By converting your existing product into other formats, you can sell it to a wide variety of customers. In fact, you may even wind up selling it to the same customer multiple times.

If your product is a multi-step instructional guide of any sort, you may want to consider breaking it down into weekly lessons, and switching business models. By starting a membership site, you can generate more revenue over time. Let’s say you are currently selling an ebook for $30 a piece. If you convert that ebook into a six month online course, and charge $10 a month, you can double your profits. The downside here is that you run the risk of having a customer unsubscribe before the course is over. This method isn’t going to work for every product, but if you have a good step by step guide, you might just be able to make a membership site work.

Whether you’re running a membership site, or selling digital products, you can always up your sales by offering bonuses to your customers. If your customers are getting something for free when they purchase your product or sign up for your membership site, you will generate more sales. People love free stuff, and by offering them a bonus item, you’re increasing the overall appeal of your product.

Digital products can be highly profitable if you play your cards right. Sell your content in multiple formats, and consider a membership site, either in place of, or alongside your existing products. Throw in a few bonus items, and you’ll see a significant boost in sales in no time.