Grunt work for internet marketers??

[cjhallock]

I am thinking about doing some grunt work for other internet marketers and I'm thinking article creation but not sure exactly what all I can do that people will pay for ...

any ideas? (as far as what I can do and maybe what I should charge)

[drmani]

1. Write and submit articles
2. Submit links to directories
3. Submit RSS feeds and blogs to blog directories
4. Post on social networks
5. Manage email/help desks
6. Format PDF or text documents
7. Transcribe tele-seminars and interviews
8. Convert PDF/text into audio/video
9. Create/update content resources
10. Create/submit sitemaps
11. Build Squidoo lenses and Hub pages
12. Install scripts
13. Negotiate links
14. Negotiate joint ventures/affiliate recruitment
15. Compile lists of prospective JV partners/super-affiliates
16. Mail out postcards/flyers/letters
17. Make phone calls to clients/prospects
18. Act as product launch manager
19. Be affiliate manager
20. Manage product development

Hope this sparks off some ideas.

How much to charge? I guess it'll depend on the client, and
I don't have much experience with pricing this. Be flexible,
is the best I can offer.

All success
Dr.Mani

[retta719]

Virtual Assistant rule of thumb, if it needs doing, there is someone that will pay you to do it! Honestly, if it needs done and you know how to do it, then there are going to be people that need it done. Even the smallest of things.

Pricing, you can offer flat rate packages of things that are pretty straight forward, XX for 1 artcile, XX for 10 articles, etc....

For other things like customer service, technical maintenace, script creation and installation etc you would probably want to charge hourly and keep track of the time spent on each task.

Hourly rates are going to vary depending on your target market and the detail of what you are doing.

[NicoleDean]

I would highly encourage you to specialize in something that you really enjoy doing (that is in demand).

Which makes more money? A handyman or a plumber?

By specializing in a smaller area, you can become the plumber who charges $80/hour and has a waiting list, rather than the handyman who scrambles to find $10 jobs.

Best wishes,
Nicole

[Clay Franklin]

Good point Nicole.
Just FYI I was a handyman for 4 years and charged $50 an hour, no advertising and referral only. It was great fun since I like to fix stuff. I targeted multi million dollar homes in the best neighborhoods in Silicon Valley.

Now if I could just apply the same theory, I think I could get some work doing negotiating since that is about my favorite thing to do. Second favorite would be product launch managment or project management.

I have been thinking like CJ about getting some work to fill some time so the rest of my time is more valuable and productive.

[NicoleDean]

Point made, Clay. :) It is possible to be excellent at many things, too, and charge a premium. I find that, when starting out, it's best to get your foot in the door with an area of expertise and then grow from there. (As I'm sure you did - as you said "Fixing stuff" sounds like what you enjoyed most. My handyman loves to paint and isn't as crazy about fixing stuff.)

Example: Get a client for article submission, then when working with client, make suggestions on other related areas that you can improve their business and profits and grow from there.

It also makes it a lot easier for someone like me to make a referral when I know exactly what that person excels at and enjoys doing the most. I get a lot of requests for making a "love match" through my OutsourceWeekly.com course. People that tell me they do "anything" are really hard to refer.

:) N

[pschlegel]

I have a question about this.

What is your purpose for doing the grunt work? Is it to learn more about internet marketing, or is it to develop a decent income stream?

For example, a friend of mine ran across a lady in New Jersey recently who was willing to work for $3.00/hour doing some basic SEO work. He told her that he wouldn't feel right paying her that amount.

But she told him that her main intent was to learn more SEO skills along the way, even the more basic ones such as directory submissions, certain simple link building tasks and other more "mundane" tasks.

[Clay Franklin]

Nicole, Great advice. start with one thing and go from there. I love you advice. BTW I liked to paint the most also and install crown molding.

I am going to think about doing some specific thing (grunt work) or other and go from there.

CJ you could do some work for me to get started and get a feel for it. Like an article or some backlinks or I can trade you work.

[AlexNewell]

CJ you might get some ideas if you join or least have a look at elance, rentacoder, etc

You might think, "I can do that!"

There's loads more freelance agencies - those are only the top 2

[NicoleDean]

Great points. Yes, Paul, I always encourage my mentees to find clients who they can LEARN from. Why do you think I've worked as an affiliate manager for Jimmy D. Brown the last three years? (Other than that he's wonderful!) It was to see the inner workings of his business and to get to know him as a person.

If you Do decide to do, as you say "grunt work" then look at the bigger picture and try to get clients who you can learn from on the job.

As for types of work, here's a pdf that I provide during my OutsourceWeekly.com course that lists some areas to outsource. I taught them in that lesson how to narrow down what to outsource. However the opposite rules would apply obviously for what you'd WANT to do as a service provider:
http://www.outsourceweekly.com/members/1-bonus-brainstorm.pdf

Hope that helps!
N