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Sigh ... it's not even 6am as I write this and I already know that today is going pear-shaped at an incredible rate. By now there were supposed to be some guys working in my roof installing insulation but they're running late and by now an outsourced WordPress 'expert' from oDesk was supposed to have installed a new theme on one of our blogs ... but he's running late too.

At least the insulation guys are only 40 minutes late ... the oDesk guy is running days late and he's about to get the axe. So today I thought I would give you some tips on getting the best outcomes

When outsourcing first became popular years ago I didn't like it much ... the output I was seeing from outsourcers might have been cheap but it was very scrappy. However over the years it has improved and when oDesk opened up a few years ago the whole outsourcing thing seemed to get a whole lot better.

Now even Steve and I use outsourcing to access skills that neither we nor the people who work for us don't have ... but it's still something that's going to give you headaches if you decide to try it. We've put out four jobs for outsourcing so far and we only have a 50 percent success rate ... but we've been learning some lessons about choosing the right person for the job and that's what I want to share with you today.

Be clear about what the job entails
If you use oDesk the first thing you have to do when you want to hire someone is list the job you want done. Always be very specific when you describe the job and make it clear that you want someone who is proficient in whatever skills that the job entails.

If you want someone to install a WordPress theme then make that clear in the job description ... you don't just want a web developer - you want someone who is proficient in WordPress.

Be ruthless
On oDesk you will probably get a lot of responses when you post your job and it's so easy to get bogged down and waste hours going through all the applicants. To avoid that you need to be ruthless and cull out as many applicants as possible before you even look at examples of the work they say they've done.

If an applicant is new to oDesk and has no history delete them ... if their ratings are anything but perfect, or near perfect, delete them and if what you want is someone proficient in WordPress and they don't mention WordPress in their application delete them.

Don't hire simply on what they charge
The rates you see on oDesk can vary greatly ... anything from $2.22 an hour up to $20 an hour or more. You should instantly delete all those who want to work for starvation wages. If they undervalue themselves that much then they really aren't worth hiring.

Read the reviews
Every contractor on oDesk should have some reviews ... if they don't then delete them. If they do have reviews then take the time to read them but don't pay too much attention to glowing reviews that were written for small jobs.

There's no quicker way to build up a great set of reviews than to get your friends to hire you for small jobs that don't pay much and then have them write glowing reviews. Instead look for reviews of work that paid $100 or more because those are far more likely to be genuine reviews.

Length of time as a contractor
One thing we noticed on oDesk was that many contractors have been doing work through that site for quite some time. We also noticed that early reviews were often much more glowing than those written for more recent jobs ... it seems that the longer some contractors are in business the more shortcuts they take and the less happy people are with the work they have performed.

Ethnicity
On oDesk you will find contractors from all over the world and you will find people who will do exactly what you want regardless of where they come from. It really doesn't matter whether they're from Europe, India or America ... if they're good then they're going to be good no matter which country they call home. Interestingly our worst experience so far involved someone from the US

Setting out the work you want done
Once you've picked the contractor that you think will be able to do the work for you then it's time to set out the work you want done. Of course you've already done that in the job description but be prepared to do it again ... in a lot more detail.

Don't just give the contractor a few jumbled points and hope they understand what you're talking about. Instead write it down and go back over it several times to see if it makes sense. Even go so far as to get a friend or your partner to read over it to see if it makes sense to them and if it does then send it on to the contractor.

Of course you have to hope that the person who is going to do the job actually takes the time to read the instructions but if you've taken the time to make those instructions clear you've done all you can to ensure a good outcome.

Outsourcing is definitely the way to go these days because you simply can't do everything yourself but if you want to have any chance of making it work for you then you have to know what you're doing.