• Research the ISO certifications standards by visiting www.iso.org, American Society for Quality www.asq.org, or the American National Standards Institute www.ansi.org, to fully understand what these quality management standards will mean for your company.
• Design a layout of your service structure, so all operations can be documented for review and you can structurally assign outsourced responsibilities to specific domains.
• Conduct your own audit prior to partnering with a BPO vendor. This could include visiting the offshore premises, and asking for references.
• Create a contract that specifically outlines the service need, expansion guidelines, and quality requirements.
• Avoid long terms contracts, in case the company does not meet investment requirements.
• Monitor industry trends to prevent service impediments in the future.
• Verify that the corporation will have all resources available to you at all times.
• Make certain they are flexible to your needs, and have a point of contact on shore.
• Reduce the execution gap by maintaining lines of communication with video & audio conferencing. Cost efficient communication tools like Skype, make it easy for businesses to communicate with their offshore vendor.
• Conduct your quality assessment in-house using a detailed matrix, and hold BPO vendor accountable for quality standards.

By Kevin Haggerty

Facebook recently brought spam back into the headlines with a $711M judgment against infamous social media spammer Sanford Wallace under a law known as the CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act). Lawmakers passed this act in 2003 fully intending to take a bite out of internet marketing spam. Unfortunately a number of anti spam advocates expressed concern that the act did not go far enough. And they may have a point: since 2003 the number of junk mail messages has increased ten-fold, leaping from 45% of all emails to above 90%.

Consider this: in June the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shut down an Internet Service Provider suspected of harboring malware programs and other tools hackers use to carry out web activities related to email spam and identify theft. In another case, the FTC doled out a $2.9 million fine to advertiser ValueClick, Inc. for deceptive advertising through emails, banner ads, and pop-ups.

Here are a few steps to make sure you protect your business:

• Start with a spam filter to protect your business on the front lines, although keep in mind that a variety of anti spam solutions exist, so shop around and find an offer attuned to your company’s needs.
• Introduce your network security team to the spam blacklist.
• Educate your employees: get them to understand what spam is, how to identify it, and how to overcome it.
• On public web pages, use a technique like a response form to protect company addresses from a spammer’s prying eyes. Make sure to add a “captcha” for authentication.
• On the customer end, ensure your network security protocols are robust and updated, and have a notification policy to keep customers informed.
• For internet marketing, consider that many consumers’ previous experience with spam makes them wary of unexpected messages. Encourage your business to use an “opt-in” policy when developing internet marketing campaigns, and follow the terms of CAN-SPAM as a guideline in identifying what differentiates email spam from honest selling. Make sure your tactics avoid landing your business on a damaging spam blacklist.

You do not need to pay expensive per-email pricing in order to participate in Internet & Email Marketing campaigns. DPS’ Technologies recently launched their “Smart Flyer Software” which includes a powerful network & campaign management center (within your website), allowing you to control multiple campaigns, and a comprehensive email list. The software purchase includes a registration form compliant with SPAM laws.

By Joe Unander

One possible site to take a cue from would be PitchEngine. The concept of this site is user generated Social Media Releases. These SMR’s take advantage of the popularity of Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter and allow the client to put together a pitch that reaches these sites. A BPO team is a strong solution for the distribution of such campaigns, as they can cost-effectively take ONE campaign & submit it to various internet feeds, social networks, media outlets, and other online distribution resources. Rohit Barman adds that, “the race to the top of the search engines requires a strong emphasis on distribution, and this equation can only be done with increased manpower“

By Kevin Haggerty

• Create a website, as your online campaign headquarters.
• Generate an online support network (voters) through registration:
• Conduct offline campaigns directing consumers to your website, to receive updates on campaign specific interest(s).
• Create & distribute ad campaigns, linking ads to your registration page.
• Set up an affiliate network (online partners) to co-campaign/advertise for you. Groups that are stationed within your campaign area, have a local/ geo-targeted consumer base, and have similar political interests would be ideal. These campaign affiliates are extremely important as they will play an integral role in acquiring votes for future elections. Distribute your ads through your affiliates’ online websites. You can even target specific consumer groups depending on the affiliate specifics.
• With the eventual goal of creating targeted voter email campaigns, ask your supporters about their individual political interests (through a brief survey)…

… What topic interests you the most?

• Local/ National Economy
• State/ Federal Unemployment
• International Business Relations
• Immigration laws
• Gay Rights & Marriage Equality

… Get basic demographic information – age, sex, ethnic origin (make this optional).

• Optimize your website content through composing & incorporating a list of “geo-targeted keywords” (content incorporating your consumer bases’ political interests & location for better visibility)
• Utilize a mass emailing software; segment your voters and campaign affiliates into separate address books in order to run aggressive personalized campaigns.
• Set up pages on major Social Networks (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter) and keep fans involved in the issues that majority of your registered network appreciates.
• Create a YouTube page, and run advertising campaigns through YouTube. Optimize your YouTube videos with rich geo-targeted keyword content.

Begin Campaigning!, but don’t forget to utilize the valuable consumer data you have collected.
Internet Marketing specialist, Rohit Barman, president of DPS America insists that “political officers and campaign managers MUST get acquainted with internet marketing, as it allows them to acquire valuable data on voter interests, segment it seamlessly with the help of automated email registration software(s), and run aggressive campaigns targeting voters with interests that effect them the most. Tapping a voter’s core nerve will create enough excitement to get them out on Election Day.”

By Kevin Haggerty

“DPS’ 2.5 hour interactive training, Digital Promotions Strategy, beginning in January and based in New York City, is the first of its kind to incorporate the entire spectrum of creating, engaging & expanding an online network. Extracted from the internet’s scientific principles, the live seminar(s) will provide celebrity agents the knowledge, structure, and tools to track consumer/ fan behavior & campaign effectiveness – an internet marketing strategy that will give agents the confidence to manage their public relations campaigns more effectively than ever before.”

• Distribution of Campaigns – To effectively endorse the public relations identity of a celebrity, it is necessary to build a fan & campaign distribution base within the gossip-friendly realms of “social networks”. Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, allow the traditional “word of mouth” to travel faster than ever before. A primary feature is the instantaneous contact with everyone in an established fan base. So, if a celebrity was planning to attend a premiere event like the opening of a new nightclub, an agent could easily geo-target their campaign my emailing the appropriate fan base to increase attendance.
• Public Relations & Community Outreach – Social Network Marketing is also useful in promoting a celebrity’s charitable contributions, while increasing the popularity of their committed event(s). With simple one line “posts” or “tweets”, a celebrity agent can notify fans about the initiative, with details for physical and monetary support.
• Celebrity “Face Exposure”- The rapid upsurge or Media Marketing creates a prominent channel for public relations management & campaign exposure. YouTube, the renowned media marketing giant, acquired by the mega-marketing internet search engine, Google, has contributed much to this internet marketing growth. YouTube is the 4th most visited website on the internet, and it allows celebrity agents the ability to create accounts, post videos, add search friendly tags, and communicate with fan base through a chat sequence similar to the likes of internet forums. With Media Marketing, you can create a public celebrity portfolio that creates, retains, and expands a fan base more effectively than ever before.

Internet Marketing specialist, Rohit Barman, president of DPS America suggests that celebrity agents get acquainted with social media marketing as it allows them to be the “speaker of their celebrity’s house“.

By Kevin Haggerty

“DPS’ 2.5 hour interactive training, Digital Promotions Strategy, beginning in January and based in New York City, is the first of its kind to incorporate the entire spectrum of creating, engaging & expanding an online network. Extracted from the internet’s scientific principles, the live seminar(s) will provide celebrity agents the knowledge, structure, and tools to track consumer/ fan behavior & campaign effectiveness – an internet marketing strategy that will give agents the confidence to manage their public relations campaigns more effectively than ever before.”

YouTube, the renowned media marketing giant, acquired by the mega-marketing internet search engine, Google, has contributed much to this evolution. How?

• Posting a YouTube video incurs a $0 investment. As a business marketer, you can align your promotion with your company marketing budget to create the appropriate video advertisement. Some techniques include: infomercials, presentations, trainings, testimonials, property tours, and video blogs.
• YouTube’s “feedback analysis” tools persistently co-developed by the technical brilliance of Google, allows automated consumer behavioral analysis for businesses to target their internet marketing investments. YouTube & Google technicians are also testing the ability to add video captions to all online videos, allowing businesses to search engine optimize their video posts using the familiar techniques utilized by businesses to attract users to their online portfolio(s) & network(s).
• YouTube accounts for 40% of all online video views. It is essential for businesses to identify their target consumer, grab their attention, elicit reaction, and escort them to take action. And unlike TV advertising, this does not necessarily call for professional production(s).

Internet Marketing specialist, Rohit Barman President of DPS America boldly claims that, “YouTube is the stepchild of social media marketing, with significantly more marketing potential than his sister social media networks”.

By Bruce Lacey

“A 2.5 hour interactive training, Digital Promotions Strategy, beginning in January and based in New York City, is the first of its kind to incorporate the entire spectrum of creating, engaging & expanding a business’ online network. Extracted from online scientific principles, the live seminar will provide business professionals the knowledge, structure, and tools to track consumer behavior & campaign effectiveness – an internet marketing strategy that will give attendees the confidence to manage their online marketing in-house.

The seminar follows the life cycle of creating a convincing online presence, while identifying the key components of branding, drawing an audience to a firm’s online portal, engaging an established network through viral promotions, and expanding consumer base through extensive internet marketing campaigns.”

According to Comscore, 140 + American consumers tuned to “online videos” in 2009, multiplying the consumer base by 700 %. Average monthly consumption rose from 6 to10 hours, with more than 26 billion views on a given month. The facts about growing usage actually understate the promise of online video advertising.

So, what does this mean for Businesses & Internet Marketing?
According to video marketing expert, Bob Clarke, “it is very difficult to establish trust through written words. People will trust you more if they have a face and voice to associate with your name.” While this new marketing channel shows greater promise for consumer purchase, what unique attributes does online video advertising reveal?

• Online video ads are short and mandatory. Some videos allow fast-forwarding promotions post 10 seconds, allowing a business to create a basic brand imprint within the consumer’s brain.
• Video advertising allows immediate, “call to action” such as “click here to receive 20% off your next purchase”.
• The advent of internet marketing has created a whole new realm of targeted consumer behavior analysis & advertising, which allows businesses the ability capture demographic data and cater their promotions to specific consumer groups.
• Social Media Marketing in tangent with Video Advertising takes brand exposure to a whole new level. The “click here to post video on profile” transformed the traditional “word of mouth” in ways that words cannot express.

Research firm e-Marketer projects 35 to 45 percent growth for online video advertising for each of the next five years. This simply means that businesses have a brand new internet marketing channel that they must consider in their upcoming budgets.

By Bruce Lacey

“A 2.5 hour interactive training, Digital Promotions Strategy, beginning in January and based in New York City, is the first of its kind to incorporate the entire spectrum of creating, engaging & expanding a business’ online network. Extracted from online scientific principles, the live seminar will provide business professionals the knowledge, structure, and tools to track consumer behavior & campaign effectiveness – an internet marketing strategy that will give attendees the confidence to manage their online marketing in-house.

The seminar follows the life cycle of creating a convincing online presence, while identifying the key components of branding, drawing an audience to a firm’s online portal, engaging an established network through viral promotions, and expanding consumer base through extensive internet marketing campaigns.”

Q: Describe the role of the “middle man” in business process outsourcing. What makes an executive at a BPO vendor fit this description?
A: A “middle man” is traditionally an outsourcing agent, usually lives in the United States, and is of the same ethnic background of the BPO vendor.

Q: Which BPO services do you recommend outsourcing? and which ones would you say no to?
A: It really depends on the country you are outsourcing to.
When it comes to IT software, internet marketing, and data entry work, India is clearly the offshore leader.
For customer support efficiencies (cell centers), the Philippines has pretty incredible results. Their spoken English skills are comparable, if not better than most Americans.
For hardware support, I would recommend China or Taiwan.
I would not recommend outsourcing art direction, writing/ editing, telemarketing, or any service that requires higher level familiarity with our local culture & communication.

Q: Fraud is an unfortunate side effect of any business, and the complexity of a BPO service certainly opens the door for various types of scams. Have you ever seen an outsourcing executive resort to a pricing scam like bait-and-switch, hidden fees, or false billing?
A: Being a 2nd generation BPO middle men, I have grown up in the outsourcing world. I’ve worked as a BPO vendor, BPO buyer, and a BPO middle man. In my experience, I have witnessed pricing scams, but I’ve actively stayed clear from affiliating myself with such businesses. BPO executives are no different than executives of US firms. You should not sign a deal, till you are comfortable with your research & analyzed your risk.

Q: Have you ever witnessed a BPO executive exaggerate what they can deliver in order to make a sale, or charge higher rates?
A: Of-course, the good news is that I’m familiar with global BPO rates & service standards, and utilize my familiarity to negotiate pricing.

Q: How can a company be on guard for these types of unethical practices, ensuring that the value they get from outsourcing is real? What can a BPO buyer do to ensure transparency, reliability, and data security in their deal with an offshore vendor?
A: Business should not underestimate the amount of research and background checks you have to do when selecting an outsourcing vendor, even if they were recommended to you. Some imperative research includes asking yourself…

• Who is the middle man/ agent? – look up records for felony, fraud, and other potential misdemeanors in the United States. There are several BPO middle men in the United States who have settled law suits out of court, and have paid their way back into building a business reputation. Ignoring such an important red flag is no different than getting married to a heroin addict – your partnership is doomed.
• Look up the BPO production facility to see how long they have been around? Ask for local references, and verify them.
• Don’t fall victim to the “yes, we can do everything spiel. I’ve heard it a million times.

Q: Is it possible to settle on a performance scale that uses accepted methods?
A: Buyers should always set up a quality management system in-house. If you open this up to the BPO vendor, you risk being exposed to improper reporting. Conduct monthly reviews based on quantitative reasoning.

Q: While there are always a few of the proverbial “bad apples” in every industry, what has been your overall experience working with BPO companies?

A: A good outsourcing partnership could be a lifelong marriage. If trust & efficiency can be established within the first 6 months to a year, the BPO vendor & business buyer will experience significantly stronger ROI & customer service satisfaction.

By Joseph Unander

Traditional outsourcing tackled poor communication with pricey phone calls and expensive business trips. But, over the last decade, internet communications has made it fairly easy for local businesses to setup their offshore support, adhering to textbook communication standards. Free software(s) like “Skype” enable businesses to be in constant contact with their BPO units. Skype allows instant messaging & virtual conferencing with voice and video efficiencies. It has become such an outsourcing fad, that GN Netcom, the largest headset provider estimated that the “2009 global market for headsets is worth $2.5 billion and is growing rapidly at 17 % per year.”

Over the last decade, American businesses developed a familiarity with outsourcing. While cost used to be a principal factor in diving offshore, businesses became attentive to the liability it aligned itself to. Before long, the solution arrived…
… In an interview with Rohit Barman, president of DPS America, exclusive consulting hub for 30 year old BPO service, DPS Technologies, he said, “Currently, the ISO 9001-2000 certifies companies for better performance and quality. Simply, do not outsource to a BPO that isn’t accredited.”

While the two barriers in outsourcing were tackled aggressively, where is this global phenomenon heading?
… It’s only been a few years since American Businesses supported “working from home” to reduce infrastructure costs. BPO vendors recently began evaluating this option as well. Raman Roy, CEO of outsourcing facility, Quattro Solutions, views this as “the next-generation step for the industry. It will create jobs for people who are educated but don’t have travel flexibility.“

In 2005, New York Times columnist & author of bestseller, “the World is Flat”, said, “If you don’t visit the bad neighborhoods, the bad neighborhoods are going to visit you.” With the advent of seamless technology & support, globally accredited BPO models, and cost effective business remedies that mirror local service standards, Business Process Outsourcing is reinventing itself daily. The global neighborhoods have merged, company fences eradicated, and cubicles are being set up thousands of miles apart.

By Joseph Unander