Ask a small online business owner

[Archbob]

We had the corporate fatcat thread so now I am going to try to answer questions about being a small online business owner.

A bit about me:

I make a middle-class income($60k or a bit more this year) and I run websites for a living, generating money off ads, and some sales commissions. Business is growing and I hope to vault to another income bracket very soon. I hire people(American and international) to do certain work for me.

I am also a Ninja Assassin for hire, but that is a topic for another thread.

 

[GenMarshall]

Why are you more apt to hire people outside the US instead of hiring from within the US?

 

[Archbob]

Why are you more apt to hire people outside the US instead of hiring from within the US?

Because they cost less and do the same quality of work.


Would you buy a light bulb from wal-mart for $1 or would you go buy the exact same lightbulb from target for $3?

 

[Ajidica]

When hiring Americans, do you have to obey the minimum wage law, or are there legal loopholes for you to use?

 

[warpus]

Can we see some of your sites?

 

[Archbob]

When hiring Americans, do you have to obey the minimum wage law, or are there legal loopholes for you to use?

Its contract work so its not hourly. They offer to do X work for X amount of money. There's no loopholes.

Some sites are in my signature.

Here are some games that I paid people to make or bought:

@Warpus

http://www.flashgamesnexus.com/flash-games-site/Flash-Games-Nexus.php

http://www.flashgamesnexus.com/flash-games-site/Super-Tower-Defense.php

 

[GenMarshall]

Because they cost less and do the same quality of work.

So all you care about is just the bottom line than helping your fellow countrymen? And you wonder why the unemployment rate is so stubbornly high .

What makes Joe Scmo in the slums of east Bejing cheaper than Mr. Brown of Main St. America?

Would you buy a light bulb from wal-mart for $1 or would you go buy the exact same lightbulb from target for $3?

It does not matter about the price and a light bulb is not a good example. If were talking about cars, then there's something tangible to debate on. I'd personally would pay more to get a car made by GM. Why? Because of the quality of the product and it's reputation for being reliable and a good product.

 

[Ajidica]

Its contract work so its not hourly. They offer to do X work for X amount of money. There's no loopholes.

Based on how much they work compared to what they are paid, how close is it to what they would be paid if minimum wage applied?
If minimum wage applied, how much you be affected?

 

[Archbob]

Based on how much they work compared to what they are paid, how close is it to what they would be paid if minimum wage applied?
If minimum wage applied, how much you be affected?

It actually varies wildly by person.

Lets say I buy 500 directory submissions for $30. If they are a slow submitter and actually do everything manually, it could well be $5/hr. However, if they have a blaster software or have a streamlined way of doing stuff, it could be $20/hour.

I actually don'y know how much per hour each person makes, its really not my concern. My main concern is that I pay the price we agreed on and they deliver what they agree to deliver on.

I doubt it would effect me that much if minimum wage were applied, unless $7.25/hr was worldwide.

It does not matter about the price and a light bulb is not a good example. If were talking about cars, then there's something tangible to debate on. I'd personally would pay more to get a car made by GM. Why? Because of the quality of the product and it's reputation for being reliable and a good product.

I wouldn't buy a GM car. Toyota's cars are way better. GM isn't really known for making reliable and good products. And the light bulb is a far better comparison. Because you essentially are buying identical products from different suppliers when you buy a lot of the services I buy.

 

[Ajidica]

I know this sounds like I am begging the question, but I can't think of a better way to express it.
Would you hold yourself partialy responsible if one of the people you contracted with died because they were unable to afford their medical bills because they weren't earning enough?
(I'm taking Medicaid out of the equation.)

 

[Archbob]

I know this sounds like I am begging the question, but I can't think of a better way to express it.
Would you hold yourself partialy responsible if one of the people you contracted with died because they were unable to afford their medical bills because they weren't earning enough?
(I'm taking Medicaid out of the equation.)

No, they should have asked for more. I don't ask questions on who these people or where they are from and most of the time I'm just agreeing to the price they are asking for in the first place. They post an ad saying I'll do X for X dollars and I basically send them a PM forum message saying, "OK, I'll buy that service".

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

If a particular person does good work for you a lot and then asks if they could have a little higher payment would you give it.

 

[Archbob]

If its a repeat seller of services, I may consider it, but hardly anyone does, its bad business and it does lose clients. Usually long-term clients and bulk buyers get discounts, not the other way around.

 

[GenMarshall]

I wouldn't buy a GM car. Toyota's cars are way better. GM isn't really known for making reliable and good products.

My mother and step father would disagree with you. But different strokes, different folks .

And the light bulb is a far better comparison. Because you essentially are buying identical products from different suppliers when you buy a lot of the services I buy.

Puchaces are much more complex then "oh it's just cheaper". If you've taken marketing, you'd know there is more than just pricing . Though unlike you, with rampid unemployment going on in this country, I'd put my fellow countrymen first and place outsourcing as a taboo word to avoid even to think about.

 

[Perfection]

What sites do you use to hire your contract workers?

 

[Archbob]

I sometimes will buy stuff/hire work from talkarcades.com but most of the time, I prowl Digital Point for good deals. Basically if I see someone has the skills I need for a price I can work with, I'll talk to him.

Lots of writers start off at DP writing for prices like 1 cent per word then build from there. I did this a few years ago. After a few months, I was making $60-$70 for like 3-4 hours of work. Stopped doing it because I wanted to build the website business.

 

[Bootstoots]

So all you care about is just the bottom line than helping your fellow countrymen? And you wonder why the unemployment rate is so stubbornly high .

What makes Joe Scmo in the slums of east Bejing cheaper than Mr. Brown of Main St. America?

I think you should ask yourself why you think an American worker is worth so much more than a Chinese guy who is doing the same task for a quarter of the price. Why do you care so much about the nationality of the worker in question?

Also, keep in mind that any services he provides will be cheaper because he doesn't have to pay as much for labor. Some of his savings are passed on to his consumers.

For a lower-tech example, consider how much of what you own is made in a foreign country. Then imagine if they had been made in the USA instead. How much more do you think you'd be paying for the same amount of stuff, and how do you think this would impact your quality of life?

 

[squall78]

What's your endgame? Are you looking to automate the business enough where you can be hands-off owner, or more likely to sell the business model to a bigger company with a decent payout?

What would you do differently if you were just starting out what you do this year? What are your thoughts on sites like Facebook?

 

[Archbob]

What's your endgame? Are you looking to automate the business enough where you can be hands-off owner, or more likely to sell the business model to a bigger company with a decent payout?

What would you do differently if you were just starting out what you do this year? What are your thoughts on sites like Facebook?

Well, I actually plan to expand to mobile sometime sooner or later, but the online flash games site industry I can grow to several hundred thousand dollars a year. Of course, if I get a multi-million dollar offer, I'm taking it.

If I just started out, I may try to integrate with FB a bit more, but honestly FB isn't all that great and very few people have success with it. I'd definately pour some of the money I spent sponsoring and developing games into more SEO work.

 

[Cheetah]

How do you do your transactions with your employees/contractors? It's international, so I suppose you send checks or use paypal or something?

How do you receive their work, and how do you verify the quality? Before or after you send away the money?

And how much paperwork is involved with governments (both for you and the workers) with regards to taxes, fees and such?