What's your team structure? Lone Wolf/Partners/V.A.'s/In House Employees (10)
I'm working with a partner I met here on STM. We employ a VA in the Philippines.
I was a lone wolf bumbling along for a couple of years, then met my present partner and we decided to team up and get more serious. We had complimentary skillets so it worked well for us.
Just celebrating the anniversary of getting a proper office where we have another 3 staff now with room to expand in the foreseeable, as well as several contracted outsourcers. I feel like we run a proper business which for me personally was the turning point.
I couldn't imagine doing the work on a beach 4 hour thing as it doesn't suit my personality but for a lot of people this is the ultimate aim, my focus is on building tangible assets which is more bricks and mortar but its up to each person how they want to develop their own stuff.
I went down the VA route using the overseas workers but it frustrated me tremendously, I much prefer to speak and instruct people face to face but again its just a personal thing.
In house workers.
Uhm depends on a project. I love having a partner as long he a)brings new ideas to table b)isnt a bitch who is afraid to invest c)is hungry enough
But yeah if I cant find someone good I rather go as lone wolf. Had a bad experience where asshole thought we will work this way "i give you bullshit idea, you work on it, and if it works 50% of revenue is mine"
About outsourcing, I tried it couple of times but it just pisses me off, Indians (no racist) try to charge westeren prices then deliver shit work(and/or late work). Will stick to local workers for now.
2 VA's in the Philippines. They create banners, landing pages, campaign uploading/management.
For those with partners, How do you find a partner?
Originally Posted by fishinseo
Great answer. Isn't there a thread for people looking for partners? 
Would be interested...
I have a few teams.
For one set of projects the team was constructed through STM. We have combined with virtual employees. Around employees 15 total.
My longest standing partner in this industry I met out of luck. I randomly had him on Skype for SEO work. He thought I was Spanish, and asked if I could translate some stuff for him. We started chatting, and have now been running campaigns together for the past 5-6 years. We also hire 4 virtual employees.
I've never worked with in house employees, nor partners for long periods. Looks like things will change in Jan when STM takes over Amsterdam.
From my experience outsourcing your work is no where near as productive as actually having people in house. If you're ready to make the commitment of setting up and running an office, it'll get you a lot further. People will take their work more seriously (so will you) and being able to communicate in an interpersonal manner is priceless. People need to be motivated by more than just $ to get a job done well.
At the end of the day, whatever you're doing, be it building a team to scale your affiliate activities, or hiring people to scale your business - having everyone in one place creates a higher and more effective level of productivity.
I used to be a lone-wolf type, outsourcing technical work. If you're not really a people person (introvert) by all means you can learn how to be thru experience.
As for finding a partner, there's no secret sauce for this. You just actively have to look, you'll likely meet your business SO by chance just by mingling in like minded crowds.
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