Last week my blog’s RSS feed broke. And it broke good. I kept getting this error:

RSS syndication is one of the great benefits of blogging. It helps your blog content get syndicated which can do wonders for your website in the form of backlinks, traffic, and other goodies so it’s something I really wanted fixed.

Well I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the heck was causing my feed to break. I’m not a coder yet I spent more time than I care to admit going over code trying to find the culprit.

I de-activated and re-activated plugins one by one to see if that was the problem. I changed themes to see if that was the problem. I re-edited posts taking out links to see if that was the problem. I asked friends for advice. I posted on two forums. I then got frustrated and fed up.

Like the fox from Aesop’s fable… my RSS feed was like those delicious grapes I was trying to reach but I couldn’t no matter how much I tried. So I walked away… I bet that RSS feed is sour anyway… who needs it.

After ignoring the problem for almost a week (and for some reason that didn’t fix the feed), I decided I needed to get this fixed so I posted a contract up on oDesk. I set up a max budget of $30.

oDesk to the Rescue

By Monday morning I had over 15 applicants bidding to fix my problem for anywhere from $15 to $30. People from all over the world with hours of oDesk experience. Software engineers, coders, experts.

I chose a guy from the Ukraine for $25. Within the hour my problem was fixed. He told me exactly what the problem was (I still can’t tell you since it’s coding stuff but it appears some bad coding was added somehow), what he did to fix it, and what he did to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.

The problem was even worse than I thought since the bad code was preventing the Search Engines like Google and Bing from indexing my RSS feed! So I was a very happy camper indeed.

Then I got to thinking. Why am I like that dumb ass fly hitting the window, over and over again trying to do something that was painfully obvious above my skill set? For $25 my problem was fixed within an hour. Yet I wasted (still not confessing how long I spent on this) hours… days trying to do this myself. Especially since the whole time the inside voice was telling me all the time… “dude what are you doing? Outsource it and be done with it”. I need to listen to that dude more often.

Outsourcing is a beautiful thing. Especially for little jobs like this one. I’m sure this was as easy as pie for the guy who fixed it. He makes some quick extra cash. I have my problem fixed. oDesk makes it’s fee on the transaction (on the contractor side not the job poster). Everyone is happy.

The window has been opened by a helping hand and the fly finally flew out the window, happy to be set free.

And now I can display this on my blog…

Here is a quick video I recorded on finally finding a real Internet marketing secret. It’s called outsourcing! After attending Jeff Mill’s 2009 Midwest Internet Marketing Super Conference I saw the light on the realities of the huge impact outsourcing has to the bottom line of the big gurus and most successful Internet marketing folks (who actually make a living in niches outside of Internet marketing and sans an army of powerful JV partners).

Here is the video…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Get your Free Outsourcing CD –>http://imnirvana.com/likes?freeoutsourcingcd

I paid $197 to attend Jeff Mills Midwest Super Conference (for the VIP ticket) and he shared his #1 secret on outsourcing during the conference. Less than a month later I’ve hired my first Independent Contractor. The $197 bucks was worth it since the conference was awesome but now Jeff is giving you that secret for free. You can also get his Free Outsourcing CD for even more outsourcing tips. You have to pay for shipping and handling but that’s under $10 bucks. And although Jeff is 100% upfront and transparent about this,  I am going to let you know in advance that after 30 days you will be billed $47 monthly for his coaching program but you can cancel at any time.

Click on the CD to get it for free!

Get your CD here–>  http://imnirvana.com/likes?freeoutsourcingcd

I’ve received a couple emails curious what was the product I outsourced to RentACoder. I’ve deceided to offer a video tour of my custom CMS.

Click here to view the embedded video.

My RentACoder project lasted longer than I anticpated but in the end the final product exceeded my expectations so the deadline frustrations are a wash.

Outsourcing is a pain there is no doubt about that but like anything the more you do it, the easier it will get. Kick ass detailed oriented specifications are a key. As is constant communication.

Here is my final RAC video review update.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here is a video blog on the latest in my outsourcing project with Rent A Coder.

The latest update on my Rent A Coder project.

Here is a follow up on my project which I’ve outsourced to a coder via Rent A Coder.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In part 1 of my Rent A Coder video review, I had put my project out to bid. In part 2 of my video series I’ve accepted one of those Rent-A-Coder bidders located in Pakistan to work on my project.

If you visit the Internet marketing forums you read a lot about outsourcing this and outsourcing that. I’m a believer of outsourcing and I’ve used Rent-A-Coder (RAC) and Elance in the past. I’ve been happier with my RAC results so when I decided to outsource a php website design I decided to hit RAC and I’m taking you along for the ride.

How better to learn the outsource process than by watching it in action!

I setup my bid request via Rent-A-Coder. My specifications are very detailed (this is crucial) and I put my max bid at $100. I know I could get a two-page php template for less but I prefer to pay a little more and attract better coders.

Here is my first video in my RAC video series.