Research Outsourcing

[atiff]

Hello All,

Got a huge (HUGE) project to do research for my company in regards to the mining world. This will probarbly take forever so I was looking into outsourcing alot of it to someone else for cheap.

Does anyone here have any good recommendation on how this can be done? I have worked with some horrible VA's so I thought I would ask again.

Thanks all.

[atiff]

Nobody knows? Come on guys, HELP!!! :eek:

[TimW]

What kind of research?

As for the "on the cheap", good luck. When I was working in the field of competitive intelligence/research, my freelance hourly rate was $75.00, and I had no shortage of work.

Anyone can Google and do a data dump. If that's all you need, hit up a local college's marketing department for a couple of students. However most folks want stuff organized and some sort of analysis/reporting done to answer a series of specific questions. That's where the money comes in.

TimW
Phoenix

[Marcie]

Just curious, do you mean data mining or, like, coal mining?

I had the most trouble with trying to find someone to do good data research as well when I tried to do a market research report. I think trying to find a college student might be a decent idea...

[TimW]

I'm going to guess mineral mining.

Depending on the school the student is located it could be a good thing, depending on what databases are available to him/her.

One reason I had no shortage of work was that I live about 2 miles from my old graduate school, and they have a kick-ass set of databases that alumni can use if they go there. If the contracted student had similar resources, it might be worthwhile.

[Seb]

I haven't tried these guys but it looks reliable.

http://www.outsorcerer.com/

[Sven]

Not exactly the complete answer but this book is very worthwhile reading for every 4hww er:
Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win (Hardcover)
by William C. Taylor (Author), Polly G. Labarre (Author)

There is also a part in it about open source mining (...!)