Remember about 12 years ago when Ross Perot said that NAFTA would create a loud sucking noise, which would be the sound of jobs being vaporized across the border. Ross was right. Michigan has lost plenty. Some six years after the sucking speech, sources reported 46,000 gone in Michigan, 766,000 nationwide. (I looked for an update to this, but maybe it got too depressing to maintain as 2001 was the last year I could find)
Good With The Bad
What we didn't have 12 years ago was the ability to connect to others like we do now. I know in the real estate biz, this one isn't as easy to swallow because moving plants is never good for the local economy. But 12 years ago, there was no ActiveRain. It didn't even become a smear on a whiteboard until early 2004. [AR 3 years ago]
But now we have NEW MARKETING, high speed everything because it's digital and wireless. We now can reach like never before. We learn, we share, we generate leads and we can do this with anyone in any timezone.
I was in a chamber of commerce meeting and they used "Think Dexter first" a bunch of times. It's a good thing; they want money to be spent locally. Insurance, real estate, financial planners... Dexter has them all, but I'm not sure you can't say, one is as good as another. Some things don't matter as much. I'm fine buying pints of beer at the Dexter pub. I don't think I will ever order one from India, but heading in to Ann Arbor -- pretty darn likely.
Where do you draw the line with other services? Web hosting, web design, copy writers, data entry? All those things *could* be done anywhere, and sometimes it makes sense. When's the last time you called Dell for tech support? You ain't in Kansas anymore!
Help Wanted
We need to have a press release written and it seemed awkward to go to LinkedIn to ask for quotes. (LI is a type of social network but one not really intended for that purpose.) We put the word out for some local talent but received little interest.
Rather than Craig's List, I thought I'd look on GURU.COM. Here's what I found under their copywriter category:
I decided to send a quote to the five highlighted in yellow, for the reasons indicated to the right of each. I wanted to hear from the most expensive, the least and a few in the middle. (Total is the amout of $(000) they've earned via GURU)
To write the project, select the candidates and then click submit was about a 10 minute effort. 
I plan to select the high and low for this project. I'd like to see what the difference is between them. I'll post the results in a future blog if anyone is interested.
How do you feel about hiring outside of your timezone?
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