Think big and go hard. Combining an international perspective and “by any means necessary” business models, offshore web development and digital marketing agency New Media Guru is developing a new inspiring campaign for entrepreneurs. To commemorate its 8^th anniversary, New Media Guru is making monthly updates to its blog with case studies of entrepreneurs who have “ignited an idea, outsourced the execution and multiplied the returns and, as a result, elevated the idea to a whole new level.”

I spoke with New Media Guru Partner and PR Specialist, Mohit Maheshwari, about which entrepreneurs the company hopes to reach through their blog campaign, how they see these readers benefiting and examples of featured case studies. Those with online businesses will receive practical takeaways concerning what makes outsourced professional relationships successful.

SiliconANGLE: Why do you think this series will be beneficial? What do you want your users to take away?

Mohit Maheshwari: We’ll provide a great resource to entrepreneurs with ideas for online businesses. We’ll discuss why you don’t always need VC funding or power brokers or be a technology expert yourself to be successful. It is possible with hard work and a good team on your side. And, we’ll show that a good team is a good team – be it in-house, outsourced or a mix of both.

We want the users to take inspiration from these stories. We want them to believe in the global village and think like a multinational corporation even though they might be a two person company.

SA: So, the target audience is small businesses?

MM: The target audience is entrepreneurs, small medium business owners, small agency owners, web designers, technologist and just about anyone and everyone who wants to build an online business and own companies, but doesn’t know the process of building a virtual-global team.

SA: So, how are you going to help them understand this? What are some examples of the case studies you’ll be featuring?

MM: The case studies reflect four key themes: Ignite. Outsource. Multiply. Elevate.

These case studies will be from some of our clients who were start ups and have now turned into established business based in the United States. They were risk-takers and visionaries with the strength of execution, which a true global work force can bring to an entrepreneur. They will show how you can advance and keep costs down as much as possible. The stories will cover their journey of developing their business models and using the Internet, mobile and digital marketing as platforms and tools for giving shape to their companies.

Some case studies which we are working on at the moment include an M.I.T. grad and a video and production creative agency.

MM: So, one example is of an MIT Grad who created one of the leading Concierge companies in Hollywood by building a strong web team in India.

THE IGNITION (THE IDEA)

He had a simple idea of connecting the dots – the rich and wealthy from around the world would like to and should be able to attend the best of Hollywood events like award shows, movie premieres and after parties in a sophisticated, non-intrusive way. There are sheikhs in the Middle East, wealthy and powerful people from China, India and well traveled Europeans – all of whom share a common passion for Hollywood glamor.

The idea was that this consumer base should be able to attend exclusive Hollywood events, speak with a concierge expert from the comfort of their homes, select the events they fancy and just book their access to these events. The entire experience is driven by the ease of the Internet platform and the fulfillment mechanism.

The story we share will focus on how the idea was built into a website, the initial versions of the website and the features it had.

OUTSOURCING AND ITS ROLE IN IDEA DEVELOPMENT

The business model seemed simple on paper but it had various logistical challenges and these were brainstormed with an ” Outsourcing partner” in New Media Guru. Initially the outsourcing process was adopted to save costs but as it turned out since the business model itself was of global appeal it needed an “advisor/implementation partner” who could understand that perspective.

Since the business was in its inception stage the outsourcing model not only gave the client man power at low rates for website design, development and search engine marketing, but also provided access to advisors in our development team who served as sounding boards.

MUTLIPLIER EFFECT

Our ongoing partnership created a multiplication effect and the business volumes, transactions and even bookings skyrocketed. Eventually, we elevated the business model to another dimension which was not even imagined at the initial “Idea Ignition” stage.

The business owner in the United States could focus on his core business of getting inventory for event tickets and fulfillment while the technological and marketing challenges and processes were taken care of by a team at half the cost. The only ingredient which was needed was constant feedback loop from real customers on how to improve the website, what new features to include, what new events were coming up and how to think of new ideas for the website and marketing to fulfill those needs.

IDEA AT AN “ELEVATED” STAGE

Today the website is doing huge volumes of bookings monthly, the event calendars are packed, the website is in its 3rd version and now we are launching an iPhone and iPad app.

Another example is of a video production and creative agency, which built a web marketplace and platform for Independent musicians powered by a technology team from India.

THE IGNITION (THE IDEA)

This client had a web agency video production studio and they were doing some pretty great web and video work for clients in the United States. They faced a challenge in their business where they had limited access to music, which was licensed to play in the background of their client flash presentations, corporate videos and so on. They figured if they (who are a web agency themselves at the cutting  edge of technology) were facing challenges in sourcing good quality licensed music, then there must be many like them who were facing the same challenges.

On the other hand, independent musicians always need new ways of monetizing their music and songs. So, we got the idea: What if the independent artist and his songs could be connected to a whole host of agencies looking for great music at affordable licensing cost to be played as background score for various productions and projects?

OUTSOURCING IN THE ROLE OF IDEA DEVELOPMENT

Although the agency was pretty good on the creative side and could do their web designs themselves, they still needed a cost effective web development and technology team that could optimize the virtual marketplace.

In the first year of developing this project there was no revenue, so the agency was actually investing in the project using profits from their other business. At this stage, if they had had their own local developers working on the project, they would have felt the pressure of high expenditure backed by the fear of the unknown (keep in mind this project was bootstrapped and organically built with no VC funding by its owner).

The technology talent in India, Brazil and Eastern European countries is well known and well documented. But still, the hard part is building the confidence and trust to relinquish the technology ownership and execution role to a team of developers whom you have never met and who are also culturally different.

What we learned from this project was that separating the development team from the pressures of the daily grind can sometimes bring out the best in a group.

MUTLIPLIER EFFECT

The marketplace is now in its more evolved state with thousands of music artists listed on the company’s virtual marketplace and monthly recurring licensing revenue from the sale of their tracks which would never have found a customer base, to whom they are now selling.

From a site doing 100 transactions over the span of one to two years to doing 100 transactions a month today, the agency has a dedicated team of technology experts working every month to bring new functionality and features to the marketplace.

IDEA AT AN “ELEVATED” STAGE

We recently worked on building the iPhone and iPad app for the marketplace and the business continues to grow.

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