We aren’t just building websites. We’re building relationships.

One of the things we like to do is attend different WordCamp events to learn more about WordPress, network with other designers and developers, and increase our skills. We recently attended WordCamp Las Vegas, and had a great time. I love Vegas. I love WordPress. What’s not to love?

The second to last session on the first day was on outsourcing. I went to this session thinking we’d be discussing working with remote teams (which we already do) or how to find specialists for areas you don’t cover. What I did not think I would be sitting in would be a session on outsourcing to overseas developers for $4 per hour.

The presenter gave a very thorough presentation on how to find developers overseas, how much they charge, what the best countries are for finding developers, how to work with these developers, and then spent time justifying how she felt great about paying someone $4 an hour for this type of work.

As a design and development team, we love what we do. I love working with new clients. I love creating a website. I love it all. I don’t want to outsource to overseas developers.

What’s more, when someone comes to Sumy Designs, LLC for a new project, they are hiring me, Amy Masson. Or they are hiring Susan. Or they are hiring our team that includes other remote workers. They want to know they are working with me, that I’m in charge of their project, that they can trust me.

The trust that I have with my clients, that I’ve developed over the last 8+ years we’ve been in business, is not for sale. That doesn’t mean that if I get a request for something I just can’t do that I won’t look for help. But when I bring in someone on a project, my clients know it, and I know it’s someone I can trust, and it’s someone I’m paying a living wage.

One of the presenter’s point on this topic was that you have to outsource overseas, because your competitors are already doing it. That may be true, but in most cases not necessary. The response to this presentation was mixed. The developer sitting to my right immediately turned to me after the presentation and said, “That is the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard.” The rage on his face was apparent. On the flip side, there were people who were really excited about the information and were ready to go hire a new team full time for $400 a month.

“Hey, I can find someone to make a logo for $5!” I guess that’s exciting for someone who needs a logo on a low budget. But when we make a logo for a client, and we think about the time that goes into developing that logo, I have absolutely no idea how someone is making that logo and only charging $5.

We could make more money outsourcing our work to overseas. We could take more clients, have more projects, do less work, and make more money. But that’s not our objective. We aren’t just building websites. We’re building relationships. And that’s worth more to me than making millions of dollars and working four hours a week.

I want to work. I like my work.

I’m not an economist, but I do believe that people should be paid a fair wage based on the benefit you gain from them. If you are considering outsourcing please check out Good World Solutions and their Fair Wage Guide. Good World Solutions builds transparency across global-supply chains by implementing affordable, scalable web and mobile technologies. It uses up-to-date minimum wage data for 150 countries, plus international poverty lines, to calculate benchmarks for hourly or per piece services or products.