Sorry I have been missing in action in these last couple weeks. Summer term started (MBA) and my wife was out of town for a week, so I decided to take some time off from blogging. But, I’m still here.

Maybe I should outsource my blog writing? LOL Here is an article that got my juices flowing. What if I could come up with a great software idea, pay somebody in India to code it for me, and then put it up for sale? Hmm…. check out the article. I could see myself paying for tutoring or other personal services.

Sending personal work offshore requires Internet proficiency, and some patience as well. Though a few firms have begun tailoring their services to consumers, most deal primarily with businesses. Tapping this bargain work force means knowing about the online bazaars where workers abroad compete to bid for small projects.

Some big free-lancing sites include Elance.com, Guru.com and Rentacoder.com. In a recent study on the growth of offshoring services to small businesses and homes, market researcher Evalueserve found more than 90 such online marketplaces, with 500,000 vendors from low-wage countries using them.

Consumers must also be able to recognize when a routine task can be done digitally, and across time zones. Earlier this year, Dan Frey went in search of an artist to illustrate a children’s book his mother had written for the grandkids about her life growing up in New York City. He thought about finding a student from a local art school, but then it dawned on him that he could outsource it without leaving his house. The job didn’t necessarily require a face-to-face meeting — he could just email the draft.