Question

Topic: Strategy

Finding Quality Freelancers... Help

Posted by Anonymous on 11/3/2010 at 4:42 AM ET 25 Points
I need ideas and suggestions on how to find and work with freelancers. I have a small marketing business with demanding clients (not unusual I'm sure). I have a small pool of freelancers I use regularly but when I need them urgently they are always busy.

How can I find freelancers that I can trust quickly? Using freelance portals safe, and which ones would you recommend? What are you experiences working with freelancers in another country and can this reduce my costs?

Using unknown freelancers worries me, as I am putting them in the hands of my clients... So many questions... help, lost in a world of freelance!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by telemoxie on 11/3/2010 at 7:30 AM Accepted
    even in difficult times, good people will be busy.

    Have you considered putting some of your regular consultants on some sort of a retainer?
  • Posted by Harry Hallman on 11/3/2010 at 8:46 AM Accepted
    I disagree with Telemoxie. Yes good freelancers will be busy, but can a small business afford to put freelancers on a retainer? I think not. That is the whole idea of working with freelancers.

    After many years of working with freelancers I believe the relationship is what gets results. That is built by all the normal means (trust, appreciation and so on) and by paying freelancers a fair price and on time.

    You did not say what kind of freelancers you use, but you can probable find a good group from your local area on Linkedin. Post some freelancer calls on groups and check them out and create a "stable" of trusted people. When the time comes when money permits hire someone.
  • Posted by Inbox_Interactive on 11/3/2010 at 10:30 AM Accepted
    I would not use a new freelancer for any rush project. Your client trusts you with a rush project because they know it will be done right, but you simply can't guarantee that this will be the result when you work with someone new. As a result, you run the risk of putting out a bad product (or no product at all, should you decide not to submit it), and then you've blown a valuable relationship.

    I'd ask your top freelancers if they would be willing to move you to the front of the line in certain cases, either because you're a repeat client, or perhaps in exchange for a higher rate. It's not uncommon to charge your client a premium for a rush job.

    The other option is to just expand your freelance base, but again I would not pass them a rush job for the first time out.

    I have had good success finding freelancers in the usual places such as guru.com, but you need to weed out a lot of hacks to get your core.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 11/3/2010 at 4:19 PM Accepted
    I've had some experience with offshore freelance suppliers, and it's mixed. They were responsive and talented and very affordable. The problem was that I had to spend an inordinate amount of time teaching them about the cultural differences, idioms, cliches and other peculiarities that traced to their lack of first-hand experience in the target market.

    There were also a few inconveniences that trace to time zone differences and response time. In theory that should work both ways (i.e., ask a question at night and the answer is waiting for you in the morning), but in practice it seemed to work the other way more often (i.e., ask a question in the morning and it takes 24 hours before you have the answer).

    I certainly would not rely on an offshore freelancer unless you are prepared to spend a lot of time managing the project yourself.

    If you decide to give it a try, I have one firm in particular that was most impressive. Contact me offline for that info when you're ready.
  • Posted by tracyp on 11/3/2010 at 4:46 PM Accepted
    It seems like services like Guru are fairly reliable and allow users of freelance talent to review and provide feedback on individuals. However, I have no direct experience.
  • Posted on 11/3/2010 at 7:26 PM Accepted
    Hi

    I think I may be able to help, I have recently set up my own marketing company through doing various freelance projects, if you would like to e mail direct and we can discuss more please feel free

    Brad Ledson
    {Email address deleted by staff}

    Thanks
  • Posted by SRyan ;] on 11/3/2010 at 7:51 PM Accepted
    Emily, I hired people from Freelancer.com a couple of times, and the results were okay, but not great.

    I'm in a similar situation as you, and I've bookmarked these sites:

    https://www.ivaa.org/
    https://assistu.com/

    I think I am going to find at least one Virtual Assistant who has the skills I need for different projects (copywriting, audio editing, powerpoint smarts). Those websites look like promising resources!
  • Posted by telemoxie on 11/4/2010 at 7:23 AM Member
    please don't misinterpret my comments. Certainly there are incredible benefits to independent contractor relationships. Certainly you should look far and wide for inexpensive high quality service providers who can help you on an as needed basis. Certainly you should look overseas to take advantage of lower hourly rates.

    However, I do not believe that independent contractors will solve all your problems.

    In my opinion, if your organization is to grow, you will need access to high quality independent contractors. But you can also benefit from a different sort of relationship... a long-term professional part-time partnership... a concept which I refer to as a "rational employee" (or fractional employee).

    For example, if your business is dependent on quick access to inexpensive high quality independent contractors, it could make sense for you to retain (on a part-time basis, e.g. five hours per week) a long-term employee (someone who already has a full-time job in marketing) who can focus on recruiting and evaluating a stable of independent contractors.

    You grow by growing. And if you are interested in growing your organization, it makes sense to me to make very small steps rather than no steps or big steps.

    I was in business for a dozen years, performing a function which blended aspects of a part-time employee relationship and an independent contractor relationship. In my opinion, there are clear benefits to long term relationships, and there are clear limitations of independent contractor relationships.

    If anyone is interested in discussing this concept further, please send me an e-mail.
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