How Do You Gain A Good Team Of Freelancers For Your Business
Every small to medium size business online generally has at least one freelancer helping them. They may be classed as a company but under the hood it is one or two people doing graft, acting as freelancers.
What is a freelancer, where do you find them and what do they do?
What
A freelancer is a person who works for your company but is not employed. They do set tasks you agree for them to do and normally charge you on a time sheet at an agreed rate. They generally have several clients of different sizes and balance the workload between them all.
They generally cost more per hour than an employee but you do not have the commitment, you have much more flexibility and a lot of the time they are more experienced. Due to all this they are also more motivated to get the job done and done well.
Where
You can find them in two ways: firstly using freelance websites like www.peopleperhour.com or you search Google for what you want, maybe a “freelance SEO consultant” and get a site direct to the freelancer.
There are loads of freelancers and they come in at different levels:
- Some do it part time around a full time job. If you want the odd job done this isn’t a bad thing and you generally get really good rates as they have no overheads. But when you need commitment and a decent chunk of time then people in this category will end up letting you down due to lack of time.
- You have full time freelancers who are new or newish to the game. Generally have a cheaper rate but have less experience. Normally well motivated but they come with the lack of experience. If you are wanted low risk jobs done then this is not an issue but when it comes to complex software builds or marketing tasks you might want to think twice.
- The last category I will list. The experienced freelancers. As long as you do not get someone that is fed up with what they are doing you should get a lower risk approach. They are less likely to walk away and get a full time Jon with a company head hunting them, they are less likely to get the task wrong, they can offer words of wisdom to save you time and they will often have more refined processes.
How To Spot A Quality Freelancer
Some useful tips to spotting a good freelancer;
- They are busy
- They have a list of clients they can show you
- When you request a meeting they ask for an agenda or give some objectives for the meeting. They are busy so they have to be focused
- They listen to you and want to learn about your business
- It feels like a team game when you chat to them, not just another client
- They are enthusiastic about the subject you are talking to them about
- They are able to give you a reference
- Success stories roll of their tongue
- They talk with knowledge and can answer most questions without much research
- They do not claim to be a jack of all trades. You want a niche freelancer and their website should show that, like this website www.seocompanyedinburgh.co.uk/freelance.html. They are either one thing or another, not everything. If someone claims to be; a developer, a designer, a marketer and whatever else then run a mile. By definition a developer should be rubbish at graphic design as they are two totally different skill sets. One logical and the other very creative.
- They have an physical address they will share with you
My Thoughts
I personally think using freelancers is great, they feel part of the team and they gain more experience than an employee as they work across several industries with different clients. The hard part is finding that lasting relationship as you do not want to be finding a new freelancer every few months.
So if you are in the market for a new member of the team go and search out a decent freelancer but make sure you check them out before committing. The worst that can happen is you waste a little time hunting them down but the same goes with employing someone.
Article By J Harrison. SEO guru and lover of all things search. Digital marketing is the game and exceeding is a must.
