A Practical Guide to Hiring and Managing Freelancers

You’ll probably agree with this one:

Hiring and managing freelancers is a tough job.

Well, is it?

Outsourcing your project to freelancers shouldn’t be difficult. In fact, it should make your job a lot easier. They should be able to take some of the load off of your shoulders and get your business to run more effectively and efficiently.

But, how exactly do you hire and manage freelancers? Here’s a quick rundown of the things you need to know.

Why Should You Hire Freelancers?

• If you’re upscaling your business, there’s a good chance you’ll be needing extra hands to cover the additional jobs. Resorting to hiring freelancers is not only a great solution to meet your goals, but it can also help you cut cost, particularly if you can’t afford to hire new people to go full time in your company.
• Adding someone new to your project can give it the fresh take you’re looking for. Since freelancers aren’t tied up to strict schedules, they can get the job done efficiently and creatively.
• Freelancers are mostly time-bound when it comes to their tasks. If you need to get something done quickly, they are the best people you can turn to.
• They are experts in their fields. Some of them could even be honing their crafts longer than your business. They can help you rethink your tactics and strategies to boost your earnings.

See Also: Why You Need to Delegate More

How Do You Find The Best Freelancers?

One of the best things about hiring freelancers is that you never run out of sources. Unfortunately, however, it’s also one of the most common pitfalls of the process. Because there are a lot of options to choose from, you can end up going through a series of trial-and-error before you can find the right person for the job. This approach isn’t only time consuming; it can also burn holes in your wallet.

Fortunately, however, that’s not always the case. Here are some of the best ways you can source your new writer.

Freelance Platforms

Going through freelance platforms gives you the opportunity to find writers that match your project. Once you’ve set your project, freelance writers can start posting their bids. You can go through their profiles, feedbacks and rates before you make the final call.

• Workfast: Getting your writer in Workfast can help you avoid the costly hiring process most platforms require. It offers flexibility so you can hire a writer to work for you on an hourly, a daily or even on a long-term basis.
• Upwork: This is another reliable freelancing platform with lots of great people to complete your project. The problem with the platform, however, is that its freelancers tend to charge high, especially after the implementation of its new sliding fees.
• Freelancer: It works very similar with Upwork but with different rates and charges. You post your project and sort through profiles and feedbacks to find the right match for the job.

Consider referrals

Referrals and recommendations are good options if you have friends or colleagues who have hired good people to work for them before. Since freelancers will be recommended, you can be sure that they can deliver quality work.

Aside from friends, you can also ask the people you’ve already hired if they can refer other freelancers to join your team. Since they are a close community, referring other people with the same caliber can’t be that hard.

How to Manage Your Freelancers for Optimum Results

There is no rocket science equation about successfully managing your freelancers, but there are three things you need to have if you want to bring the best out of them.

Accountability

If you’re planning to build a team of freelancers, it’s a good idea if you can be clear about their roles. One of the best ways to achieve this is to establish milestones and metrics. Breaking down the project into different stages and setting one freelancer or a set of freelancers in charge of each stage can help ensure that the project runs smoothly.

Openness

Communication is critical to the success of any project. You need to know when and how to communicate with your freelancers before, during and after their tasks. This will save you time and energy in following up reports and demanding changes.

You can set regular monthly meetings in Skype or any other platform to keep track of your project’s milestones. Requiring your freelancers to create daily or weekly reports can also make you more aware of the progress of the project. From time to time, do an update on your goals and provide feedbacks to motivate your freelancers to do better. You can also encourage participation by asking for their opinions once in a while.

Clarity

Before you even let your freelancers start with the project, make sure you are clear about what you want and when you expect to have it. Give as much information to your freelancers as possible to eliminate confusions and frustrations along the way. Sketch out your deliverables and include the names of the people who will be in charge of completing them. It can also help if you can be clear about what criteria you’ll be using to measure their results.

Handing out content briefs for your writers, for example, is one good way to ensure that they create optimum articles that will match your site. You can also create spreadsheets, video tutorials and presentations to make tasks even clearer.

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Conclusion

Freelancers, no matter what their expertise are, can greatly help you reach your business goals with less stress and hassle. Although the process can require a bit of work, particularly during the initial stages, completing your to-do list should be a breeze once you’ve set your eyes on the most qualified individuals. The key thing is to outsource from the best hiring platform and manage your freelancers in a way that would encourage them to grow professionally.