Apart from a few exceptions, most entrepreneurs depend on freelancers to get things done fast. The freelancers offer your business several benefits, including filling in your workforce on demand, and keep your business operating. While freelancing is the fastest way to fill permanent positions, consorting with freelancers or outsource firms can be a pain.
You may spend weeks or even months scouting for the perfect graphic designer, programmer, or writer, only to have them skip out on you at the last minute. Or, you have landed on a great talent, but the work produced is less than you expected. There is good news, you can prevent this.
Follow the six steps below to find and retain the highest performing freelancers for your business.
Hire Experts
Ensure that prospective freelancers have the specific experience for the job you want done; general talent should not influence your decision as you are likely going to end up paying for a less-than-stellar service. If you need social media work done, ensure that the prospective firm has individuals with an appetite for Twitter and Facebook. If you need specialized sewing and tailoring skills that can produce custom dresses by Azazie, examine samples. Do not settle for dabblers.
Pick Passion
Ask the freelancer if he or she is 100 percent passionate about their work; if they are not, hold out for someone who is. Do yourself and your freelancers a favor: hire only those who are on fire to work on the projects you have and are also willing to learn. You may have to settle for less-experienced freelancers, but under your guidance, the passion they put in the job will definitely overcome any initial technical limitations you may experience.
Pay Extra
A majority of clients do not care much about happiness, an essential part of any work, so it will thrill your freelancers if you ask them how much they will be happy working for. If you cannot afford or you cannot negotiate the freelancer’s “happy wage,” do not be afraid of passing them up. The quality of work produced and their happiness are two sides of the same coin.
When you settle on a happy price, bump it up by between 5 to 10 percent. This act of generosity will inspire the freelancer to produce his or her best work. The extra pay will go a long way in beginning and maintaining a profitable client-freelancer work relationship.
Pay Them on Time
It is important that you ensure that you provide your freelancers (individuals and outsource firms) with prompt payment, every time, on time. Freelancers should not have to follow up with you several times to get paid; if you can fix the process by getting a B2B credit card processing firm to hasten the payment process, do it. If there will be a delay in making payment, early communication on how long it will take for payments to be made will foster a more understanding relationship when you can manage the freelancers’ expectations.
Keep Them Interested
Like your full-time employees, freelancers also need to be motivated while working on your tasks. After they prove themselves on the first few tasks, give them more challenging assignments and responsibility.
Communicate
The number one reason most businesses fail in maintaining top-talent freelancers is the lack of communication. Some of the things you can do to mitigate this is by having the outsource firm and freelancers sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement that protects your sensitive information. In addition, have them sign and confirm payment terms, price and job terms in a simple agreement upfront.
Over-communication can also be good to help you check in regularly with daily emails and interactions. The more information you share with a freelancer, the more intimate they become with the assigned projects and you receive better output.
There you have it. Follow these steps and you will see how easy it is to retain high-quality freelance talent in your business.
Author Bio
Taby G.
Title: Super-Connector at OutreachMama
Taby G. is a super-connector with Towering SEO and OutreachMama who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. With over 6 years of writing experience, Taby brings a vast amount of knowledge, style and skill to every project. Her expertise lies in article/blog writing, eBooks, and SEO/informational writing. Copywriting and fiction are the icing of her work with excellent research skills and flawless grammar.
Twitter Handle: @outreachmama
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