Recently, a local business owner asked me some really great questions about hiring freelancers and what the secret is to getting the most out of freelancer-marketplace websites such as Elance.com. I answered and tried to be helpful. Of course, I thought of a better answer much later. So, I thought it would be good to come back to the topic and outline some of the things that determine your experience.
There are specific things that you can do that will make using freelancers through an online service such as Elance.com a positive and productive experience. Your business or organization needs a blog (and an email subscription news letter) as part of your online campaign. You need to appear in search results and attract an audience,who will ultimately provide the base for paying customers.
If you intend to hire multiple contractors you should state it. When the first one is selected further contractors will be discouraged from applying.
Delegating the writing and administration of the blog to the right freelancers will ultimately save time and money. However there are some things that you can do that will earn you a more beneficial outcome if you want to choose this path.
Drop Your Expectations …
The first thing to do is to cut your activities back to the basics, until you have mastered the realm and established a reputation on the system. One that says you are serious about hiring freelancers. It will have some impact on the assortment of freelancers who apply for your project. It is also a chance to get your feet wet and learn how to make it work for you. Like many online operations that are social, there is a reputational element to freelancing marketplaces.
Freelancers are either going to have a tough time until they have established a track record or can bring in a substantial resume from outside. If you have established a career beyond online then you may not really need to use elance.com or any other service. For the client there is also an element of reputation that will influence your experience. I will often decline to bid on a job because there is no information about the client in the profile.
It is specifically the information about financial verification that I want to see so that I can be sure that I will get paid. If you intend to hire multiple contractors you should state it as when the first one is selected further contractors will be discouraged from applying, unless you state that you should keep applying even after hiring has begun.
… And Do These Three Things
Start Small
Test out the system to see if it suits your needs. Single articles and small projects of other types should be less than $100 in cost It also makes it easier for experienced contractors to take the risk of doing the work for small projects. The more time and posted projects you have, the better your reputation is in the market place, and the greater your mastery of the medium.
Divide Your Labor
Divide up the functions between writers and assistants. A virtual personal assistant may be great at getting things formatted and posted but not necessarily the most thrilling writer. Just accept that, people are like gems they have aspects that sparkle at different angles to the light. Effective writers may not be the best at putting together their content with images in a well laid out blog format. It’s a matter of creative process versus administrative operation. The same applies for programers and designers: Hire by the task.
Be Open Minded
Take your contractors where you find them. There may not be that many out there that have the skills that you need. Personally, I only work on the topic areas that I am confident that I know what I am doing and saying.
The Last Word In Hiring Freelance Ghostwriters
When it is done right, hiring freelance ghostwriters online can be a force multiplier for your enterprise. There are a few tricks and secrets that will smooth the process for best results. Start small, hire by the task, build relationships and be open-minded in your choices and you will find that you get what you need and more from hiring freelance ghostwriters online.
Online freelancing marketplaces offer a great opportunity for small businesses to get great work done economically. It also limits the delaying effects of dealing with corporate agencies. Having the agility of a small business and making the best use of online resource, such as freelance writers, will enable you to run circles around the large and bureaucratic corporations.
