You need unlimited funds to hire many full-time employees to handle the various essential functions when you start your business. As a small online business owner, for you to have the same efficiencies as a more massive corporation, you will have to outsource many of the essential functions of your business.
When most people think about outsourcing, they envision a “superstar virtual assistant” who does everything while the business owner sits back and relaxes. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near reality. In reality, no online business can run on autopilot. To succeed, you need to take an active role and be there when making crucial decisions.
By outsourcing to other people, you gain the following advantages. Outsourcing works best when you have an established framework and documented processes that allow anyone to complete the necessary tasks. It’s best to hire different people who can handle minor aspects of your business rather than looking for a single person who can do it all.
- You get the right person because you are hiring for a specific job.
- You save money because you aren’t employing full-time employees who get paid even with no work to complete.
- You won’t encounter a “single point of failure” where your business grinds to a halt if a worker gets sick or quits.
- You won’t have to worry if someone is suitable for the job.
- Outsourcing is a huge hassle because you have to deal with multiple people. However, it is an intelligent business decision, especially when you are a new business owner,. Each project becomes cost-effective and completed by people who know what they are doing.
Your ultimate strategy in outsourcing is to build a capable team where each member specializes in doing one thing well. Outsourcing allows you to present a professional image while ensuring each of your essential business functions is cost-effective.
Here is a five-step process for locating and hiring a great freelancer. Follow this strategy for every new hire you make, and you will soon have a team full of talented people who can do excellent work on every project.
Step One: Identify Your Outsourcing Task
To succeed, you must start every project byknowing precisely what you want to accomplish. You will need to know what skills are necessary to complete the task, what outcome you are looking for, and the level of expertise required to be successful. This is the best way to find and hire the right person for a specific job.
Before you write the project description, you will need to answer the following questions.
- What is the exact goal of the project?
- What problem will it solve?
- Is it an ongoing project or a one-time solution?
- Have you completed the process yourself?
- Can you describe the mistakes that you made during the procedure?
- Have you hired a freelancer in the past for this kind of project?
- What did you learn from the experience?
Take the time to complete this exercise and be thorough when answering the questions. This step will help you identify potential problems between you and the freelancer. Plus, it’s an excellent way to ensure the project description includes every feature and element you need for your freelancer to possess.
Step Two: Write Your Project Description
Most freelance websites you will use implement a bidding system for projects. It’s your job to write a detailed description of what you want. Once the project description is posted on the sites, people can place a bid for the project by submitting a cost estimation Agence 25 and information about their level of expertise.
Depending on the project that you post, you could receive anywhere from a handful of bids to dozens of proposals. Trying to filter through the submissions you receive can be a daunting task and one that can quickly overwhelm you. Here are some ways you can begin to evaluate the proposals you receive.
- Price
- Feedback rating
- Prior work experience
- Communication skills
- Work samples
Every freelance website is full of talented freelance workers. The trick to getting their attention is to write a compelling project description. It needs to be written to encourage top-notch freelancers to respond while subtly discouraging unqualified freelancers. Including the following seven elements in every job description will ensure that the best freelancers will reply to your post.
Element One: Include a Specific Project Title
Write the project title so it focuses on the primary goal. Rather than being cute with your project title, it’s better to write a short description of the work that you are looking to have completed. For instance, if you need to hire a writer for a 10,000-word social media marketing Agence 25 report, you should write: “Need Professional Writer for a 10,000-word social media marketing Agence 25 report.” Don’tTry to avoid gaining more attention by writing a catch header. You want people interested in this project, not bidding merely because they need the work.
Element Two: List the Required Skills
It’s not enough to post a job description, especially if you want to find the right freelancer for the project. Instead, you want to attract freelancers who can demonstrate background and expertise in completing the project you are looking to outsource. The best way to look for the right person is to ask for specific experience with the task. In other words, you want to include specific skills that will deter anyone who is a generalist or thinks they can do an excellent job of bidding on your project.
For example, let’syou need to hire someone to create press releases. Since these documents are usually written in a formal, third-person format, you wouldn’t want to hire someone with only experience blogging or creating articles. Instead, you want to find someone with an extensive background in creating excellent press releases.
You may ask for examples of similar projects as part of the description. The freelancer should attach these to their bid or provide you with a hyperlink where you can check them out and evaluate their work.
Element Three: Eliminating Certain Candidates
Regarding outsourcing, some people are suitable for the job, while others aren’t. To save yourself a ton of time, it’s best to weed out those who aren’t ideal for the job before they place their bid. The best thing you can do is clarify what you need from the beginning. This way, you won’t waste a freelancer’s time if you don’t think they are a good fit for the job.
For instance, when hiring a writer, you may want to ask for a native English speaker because you want the informal and conversational style you don’t usually get with someone who speaks English as a second language.
Don’t hide your requirements. Instead, post what you need specifically in the initial project description, so you savehe freelancer’s time. Over time you’ll start to develop a feel for what you need for your projects.
Element Four: Provide Specific Parameters
The description you write for the project must be incredibly detailed regarding what is required. You must include every possible element, so those bidding on your project can provide an accurate bid price.
For instance, you might include the following:
- Specific technical skills required to complete the project
- Any programming languages
- Exact word counts for the project
- The niche market for the product
- Description of the target audience
- Example products and websites
- Links to your current product line
- Elements you like about your competition
Detailed descriptions of the project and what you need will help weed out lazy freelancers. Detailed job descriptions usually ensure that the people bidding on the project are confident in their ability to deliver a quality project.
Element Five: Create a Private Description (Optional)
Sometimes the job you are outsourcing requires a certain level of privacy because you don’t want to reveal too much about your business. For these situations, you’ll write a vague description informing the candidate that you’ll explain more in a follow-up description for selected candidates. From there, you’ll have them sign a non-disclosure agreement before you provide them with the rest of the project details.
Element Six: Include a Statement About Plagiarism
Unfortunately, when you are hiring a writer, plagiarism is something that will have to be taken into consideration. Every once in a while, you’ll come across a freelancer who thinks it’s okay to use the same content from someone else’s website. To combat this, you need to include a “zero tolerance” policy in your procedure’s description addressing plagiarism. Inform bidders upfront that you will check for plagiarism on every project by running the content through a plagiarism-checking site like Copyscape.
Element Seven: Embed a Code Phrase
Paying attention to details is a skill that needs to be taught. Either someone understands how vital it is to read instructions thoroughly, or they don’tneed to. For those that don’t, you want don’t want them to be involved in your business. A simple way to test someone’s attention to detail is to include a “code phrase” in your job description, either at the end or somewhere in the middle of a long paragraph. To see who paid attention to the details of your project description and find freelancers who can follow directions, have them submit their bid with the code phrase at the top.
Step Three: Eliminate Unqualified Bids
Depending on the project, you’ll often get dozens of bids, which can be overwhelming. While it’s essential for you to examine each one, it will take too long to review each candidate’s job history. Here’s a simple system that allows you to eliminate unqualified candidates quickly.
- Eliminate proposals that look like a template and those that don’t answer your questions. Only keep those proposals that provide clear answers to your questions.
- Eliminate any bids that didn’t include the code phrase.
- Eliminate any bid that doesn’t include examples of similar projects.
- Eliminate candidates that need to have a job history on the site.
- Eliminate any candidates that don’t have at least a 4.5 or better feedback threshold.
- Eliminate candidates that need to possess the specific skills that you need.
Surprisingly, you can eliminate many freelancers with these six rules. Notice that cost isn’t included on this list. Right now, at this point in the process, it’s more critical to eliminate freelancers who aren’tneed to be a better fit for the listed project.
Step Four: Pick 3 to 5 Qualified Candidates
After quickly eliminating unqualified candidates, you’ll still have a large pool of freelancers that you will have to sort through. This will require you to review the list again and disqualify specific candidates. With this step, your goal is to narrow your choices to 3 to 5 qualified candidates. This step can be challenging because the candidate pool is now filled with excellent freelancers. Now is the time for you to carefully look at each bid and decide which is the most qualified candidate for your project.
To narrow down your choices again, look at the following criteria.
The Bid Price
This is the step in the process when you have to consider the cost. When deciding on a candidate, you’ll want to pick a range of bid prices that are acceptable to you and eliminate those candidates who are above this number or who fall below the figure.
It is important to remember that you get what you pay for, so you want to be sure to eliminate the low bids because this is usually a good indicator that you will receive poor service.
Companies v. Individuals
While you don’t have to eliminate companies and agencies automatically, you need to be careful when analyzing their work history to ensure they are worth the increase in cost. Pay close attention to the language of the bid. If the proposal includes words like “we” or “us,” then it’s a good sign that they represent a company.
Personalization
Many of the bids you receive will be a “cut-and-paste” response showing the project description wasn’t thoroughly read. While the bidder may have included the code phrase, they do so in a generic response that lacks any personality and connection.
While going through the bids, you want to look for freelancers genuinely interested in working on the project. You want to look for freelancers who comment on how they are uniquely qualified to work on your project and who can relate parts of your description to something they’ve done in the past.
Project Examples
Always look at the freelancer’s work examples that they provide with their bid. This can be a link to an article they’ve written, an app, an image, or a website they designed. You will also get freelancers who directly attach work history samples to their bids. Carefully examine these examples to see how they stack up to your expectations.
Past Feedback Ratings
For each remaining bidder, click on their feedback ratings and examine the work they’ve completed on the freelance website. Even though a freelancer has a high feedback level, they still need to gain experience working on projects similar to yours. Eliminate anyone who doesn’t have related work experience.
Timeline
Even the most experienced freelancers can only be a good use of money if they can’tcan complete a project on time. Every bid you receive will give you an expected timeline for completion. Pay close attention to the delivery dates submitted and eliminate any proposals that go beyond the norm.
These few simple rules will allow you to reduce a large pool of candidates. Be prepared to repeat this step a few times to find the suitable candidates forfor the shortlist. Once you have a few qualified freelancers chosen, you can move forward with selecting the most qualified candidate to complete your project.
Step Five: Pick the Most Qualified Freelancer
This is where you will decide and hire a qualified freelancer to help you complete your project. Each candidate you’ve selected should be fully qualified to work on your project. Now you must determine which person is the right fit for the particular task. Here are four things you can do to move forward with making a final decision in selecting a freelancer for the project.
Create a Small Test
Timeliness and attention to detail are crucial when running a business. You can test the qualified applicants for these qualities by having them complete a simple test. Give each potential hire a small task to finish to see how quickly and accurately they accomplish it. Here are a few ideas you can use.
- Ask them a question about their bid
- Ask them to reaffirm the bid price
- Ask them to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement
- Ask them to provide you with another sample of their work
The purpose is to give each candidate a simple task that shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes to complete. Please provide them with a couple of days for them to respond. If a candidate gives you excuses or takes too long to complete the task, it’s a good indicator that you’ll get the same kind of service on your project.
Run a Small Project
If your project is complicated, consider offering a small fee to each qualified candidate to complete a little project. The best way to determine each candidate qualifies to give each one a similar task and see what they come up with. While this step will cost you a small fee, it is a great way to test each candidate’s actual level of experience.
Look for Interest in the Project
While waiting for each candidate to return the small project you assigned them, take some time to look at each of their portfolios to see if they show any interest in the market. It helps to work with someone passionate about the kind of project you’re offering, although it is not a mandatory requirement.
The freelancer you choose will work a bit harder and be more eager to do an excellent job on the project if they have some interest in the market.
Check References
Most of the freelancers that you have short-listed will have references from previous work they’ve completed. Contact these former clients and talk with them about the freelancer’s job performance. Talk to them about the level of quality, communication, timeliness, and attitude toward the project. Be bold and try and get much feedback about a particular freelancer. This person has the potential to become a crucial part of your online business, so it makes sense to try and get as much information on them as possible.
Following these four action items should help you find the candidate that is a perfect fit for your project. At this point, you have to rely on your instincts. If one of the freelancers feels like a better fit than the others, they are the ones you should hire. After making the final decision, you’ll create a contract and begin working with the freelancer to complete the required task.
Finding qualified freelance workers to help you work on the documents you’ve created will help you build a successful business that is fully systemized. Follow these guidelines to help to choose the best candidates for all your business outsourcing needs.