How to Use Freelancers to Expand Your Business

As a business owner, you can’t always perform all your tasks by yourself. As your business grows, you need to hire more people to increase your productivity and profit. One huge advantage that business owners today have is access to global job sites to find and hire people.

When you are running a business, there are many tasks you need to do that are repetitive and time consuming. As a business owner, you are not always able to spend time on minor tasks. If a task is too technical or requires creativity, you might need a professional with skills, experience and creativity. You may also need people for data entry, marketing, network maintenance, operating and testing your software, website design, and many other products or services that you may offer.

The world is a global market-place today. The internet and the World Wide Web have made it possible for people from all around the world to connect and seek global jobs. There are many job sites available where you can find freelancers. Freelancers find working from the comfort of their own home beneficial because it allows them to choose their hours, make good money, and they don’t have to worry about getting dressed up and heading to the office. For some folks around the world, possibly someone living in a rural location, going to the office could be quite an expedition.

Hiring freelancers from the global market not only benefits the employees, but it also benefit the employers in several ways. If you have been a business owner for a while, you might have tried hiring people online from a global job site only to have a negative experience with freelancers. There are others who found great people online who did excellent work for their company. The trick lies in finding the people with the right skills and experience. You can expand your company more easily if you outsource as many tasks as you possibly can.

Know how to outsource

Outsourcing your tasks can save you a lot of time and money, but if you hire the wrong person, you could find that it takes away from your time. Below is a list of tips to help you successfully hire someone.

1. Know your needs:

To figure out who to hire, you need to know exactly what tasks you need to outsource. There are many different types of people available on the internet, and therefore, before you invest any money posting jobs, make sure that you know exactly what tasks you need done.

2. Bank account, credit cards, debit cards

To hire people online form the freelancing sites, you must have a bank account and credit or debit card. You should have all your payment options open because not all countries of the world have the same payment options. Many countries, for example, don’t allow PayPal.

You will need to spend between $250 -$1000 a month to hire good full-time people on the internet and build your team. It might not be a lot of money in the United States, but in many countries of the world, it is a good amount of money. Of course, salaries vary according to the skill level and experience of a freelancer. On the other hand, if you are to hire someone with the same expertise from the United States, you would be paying several times that to hire someone full-time.

3. Communication skills

Productivity of your business often depends on how well you communicate with your employees. Good communication on a regular basis is an absolute necessity when you hire someone, especially when hiring a freelancer on the internet. To get quality work and productivity, you will need to explain to the freelancer exactly what you want. Without proper communication, you will not be able to achieve good results. Communication could mean using Skype, Google Hangouts, e-mails, etc.

If you are hiring designers or programmers from a different country, you will find that language often becomes a barrier. However, from my personal experience, I can tell you that there are people in countries like Malaysia or Philippines, who are excellent writers, but not as good at speaking in English.

Programmers and other technical people tend to be more objective, so you need to speak their language. Designers and writers are more creative and subjective.

4. Training

You need to show your freelancer exactly what you want, and if they don’t know what you want, you will have to train them. So, provide them training and be patient because you cannot expect someone to produce the results you want within the first week of his employment. If you can keep them motivated, they will be loyal to you.

Posting effective ads

Understanding different types of freelancers is your key to hiring the right people. There are many different types of people with varying skills and experience available on the internet. There are designers, developers, coders, writers, VA, programmers, social media marketing people, and so on. Every group of people thinks differently, and a lot depends on the type of work they do. For example, typically the designers tend to be more creative, and less logical. To attract the right freelancer, you need to write an effective advertisement. If you don’t write a good advertisement, you will end up attracting the wrong people.

When you write your ad, be specific about what you are looking for and what their tasks will be. If you are hiring a graphic designer, make sure you describe in details about the responsibilities and skill levels involved in the job. There will be many applicants who think they know something but in reality, they don’t. We’ll talk about how to pick up the right applicant, later on in this post.

Ask for previous work examples or about a previous job they did. Also include key factors, such as they should be able to solve problems, be self-motivated, and enjoy what they do. If you are looking for someone who likes to do tedious work and doesn’t mind doing it, such as someone who will create accounts or submit links, put that in writing. Also be sure to mention that you are looking for an individual and not a team or agency, because you don’t want to deal with a middle man.

Interviewing your candidates

After you receive your replies, you will have to filter through the candidates you receive. Avoid all the responses that are just templates. Also avoid candidates that do not give you details about themselves, like what specific training, experience or skills they have had that relates to your job. If they don’t provide a portfolio or demo, do not hire them. Ask questions about their work and find out how they did it. You can also figure out about a person’s professionalism by the way they convey themselves. Again a lot depends on how they communicate and how they respond.

There are people who may have skills but not open to new ideas or not open to changes. These people are hard to manage and train, so be careful about them. Look for early signs of a bad employee and eliminate them. It is important that you hire a person who has the skills you want, it goes without saying. But, it is also important that you find someone who is positive, motivated, open minded and who likes challenges. Most importantly, they should be able to communicate, ask questions and clarify their tasks fast and on a regular basis.

Trial period

Before you hire a person full time, hire them on a trial basis. Many employers have made the mistake of hiring someone, giving them full time job, only to find out that he is not the person you wanted to hire. Hiring on a trial basis would give you a better idea of the person you hire. The person gets a chance to prove his skill levels and professionalism, and qualities such as attendance, communication skills, and character to you. If you don’t, it might be too late when you realize that the person you hired isn’t really who he said he was.