To outsource freelance work or projects is an efficient and cost-effective way to get crucial projects done while you focus your attention on running the business.
While it is good to outsource, you want to be cautious with the kind of freelancer you want to hire, as there are some inexperienced freelancers out there, who might take advantage of you in this situation.
To make sure you have the best experience with your first freelancer, I have put together this informative guide.
Also read: 52 Powerful Tips to Sell Services Profitably in 2022
This article will guide you through the following;
- Why you need to outsource freelance work
- Outsourcing if you are a digital marketer
- When and why you should outsource as a digital marketer
- What task should you outsource to freelancers
- Pros and cons of outsourcing projects
- and 10 tips to keep in mind when hiring a freelancer
If you read this guide to the end, the chances you have become a pro at hiring freelancers will be high.
Research conducted by a group of professionals shows that people who read blog post to the end “to get” the information, increase in knowledge, wisdom and gain understanding on the topic by 89%. In other word, they become the best version of themself.
So without further ado, Let’s dive in
Why do you need to outsource freelance work?
The reason you need to outsource work to a freelancer is that you have too many projects to complete in lesser time or you need multiple skill sets to complete a project.
Regardless, if you want to achieve anything, it’s important that you delegate tasks when they become too cumbersome for one person.
There are only 24 hours in a day, how much time do you spend focusing on what actually matters?
Delegation gives you freedom to be more creative. It allows your time to be spent outside of daily routines and not solely focused on completing task and pending important things.
Outsourcing to freelancers is a lot better than hiring an employee.
The reason is that freelancers will do what you want when you want it, and they are not expensive in comparison with an employee working full time.
Outsourcing projects may not be as simple as hiring a full-time employee but learning how to outsource freelance work effectively can save you time and money.
Also read: 7 Most Inspiring Courageous Leadership Quotes
Here are 4 reasons outsourcing projects to freelancers can be beneficial.
1. Freelancers can do both specialized and generic projects.
Freelancers can help you with specialized project work (i.e. projects that require a specialist, expert, or professional) and they can also help you with small fixes.
If you are social media marketer, a task that needs a specialist will be graphic design – creating attractive and catchy graphics.
Graphic design takes time (I used to be a graphic designer myself), especially when a design does not look good and you don’t know what’s wrong.
The tragedy of the story?
Graphic design is just one fraction of a social media marketer’s work. Your main job is to understand your audience, get them to follow, and give them what they want.
So you want to outsource your graphic design work to professionals. Fiverr is a great place to start.
Outsourcing gives you more time to work on improving the business while relying on freelancers for completing tasks that may not be as important as finding new growth opportunities and building relationships with clients.
2. Outsourcing projects saves you money.
Instead of having one full-time employee working on your website design, video editing, or other social media posts (if they are capable);
It may be easier and less expensive to hire different freelancers who each specialize in their own area instead of hiring one person who will only know how to do everything but only moderately well.
This is because many countries offer less expensive workers than America does for example.
And what’s better than finding an amazing potential employee willing to take orders from someone living across the world?
Not much! It’s great, especially if you need some quick help, like a one-time project or graphic design job.
Also read: 7 Ways To Make Your Day More Productive [Proven Method]
3. Outsourcing enables you to meet deadlines
Another benefit of outsourcing your project is that they will do quick it. In as little as 24 hours, you can have access to getting your content updated and new videos produced and ready for uploading on your website, social media platforms, and more.
There is no waiting around hoping that employees finish their work or submit something on time; when you outsource a project, there are no strict deadlines or lines drawn in terms of when work needs to be completed.
4. Outsourcing allows you to find new opportunities
Finally, another reason outsourcing project is so great is that it opens up opportunities for small businesses that don’t have hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars to invest in higher quality equipment, software, and services.
Hiring freelancers allows you to find cheaper alternatives without sacrificing quality just yet!
Outsourcing for Digital Marketers
I hear this question every day from marketers about whether they should outsource digital marketing work to freelancers. The simple answer to this question is ‘yes‘, consider outsourcing.
But not because you are too busy and don’t have the time to do it yourself.
You should outsource your digital marketing work or project because there are many other better ways you can spend your time than by
- managing social media accounts,
- writing blog posts, and
- sending newsletters.
When you don’t have to do these things in order to be successful at your business.
I can consider outsourcing to manage or carry out tasks or services which are not within your core business.
They help you with extra tasks that might be time-consuming, monotonous, and even complex. It’s often a cost-effective option for small businesses that have limited resources.
Outsourcing will benefit your business but it doesn’t always guarantee success.
To avoid some pitfalls, you must make sure that you work with an expert instead of just taking any cheap service provider on board.
As a digital marketer or small business owner, there are several reasons you should outsource your digital marketing jobs, I explained this below.
Also read: 10 Best Productivity Tools For Freelancers And Designers
When Should Digital Marketers Outsource?
Sometimes, a certain project requires a specialist who can offer more expertise than you have on your team.
For example, if you don’t have experience in graphic design and need a new logo or want to design an entire webpage, the best option will be to outsource that work.
Before you decide to farm out a project, ask yourself these questions:
- Is it a task that requires someone who already has knowledge of your business and industry?
- Does it require extensive research or follow-up?
- Is there an urgency involved in getting it done quickly and correctly on the first try?
If you answered ‘yes’, that’s probably not a task you should delegate.
“On paper, outsourcing your projects may seem like a quick way to grow and scale. In reality, though, if something isn’t broken then there may not be much value in fixing it by delegating.”
It would not only be good for your business to outsource your project but also saves you time. Consider outsourcing when there are multiple projects that require similar expertise.
You might even find someone who is skilled in several areas of your business.
If you’re working with multiple projects over an extended period, hiring one experienced resource could cut costs while providing consistently high-quality work.
Also read: 11 Best Project Management Software For Freelancers [2022]
Why Digital Marketers Need to Outsource
Today, we focused on small businesses doing more with less. This is great for a company’s profitability, but less so for its growth.
If you want your business to grow without adding employees or taking on too much debt, you can do it by outsourcing some of your tasks or hiring an agency.
With outsourcing and hiring professionals, you can eliminate time spent doing busy work, freeing up time for moving your business forward.
But before you outsource anything—make sure there is ROI (Return On Investment).
Understand which parts of your work can have a return before committing yourself. You don’t want to spend money on something that won’t pay off in the long run.
A good way to decide whether it makes sense to outsource is to determine if you will have access to something better than what you currently own and use regularly.
One core project to outsource if you are a Digital Marketing is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
When done properly, SEO will bring huge results and increase traffic via google searches.
The good news is that it rarely costs very much when hire a freelancer depending on how competitive your market is.
Also read: 10 Best Productivity Tools For Freelancers And Designers
What task should you outsource as a digital marketer?
The best task for outsourcing depends on your skill set, but there are some tasks you should avoid outsourcing altogether:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO),
- Content writing; &
- Content editing.
These tasks typically require a high level of familiarity with your specific industry or product and a deep understanding of how search engines work.
You’ll have a hard time finding someone outside your company who can replicate your own knowledge in these areas—and it’s better to be aware than leaving it for someone else.
Also, outsourced writers will often write from scratch. Some freelancers are untrustworthy, reusing old pieces of content repeatedly which is perilous for you.
Here are 5 Tasks you should outsource to save time
- Social Media Management
- Content writing
- Link Building
- Research, and
- Graphic/Website Design.
Yes, you should! There are some tasks that will save you time and help you focus on higher-level work. And those who don’t want to do them are usually in a bad position, anyway.
If you want more customers coming through your door but don’t want to focus on how it happens, then outsourcing is for you.
If it makes more sense for one person in your company to take care of SEO or another job better left outside of your company, then outsource it!
Pros and cons of outsourcing freelance projects
While some tasks are better suited for an employee (think: expertise, problem-solving), many projects in your business can be outsourced—and they usually shouldn’t be.
Pros
Here are 5 Pros [Advantages] of Outsourcing Your Work
-
Flexibility
You’re in charge of your business, and you want it to be flexible. There are some employees that don’t have a lot of flexibility with their time.
So, if you have very little flexibility in your business model, outsourcing can provide a better fit for your company and its needs.
-
Huge Savings
Companies save anywhere from 25 to 35% by outsourcing overseas or domestically.
If you have enough workload for an employee, an offshore team member can help cover your workload while freeing up the employee for other projects at the office.
You might even see better work when there is over one person working on projects because they can bounce ideas off and get thoughts flowing during brainstorming sessions.
-
Quality Work
Many companies report higher quality work because of outsourcing.
Workers in some countries excel at specific tasks or areas; they may have years of experience doing what you need doing and will make your job easier overall.
-
Less Time Spent in Training
When you hire someone from another country, it can take up to 6 months before he/she produces results.
During those 6months, expect to spend quite a lot of time in training sessions on how things are done within your company.
Training may also involve software programs or computer languages like Visual Basic (VB) or programming languages such as C++ or Java—especially if they aren’t fluent in English.
Therefore hiring a freelancer will benefit you and save you a lot of time.
-
Additional Focus
Hiring and managing virtual teams takes away time that could be spent researching new markets, creating websites, and other tactics to grow your business.
With additional focus on these important parts of your company, you’ll see growth quicker than hiring someone else to do all these things for you!
Cons
While there are some advantages to letting someone else take care of one area of your business, there are three main disadvantages:
- time,
- cost, and
- control.
Finding a good candidate who can do both things well enough for what you pay is an immense challenge.
Consider whether outsourcing will cut into profits or affect growth before handing over your authority.
Also read: 9 Factors that Affect Work Productivity and How To Overcome Them
13 Quick Tips to Outsource Freelance Work Like A Pro
Hiring a freelancer may not be easy as it seems because you are about to work with someone you know nothing about. And of course, they don’t know about you either.
If you are looking for an expert to recruit, LinkedIn is a great place to start. If you want to hire a professional freelancer, Fiverr is a great place to start.
You are looking for quality work, but some so-called freelancers just want to get the money. They like the money, not the job.
Before you outsource your project to a freelancer, you want to keep these tips in mind.
These tips are your keys to hiring and/or outsourcing freelance work like a pro. They will not only protect you from scammers and inexperienced freelancers but they will also save you time, money, and energy.
These are the exact tips we use on our website when we feel the need to outsource to professionals.
Here are the 13 tips to keep in mind when hiring your first freelancer.
1. Know what you want and how you want it
It would be very obvious if you go to the store without knowing exactly what you want to buy (except if you are an introvert who accepts everything and anything, just like me).
But seriously, you want to know the exact thing you want in working with freelancers.
For example, if you are outsourcing graphic design work, you want to be clear on the design you want, the color, the rough sketch, or a sample of what you want.
This will not only make you look like a pro, but it will also save your money and time (for your freelancer at least) plus there will be less back-and-forth confusion and overall heartache.
2. Know your budget
What is your budget? How much do you intend to spend on a project?
Before outsourcing projects to freelancers, you should know how much money you are willing and able to spend.
That way, when looking at potential freelancers, you can decide whether they fit within your budget.
And you might be lucky to get a professional freelancer who charges less for quality work.
Your ROI (return-on-investment) should determine your budget.
We once outsource a promotional article that we estimate to bring us $1000 monthly at $200 to a freelance writer. And today, that article currently fetch us about $3,000+ every month.
3. Look for someone that is reliable
This is the most important thing in outsourcing, to find someone that is reliable.
If you are going to be putting your trust in another person, it is important that they can deliver on what they promise.
The best freelancers are those who make sure every detail of their work is organized and presented in an easy-to-understand manner.
But how do you know them? It starts with their communication manner and how they project theirself.
It is much easier to differentiate a professional from a newbie by the way they communicate.
A professional freelancer will share you and show you his/her past experience on similar project while newbie or unreliable freelancer will just brag on their qualifications. They just want to get the job.
4. Share work scopes and set deadlines
Sharing work scope with your freelancer and setting a deadline for the project is very essential. You should set deadlines from day one.
Even when you are not outsourcing, you need to set deadlines for your project work. Deadlines are very important.
Share with your freelancer, a general idea of what’s expected so they can plan out their time. Most freelancers also have other full-time jobs or some other clients’ work.
By sharing deadlines, they will prioritize your work and get it done quicker.
5. Determine the method of payment
Before you even begin looking for someone, you’ll need to decide on how much you will pay your freelancer and on what schedule (weekly, hourly or monthly).
If you have never worked with freelancers before, it is always best to start small. Most freelance charge about $15 – $35 per hour depending on your project.
This might seem like a lot of money, but remember that these people are experts at what they do.
The longer they take to complete projects, the more expensive they become.
So you want to determine the method of payment, maybe it’s a one-off (it is if you are outsourcing on a freelance website)
6. Go through profiles (and reviews)
Truth is, there are lots of professional and experienced freelancers out there (on Fiverr especially) and maybe have one in mind already.
When you want to outsource freelance work on Fiverr, you don’t just want to order from the first person who messages you or the first person you see.
You want to go through their profiles and check their reviews (this is the same as other freelance websites).
A good rating is 5* (5 star). See what other clients are saying about their experience with them. You can see this below their gig and profile. Also check how many order that freelancer has successful complete.
You can also message them. Good freelancers respond quickly, they don’t ignore messages from their potential clients because they know you might go find someone else.
7. Ask for a portfolio
Asking freelancers for their previous work or portfolio is how you’ll get to know how skillful they are and how to work, to know if their style matches yours.
A portfolio is just a collection of past work by the freelancer. This may be in form of a pdf file, a portfolio website or anything. All professional should have a portfolio.
If you check a freelancer’s portfolio and you don’t like what you see (his previous completed work), consider looking for another freelancer. And if you like the work, then you can work with that person.
When hiring a writer (for example) for an article or blog post, you want to learn about their writing style and in what tone from their past writeups and article.
8. Setup communication channels
Setting up channels of communication will help you get in touch with your freelancer quickly and easily.
A simple communication channel can be as simple as Email, Skype, Messenger, etc.
When outsourcing work to freelancers, you don’t want to lose time trying to reach someone and it’s important that they have access to your contact information as well.
The last thing you want is a freelancer who doesn’t know how or when you like to communicate.
Setting up Skype or Messenger takes only a few minutes and ensures everything goes smoothly from start to finish.
#Free tips: Make sure your settings are private and password protected so no one else can get in and share personal information like phone numbers, emails, business emails, etc.
Also read: 21 Best Work Organizer Apps That Will Make Your Life Easier in 2022
9. Work on test projects before outsourcing real project
The best way to find a good freelancer is through mutual referrals.
The freelancers you want are probably already doing great work for other companies, so you’ll want someone who can give you great references.
But what if you don’t have anyone to give you a reference? Give test project.
Giving freelancers test projects before handing over all your work will minimize risk, save you time and give you an assurance that they are capable and reliable.
This will also help you see how much attention to detail they have and whether they’re worth your time and working with.
10. Create a contract of agreement
When hiring a freelancer for a certain project (especially when you are planning to work with him or her for a long) you want to have a clear contract of agreement which may include
- the responsibilities expected of him or her,
- payment plan and method,
- duration of work, etc.
You also want to make sure you have a clear communication method stated in your agreement.
- What information does your freelancer need from you and will provide
- Giving more detailed specifications about their job
- How often do they need to give you updates and project status reports
Clear communication will help make sure that both of you are on the same page and understand each other’s roles.
Keep everything professional: In order for you and your freelancer to succeed, stay professional at all times.
Also read: 11 Best Productivity Tips for Gig Economy Workers in 2022
11. Pay regularly
Always endeavour to pay your freelancer regularly, this will encourage them to continue working for you and continue doing a great job.
The fact remains, that money is still a driving factor and the number one employee motivation booster.
You can get them to send you an invoice and send it in one lump sum rather than just paying by check.
An instant payment solution like PayPal is even better because then your freelancer doesn’t have to worry about missing any checks in the mail or needing a business account for your checks, just their personal bank account.
12. Give regular feedback
Don’t be afraid to let your freelancers know where they can improve. Don’t just fire off an email that says a great job, you pass! Here’s your money!
By doing so, you teach them nothing about what you need from them or how their work can improve. Instead, tell them what specifically worked and why it worked.
Let them know where there were problems, but also explain how those problems could be fixed going forward.
Try giving honest feedback along these lines:
You did great on writing my sales copy for me, but I think it would have been even better if you had shortened my call-to-action button a bit more.
You got the idea. Here are more examples of good employee feedback.
13. Try multiple outsourcing companies
Try multiple outsourcing companies, this is to get the average a freelancer charges for the particular project you are working on. Different freelancers charge differently based on the platform.
We recommend Fiverr and Upwork for literally any project.
However, there are other freelance websites that focus on a single niche. A good example is 99designs – they focus on design-related projects.
Even if they all come in around $50/hour, for example, it’s good to know how many others are charging before deciding on one company.
You can also check out PeoplePerHour, oDeskWork, and Guru.
See the 10 Best Fiverr Alternatives to Outsource Your Project.
Final Thought
The bottom line here is “how you want your business to look like.”
If you want a lean, mean, marketing machine that gives your clients only what they pay for, then outsourcing may be for you.
If you love doing things yourself and you are good at multitasking, then self-service may be better for your workflow.
However, the key here is knowing when not to do something yourself and allowing yourself time to focus on areas of growth or revenue creation in your business.
Outsourcing has become increasingly popular as more and more people are working on long-term projects or with specific skill sets.
If you follow these guidelines in this article, you’ll be able to work well with your freelancer no matter what kind of project you’re working on.
If you read this article to the end, and you find this guide very helpful, please leave a comment below. This will help me know if this article is perfect or need more research and change or adjustments.
Lest I forgot, if you need the best Fiverr alternative, check this article
