Outsourcing 101 - Finding Freelance Talent
There has been a lot of talk recently about outsourcing and the use of virtual assistants to free up your time to do more "productive things".
I have personally been outsourcing certain aspects of my business for some time now (probably a couple of years), but really got me fired up on the subject after reading 4-hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.
So, what portions of my business do I outsource?
As much as possible… 
OK, in all seriousness I generally outsource work that I consider "$10 an hour" type of work.
For instance, hiring a ghost writer for writing articles for syndication (stuff you release to get backlinks from article directories etc.); article directory submissions; link directory submissions; submitting press releases; creating website graphics (header graphics, ebook covers etc.); and the list goes on…
Outsourcing some of your more mundane tasks can be a great idea since it frees you up to do other more profitable tasks, but unfortunately it can also create unforeseen problems for the first time "outsourcer" (is that a word… if not, it is now).
The problems I’ve personally encountered when hiring for outsourced talent are… hiring a person that’s dishonest, unethical and/or unreliable.
As a side note, it seems I’ve encountered this more frequently when hiring freelance writers (ghost writers) than anything else.
So, how do you find a reliable freelancer?
I’ve used four different ways to find great freelancers:
1. Other Internet Marketers
You’ve probably gotten to know some marketers online (through forums and such) that can direct you to a "reliable" people that offer the various services that you require for your online marketing endeavors. Referrals from active marketers is probably the single best way to get find a freelancer, since they wouldn’t refer you to someone they’ve had a bad experience with.
2. Your "Warm Market"
This could be family members, friends, acquaintances… I’ve used "stay at home moms" who wants to earn some money from home to write articles for me; and have also found a couple of people from a local college who’ve wanted to earn a few extra bucks. Ask around, you might be surprised at what you might find.
3. Forums
Forums are a relatively good place to find freelance workers as well. I’ve found a couple of great writers as well as graphic designers through forums such as the "Warrior Forum" and the "Digital Point Forum".
If people are advertising their services on the forum and you’re actually considering hiring this person… I would highly recommend that you do a search for posts by this individual and read through as many posts as you can to make sure they’re on the "up and up".
For what it’s worth, the people I’ve found to be reliable were mostly found through the Warrior Forum; and they all advertised their work in the Warrior Special Offers section. If you look here look for unsolicited testimonials of their work (in the form of a forum post).
4. Online Marketplaces
Online Marketplaces such as elance.com or guru.com can be a good place to find good people as well. Just be sure to choose writers that have a good feedback rating and don’t hire based on price alone (it’s hardly ever worth it). Also, I would highly recommend that you are VERY descriptive in what you are looking for.
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No matter where you hire people from, always make sure you ask them for samples or a portfolio of their work.
Would you buy a car sight unseen? Or buy a pair of shoes without trying them on? Hopefully not… so be sure you get a good feel for the quality of work they offer.
If you end up hiring people from your warm market and they are not "professional freelancers" then ask them to write a couple of articles (or design a couple of things) for you.
Also, it’s a good rule of thumb to ask the freelancer what type of topics they are able to write about. In other words, don’t assume that they can write well on different topics. Particularly when it comes to "specialized" subjects. Allow them to write within their comfort zone. This way you can ensure you get better quality work on a regular basis.
[tags]outsourcing, freelance writing, hiring freelance writers, ghost writer, find ghost writer[/tags]
Comments
Great post and tips! It’s sad that my fellow writers out there have been dropping the ball. But I’m glad you’ve found a few great freelancers out there!
Thanks Courtney, I appreciate your comments!
It took some trial and error until I found the right partners… but now we’re humming!
I write a weekly article for someone else’s site. The reason I took this offer was to help my new site off the ground, and to reach a larger audience. After my first month, he doubled what he is paying, without me saying a word, which was nice.
Here’s my question: I am not necessarily writing for this site for the money, I’m doing it to help develop my own site. However, he is getting 1000+ word articles from me on topics that require specialized knowledge. Do you think that after another month or two I should ask him to pay me by the word? Right now, I figure we’re both getting a good deal, but when it comes right down to it, he would have to pay someone who knows less about my niche more money to write for him.
I appreciate your advice.
Thanks
Hi there,
I’m not sure if I am the right person to ask for advice since I don’t actually sell my services… I’m the guy who buys them :).
However, I encourage you to increase prices if your knowledge is highly specialized and in demand.
I guess the question you need to ask yourself would be, “how easy would it be to replace me?”
As for whether you should charge by the word… well, I can only speak from personal preference, which is to pay a flat fee by the article.
However, I have had reports and ebooks written for me in the past where they have charged me by the word…
I would suggest you do some investigating on various forums as to how and what people charge for writing in a specialized field.
Hope this helps,
Steven
Great post. I am tired of doing all this stuff myself and am looking for all the info I can get. My time is too valuable to do everything. Plus, not outsourcing things is probably why I have been stuck at an income plateau.
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