I just had a great experience with a freelance coder, and I’d like to share a few tips on hiring freelancers online. I personally find that on a regular basis, I need to tweak my websites, add pages, experiment, etc., and I am not tech-y at all. I also like to try out new business models from time to time, which involves having a premium wordpress theme customized to my specifications and uploaded for me.
I have used a number of websites to find freelancers, and for the most part my experiences have been positive. I’ve never hired anyone truly awful. I’ve hired a few people whose skills weren’t up to what I needed, and for that reason I wouldn’t hire them again, but I have also hired a lot of people who were extremely talented and worked for very reasonable prices.
Here are some things that freelancers can do for you:
- Write articles and blog posts
- Design websites
- Customize wordpress blogs and other types of blogs
- Add new pages to your website, like a “products” or “services” page
- Add plugins
- Write ebooks
- Design ebook covers
- Create apps for you
- Do social media marketing for you
Here are the sites I’ve used to find freelancers:
www.odesk.com
www.vworker.com (I used it when it was rent-a-coder.com)
www.elance.com
www.guru.com
These two sites are internet marketing related, but they have sections on their sites where freelancers offer their services, and I have had GREAT success hiring freelancers from there:
www.thewarriorforum.com
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/
And here’s a site that I’ve never used, but I’ve heard a lot about: http://fiverr.com/
And here are some tips on not getting burned by freelancers:
1.) Pay fairly. Don’t cheap out. All you’ll get is a freelancer who is resentful and not particularly inspired to give you their best. Take it from me – I’m a freelancer.
2.) Ask to see samples or a portfolio of their work.
3.) VERY important – check to see how many recommendations they have. I know this makes it hard for people to get started as a brand new freelancer – but I don’t hire freelancers for anything expensive unless they have a lot of positive comments/reviews/ratings. And if that freelancer does a great job for you – help them out by offering to go back on the site and give them an excellent rating.
4.) If it’s an expensive job – sites like elance.com and odesk.com and guru.com and vworker.com have an escrow system – you pay the site, not the worker – and the site holds on to the money until the job is completed to your satisfaction. With sites like The Warrior Forum and Digital Point – if it’s a big project, I would offer to pay in stages. Maybe 1/3 up front, they finish 1/3, you pay them the second installment…this isn’t for $25 jobs, mind you.
5.) Make sure the terms are agreed on up front. What EXACTLY do you want the freelancer to do for you? Don’t go in and try to add more tasks to the project, unless you offer to pay them for it. When will they complete it by? What happens if they are late?
6.) After they are completed – consider changing your passwords to the sites they fixed up. Not because THEY are untrustworthy – but who else has access to their laptop? What happens when they throw away or sell their laptop? (or desktop. or tablet). It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
And finally…if they did a great job, consider paying them a bonus! Or at least pay them a little more than you originally agreed to. I do – and it makes for a happy, appreciative freelancer who will work very hard for you the next time you hire them.