4 Ways to Hire + Work Effectively with Freelancers
Hey founders and other folks who hire freelancers! I’m so excited you found this post. I’ve worked closely with so many founders as a freelance copywriter and storyteller, and I’ve also hired freelancers for my own projects. I know how challenging it is to hire and work effectively with freelancers, and I’m here to help.
Here are my top 4 tips to working effectively with freelancers in the web3 space or just generally for your startup:
Tip #1: Understanding a Freelancer’s Market Rate
Every freelancer has their “market rate.” Their rates are what they will be paid in the marketplace. Sometimes these rates are negotiable, sometimes they’re not if a freelancer is in high-demand.
For example, my rate is $350/hr as a freelance copywriter + storyteller. For some, this is way out of their budget. For others, they’re wanting to work with the absolute best freelance writer on planet Earth and don’t want to waste time with a $5/hr copywriter who can’t proofread their own work. You get what you pay for when it comes to hiring, so budget accordingly for what you need. I wrote a whole other post about this if you’re deciding between a seasoned expert or a more affordable newbie.
Whatever you do, don’t belittle a freelancer’s rate — even if they’re out of your budget. And always always always check their rates and see if they’re available before you hop on a call so you can make sure you’re not wasting anyone’s time. There’s no shame in not being able to afford a freelancer — all startups and web3 projects allocate budgets differently. Just be honest and filter through freelancers based on price instead of trying to negotiate someone down too far below their rate.
Remember, if a freelancer is charging a lot and they have a solid track record, they’ve probably got a lot of clients paying that rate, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to set their rate that high.
Tip #2: Optimize Your Time with Discovery Calls and Test Tasks
To save your time and your potential freelancer’s time, read up about them and check out any portfolio materials. If they’ve got what you’re looking for, set a free discovery call and do a “vibe check” before offering them a test task.
At every stage, set a high bar. Does this freelancer’s portfolio match up with what you want? Are they cool and friendly and somebody you’d want to work with for the duration of your project? Are they able to follow instructions for a test task?
If you work with freelancers, you’re going to have a fairly high turnover because flexible talent is just that, so make sure you have your hiring systems and processes down.
Tip #3: Set Clear Expectations Before the Project Starts
Get clear with your freelancer from the start on what’s expected from your engagement with them.
Are you buying hours of your freelancer’s time (are they working hourly?) or are you buying a set of deliverables tied to a fixed-rate?
Remember, if you’re buying hours of your freelancer’s time, they may spend those hours on things like research, meetings with you/your team, and other reasonable work-related tasks that you assign them. If you want to restrict a freelancer’s weekly hour billing, you can set weekly hour limits, or start with a test task to see how efficient they are with their time. If this doesn’t sit right with your budget, then consider fixed-rate, milestone-based pricing instead.
If you’re engaging a freelancer as if they’re a part of your team, you’re going to want to pay hourly, especially if you expect them to keep up with a Slack or Microsoft Teams, or be in meetings with you.
Here is where things might get tricky: make sure you’re clear on the laws regarding 1099 contractors vs. employees. Consult with your lawyer for all the details, but from my understanding, this is the difference: if you are telling someone when to work, how to work, and giving them the tools to work with, they are an employee. If someone is working when they want, how they want, and using their own tools, they’re a contractor/freelancer.
That doesn’t mean you can’t loop freelancers into meetings with you and your team, but it does mean you can’t force them to work on a schedule you set for them (i.e. a freelancer can log on and off at any time they please, and you can set a deadline with them but it’s up to them to structure their time to hit that deadline.)
Also, depending on the contract you have set up with a freelancer, either you or the freelancer can end the contract whenever they want. You can create details in your freelancing contract about what a cancellation looks like. This could be something like either party must give the other a 7-30 day notice, etc. How does payment get settled in the event of a cancellation? Think about this with your legal team.
Don’t assume freelancers do business like you do: get things clear, in writing, and communicate upon the start of a project. Professional freelancers like myself will clarify at the start of a project some of these details, or have this info in the contracts we use, but founders should think this through, also.
Tip #4: Work to Retain Your Top Talent
Remember that freelancers have multiple clients they’re working with simultaneously. It’s up to us freelancers to budget time so we’re not overstretched and so you get our best work, and it’s also on us to keep finding better and better clients and projects that excite us.
Working with freelancers is a ~little~ like dating. I don’t have an agency (it’s just me!) and no desire to start one, so my bandwidth has a maximum ceiling. If you find a freelancer you love, treat them with respect and pay them well — they’ve got other suitors that are constantly courting them if they’re good.
Treating your freelancers with respect might seem obvious, but it’s not. I’ve had clients get aggressive with me when they were trying to monopolize my time or get me to break my boundaries or commitments for them beyond the scope of our agreed project, and all of those things are major dealbreakers.
I’m here to do the best copywriting and storytelling work for the coolest projects and kindest people — full stop. I only have so much life to live and I want to live it working with kickass people on stuff we all believe in.
Inspire your freelancers (and teams in general!) to bring their A-Game, and they will.
If they don’t, there are other fish in the sea, so keep looking.
Happy building!
Want to hire me as a freelance copywriter/storyteller? Drop me a note below. Want to read more of my resources for clients and founders? Check out my blog category here.
