As I mentioned in my previous post, an important part of the outsourcing process is to choose a freelancer. You will probably have more than one so you want to get this part right.
Depending on the job, you may get many replies. Sifting through them can be a chore so why not go for fewer replies but replies from those who can actually so the job?
Writing Your Project Description
I touched on that briefly in my previous post. You can save yourself and prospective freelancers time and effort it you present your project properly.
Be specific in your title – say what you want done.
List the specific skills required to complete the project
List any additional qualifiers – eg English speaking
Include specific parameters such as programming language, timeline, your target audience etc.
For content, let them know that plagiarism is NOT accepted and that what is submitted will be passed though Copyscape (or the like) to verify it is unique.
NOTE: if there are privacy issues you can use a private description to include those details for those candidates that are selected
Evaluating Proposals
There are several things on which to evaluate the proposals you receive. Review and compare the following to make your selection:
- Price
- Feedback rating
- Prior work experience
- Communication skills
- Work samples
In addition to the above, look to see if the response looks like it is cut and paste or does it look personal.
Did the person actually read the proposal and answer your questions?
Match their Skills to the Project
Thi
s is so important. Make sure the person you hire has the skills and reputation in that area to to the job.
If your project includes different jobs requiring different skill sets, you will be best served by dividing the project into smaller discreet portions and hiring a freelancer for each part who’s skills are a match.
For example, if you want a blog created that contains a sales page and some related articles, you might hire one freelancer skilled in WordPress site setup to create the blog properly, and add your sales page (assuming it is already created) and hire someone skilled in creating content to write your posts.
Picking your Freelancer
Once you have selected a few good candidates, it is time to choose a freelancer to use on your project. Here are a few things you can do to help you make your choice.
While you are reviewing the bids, think of a question you can ask them. See what type of answer you receive and how quickly they respond.
You can also, for a small fee, have the candidates complete a small project and review the results looking for speed, accuracy, timeliness.
If you want to know more about selecting a freelancer, you can pick up mt free report “How to Outsource Like a Pro” here.
