How to Hire the Right Mix of Freelancers From Around the World

Freelancing and working remotely has pretty much become common practice for those looking for more flexibility and autonomy regarding how and when they decide to work. This means that the talent pool is so much greater than ever for businesses looking to hire. So, if you’re looking for diversified talent that reaches beyond your four walls, here are some helpful tips on how to hire the right mix of freelancers from around the world.

Decide what type of work you’d like to outsource

Of course, before you even consider looking elsewhere for others to help carry the workload, you must need their skill set. For example, it might be helpful to create a brief that details your objectives as a company that will, hopefully, help determine the range of skill sets you need for your business.

Choose wisely

Just because you have a large talent pool to choose from doesn’t mean that everyone is equally qualified for the job. Therefore, it is in your business’s best interests to choose wisely before deciding on the first enthusiastic freelancer that comes along. Before you consider reaching out to them, you can do your homework beforehand by checking out their profile on their social media platform. Furthermore, you should skim through their profile even further to see if they have the credentials and experience to support what they’re about. This sort of attention to detail can assist you in making the wiser choice, as opposed to just selecting anyone based on what they say they can do.

Knowing your options

As far as the term freelancers go, there are a few types of freelancers to choose from that work a specific way; take, for example, moonlighters who probably aren’t in the market for full-time work but would prefer to offer their skill set on a part-time basis only versus independent contractors who are can offer their services full-time (although part-time can be an option here too).

Where to find reputable freelancers

Again, it is pretty easy to find reputable freelancers these days just by perusing freelancing sites such as Upwork, Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, etc. Alternatively, you could use common job boards such as LinkedIn or Indeed to advertise your job post to find suitable freelancers ready and willing to give their services.

Formulating agreements

Creating a contract that will stand between you and them is always a good idea to ensure that expectations are met on either end. If you don’t know where to start on this front, there are plenty of examples of contract templates for remote workers that you can find easily online. Agreements will also have to be made concerning how and when they will get paid. For example, it is probably easier to use international payment systems such as PayPal if your freelancer banks in a different country than you.

Communication is heavily relied upon

If you plan on outsourcing multiple freelancers, then communicating online will be your primary way of ensuring things get done and done on time. Therefore, you might choose to use messaging apps such as Slack or WhatsApp to circulate messages. Speaking of communicating more effectively, suppose you want to communicate more effectively with your freelance graphic rather than just sending random JPGs over email in the hopes they will understand your intention for these. You could turn your image into a PDF with a PDF converter tool to convert multiple JPGs into a single PDF without reducing the quality of your images in any way.

Finding freelancers to complement your business is easy enough to do if you utilize the various software. This should make connecting with them simpler to do and allow you to communicate with them as if they were sitting right there in front of you.

Lucy Reed has been starting businesses since she was a kid, from the lemonade stand she opened in her parent’s driveway at age 10 to the dog walking business she started while in college. She created Gig Mine because she was inspired by the growth of the sharing economy and wanted to make it easier for entrepreneurial individuals like herself to find gig opportunities in their areas.