How to Easily Find the Top One Percent Freelancers Online
There is no lack of independent freelancers in the world, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to find the top freelancer that’s right for your project. In fact, the sheer amount of freelancers online only makes it more difficult to sort through the pool and find someone highly skilled in their niche area. Quality work is essential to your livelihood, so you don’t want to trust your contract work to just anyone. Fortunately, it’s not impossible to find the kind of freelancer you need if you know where to look. Here are some of our suggestions:
Skip the Job Boards
Job boards like Upwork, Fiverr and People Per Hour are tempting because they’re so saturated with freelancers, especially because those freelancers are often willing to work for less pay than you might find elsewhere. However, while you might find quantity on these sites, it can be much harder to find quality. If you have a lower to mid-level task and the quality of the project isn’t as important as the fact that it gets done, you should have no issue using job boards. However, if you’re looking for someone truly top notch, it’s probably best to look elsewhere.
Where and How to Find Top Freelancers Online
Use Social Media
On the other hand, finding Facebook groups for independent freelancers can be an excellent way to find the right person for your next project. You can find groups for freelancers that are close to your location or freelancers all over the world, mention your job and wait for those who are interested to apply. Alternatively, you could just scroll through posts of the freelancers themselves and send the job to someone you’re interested in using. There are also several accounts on Twitter that will post your job for freelancers to apply, like Freelance Writing Jobs and Work at Home Jobs. LinkedIn is another great place to find freelancers, because it’s already so job oriented and has its own “more curated” job board.
Screen Heavily
Once you’ve found a potential freelancer, be sure to screen them thoroughly before coming to a decision. Look at their samples and their portfolio and compare them to the quality of work that you need. If you see references to their past work, check those sources as well. And of course, you want to do a thorough background check to make sure that there’s nothing they’re hiding in the interview process. One way to make this easier is to invest in paid screening and test assignments. Paid screening services have expertise and specificity in their background checks that make it well worth the investment.
Hire Slow
Take your time in hiring someone. Interview them to get a sense of their availability, communication, and their understanding of the work you need. If you notice any red flags in the interview process, trust your instincts. The last thing you want is to end up in a contract with someone you find it difficult to work with. While you might feel a sense of urgency to hire quickly so as to get started on the work, it’s more important to make sure you have the right person before you make the decision to hire them.
Fire Fast
On the flip side, if things aren’t working out with your chosen freelancer, you’ll probably notice early on. It can be uncomfortable to fire someone, but it’s more uncomfortable to drag things out if they’re wrong for the job–not to mention inefficient. If you have to constantly edit their work or hire someone else to redo that work, that freelancer is costing you far more than their work is worth. The best thing to do is to cut them loose, allow them to find a job that’s right for them, and move on to find the right freelancer for you.
Top notch freelancers are out there. You just have to know where to find them and know not to settle for less.
I hope this information will help you to easily find the top one percent of freelancers online to get your jobs perfectly done.
Visit Leverage if you need any help getting the top best freelancers online.
