How to choose a freelancer and to work with him successfully?

So, you decided that you need a freelancer and not somebody else. Let’s discover together how to choose the most fitting specialist and not to lose!

1. At first, to find a good freelancer, you need to understand the field where you want to find a performer. You don't have to be a professional, for sure, but you need to know the basics. For example, if you want to order website development, explore what websites exist, what is a CMS and which system is better for your project, how to evaluate the web design, what functionality it can have, etc. All these will help you to define your project as clearly as possible. Furthermore, find out how much such work costs on the market average. You can view similar projects price, an overview of the salaries of the specialists you need in agencies or companies, hourly rates of top freelance performers and so on.

Therefore, at this stage you need to:

• form your requirements

• decide whether you need a beginner, middle or top freelancer

• understand the more or less cost of the project 

2. The next step is to create a project’s specification — the list of requirements to a freelancer about the work that needs to be done. For example, if you order a website creation in the specification you must mention requirements to the design and its adaptation for mobile devices, to the page-proofs and browsers versions where the site have to work correctly, to the functionality about what and how should work on the site etc. And if you order texts to fill your website, you have to point out the text’s task (to sell products, to entertain users, to attracts investors and so on), the number of symbols and even SEO requirements.

Project’s specification shouldn’t have subjective points: don’t write that you need a beautiful design, cause beauty estimate depends on the person. But you can mention that in the header you need a slider with 3 banners, under which must displays 10 promotional items with the price of each one. It is useful to add a few examples of works you like, highlighting what exactly you like — it will help the freelancer to understand your expectations better. Professional freelancers work due to a specification, remember it while creating a project.

3. Freelancer qualification depends on the project’s complexity and your budget. 

• A beginner web designer, for example, can create a simple banner without animation or a logo for a social network with ease, so you can don’t be afraid of a lose hiring such a performer. The main thing is to discuss all your requirements clearly.

• Middle freelancers, as a rule, have 2-3 years of experience and fits the most for typical projects, such as the website development without complex functionality based on some popular CMS. The main thing is to check the freelancer’s portfolio.

• Top freelancers, ordinarily, have personal websites or blogs, lead own courses and speak at conferences. They have a reputation in the professional community and work with either large budgets or interesting projects. In return, the client receives high-quality work.

Anyway, you need to talk with a freelancer before hiring them and decide whether their soft and hard skills meet your requirements, as well as your price satisfies them. Don’t forget to ask if the performer has a similar experience and work samples. Attach a specification to the message and ask to estimate the terms, decide whether you will use a time-tracker and how you will communicate. Optimal, to get in touch the freelancer every 2-3 days, sharing intermediate results of the done work.

4. Usually, freelancers work on a prepaid basis. For small projects, the amount of prepayment can vary between 30-50%, for large ones — nearly 10%. Prepayment motivates a freelancer to trust a performer, it’s like insurance that the employer won’t disappear once, on a wonderful day. But never give a large prepayment. In some cases, you may face a cheater who takes a prepayment and disappears. That’s why we recommend using a safe deal service at Beesy.pro and give an unbiased transparent help if the problem happens.

5. Try not to criticize the freelancer's work in a harsh manner. It can demotivate the performer and reduce the quality of work. All in all, you need to get a good job, so if you don't like something, ask for the changes correctly. Plus if you need to do something in excess of the first agreement (specification), ask to do for an extra charge.

Treat the freelancer the same way you would like to be treated. Build a constructive, friendly relationship. So you can get into the category of favorite customers, and I will tell you a secret: many freelancers make discounts, nice bonuses and often agree to do urgent or small work for reasonable money for such favorites.

Do not disappear: respond quickly to the freelancer's messages, without delaying the response for more than a day. Pay in time and don’t seek to save excessively. Pay as much as good work costs, and the freelancer will give you back 100% of efforts.

We have no doubts, that there are lots of good freelance specialists. Follow the tips from our article and you will not only choose the best fitting freelancer but enjoy the cooperation. Good luck!