Save Money when Hiring a Freelancer
A freelancer is anyone that is self employed and sells a certain skill to their clients. These skills may be anything ranging from design to writing to cooking.
Steps
- Decide what end result you have in mind. What do you want the freelancer to do for you? Knowing this in advance means you can select the right type or freelancer for your job.
- Determine a budget. What is the task you want to have completed worth to you? If you have no budget range, finding the right freelancer is going to be impossible.
- Have a look at freelance market places to look at your options. Many people use online pages like oDesk to find freelancers in a certain category. Use this to get some quotes for your assignment.
- Pick a freelancer that can do what you want, within your budget. Sticking to these criteria will keep you from spending more than you can.
- Write down in detail what criteria have to be fulfilled for the assignment to be considered completed. This will prevent scenarios where you and the freelancer disagree over whether the project is done. A freelancer billing extra hours can get expensive really quickly.
- Bargain for price. The freelancer will tell you either a fixed rate or hourly rate. A fixed fee is more dependable, whereas an hourly rate could save you money. In general a fixed fee is a better idea. Usually getting 20% off is no big deal. If your freelancer asks $1000 for a job, offer $700, and explain that you have a limited budget. You will probably end up compromising at $750 or so.
- Consider whether the sum you negotiated is fair. If you are very good at talking down prices, you may have talked the freelancer into a bad position. Unhappy freelancers don't deliver good results!
- If you have any intention of working with this person again, pay them a little extra. Keep this in mind then you bargain. If you can manage to talk $300 off of the price but overpay $100 you will effectively save $200 but make the freelancer really happy!
Warnings
- Always define your job in advance and in detail
- Check a freelancer's portfolio before hiring them
