How to Find and Hire A Freelancer: From Someone Who Has Worked With Hundreds of Freelancers

Note: This post includes affiliate links, which means, that if you sign up, it financially helps me create more valuable content for freelancers.

With decades of experience finding, hiring, and working with hundreds of freelancers I've learned many lessons of success and failure and I am sharing those insights here for you now.

I'll share about FreeUp and Design Pickle, two great places to work with talented freelancers.

Find Freelancers on LinkedIn: Urgency and Specialty

LinkedIn is a great quick way to find out if you already know the freelancer you're seeking.

Often, when a company needs a freelancer, they need them because they have an urgent project and/or they have a specific problem that requires a freelance specialist to solve.

Knowing a freelancer that you can immediately contact and who you know can reliably solve the problem, is key.

In my case, I'm often reaching out to freelancers who help solve my client's needs. While I specialize in content marketing and SEO, I'm not a logo designer. So, when my client needs a logo designer, I refer my client to my go-to logo design freelancer (Note: if you are a freelancer make sure you stay in touch with others and brand yourself with your specialty so that they know to contact you when the need arises).

So, if you need to find a freelancer I recommend simply searching LinkedIn for the skillset and also adding the word freelancer to your search query. For example, your search would look like one of the following queries.

• Freelance Logo designer (or contract logo designer)
• Freelance video editor
• Joomla freelancer
• Freelancing SEO specialist (or SEO consultant)

Narrow your LinkedIn search to 1st connections and see if anyone you already know is a freelancer in that category.

Search freelancer, consultant, contractor, and see who else shows up. You can also expand to second-level connections if you don't find anyone. And, you can also ask people you know if they recommend anyone.

Knowing a freelancer who is good and reliable is my go-to option for bringing a freelancer into a client's project, this isn't always an option.

For these other scenarios, I recommend utilizing FreeUp and Design Pickle.

Let's explore them both starting with Freeup.

Instead of Hiring People Using Upwork, Use FreeUp To Hire Vetted Freelancers (the top 1%)

Countless companies hire freelancers using Upwork. They should be using FreeUp to make their lives easier.

One of the challenges of finding a talented and reliable freelancer is the search and filtering process.

Whenever I've posted a job to Upwork, I get hundreds of applications that I must spend tons of time sorting through to find the right freelancer. And when I choose one, I have no idea if my choice is a good one.

With FreeUp, they've already handled the screening process so any freelance candidates they send my way after I've put in a service need, are already vetted.

With FreeUp, I'm not choosing between a sea of unknown choices but rather a handful of great qualified freelancers.

Unlike Upwork, FreeUp does not allow any freelancer into their marketplace. Freelancers must meet a value standard.

When I investigated this standard, it was in close alignment with the values and strategies I outlined in my book on how to succeed as a freelancer. So, it was a no-brainer to use FreeUp and I've consistently done so with numerous clients of mine who have been satisfied with their freelancers.

In addition to the quality control, FreeUp also provides top-notch support so if you have any issues or need help, they will step in to rectify and guide you. Compared to Upwork, there is a night and day difference and a no-brainer to find freelancers through FreeUp.

A Variety of Freelance Talent

What's also great about FreeUp is that they've got freelancing talent across the board so pretty much any category of freelancer you're seeking can be found in their marketplace.

From administrative assistants to web developers, they've got you covered.

Here's a sample list of options. You can see the full list on their site here.

• Customer service
• Social media marketing
• E-commerce and Amazon selling support
• Copywriting

FreeUp has entry, mid, and expert-level freelancers. Here's how the pricing ranges.

• Expert level = $75 -$30 per hour
• Mid-level = $30 - $15 per hour
• Entry level = $15 - $5 per hour

And you can also hire someone locally or overseas. You can also pick by their country. And to close it out, here is how Freeup describes itself.

"FreeUp is a platform that connects busy entrepreneurs with the top 1% of freelance talent in the world so that you can get to work faster. We help you shortcut the hiring process by pre-vetting the candidates for skills, attitude, and communication. That means no more wading through hundreds of applications to find the diamond in the rough, we do it for you. Whether you need a virtual assistant, web designer, video editor, customer service rep, expert marketing consultants, or anything else, we’ll connect you with a pre-vetted freelancer so you can take your business to the next level."

If You Need a Graphic Design or Video Production Freelancer, Sign Up For Design Pickle

I first stumbled upon Design Pickle when the client I was working with was already a subscriber of their system.

Design Pickle is practically unlimited graphic design with a fixed monthly fee. Even more streamlined than FreeUp, with Design Pickle you simply subscribe and they'll assign top-notch freelancer talent to your project.

If you need any type of graphic design or graphic video production, I recommend signing up for Design Pickle. If the project is urgent, why have you not signed up?

It's a flat monthly fee and you simply put in requests for all the projects you want to do and they'll work through them throughout the month.

Design Pickle Project Example

Have you ever had a time-sensitive project and needed an awesome team to make it happen? Below is the finished promotional video for my client Dominion Revenue Solutions (DRS).

The Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice had an upcoming conference and my client, Blessing C. Jonas, founder of DRS, needed a video for the sponsorship program.

Blessing and I worked out a video script and we sent it over to the terrific Amanda Utter (freelance voice talent) to record a phenomenal voiceover for the video. With the voiceover in hand, we leveraged Design Pickle's video production service package and I worked with their video editor, personally providing artistic direction, to produce the finished video you see below.

It's awesome to see a project like this go from idea to finished and it could not be possible without the awesome people who helped make it happen.

Design Pickle Packages

Their Graphics Premium plan is $1,949 per month which includes their video editing service.

If don't need video production, spend $1,249 per month on their graphics plan, which includes presentation design work.

And if you're simply in need of graphic design and illustration work, you can go with the $649 starter plan.

If you want to learn more, book a free consultation with them here.

Asking Leaders You Trust For A Freelance Referral

One other way you can find a freelancer is by asking people and leaders you know if they have a freelancer they can recommend.

Business owners of all types, sizes, and industries have and are currently working with freelancers. Tell them what you need and ask if they know someone.

If you're not sure who to ask in your network, I recommend reaching out to any entrepreneur friends you have including marketing agency owners and business strategy consultants.

And, Ask Your Freelancers To Take the Big 5 Personality Test

Whether you've already chosen your freelancer or you're narrowing down some final candidates, I highly recommend you have them take the science-backed Big 5 personality test.

By understanding the personality of those you are working with, it will help alleviate issues that may crop up and also understand how to get the most out of the working relationship.

538 has a free version of the test here. Ask your freelancer to take the personality test and send you a screenshot of the results.

if you prefer a paid and more thorough version, you can leverage this paid version of the test here.

Once You've Landed A Talented Freelancer, Here Is How To Work With Them

For $9.99, I've got an online course you can take to learn key strategies and tactics for working with freelancers. The key to a positive working relationship is the following values.

• Defined Intentions
• Engagement Structure
• Project Management Setup
• Ideal Working Relations

The lack of capacity and appropriate skill level are two reasons companies reach out to freelancers to help bridge the gap. While this partnership extends production and provides flexibility to the business, it can also become the source of their frustration. On the flip side, freelancers can be left in the stressful wake of working with over-demanding companies.

So, how do we get unified and work together effectively?

We need to understand our respective intentions, know the structure of how we'll work together, have a system for managing projects, and create a harmonious working relationship. In this course, we'll dive into all four of these areas and more as we discover how companies and freelancers can work well together.

If you manage and work with freelancers, you'll want to purchase this course. Here's what you'll learn.

• How companies can work effectively and efficiently with freelancers
• How to define and answer what it means to be intentional
• Learn how to build a sweet spot working relationship
• Explore a mindset and project management framework to effectively manage projects
• Explore a system for working with freelancers that establishes accountability, communication, and reflection points

If this course is a helpful resource to work more effectively with your freelancers, click here to learn more and purchase.

"I find the instructor to be very intelligent, thoughtful, and sincere." - Ronald H.

Click here to purchase. And, if you have any questions, simply send them my way and I'll be happy to answer them.

Some of My Go-To Freelancers

For those who want a referral from me, here are a handful of freelancers I recommend.

• For social media marketing, Toby Bloomberg is your specialist
• For personal & vocational coaching, Jim Karwisch is your guy
• For wedding photography, contact Austin Gros
• For Airtable and automation, reach out to Alessio Monino
• For project management, reach out to Jenny Clara 
• For book writing help, Denise Renee is your expert
• If you need a voiceover, contact Amanda Utter