Choosing who you hire to build your website is not a decision your company should take lightly. There are numerous factors to take into consideration – timeline, experience, quality, cost, rapport to name a few.
In my experience I would suggest that the idea of hiring a freelancer for your next project is not given much thought, if any at all. After all, you want the experience, and quality that only an established company can provide, right?
Wrong! Well, in the most part.
I’m sure you’re looking for all these qualities and more, but the idea that only a company can provide them is a large misconception. Freelancers often provide above and beyond the traditional business model, because they don’t have the limitations that most companies are bound by.
You should hire a freelancer for your next project, and I’ll explain why.
Quality
The first and foremost reason for hiring a freelancer is the quality of work. A freelancer is useless without a good portfolio, and to maintain clients, a high standard is a continual requirement. A freelancer is directly responsible for every piece of work produced, and every job must be treated as such.
When you work with a freelancer it’s very much ‘what you see is what you get’ – you will have seen their work, and you know they will be the one working on your project. You will be getting the expertise and quality of work that you paid for directly, not that of whoever has been allocated to work on your project.
Communication / Rapport
Communication in any business is important to the success of a project. As mentioned above, when you hire a freelancer, you know that you will be dealing with that person 100% of the time – not a sales rep, account manager, designer or secretary. A freelancer must understand every aspect of the project, and as such, the project will not get lost in translation. You can rest assured that you will have a single point of contact from start to finish.
Freelancers are also generally available outside of traditional working hours, and will provide you with direct contact details, understanding that clients may have different circumstances, and be able to adapt as required.
Through working closely with a freelancer, it is likely that both parties will develop a solid rapport, aiding in the understanding of the project and contributing to the final product in a way not possible through traditional business models. Developing this connection will also build the foundation for a strong relationship likely to continue for future ventures, beyond the extent of the project at hand.
Experience
A common misconception is that a freelancer doesn’t hold the experience equivalent to that of a business with several employees. While this is most likely true if you consider a time based measure, it can be quite the opposite if the level of knowledge, skill and specialisation is compared. In fact, many freelancers start out because they seek to further their knowledge in their industry, unable to further develop their skills and knowledge in their previous position.
Furthermore, a freelancer’s experience is directly evident and they are often required to adapt to learn multiple skill sets, not being restricted to what is already understood and practiced. A freelancer will work from start to finish, adapting and specialising in all aspects of the project, not just filling in a position on a production line.
Timeline
Another misconception is that freelancers are less likely to meet deadlines, as opposed to a business with multiple staff members, as they can have multiple people working on a single project at once.
In fact, freelancers are more adaptable to deadlines, and able to undertake jobs in a lesser time frame as they are the only person that needs to be available for a project. Freelancers also generally have smaller schedules to manage, and are more available, often working outside the traditional working hours and are less susceptible to distractions from co-workers or company politics.
Good time management is vital for a freelancer, as missing a deadline has the potential to push out the schedule of other jobs that may be waiting. As such, it is imperative that a freelancer adheres to deadlines and manages their time efficiently as they are directly responsible for the result.
Flexibility
This is perhaps one of the most valuable attributes of a freelancer – working as sole operators means that all decisions are made directly by themselves.
A freelancer is his/her own boss, and can use their own discretion to make decisions based on the circumstance, not policy. They are not limited to specific software or procedure, and generally have experience with a large variety of tools, able to adapt to the project at hand, rather than adapting the project to suit a company’s ability.
Freelancers pride themselves on high availability, the ability to work on projects outside of office hours, and as mentioned previously, often supply a direct contact number to clients.
A freelancer is not a Salesman
This is a point which may often be overlooked, but it is important to note that a freelancer is providing a service, not making a sale. A freelancer will ensure that you are being delivered exactly what you are looking for, and a freelancer will know exactly what they are talking about.
A freelancer seeks a continued relationship with your business, and intends to make a difference. It is in a freelancer’s best interest to make your project successful, and their interests go far and beyond getting proposal approval or making a sale – the freelancer is there with you every step of the way.
Innovation
Finally, freelancers are innovative, and constantly push boundaries because they can, and because they need to.
Freelancers are able to spend more time researching, discovering and experimenting to produce results that deliver beyond the standard. A freelancer is not limited to a standard process, and not bound by a specific procedure.
Innovation is important to a freelancer as they intend to prove their worth – and completing work that is new, different and beyond the capabilities and flexibility of traditional business, ensures this is the case.
To summarise, hiring a freelancer can be very beneficial to your next project. A freelancer is generally a highly experienced individual, capable of producing work that exceeds the quality of competing businesses, able to deliver in a prompt timeframe, and provide exceptional communication.
Freelancers are flexible and innovative, and strive to produce work that surpasses your expectations. Not bound by company policy or limited to one aspect of the project, a freelancer is with you every step of the way. As discussed, the misconceptions inherent with hiring a freelancer are completely unfounded, and in a lot of cases, the exact opposite of the reality.
When you do progress with your next project, consider the benefits of hiring a freelancer, and make sure the solution you choose is the right one for your company.
Great post on dispelling the various stereotypes often placed on the freelancing community. Unfortunately, I find that these disparaging generalizations are often times born from client’s past dealings with some of our less scrupulous counterparts. How many times have you heard, “I hired a person that (insert scenario) and am unhappy with the amount of time, money and energy I have already wasted.”?
As long as a freelancer respects their own business enough to deliver beyond expectations, there is absolutely no reason for a company not to consider hiring a freelancer for their project (though this is blasphemy coming from me since I just opened the doors to my design studio).
Hey Erik – you’re totally right. Not all freelancers may be up to scratch, and dealing with them has probably lead to the misconceptions in the first place.
It’s important that a freelancer and their work is carefully considered before being given job approval, as you would when looking to hire a design company.
Hope the new studio is going well, its a big step
I think both a freelancer, and a company can be gauged by their previous work. Especially recent work, so you know you’ll still be dealing with the same team. We don’t have a problem pointing potential clients in the direction of existing clients for feedback either.
I really am with you on this one and think that for the right project, either a company or a freelancer is perfectly suitable. If customers get stung, perhaps they didn’t do the full research to identify the “cowboy” before signing up.
Just wanted to say nice article, found it very interesting to read. Love your site as well.
Very good article. Hope you also post how to success in web design business.
This is the kind of information/opinion that really needs more ‘airtime’. Anyone care to go halvers on a global educational advertising campaign. We must break down the misconceptions.
I think the industry as a whole would benefit if it were left in the hands of passionate freelancers. The only way this can happen is if clients are made aware of these kinds of arguments and thereby opening their minds to the possiblity of gaining outstanding service from the ’small guy’.
In fairness, there are of course some web studios producing quality work, so really in an attempt not to be “sizeist” perhaps we should just categorize the ethical versus the unethical producers and leave it at that. So long as we all have a level playing field, our work can speak for itself, right?
Very good post Jay – was a very good read – and loving the design and feel to you overall site.
all the best
You give courage to freelancers.
Thanks for this good article.
Very good post.
Just wanted to say great! post articles related to How to grow freelancing business.
Love it! Great post
Great post! now if we can just email your post link to “All Business”
As someone who is about to embark on the freelance journey this is a timely piece. I actually think a lot of bigger companies are more willing and acceptant of freelancers working for them and it is the smaller companies that generally tend to be wary of hiring freelancers. Same for anyone else or is it just me?
Thanks for the post. As another person thinking about taking the step across to being a freelancer, this article is very interesting!
Great post!
Super!, Excellent post!
A really good post Jay, (and I must say that your website in general is great!) I turned freelance about six months ago and never imagined I would be as busy as I am right now… I have been fortunate not to have to look for a single piece of work so far. it’s all come to me. I’m really glad that I took the step – just being your own boss is totally liberating I have found.
Anyway, keep up the great work
Matt
UK
Who’s going to finish your clients’ websites if you get hit by a bus and die?
@yura – I’ll let you know if it happens.
But you will be dead! lol
I’m so glad I came across this article. It really highlights the positive aspects of hiring a freelancer and what to expect. Thanks!
All a bit black and white for me – there are good freelancers and terrible freelancers out there – just as there are agencies/companies. And nearly all of your positive points for freelancers could just as easily be applied to larger agency models if so desired.
“A common misconception is that a freelancer doesn’t hold the experience equivalent to that of a business with several employees” – this isn’t a “misconception”, it’s true.
What’s important is that each business finds the best fit for them – big, small, one man, one hundred man – everyone’s got right partner out there somewhere!
P.S – I’m a one-man-band too.
Awesome post Jay……i visited your blog for the first time and now i think i should regularly visit your blog to get some helpful tips.
Thanks for posting this article.
Thanks for the insightful comments guys.
@Darren – you raise some good points. As mentioned in a few of the other comments – obviously there are good/bad freelancers available and it is important to judge their work as you would with any other professional (business or otherwise).
Yes you could apply these points to larger agency models, but this article is about hiring freelancers and it is communicated as such. I do believe experience is a misconception, and I can think of various examples for both sides of the argument.
Your’re final point is spot on – totally agree.
Excellent Jay! I was about to write something similar but you’ve already done it in high fashion! Clear and simple. You could have added that many times the client is basically hiring a freelancer anyway cause most of the companies are very likely to outsource that job to someone else. The client will have more difficulty communicating his goals and will pay both the freelancer and the mediator (i.e. the design company). Cheers!
I think that these days more and more companies are looking to freelancers for website design work, especially those with solid portfolios and experience. There are of course a huge range of web design freelancers with different levels of skills and experience. I guess that some clients feel that design agencies are a safer option for them. You’re definitely right in saying that freelancers have a lot to offer, mainly because of the vast experience they have had.