Dogs and bees, and freelancers, can smell fear. As someone who writes copy and produces marketing materials on a freelance basis, I can tell within five minutes of talking to a potential customer whether their fear of being overcharged will set the tone for our work together. I can also assure you that there are ways to retain quality and get good turnaround time on projects without being run through the wringer.

Some facts and suggestions on how to get the most bang for your outsourced buck:

Know that the freelancer is just as interested in being quick and efficient as you are.

People who are new to outsourcing might view me (the copywriting consultant) as someone who would try to milk them out of their last dime while dragging the project on forever. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Established freelancers typically juggle multiple projects at once. It makes much better business sense for us to complete two projects for two happy clients in two days, then deliver one project for one client in two days and have that client feel uneasy about the amount of time we spent on their work.

Freelancers practice the “what comes around goes around” way of doing business.

It’s just not in a freelancer’s best interest to be sketchy, sneaky or shady about the work we do for other people. It’s a small world, and word gets around fast. When the word is good, that means more referrals and business for us. Not to mention, freelance professionals are often on the other side of the coin, putting our trust in the hands of other service providers. We want our own jobs to be handled with the utmost care and professionalism, so that makes us highly sympathetic to our own customers.

Communication is key.

The more information the client provides, the easier it is for us to turn a quality project around for them. Let’s say that you’re the client and you’ve got a mini-promotion coming up. You want to create a teleseminar and develop marketing collateral for your website. Instead of handing the project to the freelancer piece by piece, it’s a much smarter idea to give a heads-up and complete overview of what’s about to come down the pike. They can then carve out a chunk of time devoted entirely to you and making your project the best it can be.

Hourly will get you better quality than flat fee projects.

People who fear being overcharged typically shy away from hourly rates and instead seek out hungry freelancers who are eager to outbid the next guy. But what inevitably happens here is that the freelancer who bidded low will become discouraged when he realized he’s agreed to charge you for 2 hours but to do the job right will require 4 or 6. The end result of this is shoddy work and a relationship of mistrust. If you take the high road with your freelancer and agree to pay hourly, you set the tone for mutual respect and a shared goal - to do a great job on your marketing and get you the results you want.

Freelancers are willing to “meet you in the middle” in terms of price.

Sure, budget is a concern for many of us, and rightfully so. Your freelancer will understand this, and be willing to work for compromise so that neither of you feels cheated by the relationship. To do this, set the project terms up front. Let’s say that you need someone to write and submit articles for you, but you’re worried about fees. Work out a compromise where the freelancer is doing the writing and you’re doing the submitting. There is always more than one way to solve a problem. Your freelancer should be willing to work with you on this.

Go for long-term value.

Short-sighted people look for a quick way to profit - but it hurts them in the long run. You’ll find these types of clients lurking on Elance.com, looking for a one-shot-Charlie to do their website and never speak to them again. They run through many freelancers in a year. Their business image is probably nothing to squeak at. If they care at all, they probably spend a lot of time redoing what could have been done right the first time, if they hadn’t been so eager for “cheap and easy.”

It’s much smarter to find a consultant with a reputation for quality, who you can depend on month after month, year after year, to understand your needs, know your business, and offer you great value for your money. People who really care about building value-based freelance relationships shop in their own neighborhoods - looking to friends, colleagues and associates for good, solid referrals.

That’s because they know what a wild and woolly world it is out there, and they can get so much more done with someone of character, talent, and integrity on their side.

If you work with freelancers… how would you rate the quality of your relationship?

Copyright 2008 Dina Giolitto, Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing. All rights reserved.

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Email Dina@Wordfeeder.com for a copywriting or website marketing quote today.

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