Hiring your First Freelancer
Article by Pierre Zarokian. 
As you begin your first business endeavor, you’ll quickly realize you can’t do it all on your own. Growing businesses scale, which means they need more employees to do the tasks needed to keep the business operational. Most fledgling businesses staff themselves with contractors, but that requires intimate knowledge of hiring and paying for your contractor. Here are the basics from Charge.com.
Creating the Gig
Your first step in finding a quality contractor is to create a gig that details everything you need from your worker. Describe the job in steps, if possible, and be as specific as possible about what you need your worker to do. Ask only for qualifications relevant to your project, and make sure they understand your instructions by writing in very clear English.
Interviewing
Skype is one of the most useful tools you have to interview someone for a job over the Internet. You’ll get some face time over the candidate’s web camera, and you’ll be able to observe them as they respond to your questions. This helps you get to know a freelancer on a more personal level.
Payment
Once you’ve hired your freelancer, and they’ve done their job, you need to pay them. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Make sure your rates are low. If you like a freelancer, but working for you is costing this person lost revenue, they may not work with you again. Ask the freelancer if they can use credit card machines and reduce their costs with specialty debit/credit cards.
- Make sure the funds arrive on time. The longer it takes for a freelancer to receive his or her money, the longer it takes for them to pay their expenses. If your wallet transfers funds quickly, freelancers will be more likely to work with you.
Bear in mind that freelancing is a two-way street. Contractors shouldn’t expect too much of an employer, and employers should be willing to try and be flexible and meet the needs of the workers they hire.
About the Author: Pierre Zarokian is a Digital Marketer and CEO of Submit Express, an SEO company, Reputation Stars , an online reputation management company. In his spare time, he likes to make EDM music. You can listen to some of his tracks at Pierre Zarokian‘s Soundcloud page.