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Jan 24 2018

 Hiring a Second Set of Freelance Hands

Hiring a professional isn’t a luxury; it’s almost always smart thinking. Just think about remodeling your bathroom on your own and you’ll understand what I mean.

To be productive sometimes you need a second set of hands to free up your time and mental energy, so you can do what you do best.

Fortunately, the internet has made it easy to find the brilliant and talented freelancers who can help you, at affordable rates. You’ll wonder why you ever hesitated to hire some help.

 

HOW TO HIRE A FREELANCER

What should you look for when you’re hiring a freelance writer or virtual assistant (VA)? Experience is a good start, but then again, there are lots of talented writers and VAs who are just starting out, so don’t weed out the newbies too quickly.

Ask for testimonials. Ask to see samples of work. Then talk to the freelancer about what you need. Can she do what you need done? Can she deliver on your timeline?

Craigslist is another great resource. You can post an ad for your project on Craigslist. Having said that,  as a writer perusing Craigslist for work, I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly.

Give as much detail as you can about who you are, where you are, what you’re looking for, and what kind of compensation you can offer. I see ads posted every day that are vague, nonsensical, arrogant, and many more that are just plain sketchy. I don’t have the time or energy to guess what I might be getting into should I take the time to get in touch. The freelancer who does have the time to respond to something poorly posted may be available for all the wrong reasons.

Post a well-written, detailed job listing. Put a call-to-action at the very end. This is to see who reads to the end, and can follow instructions.  Ask the applicant to respond with a link to his or her work or some testimonials with contact information.

If you are a small business owner, you should be networking with other small business owners (if you aren’t, you should be – that’s a whole other blog post). Ask other entrepreneurs for recommendations. Where I live, in Durham region, we have active, robust networking organizations; some of my best clients have come from networking meetings.

Check out other small business websites. If they’re good, find out who built the site. Ask who wrote the copy on the site, or who did the graphic design.

Use LinkedIn and Facebook, where you can search up “writer” or “communication specialist” and “virtual assistant” in your extended network.

One amazing resource is the job website Indeed.ca. Resumes are searchable, by keyword. If you search “writer” or “administrative assistant” in your city, dozens of great resumes will pop up.  Pick out a few that look promising, and go on Facebook and LinkedIn to do some due diligence.

Stephanie Regan has been writing professionally longer than she’d like to admit. Find out more about Stephanie at www.durhamwritingservices.com.

Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Stephanie Regan · Tagged: Facebook, freelance, hiring, Stephanie Regan, writing

Dec 07 2015

Just because I’m freelance doesn’t mean I’m free!

Sheralyn

In debating about a suitable topic for my December blog I happened across various poems and ramblings that I keep in an online journal.  I often “park” ideas that may prove useful at some future date in this journal and while most of them amount to nothing, occasionally I am inspired to explore one of these “parked” ideas further. Some of them end up posted in my blog “Random Rumblings from Suburbia.” Today, I share one here. The reason? This particular poem has to do with value.  How do you value yourself, your business and your service to others?

I won’t bore you with the whole poem although I do think it was quite clever. The essence had to do with providing writing services for free and how others perceive the value of that service. As I wrote, it also became a reflection of how I let others determine my value.  I choose to share this publicly today because I want you to know this more than anything else: Don’t ever let another person determine your value! The only person that should determine your value is you.

“I’m a freelance writer, self-employed but blue,

people think nothing of not paying you….

Create content they say, for the web or my blog

I can’t do it ‘cause my brains in a fog…..

 

Refrain….

Just because I’m freelance doesn’t mean I work for free

I have a mortgage and a family…..

 

But I’m busy they say, out hustling for money.

Finding customers to buy my organic buckwheat honey

and don’t have time to work on my website

Words are easy for you – you’ll do it right….

 

You do it at first because you want the exposure

But the only thing gained is a loss of composure

because your wallet is empty and bills need to be paid

and all you have for your labour is a jar of honey in trade…..”

You get the idea.  Your intentions were well-meaning and definitely self-serving to some degree.  You hoped doing various articles, blogs and website posts would earn you exposure and some “street cred.” After awhile though, you begin to realize that an expectation now exists that you will work for free. The value of your effort goes unnoticed and now you’re struggling to ascertain what that value should be. This leads to further turmoil when it comes to asking others to pay full value for the service you are providing. It becomes a vicious circle. Work for free, gain exposure but the exposure comes at a cost – you, undermining your true value.

In a long- drawn out way this is a reminder to all self-employed entrepreneurs, regardless of your product or service, to determine your value up front, own it, state it clearly to others at the start of any negotiation and then provide the best darn service you can – at a fair, openly stated and honestly earned price. Because let’s face it, when we get something at a discount we often think “well that’s all it was really worth to begin with. I’m just paying fair market value now.” Are you worth nothing? We all have value and don’t deserve to be discounted. If you are providing a service to others (and it isn’t a volunteer position) it shouldn’t be free, even if you’re a “free”lance writer!

 

As Owner and Principal partner of “Writing Right For You” Sheralyn is a Communications Strategist – working together with entrepreneurs to maximize profit through effective use of the written word. Looking for web content that works, blog articles that engage or communications strategies that help you get noticed?  Contact Sheralyn today. Sheralyn is also the mother of two children now entering the “terrible and terrific teens” and spends her free time volunteering for several non-profit organizations.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Sheralyn Roman · Tagged: blog, business, business development, Canadian Small Business Women, content, entrepreneur, freelance, market value, poem, poetry, Random Rumblings from Surburbia, self-employed, Sheralyn Roman, value, volunteer, web, Writing Right For You, writing services

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