Vetting EMPLOYERS on Freelancer

I've been a relatively successful Freelance writer on Freelancer.com over the last several years. I haven'€™t worked totally consistently during that time, but I've done pretty well and have recently been growing my business pretty aggressively and turning up the heat! I recently got connected with a start-up company that frequently uses Freelance to get tasks done for cheap, and I had a great conversation with the founder of that company which serves as the inspiration for this article.

Employers have to work hard to ensure that they'€™re getting the right person when they hire a Freelancer. Once a project is accepted and a milestone is created, it can be a major hassle to resolve any disputes, especially those surrounding the quality of the work. I don't have a lot of insight into this process but I have learned a thing or two about choosing the right employers. A lot of folks have it in their head that the customer is always right, but as a Freelancer, you have the ability to choose who is and isn'€™t going to be your customer. Here are some guidelines for finding great employers that fit with your business.


Look for Detailed Briefs
The first sign of a great employer is the detail level of their initial project description. Every project requires an investment of time from the employer either on the front end or the back end. On the front end, writing a great, detailed brief on how to complete a project informs a Freelancer on what is expected, manages expectations and ensures that the worker'€™s time is well spent producing material that the client actually wants to buy. On the back end, a poor project description often leads to investment of time in a revision process for both parties. Revisions are sometimes necessary but they can be tedious and necessitate a lot of extra follow-up from both parties. Try to establish exact guidelines for the project before starting, to minimize the amount of revisions that will be required.

Project Acceptance Checklist
Offered a job you'™re excited about? Hold your horses before you mash the accept button and get yourself into a bind. Once you accept a project, it can be very hard to get out of without having issues with non-completion. On the employer's side, it'€™s very easy to create a project, assign it to somebody and just forget about it, especially if the project hasn't been funded and a brief hasn't been provided.

Here is a quick checklist that you can always consult before accepting a project:
1. You have had a detailed conversation with the employer, outlining the scope of work, defining deadlines and milestones and you have received a brief of exactly what is expected for the price quoted.
2. The employer has created a milestone and fully funded the project. Working without a milestone is almost always a mistake because there is no guarantee that you'€™ll be getting paid. In addition, it'€™s very easy for the employer to never fund the project and then you'€™ll be stuck with a project in your inventory that you can'€™t complete.
3. Verify what the exact deliverables are and how they will be delivered. Here's an example. I accepted a project to write 10 400wd articles for a set price. I was very happy to provide the content at the price offered so I accepted the project, figuring it was about 3-4 hours of work total. When the employer sent me more specific requirements, I realized that he wanted the content published on his website and optimized using the Yoast SEO plugin, with images added. This process added 200% more work to the project and turned a great opportunity for some quick cash into virtual slave labor. Make sure you understand exactly how the end result is to be delivered before you get started.

Revision Requirements
The last tip I'€™ll give in this article is to figure out for yourself who the expert is. Is the employer trusting you to do a good job with the intention of using what you create, or do they want you to act as a conduit for their own creative vision? Any good graphic designer can create a good logo for your business, but if you have a vision in your head of what you want it to look like, actualizing that specific vision can be a much more difficult task. For writers, everybody writes and thinks different. Does your employer want to buy the article that you would write, or do they want to buy the article that they would write? If it'€™s the latter, you'€™re in for a lot of headaches in the revision process.
You don'€™t go to a restaurant and tell the chef how to cook your food; you give him an instruction like "€œmedium rare"€ and leave him to work, because he'€™s the expert. Writers are just the same -€�" a good employer will provide a brief and accept anything that fits the stated requirements. A bad employer will provide a brief and then want you to fix minor details because "they'€™re paying you"€.

Conclusion
Remember, it'€™s your business. The customer may be the one paying for service, but you have to control the situation in a way that makes it possible for you to do your best work. The clients may think that they'€™re the ones in control, but if you'€™re worth your salt, you'€™ll fire way more clients than the number of clients that want to fire you.