4 Proven Steps to Hire and Integrate Your First Online Freelancer

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Connor Gillivan, CMO and co-founder of FreeeUp.com.

In the world of eCommerce, there are plenty of responsibilities you are supposed to juggle at the same time. The more successful your online business becomes, the more you begin to understand how important outsourcing different tasks can be.

Not only does this allow you to find key team members which will help you grow your business, but it also frees up your time so you can focus on your vision for your company.

Hiring an online freelancer doesn’t have to be difficult or painful. There are plenty of qualified professionals online who will make a great addition to your team. All you need to do is find them. In this article, I will discuss the steps you need to take to start adding the freelancers you need to help your business succeed.

1 Determine Which Tasks You Want Hired Out

In the beginning, you may have been able to handle all the tasks required to keep your business afloat. Now, you may see that you’re having difficulty finding enough hours in the day to do everything needed to keep your company productive.

When this happens, and this is a good thing, take some time and jot down the tasks which you feel you could let go of and outsource to an online freelancer.

If you love to jump in head first, make a list of all the responsibilities which you dread doing or the ones which you’re not that great at. These are usually the first tasks you want to hire out because you want an expert or someone who loves doing them.

Make your list. This will show you who you need to find in order fill those spots. Maybe you need a writer or a social marketing expert? Determine what job niche the task is in so you can search for these freelancers easily later on.

2 Find Your Worker

There are plenty of hiring platforms where you can use your list to find great freelancers. Upwork is one of the more popular ones. You can also find great freelancers by searching Facebook groups. More than likely, someone has created a group which consists of writers, SEO experts, etc. You can search for these easily by using the Facebook search tool.

Another great way to find online freelancers for your business is through word of mouth. In fact, most freelancers find work using this strategy. There is always a friend or business colleague who knows someone who knows someone who is an expert at what you are looking for. Don’t forget to exhaust those avenues in your search for your freelancer.

3 Filter Candidate Responses

Once you find a platform to search, create your job listing and make sure to define all of the tasks and responsibilities you require for the job. Use your job posting to share what kind of freelancer you are looking for as well. Try to make it as tight as possible in order to find the correct person for the job.

Did you receive a resume? Were you able to easily find their work history or samples from the job application? If so, you can go on to the next step in the process. If not, disregard and keep searching. You need a freelancer who can follow your instructions from the beginning.

Many paid job post sites have applicant-tracking systems which will do most of the weeding out for you, saving you a lot of time since you didn’t have to do this yourself.

However, if you choose to vet applicants yourself, you can do so through social media, work history, and through the interview itself.

4 Start the Interview Process

Once you get to this stage, you are free to talk openly with the freelancer about any questions you have. These will determine whether or not they make it to the next step in the hiring process.
If you have vetted your applicants well in the beginning, you should be able to find your candidate easily. Usually, when someone passes this stage of the process, it comes down to a personal preference.

Take five of the best applicants and begin putting them through the interview process and determine which one is the right fit for your company. While someone may have all of the qualifications you need, they may not click with your personality. Take time in the interview to learn about them in this way with conversation and engagement.

After this step has been completed, make the best decision based on all of the facts you have discovered about the candidate.

In Conclusion

There are a lot of freelancers out there who are the perfect fit for your company. Hiring an online freelancer for your business doesn’t have to be something to dread, but something to rejoice in. Having to expand your team means your business is thriving and growing, this is always a good thing.

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Connor Gillivan is a serial eCommerce entrepreneur and an expert in online hiring, eCommerce, and bootstrapping businesses. With his first eCommerce business, he sold over $20 million worth of product and managed over 60 freelance workers. He is now the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of FreeeUp.com, the hands-on hiring marketplace connecting hundreds of online business owners with reliable, pre-vetted remote workers.
He is an avid writer on his own site, ConnorGillivan.com, and his business advice can be found in top publications such as WebRetailer.com.
He currently lives in Denver, Colorado.