How to boost your business with online freelancers

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HOW TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS WITH ONLINE FREELANCERS
FREELANCER.COM
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1
2
3
5
7
9
10
12
14
16
What is Outsourcing?
How does Outsourcing t into Modern Business?
Key Benets of Outsourcing
How can Freelancer.com help you to Reap these Benets?
What does Freelancer.com do to Safeguard you as an Employer of Freelancers?
First Steps in Outsourcing
How to Post a Project and Set Yourself up For Success
Choosing the Right Freelancers
Outsourcing Case Studies
Summary
HOW TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS WITH ONLINE FREELANCERS
FREELANCER.COM
To do business in the modern world, a successful business needs to extract the very
best value from its workforce. The global marketplace is constantly changing and
any business venture that wants to lucratively compete in this global arena needs
to be both dynamic and able to scale its workforce to meet supply and demand.

Traditionally, this has meant employing more staff than required to ensure that there
are extra employees on hand to cope with any unexpected workload. How do
you ensure that you have the resources to cope with a uid work schedule without
having to employ excess staff? Simple. Outsourcing with Freelancer.com
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Outsourcing describes the process of one entity employing the services of another entity on an ad-
hoc basis. This can take the form of one large company using a second company to provide certain
services as needed, or it may simply be an individual who needs to procure a certain skill set to help
complete a current project. Usually, these situations will take the form of the Employer engaging the
services of Freelancers on either a pay-per-project or pay-per-hour basis. These Freelancers report
directly to the entity that has employed them for an agreed duration either in time, or in project goals.
Once payment has been made upon delivery of completed work, the Employer has no obligation to
keep the Freelancer on the payroll.
Freelancer.com is the largest outsourcing site in the world with millions of registered users, enabling
Employers and Freelancers to connect and do business together. This is done using a set of web-
based tools that have been designed to take remote outsourcing to a new level.
What is
Outsourcing?
REGISTER FOR AN ACCOUNT
AT Freelancer.com
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In recent years business has become globalized, which in turn means that
competition has globalized too. Many small businesses that may once have
occupied a local niche are now forced to compete with similar businesses all
around the world. In some cases, this presents a costing problem; labor can
be cheaper, yet equally skilled in countries outside of the Western world. Many

Western-based companies nd that they are unable to compete with international
companies offering services at much lower costs. Outsourcing enables companies to
procure staff at competitive prices and, more importantly, as needed rather than hiring full-time
employees.
In being able to call upon a workforce of outsourced Freelancers, small businesses are then able
to dynamically scale themselves to t the needs of any project.
Small businesses often nd they have to turn down opportunities due to limited
resources, therefore losing out to competitors. However, if a company has
access to a readily available team of outsourced staff, this problem disappears;
the business simply uses Freelancers to make up the shortfall. Small businesses
can therefore take on additional work, safe in the knowledge they can acquire the
resources required to complete any project. There can be no doubt that a small
business that is able to utilize Freelancers is more dynamic and able to adapt
itself more quickly to the needs of its clients.
How does
Outsourcing
t into Modern
Business?
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So far, we have briey outlined a handful of the advantages of using Freelancers. Let us now take
a much deeper look into the full range of benets that a small business can reap from taking an
outsourced approach to stafng.
Staff can be employed on a demand-driven
basis. Put simply, if you need eight staff one
month and then only ve the next, then you
only need employ the right number of staff each
month. This means that staff shortages become
a thing of the past and, equally importantly,

overstafng is also no longer an issue. You only
employ the people you need when you
need them.
Key Benets of
Outsourcing
SCALABILITY
COST EFFECTIVENESS ADAPTABILITY
REDUCED RISK
For small businesses involved in industries
such as web development, the need for skilled
staff is always present. But what happens
when a new client suddenly insists upon your
team producing a set of instructional videos,
or a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation? Do
you say, “No, sorry, we don’t have the skills to
do this”? By using outsourced staff to supply
extra skills as required, the business is able
to condently take on more complex projects
that require a range of different skill sets, safe
in the knowledge that they will be able to nd
Freelancers to make up the skill decit.
As we have already seen, the emergence of
a global marketplace – not simply in terms
of commercial opportunities, but also with
regards to staff employment – means that many
traditional businesses are facing the problem
whereby they are savagely undercut when
tendering for new projects. Skilled staff located
in a cheaper geographic location are now more
relevant than ever before in practical terms.

Most business is won on price and employing
outsourced staff allows small businesses to
attain price parity with competitors large
and small.
As any company that employs full-time staff will
be aware, the cost of keeping those staff trained
in current industry technologies and other tertiary
skills can be high. Outsourced members of staff
are responsible for keeping themselves current
and ensuring that their skills are kept sharp, at
no cost to their Employers.
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The points outlined above represent the major benets of outsourcing, many of which are applicable
to small businesses in a range of industries. Even smaller organizations or one-man operations
must see by now how outsourcing can help them to maintain their prot margins and grow with their
market, without the need to invest in more full-time personnel. Utilizing highly skilled, professional
Freelancers gives businesses the option to employ the people they need only when they need them,
without incurring an ongoing overhead.
DIVERSIFICATION
REDUCED TRAINING- COSTS
SIMPLIFIED ACCOUNTING
By outsourcing to Freelancers, a small business
is able to adapt its products and services and
expand its product base by pulling in skills that
it does not already offer. For example, a web
development company may nd it desirable
to offer Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
services as part of their overall package. By

nding a good, solid Freelancer to perform
this task, they are buying a skill that can then
be resold to augment and improve the service
offered to their clients.
As any company that employs full-time staff will
be aware, the cost of keeping those staff trained
in current industry technologies and other
tertiary skills can be high. Outsourced members
of staff are responsible for keeping themselves
current and ensuring that their skills are kept
sharp, at no cost to their Employers.
Small business that employ staff on the payroll
must keep accurate nancial records and
ensure that taxes are paid on behalf of their
employees. Freelancers however, must keep
their own records and are liable for their own
tax returns; the Employer does not need to
handle this process income and so accounting
is made much simpler. In addition it removes
the need to employ payroll staff.
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Thanks to Freelancer.com, the difculties in nding reliable and skilled Freelancers, verifying
credentials, handling payments and managing your relationships are eliminated.
In using the service that Freelancer.com provides, all of these problems are negated. Freelancer.com
provides a robust, secure and intuitive platform for recruiting and managing outsourced freelance
staff. The process of nding the right staff for your needs, verifying that they are equipped with the
required skills, managing project milestones and dealing with payments is all handled within the
Freelancer.com platform, making outsourcing simple. Freelancer.com has a feature set that has been

perfected over several years to provide an optimal interface between Employers and Freelancers,
and to deal with every foreseeable interaction between both parties effectively and efciently.
Finding freelance staff using Freelancer.com is very simple and is accomplished by using a reverse
auction-style system. An Employer, posts a project detailing the work involved, the skills required,
the project timeline and budget. Freelancers from all over the world are then able to bid on the
How can
Freelancer.com
help you to Reap
these Benets?
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project, presenting the Employer with detailed information regarding the services they are able to
offer. Employers are then free to discuss the details of each bid directly with the Freelancer, using the
Freelancer.com messaging system. Once the Employer has found a match for their requirements,
they accept the bid made by their chosen Freelancer and work commences.
Projects may be split into “milestones” to enable the Employer to measure performance and ensure
that the project remains on target at all times. The Freelancer.com messaging system facilitates
communication between the parties allowing for correspondence to be monitored and les to
be exchanged.
Once work is completed, the Employer pays the Freelancer for their services and both parties are
free from any further commitment. However, many small businesses nd that once they have found
a good Freelancer, they like to use the same person for future projects. Likewise, Freelancers nd
that they naturally develop a client base using the facilities provided by Freelancer.com.
Post a Project
in Seconds
Compare & Select
Bidder(s)
Create
Milestone

Payment
Work completes Release Milestone
Payment when work is
complete and you
are satised
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What does
Freelancer.com do
to Safeguard you
as an Employer of
Freelancers?
Outsourcing is not without risk – there is always a slim chance that Freelancers will fail to perform
to the level of quality they committed themselves to or that Employers will fail to pay Freelancers for
work that they have produced. Freelancer.com has systems in place to protect both Employers and
Freelancers during their commercial dealings. These include:
Employers and Freelancers are free to use the
secure milestone payment system provided
by Freelancer.com and it is advised that both
parties take full advantage of this service.
When a project is started, the Employer pays
funds to cover each project milestone into the
Employer’s milestone account; the Employer
and Freelancer can mutually agree the value of
milestone payments in advance. The Freelancer
cannot withdraw these funds until the Employer
releases them upon satisfactory completion of
the milestone, which safeguards the Employer
from losing money if the Freelancer does not

deliver what they promised.
MILESTONE PAYMENTS FEEDBACK AND RATINGS
Once a Freelancer.com project has been
completed and funds have been released, both
the Employer and the Freelancer are able to
leave a service rating and s a short feedback
comment is also given at this time. Employers
can instantly see from a Freelancer’s prole
how well they have performed historically,
and Freelancers are able to judge prospective
Employers in a similar fashion.
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SKILL TESTS DISPUTE SYSTEM
Freelancer.com allows Freelancers to take
a range of skill tests, which enables them to
showcase their skills to prospective Employers.
Employers are able to vet applicants by
checking their skill test scores and making
sure that they are adequate to warrant being
employed for a specic project.
On the rare occasion that an Employer and
Freelancer reach an impasse and are unable to
resolve problems with a project, Freelancer.com
offers a dispute resolution system. The preliminary
rounds of this system are automated and prompt
each party to try to reach an amicable solution to
their problem. If either party is unable to reach a
solution, then they may choose to escalate the

dispute to full arbitration, whereupon professional
mediators employed by Freelancer.com will help
each party to reach a resolution.
HOW TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS WITH ONLINE FREELANCERS
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First Steps in
Outsourcing
For Employers and small business owners, the logical rst step is to post a project. Your project
listing will be promoted by Freelancer.com to attract bids from Freelancers. It should contain
all the information that a Freelancer needs to know about project requirements, the timescale
and the expected level of remuneration for the project so that they can make a considered
bid. Take the time to think through your project before posting it – the better the project,
the more chance you have of nding the right person to do the job, as quickly as possible.
Freelancers are able to view your project and decide whether or not they are able to bid on it based
upon the requirements you have specied. If they think that they are qualied to do the project,
they are free to make a bid and provide the Employer with further information privately by using the
messaging system attached to the project. It is recommended that both parties communicate and
agree upon the terms of the project before the bid is accepted and work on the project begins.
Once an Employer is sure that they have found the correct candidate for the project, they simply
accept the bid, set up any requested milestone payments – using the milestone system provided by
Freelancer.com – and work commences.
Finally, when both the Freelancer and Employer have mutually agreed that the project is complete,
the Employer can release payment to the Freelancer. The project is then agged as complete and
feedback may be left by both parties if applicable.
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For Employers, the key to nding the best outsourced staff for their needs lies in the project they post
for a given task. Quite simply, a badly written project description will result in a much wider range of

Freelancers feeling that they t the project well, making the process of sorting out those who actually
are of the right calibre quite a tricky thing to accomplish. As a guide, each project posted needs to
address the following items:
The name of the project should accurately
describe what you need in as few words as
possible. Simply entering a title of “Looking
for Freelancer” or similar is not going to give
prospective Freelancers an appropriate idea
about what the project will entail. Freelancers
are presented with projects in a list, with only
the project name and a small excerpt of the
project information visible, so a good name
will help Freelancers to nd a project that t
them best; it will also ensure that your project is
considered by professional Freelancers.
How to Post a
Project and Set
Yourself up
For Success
PROJECT NAME DESCRIPTION
This is where you outline your requirements.
It is vitally important to be as accurate and
informative as possible in this section. If, as
an Employer, you wish to attract only the
most professional freelance staff, then your
bid request needs to portray your business as
entirely professional. A good project description
is a way of letting prospective Freelancers know
that you understand exactly what you would like
them to do, and that you are able to manage

the project effectively.
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If you have properly addressed each of these elements, you will attract the Freelancers that are
most suited to your project. If you haven’t, you may nd you are receiving the wrong type of bid.
How to Post a
Project and Set
Yourself up
For Success
PRICE
Many Employers fall into the trap of thinking
that Freelancers can be hired for pennies. While
it is true that many Freelancers do work for
less pay than a full-time worker would expect in
the Western world, it is advisable that you set
a realistic budget for the work that you expect
the Freelancer to complete. The reason for this
is very simple; the very best Freelancers will
not even stop to read a project description if
the remuneration offered is not satisfactory. It
is better to be willing to pay a suitable price for
a job posted than to run the risk of sacricing
quality . If you wish to attract the cream of the
crop, then expect to pay a fair price for the
service on offer.
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Traditionally, when employing full-time staff, a face-to-face interview is conducted in order to give

the Employer the information they need to decide whether the candidate is suitable for the job, and
the prospective employee the information they need to decide whether it is the right job for them.
When recruiting freelance staff on-line, using the service supplied by Freelancer.com, this form of
interview is impossible to facilitate since both parties are likely to live in different parts of the world.
Therefore, it is crucial that Employers take every possible precaution when selecting a Freelancer
for a project. Use the points outlined below as a checklist when selecting a Freelancer for your
project.
Choosing the
Right Freelancers
Check that the Freelancer you are considering
has the skill set you require. Every good
Freelancer will have a portfolio that they can
present to prospective Employers. Additionally,
Freelancer.com enables Freelancers to take a
range of exams – check to see if the applicant
you are considering has passed any exams
relevant to the project.
In the same way that you have checked the
Freelancer’s skills, you can also check their
experience. This can be achieved by asking
a prospective Freelancer to demonstrate
examples of their previous work. They should
have a proven track record of successfully
completed similar projects. Use the feedback
and rating system provided by Freelancer.com
to evaluate the credibility of the applicant. If
the Freelancer has no proven track record and
lacks positive feedback for similar completed
projects, they may be exaggerating their level
of experience.

EXPERIENCESKILLS
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Choosing the
Right Freelancers
COSTCOMMUNICATION
This aspect of choosing the right Freelancer is
often overlooked. You will be dealing with each
other via the Internet so it is important that the
Freelancer you choose is able to communicate
well using this medium. One of the main
reasons that outsourced projects go wrong
is that there is inadequate communication
between both parties. Choose a Freelancer who
can both understand your requirements and
make their own questions clear.
Do not be afraid to negotiate with Freelancers
whom you feel may be suitable, but are asking
for too high a remuneration for their skills and
experience. Additionally, be wary of applicants
who make the lowest bids, yet claim to have
a vast range of experience and a high level
of skill. Many rst time users of Freelancer.
com make the mistake of recruiting solely
based upon price. Yes, price should be a
consideration, but if you wish to have your
project completed professionally and within
the timeframe you require, then you need to
consider every factor, not just the cost.

POST A PROJECT
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“Freelancer.com made it possible to nance the project and realise my dream”
Kathryn McInnes had a vision to create an online interactive learning resource for young children, however
lacked the web design and programming skills. Being stuck with how to move forward on this project she
started searching for solutions and came across Freelancer.com. She decided to test the website by posting a
simple voice over project for her learning resource which was highly successful.
“The recordings were of exceptional quality and the Freelancer’s communication throughout the project,
willingness to modify readings and meet agreed deadlines was outstanding,” said Kathryn.
Condent with Freelancer.com and the service that was offered she decided to create a larger development
project asking for a Freelancer to create the interactive learning resource she wanted. With a initial expected
budget of between $5,000 and $8,000 she posted a project. She was shocked to discover her project could be
completed for as low as $900.
“By outsourcing production to international Freelancers, I was able to have the multimedia developed for
$900. Freelancer.com made it possible to nance the project and realise my dream ,“ she said. It is amazing
how she was able to cut costs and get her complex development project done effectively and efciently.
Kathryn leaves us with:
“Thank you Freelancer.com for creating such an amazing service and bringing the nations together. Who
would have thought it possible to produce an interactive learning resource in Australia with the help of
Freelancers in the US and India! Thank you for making my project a great success.
Kind regards
Kathryn McInnes – Lessons 4 Life”
Outsourcing
Case Studies
Animated
Interactive
Learning
Resource

25 bids
$900
POST A PROJECT
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Outsourcing
Case Studies
Timothy Witters of Sydney, Australia, faced an interior design problem. After purchasing a studio
apartment, he was having problems visualizing how the studio would look based upon the rough mock-
up sketches given to him by his interior designer. Timothy decided he wanted to see a 3D representation
of the concept and began to seek a 3D artist to create one. This was trickier than one may expect.
Timothy tells us,
“I asked my designer to nd someone locally, but I was quoted more than $1000 for just a basic model.”
Timothy had previously used Freelancer.com to nd outsourced skills for a website project, so decided
to come back to try and nd a 3D artist to help him. Timothy received over 50 bids on his project, and
choosing the right provider was a difcult task.
“I was amazed that I’d received over 50 bids. Of course, some of the bids weren’t that good, but amongst
all the interested providers, I shortlisted ten really good Freelancers. Their skills were much better than
the local 3D designer who would have charged me $1000”, says Timothy.
Having chosen a talented 3D artist via Freelancer.com, Timothy tells us that,
“The 3D models he produced were fantastic - the quality you see in movies. I actually made a few
modications to the design after seeing his models.”
One of the major benets of working with a freelance 3D artist, quoted by Timothy, is the fact that due
to them both being in different time zones, he was able to communicate with his chosen provider in the
evening, after he had nished his daily work.
55 bids
$200
Interior
Design

POST A PROJECT
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Every business wants to increase revenue, lower operating costs and obtain greater prots.
Technology has reached a stage whereby geographic location matters very little, and at Freelancer.
com this concept is taken to new heights. Our site has been designed and developed from the
ground up in order to provide the perfect solution for both Employers seeking Freelance staff, and
professional Freelancers seeking work.
Outsourcing is not a new concept; the idea of employing short-term casual labor has been around
for decades. What is new however, is the way in which Freelancer.com is enabling both small
businesses and individuals around the globe to recruit outsourced staff simply and safely. There has
never been a better way for Employers to nd the staff they need, with the skills they need, at the
price they need. These staff can be located anywhere in the world and the Freelancer.com website
facilitates their recruitment, management and payment using a secure and robust set of web-based
tools. By registering with Freelancer.com, you are joining a growing band of small businesses
who have realized that having outsourced staff gives them the edge needed to get ahead in the
global marketplace. Register with Freelancer.com now and begin to reap the benets that only an
outsourced, scalable workforce can provide.
Summary
POST A PROJECT
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