8 Reasons to Hire a Freelancer

 Hiring professional, skilled workers

When faced with any task that they can’t accomplish themselves, many people will look for someone to hire and obviously, they’ll want to hire a professional who’s skilled, with experience and knowledge; someone who can be trusted to deliver results on time. 

If that sounds familiar to you, have you considered the benefits of hiring a freelancer?

Why Freelancers Choose Freelancing.

Today freelancers can be found in any skill or profession and there are many reasons why someone would choose freelancing instead of being an employee. 

Freelancing offers a lot of freedom, giving people the opportunity to choose how and when they work, which clients they work with, and how they choose their clients.

This freedom gives a freelancer their own schedule. And since a freelancer works directly with their client rather than through a middleman, freelancers can better meet each client’s needs... It means higher quality work to total client satisfaction.

Freelancers are professionals

In Sri Lanka, (the country where I’m from) freelancers are viewed as uneducated... "if they were educated professionals, they would work for a company." is a comment I hear very often. 

As a result, in today's Sri Lanka, many who have lost their on-site jobs are unable to find work and are unwilling to work as freelance professionals.

Here’s an interesting fact… Freelancers are professionals; with degrees, who work for themselves. Often, a freelancer has not just the education, but the experience needed to work for an agency but has simply chosen not to.

The world of the freelancer opens up a whole universe of possibilities and opportunities for the freelancers and for those hiring them and the benefits will be evident should you choose to work with a freelancer.

Why Hire a Freelancer

Hiring a freelancer is not always necessary (to be fair) but is often the better choice than going through an agency or company.

Freelancers... 

• Give you a more personal experience.  
• They value their clients. 
• Are receptive to your feedback and will work to perfect it.

I have worked as a freelance music teacher, baker, and copywriter for many years. Some of my clients have been with me from the start and today we count each other as friends. They wouldn't go anywhere else if experience has taught them, they can rely on me for a job well done. 

8 Benefits of Hiring a Freelancer

Maybe you’re a freelancer who wants to better pitch your services. Or maybe you’re considering hiring a freelancer, but you aren’t sure it’s worth your time and money. 

So, the question is: What can a freelancer offer you that you may not get by working with an agency or company?

Here are eight benefits of hiring a freelancer.

1. Diverse Knowledge and Experience

When you hire a freelancer, you benefit from the freelancer’s diverse knowledge and experience. Many freelancers started out working with companies and covering a variety of fields; however, now are not bound to only one establishment.

This degree of freedom means freelancers don’t just work for the same business or type of business over and over again.

Over time, we work with hundreds of clients, gaining experience and knowledge in many different fields. So, when you hire a freelancer, it is most likely that they have experience in your industry.

Each time a freelancer takes on a client, the freelancer adds to his or her ever-growing knowledge base. As that knowledge accumulates and experience broadens, freelancers give their clients a prolific, more dynamic service; one that isn’t bound by company regulations.

2. Direct Communication & Faster Turnaround

Even when a freelancer has many clients, the turnaround is faster than if you go through a service company or agency. 

In a company, a project often passes through numerous hands at different steps in the company’s process. As a result, things take much longer than they would with a freelancer. When you communicate directly with your freelancer, less gets lost in translation. 

"Tell a freelancer what you need, and you can be sure you’ll get what you asked for expeditiously."

Additionally, with direct communication, you can contact your freelancer anytime. This arrangement is advantageous when you remember important details that you forgot to mention in the initial meeting.

3. More for Your Investment

There’s worth in hiring a freelancer. Even when the cost of a project is the same as through a company, you’re usually better off hiring a freelancer. 

Projects handled through agencies often have a backlog and heavy workloads; with project managers spending a little time on each assigned project. The result is they mishandle quite a bit often barely meeting the clients' expectations instead of trying to exceed them.

Meanwhile, the freelancer puts significant effort into making an impression and, hopefully, building a relationship with you. Freelancers don’t just do the bare minimum, they want to exceed your expectations, so you often get more than you asked for and, by extension, a better return on your investment.

4. A Reliable Partner to Meet Your Future Needs

You hire someone with the skills and expertise you need, but staffing people with niche skills gets expensive, especially when you may not need those skills continuously. Hiring a freelancer can be a great solution, you can contact him or her anytime a new project comes up that needs their skills.

At an agency, an agent accepts your order and puts it on their "to-do list". You have little or no control or influence over what happens between placing your order and receiving it. However, a freelancer sees you as a partner; and is likely more willing to accommodate your involvement in the project.

5. An Ally When Time is Short

If you need a job done in a hurry, a freelancer is more likely able to move things around to get your project completed as soon as possible, even if that means working on weekends or late at night. 

A freelancer will do this because they care about their client’s needs and their professional relationship.

6. More Than the Specialized Skill

The majority of freelancers have skills beyond their specialty. Knowing of the additional skills your freelancer has shows insight because even if those extra skills aren’t what you need today, they might be essential in the future. Any freelancer would be happy if their other skills become helpful for you, even if their main skill is their livelihood.

More often than not, the freelancer you’ve hired worked other jobs before starting out as a freelancer. In fact, many of us have college degrees, too, so, between prior job experience and education, freelancers frequently offer supplemental services that put them in a better position to meet your needs.

Investing in a freelancer’s diverse skills is much more cost-effective than hiring multiple staffers to accomplish the needed tasks and will be more personable than working with one or more agencies.

7. Helping Your Business Grow

Many people have considered hiring a freelancer but talk themselves out of it. “Why pay someone to do something I could probably do myself?” But there’s a difference between finishing a task with the idea of checking a box and crafting a project that offers an engaging experience, conveys the right information, and creates a satisfied customer. Quality services are more than just finishing a job.

For example, when you hire a freelance content writer, it’s their job to produce content that represents your business, company, or brand as effectively as possible and engages your target audience. That means; conducting keyword research, finding similar content to assess what competitors are doing right or wrong, identifying gaps in the information that already exists, creating a strategic structure for the content, and making sure the content has been edited, formatted, and polished... Then the writing begins.

It is the same with any freelancer. They have the time, knowledge, and experience to accomplish their task and complete it well.

8. More Than a Transaction

When you go to an agency or company for your needs, you rarely meet or even speak to the agent who’s assigned your project… You might not even know their name. To the agency, you’re a transaction.

Freelancers measure their success, by the strength of the relationships they build with their clients. It’s as important to establish connections and build and sustain those relationships with the clients who they will work with for years. To a freelancer, you’re never a mere transaction, you’re an ally.

The story of one freelancer

As a freelance music educator, baker, and now a freelance writer, I wear many hats. While I work with music schools offering specialized music training workshops and courses; I have the privilege of working with them as a writer.

I write many different types of content. I regularly write blog posts, researched articles, editorials and Emails, reviews, marketing content and product descriptions, newsletters, how-to guides, tutorials, and course content, tailoring each to the needs of my diverse clients.

Besides writing, I offer my clients modest graphic design and my clients have come to recognize that they can rely on me to deliver what’s required and then some.

So, if what you need is content or content with information graphics for social media, an E-flyer, or an E-book; if what you need is a music training workshop or any other service; remember a freelancer is the best, most cost-effective choice today.