Web Design

There are so many positives to hiring a freelancer

Warning: this blog post may contain a twinge of bias due to the author being a freelancer :O 

This question popped into my head today, after an email from a previous client: When embarking on a piece of work, should you employ an agency, or a freelancer? 

There are obviously many benefits to both, but I wanted to outline my reasons why you should choose a freelancer. I hope to think outside the box and not give you something which you may have read before.

Using a freelancer

For any work you need assistance with, there are thousands of individuals that are keen to help you achieve the best possible outcome.

Freelancers, self-employed, consultants… whatever you wish to call them, are professionals with tonnes of experience and a genuine drive to do excellent work.

Speaking from my position, it is within my best interest to do the absolute best work for my clients. This is because:

1. They need to be happy with the product or service
2. If it\’s not good, I won\’t get paid and can\’t do more work
3. I need to promote any new work I complete to show what I do and how I do it
4. If they are happy they will recommend me to other people and keep me in a job!

Basically, what I am trying to say is that you would struggle to find a self-employed person who would deliberately do a bad job.

Not convinced? Okay, here are some more benefits of hiring a self-employed person:

1. They are cheaper!
2. You have a direct contact with the person doing the work
3. They will probably be generally happier due to their lifestyle, therefore produce better work
4. They will be constantly improving their service
5. You are supporting a local person (and their family if they have one)
6. You may be supporting a network of self employed people
7. They will be more flexible in terms of working out of hours
8. Your project will more than likely be a priority

Using an agency

Don\’t get me wrong, there are some AMAZING agencies out there that do fabulous work. It\’s basically a group of freelancers all working together to achieve something cool! Previously, I worked for Alpha Communication, a marketing & design co-op, where we achieved some awesome work for thoughtful organisations.

Business teams can span across various different skillsets, and usually have well oiled systems in place to get work done efficiently, on time and within the set budget.

But (and it\’s a big but), with this comes several things which you may have to consider before going ahead:

1. It will be more expensive, unfortunately there is no escaping that!
2. You are paying not only for the work, but for several people\’s salaries, equipment, office, travel etc
3. Will they be as enthusiastic as you are? An agency could just see you as another job instead of an important project
4. Are you a priority? They will also be working on many more projects alongside yours
5. Your flexibility is reduced. Most agencies will just work during office hours
6. The agency could have one of your competitors as a client already

To conclude, when starting a new project, please consider including a freelancer in the mix. I am very confident you will be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

Also, if you\’re looking for a new website, a brand for your business or something else, then definitely consider contacting me (cheeky I know).

Thanks,
Harry