Independent contractors: building relations
With the growth of your website and amount of your online projects you will need some help. You can hire full time employees, but it is not common practice with Internet marketing (I refer to independent web entrepreneurs, not companies). As a rule, website publishers hire contractors. Yes, training your independent contractors is important, but there are other aspects of your relations with them. I have a sort of the system of cooperating with my contractors.
All described stages are an ongoing process. Some contractors disappear, new hired – yes, it is quite different to manage remote staff compared to full time employees in the office.
Where to search:
You have two options – search for local contractors or go to the freelance websites and outsource your work overseas. Both approaches have some advantages.
- Hiring local staff – better communication, no language/ time zone/ mentality barriers.
- Outsourcing overseas – get your work done cheaper.
Hiring process:
- Have a list of your requirements. A sample: questions to ask when hiring a web developer
- Talk over the phone and get a general impression about the man
- Meet in person, interview
- Ask for references
- Ask to complete some simple trial tasks
Independent contractor management:
- Assign time for daily management of your contractors (I do it in the morning): completed work reviewed and tested, new tasks e-mailed, new training articles supplied, etc
- Communication ONLY through e-mail, phone and monthly in-person meetings (if there is no some emergency). Tried Instant Messengers – a great way to waste contractor’s and your time.
- The contractors send me their daily reports. It is a must.
Payment issues:
- All new independent contractors are hired for a trial period of two months.
- Some contractors work for a fixed amount of money plus a bonus depending on the results of their efforts.
- Developers are another story. Each task or project is appraised separately.
Summary: Is the described system perfect? Certainly, not. But it works fine with me and it enables me to control the situation. I know what is going on with every project; I analyze the stats and can make changes on the fly. I have time to think, to start new projects and to shut down the inefficient ones.
With time, your copywriters and online marketers become more experienced and need less and less attention on your part. The websites operating on autopilot – that is my goal. It is not likely to work with web developers. But there should be a way also – for instance, if you start a new website similar to the one in your portfolio (from coding point) you can tell your web developer to do the same with the new website.
[tags]contractors, independent contractors, coders, designers, copywriters, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online[/tags]
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