Learn how to use online marketplaces to hire the right freelancer.

In my last blog post - Sales and Marketing Software for Lawyers -  I shared thoughts on how to free up time by using marketing software platforms to get your marketing activities done better and faster.  Another way to get your marketing activities done better and faster, leaving you with more time to spend with clients, is to use an online marketplace to hire marketing freelancers.

My friend, Christian Saeterhaug, showed me how to use online marketplaces to hire freelancers.  I was reluctant at first, but fortunately, Christian insisted and now I am very happily working with freelancers to get things done I would have to do on my own, or just left undone.  

My observation is that lawyers are much less likely to use freelancers for marketing initiatives than other business owners, so I thought I would use this post to make the case for these freelancer platforms and provide a “How To” Guide. 

In this post we’ll cover:

• The benefits of using freelancers to get your marketing tasks done

• 5 tips on how to use online marketplaces to hire the right freelancer

• 3 online marketplaces you should consider using to hire freelancers

The benefits of using marketing freelancers

Using freelancers is very attractive because you can get access to exceptional marketing talent on flexible terms.  The catch was that, traditionally, finding the right freelancer was hard and vetting them was risky.  Modern online marketplaces, however, have solved those problems.  These marketplaces bring together a huge number of freelancers with diverse experience and offer sophisticated filtering and search functionality to easily find the right person for your job.  Additionally freelancer ratings, reviews, and job histories de-risk the hire.

5 tips on using online marketplaces to hire marketing freelancers

So, if you are interested in hiring marketing freelancers to free you up to do other things, like practice law, here are 5 tips I’ve pulled together based on my personal experience: 

Tip 💡# 1: Write a job description based on short-term needs

Your job description should be short and very specific.  Include an overview of your firm so the prospective freelancer understands the context and a section identifying the work product you want the freelancer to produce and when you want it.  Don’t bother to think about your long-term needs, rather focus on your immediate needs.  That will make it easier for you to be specific and provide examples if possible.

⭐️Pro Tip ⭐️: Good freelancers have options, so invest time in concisely describing why the freelancer should want to work with you and make that part of the job description.

Tip 💡# 2: Break the engagement down

An explicit part of the freelancer/client relationship is that you are both free agents.  That being said, a freelancer has an interest in predictable work, and you need to know that the freelancer is available over a long enough time horizon to justify the time you will invest in onboarding them.  To address these needs, I suggest breaking an engagement into an initial trial period of two weeks, after which either party can walk away.  If you still want to work together once the trial period is over, both parties should commit to a 90-day relationship, unless, of course, the project is for a discrete job, in which case once the job is done the relationship either comes to an end or turns into a new job.

Tip 💡# 3: Design a test

Before pulling the trigger on a hire, ask the freelancer to do a test project.  Many freelancers will be willing to do a test project for free.  However, I would suggest that you ask the freelancer to spend no more than 5 hour on the test and pay them for the work on an hourly basis.  I make the test an explicit part of the interview process and often ask multiple freelancers to deliver test work product so I can compare their work as part of the evaluation process.

Tip 💡# 4: Prioritize freelancers with more experience on the online marketplace

Select freelancers that have a lot of experience working on the marketplace you are using.  Since the marketplace is an intermediary, the marketplace’s software collects data on the number of jobs the freelancer has done, the amount earned, and the hours worked and makes that information available to you.  Review all this information.  The more experience the freelancer has on the platform the higher the accuracy of the reviews and ratings.

⭐️Pro Tip ⭐️: Don’t limit yourself to working with freelancers that have law firm experience.  Most of the marketing activities you will hire freelancers to do are generic and just as applicable for a law firm or any other business.  Also, consider hiring an international contractor.  The marking platforms handle all of the regulatory issues of working with someone overseas and your talent pool is much larger.  Since there is no long term commitment you should feel free to experiment with resources you would not typically consider.

Tip 💡# 5: Set an onboarding agenda

Put together an agenda for an onboarding meeting in advance and then discuss it with the freelancer before you hire them.  This will give the freelancer the opportunity to provide input on what they think they need to do the job well.  Not only will having that input improve the onboarding process, but it will help you assess their experience.  Onboarding meetings should have a list of concrete activities and desired outcomes.

Online Marketplaces for Freelancers

Here are some of online marketplaces that are worth checking out:

1. Upwork.  This is the marketplace leader and the platform I have the most experience with.  What I like about it is the depth and breadth of the marketing talent and the ability to vet candidates by assessing how much experience they have working for clients on the Upwork platform.

2. Fiverr. This is another popular option that has been around for a long time and has a large community of lower cost freelancers.

3. Toptal.  Toptal differentiates itself as aggregating the top 3% of freelancer talent.  I have some experience working with this platform for hiring high quality design resources.  I’ve been happy with the work, but it doesn’t offer the depth and breadth that Upwork does.

Of course there are many ways to use technology to create more time for yourself and improve the quality of your practice.  If that is a priority for you, check out Clausebook, which is a cloud-based home for your form files and clause libraries available as a Microsoft Word add in.  With Clausebook you will always have access to your best language and where you need it - no hunting through old deals required!  Learn more at www.clausebook.com.

About Gabriel

Gabriel is a commercial real estate attorney who left practice to co-found LeasePilot, a software platform that helps commercial real estate companies draft, revise and abstract their leases faster.

In addition to serving as LeasePilot’s CEO, Gabriel is launching a new product called Clausebook designed to help lawyers achieve a greater degree of organization and efficiency so they can elevate the level of their individual practices.