Big or small, every organization benefits from hiring freelancers and contractors at various times. Whether your marketing team needs reinforcements in order to meet some pressing deadlines or you haven’t gotten the response you wanted from a recent job posting, freelance help can be incredibly valuable for not only your company, but for your full-time staff as well. 

Here we’ve gathered a panel of UpCity partners and experts to offer their tips, advice, and resources on finding and hiring freelance talent. From recommended freelance platforms to vetting various skill sets, our partners have countless recommendations for business owners and small businesses to find freelancers that are available part time, full time, or on a contract basis. 

Favorite Freelance Platforms

Many of our experts’ favorite freelance hiring platforms will be very familiar names to small business owners. UpWork and Fiverr were two of the biggest freelance marketplaces that came up—and for good reason. The quantity of professionals and the information provided gave many of our panelists the best view of potential “gurus,” and made the hiring process much easier than other methods.

“If it’s short-term work, platforms such as Upwork are effective because you can quickly get a list of professionals and eventually select the right candidate. On the other hand, if our company needs to hire someone for an ongoing and relatively permanent role, it’s preferable to contact a recruiter who can help us hire a quality resource that will add value to our operation.” – Asad Kausar, CEO of Dabaran Inc.

While copywriters, content writers, and graphic designers are areas people normally associate with freelance positions and sites such as Behance, the truth is that there are many talented people available for freelance work in most fields. Customer support, software development, programmers, illustrators, data entry specialists … If your small business has a need, there is a good chance that skilled freelancers are available to help.

“Our company is trying to keep everything in-house, but we went to freelance websites when we needed some help with accounting. Our favorite resources are freelance platforms (Upwork, Fiverr) with both cheap and pricey options and transparent review systems to help us make the best choice.” – David Ispiryan, Founder of Effeect

While several of our experts would recommend dedicated recruiters for the best results, small businesses and startups that are just getting going may find the fees to be cost prohibitive. Once again, they came back to UpWork and Fiverr as top places to start especially when you are keeping a close eye on project costs or operational budgets overall.

“We love using Upwork or Fiverr because we don’t pay any recruitment fees. It helps us find talent quickly and cost effectively.” – Shan Serran, CEO & Founder of Veewz

Beyond cost concerns, these recommended freelance sites also provide a remarkably deep talent pool, which can be especially valuable when searching for very specific skills or experience.

“We’ve spent hundreds of thousands on freelancers over the years, and 99% of that spend has gone through Upwork. Upwork seems to have the best talent pool for what we need, and their platform allows us to dive deep into their users and find/invite suitable candidates for us.” – Paul Letourneau, CEO/Director of Digital at YEG Digital

Recent research shows that one in three American workers is a freelancer, meaning there is an enormous pool of talent available for small, medium, and large companies or organizations to choose from. And with so much talent currently participating in the “gig economy” in one way or another, there is also a very diverse pool of potential contractors and employees to consider.

“We try our best to be inclusive in our hiring while still seeking the most qualified people, and websites like UpWork have helped us facilitate that. The talent pool has been great for a variety of different job openings we’ve had come up.” – Sophie Mann, Director of Content Strategy at encite branding + marketing + creative

“Some of my favorite resources to use for hiring freelancers are sites like UpWork and Fiverr. You can post a job listing and then review applications and proposals from potential candidates. It’s a great way to find the perfect freelancer for your project.” – Travis Lindemoen, Managing Director at nexus IT group

Additional Freelance Sourcing Options

Beyond these familiar sources of freelancers and other remote work options, there are other ways to source high-quality freelancers and still complete a fairly rigorous screening process. Our experts had several additional recommendations on finding the right freelancer for your project and your organization, some of which you may have overlooked or thought were less effective.

“For non-marketing specialists, taking a chance on a cold email or cold LinkedIn messages has been rewarding. They are attempting to market themselves, but are a bit clunky about it. I like to reply, ‘How is this campaign going for you? These bot messages performing well?’ If they have a sense of humor about my reply, I will ask them to send me a portfolio or run a sample of their work.” – Law Smith, President at Tocobaga – B2B, B2C Strategic Advisory & Marketing Agency 

As mentioned above, going through a recruiter can be cost prohibitive for some organizations. But the upfront cost or commission can be well worth it if you are able to more accurately target people who you know will provide quality work.

“We mainly nurture a select group of freelancers that we can call upon when we are overloaded with work. Our recruiter can help build our network of helpful freelancers, and other agencies also help with temporary staff augmentation.” – Brad Muncs, CEO of Symetris

Though it may sound a little obvious, LinkedIn can be not only a great place to post jobs, but a terrific resource for finding freelance talent and contractors who specifically have the experience you need.

“LinkedIn is an excellent resource for finding and hiring reputable freelancers. Their search feature allows you to dial into freelance prospects that fit your project requirements.” – Noah Watson, President of Watson Media

“LinkedIn gives a better view of the person versus just what they may want you to see in their portfolio. We’ll also deep dive other social media platforms if available to research some before hiring.” – Charles Johnston, Digital Ninja/Owner of HeartWired Digital Solutions

Some companies have a different approach to sourcing freelance help based on the type of work, and one size certainly does not fit all. For example, you may find utilizing a freelance work site like Fiverr or PeoplePerHour for some projects, but not for something like logo design.

“It depends a lot on the profile or the specifics of the job offer. For example, for content and writing, we love Textbroker. For some delicate jobs, we like to create a recruiting process just like we do for our employees. In cases like that, Indeed is a good place to start.” – Jose Gomez, CTO & CoFounder at Evinex

Another option that sometimes gets overlooked in these conversations is good, old-fashioned referrals and word of mouth. Just like in the world of marketing the best advertisement is a satisfied customer, the same is true of other businesses/agencies and the freelancers they have utilized.

“I have a team of contract writers, developers, and designers from word of mouth recommendations, LinkedIn, and referrals from other industry professionals.” – Jessy Savage, Agency Owner at Jessy Savage

Finally, there are likely other, lesser-known sites that cater to specific expertise and freelance help depending on what your company needs. So while Freelancer.com might be one of the best sites for certain projects, be sure that you look into other, more specific options that may provide a better pool of candidates and expertise.

“Our site connects web designers, design agencies, and small-mid business owners directly with web developers, and the scoring system and automatic features allow clients to choose the best offer provided by the developers.” – Stano Dzavoronok, Product Development Head at Goodiewebsite

Tips on Finding Help from Freelance Websites

One of our panelists offered up a great tip for everyone, whether they have or haven’t hired freelance help before: establish your process.

There is a lot of talent in the world, and so the process of finding someone can seem daunting. But if you and your team establish the steps you want to follow and the key things you are looking for, the process can go a lot more smoothly.

“Regardless of which option you choose for sourcing your freelance help, my recommendation is to do the following: 1) Pick the site with the highest level of identity verification; 2) Send messages to your top 10 choices after carefully reading their resume and looking at their work; 3) Ask them to send you more examples of work they have recently completed; 4) Offer a paid trial week with each of the top responses, one at a time, to see how they perform before hiring full time.” – Noah Lopata, Owner/Lead SEO at Epidemic Marketing

Going Beyond the Best Sites for Freelance Jobs

Much of what our panel of experts shared here were their personal experiences as small business operators in eCommerce, IT, SEO, web development, and so on. Their knowledge and experience goes well beyond what we could capture here, though, and they are all eager to provide additional guidance for small business owners and startups who need to hire freelancers.

Each of the experts here has experience not only hiring freelancers, but also with finding candidates who later became full-time employees. So whether you are interested in learning more about fixed-price freelance options, hourly rates, job boards where you can find qualified candidates, or simply explore the possibilities, be sure to contact one or more of the top staffing agencies available here at UpCity. There is an extensive collection of advice, expertise, and guidance available to help your business find just the right people to make your projects successful.