How to Hire a Freelancer in the UK: Tips and Advice

Today, I’ve got some advice for those looking to hire a freelancer in the UK, whether you’re trying to hire a freelance graphic designer, video editor, or freelance web designer in London or anywhere else in the United Kingdom.

Whatever you happen to need today, I will cover a few things that you need to know when hiring a freelancer in the UK, and I think this will be helpful for the far majority of you.

I’m also going to give just a little bit of advice for freelancers out there who should understand what a client might need and should be looking for.

Where to Find Freelancers in London?

One of the things many people tell me that they struggle with is that they can’t find a freelancer in the UK in the first place, and there are a couple of different ways you can go about it.

One of the ways that I strongly recommend is that you get a referral from a trusted friend, business partner, or somebody that’s already in your network.

If somebody in your system has already used a freelancer based in London for their services, then it’s probably going to be one of the best relationships you can have.

If you don’t have anyone in your network or don’t have anyone that you trust to ask for a referral, then maybe you should go, and look at freelancing websites and job websites around London.

I’m going to recommend two: Reed.co.uk and People Per Hour: both based in the UK.

You can use these online marketplaces to find people and contract them for services, making this whole process a lot easier.

How to Pick the Ideal Freelancer?

If you don’t know where to start or how any of this works, you can try a personal one-on-one relationship with somebody you want to hire, but that’s not always going to be a practical answer that gets things done quickly enough for you.

The one thing I’m going to caution you on is not to be tempted to go to platforms like Fiverr or Freelancer.com. I understand that there are people with extraordinary experiences with it, but if you want to play Russian roulette, I’m not going to be held responsible for what happens to you. You have been warned! There’re people from everywhere, so it’s better to find a local freelancing marketplace;

With those options in mind, how do you choose a freelancer to work in the first place?

Well, there are a couple of things that I look for when I’m hiring anyone. I look at their portfolio and their body of work for whatever it is about hiring for, but I also try to get a sense of their personality. If I can call them and interview them via Skype or via phone or meet them in person, it’s easier to better understand the freelancer.

I have to decide if they’re a comfortable fit for me. Relationships matter a lot, and being able to communicate well with somebody is going to be the make-or-break point between whether you get the most out of them for your money or not. You have to decide what you’re most comfortable with.

Now, about some other practical considerations and hiring, you also can and should look at their depth of experience, whether that’s the volume of their body of work or their years of experience, or specific skills that you would prefer that they have.

Also, I look for people who have compatible workflows with mine.

How to Manage Payments

Figure out whether that’s in your budget and then negotiate with your freelancer, or you can ask your freelancer what their rates and fees are. Then you can haggle if you want to one way or the other.

I prefer to set a fixed budget for what it is. I know I am going to spend both at a maximum. Then I set myself an ideal range of what I would like to get as far as a deal or what I would like to save.

Still, I set myself a minimum and a maximum. Then I usually do my research to understand the reasonable price, what is the average, and so on, and I get some quotes.

Then, I’ll ask the freelancer what they feel comfortable charging, and then I can decide from there.

I usually find that you get better pricing when you do this.

I also feel that when you let the freelancer tell you what they’re valuing their work at, you get more honest communication. You have a much better relationship because they don’t feel like they’re getting screwed.

What to Do When You Don’t Have Much to Invest In?

That’s what I do… sometimes. If I have something that the other person may value or may want, I put it on the table. – I say:

Hey! Is this something you’re interested in? I let them say yes or no, and then I ask them if they’d like to make a consideration in terms of either adjusting the price in exchange for a service of mine.

I don’t usually lead with that; I let people tell me what they’re comfortable with.

If you do have leverage, or you want to offer something in terms of saying: “well, I have more business to do with you; I’m going to be doing bulk orders or ordering your services from you at a high volume, or I have a network that can introduce you to in terms of referrals.”

If the freelancer isn’t open to them, they’re not available to them, but be upfront and have a position of integrity and value when you’re negotiating prices and fees for something.

Must Read: Freelancer Hiring in Manchester

Per Hour or Per Project?

I avoid hourly rates whenever possible at all costs. I don’t think there’s an incentive for hourly rates.

If you’re painting my house, and you’re charging by the hour, you have every incentive to take six months.

If I need something done timely, I don’t go to an hourly rate. I pay outright because it gives you every incentive to get it done, get paid, and move to the next job.

About those payments, you can, if you’re using a platform, the amount is held in escrow, and then you have to review and approve everything before the payments are released.

If you’re doing this on working with a freelancer, maybe ask if costs can be made in terms of installments based on work stages completed and reviewed and approved by you, as the client. Or do something like a deposit of one-third or half upfront, and then the rest incrementally.

Figure out what you’re comfortable with and, if possible, try to either have a general agreement, a contract, or an invoice in place from the freelancer to have some paperwork behind this transaction.

How to Make Payments

PayPal, stripe, and Venmo are great payment systems. I highly recommend those, and those are great ways to work with freelancers, typically. PayPal is the most widely used of all right now.

How to Get What You Paid For

Finally, let’s talk about how to make sure you’re getting what you paid for. Ultimately, you should put some review process for approval in place for final payment.

It should be clear how many revisions you are allowed. So, try to do a fair deal and be honest and upfront about your expectations, what you need, and what deadlines are.

I would also make sure that when you’re working with freelancers, give them soft deadlines. If something is due on Friday, don’t tell them it’s due on Friday. Ask for it by Tuesday or Wednesday to give yourself room for flexibility, like give yourself that in the worst-case scenario.

Because there’s a lot that you don’t control in this situation, and you don’t want to be left holding, you don’t want to be uncomfortable.

You also don’t want to put your freelancer under the gun, so give some slack where it’s needed.

Just make sure that clear communication is being had by you and your freelancer. If you want to make sure that you’re both getting what you’re paid for, no one likes a bad testimonial.

Everyone wants to feel that they’ve been treated reasonably, so make sure that you’re operating accordingly and that you’re making it easy for them and your so clients out there. I hope this helps you understand how to hire a freelancer.