Open Thread: Have You Been Hired by Another Freelancer?
Posted October 30, 2011 in Managing Clients, Open Thread
Freelancers get to work for all different types of clients. There are good clients, bad clients, large clients, and small clients–to name just a few.
You name a type of business, and a freelancer has probably worked with them at some point. However, in this post I’d like to shift the focus a bit.
What I’ve been wondering is this:
Have You Worked for Another Freelancer?
Do freelancers hire each other very often? If they do, do they treat each other well? What challenges do they face?
If you’ve worked with a freelancer before (or are currently working with a freelancer), share your experience in the comments. Share any tips that you may have learned. Naturally, leave out any specific names.
Also, if you’ve hired another freelancer, feel free to share that as well (leaving out names).
Image by Johan Larsson
Related posts:
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- Open Thread: What Type of Freelancer Are You?
- Open Thread: Do You Ever Work for Free?
- Open Thread: Do You Accept Rush Work?
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.
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26 Comments
Harleena Singh
October 30th, 2011 at 9:22 amHi Laura,
Nice thread that could turn into a great discussion as well!
Speaking about my own personal experience, I have been hired by freelance writers a few years ago when I had initially started off my freelance writing career, who had bulk work and wanted the work done within a short period of time- thus needed more working hands. Although the work was done and submitted in time, the association didn’t last long. This happened because they were not the direct clients, thus the payment was also divided and not the real amount you would get paid had you worked directly for the clients.
The treatment and other communication etc were all smooth for me, as I myself am careful about asking details before commencing work, and ensure the work is submitted earlier than asked for. I had also once outsourced a project to 2-3 freelance writers a few years back. Somehow for me the quality of the work was not what I was looking for, and landed up doing a lot of edits before submitting the work.
I guess if you know of freelance writers who provide good quality work, your association with them can be fruitful, otherwise it’s almost like a hit and trial session till you find good ones around.
Thanks for sharing :)
poch
October 30th, 2011 at 9:33 amHow about the client who hires you, rejects your work, then rewrites the pieces you submitted?
Susan Johnston
October 30th, 2011 at 10:21 amI have been hired by other freelancers. For instance, a web designer offered blog writing services to his clients and subcontracted that portion of the project to me. The clients had no beef with the arrangement, because they could use him as a one-stop shop without paying the overhead of a larger agency, and I enjoyed the arrangement because it meant he brought the work to me. The only downside is that in order for him to take his cut of the deal, the rates I earned were a little lower than I could have gotten on my own. In other cases, I’ve worked with more senior copywriters who created a writing firm of sorts where they subcontract various projects to other freelancers depending on the type of expertise needed.
I have hired freelancers on a very limited basis. For instance, I hired a graphic designer to design the cover for my ebook and a proofreader to proofread the ebook. I also use a virtual assistant to help with some administrative tasks.
ORadini
October 30th, 2011 at 10:29 amI think working for other freelancers can be useful, especially when you’re starting out. The problems come with payment; if you’re working for another freelancer, you might as well cut out the middle person.
Chris Frick
October 30th, 2011 at 11:21 amI am a full-time student and have recently started my freelance Web Design & Development career. I am currently with my first client, a college professor and freelance writer.
Honestly, I don’t think I could have asked for a better first client. She is very laid-back, the deadline for the project isn’t a pressing issue, and other than the content and photos she chose, she has left the design entirely up to me. Now that I think about it, I would be lucky to ever obtain another client like her.
But, I could see how working for other freelancers could be a pain. If there is one thing I’ve learned so far in this field it is that all freelancers are different and we want to do things our own way. . . That’s why we are freelancers and not full-time employees at some firm.
Great thread!!
Katharine O'Moore-Klopf
October 30th, 2011 at 12:13 pmI’ve been hired by two medical-writer colleagues to edit their materials before they turned them over to their clients. One colleague is also a German –> English translator, so whenever I work with her, I’m both editing and polishing her English for an American audience; she lives in Germany and I live in the United States. The other colleague writes materials for continuing medical education, and I help her catch the things she can’t see in her own writing because she’s too close to it. Both pay well, and they don’t make me wait to get paid until their clients pay them, which is excellent.
I have also hired a colleague to create an index for a medical monograph that I edited. I paid her immediately, before my client paid me. That’s the only ethical way to handle things, in my opinion.
Heather
October 30th, 2011 at 12:24 pmI’ve not been hired by another freelancer, however I’ve done a little bit of hiring!
I run a 3D training blog, and during the summer when I was trying to focus on bringing it back to life a little (I’d stopped for my final degree year) I decided that I didn’t want to write my own tutorials right then. Wound up advertising on Freelancer.com (wouldn’t use again because of their fees) and Elance (much nicer overall).
There were a few people I went on to work with, most of them were superb and really eager. I like to think I was a good ‘boss’ of course, left them plenty of free reign to create tutorials, encouraged, and offered constructive criticism where needed. There was one person I had a less fun time with due to a breakdown in comunication and slightly sub-standard work however it was resolved in the end and I have that tutorial waiting in drafts.
Certainly it’s something I’d do again, though possibly I’d put a little more emphasis on work schedule next time.
Stephen Tiano
October 30th, 2011 at 12:36 pmDo self-publishing authors count as freelancers? I mean, they’re certainly not employees, right? Maybe only if they write more than just a single book? Anyway, if they do, then yes, I’ve worked for freelancers and the experiences have been great. There’s nothing like the streamlined chain of command–going straight to the decision-maker with issues that arise during a project.
Jason
October 30th, 2011 at 1:00 pmI’ve been hired by a lot of other freelancers and the process is a lot better. They are more understanding, they pay on time and treat you like a professional. Working for companies is becoming to be a waste of my time, there is only one client that I have that is a company that is 100% professional. In general I find companies are cheap, lying and impersonal. Employees wash their hands of any problems, blaming the company, they must leave their souls at the door.
So yes, FREELANCERS RULE! have not had a bad experience yet.
Laura Spencer
October 30th, 2011 at 2:18 pmGreat discussion!
I love hearing the various stories and experiences.
It sounds like, in general, freelancers are great to work for. The only drawback seems to be that the pay is a little lower than if you worked directly for the end client because the freelancer has to take their cut.
It’s great to hear that freelancers usually treat each other well. :)
Keep the stories coming!
Lulu
October 30th, 2011 at 8:08 pmI have done both work for other freelancers and hired other freelancers. In some cases it has been great and allowed me to take on jobs that normally world have been too big to complete on my own. On the flip side I recently worked for a freelancer who continued to have issues with my rates. Considering a discount was given (keeping in mind that they’ll be putting a markup on top of my rates) it seemed like it wasn’t enough.
Personal I’m not one for bargaining down a freelancers rate as I understand what’s involved in running a freelance business. It’s a shame not everyone seems to agree.
It can also be hard receiving a brief of a brief. If the middleman doesn’t receive the right info or interprets it incorrectly it can become a huge problem further down the line.
Je
October 31st, 2011 at 2:05 amI’ve been hired by another freelancer before. We’ve been good friends we treat each other fairly since in the first place my task is to help her with her freelance work (she became really busy with her children). It turned out very well and we still keep in touch with each other via emails. She always encourage me to go on with my studies which I eventually finished. :)
Malice
October 31st, 2011 at 4:23 amI have been hired by freelance writers and everything was more than just alright. Nice communication, better I may add. They knew exactly what they wanted which has speed up the process
Maria
October 31st, 2011 at 4:30 amDefinitely imagine that which you stated. Yeah a few months ago I was been hired. He was pretty good.
Priya
October 31st, 2011 at 6:06 amGood Post Laura Spencer am a beginner freelancer content writer from India this information and discussion is very help full for me Thank…
Chana
October 31st, 2011 at 9:17 amAbsolutely yes!! I’ve been working for freelancers from the US on many occasions for the past few months. They have been pretty satisfied with my service, I guess, that they kept on sending me new projects.
Although we’ve never met each other in person, I found that occasional meetings via Skype is a great ice-breaker tool which made us felt very comfortable working with each other before and during the project. Most importantly, preventing us from creating any misunderstandings.
Laura
October 31st, 2011 at 2:48 pmI have been fired by another freelancer to cover their overflow work, I was treated well but the pay was terrible. This was a long time ago and I was eager to network with people in the biz.
Morgan and Me Creative
November 2nd, 2011 at 3:43 amWe often hire freelancers the bulk gets too much or when a deadline has suddenly been pushed and we find it tough to allocate any more resources for that to happen. We have some really great ones as well as some dodgy ones, some ran off without producing any work after getting paid. It’s an experience really but the journey has been really good so far and freelancers by far are the best type of professionals to work with. They are skillful and possess 100% know-how in their execution.
Long live freelancers!
Write Now Indy
November 2nd, 2011 at 10:08 amI’ve worked with other freelancers before, but generally I don’t get hired by them. I have a working relationship with a few developers and designers. We refer each other when we have clients who need services we can’t provide.
We generally negotiate directly with the client when it comes to setting a price. I will however offer a referral fee if another freelancer recommends me for a gig. Usually 10-15% depending on the project.
If I ever get a job so big I can’t handle it myself I would outsource he work in a heart beat. That’s why it’s important to build good connections with the other freelancers in your market.
Aaron Moody
November 3rd, 2011 at 2:31 pmI’ve hired, and been hired many times by freelancers.
I’ve always had a great time working with them, as they know what information is needed to be sent over in order to ensure a pleasent experience.
“treat others how you want to be treat”
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