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Freelancing: Your experience with freelancers?

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorrsherzad
    • CommentTimeMar 11th 2006 edited
     permalink
    Hi everyone,

    I have outsourced a couple of my projects (design, copywriting, CSS, PHP etc.) to people that I found on sites such as <insert-any-freelancer-auction-site-here>.com and I've been more than disappointed by their working moral / methodology:
    - late or no reply to my e-mails,
    - no proper feedback,
    - no real "customer care",
    - constant (obvious) mistakes they made
    - didn't use their brains in certain (obvious) project-related situations,
    - no guts to tell me that they can't make it on time or overestimated the complexity
    etc.

    I'm about to offer 3-4 of my urgent projects on cssBeauty (mostly CSS/Joomla projects; outsourced fully) and before I do that I would like to know about how you handle problems that arise during your projects. When do you cancel the project, what do you do when the designer/developer proves unreliable and finishes the job late? How do you handle payment in such cases?

    If you're a freelancer: how do you handle situations like that? What do you do when you don't make it on time, what do you offer for compensation in such cases?

    I guess the anonymity of working at home, never seeing the customer makes people become careless in regard to the quality of their work and communication - what do you think about this?

    Many Greetings,
    R.

    P.S.: I'm a (Java/J2EE) freelancer myself, so this thread is not intended to decry anyone on this website; sorry if it sounds like it :-(
  2.  permalink
    For me, communication is key. I like to have frequent 'check-points' when coding or designing something. If something unexpected comes up, I (try to) tell you right away instead of waiting and inconviencing you.

    I like to have contracts signed. In that contract, I lay out what you want to have done, specifics, as well as any rough or draft copies of the design. We then set a target date and if I fail to meet that date due to my own fault, I charge you nothing more past the target date we decided on in our contract. However, if you keep making additions or want something that isn't outlined in the contract and I don't finish on time, I offer nothing as I cannot compensate for things like that on a strict schedule without prior knowledge.

    I agree that some people tend to take projects and jobs less serious because there is little 'real-world' interaction between them, however, I take great pride in knowing I was selected to be the person for a specific job and I want to finish on-time, with minimal cost to you.

    For myself, I like to charge a hourly rate, or a flat project fee depending on the size and what I have to do. If I have to cancel the project unexpectedly for whatever reason, I hand you over everything I have done. If it can be used, I expect payment, although slightly reduced, and move on. No hard feelings, no grudges. If the work I have done (or lack of) cannot be used, I hand you over my work and move on. You shouldn't have to pay for something you can't use, whether or not I worked on it is not important at that moment.
  3.  permalink
    "I guess the anonymity of working at home, never seeing the customer makes people become careless in regard to the quality of their work and communication - what do you think about this?"


    I dont think that is it at all. if i never see the customer then my work has to speak volumes about my abilities. nick is right communication is the key. and check points make the process much smoother. dispite all the talk you may hear of 'letting the client in on the design will suc'. having the client feel like a divested partner otfen gives you a break, when you enevidablly make that 'obvious' mistake. or you need more time to complete. or you have underestimated the complexity and need to tell them that the design wis going to be late.

    people have more understanding about that kinda thing when you have open lines of communication
  4.  permalink
    Yeah. I feel a client is a part of the team. After all, I'm just implementing the site, I'm not the one to use it, or browse it after it's done.

    Why shouldn't I go to client for everything they want?
  5.  permalink
    yeah , i dont understand the adversarial aproach some take in the client/contractor deal. the client is the one with the vision and like it or not you are the implemetor of that idea. now its your professional job to shape and mold that idea into something that works, but it drives me to no end when designers say that they know better than their cleint what to design. or say that if all you want is someone to flesh out your ideas, then im not the one for you.

    what the hell are you a designer for client work if you are not the "pen/pencil" of the person who has not way or know how to "write" out their ideas.

    i get my cleints by word of mouth, and what people tell me is that " i came to you becuase so and so said that you have a knack for being able to make my dream/thought/idea a reality"

    and i say , well its not all that grand i just listen to what you tell me and exicute it to the best of my abilities andif i know something just wont work or i can make it work better then i try to educate you in a balanced conversation on those things, not a condesending manner.
  6.  permalink
    Hi!

    In my experience If I do any big projects I always trying to signed up a contract with a client and specified every detailed of the project. It's basically insurance for me and the client.
    If client goes really overhead I always have a document on which project is based so any further changes or modification not covered in a contact will charge as a new project.

    I don't know you particular situation and what happened between you and Freelance. I only have a bad experience with one client he kept changing stuff and assuming I knew each aspect of him business.
    That's why from now on I always create a contact.

    Cheers, DS
    • CommentAuthordrock
    • CommentTimeMay 11th 2006
     permalink
    Sounds like your not working with the right freelancers
    •  
      CommentAuthormringlein
    • CommentTimeMay 14th 2006
     permalink
    Rule number 1 when hiring a freelance designer: ALWAYS get a reference. I would also suggest not trying to get the most for your dollar and going cheap; when you pick the lowest bidder, you dont get the best work. It is just like they always say, you get what you pay for.

    I highly suggest giving your freelancer a bonus for overachievment, make them want to work harder for you!

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