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Ask HN: Why is it so hard finding a Freelancer?

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Re: Ask HN: Why is it so hard finding a Freelancer?

#21

Post by trotsky »

For whatever reason, most unsolicited leads from websites or email turn out to be garbage in that business. Meaning if you pursue all of them very close to 0% will turn into real work. Most emailers are dreaming, fishing for some free work, can't afford it or are trying to get bids for a job they already plan to hire their friend for.

Somehow you need to convince these people that you're not one of those folks, assuming you aren't. I'd make the note specific to the person you're emailing (I liked portfolio piece x and would like something like the operation of y which impressed me), state clearly that if you can come to an agreement you're ready to commit to work right away without getting competitive bids, provide sketches or something concrete that shows you didn't just dream up this idea an hour ago and will have forgotten about it tomorrow, state your approximate budget and note that the money is in the bank, and make it clear some how you're not emailing the whole planet.

Lots of these people will be happy to work with you - but if they state on the web they're looking for work they've probably been burned a number of times by people who demanded a lot of attention and yet never had the actual intention of hiring them (even if they thought they did at the time). Do make sure that's not you.

EDIT: I Just saw one of your follow ups where you said "I'm not sure if what I'm asking for is $1k or $10k" - that's your problem, you probably are one of these bad leads at least at this point. I'd consider offering a day rate of $500 to have someone help you flesh out your needs and set your expectations. If $500 is too much to move the process along you probably should reconsider what you're getting into.

Re: Ask HN: Why is it so hard finding a Freelancer?

#23

Post by BSousa »

You said you emailed a dozen of people, where did you get their emails?

If from popular blogs freelancers have, most of the time these freelancers have their schedule full and tired as many others pointed of getting contacted with bad offers so they just ignore them.

I'll be glad to take a look at your email as well and give you feedback, and if it is a small project (can't take full time projects at the moment) I may be able to help you.

Re: Ask HN: Why is it so hard finding a Freelancer?

#24

Post by codegeek »

Freelancers who are worth your time are usually busy. If you want to get a response, try and include the following information as much as you can:

- HOW DID YOU FIND ME: This is important. Did you find me online somewhere or was I referred to you by someone I know personally? That could make a difference.

- NEW PROJECT vs. EXISTING ENHANCEMENT: It matters if you are looking to start a brand new project from scratch vs. taking an existing project/work/code from someone and enhancing it. Reason being: freelancers will get an idea what they might be getting into.

DETAILED PROJECT SCOPE: this usually refers to what you are trying to do. If brand new project, explain this in plain english without worrying about technical mumbo jumbo. Example "I want to build a website to buy and sell bicycles. It should allow sellers to create a listing, upload pictures and the buyers should be able to pay online using credit card". This is an example and any level of details will help. If existing project, you can then provide some tech. details if you understand it. For example, "the site is already built in Ruby on Rails primarily with mysql database" etc and I am interested in using/leveraging the existing code. Provide any URLs if available publicly.

PRICING: This is important. Even if you don't understand whether it will cost you 1K vs 20K (as you mentioned), you need to do some basic research about current market rates. If you have a fixed budget, mention it. If you have no clue, then your best bet is to try and say "Willing to pay market rates and you tell me what it will cost". Remember, if you low ball, you will never get a response from good freelancers. Also, there is no such thing as a high number :).

PROJECT TIMELINE: This is related to Pricing as well. You have to give the freelancer an idea of tentative timelines. Do you need something done in 5 days vs. 50 days ? Do you need somone Fulltime vs. part time. Weekends ?

LOCATION & COMMUNICATION: Do you need someone to work at a specific location for this or telecommute etc. Where are you located yourself ? How will you be communicating with the freelancer during the project ?

TECHNOLOGIES: If you already know the tech. stack because you know what u want or it is an existing project built using xyz tech. stack, then mention it. For example "the app is built in Python/Django,node.js, Postgres etc."

If you can try and put these in your initial communication, I think the response rate will be much higher.

Re: Ask HN: Why is it so hard finding a Freelancer?

#25

Post by chc »

clockwork_189 wrote: post #9

To be honest, I am on the other end of that spectrum where I am looking to build my portfolio and I am finding it extremely hard getting clients. In terms of your question, it could be a couple of reasons: 1) Either the price you are quoting is too high 2) You are asking for a long term commitment with little financial returns 3) You are asking for development, using technologies that are either a) outdated, b) The d…

> In terms of your question, it could be a couple of reasons: 1) Either the price you are quoting is too high

I do not believe I have ever turned someone down because they wanted to throw a large amount of money at me.

Re: Ask HN: Why is it so hard finding a Freelancer?

#27

Post by [deleted] »

bmelton wrote: post #10
thekillingtree wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've received 0 quotes and I'm not sure if what I'm asking for is going to cost $1k or $20+k. As far as a budget goes, I'm not sure really. I understand that you get what you pay for and I also understand what it's like working as a freelancer, so I'm not trying to lowball anyone. I mean, for a down and dirty idea of what I'm looking for is basically pcpartpicker.com but definitely not a clone and clearly a different…

You can bounce it off me as well - barry.melton@gmail.com. I'll mail you back my take on the offer -- if it's turning someone off to responding to you, I'll respond as to why. If it looks perfectly reasonable, I'll let you know that as well. I will also respond with a quote as to what I think it should cost, in terms of hours and dollars.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Why is it so hard finding a Freelancer?

#28

Post by clockwork_189 »

chc wrote: post #25
clockwork_189 wrote: post #9

To be honest, I am on the other end of that spectrum where I am looking to build my portfolio and I am finding it extremely hard getting clients. In terms of your question, it could be a couple of reasons: 1) Either the price you are quoting is too high 2) You are asking for a long term commitment with little financial returns 3) You are asking for development, using technologies that are either a) outdated, b) The d…

> In terms of your question, it could be a couple of reasons: 1) Either the price you are quoting is too high I do not believe I have ever turned someone down because they wanted to throw a large amount of money at me.

Whoops I meant too low for too much work. hahaha, my bad!

Re: Ask HN: Why is it so hard finding a Freelancer?

#30

Post by timjahn »

Some freelancers prefer to get work through trusted channels, like a referral from a friend.

This is exactly why we built matchist (http://matchist.com). When you submit your project through matchist, our developers know we've vetted it and will only send it their way if it's legit.

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