Creating an Agency: Getting Freelancers to Work with You
Hi. I’m Shane. I tweet about my misadventures running (with some pretty smart people) a 100% freelance driven agency at @justlikeair. Working with freelancers offers an interesting conundrum. In a polygamous environment, a genuinely free market, how do you build loyalty? Why would a great freelancer choose my urgent project over someone else’s? How do we stay attractive after the 3rd date (project)? What about after dating (without getting married) for 3 years? After all, the best freelancers get to pick from a wide pool of suitors.
Check out the slides from the entire talk. The article below elaborates on section 4.
As my freelance business grew and I started subcontracting, I found myself in the interesting position of being both a service provider and a customer on the same projects. We needed happy freelancers in order to have happy customers. Peter, Reid & I (my business buddies) quickly realized that we had an amazing opportunity to improve ourselves. After all, every time one of us says – “#@$%^&, I hate it when my client does that” – we quickly check ourselves to make sure we are not doing the same thing to our team. Since we rely 100% on freelancers to run our agency, finding ways to drive loyalty is one of our biggest challenges and advantages. By retaining the best freelancers, we create a highly versatile and talented team.
So, what have we been doing that seems to work?
Pay consistently and on time (even if our customers don’t).
When you work with people like Seagate, MTV, eBay, and NBC you can easily go 90 days without seeing your money, perhaps even longer should bureaucratic misfortune strike. We pay out team net-30 (or less) no matter what is happening on the other end. Being the client who pays regularly within an ocean of uncertainty is divine.
Make our deadlines.
Sounds kind of obvious, but you would be amazed (or perhaps you aren’t) how many of our deadlines get blown by our clients, not by us. While we can’t always avoid the realities of shifting scope and schedule, we make it our mission to be accountable and rapidly reset expectations. Nothing makes people feel more secure than a client who behaves like they said they would. It’s only fair.
Consistency drives loyalty
Loyalty is a two way street. If you want loyalty, you might need to give it too. Our most loyal freelancers also happen to be the ones who get the most consistent high quality & high value work. It might be a bit of a chicken and egg thing. Simply, if you put out consistently, they will keep a comin’.
Stop, collaborate and listen.
During my last post-mortem, one of the designers on my team pointed out that I periodically looked at his work without reading his comments. It implied I didn’t care (oops). That is rapidly being rectified. I am continually amazed by the number of clients who hire a freelancer for their expertise, then tell them exactly what to do and don’t listen to the advice they pay for. We contract experts. I may disagree with them at times, but we always make an effort to really listen. We focus on creating a culture of educated decisions, in which all team input is taken into consideration.
Be organized
Know where to find files. Keep track of dates. Reply to your email. A few months ago, I overheard one of our contractors reply to another client: “It’s your logo, why do you keep emailing me for a copy of it?” Need I say more?
Jealousy is not sexy
Respect the fact that we all have multiple clients. Schedule ahead of time. I often ask each person on our team what their load looks like and how much availability they have. I try to have enough back ups that I never get too stressed when someone isn’t available. Since everyone is 100% distributed, being flexible about timezones and work patterns is not a luxury, it is the air we breathe.
Share your network
Most of our business comes from the extended network of our clients. In the same vein, I consistently refer my contractors projects that don’t fit our business. Nothing says I appreciate working with you like a referral.
and a lot more, like take them on vacation with you (WE DO)
Since most of you won’t join the 23 of us in Mexico this February, you will have to settle with checking out the slides from the full presentation above. If you enjoy it, check me out on twitter @justlikeair.
Leave a Comment
As a freelancer, if I got a quarter of what you mentioned, i would be a happy bunny.
Brilliant post Shane, and extra points for the use of “Stop, Collaborate and Listen”!
Shane,
Thanks for the great post. We have been in business for over 10 years, and EVERYTHING you say is absolutely true…Words to live by for today’s agency!
Best,
Karene
The “be organized – It’s your logo, why do you keep emailing me for a copy of it?” made me laugh out loud. I can’t tell you how many clients email me months or years later for a copy of their logo, when I sent them multiple variations of it during the project. How can you not have a copy of your own logo?!
Luckily, many of my clients do a lot of the same things you guys do, which leads to a long and happy relationship.
Great list on how to keep your freelancer(s) happy!
The advice in the article is dead on. 100%.
I can really relate to this as I’m just reaching that stage where I’m bringing on more sub-contractors to handle more and bigger projects. I’m still a one-man operation that expands to 2-3 periodically… nowhere near your level of growth.
Very inspiring
Great post, Shane, keep writing!
What a refreshing read. I am a freelancer currently working under another agency that has done a great job of not being “Jealous”. She always asks me if I have time to do x and y, and is very understanding if I don’t. Because I work for other agencies too, there often are times that I can’t drop everything for her. Many other agencies that I work for don’t seem to get that, and sometimes just tell me what they want me to do and when they want it done, without even asking if I have the time to do it. It gets frustrating. It is in times like that where I have to “train” the client. This article spells all of that dynamic out nicely.
Awesome post Shane and I enjoyed the slideshow! These are definitely points to take into consideration if one wishes to start and maintain a freelance agency. I especially agree with this line:
“Nothing makes people feel more secure than a client who behaves like they said they would. It’s only fair.”
I always make sure to provide my clients with the reliability and consistency to give them no reason to feel insecure when working with me, so I expect them to do the same. It would really suck if they expect me to meet their deadlines and yet they constantly miss their own.
Thanks everyone for the nice comments!! Feel free to ask any specific questions if you are facing an interesting challenge.
This article dropped in our inbox with perfect timing! Hit the inbox today. We use freelancers and in fact currently we’re using an awesome freelancer we found via FSw. We absolutely agree with your number one “Pay Consistently”. We make sure we always pay on time and if there’s any potential delay we communicate this early.
But the reason the timing was perfect is that we’ve often wondered about working with multiple freelancers as we look to grow and this has given us a perfect starting point should we be lucky enough to be in that position in the future.
I think it helps a lot if the other freelancers are also your friends or people you know from other life/work situations but thats really just wishfull thinking and real life doesnt work like that.
@scott – it can’t hurt, although sometimes working with friends adds a layer of complication (I have done it numerous times with success). I don’t think it is necessary though. Consider it an opportunity to make new friends.
Really great article and to repeat what has already been said – 100% dead on advice. I think working with freelancers is such a key part of agency life in these times, even when employing full time in house staff there is always a time where a extra mind is in great need.
Again, great article – thanks!
Thanks so much for such an “organized” article. As a one who hires and is hired, I want copies of it for my bulletin board (real cork one!) and to send to those who hired me!
Well, done!
what an awesome article – you are right on! hope to see more
Shane, thank you for this interesting post. I especially like the slideshow — succinct and well-designed. May I ask a few questions?
1. How do you deal with the maintenance and support? One potential scenario: You hire a web developer. He finishes the project and moves on. Months later, the client wants new features. What do you do?
2. How do you deal with disappearing freelancers? I’ve had this problem for quite some time. I’m a solo business attempting to build and grow a team. I’ve had good experiences with VAs, but the web designers and developers have been unreliable. Mostly, the ones I’ve dealt with will sign on for a project, start it, but never finish it (mostly because they overbooked themselves). Often they’ll just disappear and never communicate again, even after I send a few emails their way.
3. How do you deal with clients? Without in-house employees, this is difficult. Do you tell them yes, sign up for the project, and then look for freelancers who can help? Or do you tell them wait, look for freelancers who can help, and then sign up for the project?
I’ve been trying to build a team, but I’ve been stuck lately. I’d appreciate if you could help!
I love the simplicity of the slides – more impact on the message with just a few words. Now, I’m feeling more envious when I read the last line. Are you going to post your vacation trip photos here? It would be something, I guess. Bon Voyage!
I’m putting together an amazing team of freelancers at my new design collective, and this article has been a great read. (but i won’t be taking them to mexico any time soon, sorry guys.)
Fantastic write-up, and acutely accurate. Your freelancers are truly fortunate to have a leader with this kind of sense.
The world needs to read this post.