When you’re growing your business and a strong team it’s important to maintain positive relationships with freelancers who are helping you deliver better services to your customers.
We’ve put together a useful guide to help you form stronger bonds with your outsourced team to improve moral and increase performance.
How to build amazing relationships with creative freelancers
- Treat them as part of your team
If they’re local, invite them to team meetings, presentations and events relating to the projects they’re involved with. If they’re not local, arrange a video link where possible or plan a Skype call with your team so the freelancer feels involved and part of something.
Take the time to find out a bit about their circumstances. Are they in between roles and freelancing temporarily or are they likely to be available long-term? If you’re looking for ongoing freelance creative support, invest in them accordingly and you’ll be rewarded with a happy freelancer who’s generous with their creative loyalty. - Get to know where they really excel
This is essential when you’re working with a number of freelancers.
Understand any areas of creative specialism they have, any particular style they use which makes their work shine or whether they thrive on a tight deadline. This will make it easier for you to assign work quickly to the right person, with confidence that it’ll be done the way you need it and on time. - Engage them in the brief.
Giving your freelancers a clear brief is one thing, but involve them in it too and you may be surprised at the value they might add to it. Not only will you encourage their buy-in to the project by taking this approach, their fresh perspective and creative expertise could trigger some new ideas too.
A very basic brief for copywriting should include at the very least these
things:- Subject matter outline and suggested title(s)
- Branding and language style guidelines
- SEO keywords
- Word count
- Due date
- Agreed fee
- Both parties agreeing the brief in writing
- Take the time to give them detailed feedback
Hitting the mark on a copywriting job can be a tough gig, so freelancers need guidance to help them craft better work which needs less editing in future. Spending a little time after a job is complete on a short debrief will benefit you both: you’ll spend less time tweaking their work next time and they’ll learn exactly how to consistently meet your expectations\
- Pay them what they’re worth, even when your budget
is non-negotiable
Think beyond their hourly rate. Could you offer a letter of recommendation for future prospective employers, clients or publishers? Perhaps promote their work in some way or offer them guaranteed work in the future?There are many ways to increase the value on top of what you’re paying a creative freelancer.
Max started The Responsive Agency in 2014 to help business owners to navigate the fast-paced world of digital marketing. With a focus on solutions that offer high-performance growth, clients have seen dramatic increases in turnover and profit.