HMBT #133: Nate Hirsch on Hiring Freelancers

Nate Hirsch from freeeup.com joins me today to talk about outsourcing, being productive, and more. Nate helps small business owners run their business better.

Nate took a look at the other outsourcing companies and found they took a long time to deliver project work. With Freeeup, only the top 1% of applicants are chosen. They offer 24/7 support and if for any reason the freelancer quits on a project, they will reimburse you.

Lori Bruhns always talks about doing what you do best and delegate the rest. I feel that you need to have people help you in business, because you cannot do everything.

Nate says that you need to have two lists. The first is everything that you do on a day to day basis and order it from easiest to hardest. Start taking the easiest things off your plate as you grow. As a business owner, you need to be focusing on the big stuff, not the small items.

The second list includes things that you are not good at, but you are doing all the time. You should then start to hire professionals to handle those items. We know that it is hard to admit your weaknesses, but successful people do this well and surround themselves with knowledgeable people that can get work done.

One of the biggest myths of being an entrepreneur is that you need to know everything. Hiring people that can handle items that are not in your core competencies is a very smart move. Hiring freelancers is a great idea for small growing companies.

The gig economy is exploding right now. If you have project work, a freelancer will work out well for you. You should think of it as an investment rather than an expense.

Nate talks about hiring one person and loading them up with a lot of work and having them be responsible for everything. What if something happens? Maybe they leave or become sick. This will severely impact your success through loss of work and customer suffering.

Also, don’t be afraid to cultivate your replacement. It is ok if others in your company or who you hire knows more than you. Just because you know more about something is not security. You need rockstars to help you in business!

Learn from your mistakes and share your knowledge. That is how you will succeed. It will be your passion and influence that will allow you to always be successful.

Develop an incredible, transparent culture in your business. This will motivate your team and they will feel like they are part of the team and work with passion.

Finding a good freelancer may sound daunting, but should not be. Nate has a five-step process that he shared with me.

1. Define what you want to hire for
2. What does your perfect person look like (skills , passion, hours, etc)
3. Develop a good interview process
4. Set proper expectations
5. Develop a feedback loop

This process will also work with hiring someone full time or maybe even a mentor.

Remember, you cannot do everything, and if you do, you everything will be watered down.

Don’t forget to build relationships with people you work with. You may end up working with them again and three will be a shorter or maybe even no vetting process.

Foa r small business owner, it is important to gather information about how you can solve problems. Use a process:

  1. Get all the information – find out what the problem is and how it came about
  2. Create a plan – have a plan for success
  3. Have a prevention plan – make sure that you learn from mistakes and do not let them happen again

Nate mentioned diversification. All business owners need to invest in their future. Diversify your income, have backup plans, and solve problems as they come up so that you are always successful. Look for low risk, high reward opportunity items and fail fast. If you do not take a change you will always have regrets.

You can reach Nate at Freeeup.com. His calendar is there and you can set up time to speak with him about your company and needs. He is offering a $25 account credit for listeners of HMBT. There is no sign up or monthly fee to have an account.

Edit 7/31/2019: Link to Facebook Page

[youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1sxuQaVqQM[/youtube]

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  • Hank Hoffmeier

    Hank is an author, speaker, podcast host and Sr. Manager of Marketing Operations at Kickbox, a Ziff Davis company. With a passion for all things digital and social, combined with more than 25 years of experience in sales and marketing, he has been dubbed the Digital Marketing Infotainer because he makes marketing fun and successful. 

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