What developers need to know about hiring freelancers

Here’s the thing no one’s really saying, but I’ve seen to be true a gazillion times: Developers think differently from the average person.

I place developers on the same kinda level as mathematicians — ya'll have a logic that I often struggle to comprehend. A logic, that usually, makes you fantastically brilliant at your job.

It’s also a logic that can make other people (freelancers included) feel perplexed, confused, and frustrated.

👉Side story: My non-dev friend is still talking about the one time he met a developer at a cooking class. The dev loudly exclaimed, “cooking is easy, you just need to balance the ratio of carbohydrates to lipids!” Accurate... but a strange way of thinking about buttering a potato.

I'm calling this the logic barrier. And it makes a right dumpster fire of efficient communication.

People who can leap across this logic barrier can communicate both ways. It's one of the reasons why good project managers are so important to a development team's productivity.

Back to freelancers.

Many developers have been burned by freelance projects gone wrong. And many freelancers have been burned by 'bad' clients (not all of whom are devs!). I think a lot of these cases are due to poor communication.

Effective communication helps you get what you want when you want it.

I joke with other marketers that managing a developer client is an art. But really it’s just a simple strategy. A strategy that you can use to help you find, hire, and work with quality freelancers who don’t let you down.

Make sure the freelancer ACTUALLY understands what you’re asking for.

❌ Don’t say “do you understand?”

✔️ Do say “can you describe that back to me in your own words?”

When you feel concerned that a freelancer is not following what you're saying, ask them to repeat or summarize the point. It’s a simple but powerful technique that shaves hours of discussion and editing.

Your own effort level will increase with cheaper freelancers

If you hire someone for less than $50 an hour, be prepared to put in extra hours explaining, editing, and adjusting. The better your freelancer is, the less input they will require. There's no getting around this communication barrier. The freelancer probably doesn't yet have the experience.

Example: When I first started copywriting, I’d go through way more edit rounds. Today when I deliver a webpage - we barely tweak anything.

Fiverr and Upwork do have good people for less — but their talent is usually raw. And thus will require much more input from you. Evaluate your time and budget and manage your expectations accordingly. Everyone will be happier in the end.

Expect a detailed proposal

As the client, you want to know what you’re agreeing to. This proposal or contract will be what you can refer back to if you feel like you didn’t get what you wanted, or are missing some deliverable you asked for. It’ll also be what the freelancer uses to define the scope with you.

Ask for:

• What’s the reason behind the work (unless its obvious to you)
• What do they need from you to get the work done
• What are the exact deliverables
• In what format will you receive deliverables
• How will edits be handled

Break bigger projects down into stages with deadlines

Everyone has a tendency to cram. If your freelancer hasn’t staggered deliverables or WIP check-ins, your project is almost guaranteed to take longer than expected.

You don’t want someone rushing last minute to complete the work. Rather ask them to break it down into 2-4 week deadlines and catch-ups.

Never incentivize unnecessary work

Unless you trust the freelancer or are working on a very constricted project, I recommend avoiding hourly or per-word pricing structures.

For example, paying 0.4 cents per word or $100 per 500 words might incentivize them to ‘fluff’ up a post with extra meaningless words.

Deliverable or project-based pricing is best.

Adjust your vocabulary depending on the freelancer's personal knowledge

Use a word that someone doesn’t understand, and your communication starts to break down. Freelancers will feel obligated to know all the vocab you’re using and will likely hide what they don’t understand.

Cue misunderstood teenage drama.

Rather assess someone's level of understanding and tailor your vocabulary. And if you’re ever uncertain, this is where tip number one (ask them to summarize what you just said) comes in handy.

And so, that brings this post to a close. I hope I’ve successfully avoided offending any developers and non-developers in the process! Would love to know if you’ve had any of these issues or have some advice to add.

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