As your business grows, so does your need for talented workers. It can be a challenge to find the right people to expand your team, not to mention the budget to add them to your operations. Freelance workers offer your company the opportunity to work with talented individuals on the specific projects you need them for. You can keep your overhead to a minimum while also gaining access to the skill sets you need for the project to turn out perfect.
There are many websites available where you can find a freelancer who has the exact skill set you are looking for. To help get you going, we asked 12 entrepreneurs from YEC to weigh in on the best websites to find talented freelance workers. Here are their favorites.
1. LinkedIn, AngelList
"There are many websites to find talented freelancers. Oftentimes, we look to our own personal networks, and to LinkedIn and Angel.co, to find available and skilled freelancers who can handle a particular workstream or project. On these sites, you can find background information, testimonials and information about skill sets." – Arry Yu, StormX
2. Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr
"Outside of my own personal network of people I've worked with in the past, I tend to rely on websites like Upwork.com, Freelancer.com and Fiverr.com, in that particular order. I find that by being able to filter through candidates based on reviews, job success rates and other pertinent criteria, I'm able to zero in on the right candidates for an outsourcing job in order to free up my staff." – Jared Ross Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.
3. Remote job boards
"Since we operate a fully remote company, we like to post jobs on remote-specific sites. Some of our go-to sites have been RemoteWorkHub.com and FlexJobs.com. We've had good success finding top talent whose No. 1 desired benefit is being able to work from anywhere." – Jared Atchison, WPForms
4. Craigslist
"It may seem old school, but many people are surprised by how effective outsourcing through Craigslist can be. It's one of my top three outsourcing sites. I've used it to successfully outsource writing, development, customer support and more. The key is to use early filters in your application process to cut down on the noise (like mentioning a keyword in the subject of their application)." – Ruben Gamez, Docsketch
5. Scripted
"It's a hit and miss when hiring content writers, and the entire training period takes a few months. All of this makes the content team pretty expensive to manage. We hire content writers from Scripted, which frees up a ton of management time, as well as helps us deliver more content without compromising on quality." – Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea
6. Indeed
"Indeed provides access to some really good freelancers who tend to have more experience. It's been a very successful resource in terms of finding the right mix of skills for either remote or onsite freelance staff." – Angela Ruth, Calendar
7. Industry-specific sites
"Since we operate a lot of plugins in the WordPress space, I have found that sites related to the WordPress community have produced some of my best hires. Some sites that we have used in our industry are WPHired.com and Jobs.WordPress.net. Take a look at some of your industry-specific sites to find higher-qualified candidates." – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
8. ProFinder by LinkedIn
"Did you know that LinkedIn has an entire section dedicated to freelance work? It's called ProFinder, and it's separated from the job portal. I've been able to find great freelancers using their service because you're able to see their entire resume, degree of separation and recommendations." – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
9. Facebook and word of mouth
"While we have used many freelancer websites over the years, from Elance to oDesk to Upwork to Craigslist, my preferred method for outsourcing projects is word of mouth. I like asking people I know for recommendations for freelancers they have worked with firsthand on a similar project. With that in mind, when I have a need, I jump on Facebook and start asking around." – Adam Mendler, The Veloz Group
10. Toptal
"In my opinion, outsourcing should be very minimal in a startup or fast-growing company. There are many low-quality freelancers sites, but only a few with most of them being very talented freelancers. Toptal has the highest-quality freelancers. They pride themselves in offering the top 3 percent of freelance talent, and they are very restrictive with the companies and workers that network in the platform." – Brian Condenanza, Alchemy Coin
11. Contently
"Contently connects talented freelancers with businesses looking for unique content. Content creation is very costly, and training requires industry-specific knowledge that you could potentially spend dozens of man-hours trying to find the correct talent. Contently secures talent for you, saving HR budget, and also has proven and reviewed talent. In the SEO business, content is everything." – Matthew Capala, Alphametic
12. OnlineJobs.ph
"I've used OnlineJobs.ph and Upwork to search for remote workers who can help me out. Both platforms offer the use of a time tracker, so you can track your staff's productivity as well. Upwork lets me vet workers so I can test how well they do on an audition piece and see if their skills match my needs." – Kyle Goguen, Pawstruck