The true price of everything (including freelancers)
When you get to be as old as I am, you learn to ask questions before buying anything.
The biggest one is, how much is this thing going to cost to maintain?
Is this $300 gadget really worth it? How often does it break down? How hard is it to fix? Who can fix it? How hard is it to replace? How hard is it to clean?
My life works — by this point I’ve pretty well optimized it. Acquiring a thing that saves two minutes every day doesn’t compare to the pain of finding people to repair things, damage caused by defective things, replacing things, or figuring out how to go back to how I used to do stuff before I got the thing.
And what if the company that made it goes out of business? These days, that’s a significant risk as well.
Think this way about freelance services, too
If you hire a freelancer, you need to think this same way.
How hard is it to get them up to speed on what I want?
How much of a pain will it be to get their help when I need it?
Can I fix, edit, or modify what they did myself, or am I stuck if it needs to updated?
How easy would it be to dump them and replace them, or do it myself, if things don’t work out?
You’re always balancing the pain of hiring a freelancer against the pain of doing without. And the listed price isn’t even close to the real total cost, financial or psychic.
What this means to you if you freelance
Make it easy to get started with you and try you out.
Be responsive and trustworthy. These qualities are as valuable to clients as your actual skill. You can always get better, smarter, and faster, but you can’t repair a relationship destroyed by a lack of trust.
And, counterintuitively, be easy to stop doing business with. Make it easy to transition to another freelancer. Deliver content and systems that are transparent and easy to maintain. Recommend other people if the client no longer finds you useful.
Why not make it hard to leave? Why not be “sticky?”
Because then you’ll be stuck with unhappy clients who are stuck with you. And once they finally figure out how to leave, they’ll badmouth you and ruin your reputation.
Also: you’ll feel good about yourself every day. And in the end, that’s worth more than any amount of freelance compensation.
The way you talk about freelancers makes it sound like you were having a bad day when you wrote this post. I’ve hired many freelancers over the years, and while some didn’t work out, I had employees who didn’t work out, too. It doesn’t mean you “dump” people like garbarge, though. You just hire someone else next time.
When I found freelancers I liked, I’d give them repeat assignments, and often ask for their thoughts and feedback. I respected them, let them know I appreciated their work, and when I knew I had projects coming up, I’d ask ahead of time about their availability.
As far as being able to fix, modify or edit what freelancers do, your ability to do that should be part of a contract you sign with the freelancers.