Is Guru.com the Best Place to Find Freelancers?

If you are looking for a new freelance copywriter or designer to enhance your corporate marketing initiatives or to cut costs, where do you begin to find one? Are mega job boards like Guru.com really the best way to search for the talent you need?

Maybe not.

I have a profile on Guru and I’ve used it both to search for jobs and to find subcontractors. Without a fee, employers can post a job and ask freelancers to bid on their project. Guru.com then emails you to notify you of the bids that come in. You check your account and can correspond with the bidders. Should you chose to hire one, Guru takes a percentage out of the transaction. Sounds great.

But here is why I tell my clients to consider other options before Guru or another job board.

1.Will you find the quality you need?

Based on my experience of over a year tracking job postings on Guru, I would estimate that roughly 90 percent of the people posting for jobs have very little idea what a copywriter does and most hope to pay pennies for work that should be worth hundreds if not thousands, if done right and well.

Second, as an employer, the quality of responses from other freelancers was very disappointing. Most were unfailingly unprofessional in their response and attitude (now perhaps they are good writers, but how would I know that when they fail to include paragraphs in their lengthy response?)

2. Is it worth your time?

Because they have hundreds of thousands of freelancers, a bid often brings in a flood of responses from anyone from India to NYC. It takes a lot of time, perhaps more than it's worth, to wade through them.

3. Will they fit your organization?

If you do find the rare (and to be fair, there are some great freelancers on Guru. Hopefully, their well-crafted bidding response will help them stand out) professional, well-qualified freelancer, you have to make sure that he or she is a good fit for your organization and marketing. I would make sure after an initial email, to call them and get a feel for how they sound and present themselves.

4. How much money does the freelancer charge?

You’ll get a wide range of bids—i.e., $50 to $500 for the same job. Many employers are tempted to simply go with the lower bid, but remember, you get what you pay for.

5. Do they have experience with corporate marketing?

Corporate marketing requires the ability to grasp the overall enterprise-wide business objectives. Make sure the freelancer you hire has this ability. He or she should be able to understand and communicate with you how the project fits in to your overall marketing, and provide insight into how the project can be tailored to uniquely meet your objectives.

So how do you find the right freelancer for you?

Ideally, a personal referral from someone who has worked with a great freelancer is best. Word spreads when a particular freelancer is very, very good at what he or she does.

Second, look online and pay attention to freelancers who market themselves in locations where you are most likely to find them. Trade journals, magazines you read, through networks—freelancers who are professional and serious about their craft and business will make themselves known.