30 July 2009
In my opinion, you wont find ANY good ones, unless you are prepared to pay for them. While you have to fork out more financially, the experience and knowledge they bring to the plate, ensure that you get a high level of quality and efficient turnaround in return.

That said, make sure you check out their portfolio, and even call a couple of their clients to find out how they rate them..

30 July 2009
Where do I go to get the good ones? I guess there is a lot to be said for word of mouth. I am always checking out the competition (like we all should) and if I hear good things I make a note for a later date. I think most of us are up for freelance work these days. I prefer dealing with the client direct but if I am in between projects then freelance work is more than acceptable,

I have outsourced some work to other designers and like I said gone for local companies I have heard good things about. Like the person who replied I check out the portfolio and contact previous clients.

Glad you found someone who offers a good service and at a reasonable rate. Keep hold of them....

30 July 2009
Hi Jane Doe,

In my experience when I need someone who is very good at what they do there are two ways of finding them.

1) Word of mouth is good, but you have to be in the right circles to get the word of mouth that matters to you. So look to joining groups or hang about in the circles that are the kind of people who would pay good money for quality services. I know personally they love to boast how good someone was at doing a job if it made them look good or made them lot

30 July 2009
You should try online networking with websites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Build a network of people who you know you can trust, and keep a record of your profile on each person.

I'm also developing a tool to be launched on 09/09/09 to help with this type of issue - you will be able to build a contact list of both suppliers and clients of which you will be able to profile with information relating to their needs, skills and strengths. It's free, so resserve your account here:

http://www.workscapetools.com

4 August 2009
Hi, i do agree with the first comment above,

it is very difficult or close to impossible finding the 'right' freelancer for the job. I've had my experience with couple of outsourcing companies which i must say that you should STAY AWAY from them at any cost. they will promise you the whole world. but will deliver very little.

however i did happen to find one guy through social networking that does copy writing, and charge a pretty reasonable fee for his work.

based on my previous experiences i would strongly recommend find someone LOCAL, stay away from these offshore folks, sometimes it's very hard to communicate with them since they are non English native speakers, and the most crucial part is the time zone different. i found those freelancers very difficult to work with.

again as it was said in the other post, you get what you pay for. it might take a while to find a good freelancer to outsource projects too.

Good Luck finding the right person,
i hope my answer helps.

- Motti Horesh

4 August 2009
Hi, as I guess this post means that you are currently looking for someone, please contact me. --Chris

5 August 2009
A freelancer is good when they produce good results. You only find this out when you give them work to do.

1. Start with a small non critical task
2. Provide an accurate specification and documentation
3. Do QA on the provided code and do not have the freelancer do the QA.
4. Agree a clear set of deliverables
5. Agree and establish more than one communications channel
6. Get the freelancers cell number so you can call for updates.

5 August 2009
To be honest I haven't had much luck with freelancers (yet). Just as with other spheres of interest on the internet, there are a lot of people making claims their skills don't back up.

I get cold calls from offshore labour farms just about every day, and if you're in a similar position I'm sure you do too. What you'll get there is NOT high level (despite the message their poorly written sales copy tries to convey). You already know to stay far, far away from contest based sites.

The only reliable method of finding high level talent is to source them the hard way. Get referrals from colleagues, or pound the digital pavement with a portfolio search. Check their work, make sure they have testimonials from real people (full names, real companies), and google their name for reviews not posted on their website.

I'm afraid there is no one reliable 'source' for the good ones, while there are plenty of convenient sources for the others. For every good designer you might find online, you'll find 100 bad ones.

A few places to start (aside from this site):

http://www.gigpark.com
http://www.coroflot.com
http://jobs.freelanceswitch.com
http://www.linkedin.com

5 August 2009
I'd have to agree that word of mouth (in the right circles) is the best way to find high quality freelancers. Once you've found one or two who are up to the job, they can usually refer you on to others who may specialise in different areas.

I've not had a great deal of success going through agencies.

18 September 2009
We tend to find ourselves specialising in certain sectors.

I would suggest finding sites that you like, in your area of business and look up the person who did it, they will usually have their link on all their sites.

$80 equates to roughly

13 January 2010
It's always a good idea to make sure you have an "Employment" section on your website to give prospective freelancers the opportunity to apply for a position with you online. Ask them to send you their resume, references and a portfolio of their work. Many people who are already employed do like to pick up extra freelance work on the side to supplement their current income, and often times they check out other web design sites for job opportunities.