- Jen Glantz is an entrepreneur and the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire.
- She says hiring freelancers has been a game changer in running her small business.
- From web design to proofreading, Glantz says having an expert on hand is worth it.
When I started my business in 2014, I made a major mistake. I wanted to reduce costs as much as possible and decided to do 90% of my professional tasks myself. Rather than hiring a web designer or virtual assistant, I taught myself basic coding and spent more hours than necessary responding to every email that came in. in my inbox.
It was a mistake I made for the first three years as a solopreneur that ultimately led to moments of extreme exhaustion and stunted growth. It seemed impossible for me to innovate as I focused all my attention on trying to be an expert in so many different areas (unrelated to my current business departments) just to keep my business alive and healthy. .
I’ve decided to set myself an annual budget of around 10% of my income to pay freelancers throughout the year when I need help. Here are the five types of freelancers I turn to frequently that have a big impact on my business and its growth.
1. A website designer
To save money over the years, I learned to design my own websites and created seven websites using template-based sites like Wix and WordPress.
I used to spend over 25% of my time during the month optimizing the website and making sure it made a good first impression on visitors.
Last year I decided to hire a freelance web designer to create a more professional looking website for me. I spent around $3000 on this service, and although it was expensive, I’m very proud of how the website turned out, and taking it off my duties has added a lot of time to my day work for other tasks.
2. A Google Ads specialist
Last year, I decided to do paid advertising to help develop one of my new projects. Rather than learning how to use Google Ads, I hired a specialist on Fiverr to set up and manage my ads. It cost me about $125 for the project, not including the budget for the ads.
If I had taught myself how to do Google Ads, it would have taken me many months and many hours to learn the strategy behind this growth method. Since that initial project, I’ve hired a Google Ads freelancer three times for other campaigns.
3. A concealer
I write a lot of text for my businesses, my projects, my newsletters and my books. Hiring a proofreader was a huge time saver. This person edits my copy, makes suggestions on content, and helps me catch mistakes I’ve missed.
I found a proofreader in a writing-focused Facebook group I’m in and she charges about $3 per page.
4. A social media manager
As a solopreneur leading many different projects, I manage five different social media accounts. Designing content, writing articles and scheduling them throughout the week takes a huge amount of time.
At least once a quarter, I will hire a social media freelancer to help create a content calendar, organize the content, and schedule it to grow over the next few months. For this, I hired freelancers on Upwork and I usually pay a flat rate (around $600 per term) for their work.
5. A virtual assistant
After a few months of tracking how I spent my time during the workday, I realized that over 25% of my time was spent on tasks that weren’t prioritized. These included responding to emails, scheduling calls and social media posts, and formatting blog posts.
I decided to work with a virtual assistant during my busiest months (October to December) and a few other times of the year.
I used social media (my own Instagram or Facebook group) to find a virtual assistant. In the past, I paid around $15-20 an hour for this type of help, and it freed up five to ten hours of my week to focus on priority work tasks that often got pushed aside.
As a solo entrepreneur, it may not be practical or affordable to hire contractors or long-term employees. Having a roster of freelancers to rely on when needed is a more cost-effective option for getting expert help and offloading extra work.
