Advice On Hiring Contractors

[Canuker]

Hey guys,

After months of self-education, I've slowly been starting to offer my digital marketing services to local businesses. I have a few strengths, but still, a lot to learn in a lot of areas.

As much as I would love to master SEO, Ad Words, Facebook, Landing Pages, Website Optimization etc I'm just one man, and trying to master many skills is not realistic.

I would like to start hiring contractors for specific services like the ones mentioned above.

I'm hoping people can shed some light and/or give advice when it comes to using services like upwork to find solid, affordable, specialists.

Cheers!

 

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[Brian C.]

Many of them are here on the forum too.

 

[lowtek]

You don't.

You don't try to be an all things to everyone type of business when you're just starting out. It's just too much complexity and adds an extra layer of stress and anxiety that will slow down your progress. You can't sell a service you don't understand, and you can't ensure basic quality control for a service you don't understand. If you can't sell and you can't ensure quality when you do manage to get a sale, you won't have a business for long.

I run an AdWords hustle and just hired my first employee (contractor).

I did all the service myself for months, learning as much as I could. More importantly, I learned about how AdWords fits into the business - not just the mechanics of managing it. When it came time to hire, this practical knowledge was critical. This helped me separate the idiots from the gem. How would I know if she were bullshitting me if I didn't know anything about AdWords?

And yes, some of the other people I interviewed tried to bullshit me. Even if they were "Google Certified". This didn't work because I knew detailed questions to ask and what the answer should be.

If you're just starting out, focus on ONE THING. Learn it well. Deliver at a high level and develop some expertise. THEN you can hire, once you understand how it's done.

This new model of outsourcing everything and just hiring 3rd world freelancers to handle delivery is the new get rich quick scheme. I am 100% opposed to it. It's just a scheme for people who don't want to really do anything hard, and want that quick buck. F*cking Sam Ovens garbage.

Become the go to person for one of those skill sets. Go out into your communitiy and meet other people that do the other stuff. When your customers need those other things, refer them to your partners. They will reciprocate.

You get to develop some expertise, and ensure quality in your business. Thus promoting long term success and sustainability.

The customers get services provided by experts in the respective areas.

Your referral partners get more business, and so do you.

Everybody wins.

bottom line:

For the love of God, don't hire someone to deliver services you can't do yourself, if you are the one who is going to be responsible for the fallout if they F*ck it all up.

 

[Niptuck MD]

You don't.

You don't try to be an all things to everyone type of business when you're just starting out. It's just too much complexity and adds an extra layer of stress and anxiety that will slow down your progress. You can't sell a service you don't understand, and you can't ensure basic quality control for a service you don't understand. If you can't sell and you can't ensure quality when you do manage to get a sale, you won't have a business for long.

I run an AdWords hustle and just hired my first employee (contractor).

I did all the service myself for months, learning as much as I could. More importantly, I learned about how AdWords fits into the business - not just the mechanics of managing it. When it came time to hire, this practical knowledge was critical. This helped me separate the idiots from the gem. How would I know if she were bullshitting me if I didn't know anything about AdWords?

And yes, some of the other people I interviewed tried to bullshit me. Even if they were "Google Certified". This didn't work because I knew detailed questions to ask and what the answer should be.

If you're just starting out, focus on ONE THING. Learn it well. Deliver at a high level and develop some expertise. THEN you can hire, once you understand how it's done.

This new model of outsourcing everything and just hiring 3rd world freelancers to handle delivery is the new get rich quick scheme. I am 100% opposed to it. It's just a scheme for people who don't want to really do anything hard, and want that quick buck. F*cking Sam Ovens garbage.

Become the go to person for one of those skill sets. Go out into your communitiy and meet other people that do the other stuff. When your customers need those other things, refer them to your partners. They will reciprocate.

You get to develop some expertise, and ensure quality in your business. Thus promoting long term success and sustainability.

The customers get services provided by experts in the respective areas.

Your referral partners get more business, and so do you.

Everybody wins.

bottom line:

For the love of God, don't hire someone to deliver services you can't do yourself, if you are the one who is going to be responsible for the fallout if they F*ck it all up.

Applause ^^

 

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[Niptuck MD]

fiverr.com

 

[Canuker]

You don't.

You don't try to be an all things to everyone type of business when you're just starting out. It's just too much complexity and adds an extra layer of stress and anxiety that will slow down your progress. You can't sell a service you don't understand, and you can't ensure basic quality control for a service you don't understand. If you can't sell and you can't ensure quality when you do manage to get a sale, you won't have a business for long.

I run an AdWords hustle and just hired my first employee (contractor).

I did all the service myself for months, learning as much as I could. More importantly, I learned about how AdWords fits into the business - not just the mechanics of managing it. When it came time to hire, this practical knowledge was critical. This helped me separate the idiots from the gem. How would I know if she were bullshitting me if I didn't know anything about AdWords?

And yes, some of the other people I interviewed tried to bullshit me. Even if they were "Google Certified". This didn't work because I knew detailed questions to ask and what the answer should be.

If you're just starting out, focus on ONE THING. Learn it well. Deliver at a high level and develop some expertise. THEN you can hire, once you understand how it's done.

This new model of outsourcing everything and just hiring 3rd world freelancers to handle delivery is the new get rich quick scheme. I am 100% opposed to it. It's just a scheme for people who don't want to really do anything hard, and want that quick buck. F*cking Sam Ovens garbage.

Become the go to person for one of those skill sets. Go out into your communitiy and meet other people that do the other stuff. When your customers need those other things, refer them to your partners. They will reciprocate.

You get to develop some expertise, and ensure quality in your business. Thus promoting long term success and sustainability.

The customers get services provided by experts in the respective areas.

Your referral partners get more business, and so do you.

Everybody wins.

bottom line:

For the love of God, don't hire someone to deliver services you can't do yourself, if you are the one who is going to be responsible for the fallout if they F*ck it all up.

Thanks for the solid reply. Inch wide mile deep, not vice versa. Got it.

Funny you mention Sam Ovens. Just saw one of his ads for the first time yesterday. I was wondering what his whole "method" was haha now I know.

If I had to choose out of the disciplines that I don't already know, but think can add the most value to a business, they would be adwords and SEO. I'm going to focus my efforts on those.

Other input is welcome.

Also, as far as AdWords go, if you have any advice on where to start let me know!

 

[lowtek]

Thanks for the solid reply. Inch wide mile deep, not vice versa. Got it.

Funny you mention Sam Ovens. Just saw one of his ads for the first time yesterday. I was wondering what his whole "method" was haha now I know.

If I had to choose out of the disciplines that I don't already know, but think can add the most value to a business, they would be adwords and SEO. I'm going to focus my efforts on those.

Other input is welcome.

Also, as far as AdWords go, if you have any advice on where to start let me know!

there's a course on Udemy by Isaac Rudansky that's the best intro I've seen.

https://www.udemy.com/user/isaac-rudansky/

It's $85 but well worth it. It covers all the bases and shows you some pretty advanced stuff. I think I got it when it was $50 and have made over 10k in a few months. Hardly fastlane money, but that's limited by my sales and prospecting skills.

 

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[lowtek]

Thanks for the solid reply. Inch wide mile deep, not vice versa. Got it.

Funny you mention Sam Ovens. Just saw one of his ads for the first time yesterday. I was wondering what his whole "method" was haha now I know.

If I had to choose out of the disciplines that I don't already know, but think can add the most value to a business, they would be adwords and SEO. I'm going to focus my efforts on those.

Other input is welcome.

Also, as far as AdWords go, if you have any advice on where to start let me know!

Also, I would recommend picking one or the other. They're completely different skill sets.

I gravitate towards AdWords because it's just about immediate. I can adjust quickly and get the client money much faster than with SEO.

SEO is valuable, but a much longer term play. It also has a much dirtier reputation since so many scammers ruined it. I've heard quite a few horror stories of people paying money and not even getting a Google Business listing out of it. Since AdWords is so immediate, not many scammers mess with it. It's easy to say that SEO takes months to work (it can) and use that as an excuse for a lack of results.

I certainly know people who do good SEO, and they make good money. It's just a different animal so keep that in mind when making a choice.

Just some things to consider.

 

[aputra]

For the love of God, don't hire someone to deliver services you can't do yourself, if you are the one who is going to be responsible for the fallout if they F*ck it all up.

Thank you, it speaks loud to me.
As I planning to open new service and wondering what happen if my workers unable to do it on time but I already promise client certain days to complete?

 

[Canuker]

there's a course on Udemy by Isaac Rudansky that's the best intro I've seen.

https://www.udemy.com/user/isaac-rudansky/

It's $85 but well worth it. It covers all the bases and shows you some pretty advanced stuff. I think I got it when it was $50 and have made over 10k in a few months. Hardly fastlane money, but that's limited by my sales and prospecting skills.

Im going to get cracking at that this weekend. Thanks for the link! I always forget about Udemy for some reason.

@andyblack Any input on solid AdWords resources (aside from your posts)

 

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[miked_d]

@andyblack Any input on solid AdWords resources (aside from your posts)

@Andy Black

 

[Andy Black]

I read Perry Marshall's "Definitive Guide to Google AdWords" years ago (after I'd created my first campaigns!).


I've not watched any Udemy courses on AdWords, so can't comment.

If you want to get up and running asap via my content, then do this:

1) Watch the video in thread "The Online Buying Lifecycle".

2) Read thread "The Holy Trinity of Paid Search".

3) Watch the video of me analysing Neal's AdWords campaigns.

4) Then follow "The AdWords Jumpstart" (in the Speedway forum). It's slightly out of date as some features are missing and some features have changed, but the logic is still correct. Get your targeting right and ensure you're feeding the starving crowd.

 

[lukemiller01]

Given the circumstances of the world due to the pandemic, hiring can be difficult. Especially when it comes to trustworthy contractors and freelancers.

From my experience, despite plenty of marketplaces to look for talent, it's gotten harder to find trustworthy expertise and quality help for short term jobs. There's still too much overhead and inconsistency to rely on third party marketplaces.

In my opinion, the best place to hire contractors and freelancers are through using the network you already have. Recently, my solution to hiring is through AskFora, where you describe what you need, and AskFora then helps find qualified people from your network. With AskFora, a client can find a contractor, get their job done, and pay them, all in the same day. I highly recommend it. If you have a chance to check it out, I'd be curious to get your thoughts on how it works for you.

 

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[poseidn]

This new model of outsourcing everything and just hiring 3rd world freelancers to handle delivery is the new get rich quick scheme. I am 100% opposed to it. It's just a scheme for people who don't want to really do anything hard, and want that quick buck. f*cking Sam Ovens garbage.

I've been seeing these 'DFY marketing agencies' ads come up on my facebook

They propose to sell a course/service that sets you up a marketing agency that you don't have to do anything:

- They book your appointments
- They have salespeople to close your deals
- They have contractors/whitelabel agencies to outsource the work to

Strangest thing i've ever seen. Although i bet people eat it up, easy route