The ups and downs of having a freelancer on retainer

The ups and downs of having a freelancer on retainer

When you're first starting off with your online journey, you will likely need to bring on a freelancer or two in order to do tasks that you may not want to do yourself or you simply cannot do because you don't have the skills to complete it.  It doesn't matter if you're busy or you can't do it yourself, a freelancer is always right around the corner and willing to help you for a few bucks.  Many freelancers today actually work from job to job, creating quality work in hopes of being contacted for a bigger, more stable, workload that will pay them enough in order to stop needing to do various small jobs around the internet.  You may not have thousands to set aside for a freelancer, but when you do get big enough I would highly recommend setting up a retainer that will be paid to a designer, programmer, online marketer so you don't have to do all 3 of those jobs yourself.  Now, some of you might be thinking "If I set up 3 different retainers, I will go broke in a short amount of time!" but what you're thinking is that you have to pay this retainer each month you might need some work to be done.  When you set up a retainer with a freelancer, you're basically paying them in advance for work that you know you will need to be done in the future.  You will basically be saying "Here's my money, I'll call on you when I need your services" and the freelancer will be like "Ok mate!  I'm here when you need me!".There are plenty of ups and downs when it comes to putting a freelancer on a retainer, and those are:The UpsYou're locking in a freelancer for when you need themWhen you set up a retainer you will be locking in an unspecified time for your work to be completed.  The freelancer will likely have other jobs to complete, but since you have them on retainer, your job is more important to them because they know you've already paid for it.  Since you're paying them a retainer, they know you're not a random client since you've likely built up a relationship with them over time, and they will get to work right when you need it.Most freelancers on retainer will get your job done wellI've never actually had a freelancer on retainer do a bad job.  This could be because I usually hire them for a few jobs before going on retainer, meaning I pay them up front for a job that has a quick deadline and I see what they do.  If they aren't a good freelancer, I don't rehire them.  If they are a good freelancer, I might put them on retainer You'll need to weed out the bad freelancers before you go ahead and put on on retainer.  You wouldn't want to be wasting your money on crumby work, would you?Freelancers who require a retainer are usually more professionalWhen a freelancer hits a certain point in their career, they will start asking for a retainer, because they can.  They've done enough work to have thousands of clients wanting something done, so they can charge a premium and weed out a bunch of low paying clients but at the same time keep their profits where they normally are.  Freelancers who ask for a retainer know that they are one of the better service providers and they will do a great job at whatever it is you're paying them a retainer for.  Since these freelancers are getting paid up front for work to be done in the future, they have no reason to be angry when you do need them to work.  For this reason, they will usually be more professional with you and anyone else who is interested because they are less stressed out lol.Retainer type freelancers tend to be more experiencedA freelancer who can ask for retainers, and actually get them, will likely be more experienced.  People won't just pay a random freelancer a retainer because they might need something done in the future.  They will seek out the best freelancer and see if they have any time available.  They will then ask for some samples of work, or hire them for a one time job, in order to evaluate their work.  After that, they will either pay the freelancer a retainer and contact them when needed or they will part ways.  Normally a freelancer asking for a retainer is more experienced than others because they've done plenty of jobs in the past.  They've learned from their mistakes and they know what to do, and they are good at it!.The DownsThey may flake off and not get the work doneSome freelancers might get you to send them a retainer and flake off when you actually need work to be done.  They might think "Hey, he already paid me 3 months ago and I did some work, so I guess I'm done now".  Some freelancers might think they are done with your project while you think they've barely done anything.  You will need to set out a guide of sorts and make sure the freelancer sticks to it.  After a few times, you probably don't have to monitor what the freelancer is doing, as long as they are performing the tasks you need them to be doing.They may overbook and not do what you need when you need itWhen a freelancer is making a name for himself or herself, they will likely have a lot of people needing their help.  This is a rare occasion when a freelancer is overwhelmed with big projects and they might have accidentally overbooked their time.  Remember, not everyone can work for 48 hours in a row and keep their sanity levels at normal lol.  Overbooking happens, and you can't get too mad if your work is pushed back a few days or even a week.  You're working with this freelancer because they do a great job, so you shouldn't look for someone else to do the job if the original freelancer is overbooked for a few days.They could simply be scamming youThere are actually a decent amount of freelancers out there who have no intention of actually doing the work you need to be done.  Well, you can't actually call them freelancers when they have no intention of doing the work, so we'll just label them as scammers.  The scammers out there who are asking for a retainer will just get you to pay them for a "job" that they plan on doing for you, but they will never end up doing.  I've actually run into some of these people, luckily I was vetting them and I didn't pay a retainer.  I did lose some money because I paid them 2 installments, out of 5, for a website design and programming job that I needed to be done in 2 weeks.  They did the initial work and sent me the URL where they were doing it.  After that, I sent in the second payment and it seemed that the work had stopped completely.  After a few weeks of not hearing from them, they responded back to me and asked for more money to get the job done.  I quickly knew what they were doing so I reported them wherever I could and filed chargebacks on my payments.You might be overpayingSometimes having a great freelancer on retainer could be a waste of money.  When you do have someone on retainer, you will likely have them doing bigger jobs for you, not simple little tasks like coding up a contact us form.  If you don't have a load of work that needs to be finished or will need to be done in the future, you will likely be overpaying when the freelancer starts working.  You'll be overpaying because you can get these simple little tasks done for a few bucks, not a few hundred.In ConclusionHaving a freelancer on retainer is a good thing if you have enough work for them to do.  If you just need an occasional job done here and there, you probably don't need anyone on retainer, just pay the fee they ask for and get the job done without investing too much money into it.  You'll need to avoid any scammers, so be sure to vet anyone you want to put on retainer before you actually do it.  Putting a freelancer on retainer is always a good thing to do if you have a big project coming up because you'll basically be scheduling them for a later date to get your work done.Remember to follow me!https://www.seoclerks.com/user/RazzyThanks!Razzy