BY ABBIE MALON
Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels
Are you searching for the right digital marketing talent to grow your business? My Rich Brand specializes in telling your brand’s story through digital strategies.
Is your free time shrinking as your business grows? Entrepreneurship should give you freedom, not leave you chained to a desk.
Outsourcing is a quick and affordable way to start delegating some of your workloads. Business owners can outsource to freelancers in the U.S. or overseas. However, effective outsourcing involves finding people with the right skills. Here’s how to cover your bases when adding freelancers.
What to Know Before Hiring Independent Contractors
WHAT DEFINES A FREELANCER?
Freelancers, also known as independent contractors or 1099 contractors, are self-employed workers who work on a contract basis, pay their own taxes, and work when and where they choose. This equals big savings for businesses because they don’t have to withhold or pay Social Security, Medicare, or unemployment taxes for independent contractors.
Not any worker can be an independent contractor. Businesses that misclassify employees as independent contractors are subject to financial penalties and back taxes. To qualify for independent contractor classification, workers must have control over when and how they carry out their work and their own profit or loss.
BEST SITES TO FIND FREELANCERS FOR HIRE
Online marketplaces are the go-to place to find and hire freelancers. These are the most popular platforms in 2022:
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Toptal
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Guru
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Upwork
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Freelancer.com
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People Per Hour
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99designs
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Fiverr
Most of these job boards include international talent in addition to U.S.-based freelancers. Looking for a Singapore marketing specialist? Guru has you covered with Singapore-based freelancers. Other popular countries include the Philippines, Malaysia, China, India, Brazil, and Ukraine.
PAYING INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
The trickiest part of hiring international contractors is paying them. While paying U.S. contractors is straightforward, employment laws vary across borders.
U.S.-based independent contractors
In the U.S., independent contractors must complete a W-9 form upon hire. Payment terms are set in a freelancer’s contract with common payment methods, including check, credit card, or direct deposit via payroll software. If you pay a freelancer more than $600 in a year, you must complete Form 1099-NEC and submit it by the annual deadline.
International independent contractors
U.S. companies hiring international freelancers must comply with employment laws in the country where the freelancer resides. If a freelancer doesn’t meet independent contractor criteria in their home country, you’ll need to use an employer of record to comply with local labor laws. Form W-8BEN is required when hiring international contractors, but you don’t have to issue a 1099.
Most freelance marketplaces handle payments, eliminating the need to pay foreign freelancers directly. Otherwise, digital payments are the best way to pay international workers because you can send payments directly to a freelancer’s bank account. The fees are low too, and you can send money as far away as Nepal for just $3.99, and many countries have even lower transfer fees.
The Best Jobs to Outsource in Your Business
The best tasks to outsource to freelancers are jobs that can be done remotely, require minimal onboarding, and don’t mandate a set schedule. Avoid hiring freelancers for tasks that are a core part of your business — those jobs are best left to employees.
Examples of freelance-friendly tasks include:
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App or software development
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QA services
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IT support
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Cybersecurity
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Payroll
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Accounting
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Branding and logo design
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Search engine optimization (SEO)
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Lead generation
Outsource, automate, or both?
In some cases, you may be able to reduce or even eliminate the need for freelance talent by implementing software to automate business processes. For example, customer relationship management (CRM) software can integrate email marketing, PPC, and analytics tools to automatically capture and nurture leads.
Likewise, integrating your point-of-sale system with cloud-based inventory and accounting software eliminates manual data entry, making it possible to run payroll, reorder inventory, and generate financial reports in just a few clicks.
When your business is experiencing growing pains, freelancers could be the remedy you need to lighten your workload without sacrificing growth. The important thing is to abide by local labor laws and plan to pay contractors before hiring. Now that you know how to hire freelancers in the U.S. and abroad, you’re ready to start searching for the right talent for your team.
What about temp workers?
In addition to outsourcing, you should also consider hiring temp workers, especially if your business is cyclical or seasonal. For more information on hiring temp workers for your business, check out this article: 9 reasons to hire a temp in 2022.
From web design to SEO to social media management, consider outsourcing some of your workloads by hiring the talented team at My Rich Brand.
