You’re a kick ass creative. You bust your butt to produce the best creative ideas for your clients. There’s a team around you that understand what’s required and how you work and it just meshes together. When the project is complete, you take a step back, breathe it all in and then say, “we nailed it!” while nodding your head and rubbing your chin with your fingers. It’s a pretty darn good feeling.
Now, what happens when you have to go outside your team and hire a Freelancer to perform a certain task? What if they mess up your Karma? What if they are pretentious assholes? What if they are just a bit shit and fooled you with their resume or reel? Nobody would be like that…..would they??
One of the most important parts of building a creative business is to create a network of people who you can rely on. People that you know are one phone call, text or email away from making your life easier. You can send them the spec, have a quick discussion, and then KNOW that they will get the job done. Quickly and with amazing results. It takes such a weight of your shoulders and makes the project run so much smoother (insert mental picture of you leaning back in a chair, sipping from your favourite beverage and smiling to yourself).
The first questions the Freelancer should ask you are; When do you need it done? What are the expectations? What are the artistic requirements? How can I solve any problems? The first question should not be – What’s the budget? How do you handle revisions or extra time? Is there any flexibility in your time frame as I’m a bit busy? These things can wait. If you have a mutual trust and a great relationship you will know that those details will be worked out accordingly. And with a mutual understanding.
So, I want to leave you with this thought. Be careful when building your creative network. And more importantly - don’t hire Steven Toast. If you don’t know who that is then check out this link below. Be warned, although it is hilarious, it does contain explicit language.