Freelance Writing and Hiring Subcontractors
There is a big difference between a freelance writer, and a firm that chases as many clients as possible and then subcontracts the work. Personally, I do not believe in subcontracting. If I take on a job from a client, I give them my assurance that I will be working on the project from start to finish. To go along with this, the concept of subcontracting has never appealed to me. This is not to say that I have never hired another writer, but if I do, it is for special circumstances and my client is always aware of this.
There are many reasons that I am against subcontracting:
1. I like to do my own work! This is the number one reason that I will never look into subcontracting on a regular basis. Many people get involved with the freelance writing industry as a way to make money. While everybody likes to get paid well, I also enjoy the work that comes my way.
2. You never know what you are going to get when you hire subcontractors. And guess what? If the work is not up to par, it is not the subcontractor that the client is going to come after, it is you. If you must absolutely hire somebody to help you with a project, make sure that you carefully check their background, skills, and samples. There is nothing worse than receiving sub-par work, and then being on the hook with your client.
3. You don’t make as much money. Take for instance a project that entails 10 keyword articles at a rate of $25 each. If you were to complete this job on your own, you would earn $250. But if you contract this work out for half of the amount, or $12.50/article, you will only earn $125. Are you willing to give up a large chunk of your profits just so you don’t have to do the work?
There is nothing wrong with operating a freelance writing firm that hires subcontractors. In fact, I have several contacts who earn a lot of money doing business this way. But personally, I enjoy the writing process too much to hire subcontractors.
June 5th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
The biggest argument for subcontracting is that you can actually make more money.
Why? Because you’re not limited to taking the number of projects you can physically complete yourself. So while you only may earn $125, you’d be earning that on top of the $250 you would earn on another project – essentially it lets you take on more work than you can handle, and make more money acting like a business rather than simply a freelancer (for those doing it regularly at least).
That said, I’m with you. I’ve rarely subcontracted work, and I don’t at all anymore, and partly for the reasons you mentioned. I don’t trust other people when it comes to my business, especially when that work is tied directly to my name. If I don’t have time for something and I subcontract it, and that subcontracted writer doesn’t come through, I’m the one that looks bad. It might be the PR pro in me talking, but my reputation means too much to me to put it in someone else’s hands.
I’m glad to see there are some like-minded folks out there who just want to make a decent living doing the work they love – and doing it themselves!
June 6th, 2008 at 12:10 am
I concur with jennifer — and it does make you more money that way.
Businesses are started because the proprietors who started it want profits and then total financial freedom. That freedom won’t come about until the entrepreneurs realize that the needs to let go of the work, eventually trust others to do the work for them( train them if they are found to be below standards or need some help) get them to be even better than the entrepreneurs themselves are and leave it to them to do the job.
If all businesses thought like contractors, there would be no companies at all. No wal-marts, no Dells and No Microsoft, right?
Think about leverage — the ability to get more done in the given time with the help of others working for you. That’s sheer power. That’s where the money is and when you get there, you don’t have to slog as much as you do now and earn 10 times as much.
No one said it is easy, but it is certainly the holy grail and if you need it badly enough, you will let go of this ‘ i won’t give my work away to anyone” and adopt ” I’ll find other people smarter than I am to do this for me”.
June 6th, 2008 at 5:29 am
While I don’t currently subcontract, I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t in the future as long as I have quality writers to rely on.
For point #3…Like Jennifer said, it actually makes you more money. Sure you will make less money per project, but you can have far more projects going on at any given time.
For point #2…In essence, becoming a subcontractor is going from “freelancer” to “business owner” – instead of being a one man show you practically have employees. Like any business, you’ll need writers (employees) you can count on to produce quality work on a consistent basis if you’re going to be successful…and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume it’s possible to build a great team.
For point #1…you can still do your own work on top of subcontracting (although probably a bit less since you’ll spend time on quality control – or you could subcontract that out as well).
June 6th, 2008 at 9:58 am
And that is the key: Finding quality writers you can depend on. I have had a pretty bad exerience with subcontracting work, but I have also found a couple of pretty good writers to help me out on occassion when there was just too much heaped on my plate.
I have only done it a couple of times, but I see no problem with subcontracting work from time to time. I am looking at moving into some better paying areas of copywriting – away from so many keyword articles. I am not ready to let my keyword clients go, so what’s wrong with allowing another writer to get experience and make money while I make a small profit as well for supplying the work?
Now I am picky about the quality of work my name gets associated with, and I love what I do, but sometimes I need a little leverage.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:01 am
There is no denying that you can earn a lot of money by obtaining as many clients as possible and then subcontracting the work. But as Jennifer mentioned, some of us love writing too much to subcontract every last project!
June 6th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Oh make no mistake chris, I do LOVE it, but I also have the challenge of four little ones at home — all day until the fall — so there have been times when I just couldn’t do it all alone and needed help. Not often, but it has happened. The good thing about it is my client’s were happy that their projects got done without missing a beat! It’s good to know good writers that are willing to help out when I need it.:)
June 6th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Kimberly – There are definitely times when hiring subcontractors is almost a must; which I can imagine you run into with the kids being home all day! I agree that you need to have good writers standing by who you can trust.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I’ve done it very, very rarely. Generally I need to do my own work. I can’t count on anyone else, and the few times that I have subcontracted I had to rewrite portions of the work. Clients are hiring me based on my skill, not someone else’s.