Here's a freelancer horror story that Nathan Hirsch told me
about:
He started an Amazon business back in 2008, before the multitude of courses, gurus and software that's out there nowadays.
Since they were doing everything manually (listings, repricing, sourcing etc), they decided they needed to automate their business to take it to the next level and started looking for a developer to hire.
Nathan's team dove into weeks of research since they were unsure how much a freelance developer would cost, which language the software should be built in, where to find a good one, and all that jazz.
After being stuck in the quicksand of research, they settled on the details and went about posting jobs on various freelancer websites. They got hundreds of applicants, and started interviewing them one-by-one.
This ate up a few more weeks, and they were no closer to finding the right match - until someone referred a developer to them.
They spoke to the guy, and the referral seemed perfect. He was their "dream developer" - affordable, had great English skills, and knew Amazon inside-out.
They hired him, and then spent weeks putting together an outline of what they needed him to build, and going through everything with him.
After months of effort, they were finally ready to roll on Monday morning at 9 am sharp.
But at 9 am Monday their "dream developer" was MIA.
At 10 am he was still nowhere to be found, and he didn't show up all day. Messages went unreturned, and I'm sure there was some cursing involved.
They never heard from him again (they also reached out to the person who referred him, and got no response from him either).
Nathan's story illustrates the flaky nature of people in the online space, and the potential pitfalls when hiring freelancers.
Fortunately, Nathan later started a business (www.FreeeUp.com) to help others avoid the common frustrations when using freelancers.
Since he's been around the block and has seen it all, Nathan's going to be sharing an easier way to get freelancer help for your coaching business on a live training this week.
It's happening on Thursday at 2 pm EST, and you can reserve your spot here (a replay will be sent to those who register but can't make it live):
Marc