From the course: Small Business Marketing

How to hire help

From the course: Small Business Marketing

How to hire help

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- Once you've decided you need marketing help, how do you evaluate if who you're hiring is competent? I've been in marketing for a long time, and the stories from small businesses are still the same. They hired the wrong freelancer or agency and now they're too scared to try again. So you're not alone if you're thinking, how do I find a really good freelancer, consultant or agency? Now I'm going to skip the basics, you know to evaluate their website, explore their LinkedIn, talk to their former clients, and review work examples. I want to encourage you to take it a step further. For starters, put on your skeptic's hat whenever you go to bring in outside help. Challenge them to backup their claims. Ask for specifics on how they accomplish certain outcomes. Inquire about they set and establish their own goals. Challenge everything, just keep asking why. Next, task them with solving a very specific scenario. Provide them with the problem that you want to solve. Let's say I have this product that normally sells for $5, but I want to double the price. I would ask, "How do you go about evaluating "if this is possible?" Compare the answers amongst others that you've been talking with. It'll help you get a better idea of competency. And finally, keep your eyes open for red flags. Common red flags are someone guaranteeing a specific outcome for a flat rate price. A way too good to be true price. No clients available for a reference check. And freelancers claiming special relationships. Nobody is going to leverage a special relationship for a newly met client. Just remember to pick who you work with carefully. It's worth being slow to hire and quick to fire.

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