| Resources > Posting a Quality Project, Attracting Quality Talent
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When you post a project on Guru.com, you open your door to a broad marketplace of talented Freelancers, eager to send you their quotes. While this method is fast and easy, the positive response and sheer volume of results can be overwhelming.
By carefully considering each of the basic elements of your project posting you will present a good image to the Freelancers and receive higher quality quotes. Invest some time in your project, and you will be rewarded by the quality of the Freelancers you attract and the thoughtfulness of their quotes.
Choose skill categories
Guru.com is divided into skill categories and skill subcategories. An Employer seeking a grant writer would select the skill subcategory of "Grants & Proposals" under the skill category "Writing, Editing, & Translation." An Employer looking for a data entry Freelancer would select the skill subcategory of "Data Entry" under the skill category "Admin Support."
You may also select additional skill sub-categories to widen your freelance audience. If, for instance, you are seeking a Freelancer with a primary skill in metal sculpture, you may wish to select clay and wood sculpture to locate a Freelancer with a broad range of sculpting skills.
Create your project title
With more than 8,000 projects posted on Guru.com each month, your project's title is paramount in making your project stand out. A specific, succinct project title is most likely to draw Freelancers to your listing.
A title that reflects only the project's skill category is too broad: "Graphic design" says very little about the particular work you need done. Similarly, titles that reflect your business but not the nature of the project, such as "Mexican restaurant" or "mxfood.com," won't seem relevant to Freelancers because they don't match key words of their skill sets.
Your challenge is to strike a balance between general and specific, to state both what you do and what you need the Freelancer to do. Good examples include "Menu redesign," "Tax advisor for small business," "English to Spanish textbook translation," and "Shopping cart for retail site."
Remember: If Freelancers aren't interested in your project based on its title, they'll never click to learn more about the job itself.
Write your project description
Your project description is the meat of your project posting — where you describe everything about your project. A precise description will give the Freelancers a better view of your needs and enable them to produce a quality bid for your project that includes a cost and time estimate. Project descriptions should include:
Include in your description:
- What work is needed
- Some background on your organization and the reason for the project
- When the project must be started and finished
- The size of the project, i.e. five webpages, 10,000 words, or three photographs
You can also use the project description to describe your common business practices, such as your payment terms, acceptance policies, and your desire to use SafePay. With SafePay, your payment protection is guaranteed. You pay Guru.com and we pay the Freelancer only after you approve the work.
Avoid including:
- Direct contact information (full names, phone numbers, email addresses)
- Indirect contact information (website URLs, company names)
- Phrases that can be interpreted negatively, such as "This is an easy project for someone who knows what they're doing."
- Content that appears on the list of projects we cannot post
Attach project documentation
Do you have any documents that will help explain your project? For each project you post, you may upload up to 2 MB of certain file types to augment the project description. For example, if you want a logo for your business based on a photograph taken of your dog, use this feature to upload a photo of your dog. This will give Freelancers a sense of the direction in which the project should move, and their quotes to you will reflect that.
Define your budget
One great advantage to hiring a Freelancer is its relatively moderate expense. To some extent, though, it's true that "you only get what you pay for" and offering too low a rate may result in poor applicant and work quality. You can enter an estimated total project budget when posting your project. This estimated amount will give the Freelancers a clear idea of the payout in relation to the work requested.
Determine a fair price for your project, while remaining within your comfortable budget using these tips.
- Call firms that offer the service you need. Just as you would call several plumbers to obtain a price estimate on leaky pipes, you should compare work rates when searching for Freelancers.
- Check with friends, colleagues, or members of your Guru.com Network who have hired Freelancers for similar projects. How much did they pay? Were they satisfied with the results?
- Do some research through professional organizations (such as the American Institute of Graphic Arts, National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, and the Web Design and Developers Association) to determine the going rate for the type of Freelancer you seek.
Specify experience
Are you seeking someone with experience in a specific industry? Freelancers can post their industry experience in their profiles. For example, if you are seeking someone with retail experience, select the "Retail, Wholesale" industry during the project posting process.
Make it all about location, location, location
Depending on the project, you can recruit Freelancers locally, regionally, nationally, or globally. If you need the Freelancer to work at your location or participate in project meetings, it's best to search for a Freelancer in your local or regional area. If you have a project that can be completed remotely and allows for e-mail and telephone communication, national or global Freelancers are better choices.
Ask questions
When hiring Freelancers online, you don't have the benefit of meeting your candidates in person. You can, however, ask questions that will help you prescreen Freelancers and sort through the proposals you receive. Treat your project posting like a virtual job interview.
Ask questions that will help you determine candidates' skill, interest level, and expectations: How would you approach this problem? Have you previously developed a marketing plan for a small company? What are your total cost and time estimates for this project?
Freelancers' answers will lend insight not only about whether they're a good fit for your project, but will also help you gauge their seriousness and communication skills. An applicant who takes the time to read your project description carefully and address these questions thoughtfully (as opposed to one who sends a canned response, with no specific reference to your work) will likely make the most communicative, focused contractor.
General tips
Consider it this way: Your project posting is not only an outline of the work you need done, but also a portrayal of the perfect person for the job. Be detailed about the work your project entails, and include your ideal candidate's qualifications. You may not find an applicant that meets each need exactly, but given precise skill and experience parameters and a thorough project description, the most qualified pros will be able to send you proposals that are thoughtful and that demonstrate their ability.
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