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Are there advantages to contracting with online workers?
This is part one of a series on remote work and the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing with examples from people who work and hire remotely. (Part two is here.)
As our world shrinks, the idea of hiring remotely becomes less foreign. Have you ever hired an online worker to help you with a project?
I decided to research some of the advantages and disadvantages of hiring online service providers. Many articles I find are either pro or con online work, but don’t delve into the details. Contracting with online workers has its own unique set of benefits and challenges. I don’t want this post to be an ad for working with online workers, but more of a truthful assessment of how it works. In order to do that, I thought the best way would be to draw from the experiences of online workers and ask them about the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing help with examples.
The subject is personal because I sell my photography online and I’m also a virtual assistant, specializing in social media management and Pinterest, email marketing, and blogging. I’ve learned a lot about some of the concerns of working remotely. But, I also reached out to other online workers to get a more complete view of the very diverse industry.
Communication challenges
What is communication like when you coordinate with online workers? It’s essential your expectations are clear in handing off work to online contractors. That calls for excellent communication up front from both the employer and the online worker. And, this is one of the main sticking points that potential clients express to me. They are worried they won’t get what they pay for.
First, vet your potential online worker to make sure they have good communication skills. If you have concerns about reaching your contractor, ask them beforehand how they like to communicate, and how quick of a response you should expect. Also, take into consideration these first interactions to get a good idea about what it will be like working with them.
An example: when I am looking for a place to stay on AirBnb, I always contact the owner first to say hello and ask a couple questions. If I get a timely and polite response, I am more apt to book, even if the place is a few dollars more.
Considering that your contact may very well be in a different time zone, maintaining a list of concerns is good practice. Later, you can summarize all of your concerns in an email, or schedule a call or video conversation.
One of the benefits of working with someone in a very different time zone is that they can accomplish work for you while you’re sleeping. But, this kind of relationship does take a bit of planning.
I recommend reassessing whether you actually need immediate responses. For many types of creative support, the benefit of hiring an expert may outweigh the need for immediate communication. My clients, all of whom are in different time zones from me, can attest to this.
What are some of the other advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing?
To find out, I interviewed a travel blogger and online course creator, a nomadic online teacher who is creating her own YouTube series about race, an experienced writer and consultant, whose also a nomad (with her dog in tow!), the owner of a virtual assistant agency and a husband and wife design team who create stock photos and product mockups. I got so much good information, I decided to share it all in two installments. Part two will be coming soon!
I asked these online workers about challenges they’ve faced working online for clients and also if they’ve experienced problems hiring remotely themselves.
Gigi, content strategist and writer
Gigi works as a content strategist and writer. She owns a blog about her nomadic lifestyle and work called The Ramble, and recently started an excellent Europe-focused food blog called Vicious Foodie.
Willow: Gigi, how are you able to instill trust in your clients or customers?
Gigi: Most of my clients come to me as referrals from other happy clients, so there’s already a layer of trust in place.
The second largest source of clients for me in the past couple years has been my websites/articles/online presence. In those cases, they don’t have a personal recommendation, but people who read my blogs generally do already feel like they know me and what I’m about. So really I’m almost never going into a prospective client call or email chain without some existing trust.
W: What are some of the main objections you hear (if any) when working for clients/customers remotely? And how can you assuage these fears?
G: I’d say maybe a third of clients I talk to bring up time zones. They want to make sure I’ll be available for meetings and that work can get done quickly.
For concerns about speed, I can always ask my current clients to be references. Fast turnarounds are one of my strengths – partly due to being abroad! Because my clients are generally asleep when I’m doing the bulk of my work, there are less interruptions and distractions in my day. My productivity is much higher here than it was in the states.
For concerns about meetings, I just talk about when our time zones overlap. For US-based clients, we do calls in the morning their time, afternoon/evening mine. And, for Australia, it’s early morning my time and afternoon theirs. I generally try to keep these to reasonable times, but I’ve taken calls as early as 4 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m. my time (for reference, I’m usually in bed by 9). Because I also think that’s just the price of working remotely sometimes. And I’m happy to pay it.
I have yet to work with a client where we couldn’t find a reasonable time for a call.
When I first started traveling while working, I used to really worry about the time zone objection, but after seven years on the road, I’ve realized that it actually helps me pick the right clients.
The work I do isn’t urgent. It requires hitting deadlines. But it really doesn’t require being on-call at every moment. A client who is already working themselves up about the fact that I won’t be available to them at 2pm their time every day isn’t the right client for me regardless of where I live.
I work part-time, take Fridays as no-technology days for a weekly mini digital detox, and do most of my work during my most productive hours (5:30 a.m. to early afternoon my time, with a return later in the day for calls as needed). So even if I was in the states, I wouldn’t be working the exact same hours as someone in an office job and I wouldn’t be a good fit for clients who aren’t up for flexible hours.
W: What are the most important considerations in order for you to work efficiently?
G: Good internet. I have, on more than one occasion, purchased an additional SIM card or taken myself all the way across town to make sure I had a good connection.
Schedule. Since going on the road, I’ve done a lot of experiments with my schedule and how it impacts productivity and efficiency. I’ve found that my most productive time is early mornings. If I get into work shortly after getting up, I can get so much more done than if I try to start at 9 or 10.
Sunshine. When traveling full-time, I try to rent places with big windows and a bright living space where I can work. The darker the space, the more I notice my energy level dropping during the day.
W: If you create products, what is your turnaround time?
G: These days, I mostly offer services. But I have written 10+ travel guides. I was working myself way too hard when I was doing it, but I was generally publishing at least two a year during that time.
W: Do you hire remotely yourself? If so, what type of services or products do you buy?
G: I sometimes hire freelance designers and other creative professionals. And I definitely don’t care where they’re located. My most recent designer contracts have been with a digital nomad who’s bouncing all over the place and a designer in Germany.
W: Where do most of your clients live? Where do you live?
G: Ironically, most of my clients are currently on the west coast of the US (California, Oregon) – the farthest US time zone from me. I also have one client in Colorado.
I travel full-time, almost exclusively in Europe, so I tend to be on the GMT +1 time zone. I’m currently in Switzerland for the summer. Before this, I was in Montenegro for a month. Before that, Croatia for two months. One client in particular loves that I travel and every time I change locations, I send them a bunch of photos in our shared Slack channel.
W: Do you miss anything about non-virtual work?
G: Having coffee with someone face-to-face is nice. But I do appreciate that Skype and Zoom video meetings bridge some of that gap (phone just feels less personal than when we can see each other’s faces).
Other than that, I can’t think of anything.
Felicia, YouTuber and teacher
Next up is Felicia Reynolds. I met Felicia on a race date, which is her term for a deep conversation about racial identity. She’s an online ESL teacher and a researcher/on-line creator. You can see more of her work on Instagram where she also shares almost-daily vlogs.
Willow: How are you able to instill trust in your clients?
Felicia: For online teaching, it’s building rapport by being warm and kind and very lively. Also being able to tailor the ready made lesson plans to my student’s needs. For my research, I build trust by explaining my process and allowing them to ask any questions. I let them know throughout the interview process if they have any questions or feel uncomfortable answering something that they are able to let me know and we can skip it.
W: What are the most important considerations in order for you to work efficiently (example: internet connection, routine, location, supplies/tools)?
F: Internet connection is crucial for online teaching. A quiet space and clean/organized room is also important for both my online teaching and research work. I also always need a laptop/iPad, phone, camera, microphone, dongles, extension cords and power bank.
W: Where do most of your clients live? Where do you live?
F: My online teaching students mostly live in China. For my research, I’ve traveled to about 15 different countries speaking to participants. I currently live in New York.
W: Do you miss anything about non-virtual work?
F: My previous non-virtual work was as a classroom teacher. I miss collaborating with other colleagues on a regular basis. Also, I do miss the routine and structure that came with the 9-5 and I am often trying to create a structure/schedule for myself that allows for maximum productivity as it can sometimes be difficult without the fixed schedule. The reliability of a paycheck, as well as the medical and dental benefits that came with my 9-5 non-virtual work, are another aspect that I miss.
Although there are many things that I do miss about non-virtual work and there is a lot that goes into ensuring success, I will say that I much prefer my virtual work lifestyle as it allows for a lot of flexibility and has given me the opportunity to really focus on things that are important like my mental health and my passion for social justice issues that I get to work on with my research as well as getting to travel and meet people from all kinds of walks of life.
I hope these interviews have helped you identify some of the advantages and disadvantages of working with online service providers. The next installment includes interviews with three more people who work remotely including an agent for virtual assistants, a designer, and a travel blogger/course creator.
And before you go, what have your experiences been with the online work world? Have you ever hired an online worker? Or perhaps you’re considering an online career? Leave a comment below about your experiences.
One Response
I really enjoyed reading your blog. Thank you for sharing.