This should be an easy project.

On January 15th,2010, Econsultancy posted an article called "Five client statements that frustrate freelancers". I wanted to share a couple of these here as they relate to our own experience, because when you are starting your own online business, you will most likely need to hire a variety of different professionals to help you achieve your vision. While you are still the client, these are good guidelines to follow so you can come off as professional and experienced in your interactions:

1. "This should be an easy project"
After 4+ years of working at a tech company, I can tell you this statement drives engineers and developers nuts. Remember, you are hiring them for a reason: because you most likely have no idea what it takes to build out a fully functioning site. Let them decide if it is easy, and get multiple quotes if you think their time estimate is off the mark. Actually scratch that. Always get multiple quotes :)

2. "I don't have much money for this but it could lead to future work down the road."
When Christine and I started looking for web designers we liked, I found one that I was really set on pretty early on. I waited for what seemed like a millenium to get his quote and when I finally did it was WAY outside of our budget. After doing some more research we were able to break down all of the tasks we wanted him to do and figure out which ones would benefit most from his touch. We decided that we really only needed him to develop a logo and identity system for us, not necessarily build the entire site. He was able to give us a rate well within our budget for that specific task. So instead of haggling back and forth and over promising on work in the future, we were able to figure out a way for both of our needs to be met.

3."I'm looking for someone who can handle X,Y and Z"
(X, Y and Z are, of course, completely unrelated)
While it is perfectly OK to be clear about what you are looking to have accomplished, make sure that the person you are seeking is actually the right person for that task. As the article states, "your chances of finding a good freelancer decrease exponentially when you seek out someone who can 'do it all' because the jack of all trades is almost always a master of none." It sometimes seems a whole lot easier to just hire one person to do everything, but you always have to ask yourself if there is someone else within your budget that can do it better.

Read the full article here.