Who are eCommerce Freelancers and How Do They Work?

If you are the lucky owner of an eCommerce business, you probably already know how much work is involved in the daily operations – especially if you are looking to scale and grow your business. From copywriting to product sourcing and from customer service to drop shipping, there is no shortage of tasks that must be done. If you are attempting to do it all on your own and haven’t yet taken advantage of eCommerce freelancers, then this article is for you. If you are looking to scale your business in 2018, hiring eCommerce freelancers may be just the answer you are looking for.

But what if you have no idea what an eCommerce freelancer does, how to find them, how much to pay them and when to hire them? In today’s blog post, we will be answering all of your questions about eCommerce freelancers!

Who are eCommerce freelancers?

Freelancing has become quite popular in the past decade and is growing in popularity by the day. Small businesses and large companies alike are taking advantage of hiring experienced professionals online to handle much of their growing to-do lists. eCommerce businesses are no exception. In fact, eCommerce freelancers are one of the most popular categories of online workers. This should come as no surprise to an eCommerce business owner as you are likely aware of the never-ending task list that comes with running this type of business.

eCommerce freelancers are online workers who specialize and have specific skills in the eCommerce world. They may specialize in a certain area of expertise, such as customer service, or they may have experience in multiple zones such as Amazon fulfillment and product market analysis. You can choose to hire one eCommerce freelancer or an entire group of eCommerce freelancers to meet your individual needs.

Where do they live?

One of the beautiful things about the online world is that you are not limited by geographical bounds. No longer do you have to choose the best worker simply based on location. eCommerce freelancers may live in your city or state, or they may live in another country. They may be in your time zone, or they may be in a complete opposite one. There are so many advantages to hiring freelancers online ranging from quality of work to having your business operate smoothly around the clock.

How can they help your business?

If your business is doing well or if your business is suffering, eCommerce freelancers can help. If your business is doing well and you are looking to grow, freelancers enable you to take on more business and keep your clients happy. If your business is suffering or if you are stuck trying to do all of the work yourself, eCommerce freelancers can help get your business off the ground and free up your time to focus on the most important tasks. These freelancers are skilled professionals who can contribute to (or improve) your business’s brand and image with the quality of work and focus delivered.

Here are just a few tasks that eCommerce freelancers can take on for you.

Inventory manager

Inventory best practices are necessary to help you avoid drops in sales. You must always have products in stock, but too much inventory can be expensive. eCommerce freelancers can keep your products in stock without incurring additional or excessive storage fees. The balance between being well stocked without being overstocked is a fine art. eCommerce freelancers will take care of making sure that new units are ordered at the right time.

Order fulfillment specialist

eCommerce freelancers can make sure that your order fulfillment is done professionally and quickly. Keeping your customers happy is key to business growth, and having a skilled fulfillment specialist will ensure you don’t end up with bad reviews from customers in the future. If you have been balancing this task on your own, you already know it can eat up hours of your day – every day. Consider outsourcing this task to an eCommerce freelancer.

Copywriter

Compelling product pages are a must for you to succeed in the eCommerce world. Customers have lots of options, and their attention spans are short. Product page optimization means a persuasive, keyword-rich title, bullets, and main description to capture their attention quickly. This will help you stand out from similar products, and give your customers’ confidence in your credibility. eCommerce freelancers with specific copywriting skills will write the listing copy for you that appeals to the potential customer’s emotions. They will also know how to incorporate the best keywords based on careful research.

Designer and/or photographer

You need great images to optimize your product pages. You should have high resolution photos taken at multiple different angles. You should also have a few pictures or videos of the product in use. Hiring an experienced eCommerce freelancer can take your images from mediocre to standout.

Customer Service

Happy customers come back over and over. They leave good reviews that later convince new customers to buy from you. On the flip side, unhappy customers will go out of their way to leave bad reviews and tell people about their bad experience. This can be quite costly for your business. Having a dedicated customer service eCommerce freelancer will ensure that no one walks away unhappy. They can ensure questions and concerns are addressed quickly and follow up with customers to ensure they are enjoying their purchase. Hiring an eCommerce customer service freelancer can actually skyrocket your success.

How much do they cost?

Now that you are chomping at the bit to go out and hire eCommerce freelancers to help with your business, you may be wondering how much they cost. After all, you have a budget to maintain. There is a wide range of prices you can expect to find. The price will vary based on experience level, skills, location and skill set.

There are many online hiring marketplaces where you can find skilled online workers to help grow your business. Each marketplace will have its own payment structure and model. Most of these marketplaces separate their model into different levels based on the factors outlined above (experience, location, skill set).

FreeeUp, for example, offers skilled online workers at various freelancer rates. They break up all skill sets based on three levels of expertise. They also offer freelancers in each category that are both US based and non-US based.

1. Lower Level Workers – Lower level workers are perfect for clients with systems and processes in place, but they may require some level of onboarding.
2. Mid Level Workers – Mid level workers have a higher level of experience, but they may need you to get them set up to work for your business specifically.
3. Expert Level Workers – Expert level workers are the highest level of talent. They can run projects and manage a group of lower and mid level workers.

FreeUp wants their clients to know they are getting a good deal on freelancer rates. They have done their homework and ensured that the marketplace is both highly competitive and fair to their freelancers.

When is the best time to hire them?

How do you know when you should make the leap and hire eCommerce freelancers? While the answer greatly depends on your level of comfort, the sooner you outsource some of your daily tasks, the quicker you will see benefits. Many businesses who hire wisely quickly see a return on their investment. Just think of how much extra time you’ll have to focus on growth or to enjoy life.

If you are cautious, try hiring one freelancer and give it a try. Unlike full-time workers, you can quickly scale up or down with workload or number of freelancers. Its worth a try!

Conclusion

Hiring eCommerce freelancers could be your key to success and happiness as an eCommerce business owner. With so many important tasks to do each day, outsourcing can not only free up your time to focus on growth but it can also give you the freedom you hoped you’d have as a business owner.

Still think you can handle all of your tasks yourself? For 2-3 days, log your time. Jot down how much time you spend on each critical task in your business. After a few days, take a hard look at the number of hours that you’ve worked. What could you be doing with that time if you outsourced work to eCommerce freelancers?

Ready to give it a try? Head over to FreeUp, complete the free, 5-minute sign up, and fill out a worker request!

Melissa Ricker is a nuclear engineer and a professional freelance writer specializing in career growth, technical writing and online entrepreneurship. She writes a blog, Engineered Motherhood, for working mothers who need help balancing career growth and time management.