Questions

We're a non-profit niche social networking company serving a minority group. We are have a volunteer working on marketing our pending web social network app, however as CEO, I'm looking forward to hire an expert in web marketing tactics mainly to help make our launch a successful one. The main role of the person is with helping us plan with our marketing strategies as well as helping us implement them. We are very hard pressed with resources, what's the best way to hire one which we can afford, at say a rate of $10/hr or even less. I really do not have trust in freelance websites because of the poor quality I've received from them so far.

What a great question!

Nonprofits are always hard-pressed with resources - I understand your pain! It's rough when you're doing good work and desperately need the help of qualified marketing professionals...but barely have the funding to bring in a totally unqualified college student...or worse, an intern.

When it comes to looking at freelancers, you're right - it is difficult to decide which ones are qualified, much less trustworthy. And if you go to a site like eLance or Odesk, all too often the quality is low (as you've already experienced) or there is a language barrier that cannot be resolved.

However, your budget isn't quite as bad as it seems. As others have calculated, assuming a 40-hour workweek, you're looking at $400/week, $1600/month.

I'd recommend that you avoid hiring someone on a full-time basis, at least for now, and instead look at how you can make best use of that $1600. It might take a bit of time, but it would be well worth the investment to ensure that you have a solid marketing plan - ultimately if you have a strong marketing plan, that is what will help you with funding development, and may eventually yield enough funding to cover a more qualified employee.

For example, in the first month or two, you could hire an outside marketing consultant for a few hours to work with you to develop a plan. In another month, you might have the consultant train a staff member to implement some of the simpler strategies the consultant has recommended. In another month or two, you could have a new web site built (if that's needed). There are so many ways to wisely utilize the resources you have available that I think it would be better put to use with a good consultant who can guide you and help train your staff in the implementation strategies.

Some consultants may be willing to extend a discount on their regular rates for non-profits, especially if your cause speaks to them personally.

I would be more than happy to talk through some of these options with you and let you know how we can help, if it turns out to be a good fit on both sides.


Answered 9 years ago

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