Hiring a freelancer might be one of the best decisions you make. They offer the spoils of expertise without the rigamarole of hiring a full-time employee, it takes work off your plate, and adding an outside voice helps you avoid stale marketing. With its ample advantages, it’s silly to ignore the fertile freelancing grounds.

Still, managers and business leaders hesitate to bring in outside contractors on their projects. Like all new business endeavors, hiring freelancers carries its challenges, and there are certain steps you must take to ensure that you’re not only getting the right person for the job but setting them up for success, too.

From a freelancer’s perspective, here are some things you can do to ensure an excellent partnership with your contractor.

Read more: 5 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Professional Writer

1. Set clear terms from the start

The freelancer-client relationship only works if both parties clearly express expectations. These include things like deadlines, the number of editing rounds, pricing structure, and clear project boundaries. While experienced freelancers will have set processes in place, newer freelancers might still be figuring it out. If the freelancer hasn’t provided clear expectations, then take some time to ensure that you’re both on the same page before the project begins.

2. Provide detailed project briefs

Freelancers aren’t mind readers; if there are specific details that need to be included in a project, you must make them known.

An experienced freelancer will prompt you to get the information they need. But even with thorough questioning, details fall through the cracks. As you prepare your project briefs, here are some inclusions to consider:

• Specific company messaging
• The company’s position on controversial topics
• Any projects or articles that you’d like to emulate
• Things that should not be included
• The target audience
• Word length
• The type of research required (data, quotes, etc.)

There’s no detail too inane. Always err on the side of caution, and if you’re unsure whether a piece of information is useful, put it in, anyway. It’s the best way to ensure that you receive the output you want the first time around.

3. Give specific feedback

There’s nothing that irks a freelancer more than vague feedback. When you say something like, “Could you make this better?” or “Add more details here,” it gives no direction. Even the most experienced freelancer can’t ascertain what is meant by these types of notes.

Be specific about the changes that need to be made. Instead of saying, “Make this better,” say “Could you make this more concise?” Instead of saying, “Add more details,” say, “Could you expand on why quantifying their carbon footprint is important for companies?”

If you’re not fully sure why you don’t like something, that’s okay. You hire freelancers because they’re experts in their specific fields. You’re not expected to know everything. In this case, open a dialogue with the freelancer, and do your best to explain what you don’t like so they can figure out how to achieve what you’re seeking.

Read more: 6 Ways to Make Your Company’s Blog Stand Out

4. Build trust through long-term partnerships

Although hiring a freelancer is great for one-off projects, especially if you don’t have the time, it’s always better to develop a long-term relationship. I have plenty of long-term clients who come to me with sporadic work, and the relationships are beneficial for both parties. After I completed a couple of projects with each client, we became comfortable in our respective roles, and now, these clients just have to send a short email with the project specs, and I whip it out for them in no time.

Once you stick with a freelancer for a couple of projects, it’s so much easier for all involved. Don’t give up just because it requires more work in the beginning. Working with a new freelancer is kind of like training a new employee; no matter how experienced the freelancer is, there will be back and forth as they get to know your brand, how your company works, and your expectations. Once they’ve got it, it’s smooth sailing from there.

5. Remain communicative

There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a project and hearing crickets from the client. Freelancers live in constant fear of being ghosted, and anxieties run high when they don’t receive a response. They get it; work gets busy, and sometimes their projects aren’t your top priority. But, even just a “Hey, I got your email, and I’ll look at it sometime this week,” goes a long way to assuage their fears.

Remember, freelancers aren’t employees, and they can end the relationship as easily as you can. If you do what you can to make your freelancer’s experience a smooth one, you’ll set yourself up for an outstanding partnership.

When it comes down to it, cultivating a successful freelancer-client relationship is all about communication from both sides. Freelancers must ask the right questions to get the information they need, and clients need to ensure that they impart as many details as they can to get the project done the way they envision. As long as you set clear terms from the beginning, provide detailed briefs and feedback, and respond promptly, then there’s no reason why you can’t build a successful relationship with a freelancer that makes your job a helluva lot easier.

If you have writing projects, but you’re wary of hiring a freelancer, I’d love to chat! I’ve been a first-time freelancer for many clients, and I’ll make the process easy.