Bringing In Consultants

I'm into communication, but what if they're lying!!!
Hiring consultants and outsourcing over the Internet - for example, when you are not meeting these people face to face - is unsettling to many. Some employers are concerned that without the control they can maintain over someone they can physically see (and perhaps watch), this type of agreement can't work. I say go for it and trust your instincts. Do people lie? Sometimes. In four full years of business, I've only had to fire one remote employee. He had lied about his HTML abilities, which ended up far below my normal hiring standards. I had seen his work and thought it was what I wanted, but only after I put him on a project did the reality come forward. I didn't discover this until he was late with his work and trying to blame it on the client. The project was tiny and the client was nice, and I suddenly got a whole new look at this person. I fired him and made amends to the client, who was kind and realised that the employee was not a reflection of my business model. So yes, it was a problem and a negative time, but nothing was in stone, all ended happily, and I learned to project manage more closely without being suffocating; this client is still with me. :)

Some "Warning Signs" of Consultants Who May Not Be Right For You
There are some elements I've found early in communicating with potential people to whom I'd outsource that seem like good warning signs that these people may not be people I'd like to bring into my fold.

• An e-mail address/company name that scares you. Thanks but no thanks to "pureevil@" who e-mailed me once, and in my case, this goes for potential clients too. :)
• Someone who on average takes days to write/call you back. While you may not expect this person to sit by the phone dreaming of you, if you can't get a hold of this person in an amount of time you deem appropriate to get questions answered or get to know her, imagine how you will feel when there is a project-related emergency.
• Someone who can't nail down a price she would want for a project you define and detail. If she says "get a price and I'll match or beat it," I would move on. To me, this indicates that the person doesn't
  The copyright of the article Bringing In Consultants in Internet Business is owned by Debbie Levitt. Permission to republish Bringing In Consultants in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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