How to hire for your creator business

As a creator, you juggle a lot. You’re a researcher, writer, editor, producer, designer, manager, and so much more. And while it might feel great to do everything solo, it gets increasingly difficult as you grow. That’s where hiring comes in.

Hiring is daunting if you’ve never done it before, but don’t let that stop you. Follow this hiring process, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t hire someone sooner for your creator business.

Determine the role

If you don’t know what roles you’d even hire for, ask yourself these questions:

• what takes up the most time and energy?
• what don’t you enjoy?
• what is limiting your growth?
• where do you want to be 6 months from now, and what roles could help you get there?

There’s no point in hiring for the sake of it. Effective hiring should address a specific need, not problem.

Decide on the type of hire

In the hiring world, you have freelancers, permanent employees (who could be part-time or full-time), and other options like interns. Each has its pros and cons and will depend on your needs. Consider what type of work you need help with, whether you need help for the short term or long term, your budget, and your long-term goals for your business.

Find potential hires

Now that you know what you’re looking for, where can you find them?

• Look within your audience. Share the role on your social media platforms, and you’ll often find that people will come to you. This can work well because your audience is already familiar with your work.
• Ask other creators, or people within your network, if they know anyone. Word of mouth is always great!
• Use platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter to directly search for people with specific skills and roles.
• Use platforms like Upwork or Fiverr.

Allocate a budget

Decide how much you’re willing to spend. This will depend on how much you’re making and your fixed and variable expenses. You can get a rough idea of what to charge by searching for similar job listings or speaking to other creators about how much they spend.

Define your hiring process

The hiring process is unique for each creator and depends on what role you’re hiring for. For roles where you need a specific skill, e.g., editing a YouTube video, you might have a less formal chat, followed by a trial. You might follow more of an interview structure for roles where you work closely with someone, such as a personal assistant. Either way, make sure you discuss things like:

• Pay
• Tasks involved
• Expectations
• How often you need them

Ultimately, there’s no right or wrong way to hire! You just have to tailor the hiring process to your needs so that you can find the right people. And as you build your team, you’ll keep moving your business forward.

Have you hired a team member? Let us know over on Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.