Hiring and managing remote freelancers can present a variety of challenges when compared to hiring in-house staff, but there are solutions to make it easier. 

What to Look for in Good Freelancers
When hiring freelancers, you’ll want people who are good at what they do and easy to work with. Most online job boards have an option that allows you to filter candidates by how well prior clients rated them. If you need creative services, you can visit sites like Fiverr to find suitable candidates for writing, video, graphic design, and digital marketing work.

Things to Consider When Hiring a Freelancer
Establishing trust early on will go a long way toward making sure the freelancer you hire knows you're approachable, honest, and someone who cares about their time. If you’re new to hiring freelance talent, below are a few things you need to consider when it comes time to staff up: 
•          How's their spelling and grammar?
•          How will you communicate effectively?
•          Do they have references and reviews?
•          Are they familiar with your industry? 
•          Will they be a good fit with other freelancers?
•          What time zone are candidates are in?

Tips for Maintaining a Happy and Productive Remote Team
Rule number one: communicate often. Communication is absolutely vital. Without it, your freelancers will likely be confused, and the work will suffer. Make a dedicated time every day to communicate with your team to ensure everyone is on track and knows what's expected of them. You can also use an instant messenger such as Slack to stay organized and in close contact with your team throughout the day.
Be mindful of the time difference when communicating. Remember that some people may not live near you, so real-time conversation may not always be possible. Also, be sure to keep records of all communications in case there are any questions or issues about what was said between parties at a later date.

Managing Freelancer Payments
You've found your freelancer, created a project proposal, and scheduled your first Zoom meeting. Now, it's time to pay up. The reality is that you probably won't be paying freelancers in cash, as many freelancers live overseas. Remember that traditional payment channels and foreign wire transfers can be prohibitively expensive for your company, so research alternatives.
It’s best to generate invoices for all work done, so that you have a digital paper trail to show that you have paid for services. Invoices can also help you to reconcile your accounts. Try using a free invoice template to get started. You can choose from dozens of options, and choose the one that best matches your business look and your invoicing needs. Then, you can edit the text, font, colors, and even images.

Preparing Your Business
Setting up your business as a limited liability company (LLC) has various advantages, such as limited personal liability, better tax options, less paperwork, and greater flexibility. Each state has its own laws for setting up an LLC, so look up how to start an LLC in Texas before proceeding. Each state has its own requirements, and Texas only requires five steps: choosing a name, assigning a registered agent, filing a certificate of formation, creating an operating agreement, and applying for an EIN.
You should also set aside a home office where you can work. Make sure it’s comfortable but free of distractions, with as much natural light as possible – both for your own health and to facilitate all those video meetings you’ll be having! If your home requires some work to provide you with the space you need, don’t fret: many renovations also raise your home’s appraisal value.

It's Easier Than Ever To Hire Freelancers
There are many factors to consider when hiring freelancers. You need someone capable, reliable, and eager. If you treat your workers fairly and offer reasonable rates, you’ll find it’s easier than ever before to find great talent, regardless of where they live. Make sure you’re prepared with good communication and invoice tracking methods, and you’ll likely find that freelancers are a great fit for your business.

Ethel Lair understands that it’s easy to live the life of your dreams when you know what you want to leave behind for future generations. She created legacybasedliving.com to help her site visitors create financial plans that allow them to leave a legacy of support and love for their families and communities.

Last month, hackers stole roughly $100 million in cryptocurrency from Harmony blockchain bridge. It looks like another wave of the recent storm that started almost a year ago. In August 2021, DeFi Poly Network was breached with $600 million robbed from the user accounts. Then, in February 2022, hackers stole $320 million from the users of crypto trading firm Wormhole. It was followed by another breach in March when hackers pocketed nearly 600 million dollars in crypto from an online gaming company by exploiting a crypto payment system Ronin Network. 

To less sophisticated users, it might sound like blockchain technology is vulnerable, which is not necessarily true. For example, some “core” blockchain code such as Bitcoin can still be trusted because it is based on strong cryptography and has been scrutinized by millions of users, including hackers, for several years. But new tech like Harmony must be in beta testing for months or even years before it can be considered safe.

It’s incredible how people trust their money to untested, uncertified code. Traditional financial and payment software goes through excessive testing and regulatory compliance certifications before it moves to production, yet there are still security incidents. But crypto software is not regulated, so no testing requirements or certifications exist. 

The new crypto fintech era
It seems that crypto fintech is undergoing the same saga as the one experienced by the payment card industry during the 2000s and 2010s. During that time, card data breaches were popping up daily, exposing millions of records of cardholders’ sensitive information. In many cases, hackers sold the data on the darknet to other criminal gangs for further “monetization.” Those secondary groups specialized in creating fake plastic cards using stolen cardholder information and cashing them out by online or in-store purchases. 

The payment card industry cracked down on those security issues by creating payment card industry security standards (PCI DSS) and forcing players such as merchants, banks, and payment processors to follow the rules. Another robust measure to fight the payment cards fraud was implementing new payment security technologies such as point-to-point encryption, chip&pin (smart cards), and secure online payment processors like PayPal.

Crypto fintech does not have all those security standards and technologies yet. The coins and tokens are as bare and vulnerable as plastic payment cards with magnetic stripes with account numbers embossed on them. Note: Such cards still exist, but are much more protected today. It took several years for the payment card industry to realize that an existential threat must be addressed. The latest mega crypto breaches signal that the blockchain industry needs to recognize it and begin learning from the lessons of its predecessor. And users should be careful and think twice before trusting their money to adventurous technology. 

This article was originally published by VentureBeat on August 4, 2022

In this VentureBeat guest post, I compare the current situation in crypto fintech with the one that the payment card industry experienced several years ago.

#crypto #security #nft #bitcoin #blockchain #pci #pcidss #pcicompliance #fintech