Working with other freelancers question

[justatoe1]

I have been freelancing for a few months and all ticking along nicely. However many competitors offer a wider range of skills than me, and to become more marketable it would help if I offer those skills too.
I don't really have the inclination to learn these new skills (would rather stay as an expert in my fast moving field) but would if I really had to. Is it reasonable to advertise these skills within my portfolio and when I receive work, field it out to trusted freelancers and take a cut myself?
I've only worked in corporate world so not sure if this is considered acceptable and whether freelancers would be happy to have this kind of arrangement?

[Hoppinggreen]

It depends.
I have had freelance contracts which specified that I personally had to do the work. I'm not sure if clients would really want you to sub the work out.

[MrsMargoLeadbetter]

I have found that 'people buy people'. So I tend to promote what I can do, but if an opp comes up that requires different complementary skills I then will use other freelancers as long as the client agrees.

I have freelanced for 5 years and am now fairly well known in my niche for my expertise. When I started out I was more generic. I think being focused on what you are good at is a better business tactic, however I know it can feel like it is difficult to find the 'right' sort of work.

Can you stick out from your competitors in a different way? As opposed to offering less services, eg you are the expert in xxx.?

[justatoe1]

That's a very good point Margot...I should really focus on developing my niche. Thank you!

[museumum]

In my field it's quite common to put together temporary partnerships for specific jobs. The 'lead' partner charges a bit for admin as well as their expert bit then they sub-contract the other partner for various bits but normally in my area we don't really 'take a cut' on that work. For example i often use graphic designers and I charge the client what I pay the designer per day.

[GrumpyOldBag]

I sometimes bring in other freelancers if there's something I can't do - e,g, a graphic designer, I make sure I get my client's agreement though and just charge them out at cost.

[justatoe1]

Many thanks for taking the time to comment...very helpful indeed