Thrifty Thursday Tip #3: Buying Services Cheap

This is a tip I learned from one of my mentors, the late great Barney Zick. It's a basic economic principle that you can buy things cheaper when demand is low. With hard goods, it means that you can purchase surplus inventory at deep discounts.

Now let's apply that same principle to buying services - anything you might hire a freelancer for, like web design, copywriting, software development, graphic design, product development, etc.

You could, of course, put a request on Elance, RentACoder or any number of other consulting networks. But let's say you already know who you want to do the work -- maybe you have a trusted personal referral or are familiar with their work.

Ask them for a bid. If it's more than you're willing to pay for the work, tell them what you're willing to pay and say, "I know this isn't what you're willing to do the work for right now, because you're busy, but if at some point in the next few weeks or months your work load lets up and you need some work and are willing to do it for this price, then we can do business."

When they hit the end of their current projects and have some time on their hands (surplus inventory), they'll be glad to have the work, even if it's a little lower than their normal rate. And you'll get the person you want at the price you want.

Of course, this only works when the need isn't urgent on your end. But it's a great way to get things like white papers, e-books, new Web sites or expansions of your current one, etc., done on the cheap.