Marketing
The selection of an independent contractor or consultant providing professional services usually depends on skill, knowledge, reputation, ethics, and creativity. Prices for services, even within the same field, vary greatly. Some professional-service providers are able to give fixed rates for projects, while others define the price only after assessing the work involved. For this reason, it is common to hire professionals on the basis of an hourly fee and of an estimated length of project (scope).
In the past, independent contractors for professional services were located and hired by various means, including recommendation and directories (e.g. yellow pages). The popularity of the Internet has led to a new crop of professional-services sites that allow independent contractors to offer their services to a larger audience, while allowing individuals or companies to find professionals quickly and easily.
Read more about this topic: Professional Services