This guide is based on Mixergy’s course with Mike Moon and Quoc Bui.

After getting burned when a freelancer didn’t deliver the three projects he promised, Mike Moon and Quoc Bui figured out how to find great freelancers to create mobile apps that have been downloaded over 35 million times. It was all done through outsourcing, so we invited them to teach you how to do it.

Mike and Quoc are the co-founders of Free the Apps, an app development company.

Here are the actionable highlights from the course.

1. Outsource so you can create products that you couldn’t make on your own

Mike and Quoc pay freelancers to develop iPhone apps for their company, Free the Apps.

Take Action:
Hire freelancers when a task demands specialized skills or knowledge.

2. Ask freelancers to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) to protect your ideas

Mike and Quoc require freelance developers to agree to an NDA before they start a project.

Take Action:
Before freelancers begin working for you, give them a contract specifying that they won’t share your plans and information with any third party.

3. Use online marketplaces to have a convenient, secure way to take bids on projects

When Mike and Quoc need someone to build an app, they log into Elance and post a short description and a wire-frame showing what each screen of the app should look like.

Take Action:
Open an account on a marketplace site like Elance and post requests for bids.

4. Restrict your search to the top applicants to zero in on the best candidates

For a photo app project, Mike and Quoc screened out applicants who didn’t mention photo or video apps and who didn’t use the phrase “I am human.”

Take Action:
Ask freelancers to use specific keywords in their responses to prove they care enough to send a personalized response, and check that they refer to specific details of your project description.

5. Find freelancers with repeat clients so you know they consistently produce good work

Mike and Quoc are satisfied when they see that 11% of a freelancer’s clients are repeats.

Take Action:
Read each freelancer’s profile to find the percentage of repeat clients.

6. Hire freelancers who have worked in your niche to get better results

Mike and Quoc choose not to hire freelancers who haven’t worked on iPhone apps before or who have bad samples in their portfolios.

Take Action:
Select freelancers who can show you samples that are relevant to your project.

7. Give freelancers detailed feedback so you’ll get a product that meets your needs

Mike and Quoc gave feedback to a freelancer saying that they liked the user interface but they had found a bug, and they attached a screenshot of the bug.

Take Action:
Make a list of things to correct and send it through the marketplace’s message system.

8. Pay by milestones to protect yourself and encourage freelancers to meet deadlines

Mike and Quoc use three or four milestones, and the first milestone is getting a working test version of their app.

Take Action:
Set goals for your freelancers and pay them in installments when they hit key deadlines.

Written by Sarah Brodsky, based on production notes by Jeremy Weisz