Freelancing, The Odesk Way!

Apart from all the other advice I can give you.  The most important thing to remember is to be determined and you’ll get what you want in life.

When I started out as a freelancer, I couldn’t take a risk and leave my fulltime job (40+ hours a week), I was always tired.  And I found it hard to find clients, when I did; I was either underpaid or stuck with job that really didn’t interest me.   But I stuck with my plan, I was determined and today I’m a lot better off than I was back then.

I tried every which way to find work, online sites, domestic clients, word-of-mouth marketing. But only one avenue was truly a payoff, ODESK.

To put it simply: Odesk is an online human resource contractor.  They provide small businesses, corporations and even individuals with a platform to outsource work.  And freelancers and even businesses with the means to find work and get paid.

This article is aimed at amateur freelancers who need help getting started, here’s why I selected Odesk and not any of the other, similar sites out there (Elance, Freelancer.com, Guru etc.):

Guaranteed payment for the time you work. 
Odesk guarantees payment on hourly-jobs, so you never have to worry about your hard work going in vein.  And even protects employers from unscrupulous freelancers.

Leave the accounting to them.
No accounting experience is required to ensure that your freelance finances are in check.  Odesk takes care of invoicing, timesheets and lets you pull up the records when you want them.

Work where you want, when you want and on jobs that really interest you.
All you need is the expertise, a computer and the internet.

Get paid what you deserve with an hourly rate.
Odesk offers thousands of jobs from employers that are will to pay you on an hourly basis.  And even provides you with the latest market trends based on your skillset, so you know you're being paid accordingly.

Access jobs from around the world.
From the United States of America, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Japan, China to Australia and the rest of the world.

No membership or upfront fees.
Odesk doesn’t charge you, until you’ve found a job.  Odesk keeps 10% of the your earnings once you have been paid.  It’s a fair deal, since they’re helping you find work and establish yourself..

Build your own business online.
If you’ve intentionally or unintentionally bitten off more than you can chew and found enough work, you can hire freelancers, negotiate a rate and have them work for you.
  
Here are some tips to help get you started:

Getting started.
Whether you’re an individual freelancer or a business looking for work: It’s simple; to start offering your services to employers you need to sign-up for an account, which doesn’t take too long.

Build a killer profile.
Writing a great profile is the first step towards success.  Your profile should emphasize on your expertise, experience and achievements and should be capable of drawing prospective clients instead of being a bore.  Here are some great tips.

Maintain an updated portfolio.
Odesk allows contractors (freelancers) to create and maintain an online portfolio, you can upload images, include descriptions and links to jobs you’ve done in the past.

Passing tests.
Odesk includes numerous online skill tests, which allow you to prove your capabilities.  The more tests you complete the more chances of scoring interviews with employers.

Applying to jobs.
Odesk allows employers to categorize jobs into sections according to the skills required.  For instance if you’re looking for web design jobs, simply visit that section and start applying to the jobs there.  When applying to jobs you are required to submit a cover letter for the employer to review.  Here’s a great article on writing a killer cover letter.

Start working.
Once an employer invites you to an interview, it’s up to you to seal the deal. Once the employer is satisfied and hires you, you can start working,

Odesk Team.
Odesk team allows you to log the hours you work and maintain an online work diary, so that your employers know you are working and can pay you accordingly.  Read more about Odesk team here.

Remember to read the Odesk Blog for informative articles from successful freelancers and employers.

Become A Freelancer

Why Freelancing is Taking Over:

The recent economic recession has seen jobless rates sky rocket and for many of the lucky people who still have jobs has resulted in wage cuts and revoked employment benefits.  

But even in these troubling times, people are finding new ways to earn.

With employers hesitant to hire full-time employees, many business owners are opting to hire freelancers.

Business owners need their work done and for that they require employees. Hiring means committing to a monthly salary and possibly providing benefits to employees that are potential liabilities. Considering that these employees may not even have enough work to keep them busy 40 hours a week and justify their salaries. 

That’s where freelancers come in; a freelancer does the work as and when it arises and is paid once it’s complete.  Long-term freelancers are usually grateful and will keep in contact with the hope of acquiring more work.  And businesses have a lot more options, considering that these freelancers work from different parts of the world, possibly even third word countries where the economies are not stable and because of this are quite inexpensive.  They belong to and have mastered their own respective fields.  And can be hired according to requirements: for instance, some of the world’s most proficient software engineers, call center agents and graphics designers come from Pakistan, India and the Philippines (not necessarily in that particular order).  

Finding Work:

If you’re an aspiring freelancer trying to find work relative to your career field and capabilities, the fastest way to do so is to visit online sites such as Odesk, Elance and Freelancer.com to name a few.  These sites serve the same purpose as a real-world human resource contractor,   i.e. providing businesses and individuals, referred to as ‘prospective clients or clients’ from here on, with a platform for hiring qualified man-power.

These sites let prospective clients post details of the jobs they need done and allow freelancers to submit bids for the jobs.  Once the client has found a freelancer that meets his/her requirements (usually judged by the cover letter submitted with the bid and the freelancers profile), can proceed to hire the freelancer or negotiate on the terms.

The Cons of Being a Freelancer:

The benefits of being a freelancer are endless, but there are draw-backs as well.  For example: most reliable full-time employees have a boss to report to, hence they stick to deadlines, maintain quality of work and are professional.   Whereas freelancers usually work remotely (from home) and have to report to their clients only at certain times of the day/week and staying professional and adhering to deadlines can be daunting when you’re not at an office desk and don’t have to face a boss. And by face I mean literally stare them in the eyes.

Full-time employees also retain the benefit of being spoon-fed, bosses will tell them exactly what they want, show them examples and will regularly check-up on the work being done and sometimes even guide them.  Freelancers on-the-other-hand are in most cases expected, by the client, to understand the requirements and complexities of the task over the phone or in written, which makes envisioning what the finished job would look like quite difficult.

Unlike freelancers, most full-time employees know that they will be paid at the end of the month.  Whereas freelancers run the risk of being duped by unscrupulous clients.  Many freelance contractor sites mentioned earlier in this article have enforced methods to prevent this from happening; however it is still something to be taken very seriously and can happen.  In the end, it’s all up to the freelancer to judge whether the client is capable of fraud and to build long-term rapport with reliable clients and vice versa.

Full-time employers usually provide employees with benefits such as basic health and life insurance, however most freelancers are left to fend for themselves.  Odesk recently introduced their own health benefit plans (at a rather affordable per month rate) to help freelancers based in the United States deal with this problem.

Being a freelancer myself, I have reaped the rewards of hard work, but along the way have been faced with some of these problems.

Please All Types of Clients: Guide to Choosing Color Combinations

A must read article for web and graphic designers:

Please All Types of Clients: Guide to Choosing Color Combinations

DIY surface mount soldering iron for under $20

Recently had a motherboard go bust: one of the surface mount resistors fell off the board because of incorrect heat redirection from the processor and a DIY water cooler.

  I did manage to find a component identical to the one originally installed on the motherboard. But what I didn't realize, is that its practically impossible to solder such a tiny component (the size of a red ant) to the board, without an SMD rework station , which costs anywhere from $200 - $800 depending on the make and model.

Luckily, I came this tutorial which converts a standard soldering iron into a surface mount soldering iron for under $20. And after completing my own, I was able to get my old server board chugging along again.

A must read for DIY geeks:
How-To: Make a surface mount soldering iron -- Engadget

Pure CSS folded-corner effect – Nicolas Gallagher – Blog & Ephemera

Pure CSS folded-corner effect – Nicolas Gallagher – Blog & Ephemera

SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday – Link Diversity from Scott Willoughby

SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday - Link Diversity from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.

http://www.seomoz.org/