19 November 2009 | Freelancing Tips | Guest Blogger

From building a portfolio to moving onward on oDesk towards a profitable freelancing career, Sara Haley shares some perspective from the provider’s view in her eBook series, How to Make Money on oDesk. Here, she shares what she has learned during her time in the oDesk oConomy.

It’s a vicious cycle in the beginning—in order to get a job on oDesk, you need some positive feedback, but in order to get that positive feedback, you need to get a job on oDesk. It may seem, at first, that there’s no way to actually get your foot in the door and get started, but with a few strategies, you can build up strong feedback quickly and easily.

In the beginning, in order to quickly establish an oDesk profile, you’re going to want to look for small jobs with quick turnaround times (like same day jobs) that can provide you with instant feedback and get your oDesk profile developed with some work history and logged oDesk hours.

When it comes to your very first job, you’ll want to work above and beyond the expectations of the buyer. This will not only surprise and delight your client, but up the chances of being hired for future projects they may need outsourced work for. Not only this, but it encourages the buyers to leave you a glowing feedback for all to see—and the best thing you want on your feedback is a line like, “I’d hire them again in a heartbeat for all my freelance writing needs!” The line says it all and will stand out in a sea of sub-par providers.

Avoid getting a bad rating and work hard. And I mean, hard. Especially those first few jobs—you want to get some great feedback going so that you can show prospective buyers that you’re the person for the job, that you have past satisfied customers and that you completed everything as agreed and in time.

When the job has been closed out, both the buyer and provider are offered the opportunity to leave feedback. Be sure to leave feedback for the buyer immediately to remind them that feedback means a lot to you, and chances are, they will reciprocate with positive feedback as well. If, for some reason, you go a few days without feedback or additional contact from the buyer, it’s not considered rude if you send a polite email message to the buyer just reminding them that you’re getting your start on oDesk and feedback means a lot to you. Just in case they forget. Again, make sure its polite and not pushy, and just let them know that getting good feedback at the beginning of your oDesk career will help you gain the trust and work for other exceptional buyers like them.

There is, however, a limitation as to when feedback can be posted, so if you haven’t received feedback from the buyer after the job and you’ve already left them feedback, be sure to contact them soon or your window of opportunity will be gone.

One mistake I see all too often is a new, frustrated provider posting on the forums that they’ve been signed up for months and have yet to get a job. Most times, the major mistake I notice is that their hourly wage is extremely high.

Of course, by having an outrageously high hourly wage on oDesk and a new member profile with no ratings or feedback, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. Just like on eBay, you’re more likely to purchase goods from a reputable, long-time seller with great feedback than you are from a newly registered seller without any feedback at all. Same goes for oDesk—you have to start somewhere, and that somewhere is generally on the more inexpensive side. But don’t fret—once you have a few jobs with glaringly positive feedbacks under your belt, raising your rates will go unnoticed to those looking to hire someone for quality work. I’m a firm believer in the phrase, “you get what you pay for.” You are what you’re worth, and make sure your resume, feedback and portfolio reflects work that corresponds with the hourly wage you are asking. (My eBook series, How to Make Money on oDesk, gives you the steps, the knowledge, and the confidence to get you working for the hourly wage you deserve!)

Just like word of mouth, positive feedback can be priceless. If a buyer sees that you’ve knocked the socks off of your previous clients, it will put you closer to the top of their list of prospective hires.

Sara Haley is a happily married stay-at-home mom to her two children and spends her free time working on oDesk and freelance writing her own eBooks. She is the writer for Omaha-Moms.com and HappyApping.com, as well as the author of numerous eBooks, including her How To Make Money on oDesk series and The Ultimate Transcription Job eBook. She also writes for companies like eHow and Bukisa in addition to the freelance writing and online work she does for her ever-growing list of satisfied oDesk clients. A link to all of her online ventures can be found at sarakhaley.com

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19 November 2009 | Product | Josh

We’re happy to announce a few small, yet important changes to the group profiles.

We launched groups several months ago in order to give providers a way to differentiate themselves based on their expertise and give buyers a way to find the experts. Groups are like little expert marketplaces within the overall oDesk network.

So what’s new?
Each group now features new metrics designed to highlight its quality and success:

• Group member average rates and average feedback
• Overall oDesk average rates and feedback
• Total number of jobs posted to the group
• RSS feed of recent job posts to the group

And we’ve cleaned up some of the interface to display group members in a clearer format. We hope you like the changes.

We’re also happy to have some great partners on board as sponsors of groups, including Yahoo!, Network Solutions, Joomla!, Drupal, Salesforce.com, Intuit, Zend, and many more.

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18 November 2009 | Commentary | Guest Blogger

Despite the economic hardship we hear about every day on the morning news, this is one of the most exciting times to be alive. There are three reasons.

First, everyone unanimously agrees that the status quo is broken. That means new approaches to old problems are in high demand.

Second, high unemployment both here and abroad creates a huge pool of labor, eager to find work. That means any offer of employment, either permanent or contract, will likely be met with significant interest.

Third, technology is allowing employers to hire and manage employees in different parts of the world, allowing for major cost savings with little or no reduction in work quality.

These three trends converged for me earlier this year when I hired Uma, my virtual assistant located in Chennai, India. Uma is an absolute pleasure to work with and offers quality work with the utmost integrity. We have worked together for about eight months and it has been a resoundingly positive experience.

Also, because Uma lives in Chennai where the cost of living is a lot lower than it is here in California, the hourly rate she charges is a small fraction of what it would be if I hired someone local.

Uma’s primary responsibility is to help me promote my second book entitled “Webify Your Business – Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed” and submit my proposals as a speaker to business conferences and professional associations around the world.

The interesting thing is that my book talks all about leveraging the internet to grow your business and I have heard from a number of readers who have now hired their own virtual assistants to support that process. Internet marketing isn’t rocket science. It’s a simple process and many of the tasks are tedious and mundane; perfect for a virtual assistant.

There are literally millions of self-employed professionals (including real estate agents, insurance brokers, loan offers, financial advisors, massage therapists, life coaches and marketing consultants among others) who would benefit from having a virtual assistant, and technology platforms like oDesk are making it easier than ever to manage.

There are enormous opportunities to leverage the internet these days. It’s like the Wild Wild West all over again. Social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube are allowing enterprising individuals to build online empires with little more than a laptop and an internet connection. If you would like more details, get a copy of my book.

Once you have your plan mapped out, isolate the tasks you could pass off to a virtual assistant. It won’t cost you very much and oDesk makes it easy to manage their work and pay for their time. Consider the possibility. If you’re anything like me, it will raise your game and accelerate your progress while improving your outlook for the future.

Uma is like my secret weapon. With a 12-hour time difference, I give her detailed instructions in the evening and when I wake up the next morning, the work is done. I am happy and so is she. I couldn’t think of a better situation. Give it a try and let oDesk help you manage the process. Once you get used to it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it!

Patrick Schwerdtfeger is the founder of Tactical Execution; a company that leverages progressive marketing strategies to build credibility and exposure for its clients. Patrick is an award winning speaker and has given hundreds of workshops and seminars across the United States and western Canada.

Patrick is the author of “Webify your Business – Internet Marketing Secrets for the Self-Employed“. His podcasts have been downloaded over 30,000 times in 27 countries and his articles have been published on thousands of different websites. With a diverse background in marketing and finance, Patrick has a gift for explaining complicated subjects in simple language, making his presentations insightful and empowering.

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17 November 2009 | Freelancing Tips | Tamara

Freelance animation and illustration are among the creative fields booming here at oDesk, so we thought our talented animators and illustrators deserved their very own list of helpful and inspiring blogs and web sites devoted to their craft. If we’ve missed any of your favorites, let us know!

	THINKING ANIMATION From - Angie Jones and Jamie Oliff, authors/animators Asset - Inspiration, buzz, news, CG talk Read - “Example Animation Review” by Angie Jones
	COGHILLUSTRATION From - George Coghill, cartoon illustrator Asset – Tips, wisdom, technique and inspiration Read - “6 Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts for … ” by George Coghill
	ILLUSTRATION CASTLE From - Heather Castles, illustrator Asset - Business/marketing tips, creative advice, expert advice re: greeting cards and children’s books Read - “How to Color a Pencil Sketch” by Heather Castles
	DRAWN! From - Various contributors Asset - Resources, buzz, ideas Read - “Seeing and Drawing the Figure in Space“
	ILLUSTRATION MUNDO From - Nate Williams and other contributors Asset - Inspiration, forums Read – “7 Elements of an Effective Portfolio Website” series by Thomas James
	COLOUR LOVERS From - Darius Monsef and various contributors Asset - Colors, colors, colors, trends, forums, feedback Read - “106 Blue Palettes” by Evad
	ANIMATION TIPS & TRICKS From - Shawn Kelly, ILM artist Asset – Q&As, tips, and insights Read - “How Common Is It to Use a Flipbook or PAP?“
	ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY From - Penelope Dullaghan and various contributors Asset - Weekly creative challenge, forums, artist interviews Read - “IF Interview with Tim O’Brien” by Yuko Shimizu
	TODAY IN ART From - Anonymous art community Asset - International community and feedback, inspiration Read – “30 Works of Art Painted with iPod Apps … “
	VECTOR ART From - Luis Drukker, Donald Davis and “Toni” Asset - Inspiration, freebies, tutorials Read - “How to Skew a Dot Pattern …” posted by Luis Drukker

Working from home can either liberate you or weigh you down — it’s all about how you do it. Having worked from home for over a decade, I’ve learned what works and what just creates more work. Here at oDesk, you’ll find the tips and tools to do it right.

- Tamara

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16 November 2009 | Commentary & Analysis, Freelancing Tips | Alex

If you’re working with others online, as a small business owner or freelancer, then your computer is the conduit to your work. Your computer’s efficiency correlates directly to the your work productivity. Below are some tips to optimize performance and make the most out of the computer you already own.

Disclaimer: Changes of this type may have the potential to cause loss of data. Before making any alterations to your system, backing up your data is strongly recommended. Proceed at your own risk!

OS and Memory
Memory (RAM) is where programs live while your computer is turned on. Your operating system(OS) is the first program loaded in to memory. You or your OS can then load more programs. However, if your OS has been instructed to load spyware, viruses, worms, or non-essential software in to memory, this can cause your computer’s processing speed  to grind to a halt.

This particular article is aimed at users running Windows XP. However, if you are running a Mac, check out Onyx. In my experience most Mac problems stem from Disk Permissions issues. Onyx is great at fixing these issues.

Malware Cleaning and Prevention
PC Tools Spyware Doctor and PC Tools Anti-Virus, are both available as free downloads. They can help you identify and remove malware from your system.  Once they’re installed they will auto-update unobtrusively and let you know if there are any more problems.

If the above doesn’t work, then the offending piece of software is brand new and really evil. Check out the forums on MajorGeeks.com. Chances are someone else has had the same problem and the solution is there, or they are in the process of figuring it out.

Unwanted Legit Applications
Now, if your machine is still running slow there are probably some programs running that just aren’t necessary.

If you truly do not use the application, then remove the application using “Add/Remove Programs” (Located by click “Start” and then “Control Panel”).

Net Squirrel has a great article on “How to use MSCONFIG” a windows systems tool that can help  you make sure that only necessary programs are running at startup.

Clean Slate
If your problems originate with the “blue screen of death” (windows goes to a blue screen, and there will be a lot of text that you don’t understand), or if none of the tips above have yielded performance on par with your computer’s original state (from the manufacturer), then reformatting and reinstalling may be a good option. This is a sure fire way to get back to a good performing system. Consult your computer’s user manual, or see below. Re-installing windows will cause data loss. Backup.

Microsoft’s Instructions on How to Install/Upgrade/Reinstall Windows XP.

Final Thoughts
Keeping your system in a healthy state isn’t too tough if you do regular maintenance. However, keep in mind that some of the programs above have the potential to cause permanent data loss. Backing up your data is highly recommended before undertaking any of the above. If you are hesitant to delve this deep in to your system, then consider consulting a professional computer technician in your area.

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