http://www.odesk.com/blog oDesk - The Future of Work Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:57:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/the-power-of-feedback-get-started-freelancing-without-any-feedback/ 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 ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/group-profile-enhancements/ 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 ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/buyer-voice-virtual-assistants-turn-economic-hardship-into-opportunity/ 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 ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/work-from-home-10-freelance-animation-illustration-blogs/ 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: ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/optimizing-computer-performance-for-online-work-success/ oDesk is discontinuing its integrated SVN repository service. Even though this change affects only a small number of users, we'd like to describe the upcoming changes and ensure that all have sufficient time to plan them. When will SVN be discontinued? Effective immediately, no new oDesk SVN repositories will be provisioned. ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/odesk-svn-to-be-discontinued/ In case you haven’t noticed, there are approximately 3 billion different ways in which friends, relatives, clients, freelancers, employers, and anyone else riding the World Wide Web can communicate. Okay, so maybe I can’t back that number up, but the point is, there are enough communications-based software suites, stand-alone programs, ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/using-the-internet-to-open-your-lines-of-communication/ A while ago, we presented 10 Excellent Design Blogs, and we heard from many of you that some of your favorites weren't on that original list - so now it's time we added another 10! On these blogs and web sites, freelancers can find freebies, tips, inspiration and ideas on ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/work-from-home-another-10-freelance-design-blogs/ Today is oDesk t-shirt day! Check out my own bedazzled creation below... Some of our festivities include: Facebook Contest Become of fan of oDesk on Facebook and upload a photo of yourself in an oDesk shirt to be entered to win a $50 Amazon giftcard! Don't have an oDesk t-shirt? No worries! ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/freelance-fun-odesk-t-shirt-day/ OK, so you’re really good with Microsoft Excel.  You can write bi-conditional nested if statements and vlookups that make peoples head spin.  You’re the only person in your tri-county area that can make a dynamic pivot chart with multiple vertical axes that retains its formatting.  Maybe you’ve even created user-defined functions ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/cheat-sheet-beyond-advanced-excel/ Over the next month or two, we will be releasing a number of enhancements to make hiring on oDesk easier than ever. Tonight was the first release, a redesign of the hire confirmation page. The page is now crisper and cleaner, highlighting the most important parameters for buyers. It also turns ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/making-hiring-easier-part-one-%e2%80%93-confirm-hire/ We needed some design help for a couple projects that we knew would be short and simple for someone familiar with Photoshop and had a graphical eye, and turned to oDesk for help. Through our experiences, we wanted to give buyers some advice on how to find a graphic designer ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/buyer-voice-how-to-hire-a-graphic-designer/ In a previous blog post we spoke about the growth and performance of the oDesk Customer Success Team, and the progress we have made this year. As we experienced a doubling of our case load to nearly 10,000 tickets and chats submitted per month, we also recognized the need for improved ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/odesk-and-zendesk-team-up-to-deliver-efficient-online-customer-service/ The needs and lifestyle of a freelancer are unique, and we know it's hard to find advice that deals specifically with your world. So, we've gathered up ten websites and blogs we think every freelancer should know about to help make the most of the freelance lifestyle: JUNE WALKER: Tax and ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/work-from-home-top-10-freelance-lifestyle-sites/ We are pleased to announce our best Providers for October 2009! We have over 350,000 Providers on oDesk, but these ones stood out as the cream of the crop this month, as they performed the most hours of work with the highest feedback rating. They have been given special badges ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/congratulations-to-our-top-25-providers-for-october-2009/ The demand for iPhone developers on oDesk has only increased over the past year. If you are currently developing for the iPhone and looking for some more resources to keep your skills sharp, or you're wanting to get started developing, the links below should be helpful. The Mobile Orchard - Top ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/top-10-iphone-development-blogs/ Congratulations to "Stylish and Dry When it Rains", the winner of oDesk's October Design of the Month Contest. This project was for a skilled designer to create a postcard that demonstrated his or her best creativity and skill sets while also representing the products and message of www.AmeRain.com. They actively ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/11/congratulations-to-stylish-and-dry-when-it-rains-odesks-design-of-the-month/ Piggybacking off our recent post on the Top 10 Must-Read Affiliate Marketing Blogs, today we're happy to bring you our list of the Top 5 Affiliate Marketing Events. These events bring together some of the smartest, most-experienced minds in affiliate marketing.  The industry is all about relationship-building and networking, so these ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/top-5-affiliate-marketing-events/ If you think you're the office "excel ninja" - with your fancy vlookups and your pivot table prowess - think again, powder-puff.  These guys will smack you all the way back to Lotus 1-2-3 with their Excel skills. 1) Pac-Man Are you kidding me?  If you’re an Excel Geek like me, this one will ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/the-top-5-most-ridiculously-over-the-top-uses-for-excel/ The oDesk team recently pulled together our thoughts on the ways business, technology and the working world intersect. The result of our brainstorm? The Future of Work: An educational presentation that explores how technology is changing how the world works. The Future Of WorkView more documents from Jeff Brenman. Check it out, ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/the-future-of-work/ Recently I've seen some tweets from those curious about the presence of extremely low bids on oDesk. My response is that it doesn't matter. Or at least, it shouldn't. Face it, if the only thing that makes you a viable canidate for a project is your price, then you'll need to have ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/provider-voice-bidding-for-work-its-not-about-price/ Call it "Twittiquette," call it what you will, but there are unspoken rules of the Twitterverse that everyone diving (or just slipping toes) into this social media pool should know. The water may look shallow and unintimidating from the deck, but if you don't know what you're doing, you're likely to drown. Check ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/work-from-home-10-ways-to-lose-twitter-followers-faux-pas-twittiquette/ We're excited about taking part in today's FailCon event being put on by the folks at Snap Summit.  It will be a great venue for entrepreneurs to share ideas about the most common startup mistakes, and take away practical and actionable advice to help keep each other from the dreaded ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/odesk-helps-snap-summit-companies-succeed-at-failcon/ Moments ago, the odometer at oDesk's oConomy rolled over. Our providers have earned over $100 million dollars on oDesk - a fantastic feat that has all of us here in Menlo Park cheering. This rate grows every day, and there will be more work done on oDesk this month than on ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/odesk-oconomy-hits-100-million/ My faith in professional online etiquette was called into question last week, when I spotted a rather unflattering eBay auction—posted by a professional dealer no less—advertising a car. In a single run-on sentence devoid of capital letters, the auction promised heightened sexual attraction for anyone in the driver’s seat, contained ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/think-you-know-proper-online-etiquette/ To celebrate the recent launch of the new oDesk Affiliate Program, we've gathered a list of the Top 10 Must-Read Affiliate Marketing blogs on the web.  For each one of these awesome blogs, we've given you some information about who writes the content and why we think their blog is ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/top-10-must-read-affiliate-marketing-blogs/ We're excited to announce the new oDesk Affiliate Program via Commission Junction! We look forward to working with affiliate marketers to grow the oDesk community.  We are even more excited to introduce the world of affiliate marketing to oDesk.  Publishers can use oDesk for all of their day-to-day needs, since oDesk ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/announcing-the-new-odesk-affiliate-program/ Our community has always been instrumental in developing new oDesk features and improving its applications. We're dedicated to improving the way we capture your input and over the last several weeks we've been testing a new feedback forum powered by User Voice. The forum has been working very well and we decided to ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/odesk-wants-your-feedback/ In an effort to make the job post page easier on the eye we removed the candidate list last week. The feedback of our community was loud and clear, and we decided to reverse the decision and bring the candidate list back to public job posts. We thank you for ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/relaunching-the-candidate-list/ We've lately added quite a few new methods to the oDesk API Center and today there's a new member of the family -- Time Reports. So how can users leverage the Time Reports API? * Buyers can generate detailed hourly reports for their oDesk team, agency and company. * Providers can generate detailed ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/time-reports-api/ The job search results page has undergone a major redesign that makes it easier to find the quality jobs you're looking for. So what's all the fuss about? Looks: The page is now easily scanned from top-to-bottom highlighting the important details about a job. Focusing on only the most necessary information ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/find-the-job-you-want-the-new-job-search-results-page/ As sales of smartphones rises so does the demand for talented developers to exploit these new platforms. The two most popular mobile platforms in the oDesk marketplace are Apple's iPhone OS, and Google's Android OS. Below is a run down of how the demand for these skills has fared over ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/iphone-vs-android-goliath-vs-goliath/ Feeling a little broke? Coming up with an empty wallet a little more often than you used to? Well your own personal stimulus plan might solve your problem. What's the plan? Raise your rates. We've asked three popular bloggers who specialize in the freelance realm -- and ooze the wisdom of ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/work-from-home-freelanceraising-your-rates/ On October 22-23, oDesk CEO Gary Swart will be joining Silicon Valley business leaders at BiztechDay. If you're attending, make sure to grab a moment with Gary and ask for his insights on the Future of Work - his answer will give entrepreneurs, investors and executives fuel to rethink, ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/upcoming-event-biztechday-oct-2009/ With tonight's release we made several tweaks that affect job posts on oDesk: Minimum Rates on Job Posts: Starting today, we will no longer accept fixed price job posts with a budget less than $5. For hourly jobs, the maximum rate preference must now be at least $3 per hour. ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/minimum-rates-on-job-posts-and-candidate-list/ Microsoft Silverlight is a browser plugin that allows the delivery of rich media experiences over the web. If you've ever watched a movie on Netflix using "Watch Instantly" then you are familiar with the power of Silverlight's video streaming capabilities when coupled with Microsoft's IIS Media Services Server. While streaming ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/trend-spotlight-microsoft-silverlight/ The oDesk Manifesto is a declaration to both freelance service providers and the companies that hire them. A while back, we asked oDesk providers to submit videos of themselves reading our oDesk Manifesto. We received responses from across the globe, from providers proud to lend their voices, faces and home towns ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/provider-voices-the-odesk-manifesto/ Due to the popularity of our Stay Employed - Jobs with the Least Competition and Greatest Opportunity post (and the ongoing requests we've received for updated information), we thought we would follow up with recent information from the oDesk Trends vaults to help you develop your resume and determine what ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/stay-employed-q4-2009-jobs-with-the-least-competition-and-greatest-opportunity/ It was a pleasure to attend last Tuesday's JuicePitcher event and see the finalist's pitches.  These startups are creating some impressive offerings.  We're also excited to announce we've extended our oDesk Challenge to all of them.  We're going to roll up our sleeves to help them find the very best ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/congratulations-to-thumbtack-the-rest-of-the-juicepitcher-finalists/ oDesk has retired the WorkAnalyze report in favor of the newly upgraded TimeAnalyze report. We've combined the best of both reports and added some of the top-requested new features. Users can now: Easily get a snapshot of cost and productivity of their workteams Drill deep into line items per individual providers, timeframes, and ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/time-reporting-like-never-before-timeanalyze/ oDesk is adding to its API Center two new APIs: oTasks API Buyers can now integrate oDesk with their in house or third party project management systems by leveraging the oTasks API to: Assign tasks from from an external system to providers and teams on oDesk Access oDesk tasks that were synced between the ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/new-additions-to-the-odesk-api-center/ WordPress is one of the top skills requested by buyers in the oDesk marketplace. CMS-based development, and specifically blog development, is at the heart of the Internet economy. Not only are blog developers important, but so are writers. It has bee said that "Content is king." Regardless of what role ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/wordpress-for-everyone/ Patrick Schwerdtfeger, one of the Bay Area's preeminent Social Media evangelists, will be hosting his next Entrepreneur and Small Business Academy event tonight at 6:00pm at the Hotel Shattuck Plaza, in Berkeley, CA. At the event, special guests Kane Minkus & Jeff Slayter will share their wealth of Entrepreneurial experiences with their presentation, "Blatantly Unfair ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/odesk-demo-at-tonights-entrepreneur-small-business-academy-meetup-in-berkeley/ We're excited about tonight's sold-out Juice Pitcher event put on by TheFunded.com and Vator.TV.  This unique startup pitching and networking event democratizes access to exposure for promising early stage companies.  136 companies competed for the chance to present tonight to an audience of over 300 investors, founders, and members of the ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/odesk-squeezes-in-to-help-juice-pitcher-companies/ Sometimes working from home can get a little routine, and you might lose your focus. Check out these ten different takes on staying motivated from bloggers around the Web. "Motivation is something that needs to be built into your life on a daily basis." POSITIONED FOR SUCCESS IN A GLOBAL STORM: This inspirational ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/10-motivational-keys-inspiration-blogs/ Contracts are most likely not your favorite part of freelance work. Hammering out a watertight, legally binding agreement can be a bit of a distraction when what you really need to do is get some work done for your clients. So your choices are: operate on a handshake, purchase ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/contractually-speaking/ We are pleased to announce our best Providers for September 2009! We have over 250,000 Providers on oDesk, but these ones stood out as the cream of the crop this month, as they performed the most hours of work with the highest feedback rating. They have been given special badges ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/congratulations-to-our-top-25-providers-for-september-2009/ We’re excited to announce that voting has officially begun in our oDesk Design of the Month contest! This time around we have 57 submissions, each of which was built by oDesk providers, and we must say we’re quite impressed with the entries. Here at oDesk we have the privilege of bringing ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/10/design-of-the-month-contest-let-the-voting-begin/ We've redesigned our assignment detail page and think it will be useful for all users — buyers and providers alike. To access the new page, visit My Jobs > Assignments and click on any assignment, active or ended. For buyers: The assignment detail page is your central screen for each provider. It shows ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/redesigned-assignment-detail-page/ Last week, we listed out some of the most useful iPhone apps for business use. We intentionally left one off that list, so we could share it with you in more detail today: Your oDesk team room is a great place for staying abreast of all the things your teammates are ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/odesk-theres-an-app-for-that/ "Work is no longer tied to a single location - it happens anywhere on the Web, anywhere in the world." - Gary Swart, oDesk CEO The oDesk iPhone App announced today was built by leveraging oDesk APIs, which are now publicly available in the oDesk API Center. In releasing access to our ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/announcing-the-odesk-api-center/ At oDesk headquarters in Menlo Park, California, every Tuesday is a WFHT, and technology is the key ingredient that makes this system work. So we thought it was time to address the various modes of modern communication, creation and collaboration. Which of these tech gadgets are your tech gadgets? From largest to smallest ... COPY ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/work-from-home-technology-and-the-home-office/ [caption id="attachment_8366" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Jasmine with oDesk friends, April 2008"][/caption]We're always talking about building long-term relationships on oDesk, about building success for both buyer and provider. We practice what we preach in our customer service department. It has nearly doubled to 17 providers in five months — and performance metrics ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/the-key-to-long-term-success/ Telephones didn’t always come with tiny pop-out keyboards and message screens. Once upon a time, people would actually speak into phones to talk directly with other people. No text messages, no email, no internet browsing, just actual conversations with folks who listen and respond with phones of their own. There are ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/telephone-savvy-still-matters-in-a-text-based-world/ Each month we like to highlight 4 providers who've received exemplary feedback. Great job Alexey, Beverly, Misha and Tamara — you've earned this!   Alexey Z C/C++ Technical Lead Total oDesk Hours: 217 Overall Feedback: 5.00 (Based on 1 feedbacks) Comments: I would like to stress his ability to deliver work right on time, as you ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/spotlight-providers-september-2009/ The Message Center is one of the most heavily used screens in all of oDesk. It is used primarily to interview candidates and potential employers, and to communicate with your team. We've gotten a lot of requests for the ability to attach files to oDesk messages. Now you can! Anywhere you ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/message-center-now-supports-attachments/ Should your next website or software app use PHP, ASP, AJAX, JavaScript, Flash, or another technology that you’ve just heard about? Should it be hosted on your LAMP or Windows server, or reside in “The Cloud?” I recently had a friend pursuing his entrepreneurial spirit who wanted advice on how to ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/building-a-website-what-technology-should-you-use/ I was on the road last Thursday, after a Client meeting, and I had an oDesk conference call in 3 minutes. I pulled over at the nearest strip mall, parked, pulled out my iPhone and dialed into the meeting just as someone on the call said: “OK, I just e-mailed out ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/consultant-iphone-apps/ At oDesk headquarters in Menlo Park, California, every Tuesday is a WFHT, so we know that working from home can be a liberating experience. However, for some, the time at home may create habits that lead to an unhealthy way of life. Here are some tips to keep yourself sane, ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/isolation-loneliness-freelance-freelancing-consulting/ So, you're one of the lucky ones who has weathered the economic downturn and has held on to your full-time gig. Unfortunately, thanks to mandatory furloughs and benefit cutbacks, that full-time work may now have part-time pay. Here's some areas we've seen that offer opportunities for non-technical professionals to boost ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/non-technical-freelance-jobs-to-boost-income/ Here's a continuation of yesterday's post, showcasing some more of the types of providers available for hire here on oDesk. These are the rockstars we'll help you find when your venture-backed startup signs up to take the oDesk Challenge. Alexander Bondarenko, Web Developer Alexander Bondarenko is a developer based in ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/meet-some-more-providers/ The speed of innovation means new technologies are being introduced every day. What you may not realize is that some of the "older" tech knowledge is still in demand today, and with an abundance of new-generation programmers flooding the digital realm, programmers with some old-school knowledge can be worth a ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/top-tech-skills-you-used-to-know/ This Monday, we announced the oDesk Challenge - and we'll continue to post more details over the next few days. We've been asked about the types of providers available to hire on oDesk. Below are a few examples of the stellar providers venture-backed startups may be interested in hiring through ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/take-the-odesk-challenge-meet-the-providers-part-1/ We have launched our first integration with Twitter. In addition to sharing on Facebook, Buyers can share their job openings on Twitter to get more candidates from their network. Providers can share test results and promote their profile, letting the world know they are ready to work on oDesk. With the oDesk ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/share-with-twitter/ Here’s the scenario: You just got a callback on a job interview for a big league position, and you have a meeting with the hiring manager tomorrow afternoon. The ironing board immediately comes out to press your suit into a flawless statement of power. A quick visit to the hair ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/first-impressions-online-make-your-written-communications-count/ Yesterday we announced the oDesk Challenge at TechCrunch50 - and we've already received some great questions about what exactly we're doing for venture-backed startups. Today's post introduces the process and the oDesk team who will be by your side throughout it. Once a venture-backed company signs up as an oDesk buyer ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/take-the-odesk-challenge-what-well-do/ Yesterday, at 4:30pm, after a long day of demoing oDesk in the TechCrunch50 DemoPit, Michael Arrington dropped by our table to inform us we won an Audience Choice Award and a chance to demo on stage to all 2,000 conference attendees.  We were already thrilled at the warm the reception ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/we-won-a-tc50-audience-choice-award-thanks-for-all-your-help/ At oDesk headquarters in Menlo Park, California, every Tuesday is a WFHT. This Tuesday, we want to welcome those of you who are new to working from home and new to this wonderful -- though sometimes unusual -- business of freelancing, consulting and providing the world with your talent and skills! FIFTEEN TIPS FOR YOUR NEW ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/freelance-newbies-welcome/ As we mentioned in our earlier post, we're thrilled to be in the TechCrunch50 DemoPit this morning.  Here at the conference, every attendee is given a poker chip, which counts as a vote for the DemoPit company the attendee is most excited about.  The company with the most votes gets ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/visit-odesk-in-the-techcrunch50-demopit-and-give-us-your-poker-chip/ We're excited to be in the TechCrunch50 Demopit this morning, and announce a special offer for venture-backed startups called the "oDesk Challenge"! Take the oDesk Challenge: We'll help you build an online workteam Venture-backed startups need to do more with less. We at oDesk know this firsthand, and we keep our core team ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/techcrunch50-announcing-the-odesk-challenge/ Okay, so you’re hip to the World Wide Web and all the techno-programming required to build the coolest virtual environments in E-town. You’ve got game, you’ve got the software, but you’re missing the most vital ingredient of all: Clients. Even the best web-design mojo is merely untapped potential unless you ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/landing-a-web-development-gig/ With freelancing and remote work, the ability to give a visual presentation adds a lot to the efficiency to handle the tasks at hand. While communication technology has come a long way, sometimes phone calls, emails, and screenshots just don't cut it. When you need the feel of an in-person ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/free-web-conferencing-options-for-online-presenting-meetings-or-teaching/ Last week we were fortunate to be invited to the fbFund REV incubator program's demo day.  For the past 12 weeks, 22 startups with facebook apps were educated, mentored, housed, and funded with up to $100,000 by fbFund (a joint venture by Facebook, Founder's Fund, and Accel Partners).  We liked ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/odesk-rolls-up-sleeves-fo-fbfund-rev-startups/ At oDesk headquarters in Menlo Park, California, every Tuesday is a WFHT. This Tuesday, let's talk about that pesky but all-important issue of how you prove yourself worthy of that next freelance gig. How do you present yourself to your next client? How will they see your work? Accept that paper ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/freelance-your-portfolio-and-you/ As a licensed health insurance agent in all 50 states, I work with self-employed people every day. Whether I’m working with someone who’s new to the world of self-employment or a seasoned pro, I tend to need to reassure them that a little education can go ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/health-insurance-advice-for-the-independent-consultant/ Here in the oDesk community we have a pretty impressive bunch of designers, if we do say so ourselves.  To celebrate some of the amazing design work being done through oDesk, we thought we’d try something a little different this time around and hold a “Design of the Month” contest ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/new-contest-design-of-the-month/ The drowning starts with the conversation you never saw coming, and the conversation comes regardless of how long you've been with the publication or how valuable the publisher once considered you. One morning you get up and you have a job. By the time you get your cup of coffee, ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/of-sinking-ships-and-freelance-lifeboats/ We are pleased to announce our best Providers for August 2009! We have over 250,000 Providers on oDesk, but these ones stood out as the cream of the crop this month, as they performed the most hours of work with the highest feedback rating. They have been given special badges ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/congratulations-to-our-top-25-providers-for-august-2009/ At oDesk headquarters in Menlo Park, California, every Tuesday is a WFHT. This Tuesday, we want to acknowledge a few special moments in every freelancer's life. Those moments where you realize that your friends -- and maybe even your family -- have no idea that working from home really is working. For every time ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/work-from-home-really-working/ Congratulations to iCooking, the winner of oDesk's August App of the Month Contest. iCooking is an innovative iPhone app that provides easy and simple solutions to avoid the hassle of deciding what to cook for dinner. Users can get multi-course dinner menu suggestions, as well as starters, main courses, deserts, soups, ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/09/congratulations-to-icooking-odesks-app-of-the-month/ Freelance writing bloggers sometimes come and go like  rain in springtime. However, there are many right now who are relevant, smart and here to stay. We just want to make sure you know they're there. So, check out our alphabetical listing of 40 great writing blogs, (almost) all written for freelancers. You just might ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/best-top-40-freelance-writing-blogs/ Job interviews are part of life (for most of us) and as a freelancer, they come up more often for you. Here are some quotes from hiring managers about real-life interview mishaps they've seen from their side of the desk: Needless to say, please do not do any of these: 1. "... ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/disastrous-job-interviews-with-tips-to-avoid-them/ At oDesk headquarters in Menlo Park, California, every Tuesday is a WFHT. This Tuesday, we want to encourage you to remember why you started working from home in the first place and what it is you want to accomplish in life. Dreams can get lost in the daily grind, but ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/work-from-home-tuesday-never-give-up-the-dream/ Stature Software started using oDesk in August 2006, only three weeks after it formed. "I realized at the time that the future was with offshore developers," says partner Gregory Silvano. "My problem was that I didn’t know how to find good offshore developers. ... Once I saw oDesk, I realized ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/perspective-of-a-2-million-man/ Each month we like to highlight 4 providers who've received exemplary feedback. Great job Kamil, Miranda, Nikita and Jo — you've earned this!   Kamil D (Affiliated with DNC.PL) 8 years experiencein PHP5/MySQL, Magento / CakePHP / Google Apps Total oDesk Hours: 1,131 Overall Feedback: 4.99 (Based on 16 feedbacks) Comments: Kamil is a fantastic developer ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/provider-spotlight-august-2009/ The past year has been a roller coaster ride for the economy, but tracking open source e-commerce programs over that same time period shows that online sales are still serious business. Here, we take a look at how programmers with skills for two popular choices in open source e-commerce have ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/magento-vs-oscommerce-online-stores-mean-business/ With the rise of Twitter, business executives are under pressure to maximize this instant (and mass) social networking medium to leverage their influence for the good of their companies. Many, like Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (@zappos), use Twitter both to build community within their corporations and to market their businesses (and, let's face it, ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/business-executives-twittering-twitter-ceos/ We were excited to see that the SXSW Panel Picker was open for voting, and even more excited to see that there were a number of panels suggested that freelancers would find valuable. Here are our 15 top picks for your SXSW Interactive panel votes - log in and vote ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/freelance-friendly-sxsw-panel-picker-ideas/ At oDesk headquarters in Menlo Park, California, every Tuesday is a WFHT. This Tuesday, we'd like to talk about a sticky subject: when and how to say "No" to a client or buyer. Remember, you work for yourself! You can say no. So, here are a few guidelines we hope ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/work-from-home-when-and-how-to-end-a-job-relationship-with-a-client/ Many lately have been predicting the fall of Hi5, the third largest social netowrking site (after MySpace & Facebook)  Does Hi5 have what it takes to co-exist with the big boys?  Lets take a closer look... The Market Share As you can see from the graph below, Hi5 may be in the ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/the-death-of-hi5/ There have been an increasing number of stories about issues with online security, and there are plenty of folks out there looking to gain access to your personal information with malicious intent. Below are a few of our tips to help you stay safe when working online. Be wary of anyone ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/online-security-protect-yourself-when-working-online/ oDesk executives and team members will be attending a number of events over the coming months. In order to share with you where we'll be and who you can expect to see there, we're launching this "Upcoming Event" blog series - a place for us to share the details of ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/upcoming-event-silicon-valley-indian-professionals-association/ oDesk Ranks No. 110 on the 2009 Inc. 500 with Three-Year Sales Growth of 1,470% Inc. Magazine announced the results of their 28th annual Inc. 500, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. Inc. editor Jane Berentson said of the list: “If you want to know which companies are ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/odesk-ranked-110-on-the-inc-500/ I don’t work at oDesk, but I use it all the time. I start a new online business about every six months, and therefore need a lot of talented people to help me pull it off- 90% of the work for my companies is done through outsourcing with oDesk. I'm ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/10-ways-to-make-more-money-off-me-a-buyers-advice-to-providers/ At oDesk headquarters in Menlo Park, California, every Tuesday is a WFHT. This Tuesday, we want you to think about ways that you can keep growing in your field and expanding your skills. Here are a few words of advice to inspire you. Subscribe to newsletters or magazines relevant to your ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/work-from-home-building-your-freelance-skill-set/ Ruby on Rails has grown rapidly in last few years. Our buyers are constantly looking for providers who have the most current knowledge. So, we have partnered with Engine Yard - a Ruby on Rails company to develop a new test for RoR version 2.3. The syllabus covers: Core RubyRuby ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/new-ruby-on-rails-test/ Five years ago if you wanted to built a Web application with five million hits a month it required serious planning. You had to pick a server maker, the software stack, a hosting company, and then optimize for load balancing and burst capacity. It was time-consuming and expensive. The world has ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/paas-cool-web-apps-engines/ There is a ton of good advice available about hiring online workteams, but I find that I’m often pressed for time and cannot do everything that one “could” do. At the same time, I never want to settle when it comes to hiring, especially when I’m looking to build a ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/hire-a-better-online-team-in-less-time-part-2/ There is a ton of good advice available about hiring online workteams, but I find that I'm often pressed for time and cannot do everything that one "could" do. At the same time, I never want to settle when it comes to hiring, especially when I'm looking to build ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/hire-a-better-online-team-in-less-time-part-1/ Wil Wheaton is a writer and actor who shares his stories through regular updates on his blog. I find his writing inspiring and valuable, so I've decided to share with you some lessons I've picked up from him that freelance writers (or freelancers in any field) may find useful. Let yourself ... http://www.odesk.com/blog/2009/08/writing-lessons-from-wil-wheaton/