oDesk July Newsletter: Finding the Right Buyer

New Features

Message Center Hits Beta

Launched in beta this month, the Message Center is an email-like interface for messages from oDesk or oDesk users within the system. It divides messages into three tabs: Account Alerts, for messages with financial implications (hire and payment confirmations, etc.); Updates (non-financial system messages); and Tickets (communications with the support team).

Read more, check it out, and let us know in the forum how you like it!

Rearranging Your Stuff

It's not a new feature, but you may notice that "My Stuff" has disappeared. We've put "My Favorite Providers" into the "Find Providers" tab, and "My Referrals" into "Billing & Payments." We think this is more intuitive, and hope you don't mind!

Support for IE 6 Soon To Be Discontinued

We're planning to discontinue support of Internet Explorer 6 in September. At that time, visitors using IE 6 will get a welcome screen telling them they need to download a latest-generation browser such as IE 7 or Firefox 3. Internet Explorer 6 was replaced almost two years ago, and only a fraction of our visitors use it. Continuing to support it prevents us from taking advantages of the latest technologies to make your user experience better and more secure.

If you are using IE 7, Firefox 2 or higher, or Safari, no problem. If you're using IE 6 (check the 'Help' menu and select 'About Internet Explorer'), please take the time to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, or better yet, Firefox 3. Trust us--your experience will be better all over the web, not just on oDesk!

Round of Applause

650 providers from 54 countries, including Egypt, Serbia, United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Australia, and Nepal got their first jobs last month! These 650 providers have already racked up 25,176 oDesk hours and over $263,718 in just one month!

Congrats to these providers who landed their first jobs in June and July!

A special round of applause to the top new providers by total earnings:

Svetlana T, Jody L, Alexandr T, Vishal S, Trevor H, Jess G, Greg P, Ezhil M, Yasir Q, Yuriy K

Want to see your name listed here next month? Apply to job openings.

The oDesk Perspective

You've mastered the basics: You've maximized your provider profile by listing your skills, posting a portrait, taking all the relevant skills tests, and filling your portfolio with your finest work. You're applying for jobs, but maybe you're spending more time applying than you are interviewing. Maybe you'd like to lower the ratio between jobs you apply for and jobs you get. Maybe you'd like to minimize the occasional bad relationship--the buyer who changes terms, makes unreasonable demands, turns out to have no communications skills whatsoever. Job postings on oDesk aren't like a newspaper classified or on some sketchy job board--there's a lot more data that can help you spot serious buyers, figure out where to focus your resources, and to enjoy the work that you get.

What is the job? Carefully read the job description and what's between the lines: is it well thought out and thorough? Do I believe that the buyer is a good communicator? Will she clearly outline tasks? Does the buyer come across as professional and will not "leave me hanging"? Is the job in an industry that is rife with fraud (e.g. porn or gambling?). If it's in such an industry, can I find the company name and website?

Who are those people? Scope out the competition--who has already applied? If the buyer has been initiating contacts, those providers may have the inside track. Either way, check out the skills, feedback and pay rate of your competition. If you don't think your profile stands comfortably against those who have already applied, you might prioritize responding to postings where you'll be better positioned.

Who gets the job? On past listings with multiple candidates, did the buyer go with the cheapest or the most qualified? For the new listing, which of those would you be?

Amount agreed vs. amount paid: If the buyer routinely pays out more than the up-front estimate, this may mean she pays bonuses or raises. It may also mean she routinely fails to understand the complexity of a project. If you're already tight on time, you'll definitely want to determine which it is during the interview.

Timing: When a past job was estimated to take a week, but the hired provider took a month, that might have been the provider's fault. If you notice this consistently across this buyer's back listings, it's probably the fault of an overtaxed or under-communicative buyer. This doesn't mean you don't want the job; just know what kind of situation you're likely to face.

Applying to every job within your skill range becomes a job in itself. The amount of time you spend looking for work is overhead--it's a resource going out, rather than money coming in. Using oDesk's transparency can help you spend less time applying and more time earning money.

Success Stories

User Interviews: Tarun Verma & Sun Softwares

India's Sun Softwares does graphic design and web development. It started with one person in 2003 and now employs 20. Owner and CEO Tarun Verma credits a lot of that growth to oDesk. Sun signed up as an oDesk provider in July 2006, but Verma says his company didn't start using oDesk effectively until the following January. Today, about 60 percent of Sun Softwares' work comes via oDesk buyers. While Verma is very enthusiastic about the oDesk marketplace, he hasn't forgotten that it took time to get up to speed. "We would like to say to all newcomers that oDesk is probably the best marketplace online, but one needs patience, and to keep on applying for jobs."

Q: How important is it to really target which kinds of job posts you respond to?
A: Its very important to take up the jobs that we can do, because if we took something which we are not knowledgeable in, then there would be high chances that we could fizzle out and get bad ratings and comments from buyers. This would have an impact on the profile and in taking up future projects. So we must take the projects that we are very confident of executing in time and with high quality standards, in order to ensure that the profile gets good ratings and good comments from happy customers.

Q: When you interview with a first-time client, how do you make sure you're understanding the project requirements and the client's needs?
A: We try to get detailed specifications from the buyer, URLs of example websites, wire diagrams of screens, expected time for completion, expected budget. If the client does not provide the complete details, then we build a prototype to make sure we are trying to do what client wants. It's very important to get the complete picture that is in a customer's mind to make sure the project gets to completion in time.

Q: What tips would you offer a new provider?
A: I would say to lay out the profile well--do not ignore any part of the profile ... take tests. Apply for jobs which you are confident in executing to completion. Have patience, as it may take some time to take the first job. Many providers give up the very first time when they don’t get a response. So don’t give up, and keep on applying.

If you get the job, execute it well. Maintain consistent communication through Yahoo IM, Skype, MSN, AIM and/or Google Talk. Never let the job get loose, meaning keep in constant touch with the buyer. Tell him in advance about any leaves or absenteeism. Try to make sure your client never asks you for a status report--rather, you provide the status regularly to him.

Once the job is finished, ask for a good rating and good comments, as they are very important for further jobs. Update your profile on a regular basis. For the full interview, click here.

Provider Spotlight

Get to know these highly rated oDesk providers:

	Yazmeen I Web Content Management, Data Entry, Researcher, Online Advertising Total oDesk Hours: 428 Feedback: 4.1 Comments: "Yazmeen did a fine job completing our task...She was very diligent and willing to learn new processes."
	Galgodage L ASP.NET C# Web application Designer- DotNetNuke Expert Total oDesk Hours: 739 Feedback: 4.6 Comments: "Lakmal is an up and coming DotNetNuke Developer looking forward to seeing great things in the future."
	Marina B PHP/MySQL Developer Provider Company: SOFTREACTOR LLC Total oDesk Hours: 536 Feedback: 5.0 Comments: "Marina is an excellent developer, we look forward to working with her again on future projects."
	Vincent T Web Design and Development & Search Engine Marketer (SEO/SEM) Total oDesk Hours: 0 Feedback: 5 Comments: "He communicated regularly with me and made SURE that I was 110% satisfied with the website design. He was creative and accepted constructive comments in a positive manner."

oDesk Community Spotlight

Buzzworthy

As always, we're paying close attention to the online buzz about oDesk. In the past few weeks, we've seen quite a few bloggers talk about their experience with oDesk and recommend it to others. We always appreciate it, and for our favorite posts of the month we show that appreciation with T-shirts. Thank you Greg W (blog), Pothi K (blog), and Ashwin I (blog)!

The post we enjoyed most this month was from Vikki Pusong, a recent arrival to oDesk who does technical writing and blogging from the Philippines. In the blog that she devotes to tips and talk about freelancing, she gives an enthusiastic discussion of the values of oDesk, highlighting payment flexibility and reliability--and even generates a comment thread in which one of her very satisfied buyers drops by!

If you'd like a free oDesk T-shirt, just send us a link to your most recent post or posts about oDesk to buzz@odesk.com. We give out up to five shirts a month, and we always mention our favorite post here, which is a pretty good way to put yourself in front of the oDesk community.

Beware of Phishing

It has come to our attention that there have been some attempts to phish for users' account information and passwords. We'd like to remind you not to give your username or password to anyone. oDesk staff will never ask for your password. If you believe you've received or fallen victim to a phishing attempt, please report it.

Vote Result

Score: 0.0, Votes: 0