Monday, December 4, 2006

The perfect freelance worker

As we had been buyers on some of the freelance sites, we know and had some basic expectations of how a freelance developer will get evaluated.

-The Profile in the Freelance programming Sites should be very clear and good. The skill sets should be included only if one is really good at. Writing all the technologies in the world never means that we can win projects.
-There should be a niche area for the provider. Both in technology and domain wise. Quoting good examples of the previous work in the Freelance programming areas or some others will convince the buyer easily.
-The bids should never be very very cheap. It has to be a reasonable amount, worth paying for the work. Of course it can be adjusted in reference with market rates. It should also be at a very high levels as the buyer will never care to look at the bid, if it is high.
-Asking for any clarifications will prove the depth of understanding of the provider. But too many questions may scare away the buyer. Buyer will be happy to answer informed questions which are directed to him after the provider understands the requirements properly.
-It is better to be prompt with the replies. Making the buyer wait for longer times will have a possibility of losing the bid.
-Being honest is one of the most important things. The buyer or seller do not see each other. This sometimes is an advantages but at times may prove to be a big problem with communications. So being honest and prompt communication is very important.
-Every time during the discussion Provider should follow the basic etiquettes of email exchanges. Avoiding spelling and grammatical mistakes increases the confidence on the Provider.
-If the provider has a good past rating, showing it as a reference to the buyer will be a great plus.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

How to win your freelance projects

How to win your freelance projects

1. You should present your abilities very well, expose your supremacy in other aspects of cooperation with potential client. Not all the clients are making their selection looking on the price factor only. There are many who are willing to pay more, if they get the professional results in return.

2. What can you use to win? These are the key factors:
-quality of the work
-doing the work on time
-communication
Freelancers from developing countries make the common mistake of relaying on the financial aspect of their offer exclusively. This is a very common mistake. Sometimes the quality offered is on the low level, also the timing fails – and for many webmasters working on the “web market” it is time that matters most.

But the real problem can be the communication – poor knowledge of English language, ignoring the grammar or even too informal attitude can make potential client decide to discard your offer. Sometimes the misunderstanding can go further and the project description may be understood improperly, which results (if a client is a very strict one) in a negative rating given to a provider.

All these mistakes made by other freelancers you have to use for your advantage – then, even despite the significant difference in price, you have a good chance of winning the auction, leaving the competitors behind.

The strongest weapon in a fight for a client can be the DEMO.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Common freelance payment options

Money transfer and withdrawal
If you are a freelancer, you can get your money from freelance job sites by PayPal, cheque , wire transfer (the fee for it can be quite high), sometimes Western Union (their fees are very high), Moneybookers or e-gold.