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I haven’t posted here in a while. A long while. There’s one reason why: I went into full shutdown from freelance writer burn-out. I couldn’t even log into oDesk without getting a sick feeling in my stomach. The danger of destroying yourself from overworking is very real, and as part …

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I was on the oDesk forums recently and came across a comment from a new provider who was worried by the ratio of working to registered providers.

She couldn’t find the page, which was probably the main oConomy page here which currently shows 248 providers working and 95,545 registered int the system.  I admit that those numbers weren’t calculated to put a new provider in her happy place, but they don’t tell the whole story either.

It isn’t showing how many providers on the network have jobs, but how many people were actively logging time on the oDesk client at the time the numbers were generated.   Given that oDesk is a 24 hour global marketplace those numbers will fluctuate throughout the day and really aren’t anything to worry about.  They certainly don’t reflect the number of providers who are currently employed.  (I expect they’re short by at least one or two orders of magnitude).

Now let’s look at some other numbers from the same page.  There are almost 100,000 providers, and together they’ve earned just under 40 million dollars, which works out to an average of almost U$400/per provider to date.   Since not every provider on oDesk has worked, and that some profiles are so incomplete that the providers are never going to work, the numbers have nowhere to go but up.
When it comes to getting a job, none of those numbers matter.

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This is just a quick post to mention something I saw recently online that I didn’t like.

I was on another site and someone was hiring members to take and pass the oDesk Readiness Test for them.  Don’t do it.

Just don’t.

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Job sites need to make money too.

oDesk wouldn’t exist if it didn’t make money, and neither would its competitors.  The business model is simple, connect buyers and providers and take a cut off the top.  There’s more to it, but that’s fundamentally how they all work.

It’s much like an agency …

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Today’s guest post is by Nick Usborne of AskNickUsborne.com, originally part of his excellent newsletter and shared here with permission. Nick coaches freelance writers, and you’ll see that the article focuses on writing, but I think you’ll find it equally valuable regardless of your particular expertise. After all, every one of us needs to set ourselves apart to succeed at freelancing.

I often receive questions from freelance copywriters asking me to help them find the “right niche”.

That’s a reasonable request.

Finding the right niche for your freelance copywriting or writing business will help bring some focus to your marketing, and will help your prospects identify you as an expert in that area.

For instance, if you choose to become a specialist in the insurance industry, prospective clients within that industry will be reassured that you know their business and speak their language.

However, there are more ways to “niche” yourself than simply by choosing a particular industry or industry sector as your area of specialty.

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In my last few posts I’ve been focusing on how you can make money on oDesk.  However, as I read the oDesk community I’m coming more and more to the conclusion that not all the providers really understand how oDesk works.

Let’s start with what I consider the three most important factors:
oDesk is a free market
oDesk costs money to run
oDesk only makes money when providers make money.
Understanding those three points is vital if you want to understand how oDesk works.  Yes the oDesk Readiness Test is important, as is knowing how to work the oDesk Team, but there’s nothing really all that hard about either.

So, join me on the other side of the fold and we’ll discuss our three factors:

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When I’m not writing (or I’m avoiding work in general) I like to read about writing. So I haunt a few news groups and forums. A few days ago I ran across an interesting thread in CopyWriter Mastermind.
What they say about us.
The thread started with someone who wanted to sell writing services to Marketing Directors. Marketing Directors, or MDs, are huge users of writing services and in the off line freelance world MDs are high grade targets. What caught my interest was the responses and advice from former MDs. Especially the gripes about freelance writers. Here’s the list:

Freelancers who focus on money and contracts over a working relationship. “Don’t talk money before we even get the details hashed out. I want to be convinced you are the right person for the job before I have to think about the mechanics. I know you have to get paid, you seem like an amateur if you jump into contracts and payment too soon.”
Freelancers who aren’t committed. “I managed my local staff, my cross country staff and my overseas staff. If one dropped the ball, I had recourse by going over their head or impacting their salary review. I could manage their behavior because we were on the same team.
If my freelancer dropped the ball, I had no recourse. Sure, I could deny payment but I still looked bad to my bosses. Since most of them didn’t seem to care if I ever hired them again, I had little power to get the work done…well.”
Freelancers who lie. “Maybe they need the work, and that’s why they lie. They tell you they have skill X or Y and it’s plain, after you get started, that they just don’t. Samples are a good start, but there’s no substitute for having something done for me directly. And too often, for whatever reason, they just can’t produce what they claimed. Along with this comes the excuses. Unlike ‘real’ employees, freelancers seem to feel they can just stop work or do a poor job if they have any sort of personal or equipment problem- it’s a disease.”
The Prima Donna Syndrome. “I write, and I hire writers. I have to- there is plenty of work; more than enough. But some writers think they are the be-all and end-all of writing. As if I couldn’t hire another two or three whenever I wanted. I’ve got lots of things in the works, I don’t have the time to deal with wannabe Stephen Kings (if you are Stephen King, I’m not hiring you anyhow). Bottom line: You work for me. So work.”
Whiny, needy freelancers. “Pretty much the same as above, but presents as: ‘The job is too hard. I don’t have the resources or the time.’ These folks have an endless series of complaints and excuses. And if I have a criticism, don’t take it personally. I can’t stand it when freelancers don’t listen, when they get piqued because I need a change. I’m not out to offend, I just want the final product to meet my expectations and my vision.”

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I bet that title got your attention; I know it would get mine.

I’ve been writing about money a lot lately, and not just because it’s one of my favorite things.   Today’s topic is a grab-bag of tips that can help you make more money for your work on oDesk.

Let’s start …

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By polishing your image, I don’t mean cleaning the mirror so you can see yourself better in it.

I mean you should always try to make yourself look more appealing to buyers. Don’t make it seem like you are better than you really are, though. The key is to actually make yourself better and allow that improvement to show through when you’re interacting with people and working with them.

People in the States are especially bad about this. People of the younger generations are even worse about it. There’s this nasty misconception that people should like you for who you are. That you’re unique, special, and anyone who doesn’t appreciate you is just jealous.
Your Mother Was Lying to You
If you’re a blithering idiot with absolutely no ability in your chosen field, people won’t like you. You’re not special, you’re hardly unique, and the reason people don’t appreciate you is because you’re rubbing them the wrong way in ways you can’t even imagine.

The good news is that you can change that. It won’t be easy, but you should do it.

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I am usually a very busy person. When I’m not working on fiction or projects for clients, I’m usually fending off supermodels with a stick. They say, “Oh, Nelson! How do you balance being a genius with maintaining that Olympian physique of yours? Is it a genetic predisposition to greatness, or do you put forth an effort?” My usual response is to shake the ice in my empty glass in the international sign of “less talk, more refill.”

Truth be told, it’s a little from column A, a little from B. Seriousness aside, I want to discuss one of the most neglected topics in the Freelancing World. Your butt (I said what, what?). If you’ve been at this a while, it’s probably getting bigger. For some, a lot bigger. As I said, I’m very busy, but there is always time to improve your health no matter how busy you are. Read the rest to see how you can improve your fitness quickly and make massive gains for both your health and your career.

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