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It’s April, and while young men’s hearts are turning to love, freelancers turn to thoughts of taxes. Yes, taxes. I know, I know… griping about taxes is only slightly less common than moaning about traffic or the weather. In my opinion, all the complaining is unjustified.

Taxes are more than a payment made to run the government (admittedly rife with flaws) they’re a demonstration of success in your chosen profession. And paying your fair share of taxes is the only patriotic act available to most of us. Fly a flag if you like, but if you really want to support your country, pay up. As much as we might not like the government overall, it’s our government, the one most of us voted for and the one we have to live with. So, quit shirking your responsibility and join the rest of us who have been supporting your lazy butt.

Sorry, I was talking to my son for a minute there.

Please note, earlier I said, ‘fair share’. I am not advocating the IRS as a charity– whose motto would be “Give till it hurts.” Find and take all the deductions you are allowed. Just don’t play fast and loose with iffy credits you read in some blog. (More on deductions later.)

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Well, there it is. The referral ad. Click it and then sign up for oDesk and I get credit. Earn (or purchase) a thousand dollars and I get fifty. Rank commercialism.

If you haven’t looked into this, the code and referral form can be reached after signing in to oDesk. Go to: My oDesk–> My Stuff –> Referrals.

I’m anti-sales. The whole idea of talking someone into something strikes me as disingenuous and shady. I couldn’t sell you a band-aid if you were bleeding. I could give you a band-aid, sure, but selling it (or anything) is distasteful to me. Thankfully, referring someone to oDesk doesn’t seem the same. I suppose it’s because for me to make any money, they have to make money first.

Sure, oDesk is going to make money from users- both buyers and sellers.

Sure, I might eventually get a cut if I sign someone up.

Sure, it’s selling of a sort.

But I’m not allergic to it. Because I’m so enthusiastic about oDesk and freelancing in general, and because I don’t rely on making any commission, it’s more like recommending a good restaurant than selling a product or service. I do more selling in an average cover letter than I do when inviting a writer or programmer to oDesk.
How does it happen?
Well, I meet a fair number of people. The “What do you do?” question comes up. When you tell people you freelance, there’s an interest. I think it has to do with the supposition that freelancing is an edgy way to make a living. Freelancing sings songs of freedom and excitement– the master of your own ship in a wild sea of thrilling employment opportunities.

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I’ve been writing this series on bulk articles because there seems to be a demand for them. Buyers who want to create a ‘wordy’ site need them and they pay by the pound.

“I need someone to write 20 articles on dog grooming”

OK. So you knuckle down and write five or six a day until you are done. Finally. And you are sick of dog shampoos, nail clipping techniques, and all things having to do with dog hygiene.

Now what? Well, aside from collecting your money for this job, you ought to save your work for cover letters and resale.

First, lets dispense with the legal and ethical issues. When you sell an article to a buyer on oDesk, you are usually selling all rights. Legally, it is considered a ‘work for hire’ and you don’t retain even the right to reuse it in your profile. Unless you ask and get permission to do this. You should ask.

A special note though- If you don’t get paid for some reason, you retain all the rights. Sometimes that is the only silver lining if you get burned on a fixed-price no pay.

What isn’t copyrighted and what you can reuse and resell is the idea the article embodies. After I write this post about reselling articles, I can rewrite it and resell it as long as the expressions I use aren’t straight plagiarism.

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Welcome to the third part of the Freelancer’s Toolbox. Today we’re going to discuss your workspace, the place you sit in your pajamas and do the things that bring you money.

Remember, earning money is a good thing, and how you set up your workspace can have a major effect on how productive you are. If your workspace is set up well, you’ll be more efficient and thus more successful on hourly projects, and much more successful on fixed price jobs. Fixed price jobs are where having a poor workspace can ruin your day.

Every time you bid on a fixed price contract you should be bidding based on the formula of how many hours the job will take multiplied by your desired hourly rate. That tells you how much the job’s worth to you. The faster you can finish the job, the better your hourly rate, and the better the job works out for you. Unfortunately, if you have a poorly set up workspace it may take a few extra hours to get the job done, and there goes your profit margin.

So, let’s take a look at some of the things that make a good and bad workspace:

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Free! Improved! Must Have!
I love hype. But the following three tools and techniques actually meet those expectations. You already own these tools, you just have to put them to use.
Creative Find and Replace
You might already use the ‘regular’ find and replace. In MS Word, it’s in the <edit> menu …

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As a buyer on oDesk, one of the features I see abused most often is the “Job Message Board.” oDesk provides the Job Message Board alongside each job description, and it’s a handy tool, but misuse of it causes many providers to be rejected.

Some of the providers are spammers, so it’s no surprise they don’t make the cut (I’ve received the exact same message of the Job Message Boards for three separate–and completely different–job I’ve posted). But many providers are what I think of as “inadvertent offenders”–freelancers who aren’t experienced enough with oDesk to know that they’re messing up.

For the second group, here is a quick overview of the Job Message Board. I think it will be most helpful to start with what not to do.

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Last time around, I talked about computer hardware, and what you need to be a successful freelancer. Today I want to talk about software. Wonderful stuff, software; it’s what really gives your computer the ability to do all those creative things we all do with them all day. Without software your computer’s just going to sit there like a lump and use up electricity. Sure, it will help heat the house, but it’s an expensive and inefficient substitute for a space heater.

So, it’s decided, you need software.

But what software do you need? That’s the real question. Now, I’m a writer, so I’m going to focus on writing software. It’s what I use to earn my living so it’s what I’m most familiar with. Even so, the same basic rules apply to freelancing whatever your field, so at least some of this can be extrapolated.

So hold your nose ’cause we’re jumping feet first into the deep end.

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Now that you know a little about me and where I’m coming from, I’d like to talk a little about getting set up for a successful freelancing and sub-contracting career. In his post last week, Nelson gave a great explanation of how oDesk works. Now that you know how it works, I’d like to discuss tools of the trade.
The Freelancer’s Toolbox:
There are three main elements in your toolbox, and the good news is that if you’re reading this you either have them all, or can get them. In this post I want to focus on your computer, we’ll move on to software and your work space later on in the series.
Computer Hardware:
It’s easy enough to walk into a store and get a computer, the problem is that not all computers are created equal. Go into any store from Wal*Mart to Best Buy and you’ll see them lined up from one end to the other, each with a little card or sticker listing its specifications. So far so good, but which specifications are most important?

Probably not the ones you think: Yes things like processor speed, memory, video card, and hard drive space are important, but when you look at a computer as part of your toolbox, other things come to the fore.

When it comes to working as a freelancer, especially a freelance writer, the three most important things are your monitor, your keyboard and your mouse.

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