Archive for the "Philosophy of freelancing" category

I’ve been holding back on you. There really is a secret to success on oDesk, your life, and anything else. Countless people have approached me and said, “I want to do what you’re doing. You seem to be having a ton of fun and making money at it.” So, I tell them about how freelance [...]

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 of my personal therapy in [...]

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 [...]

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.

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 relationship and it [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 with one obvious [...]

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 [...]