How oDesk Works for You

So, you’ve been itching to take your skills out to the market, and you’ve heard about this thing called “oDesk.” But what exactly is oDesk, how does it work, and how can it work for you? Read on, brave and daring freelancer, and see the beauty that is being connected to a world of people who are looking for skills just like yours.

Well, here’s the gist of it: there’s the buyer (which is them) and there’s the provider (that’s you). The buyer puts up a listing on oDesk for jobs that providers can apply for. That listing has a general job description, an estimate of the amount of time the job will take (or a budget amount if the job is a single task), skills necessary for the job, and other handy information. The provider then logs in, searches through these jobs, applies for them, and ultimately is either rejected or accepted. From that point, it’s up to the buyer and provider to communicate and get the job done.

The great thing about oDesk for providers is that you can work from home! Yes, it’s true, you can sit on your duff at home and make money at the same time. If you’re working hourly, your hours are logged through a program that you download (*nix friendly for those of you who are wondering), and through that program, the buyer can see what you’re doing through a series of lightweight screenshots uploaded every few minutes. All the while, little pieces of cash are flowing into your account on oDesk to later be retrieved. The amount is up to you. However, if you set your rates too high, no one will want to hire you unless you can justify that high cost.

So what skills can you sell on oDesk? Quite a few. Here’s a list of people who should be highly interested in checking it out.

• Artists
• Programmers
• Writers
• IT Specialists
• Administrative Support
• Web Developers
• And more

I’ve even seen a few jobs posted that said, “Hey! Teach me to do this or that.” If you know your stuff good enough, you can charge a pretty penny to tutor someone. If you want to learn some skills you can turn around and sell, become a buyer! If you have multiple skills (I knew right off you’re a regular Leonardo Da Vinci when I met you), then you can be working in two different fields at the same time! Just make sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew.

So in short, how does oDesk work for you, the provider? You work from home, work when you want, set your own rates, and have a worldwide network of jobs at your fingertips. Sound pretty cool? It is. Go check it out at www.odesk.com.