Crafting A Great oDesk Portfolio

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The portfolio on your oDesk profile is an extremely important tool. It is a great way of letting prospective clients find out about the work that you have already completed. While the last post detailed setting your hourly rate, this post focuses on designing an effective portfolio that helps you land some customers. Here I review and attempt to answer a few common queries related to oDesk portfolios.

1) Size: This is extremely important! It is also one of the most commonly asked questions. So, what is the ideal number of samples in an oDesk portfolio? Well, frankly, there is no straightforward answer, but most oDesk employers reveal that they find 11 samples in a portfolio to be perfect. A very common mistake that I have seen some freelancers make is to put up tons of samples. Their philosophy seems to be: if you got it, flaunt it! I'm sorry, but this is a terrible philosophy when it comes to an online portfolio. No employer has the time to thumb through hundreds of samples. Any employer would simply not consider looking at a portfolio chock full of samples. Remember, there is a dearth of employers on oDesk, not freelancers. To maintain a competitive advantage, a good portfolio is essential.

2) Diversity: This is another common tripping point for most freelancers. Sure, you're a content writer for websites, but that does not mean that you upload 10 samples of the same type of content you wrote for different companies. A great idea would be to throw in an interesting mix of a large number of different types of writing done for different clients. A well - crafted, diverse portfolio helps your client see that you can adapt to different kinds of writing styles and create custom content that would be great for him or her. Also, in a diverse portfolio, chances are that the person ends up finding a sample similar to the work you have done. This gives you a HUGE advantage over your competition.

Here is an odesk portfolio sample which is very diverse with image thumbnails. Note how the thumbnails add to the beauty of the portfolio. It's a portfolio a client would want to click on.

3) Image Thumbnails: Many freelancers have absolutely brilliant portfolios, but come up short in the attractiveness of a portfolio. A portfolio must make the client WANT to click on it. Then, and only then, is it truly effective. A client should get an idea of what you could do for him or her. In the end, this is what will entice your client to pick you from among the many options. Adding an image thumbnail is easy, quick and very rewarding. Make it a point to take two minutes to upload them. It is time well spent.

4)  Project Description: Yes, you need to write a project description and NO, YOU CAN'T COPY THE JOB POSTING! A good oDesk portfolio project description is one that is concise, sharp and gets the point across. It should succinctly describe what the project was about and your role in it. Finally, it should tell what value your service added to the project, i.e. whether the goal was achieved or not. 

Example: 

I was a regular writer for a busy nursing website.

I was in charge of coming up with topics, performing keyword research and writing SEO articles.

Traffic to the site increased by 500% once the blog went up!

Here, the author clearly outlines the job in the first sentence, his role in the second and the value he added in the third. Short, crisp, clear and beautiful.

5) Skills Used: Many freelancers leave this section blank. This is a HUGE MISTAKE! This section of the portfolio is a great place to add some more tags and break the typical 10 tag limit imposed by oDesk on you. However, it is important to place only relevant tags. This helps clients searching for freelancers find you on oDesk. Like Google uses keywords, oDesk uses tags.

6) Website Link: Again, many freelancers choose to leave this blank. This is never a good idea. Sure, you may have uploaded a document containing the article you wrote/work you did, but visiting the website makes the client feel at ease. It helps a client realize that the work you claim to have done is real and not made up. Many clients are more amenable to visiting a website than downloading a document.

7) Update: While adding new samples just to fatten your portfolio is not a good idea, it is extremely important to keep updating your portfolio. You have to do this in a smart way. The very first portfolio you make is bound to be a little less impressive. However, it leads to more impressive jobs. Replace your less impressive jobs with these more impressive ones. Keep doing this regularly. It will help you develop a great portfolio. Also, clients like to see new work in a portfolio. It always makes a great impression if a blog post you listed in your portfolio is still generating fresh comments and initiating a high quality of discussions.

Keep these points in mind when designing your portfolio and you're sure to start getting interview calls for some good, well - paying jobs. Two days after I reorganized my portfolio, I got three interview calls, two of whom had personally seen my portfolio and used that as the sole basis for considering me.

Keep reading the series on working successfully on oDesk. I will be blogging more about finding a great client. Stay connected to find out more, I would be more than happy to field any and all queries, just post a comment. Also, take a minute to join the Freelance Writer's Club. It's a great way to get periodic mails about new posts, useful resources and also, the occasional writing gig! 

Setting Your Hourly Rate On oDesk

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So now, after my last post, you've settled on a useful title for your oDesk profile and managed to write a good overview. The next hurdle you face is a fair hourly rate. This is one of the most challenging aspects of your profile. It takes a lot of thinking to come up with an appropriate hourly rate. You are bound to worry about it being too high or too low. 

A major worry expressed by most users is that they will be unable to compete with the profile of the Philippines based freelancer with an hourly rate of 5$.  While an understandable concern, it is one you should put out of your mind! You need to understand that the clients who hire freelancers willing to work for such low prices are unlikely to have a very high quality of requirements. These are not the clients you want to go after anyway, so don't worry. 

First off, there is simply no industry standard to determine how much you're worth. I know, this most definitely sucks, but, it is an unfortunate fact that you need to make peace with. However, this does not mean that you have to set an arbitrary rate. You need to consider a variety of things when you do choose to set your rate. One of the most important things is your skill level. This is even more important when you start out. If you want to work as a writer on oDesk and hold a college degree in creative writing, you are a league ahead of all your competitors. Your rate automatically goes up!

If you do not have a college degree in the field you want to freelance in, don't despair. That is the beauty of freelancing, even a person with absolutely zero certifications can end up earning more that a person with a PhD. But, you need to be practical. If you don't have a college degree in the field and are brand new to the website, with no real portfolio, you cannot charge a 100$ an hour!  No one will hire you. What you can do, is  start at a lower rate and work your way up. This way as you build up your experience, you get great portfolio samples, good ratings and can start commanding a higher rate.

One more thing that is extremely important in deciding your rate is your work experience as an industry professional in that field. While not everyone will have such experience to back them up, those that do, can easily use it to command higher rates.  An experience in the industry signifies that you are good at what you do, and most importantly, are familiar with the corporate atmosphere. Considering the fact that a majority of clients who hire on oDesk are themselves either small companies or employees of large corporations, this really adds to your value. 

One thing that many freelancers overlook is their location. If you are located in a native English speaking country like the USA, Canada, UK or Australia, you can automatically charge a higher hourly rate. This is one of the key features that gives you the edge over your lower priced Filipino counterpart. oDesk is a global marketplace and English is its lingua franca. Being a native English speaker is a skill unto itself. Use it!

In the end, keep updating your hourly rate as you gain more skills and experience. This is key to maintaining a fair competitive rate. If you're worried about repeat clients not hiring you, don't be - if they're happy enough with your work to want to rehire you, they won't have a problem paying a few dollars more to work with you. Always remember, don't sell yourself short, but at the same time, don't overcharge. 

Keep reading the series on working successfully on oDesk. I will be blogging more about setting up a portfolio. Stay connected to find out more, I would be more than happy to field any and all queries, just post a comment. Also, take a minute to join the Freelance Writer's Club. It's a great way to get periodic mails about new posts, useful resources and also, the occasional writing gig! 

Making The Perfect oDesk Profile

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Now that you've read my last post and understood the major problems persisting on oDesk, we can work towards solving them. Well not in the literal sense, but we can definitely work towards alleviating their ill effect - you not landing a good job. The very first thing that you must do to ensure you get a good job is make a killer profile! This is absolutely necessary. On oDesk, when applying to a job, you don't actually send over a resume to your client when applying. All he sees is your profile. If your profile is not strong, you are at a huge loss. Also, when clients search for candidates to employ, they only glance through the profile. If your profile stands out, and in a good way, you are bound to get more than a few interview offers.

The first and foremost thing with regards to your profile is the title. It is also one of the most difficult to write correctly. For this, you need to think for a while. Choose the few words that best describe the services you provide. Do not overload this area with a ton of things. Remember, you don't want to appear like a jack of all trades, master of none. It is much better to clearly advertise what you are best at. Sure, there maybe allied services along with your primary skill that you might be great at, but this is not the place for them. I have actually come across the title below: 

SENIOR DEVELOPER heaving following skills:

PSD->WordPress/Shopify/Magento Developer.


PHP/HTML/CSS/JQuery/Javascript , My main Weapons in which i work :)

This is copied verbatim. Aside from the blunders in English, you know what's really wrong about this title? Well, everything! It's not a title at all. The freelancer could have written the same thing in the overview. That would have been the perfect place for it. When you write a title, it must be very clear and very, very concise. Effective titles like Content Writer, Blog Manager, etc., are great. On the other hand, adding experienced or senior to your title does not add to it, in fact, in my personal opinion, it only detracts from your title's overall quality.

If you do want to stress that you are that good, add something like Top 10% on oDesk, Top 1% on oDesk, but HAVE THE TESTS TO BACK IT UP! If you do not do that, then saying so is very bad practice. In fact, it is sure to reduce your chances of getting hired. Also, it is good practice to include the exact tests in which you are in the top 10% in your overview. Sure, your clients can always see the tests themselves, but they would really prefer to not have to make the extra effort. Everybody is happier having to do lesser work.

Apart from the title, another major part of your application is the overview. Writing the overview effectively is of the utmost importance. While the title convinces the client to open your profile, the overview sells you to the client. A good overview equals an interview, and hopefully, a job. When you write your overview, remember that it is an overview and not your entire biography. Keep it short, to the point and flaunt your qualifications and achievements. When I say flaunt your achievements, I don't mean literally flaunt everything, if you rescued a cat, good for you, NO ONE ON oDESK WANTS TO KNOW! The reason I stress this so is because I have actually come across such a description! Keep it relevant, short, sweet and simple. The employer has to got through hundreds of profiles. If yours takes him an hour to read, he is simply going to move on.

Keep reading the series on working successfully on oDesk. I will be blogging more about setting your pay and designing a portfolio. Stay connected to find out more, I would be more than happy to field any and all queries, just post a comment. Also, take a minute to join the Freelance Writer's Club. It's a great way to get periodic mails about new posts, useful resources and also, the occasional writing gig! 

The Problems With Working On oDesk

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In my last post in this series, I discussed whether you, as a freelancer should work on oDesk or not. You might have left the site feeling a little unsure. While I did not chastise oDesk, I suggested not using it as a measure of your success or potential as a freelancer. Of course, you may have realized this by now, but for the benefit of those who haven't oDesk is a freelancer marketplace where an employer posts a job and freelancers bid the lowest amount of money they are willing to do it for! And believe me, people are willing to do jobs for unbelievably small amounts of money. But, more on this later, for now, all you need to know is that you must not let oDesk define you as a freelancer. Below, I will share some problems with the oDesk system that I have encountered.

1) Fair Price: On oDesk, it simply does not exist! oDesk is highly competitive and unfortunately, there are a ton of remote workers, especially in the Philippines willing to do large amounts of work for dismal sums of money! And by dismal, I mean very dismal. I have come across contracts where the freelancer is employed at 0.33$ an hour, yup, you read that right, 0.33$ an hour. I think what makes it worse is that the freelancer has worked on the contract for over 1,300 hours and is perfectly happy about it. You can't compete with prices like that, you simply can't. If you are considering it, maybe you should consider another career! 

You can't blame the Philippine people for taking such low paying jobs. In their own currency, it translates to a lot of money. Why would they refuse a high paying job. I happened to speak to a fellow freelancer from the Philippines and he told me he worked on an extremely difficult job for 8 hours a week and at just 2$ an hour. But, he was happy, he could afford to send his children to a good school and was in fact, among the richest in his community. You can't really fault a person for taking a job then. Unfortunately, it also brings down the overall price of the market. Why will an employer hire you at 20$ an hour if he is getting the same services at 2$ an hour?

2) Job Security: Again, this is an area where oDesk is severely lacking. Your employer has ultimate power. He can end your contract at anytime he wishes, without so much as a word. You are completely helpless in such an event. Sure, you can contact oDesk and launch a help ticket and go through all the motions, but invariably, a client will simply state that he or she was dissatisfied with the quality of your work and so chose to end your contract.

Eventually, oDesk will rule in favor of the client. After all, it is the client who hires people on oDesk and pays them. This generates revenue for oDesk in terms of a commission. However, one thing to note here is that this is true for all freelance situations, even those outside of oDesk. In a way, oDesk provides you an extra layer of security by at least providing a method of dispute resolution.

3) Job Frequency:  This is a real kicker. On oDesk, jobs are very hard to come by, at least initially. This is due to a number of factors. First, when one is new, they rarely have a good idea about writing a great application letter for oDesk. There is a lot of difference between writing a normal cover letter and a cover letter on oDesk. Ironically, it is cover letter writers who seem to have the highest unemployment rates!

Then, there is the very important issue of price. Once you have read point one, this is pretty self explanatory, but basically I mean that it is unlikely that you would be able to compete with the ridiculously low prices that people bid. 

4) oDesk Fees:  This is not so much a problem as an annoyance. Frankly, to many a 10% commission on every transaction does seem a bit steep. Why should one pay 10% of their earnings to oDesk? They didn't do anything, did they? Think again. oDesk maintains a website which stores tons of data, (I'm guessing it must be in the Terabytes range) and most importantly, oDesk gets you in touch with employers and allows you to work. It provides a way of tracking time and a lot more. Thus, it needs to make money somehow. This probably is the best way to do.

Thus, personally, I do not find this a problem. It has been included in the article primarily due to the large amount of feedback against it!

Keep reading the series on working successfully on oDesk. I will be blogging more about some alternatives to oDesk. Stay connected to find out more, I would be more than happy to field any and all queries, just post a comment. Also, take a minute to join the Freelance Writer's Club. It's a great way to get periodic mails about new posts, useful resources and also, the occasional writing gig! 

Should I Work On oDesk?

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So, like the multitude of freelancers out there, you too got swept away by the brilliant oDesk ads and decided to sign up? Of course you did, those ads are after all really perfect! Now that you have signed up, you are no doubt dreaming about how successful you will be, how you'll gain complete economic independence, maybe even become richer than all your friends (face it, that's the human condition, we have all at some point or the other, dreamt about this ;) ), and most importantly, show them all! By all, I refer to the many naysayers you are bound to encounter along your way, all the people who still work at the office you so courageously, and smartly, decided to leave. 

There is just one problem, nobody is hiring you! You have beefed up your oDesk application letter, applied to the best jobs and are patiently waiting. To your extreme alacrity, the list of applicants keeps growing and eventually there are a few interviews and a few hires and a few days later (if you are lucky ), you get a notice saying that your application to the job was denied or has ended. Needless to say, this is supremely disappointing.

Don't be dejected so soon, rejection is always hard to take, but as you'll soon learn, freelancing is like figure skating - it simply isn't as easy as people make it out to be! Stay positive and don't give up. It is too soon to go back to your old office with your tail tucked between your legs. Sure, you may think that if you fall at the feet of your boss, yes the same one you so arrogantly sneered at, the same one to whom you confidently said something along the lines "I'll see you around, nice working with you, NOT", will be all but too happy to take you back! If these thoughts are indeed creeping into your mind, as they have crept into the minds of nearly every freelancer at one point of time or another, ask yourself this: Am I ready to hear "I told you so" a million times over? 

If you are anything like me, (and I am guessing you are, otherwise what would you be doing here) you would have vehemently answered no to that question.  Maybe, of it's own accord, your head started moving in the negative too! Remember this and get motivated to try again. The fact is that oDesk is a very, very difficult market to break into. I'm NOT saying that you should not work on oDesk (I make a major portion of my monthly earnings thanks to oDesk), all I'm saying is that you should not use it as a measure of your true success, at least not when you are just starting out as a freelancer. While in many ways, oDesk is absolutely great for freelancers starting out, in many ways, it is also disastrous.

I won't ramble more about oDesk in this post. However, this is the first part of a series on working successfully on oDesk. I will be blogging extensively about this, right from crafting an effective profile to sending an application letter. Stay connected to find out more, I would be more than happy to field any and all queries, just post a comment. Also, take a minute to join the Freelance Writer's Club. It's a great way to get periodic mails about new posts, useful resources and also, the occasional writing gig! 

Understanding SEO Writing

What It Is:

SEO has fast become a word as commonly heard (or at least read) as hello! Few people though understand what SEO actually is and more importantly, the idea of SEO writing. SEO stand for Search Engine Optimization. Simply put, it is the process of modifying your webpage and the content on it in such a fashion that people searching for relevant topics on a search engine are able to easily locate it. Basically, it converts your webpage into a search engine (like Google, Yahoo, Bing) friendly one. This translates to higher page rankings for your site and consequently, more web visitors.

The Advantages:

Obviously, for any company or service, attracting more visitors is the ultimate goal. The more the number of visitors to your site, the higher are your chances of getting hired, contracted, or in the very least, publicized! In the end, that’s all that matters. For most bloggers too, the higher the number of visitors, the better is your reputation among others and the higher are your earnings from various revenue sharing programs. This is even better for people using blogs to advertise their services and businesses. One of the best things is that the people visiting the site are actually relevant visitors, often in need of the particular service you offer. Thus, the chances of your getting hired go up exponentially! Thus, if you are wondering how to write website content, SEO is the answer.

How It Works:

This is obviously the next most important thing! You need to know how to write SEO articles. There are a ton of articles doing the rounds saying "How to write SEO friendly articles in four steps" and they mostly try to sell you an SEO optimized article writing pdf or some such resource. Well frankly, all you need to know to write SEO content is one word: KEYWORDS. Yup, keywords are all you need to write an effective SEO article. Naturally, you are wondering why despite tying an article riddled with keywords, your page has a low rank. By the logic stated in this article, if you type your keyword a 1000 times and post it on your website, it should rank really high. Unfortunately for you, Google has been around far too long to be fooled by that. I say Google, because let’s face it, Google has all but decimated the other search engines. Have you ever heard anyone say “Let’s Yahoo this” or “Let’s Bing this”? No right, exactly my point.

How Then Do I Use It:

Google wants its users to have a good browsing experience. It wants its users to be able to get high quality relevant information when they search for it. After all, that’s why people will come back to use it again, right? Google’s page ranking algorithms ignore any such pages. They automatically search for good quality articles which are a little long and then rank them based on the number of visitors they receive, the number of times they have been shared, etc. Thus, Google will only list your website if the content on it is smart, well – written, well – appreciated and not riddled with keywords. No keyword in an article should ever feel forced. That is one of the best ways to test the quality of an SEO article. When you choose to write an SEO article, all the keywords should incorporate easily into the text and flow in general. A reader must never be able to identify a keyword. He or she is just reading an article, he or she is not interested in a keyword. If the reader can identify a keyword, most likely, Google will not rank your page very high.

Get In Touch:

Feel free to get in touch to help resolve any queries you might still have about SEO articles. Join the club to keep getting such useful articles and freelance writing gigs delivered to your mailbox. If you would like to work with me, do get in touch or drop a quick query. I love hearing from my readers, do drop a comment about what you think and if you would like me to write about something in specific. I would be more than happy to oblige. For guest blogging opportunities, click here.