Monday 23 June 2014

We've Moved! We are officially a dot com!

Hi! You're probably wondering why there have not been any posts recently. Well, I've been very busy working on a beautiful, brand new, amazing website. That's right, Loquacious Words, the blog, is now www.loquaciouswords.com. Head over there. Check it out now. It is still not complete. But, being regular readers of my blog, I think you should head over and look at it. Take a look, drop me a mail, let me know what you think.

From now on, all posts will be made on the website alone.

Thursday 12 June 2014

To Justify or Not to Justify? That is the question!

When I initially started writing, every piece of text I wrote was justified. For those who don't know, justification is the practice of aligning text in such a way that it runs for the same length in all the lines. To help you realize the difference, the next paragraph in this post is justified. Justification is beautiful. It makes the text look amazing and gives a true block format to it. Right?


Wrong! If you'd notice, all major websites never have justified text. I learnt that the hard way. Being from a purely academic background, I hadn't the slightest clue. I always thought that justified text looked great. Then I got a chance to write for a great magazine. And I was happy, so very happy. Until, they sent back an extremely angry mail stating that justified text was unacceptable. I then noticed that all well known bloggers never seem to justify their text.

I decided to find out why. While I searched Google for days, trying to understand the logic behind it, I couldn't find any reasons. I then decided to start asking the bloggers themselves. Finally, I decided to write my own post to help people understand why website content is not justified and should not be justified. 

1) While justified text looks beautiful to me, apparently, it doesn't to most people. Surprising, eh? Well, it was for me! On digging a little deeper and asking people around, I realized why. I can understand their viewpoint. According to them, justified text is very formal looking. It makes a website seem overtly academic and hence, unappealing. They say that reading websites should be fun and hence, do not appreciate justified texts.

2) Many people with visual and reading impairments find it very difficult to read justified text. This is because such people usually use text magnifiers, available within internet browsers to help them read. In justified text, there is always uneven space between words. It can also happen that there are only about two words in a single line. Naturally, in such a case people using magnifiers find it extremely difficult. They find it very difficult to maintain the continuity of text due to the very large gaps in between words. This reason is something that really blew me away! Even dyslexics face this issue. Hence, it makes sense to write a website in a fashion that allows a majority of people to read it.

3) Lack of awareness about justification is another common reason. While I can't say that a majority of bloggers were unaware about justification, a few most definitely were. I think this goes to show that people outside of academia really don't like using justification. Since they form the wide majority of website readers, I can't help but conform.

So, as of now, all my text on websites will be non justified! You too, should think about making the change. Any questions or doubts, send me a mail. Do tell me about your views in the comments section.

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Applying to Your First oDesk Job with a Great Cover Letter

 Psst...Click on the picture to read the entire series.
Psst...Click on the picture to read the entire series.


Now that you are armed with a great oDesk profile, a killer portfolio and have located a great client, you need to draft your very first application letter. oDesk is a very tough marketplace. When applying to a job, you need to ensure that your application letter makes you stand out among the crowd. Your letter must fulfill its purpose, i.e. land you the job. While this article's title conveys that it explains how to apply to your first few jobs on oDesk, I believe that these guidelines should be followed when applying to any job on oDesk. The cover letter for any oDesk job must be written in the following way.


While there is no set formula for applying to a job on oDesk, you can follow a few general guidelines to exponentially raise the chances of getting hired. First and foremost, you need to read the job description EXTREMELY carefully. Many times, applicants just rush through the job description and copy paste a boiler plate response for the cover letter. The problem is that hundreds of applicants apply to every job on oDesk and a large majority of them apply using boiler plate responses! Think of it from the prospective client's point of view. The person ends up reading application after application for hours on end. Thus, it is essential to ensure that yours stands out.


Often, many clients include special instructions in their job descriptions, specifically to help weed out poor applicants. They often ask applicants to start their application with a specific word or color or some such thing. This helps them distinguish people who actually read the job post from those who didn't. Many also specifically ask you to include a 100 word write - up. When applying to these jobs, take a special note of these things and be sure to follow them. By not doing this, you automatically convey to the client that you are incapable of following instructions. Needless to say, this is very bad for any professional.


Also, make sure to take your time when applying. Many freelancers tend to try and apply to a ton of jobs in a minimum amount of time. This is rarely a good policy. One of the best things to do is to invest time when applying to a job. Make sure the client you are applying to is a good one and then spend a few minutes when applying. This is very effective to help beat the competition too. Most freelancers from the Philippines and Vietnam believe in quantity over quality. This is not a good policy. To set yourself apart from these hordes, always take your time when you are applying. This helps you avoid overlooking instructions.


One thing that I have always found to be extremely helpful is addressing the cover letter to the reader by name. Of course, most clients don't make their name public on oDesk. This is what makes a cover letter addressed directly to them intriguing. In the very least, they take the time to read your cover letter. There is a simple trick to finding the name of your client: the feedback. That's right, the feedback! A majority of freelancers (myself included) use the clients name when leaving feedback. If you take the time to actually look through the feedback, you can usually locate any client's name. Seasoned clients are aware of this and appreciate the extra effort, instantly earning you points!


You must also make it a point to answer any additional questions the client has included in the application. Many good clients tend t include a few other questions. One of the most common ones is : Do you have any suggestions to help this project run successfully?. Instead of simply answering 'No', you could probable write something to the effect 'It is too early for me to comment. Until I see the project and get a better idea about its working, I'm afraid I don't have any valuable suggestions to offer.' Though the same as the previous answer, it is much nicer to read.


Finally, remember brevity is beauty. What I mean is, most clients have hundreds of applications to sort everyday. They simply do not have the time to read a 1 page essay. You need to say what you have to say within a few lines. However, be sure to cover all the points raised by the client. Don't make it so short that it works against you. Make sure to never repeat. This is for applications with multiple questions. Do not repeat the answer to a particular answer in both your cover letter and question. Simply remove it from the cover letter.


Keep reading the series on working successfully on 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! 

Monday 2 June 2014

Finding a Good oDesk Client

 Psst...Click on the picture to read the entire series.
Psst...Click on the picture to read the entire series.


Now that you have created a great profile on oDesk, and built up a portfolio, or in the very least, you have developed a good idea about the same, it is time to start hunting for your first job! This is where the excitement begins, it is officially time to test the waters! While finding your first job on oDesk is not easy, you can definitely improve the process by working with a great first client. This is crucial to help you succeed on oDesk. As I have mentioned earlier, oDesk is a very tough marketplace. You need to know what to look for before applying for a job if you don't want to end up stuck writing 500 word articles for 90 cents a pop.


First of all, always look at the job description - read it extremely well. Make sure that you can fulfill the needs of the client. If you think you can, look at the job description a little more analytically. If a client has written a detailed description, in clear English, it is likely that the client is good at communication. This is key for any budding freelancer. If you have an experienced client (more on that later), it is helpful especially since you may not be familiar with the workings of oDesk. This can go a long way in ensuring familiarity with the system and doing your first job well.


Next take a minute to look at the money spent by the client to understand whether the client actually pays regularly or not. If a client has been on oDesk for two years and has spent over 10,000 dollars, you can safely assume that the client is serious about paying his or her freelancers. However, do not be fooled by this alone. Many bad clients too, spend a ton of money on freelancers on oDesk. You need to look at the other features discussed in the article to get a better handle on a good client.


Another important thing to notice on a client's profile is the feedback received by him or her. Good feedback generally means that the client is pleasant to work with. Notice that I said generally and not always. This is because you also need to note the person giving the feedback. If the person giving the feedback is a freelancer with poor language skills and extremely low hourly rates, you may want to rethink applying to the job. This is simply because such freelancers will typically leave good feedback for terrible clients just to ensure that they get hired again. 


The average hourly rate paid by the client is also a great indicator of his or her quality. Note the average hourly rate paid by a client and check if it is anywhere close to the rate you are demanding. If it is so, the client maybe a great match for you. However, during the interview process, you should clarify the amount of work expected from you every hour. One of the worst things about oDesk is that the client is the person controlling the number of hours you are allowed to work every week. Thus, if a client gives you a 2500 word assignment for a week and allots only 1 hour, it defeats the purpose of a good hourly rate.


Finally, be wary of clients offering lucrative hourly jobs, but in the job description, promising volume based payments. What I mean by this is that in order to attract eyeballs, clients may post a 20$ per hour article writing job and then, in the description, state that you will be paid only 5$ per 1000 word article.

This annotated image is an example of a good oDesk client. The annotations explain what makes the client good.

Keep reading the series on working successfully on oDesk. I will be blogging more about sending a great 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!