Meeting your freelancing deadlines

Let’s say you’ve been awarded a writing job to write an e-book on childcare with 10 chapters for $2,000 over a 45 day period of time. Bid out each chapter separately among 10 coders and allocate, say, $100 for each chapter over a 25 day period. This way you don’t have to worry about the deadline because you’ve given yourself a 20-day buffer and you stand to earn $1,000 for your efforts. If you are going to handle a project in this manner you must be able to rewrite the articles you receive in order to make sure the entire book “flows” seamlessly and that the same style and tone of voice is consistent throughout. 3.    Cultivate a strong talent poolIn many cases, this is the most important asset needed when subcontracting work to others. Here are a few additional tips to help you out in this regard:a)    Know how to hire a good coderThere are four things you should look at when hiring a coder – their resume, their samples, their rating, and their client testimonials. The last two are critical because it is easy to prepare a bogus resume and samples, especially on the internet. If you look at those four things and feel you have found the person you are looking for, hire them.b)    Know how to keep them happyA happy coder always delivers better work than an unhappy one, given the same skill level. You keep your coders happy by dealing in a polite and professional manner, paying them on time and understanding them when they fall or falter (and believe me, they will miss a deadline now and then). Give them respect and they will give you their best. 4.    Nurture your current roster of clientsHere is the main reason why quality counts – it is quality, more than anything else, that will make your customers come running back to you again and again. Always put a premium on quality. First-class work is sometimes hard to find, especially given a limited budget. If you consistently deliver first-class work, you assure yourself and your coders of a prosperous business well into the future.There is a popular saying in sales which says that “It is eight times easier to get new business from your current clients than it is from cold calls.” In other words, make sure you ask your clients for referrals from people they know or work with who may need the service you provide. Some coders hesitate when it comes to asking for referrals because they feel it is unprofessional. They feel asking for referrals is like asking for a favor. That is not really the case. If you have faith in your ability to deliver good work you are actually helping your client because of your willingness to provide quality work to their friends or business associates. That will reflect well on them too. It is a two-way street. Now that we have looked at three on line venues we are ready to look at developing eye catching resumes that will help you land some of those great paying opportunities.