  Back when I first signed up for oDesk I didn't know if they'd really help me gain new clients, but today I'm happy to report that thanks to oDesk I've been able to increase my clients. Not only have I gained new clients through oDesk, but I've gained friendly clients who have been great to work for. The clients that oDesk has blessed me with have been very helpful and provide great instructions, and this, my fellow writer friends, is something we all want with clients.
I'm sure you're wondering how you, too, can increase your clients, and since I enjoy helping others, I'm going to share a few tips with you. These are the things I do to increase clients with oDesk. Remember, oDesk guarantees payment on all hourly jobs!
Seven Simple Ways to Increase Clients With oDesk
1. Check writing job listings daily. If you don't want to visit the oDesk site on a daily basis, you can subscribe to be notified of new listings via e-mail, or use the search feature on your left to search for the jobs you want, and then subscribe to the RSS feeds for each search you perform.
2. Apply for jobs that only pay by the hour. This guarantees that you'll be paid for your time and work.
3. Create and save a pre-written cover letter on your hard or flash drive. Then when you run across a writing job you want to apply for, edit your pre-written cover letter to match the writing job your applying for, and then follow oDesk's steps to submit that cover letter to the potential client.
4. Use your best clips on your oDesk profile,and update every so often with more recent clips.
5. Post your resume on your oDesk profile, along with any client testimonials.
6. Follow up with potential clients who requested an interview but never got back to you.
7. Take the free oDesk skills tests, and when you score high, make the results public so potential clients can see you really do have the experience you say you have. |
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First off, I would like to congratulate those people who signed up on oDesk recently. You are on your way to earning a good weekly income. To those who have not signed up yet I suggest you do (Here's the Signup on oDesk). 
HTML clipboard I figured it would be best to post some tips that could help oDesk newbies out there to land on that first assignment. Here goes…
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Spruce up your profile. Remember that there are thousands of oDesk providers that have the same skills as you do. You need to be assertive enough to market yourself to get that first oDesk assignment. Check out other profiles to get ideas on how to do it. -
This next tip is very important. Remember that the first thing an oDesk Buyers looks at is your hourly rate. If you've just registered and haven't received any assignments yet, it would be best to go for a low rate first. Believe me, it works. I cannot stress enough how important this is. I guess I can only tell you that a lot of my fellow oDeskers were surprised to learn that I got my first assignment in less than a month while they had to wait for several months to get their first gig. -
Never go tired of applying. -
Be the first to check out the new Job openings at oDesk everyday. Although oDesk sends you a daily update thru email of the latest job openings, you would be at an advantage if you get to apply while there's still a short list of applicants. -
While waiting, take tests that match your skills. Show scores that really prove that you have mastered your skill. You wouldn't want an oDesk buyer to see a score of 2.5 out of 5.0 in Article writing if you are promoting yourself as an article writer. -
Prepare a good cover letter. When I say good, it must be really good. Ready made cover letters are good, but if you are really serious about your application, it would be best to come up with something that is tailored to the needs of your prospective buyer. -
Be available on instant messengers for a chat interview. If you mentioned in your cover letter that you'll be available on Skype or Yahoo Messenger from 8am to 12pm Eastern Standard time, then you have to be online during that timeframe. -
Once an interview is finished, send a thank you email to the buyer. It may sound redundant since you would be thanking the interviewer at the end of the chat session. But believe me, it helps. Remember, you are not the only one who's being interviewed by that buyer. - Build a good relationship with your buyer. Make sure that you meet his needs (don't overdo it though). Building a good relationship has a lot of lasting benefits. Not only will it help you get a good feedback score at the end of the assignment, you also increase the chances of getting your buyer hire you again for future assignments. That I guess is the most fulfilling part – establishing trust.
Once you've followed these tips, and have successfully ended an assignment with a good feedback score (that's 5 stars, of course), you now have the option to either stay with your current rate if you're already comfortable with it or take it a notch higher, if you think you're worth it. Happy Job Hunting!
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The Hourly rate is very important in oDesk, most of the job are Hourly, but there are also others with fixed price. When I start working online as Freelancer , I put an interested rate, just $6.50/hour as Web Developer. I got many buyers how are interested to work with me. My first experience was with a client that would like to fix some bugs in his websit. It was a very easy job, I do it in less than 3 hours and I got paid for the first time $15. I was very happy, maybe you think that it's a small amount but for me I had the ideal to get more customers and work had to make more money. Today, I increase my rate in oDesk to $8.50/hour, because I have made a good relationship with more than 10 buyers how contact me everyday to give me more job. They said that "You are a professional provider how do the job in time and with high quality." |
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As I stated, here's the beginning of a series of posts that will discuss some tips and tricks I have learned over the months when it comes to earning as much as you can on oDesk.
For beginners, the first thing you need to do is to invest time and effort into your provider profile. Here's my provider profile on oDesk as a reference. You will need to think of your own header, as mine is listed as WiPou.Com, PHP/MySql Developer, Joomla/Oscommerce/phpbb/wordpress - Freelance Programmer / Developer . I know it's a lot, but the ones I listed are the qualities that best describe me. You should think of something similar for yourself, and focus on the qualities you are good at.
It is also a good idea to add a professional-looking picture of yours, not really that professional, more on presentable. I don't know why, but before I had a picture on my profile, I really had a hard time getting accepted for jobs. I guess buyers (clients) like associating a face to the resume they see.
Don't forget to answer every field in your profile. Should clients have any questions about your skills or experience, they will look for it in your provider profile, and this saves you and your client a lot of time in asking each other questions and sending messages. Some clients who are in a rush for finding providers may just disregard your application.
Lastly, take the oDesk readiness test so that you can apply and get hired for jobs. I'll discuss that test in more detail on another post. |
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The oDesk Readiness Test for Independent Contractors is an open book test. Its main purpose is to make sure that the freelancer, who is to start working at oDesk, is ready to work with the system, and knows the policies and practices of the online marketplace. So, the first step towards taking the oDesk Readiness Test is getting familiar with how the system works. For this, an independent contractor should: - Download and install oDesk Team software (the Readiness Test has questions related to it)
- Connect to the "Training Team Room" (not required, but can be of assistance for passing the Readiness Test)
- Study the following topics, that can be found in the FAQ section of the web-site:
- Following oDesk Policies
- Getting Hired
- Working on Assignments
- Getting Paid
- Starting Companies on oDesk
 Tips & Warnings- Take your time and slowly go through the oDesk information. Even though it is an open book test, having an idea of where to find the information makes the test taking process easier.
- If you are not satisfied with your oDesk readiness test score, you can always take the test again.
- Searching the Internet for oDesk readiness test answers will not help you. All of the answers to pass the test are located within the oDesk site.
Looking for answers for oDesk readiness test and other oDesk tests? Those are some Examples :HTML clipboard Q: Can I start my own company on oDesk?
A: Yes! oDesk allows you to build and manage a team of workers, colleagues and collaborators. You can even subcontract other workers on oDesk to other customers oDesk (and take a cut).
Q: Which of the following actions are NOT allowed when applying to job openings?
A: All of the above
Q: 'How does feedback work on oDesk?'
A: All of the above
Q: Which of the following is true of your oDesk timelog?
A: All of the above
Q: Which of the following break the oDesk user agreement?
A: All of the above
Q: Which of the following statements about the oDesk Team application are true?
A: All of the above
Q: What do you need to do to ensure guaranteed payment on hourly jobs?
A: All of the above
Q: If you have not done so please download and install the oDesk Team application. With the client running right click on the oDesk Team icon in the system tray (or doc for Mac users). Which of the following options is listed first? Note that you do NOT have to log into any actual Team Room to answer this question.
A: TeamRoom..
Q: Which of the following statements are correct about oDesk fees?
A: All of the above
Q: Buyers set weekly limits on hourly assignments, how do these work?
A: All of the above
Q: How does oDesk's dispute resolution policy for work?
A: All of the above
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