Tell-Tale Signs of Elance Buyers to Avoid
Determining Whether a Buyer of Freelance Services is Legitimate
Bidding sites like Elance.com allow freelance providers to win work by posting bids on buyers’ projects. Unfortunately, approximately 40% of these projects are never awarded. To avoid unnecessary expense (and frustration), providers should do the detective work suggested below to suss out buyers who are serious about awarding their projects.
Test the Waters
Before providers submit a bid, they have the opportunity to contact a buyer to solicit additional project details for free through the Public Message Board. If the buyer doesn’t acknowledge a request for information, the buyer may have already awarded the job through another Web site or may just be looking for the lowest bidder.
Do a Background Check
Writers should always review a buyer’s prior project award percentage and written feedback from other providers before bidding. To determine a buyer’s award percentage, hover the cursor over the buyer’s name in the project list. To review a buyer’s prior feedback, click on the buyer’s name, then the Project History link.
If a buyer has awarded a low percentage of posted projects or has negative feedback, consider moving on to the next project.
Avoid Vague Proposals
Many buyers post vague project descriptions, such as “I want an e-book written” or “I want 10 SEO-optimized articles written.” Though many providers will bid on these projects, they really don’t know what they’re signing up for.
Sometimes buyers who write vague descriptions are new to online freelancing and don’t know what information is helpful to potential providers. But if they are experienced buyers, consider whether the client might have unclear expectations, which means the scope or terms of the project are likely to increase – without additional pay – down the road.
To combat this problem, writers should draft detailed contracts with specific milestones for delivery. If a buyer changes his mind at the end of a project, the provider should ask to be paid for the completed work before embarking on additional work outside the original project scope.
Avoid Demanding Buyers
Buyers whose project descriptions amount to a host of demands are bad news. For example, some buyers warn they will verify with Copyscape that a writer’s text is original. Some buyers want writers to submit work on spec before paying. And some solicit free samples of the very work they are seeking providers to do (which violates the Elance Terms of Service).
If the buyer does not trust the provider to do the work in a competent manner at the outset of the project, there is no foundation for a good business relationship. Run away.
“It’s an Easy Project”
Many buyers insist their projects are “simple for someone who knows what they are doing.” Buyers who describe their projects in this way are fishing for the lowest possible bids. If the work is so simple, shouldn’t the buyer be able to write it?
Or perhaps the buyer could do it, but “doesn’t have time.” Beware: even if the work product is fantastic, this buyer might never be satisfied. This buyer has a very clear picture of how the end-product should look, and the buyer will likely view any deviation on the provider’s part as a flaw.
Don’t let buyers like this diminish the value of the written word. Writers must have faith that their services are worth whatever fees they charge.
Paying Outside the Freelance Site
Some buyers might suggest payment through PayPal or another method to avoid going through the freelance site. Once you leave the site, you lose the protection of the Escrow system and of Elance’s arbitration program should something go awry. What possible incentive would a buyer have to take the project off the system? None, unless the buyer wants to violate the Terms of Service.
Freelancers who are attuned to these warning signs will likely find they have more success on Elance.
Freelance writer typing on computer
|
What do you think about this article?
Comments
More in Writing & Publishing
Latest Articles