All good things, come to an end

I have received an email from my current and only active Buyer early this morning.

Unfortunately I didn't check my mail right away because I accompanied my mom at the clinic for her annual check up. I didn't bring my laptop with me knowing that I’ll be busy and I wont be able to focus on the task. When I came home tonight, I wanted to work right away. I checked my mailbox first. I saw bunches of messages including the mail of my dearly beloved Buyer. I read it.

The company have decided to let me go because their team is not doing well with oDesk and they cannot afford to pay me anymore.

I really didn’t see this coming. :(

They were my Buyer for 5 months. We started really at a low rate but since the job is consistently done everyday, it was a big contribution to my savings. Due to that, I can honestly tell you that the savings is equivalent to a trip to any South-East Asian country.

Sigh.

It was sad but more of I understand their point of view. If I were in their place and if I need to downsize or anything, I feel I would have done the same…

The main reason I was shocked is, I was contented already and I never thought that the task is going to end. I never pictured myself to stop working at the project even if I have a more stable job anytime soon. It was included in my long term plans. LOL. seriously.

Because my Buyer is a good person. She is a Filipina too and I never felt abused or paid low. Thus the reason why I didnt accept any job offer both in and outside oDesk because I always thought that I have a job with this Buyer and I don't have to ask for more.

Well I am back to zero again. I needed to look for a buyer which will be with me in another months or so.

PS. LOL what a weird way to return after a long hiatus. I was planning for a beauty review but I don't understand why my writers block kept going on for months! LOL. The only thing that made me write again is this oDesk situation. I dont know if I should be happy for that or not. bleh. xoxo

[oDesk] Do you check the background of your buyer?

I do.

Well for most of my buyers. Yes I try to check them out other than their working feedback from oDesk. Let me tell you a story I experienced few minutes ago. Yes. Just minutes ago.

I applied for a very lucrative job posting. The buyer’s payment method is verified, working feedback is 4.43/5.00 (still passable) and the very nice thing is: I can design! Yep. I’ll be using my graphic skills finally. I want to graduate as an administrative support! heh~

The buyer responded immediately. And told me straight ahead that she can pay me below my rate. Note that its not less than 50% – IT IS A 90% DROP OF MY RATE. Hmmm. I'm quite hesitant but immediately relieved to see that I have less than 50 hrs a week to work. Come to think of it, its still a good deal IF I'm guaranteed to be paid for 50 hrs a WEEK. But it didn't work that way.

We exchanged few messages while I checked this buyers background. I read the feedback of his hired providers. I was not that satisfied with the comments. Something is really lacking, i felt. I researched for her name on Google. At first, there are no relevant searches. Until I have clicked a link with my buyer’s name.

At this moment, I am already negotiating about my rate. The buyer obviously doesn't want to talk about it. I am not liking the mood of our conversations. I don't like the feeling that I am not worth my rate.

THEN THIS *ODESK DEPRESSION SUDDENLY HIT ME.

*a relative psychological emotion of freelancers whenever he/she feels inadequate, unloved, unimportant, PLUTOED. Commonly cause of distress are prick, low IQ and EQ buyers.

So my inner Oprah talked to me. Child, No don't feel depressed. This buyer is not worth your time. You know you’re more than that. But of course the oDesk depression didn't stop that way. It only stopped until I found a great information about my potential buyer. Thanks to Google.

In case you didn't notice: There are words like criminal and termination in that website. I wont provide the site name anymore for privacy sake and I don’t believe in attacking because my buyer didn't directly do anything wrong to me.

In short, the buyer’s family members were involved in a serious case. One involves death. Erm ye morbid. I am not sure of the resolution. I am assuming they have changed their company name cause they still have a common word in both their new and old company names.

In short, I don't want to be associated with a company like that.

In short, it was not my loss if my buyer didn’t hire me.

In short, I was able to relieve my oDesk depression.

In short, I'm back again to scouting other buyers. Potentially GOOD and with clean slate backgrounds.

PS. The buyer didn’t reply after my last question. The candidacy has not yet ended but I am assuming it will be after the buyer has found another provider that will agree with her terms.

PPS: The buyer replied but I didn't bother to answer again.

Lesson learned:

1. Know your worth. Don't go way below your rate.

2. RESEARCH. RESEARCH.

3. Don’t Settle for LESS. (I know it sounds like #1 but I really want to stress this out)

4. Call your inner Oprah once oDesk depression strikes!

xoxo

[Homebased Job] Good Odesk Buyers

Hello I’m back once again blogging about my Odesk experience. Well two days ago, I said, I will apply for my Unionbank EON card and to have my hair rebonded. I didnt pursue any yay. An old buyer contacted me the night after I posted that entry. So I have no choice but to cancel my plans. I know that this Buyer is strict when it comes to deadlines. The deadline was this afternoon, 12pm.

Again, its about editing audio stuffs. Segue: I am really thinking of buying a netbook so that I can do any homebased job anywhere and I can hang out with friends at the same time. I want to use my oDesk savings.---yes I have saved enough. Homebased job rocks!!!

I think I am already an expert when it comes to editing. I can do 600 audio in 14 hours. Woot. in short 43 audio in 1 hour and these are all cutting, adding additional audio’s, making it shorter at the same time. It’s quite a workload and my right hand mostly do the work so after 8 hours, my right thumb is getting numb and shaky. But all for the sake of this buyer, I am going to do my best and follow the deadline.

And it paid off.

Lol its quite cute. I am so happy I received this. Then after a few minutes I have received my payment plus a surprise.

WOOOW. I am really jumpy when I received this and I can’t thank him enough for it. Don't worry, I kept myself calm when I replied back ahahaha. For my one and a half day work, I was paid almost a price of a rebonded hair. LOL I am so happy!

Yeah, he said, he has one more project for me. I really love this buyer of mine (not in a romantic way lol)

I also want to share another loved buyer of mine. Surprisingly, the above buyer and this one has the same name. But different spelling though. Haha I love this one even though he doesnt have projects for me recently. Why? Because he uses smiley in his emails haha.

It really pays when you are honest with your buyer and if you do not just work with them for the sake of money. I have all the opportunity to stay long for an hourly job with this buyer. I can stay in the internet, strolling. Clicking any unnecessary tabs in my keyboard so that it counts as a high green bar in my work diary lol but I didn’t. In the end, we have a good relationship and I didnt abuse his credit card hehe.

Searching for Jobs at Odesk

So you already have an oDesk account but you’re still clueless on how to find a job? Well read on and find some helpful tips from me. (hopefully they’re helpful lol)

NOTE: I suppose you are not clueless on how to open an account at oDesk? if YES, Im going to make a tutorial for you next time if ONLY somebody demands.

Let’s take a peek at the image above. This is the typical look of a job advertisement at oDesk. Here you will find the Job Title, the description, the bid and a little information about the buyer (employer).

Things you need to know:

1. Payment Method

If the payment method of your buyer is verified, then don't worry, you’re secured and will be paid as per oDesk policies. If its NOT VERIFIED, you’ll risk of not getting paid at the end of your assignment. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are bogus, some buyers are fairly new with oDesk and they need at least 3 days to process their payment method. If they haven't verified it within the time frame, oDesk will take care of that lol. CECILY TIP: I personally choose the verified method because its less hassle less stress.

2. Invitations

What are the signs that your buyer is a bogus? They send numerous invitations but they don’t necessarily hire any provider. This is a common situation in oDesk and you must always look at this part. Especially if the bid is inviting say for example $100+ for a few hours. I have accidentally applied to one and I immediately reported it at oDesk. The end result: Buyer is vacuumed out of oDesk.

3. Job Description

A good description provides every detail you need for a job. Some buyers dont expand this thing and they prefer to discuss it thru email or interview. CECILY TIP: I prefer buyers who send samples and those that write a lot. In this way, I can assess my skills if I am really fit for the job. If you find the job enticing, apply and ask for more details and then lastly, evaluate your conversations with the buyer.

4. Feedback

This is a subjective one. Its undeniable that we cannot please everybody and therefore the buyers cannot please their providers as well. Some exceptions though, a feedback is like a scar. It can be permanent if you wont try to make it look good. For a buyer with a feedback lower than 3 is quite dubious. You can always read the reason behind the low score. Just hover your mouse in the magnifying glass icon beside the feedback. If the reason is negotiable to you, then give it a try. But if the feedback tells something about professionalism and work ethics, move on otherwise you’ll end up messing your oDesk experience.

Anyway, that’s fairly it. If you have more tips then comment them out! Remember, its not always about the bid. Yes you do freelance in order to earn but a good freelancer is someone who reads, analyze, carefully judge and an intelligent bidder.

✎ oDesk: Building Relationships with your Buyers

Cecily,

I have a big project for you.

Are you available?

This is the exact email that I have received from my current buyer---just now. You don't know how excited I am while replying to it. For everybody's info, I have been looking for another oDesk job these past few days. As I have said previously, my current buyer gives work only at occasional times and at fixed range. Few days have passed since the last time I have worked for him, I heard no news yet. I thought he might end the assignment because I am aware that I don't deliver work in a fast manner (sorry, im a noob lol) But he did communicate again with me! I am so happy. It was really hard to find a job at oDesk these days.

Did you know that the one who invited me for an interview (Virtual Assistant position) is really cute lol. I havent talked with him yet but I have made my research. And yeah he is something but unfortunately he never called me at Skype. I have waited for two days to be called but he didn't. Maybe because we never got a chance to be online at the same time but I have caught him online several times and he quickly disappears after I sign in. Talking about weirdness. I was a bit optimistic about him since his secretary (or so called) said that I am fit for the position. But yeah, after two days of long wait, I want to moved on and so I did, I applied again inside oDesk as well as outside. I am still waiting for an answer to any of them until this current buyer of mine, contacted me again. YAY for the win. :)

I am freaking out. Yes, its exciting but really I literally spent sleepless nights finishing the project with this buyer. Im so afraid of the bulk especially now that he said its going to be a big project. I just recovered from a bad cold actually. :( OH EM GEE. LOL i literally did that in the picture. I slept in front of my PC while working. But I wont complain that much as I have been waiting for this for so long. Phew. Wish me a lot of success!

One important lesson? Don't burn bridges between you and your buyer. Build relationships with him/her and soon you will be the first one to be noticed if he needs a work to be done. I am not the best provider around but when I email him, I did it in a respectful manner. I apologize if I made a mistake and I tell him exactly my availability to finish a project. Of course there are bad buyers around, you will notice them when they demand a lot from you but they don't pay you enough! If you find yourself in this position, you can always make a report at oDesk and they quickly respond. I have tested their live help several times. :) Alright, till next update!

♥,
Cecily

✎ The oDesk experience

Alright. This is going to be my first post about my journey towards earning money online. :)

Lets start of with oDesk.

I started working at oDesk last April 3, 2009. Yes, that's really recent. It was purely accidental. I actually wanted to apply as an online English teacher with a Japanese owned company but they were not replying with my application so I decided to call them. For some reason, I first wanted to research about the company before following up...and then I stumbled upon oDesk at Google and so the history goes on...

After I signed up, I immediately build my profile. I took two online exams: The oDesk readiness exam and the US English Basic Skills Test. I passed btw lol. And then I applied to 11 job postings. Yes, you've read that right. Eleven. I almost hit the quota of 15 application lol. Luckily for me after a day, I received three interview invitations from them and another two after few days. I was so happy and never imagined that these buyers* will contact me because I am not really confident with my cover letters ;P. What happened to the other applications? They rejected me. :) Saying that they prefer other candidates and others say that I was charging them a high bid. That's ridiculous because as far as I know I only charge $2.00/hour. I guess they only wanted to make excuses.

Anyway, among the five interview invitations, two buyers hired me.

Buyer #1: My task is to research about people with debt. Those who reside in the UK only. I was too excited but I had a hard time with the task. It eats up my time and searching people in debt asking about their contact info is like finding a needle in a haystack. I found some contacts and gave it to my buyer but I wanted to terminate the job. My buyer told me not to cancel it and I did. After few weeks, I didn't follow up about the task. I guess its really not my thing. And today (April 20), I received an email saying that my buyer suspended it. I received no payment, I received no negative feedback. Its okay. I am after the feedback anyway. ✌

Buyer #2: My task is to cut and edit an audio. This is my first ever real task. I gave a good impression with my buyer because I passed his qualifications which is to submit an edited audio before he can finally hire me. It was an easy job but difficult at the same time because of the bulk. I have to finish 400+ audio in two days! But I cant, and I honestly told him that. I didn't really sleep at all just to finish it plus the audio were really random so I had to organize them in some way. After the first task, he asked how much I would like to be paid. I told him I will charge $72 because I had to work for 3 days. He agreed but told me to work faster because there were other providers* who are much faster than me. But since I gained his trust, he gave me more task. I was paid, $40 for my second task.

↑↑↑ My first payment for the things that I did over the internet. lol. Of course it wasn't a get-money-fast idea. I had to work hard for it and use my skills. How will I encash it? I will not. I will make my account fatter before I'll withdraw lol. If I decided to do it, I'll post my experience here. :)

I am still hired by Buyer #2 but for now, he doesn't have a task for me. I worked in a fixed rate as opposed to hourly rate which oDesk encourages. So I am still searching for another job at oDesk.

Right now, I received another invitation for an interview. This time it is going to be different. Its a Virtual Assistant job. I am quite excited about it since I will be paid hourly and the task is not difficult at all. The only uh-oh is that I'm going to work in a different timezone. :( We'll talk about that. The buyer seems to be good in compromising. I hope I'll get in and its going to be a good job. I have pending applications as well so its really advisable to be online most of the time if you really want to get that job!

But my first tip is, do not accept anything for the sake of getting in. Some buyers are like those bad eBay shoppers or hoppers. They give you task and wont pay you the right way. I'll expand this topic nextime.

Oh if you want to check oDesk and want to work there like me, you can check my referral link below. Don't worry, I wont get any profit from you asap because you need to earn $1000 before I can actually benefit from that. lol. Well anyway, the chances are quite vague but I want to try it--Just in case. lol.

♥,
Cecily

*Buyers---oDesk term for employer.
*Providers---oDesk term for you, the one offering the service.
italics---these words are italicized because it will help me make some great tips on how to land a job in oDesk nextime. :)