Diana Marinova

Freelance Mentor & Marketing Consultant

How to Write a Useful Review to a Client or a Freelancer

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Don’t you hate it when you see a client review just saying “job well done”; or a freelancer review saying only “good client, recommended”? Such reviews are pretty useless to me – they raise more questions and doubts than bringing me peace of mind that I am making the right choice working with the said client or freelancer.

What was the job that was done so well? What does “well done” mean – without corrections? On time? Ahead of time? Above and beyond expectations? For less money than anticipated? All of the above? Something else?

Why was the client so good to work with – good communication skills? Paying on time? Paying bonuses? Not asking questions? No edit requests? Prompt feedback? All of the above? Something else?

How to Get Freelance Work without Experience

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If you are wondering how to get freelance work without experience, you are probably a victim of that no-experience-no-job conundrum where clients don’t award to you projects because you lack freelance experience but you cannot obtain any freelance experience unless a client awards you their project. To make it even more complicated, I’ll tell you that the posed question is a tricky one because the answer might be different, depending on what you really mean.

Should You Bill Time Spent in Email Writing and Skype Calls?

By 16 Comments

A reader once asked me if she should bill the time she spends talking via Skype and writing emails to clients. Here’s part of her email:

“Should I bill time for Skype calls and writing emails to my clients when hired on an hourly basis? I have a project with only 8 hours monthly workload but this client holds me on Skype twice per month for at least 1 hour per session. Should I bill her for it?

The same question applies to email writing – should I bill her for that, too? I don’t charge for it but I want to know what the best practice is in such cases so that I take it in consideration when negotiating future projects with prospective clients.”

Why oDesk and Elance Are Not a Waste of Time

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Many people say oDesk and Elance (or all popular freelance job boards, for that matter) are a waste of time. They base their claim on their understanding that everyone is competing on price there and if you are on those sites, you are doomed to either fail or work for pennies.

It’s true that there are many freelancers with poor or no skills who are driving the market prices down. It’s also true that there are plenty of bad clients who are looking for nothing else but cheap labor. And then we have you, the little genius with excellent skills and high prices, who is wondering whether to waste their time on oDesk and Elance. Wonder no more – there are lots of good clients who are worth your time and efforts on both sites.

Think about it this way …

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