Archive from November 2009
How to Get Paid with GAF
Freitag, 20.November 2009GAF, or Get a Freelancer, is a popular method of both looking for freelance work as well as finding talented employees for your business. GAF hosts jobs for websites, software, and IT services. If you are a freelance writer, there is plenty of work available on GAF. Data entry and virtual assistants can look for work on Get a Freelancer, as can media and design experts. Anyone with a marketable skill who wants to work from home, either part or full time, should be able to find their niche on Get a Freelancer.
One of the reasons for GAF’s popularity is because of their ability to guarantee secure payment transactions. They protect both the employer and the employee. This way no one pays for work that he doesn’t receive and no one works without pay either. If you are new to Get a Freelancer’s payment system, it can be a little confusing, however after spending some time looking at all your payment options, you will see that their innovative payment methods are a good way to transfer payments over the internet.
When you first set up your Get a Freelance account, either as a freelance or an employer, you automatically create a GAF bank account for yourself. This account is linked to your profile and your password, but not to any external banking system. You begin to place bids on GAF and eventually one of your bids is accepted. When this happens you will find your GAF account goes into the negative. Because there are no membership fees at Get a Freelancer when you join it, the site makes their money by taking a commission from you for every job you get. However, if you upgrade your account to ‘Gold Status’, you have to pay $20 monthly. Therefore, if you bid of $90 is accepted for a project, GAF will take a commission of $9, or ten percent. Keeping a negative balance on your GAF account is fine; once you complete the project money will be sent to your GAF account.
You and your employer need to work out a payment system. Many employers will pay on a weekly basis. Others pay upon completion or the completion of increments. You are able to look at feedback from other employees to see how well they rate your potential employer. Because of this self-policing system the people who use GAF are generally honest. However, if you are working on a large project or working with a person with whom you have no prior relationship, you might want to ask them to use GAF’s Milestone payment system. With a Milestone payment, the employer puts money into a milestone account. This money can be viewed by the employer, employee, and GAF support staff. When the project is completed the money is easily transferred to the employee’s account. However, if there is a dispute about the work, the money will be held in Milestone form until the GAF team settles the issue.
Whether or not you choose to use Milestone payments, when you have completed your project and submitted it to your employer, he or she will transfer money into your GAF account. At that time you will also receive an email that announces the transfer of money. The balance of your account will be the payment minus the initial GAF commission. For instance, a $90 bid on a project takes out a $9 commission, leaving you with a GAF bank balance of $81. This money will stay securely in your GAF account as long as you want it to. You can use this money to pay further commission fees or to pay others who are doing work contracted out by you.
When you are ready to withdraw money from GAF, there are many different options from which to choose. You may want to sign up for a GAF debit card, sponsored by Master Card, which lets you spend from your GAF account like a checking account. You can also choose to directly transfer money to your bank account, however that requires that you input your bank account and routing number into the GAF system. While Get a Freelancer is safe and secure, many people feel uncomfortable sharing their bank account information online. That is why GAF also offers transfers to PayPal and Moneybookers accounts, two ways for people to use their money online or transfer it to their bank accounts.
Get a Freelancer is set up in the most user friendly manner possible. From bidding to withdrawals, GAF payments are quick and easy.
Click on the banner in the header graphic or follow this link to visit GAF Get A Freelancer
Starting As A Freelancer? 7 Points You Should Keep In Mind
Sonntag, 15.November 2009People, that start freelancing on the internet, often go the wrong way. Ift that happen, your business can quickly go down the pan. The following points, are thing you should know before you start your freelance career.
1. Know how the market works: The first and most important thing is to know how to get clients and how to keep them. Market your service properly and you will soon see success. Freelancer who forget this step, often give up quickly.
2. Let the client pay your rate: Many freelancer take on very low paying jobs. Your should avoid this. Look out for clients that pay a decent rate, and not for those, that seek cheap freelancer. It spoils the market und you wont be able to make a living.
3.Don’t take on too many clients: Don’t take on more work than you can handle. You will miss your deadlines and burn out. But also, your should have more than a single income source.
4. Deadlines: Don’t ever miss your deadlines! As a professional in your field, you should deliver your work on time. Clients don’t like to wait for their work. Besides, they have deadlines too.
6. Clients: There are bad clients and good clients. The bad one is a price haggler, or the communication is bad, which makes working sometimes very diffucult. The good client provides exact details of the job and pays a fair price. So, you better find the good kind of client.
7. Other people’s opinion: Being self-employed is relative new to the today’s society. People may don’t understand why someone would quit his 9-5 job and work full time as a freelance. Don’t listen to them and do your job!
Tips and advices for freelancers
Samstag, 14.November 2009How to Build a Strong Relationship with Your Customers – A Guide to Customer Relationships for Freelancers & Self Employed
One of the best ways to run a good business as well as keep the clients which you currently have is to build a strong relationship with your clients. Everyone likes to feel appreciated and this is true for those who have a business relationship. The clients want to feel as if they matter to the business owner as they are part of the reason why the business is still in existence. There are a few ways for business owners to build a strong relationship with their customers as doing so will not only maintain their client base but possibly expand it as well through recommendations.
Know Your Clients by Name
One of the best ways for business owners to build a strong relationship with their clients is to know them by name and address them as such whenever they contact them. A business owner who knows their client by name will make the customer feel appreciated and give them their due recognition. This will show the client that they matter to the owner and are good customers overall. It is also a good idea for the employees of the business to familiarize themselves with the clients and acknowledge them by name as well since employees are an extension of the business owner and the business itself.
Make Conversation with Your Clients
Although it is important to discuss business matters at length with your clients it is also a wise idea to make small talk with them as well. Doing so will show them that you are interested in them as individuals and not just view them as income. Just be sure to keep the small talk light and not be too intrusive with your questions or conversations.
Offer Incentives to Your Regular Customers
Another way to build a strong relationship with your customers is to offer free incentives from time to time. For example, if you run a restaurant try to offer your regular clients a free dessert or beverage once in a while. Doing so will show them that you acknowledge their constant patronage and appreciate them choosing your establishment over others. Offering incentives can be as small or as great as you would like them to be. However, it is a good idea to not offer these incentives too often as the customers may come to expect them after a while. Just do so on an occasional basis.
Always Offer Top Notch Service
No matter how nice of a business owner you are or how many incentives you offer your clients, if you fail to offer top-notch services it can be the downfall to your business relationship. Therefore, another way to build a strong relationship is to ensure that the business offerings are always first rate.
Inquire About Customer Comments
Lastly, you should inquire with your customers from time to time with regard to how your business is doing overall. Ask your clients if there is anything you should consider changing to make your business more favorable to their needs. This is another way to really build a good relationship with your clients and keep them coming back for more time and time again.
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Article Source: www.ArticlesBase.com
Guest posts and interviews
Donnerstag, 5.November 2009I am looking for guest posts and interviews…Are you interested?
I onyl accept unique articles for the guest post, if you are interested just drop me a mail.
I am looking for interviews from freelancers as well. Again, just drop me a mail and also mention in the mail why i should interview you.
To see how a interview could look like, click here
Looking to hear from you guys soon!
The Early Bird Gets The Worm
Mittwoch, 4.November 2009The Early Bird Gets The Worm
“The early bird gets the worm” or “The early bird catches the worm” is a famous proverb that was first found in the book, “A Collection of English Proverbs” compiled by John Ray in the year 1605. As in the case of most proverbs, this is metaphorical too. In this proverb, while the literal meaning is only if you get up early will you succeed in your goals, the hidden message is that every creature should be prepared and stay agile and be aware of what is happening around it. Only then will it succeed in achieving its goals.
This proverb cannot be more relevant in the present days where competition is cut throat and everybody is striving to be ahead of each other. If you want to succeed in life on both professional and personal fronts, you will have to be sure of what you need to do, be focused and lay out your goals, long term plans and short term plans. You should be aware of your competitor’s moves and strategies and be proactive enough to respond to them successfully. Being reactive to sudden changes is not enough. Opportunity has a very small window and if you do not act quickly, you will not only lose it but you may also never get a second chance.
For instance, let us take our professional life. Have not been there instances where a good role that has a considerable raise in salary and rank has been passed on to our peer instead of us? While the boss can be prejudiced and judgmental, to some extent, it is our fault too. Perhaps, the peer who was chosen to fill the role had already pre-empted the vacancy and started preparing for it. Perhaps he or she had dropped several hints to the boss and also pitched in his or her suitability for the role. After all, the early bird gets the worm!
There have also been several cases where people have taken a small idea and transformed it into something brilliant. Typical of these innovations is the company 3M which has capitalized onto several marvelous ideas and earned profits by branding it. Here also 3M was an early bird that thought ahead of its competitors and thus reaped results. Brands like Hotmail have also been “early birds” in their industries. Hotmail pre-empted the need for communication and used the Internet technology to its advantage. Today, email is a thriving cash cow.
The significance of this proverb is not limited to professional life. A lot of times when we think about our past, there are some situations where we think, “if only I had…” – these are typical instances where we have not been the early birds. Remember when you always wanted to go out with a particular boy or girl for the prom and somebody else came in asked him or her before you did – all because you took your own sweet time to muster your guts and overcome your shyness. Surely your father would have then said, “Son, the early bird gets the worm”.
In the freelance business it is not different. Only the best one gets the client (well sometimes it is also the cheapest one, but in this case the client is either not experienced and will get low quality work, or is looking for quantity instead of quality).