oDesk Top Rated Freelancer Program

Just yesterday I got an e-mail with the image shown above. The e-mail also broke the happy news that I was also included in the club. Reason being above 90% project success ratio.
A screenshot of exact e-mail is shown below

Learn Game Programming in Cocos2D-X C++ Series

What was the most important part of my success?

I have turned down a lot of project offers on oDesk, eLance, and in real life as well. Declining projects carefully and selecting projects intelligently plays a key role in a freelancer's success.
You MUST say NO, otherwise you will get stuck in hordes of sub-par projects and a death by suffocation is imminent.

What are important factors to bring you in Top Rated Freelancer Club?

First of all, I made a 4 digit dollar number in a year. The amount was not grand, I hardly paid the bills. The most important thing is that all of my clients provided feedback, and 60% of my clients came back to me with repeat work.

Respond to invitations immediately

I decline most of the invitations that come my way, but even declining is a response and it shows you keep an eye on your freelance account.
It is also helpful for the clients since they are able to forego and move on to other freelancers.

You will also see that when I got interviewed, I almost always got hired.
Why did this happen? I am very selective about applying to jobs, and when a client gets in touch with me they mostly pick me for the job.

Final words

1. Don't post bids for any and every open project you come across. 
2. Respond to job invitations quickly.
3. Be decisive, and learn to say NO
4. Make sure 90% of the projects you undertake end up in success

Decline oDesk Jobs Artfully

Yesterday I got 5 interview invitations via oDesk. Most of those were not relevant to my skill set, the were some about Excel spread sheet data entry, web-site development, and even cards image designing.

What to do if you don't have the skills to complete the job?
Seriously, what should you do? Is it okay to lure the client in and get them to hire you and then sub-contract the job to someone else? I don't think so. If you can spend a few hours and learn the skill needed for the job then perhaps you should just go ahead and learn the skill and let the client know. A skill is always useful, maybe some time in future you will get a bigger or a better job based on a skill you learned for a small project.



Demo TCP/IP Sockets Read and Write in C#, Free Udemy Course from Naeem Akram on Vimeo.

Maintain a consistent profile
There was an Excel data entry job invitation which I could have completed in an hour or so. It was a good $20 quick gig, but then I thought what would be the impact of this quick 20 on my profile? I have a profile packed with software development and mobile app development jobs, a project like this will make my profile look bad and maybe some time in future it will cost me loosing a good mobile programming project as well.

A marketing opportunity!

Even when you are declining a job, you have an opportunity to connect with a potential client. Maybe some time in future this same client will have a job that is perfectly suitable for you and s/he will have your name somewhere in their mind since you will be one of the few noble souls who took an extra minute to write a reasonable response while declining their job invitation.

So, take it as an opportunity and promote your services whenever you can wherever you can.
"Bad publicity" is nothing, take each and every opportunity and squeeze it until you get the last drop of juice out of it. And don't just spill that juice all over the place, put in a jug or maybe a bucket :)

oDesk Flag as Inappropriate Fraud Job Offering Trade

I came across a job on oDesk today, whoever posted this job must be thinking that freelancers are some sort of beggars. A screen shot of the job post is given below.

Complete text of the bid is given on the end of the post for reference, and fun.
The person says "I CAN GIVE YOU SOFTWARE IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR WORK. NOT CASH. I HAVE SOFTWARE SUCH AS ADOBE CS6 THAT I AM WILLING TO GIVE."

Wait a minute, who are you give away software produced and sold by Adobe?
And even if someone needs free software, they can get it easily from torrents and warez websites. Even a fool won't work his ass off to experience your so called generosity. Go get a life man!

This post is a perfect example of how over-clever people operate, basically they think they're so smart that can get their way with anyone.
Freelancers! stay away from such crazy people.

What can you do about such a job? Well I flagged it as inappropriate, and marked it as "Asking for free work.

I recommend you also do the same, it will be very helpful to keep online freelancer community happy.

End of the day, we need cash to buy bread "Adobe CS 6" we can get on our own!

Text of fraudulent bid

THIS JOB IS INTENDED AS A TRADE. I CAN GIVE YOU SOFTWARE IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR WORK. NOT CASH. I HAVE SOFTWARE SUCH AS ADOBE CS6 THAT I AM WILLING TO GIVE.

I just bought a script from codecanyone: http://codecanyon.net/item/restaurant-order-mobile-app-android-ios/7668912

I need to make some modifications to it and put it in format to put in the appstore and android market after.

Modification include: adding a QR code system, so customers may scan a QR at each table and it knows what restaurant and table they are at. This also means that a QR generator is also needed for backend.

I also need to brand the application, (custom logo, custom name, small things like that).

I also may need to add a payment system.

ONLY APPLY IF YOU ARE OK WITH TRADE.

One-time Project: Port an existing app

Project Stage: I have designs

Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android

You will be asked to answer the following questions when applying:
You are ok with not getting paid with cash, but instead getting paid with software such as adobe cs6 complete?
Can you give me examples of work?

Which software do you want me to give you in exchange for your work?

Many contractors hired on one freelance job, should you accept an offer?

On ODesk I recently posted a bid on a job, and got an offer from the client. I had asked for a small upfront payment, just to make sure the client has stakes in the fix price job. But the job offer sent by client was without any upfront payment.

I went back to the original job posting to see something, and I noticed that another contractor was already hired on the job. That contractor had a nice profile, so I started clicking around to get more information about the client. In his the client's past ODesk contracts, I found another job with same hiring pattern, only on a very large scale. The screen shot of the bizarre scenario with 8 people on one job is given below:

Over the weekend I stayed confused, tried my level best to resist the temptation, and finally accepted the job offer.
I sent a message to the client after accepting the job, and started work according to the specifications outlined in the job posting. It was about creating an Android app which would disconnect calls received from a list of numbers maintained by a community. It was a very simple task on older versions of Android but the latest ones don't let apps mess with telephone calls freely. I spent a full day on the job researching ways to make things work, I was also expecting an answer from the client and I got desperate by the end of day cause that's not the way it's supposed to be.
Have got a reasonable number of projects on my profile, and I believe clients serious about their work communicate frequently. But, I decided to wait and see until next day.
The next day I sent another message to the client, expressing the doubts I had about him. But he didn't talk back, and some time after mid-day I decided to end the contract.

Drop Scene:
Later that day, the client sent me a message through ODesk saying that I had already spent several hours on the job and I should not end the contract as my work would be wasted this way.
But, I had taken time before cutting the cord and I had a gut feeling that this project is not going anywhere.

But something good came out:
A complete day was spent without making a dime, but I got a very good idea from this project which I turned into an app and it's already in the play store now.
As a matter of fact, "Best Call Blocker" my app on Play store was a cross between two different stories. First I described above and second one's related to my 18 months old son who loves to play with my phone. He often makes unwanted calls, to his tiny miney girlfriends as I say :)
While researching how to block incoming calls for the "polygamist client", I came to know how can I block outgoing calls based on dialled number.