Online Jobs and Telecommuting Watch Dog: How My Role Changes As I Learn More

My Initial Intentions

I started this blog with a million things in mind: how to help people like me, with superb skills, that wanted to work from home or wanted advice for their existing business on the wide ocean tides of the Internet, websites that offer opportunities, and strategies to market oneself in ways that are free.

I've come head-on into a collision with my best intentions.  Many of the programs I research and use myself don't end up in money in the bank for my readers, but countless hours refilling out resumes, for nothing.

Maybe I'm just a little down on my bathrobe business casual mentality; that if you have brains and skill you can make rent, or whatever, with your wile and guile and a little know how from a blog dedicated to not only your success, but the success of the person writing it.  No paychecks coming from lying and selling you shit that doesn't work, now is there?

The bottom line is that I'm making this post as self therapy in a way, and also as a warning that working a non-traditional 9 to 5 can be demoralizing, unscrupulous, and downright a waste of time.  So let us carry on and look at the details.

oDesk and it's protection of contractors: to sign an application through this company you must abide by the following code:

1. oDesk does not offer mediation or arbitration services. 
   
   If you do the work and the employer refuses to pay, oDesk will not be able to help.

Please choose Fixed Price jobs carefully. You may want to start off with smaller jobs to reduce the risk.

Good luck!

This isn't what the brochure said, and it sure doesn't make me feel comfortable with the time I've spent doing work for others, who could just as likely not pay me for it with no consequence.

It's disheartening, I know, but the hardiest of my readers will keep pursuing it and hope that they are treated fairly, even though there is apparently no guarantee that they will be.

That's the thing about writers, they have a tendency to write no matter what.

I wanted to bring this little clip to all my readers attention, and let them know that the waters are indeed filled with piranhas.  The best way you can help other readers and help me endorse or not endorse different platforms and freelance job opportunities is to Comment, and share your experiences on what works and what doesn't.

We're all working together in a sense.  Please leave your experiences on this page so we can rule out companies that do not provide the type of work we require, and focus on how to present yourself online in ways that facilitate legitimate work, and finding jobs and gigs that put real money in your pocket.

Elance Gets Mixed Reviews Online

Elance Gets Hammered In Forums From Employers

I'm almost done with the seemingly endless requirements, testing, verification, and personal information gathering required to start applying for jobs on Elance, when I stumble upon a huge number of articles slamming Elance for misrepresenting their contractors, not handling the prepaid money employers put up for a project correctly (this fund is called escrow), and making employers fight way to hard in a system with little customer service and hole-filled safety measures for returning the money to its rightful owner if the job isn't done right. 


While this is a freelancing blog, this is also a business blog, and I want to make a statement here to people who are considering using Internet employment/professional connection sites like Elance to contract out some of their writing, editing, or coding business needs.  From what I hear online, Elance is not the place to go to find contractors for website development, and especially the more complex types of coding.  Several links to these stories, and the inexcusably poor customer service Elance offered them concerning large sums of money follow.  I think the scariest part is when a gentleman had thousands in Elance Escrow, had a completely insecure product created for him, and had to call over a dozen times; pretty much just to get someone to answer the phone (which they usually don't).

• http://preview.tinyurl.com/3b9v39p - When outsourced coding looks good at first, then. . .
• http://preview.tinyurl.com/3uv9tun - Great insights on how the whole system works and advice on avoiding loopholes that allow contractors to rip you off.  BE SPECIFIC!

Here are two articles that compare the major outsourcing/freelancing websites

• http://preview.tinyurl.com/3e9cmdz - An impartial review of 6 of the top outsourcing platforms online, and some solid advice on getting the right person for the job, and clearly identifying what that job is.
• http://preview.tinyurl.com/3pdvt9n - Discusses Elance, oDesk, and Guru, offering insights for both employers and freelancers.

Freelancer's Corner
For my freelancing readers out there, I give you the thumbs up to try it.  I did not see much in the way of complaints from contractors (writers, editors, content developers, web designers, and coders) and there are reports than some contractors, whom are likely organized as a small business or group of individuals, are making millions per year on Elance.


The first advantage of Elance, and possibly the most important during a time when people are so strapped for cash, is that all employers must put the money for the project in an account with Elance to guarantee the funds actually exist.  Elance Escrow requires the funds be placed in an Elance holding account until the project is completed, or a weekly timesheet is verified and the payment authorized (did I mention they pay weekly?). 


I can't even count the number of horror stories I have heard from people: not only online freelancers but contractors, remodelers, and others, who finish the job, do it well, and get a sob story from the employer about how they can't pay for it right now.  Even worse are the stories where the project is completed and the employer refuses to answer emails, phone calls, or make any communication whatsoever.  As much as these slime bags deserve to be arrested for fraud, receiving payment for services rendered usually falls into the murky waters of civil law, and can take a long time and a lot of money for contractors to get what they deserve.


Elance has minimums for both hourly and flat rate jobs, so you won't end up working for three hours on an article that makes you absolutely nothing like many blogs and content mill sites (sites that post your articles, cover the material with ads, and share the ad revenue with the author).* 






Elance only allows projects to be posted that pay hourly or a flat rate for a certain project; revenue sharing based on popularity, Adsense revenue sharing, and a ton of other shady trade-ins for your time are not allowed.  This is a far cry from companies that take your article, cover it with ads, and give you a percentage of the money they make off the advertising, of which they generally keep 40% anyway.** 






While I don't recommend Elance.com for Employers I still think it may be a legit way to get busy and make some fair money for freelancers, so if you need a new avenue to find long- and short-term gigs, give them a go.


Getting into the world of freelance writing, editing, and coding can be a very long and arduous process.  It is filled with scams, job listings that are really a sales pitch for a pyramid schemes or 'business opportunity', employers who refuse to pay after the writing is done.  The list of pitfalls for budding freelance writers, editors, and entrepreneurs is virtually endless.  That is, in a nutshell, why this blogs exists.  To make freelancing safer for new freelance writers or business owners, and sucessful veterans alike.  I try to steer readers to legitimate services and warn them about unscrupulous ones.*** 


Sites like Elance and many others which will be discussed in greater detail in the future require aptitude tests, pages of personal information, phone verification. . . the list of time consuming tasks goes on and on.  Do your research and read what people have to say about these companies before you blow hours creating a profile that does nothing for your career (or your wallet).


*  Note On Reasons to Blog: If you are a blogger, Adsense is fine but always blog for personal reasons: to share your message, to teach, to get people thinking, whatever.  Don't do it because you think it'll pay your mortage.  Blogs like this one are best written to help others, or help yourself practice your craft and share your expertise.  Anyone who tells you your blog is an Adsense cash cow and wants to sell you a book on how to start raking it in is a conman.  There are a few exceptions to this rule: when blogging draws traffic to your personal website, when a blog helps sell a product (yours or even someone elses through affiliate marketing programs), when a blog helps promote some sort of goal you want others to participate in, invest in, or donate money to, or when a blog helps you co-promote other bloggers who cover similar topics as you.


** Note: My Weekly E-Rage Minute: Factoidz.com. . . you still owe me $1.03 for at least  6 or 7 hours worth of writing.  I'm coming for it Factoidz.  Soon, you freaking crooks.  (While upsetting, these articles were written early in my career, and my SEO was probably not what it should be.  You can see all these articles here: http://tinyurl.com/3w2jolm, http://tinyurl.com/3l5gutj, http://tinyurl.com/3wmtxne (The third link is a particularly good list of resources I found for all types of search optimization for any type of content, whether it be articles, Websites, and more.  Definitely worth a look in my opinion).


READER FEEDBACK:  Which freelancing services has been working for you?  Are there job listing sites (i.e. freelancewritinggigs.com)  you use to find niche openings on Elance, oDesk, ect. that help narrow the search for jobs?  Do you have experience writing for a couple different sites?Share your experiences and answer the aching question: which one pays the best overall?  Still have questions or additional info. we'd all benefit from?  COMMENT, and get the conversation started.

Writers and Publishers Can Keep Content Safe With Copyscape Services

Protect Yourself From Plagiarism, Re-authoring, and Use of Your Work Without Citation 

The threat of plagiarism has never been higher than it is today.  The threat of research, fiction, nonfiction, or any type of written information being copied, pasted, and assigned a false author has never been easier.  The copy/paste routine is a much simpler option for a lot of unscrupulous folks out there who don’t have the know how or are just plain lazy to create the same content.  Though I am not certain I'd label Copyscape a watchdog group quite yet, they do offer the ability to find out where writing has been stolen.  The recourse against the theft of your content may be up to you.

Note: I like to pass on great Internet resources to my readers.  Every single one of them, up to this point has been free, if I am remembering correctly.  This is a sort of hybrid: the service is a paid one, but it also offers a free download that is darn near as useful as the service itself. 

I’m not an affiliate of this or any of the websites, communities, or services I scour the internet for, to bring the best to my readers.  I just like finding cool stuff and sharing it!  Social Tsunami is my business so I’ll be talking more about that as the days go on, but that is, I hope, obviously different.  So be assured I am not a sell out.  Yet, anyway. . . .

Now on to the good stuff: protecting your writing and content online, and searching for instances where it has already been reproduced in a non-cited, unauthorized, or just plain plagiarized, re-authored manner.

Copyscape is a Web service dedicated to protecting your content.  Simply copy and paste the URL of your article, homepage, squeeze page, whatever you are concerned about, into the search engine.  It will scour the web for instances where your words have been duplicated.  If your name is not cited, and you did not sign a contract allowing someone to reproduce your material in the manner it has been, there is a problem.  There is also a free search  available if you would like to take the service for a test spin.

This is a great way to make sure all of your hard work isn’t making someone else Adsense revenue or helping them present themselves as an expert on subjects that they clearly aren’t.  Likewise, your stories belong to you, and shouldn't be out winning other people contest money or book deals.  It should be clear enough, but I seriously discourage anyone from tossing a completed manuscript for a book all over the web for a variety of reasons, even if it is copyrighted.  This can get messy with critiquing groups, editors, and people you think you can trust.  However, this is a complex topic better covered in another post. 

The paid service (starting at $4.99/mo.) not only increases the search capabilities, but also has the option of periodic scans of content you put into Copyscape’s database of your work.  They will notify you and tell you who the culprit is automatically, even if you don't think to make a search.  This can save a tremendous amount of time.  If you find someone duplicating or using your work unscrupulously, you are protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).  

This is a great service people in a variety of professions: content developers, webmasters, freelance writers, novelists, and even teachers who grade essays should check up on it.  One more tool in the tech-toolbox, but that’s not the best part for us bargain shoppers.

Free Tool Alert: Copyscape offers a variety of banners you can put pin on your work to deter others from plagiarizing it.  The few seconds it will take to input an image at the bottom of your blog posts, paste in the footer of webpages, or append to a full length article you submit to an editor for publishing (usually before you are actually paid), can save you a lot of heartache and potentially a lot of money and time pursuing plagiarism later on.  

So take some precautions, especially when they are free.  Start using the Copyscape Banners whether you have the service or not.  It will make you look savvy, and the rest of the world think twice about ripping you off.

And as always at Freelancing To Freedom, we believe free is a pretty good price.

Making Money Online: Finding Work From Home Writing and Editing

So Many Websites, Which Ones Actually Pay?
If you are looking to make some money writing online or are looking for a career where business casual is your bathrobe, I'll have some articles coming out in the near future that'll help you get started.  You can be assured that you absolutely will make money writing for the websites I review because I will have made money writing for them myself.

oDesk:  Here are my experiences making money on oDesk to date.  Check out the tips section for how I got the job and strategies to getting that first gig.