Techytechy

One key aspect that online tech money makers must put into consideration is the security of the site or web domain that they are working with. With the constant influx of billions of dollars over the internet per hour, no wonder many scammers and unauthentic tech sites have tried to steal most of the people’s hard earned electronic cash.

However, this is not always the case. Fortunately, money making sites such as GetAFreelancer, Scriptlance and ODesk all have their own security strengths. In this regard, it is best to highlight Scritplance since it may be the freelancing site with the most secure and tech safe money transactions done over the Internet. Compared to other freelancing sites, Scriptlance has a tighter security protocol that any hacker can really be challenged.

For one, Scriptlance has an automatic IP detection system. Yes, most sites have this mechanism pre-installed into their system to automatically harvest the IP addresses of their visitors but what Scriptlance does remarkably well is during user logs. When a particular user logs into the site, their IP address is always recorded. The trick now is what if this same user will use another computer bearing another IP address to log into the same account? Well, Scriptlance really treats this as a threat, hence they always ask for a security question from the user to ensure that you are still THAT same user.

This is very different from other freelance sites wherein there is basically no scrutiny over this area. No matter how many different IP addresses you use, still you can log into your account with ease and without any interruption whatsoever. This scheme from Scriptlance may sound too tight but mind you this is practically very useful in countering fraudulent users and account hacks. You can just imagine how fast it is for somebody else to withdraw money to your account and transfer them into their own account if ever they managed to crack your user login info. Your hundreds or thousands of dollar commission may all be gone within a days time, the worse if everything happens in less than an hour, which is very much possible.

Moreover, your email will automatically be notified that your account was successfully opened using another IP address, at this certain time, and informing the account user that the security question you placed at the front line of your ‘anti-hacking defense’ was successfully cracked. Therefore, if somebody else managed to log into your account then you’ll know eventually.

Another tech security measure done by Scriptlance is the way they usually ask for a re-log after a specified number of minutes of being idle within your account. Again, this may seem very troublesome for the ordinary user but as a matter of fact, this helps a lot in instilling secure log-ins into each online account.

All in all, Scriptlance may be way ahead compared to GetAFreelancer and ODesk, in terms of tech security measures. But still, all of these freelance sites are pretty secure so there is little or less reason to worry about your static electronic money online.

Freelancers and tech savvy individuals are often plagued with the same question of how much will be the expected income. Let’s say in a months time of freelance writing, even the most established freelance writers cannot concretely identify the extent of one’s earning potential. This varies greatly however due to various factors that must be put into consideration. Well, you don’t earn thousands of dollars overnight with freelance writing — now that will put your thinking back to reality. But nevertheless, this endeavor will give you a rewarding online tech career wherein you yourself are the boss.

Where are you doing your freelance writing?

Freelance writing is very relative to the site or company in which you are doing your writing. Is it at GetAFreelancer, Scriptlance, Odesk, Elance, or other popular web domains that brag of thousands of projects for writers to engage in? Frankly speaking, these sites surely won’t give you that much money per month if you are targeting an income of tens and thousands of dollars. Earning more or less $500 will be the most realistic estimate of what you can have granting that you are one of the ‘more than the average’ types of freelancer. But honestly, this is fairly enough if you are just doing this as a part time job. This hard earned electronic cash can be your payment for your monthly bills and even give you something extra.

If you are patient enough, these freelance sites have some projects that are posted with big compensations. Unlike the standard $2 to $3 per 500 words charging, some jobs can pay you as much as $10 to $15 an article. This is where you should look at! The problem with the popular freelance websites above is that they are already too congested with millions of freelance writers or subscribers that the level of competition is already too high. In this connection, this will give fewer chances for the new comers to prove their writing skills. And the worse part is if most of the other writers become too competitive that they are very willing to do the job at the lowest price possible. This often leads to the unbearable truth of VERY LOW wages like $1 per 500 words. Sadly, this system still exists until today.

However, looking for high-paying projects is a very tedious, not to mention another very competitive process. Many freelancers often become frustrated over not winning these types of projects. If you are just patient enough you will find dozens of other high-paying sites that offer lucrative freelance writing opportunities. Even if you are not that much of a tech person, you will still earn more than what most freelancers earn at the mentioned freelancing sites above. For example, direct writer hiring, publishing companies and craigslist are some of the many other areas that MAY give you BIGGER earning potential. Most of these can be found on the Internet so there is little or less need to worry. Just make sure you know how to look at the right places and you will surely hit straight at your tech freelance writing gold mine.

The Internet is very rich with online money making opportunities for every freelancer who is working at home today. Freelance sites such as ODesk, Elance and many others are among the most popular ones. But out of these many domains, two stand out among the rest – GetAFreelancer and Scriptlance.

However, every freelancer questions as to where they can start and what firm they must pick. Well, please find below some of the advantages and or disadvantages of GetAFreelancer and Scriptlance.
 

GetAFreelancer
 
Advantages:
 

1. You can enroll your account for a monthly gold membership for less than $20 that enables you to stretch your bid limits to more than one hundred online bids. In this connection, you will experience no more project fees taken for each bid that you will win.
2. There are plenty of projects for every programmer or provider with any skill type.
3. There is a very friendly user interface.
4. You can make use of the superb, perhaps unrivalled PM (private messaging) mechanism to communicate between project buyers and providers.

 
Disadvantages:

1. There are lots of limitations in bidding. There are those projects that can only be entered by providers who are gold members whereas other projects can be entered by those who are only new providers with no single rating at all. This is practically difficult if ever you are already an established writer or freelancer in GAF with lots of good ratings.
2. You are discouraged from negotiating deals outside of their site. You can even be sanctioned if ever you will be discovered to have made transactions directly out of GAF.

Scriptlance

Advantages:

1. There are lots of online projects, perhaps more than what GetAFreelancer has to offer.
2. You can enjoy unlimited bids wherein you can bid as much as you like.
3. You can have a portfolio of your resume so that the project buyers can scan through them and assess whether you are qualified or not.
4. You can report your earnings outside of their site. For example, if you happen to receive payments directly from PayPal then you can ask an authentication from your project buyer so that it can elevate your standing high up the freelance site.

 
Disadvantages:

1. There is a $5 project fee for every won bid. This means that your account will automatically be deducted with the said amount every time you win a bid. This is contrary to what GetAFreelancer has been doing wherein even if you win 20 projects in a month, you won’t be deducted any fee whatsoever. In Scriptlance, if you win the same 20 projects then you’ll pay the cumulative sum of $100 for an entire month. This happens because there is no gold membership for providers at Scriptlance.
2. Many users at Scriptlance may find their interface to be less attractive. Although this is relatively minor, this will still make an impact to the number of freelancers that will register in their site.

 
Overall may it be Scritplance or GetAFreelancer, every user can sign up and assess for him or herself what best suits his or her online freelancing needs. It is a highly competitive workplace so it’s good to start now. You can even work under both if you like!

Good ratings at GetAFreelancer are the project magnets for all GAF users online. Project buyers and tech programmers will surely look for the freelancers with a decent amount of positive ratings to do the job for them. This gives the project buyers the confidence to hire you as their writer, tech specialist, SEO expert or many other job opportunities at hand. But first, you need to know the top 3 qualities that every GAF freelancer should know in order to earn the best provider ratings. These are the most basic rules that I followed and have helped me earn a dozen 10 out of 10 ratings in a matter of 2 to 3 months.

1. Promptness

At GetAFreelancer, everything is governed by schedules and usually very tight deadlines. Hence, as an online tech freelancer, writer or whatever field you specialize in, must be prompt so as to meet the deliverables on time. You should not let your client wait and it is your job to meet his expectations. Delays and alibis will just lead you to earning negative ratings and bad impressions from the buyers.

2. Producer of Quality & Error-Free Articles

Online writing at GetAFreelancer is both easy and difficult. It is easy because you have lots of resources to use online. On the contrary, you are also obligated to produce copy-free, not to mention error-free articles that meet the client’s standards of quality. This means that you need to check and recheck again and again your articles before sending them to the buyer. First impressions last and surely you don’t want your clients to have initial negative remarks for you. Trust me, the first time you meet or work with your buyer is the most critical since you will be rated accordingly. That’s why you need to at least show him or her all good outputs and nothing more.

3. Adherence To Client’s Instructions

Project buyers are very strict with instructions. If ever they demand a certain font type, font size and formatting to your articles then make sure that you follow them. Instructions also include word count, number of sentences per paragraph, citation of sources, the use of a summary, the provision of an outline, concluding statements and many other more.

Overall, just make sure to follow these top three qualities that every GAF freelancer needs to muster. Surely, at the end of every project that you have closed you’ll earn some well deserved positive comments and desirable ratings from your buyers. These user ratings will do you well in your GetAFreelancer online tech career especially if you managed to gather lots of very good ratings.

There’s no doubt about it, GetAFreelancer is one of the best online freelance sites that any tech and non tech individual can go to earn a decent flow of money. In this regard, since money is involved in the topic there are many opportunists who take advantage of other freelancers in the effort to ’steal’ their money and commissions. The good thing is that technology has paved the way to simplify things and at least prevent scams from happening at GetAFreelancer. Here are some few tips on how you as a tech freelancer, can avoid being involved in one.

1. The Escrow

Firstly, it is pretty obvious that GetAFreelancer has developed one of the most secure designs in payment transactions between the project buyer and the provider (writer, designer, translator, SEO expert, publisher, etc.). They have developed the so-called escrow system wherein the buyer is required to place the money inside a certain online account that assures that provider that he or she will get paid. In this connection, all providers must make sure that they ‘demand’ their buyers to deposit the lump sum of the remuneration in the escrowed account. When the money is under escrow, the GAF support team has a certain hold of the money in the account; the money can only be cancelled when the GAF team’s approval has been made. This ensures that the depositor of the money cannot readily withdraw the funds anytime he wishes to.

2. Release The Escrow!

In line with the tip above, the second tip is basically the most effective of them all. Prior completion of the project, you must ask the buyer to release the escrowed amount to your account. Even half of the agreed total compensation would be a great trust builder once it is given to the provider upon the completion of 50% of the project. At GetAFreelancer, buyers usually release half of the total remuneration when the project has reached halfway. This is actually a win-win situation that will surely lessen the doubts from both parties. The full amount of the agreed sum must immediately be released from escrow after the client has reviewed the deliverables.

3. Buyer’s User Ratings

Take particular attention to the buyer’s user ratings. Oftentimes, these ratings are the lifeblood of every GetAFreelancer user. Either the buyer or the provider is forced to build a positive image in GAF through ratings or feedbacks. As a provider, it is required to browse over the comments found in the buyer’s user ratings page. In here, you’ll see how well the buyer has acted or behaved in the past with regards to his or her relationships with other providers. Remember, the most number of ratings is not always the best or safest choice for even those with one single rating can be more trustworthy than them.

4. Know His Contact Addresses

Lastly, establish several lines of communication with the buyer. For example, you must really take note of his email addresses. It is advisable to get one to two alternate email addresses other than the primary email address of the client. You can also get his online messenger addresses like Yahoo Messengers, AIM, Skype and many others. These ordeals may seem to be troublesome but at least you are doing yourself a favor so that you can avoid being involved in any form of tech scams in the future. Fortunately for some providers, they even get the chance to know the personal and work phone numbers of their GetAFreelancer buyers.

In the long run, once you follow these simple tips you are more or less assured that you will get the money promised to you at GetAFreelancer and that you will have a smooth experience using tech to its fullest benefit.

There are lots of things that a typical tech freelancer needs to do and know before writing online at freelance sites such as GetAFreelancer or Scriptlance. Among all of the most important things, three of the most basic are highlighted below. Read more so that you’ll know how to level up your writing skills and perhaps earn more at freelance writing sites.

1. Observe Word Count

You must pay particular attention to the word count of what you write. At GetAFreelancer and Scriptlance, the project buyers usually limit your work to a certain word count. Based on experience, you will later find out that most projects are priced at per article per word count basis. This means that each project owner will hunt for writers to do some writing jobs at $3 per 500 words per article and the like.

To help you in doing such, you can simply use Windows’ MS Word. Don’t worry this is just simple tech. Just turn on the word count toolbar of your MS Word typing program by right clicking at any toolbar space near the menu and tick the word count option. With this turned on, you can simply highlight your content and see how many words you have made so far. The word count result will actually appear inside a box at the toolbar section.

Moreover, there are other free online websites that will let you paste your content to do a final assessment to the word count of your finished product. Just make a search at Google, for example, and you’ll surely bump into one of these domains.

2. Write Original Content

Almost all project buyers at freelancing sites all need and want original content for obvious reasons. The Internet nowadays are full of redundant content that are slowly being hunted by popular search engines like Google to track the original source and shut down (or even penalize) the duplicate hybrid sources. In this regard, you as a freelance writer must make sure that you will only make purely original and copy-free articles. Hence, you need to get your ideas from at least 3 sources so that you won’t end up copying or plainly rewriting the content from one single source.

To help you, you can verify your output by pasting it against free and paid duplicate scanning tech programs online like Copyscape and DupeFreePro. I suggest the latter because you can readily download the program and install it in your hard drive so that you can perform online plagiarism searches without paying any cent.

3. Make An Outline

Organize your thoughts by making an outline. This is a standard procedure, not only in online writing at GetAFreelancer or Scriptlance, but also with all forms of writing outside of cyberspace. This will surely ensure that you write in a cohesive way and practice a more unified approach in writing down your thought. Take note that all project buyers at freelancing sites want to get free flowing articles from their writers. And it will be good to know how to make effective topic outlines for your articles.

With these three important to dos before writing, you can surely be at par with most top caliber online freelance writers at GetAFreelancer and Scriptlance. Make full use of the advantages of tech and start earning good money online through writing.

To succeed as a tech freelancer at GetAFreelancer, you have to follow some important tips before you try and dive immediately to the GAF battlefield. These will not just help you get more money but will also give you the chance to improve your writing skills.

1. Often, tech writers and freelancers in general start it slow at GetAFreelancer. Writers often stumble on the question as to what his or her field of expertise really is. Is it on health topics, technology niche, feature writings or just about anything else? Well, rest assured it is believed that you have some firm background in at least three subject areas to begin with. Hence, make this as your starting point. For example, if ever there are projects that require you to write movie reviews and it so happens that you are a movie addict yourself then go ahead and try taking on the project.

2. Next, writing at freelancing sites will not make any profit or money if you are not knowledgeable with a wide array of subject matters. In this regard, the Internet has a plethora of information that you can read anytime you want. This information can be borrowed, paraphrased and twisted so that it will appear as if it was your own original content. Hence the term copywriting.

Truthfully, it is very difficult to pinpoint who is the original author of a certain articles online. That’s why you can use this to your advantage so that you can write about some technical topics even if you have little or no exposure with these subject matters. You can be an instant expert for as long as you are going to read several articles a day and write articles that will sound like it came from an expert.

3. Thirdly, you need to refresh your vocabulary and grammar. If you’re confident enough to say that your education has provided you with a very solid language base then that’s good but if not then we can still do something about it. You need not learn the most complex forms of sentence structures, because writing at GetAFreelancer is simply making articles that are readable, understandable, simple and direct to the point. The Internet has various online tutorial services for free that can help you refresh your vocabulary.

4. Lastly, you must make a habit of proofreading your work at least three times before submitting them to your buyer or project owner. Trust me, buyers will really see the difference with proofread work and those that were haphazardly submitted and full of erroneous mistakes. Human as we are, there are just some occasions wherein we forget some aspects of grammar.

There are actually lots of online software programs that will help you in proofreading your work. But if ever you happen to write your first draft directly using Word programs like Windows then you are gifted with a very efficient spell check and a very smart grammar auto detect system. With this, you’ll be assured that your clients will be 80 to 99% assured of the error-free quality of your work. Take note, almost all project buyers don’t have the time to edit the works of their writers. Hence, it is best to do this in their behalf.

Overall, for you to earn some hard earned money in tech endeavors such as freelancing at GetAFreelancer online, you simply need to follow the above tips. Try it out and build your freelancer reputation online.

To become a successful tech freelancer at GetAFreelancer, you also need to master some ingenious strategies to survive this very competitive online tech world. Even if you are a nurse, an artist or a musician only, you can still win bids online.

1. If you happen to earn at least $12 or have been awarded your first positive provider rating then you are up for a good start. At this point you are now at a stable footing at GetAFreelancer. With your $12, you can subscribe for the gold membership status and increase your bid limit from less than 20 to more than a hundred bids. Trust me; this is a very good offer. As stated in their official website, the gold members are the ones who will win most projects and in fact this is no joke. The other advantage of being a gold member is that you can make a bid for projects that are exclusively for gold members only. This in turn will give you more chances of winning because you have placed many bids per day. And not to mention, you will not pay any project commission fee if you will win a project as a gold member in comparison with non-gold members.

2. Also make sure you that possess a very effective communication skill. By this, I don’t only mean that you should be able to speak well but must also be able to respond to emails promptly. Good communication skill is one of the best assets that a tech freelancer can have. Many buyers focus their interest to those who will reply to their emails quickly.

3. In this regard, it is best to set up an account with several of the best instant messengers like Yahoo Messenger, AIM, MSN Messenger, Skype and many others. If you can be available in these modes then the buyer will be more interested to discuss the project with you further online.

4. This last strategy is basically very much related to the previous strategies above. You should be a freelancer who is available most of the time (at least to respond to your project buyer on time) and must not be prone to accidents, power shortages and other tech difficulties. This is one of the most common reasons why some buyers dislike other writers. This will only build bad reputation to a freelancer.

All in all as a freelancer at GetAFreelancer, you must also try your best to maintain a very good image to your clients. You can only do this by completing projects on time, providing error free services online and maintain good communication skills.

Perhaps you are experiencing the problem of not winning any bids during your first week or month of participating online at GetAFreelancer and you are already questioning yourself if you, as a nurse or whatever tech expertise you have, are enough to meet the demands of the clients. Well, this sounds depressing but it is good to know that there are some ways to level up things in the highly competitive freelancer world and earn a living online.

Like I did, I pretty much started with scratch. Zero balance, no money online and with no form of positive reputation whatsoever. But through time, I’ve learned some steps that gave me the chance to earn at least $300 in a month’s time. Although this may seem pretty small for those who want to make it really big, at least this is a very good start to know how far you can go. Here are some easy steps on how you can become more successful than the rest of the beginner freelancers at GetAFreelancer.

1. First, you need to bid wisely, you need to bid on projects that you are able to compete. Let’s say you want to bid for a certain project, you need to look at the bid end date and the number of freelancers who have already made their bids. This will give you the idea if you have lots of competitors who can match with your starting offer. Even if sometimes, you cannot see how much the rest have offered, you still have an idea as to how many have made their bids on a particular project just by looking at the bid count. This happens because some project owners set their projects to hide the other competing bids from each project bidder.

2. Next, make sure you trust the project owner. There is what we call as user ratings for project buyers. The more positive their ratings the more trustworthy the buyer is. We really cannot rule out the fact that there may be some scam tech projects published in GAF so make sure that you choose only those that seem authentic.

3. On the other side of the coin, even if you start with zero provider ratings for yourself, some buyers will still be attracted with your offer for as long as you bid a moderately cheap amount for the service that you are going to render. Let’s say, the buyer has a budget of $30 to $250 for 10 500-word articles. The best way to approach this is to bid at the least bid amount, about $30 for the entire 10 articles. This will surely get the attention of the buyer. For beginners, this money offer ($3 per 500 word article) is already very lucrative.

4. Lastly, never forget to attach a sample of your topnotch article for the buyer to scrutinize. Oftentimes, buyers search for the PMs (private messages) of the providers before selecting them. So make sure you attach or post in PM something that will be very appealing. Don’t take for granted the power of this simple tech capability. It is your life support at GetAFreelancer.

So go ahead and apply these simple techniques in improving your online tech freelancer career at GetAFreelancer and you will earn some good money in no time.

By now you may have already read the previous posts and that it is assumed that you now have an active GetAFreelancer account. Here is the tricky part – you are now involved in a very tight competition to win your first ever bid. Either you are a nurse, a tech lover, a teacher or a lawyer will not guarantee you victory in winning the online bids. Remember, this is an online career that can make you earn at least $300 dollars a month.

You must note that you only have a very limited amount of bids allowable per month around 19 bid powers. Although you can stretch this limit by subscribing to become a gold member, still it is hard to lure the project buyers or owners to choose to your bid.  

1. Before you start your bid, read carefully all the details that are placed in the project description. It is wise to check what skills or expertises are needed in the project. Is it SEO, pure copywriting or both? So once the requirement is clear, ask yourself if you are able to do the project and that you have the beginning skills to complete it. The key here is beginning skills. You need not be an expert in tech, SEO or copywriting for you to win your first ever project. I for one don’t know much about it but through time, I learned how to satisfy my customers at GetAFreelancer online.

2. Secondly, you must know about the budget of the project. Before making any bid try to place in your offer an amount that is not too pricey and not too cheap. Somewhere in between is ideal. Project buyers usually choose for the top quality writers that can deliver quality outputs at the most cost effective offer possible. So make sure you make an impression by making a wise offer. In here, you can start small and bid with a cheaper offer. Surely, you cannot make the buyers choose you if you are asking much and yet still a beginner right?

3. Next, you need to set a feasible and realistic timetable as to when you can possibly complete the entire project. The quicker the better but please make sure that you won’t miss the deadlines or else you will slowly pile up a bad reputation among GetAFreelancer project buyers.

4. Fill in your bid description details. You can write a sentence or two in here that will catch the attention of the buyer. Let’s say you will state here that you have a solid background in English or that you have written for some small-fry or even (the better) big newspaper before. The technique here is to draw the attention of the buyer so that they will be forced to read and respond to your PM or private message tab.

5. In this connection, you can leave a note like ‘please refer to my PM’ at the end of your bid description. In here, you can display a sample article that you have made before. Just make sure that this write-up is error free: grammatically sound and possess the best sentence structure possible. This will tell the buyer that you are a good writer, if he needs someone to write for him.

Once he responds to your PM, the sales talk will follow and you’ll have a bigger chance of winning your GetAFreelancer bids. The next post will dig deeper into other simple tech strategies.