yes, this is good advice. Always research your clients, just as they should research us. However, being a "new" writer is irrelevant, so long as you have a portfolio behind you. I was a "new" writer on ODesk too, but that didn't mean I was new, just new to the site. You have to be willing to stand up for yourself and not get bullied by clients. 1 good client is worth 20 bad ones
The "buyers" wanting 10s or even 100s of articles generally know what they are doing. Many of them are hoping the promise of a lot of work will cause you to accept less pay. But, the real scammers are the ones who expect you to write a large portion or even all of the work before they pay. The first claim is often a lie. Your price should be your price. You can always negotiate down later. It's rare to be able to increase your price. More often than not, the additional work doesn't come anyway. I never write without a deposit. If you do, write only one article. Yeah, it's a pain for both parties when there's a big order. But, at least it reduces the risk for both sides. A real buyer should expect to pay piecemeal or pay a deposit. It saddens me every time I see a writer taking on the entire risk with large orders. You were scammed before you even wrote the first word.
I think everyone who is starting out in the freelance writing industry should read this, and they`ll always be one step ahead of scammers.Thank you YMC.
Yes, yes yes. DO NOT work for free. here are a couple of scams or potential scams to avoid: 1. It's a small job but they still want you to create a sample. The sample is usually part of the actual work to be done. 2. "I need a whole bunch of product descriptions written, here is one to do as a test." yeah? What's to stop you from giving that test to 200 writers, each with a different product? Oh look, you got your descriptions for free if you have an ODesk profile with 10 jobs in progress, 10 completed and rated projects and a portfolio with 10 items, let's say, not counting what's on your website, there is really no reason you should have to prove to anyone you can write an article, or blog, or whatever. There may be times when a legitimate sample is required, but not always. I hate to see people get taken advantage of, especially writers who are just trying to make a living. That's why I wrote my book, it's not just about making money but what to do and not do. Sorry for the shameless promotion
Funny indeed, I`ve also fallen into the trap of free samples a couple of times,and the moment I uploaded the sample, that was the last time I heard from the client.Like you check out the job post a few weeks later, and you`ll notice that the client interviewed everyone who applied for the job, but there were no hires.This means that everyone wrote a sample article, and the client got free writing services. If you`re gonna write a sample, make sure that you`ll be compensated for it.