How to Choose an Elance Provider

March 30, 2010 By 1 Comment

freelance

As a small business owner you may have to outsource some work from time to time. Whether it be designing a new website or sales brochure, Elance is one place where you can find freelancers who can undertake your work. These freelancers are called Elance Providers. When you want to outsource a project, you simply create a new job at Elance. Once your job has been posted on Elance the providers will place their bids on the job. Usually you will receive an overwhelming number of bids for your job. The challenge here is to find the best provider.

In this post, I give you some tips on how to choose an Elance provider.

1. Portfolio

Make sure to first look at the provider’s portfolio to judge the quality of their work. Ensure that the work in the portfolio meets your expectations and taste.

2. Location

The location of the provider is very important. Firstly, if you and the provider are in different time zones it might be hard to coordinate the projects. Secondly, if the provider comes from a non-English speaking background you need to make sure that the provider has reasonably good knowledge of English.   

3. Feedback

Check out the feedback on the provider left by his/her previous customers. It is normal that not all feedback will be positive. But, if there are too many negative feedbacks then you should avoid that provider.

4. Repeat Clients

The percentage of repeat clients is a good factor to determine the level of service provided by the provider. If clients are happy with the work of the provider they are more likely to do business with the provider again.

5. Price

Make sure the price meets your budget. But, do not be tempted to go with the cheapest price. If the price offered by the provider is way too cheap then you might be compromising the quality of your project. Elance also gives you statistics such as the average price of all bids you have received for your job. You can use this information to negotiate with providers who quoted you with a higher price. 

6. Quality of Bid

When you receive the proposal from the provider look at the bid to see whether the provider has really read your job request. Some providers take the time to go through your job request and send you a personalized response. A very generic standardized response from the provider indicates that the provider did not pay attention to your job request.

7. Money Earned

The amount of money earned by the provider at Elance indicates the popularity of the provider. But, providers who make the most money can also be very busy. While earnings are important, they do not necessarily translate to a better service or product.

Do you have any other tips to choose an Elance provider? Please share them below.

 

Photo Credit: atconc’s photostream

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: , , ,

Are you a Shipper or Perfectionist?

February 26, 2010 By 2 Comments

There are two types of people. The Shipper and the Perfectionist. The shipper ships a product on the deadline date even when the product is not fully finished. The perfectionist only ships a product when it is fully complete. For the perfectionist, even if a small feature is incomplete it is a good enough reason to delay the delivery of the product.

Who do you want to be? Which style is better?

Here is my personal take on this issue.

While we should always strive for best quality in the products we produce, the perfectionist mentality is the NOT the right attitude for today’s fast phased market place. In today’s market place the product has to be delivered at the right time. Velocity is key. The market place moves at such a rapid phase and by being a perfectionist you may not be able to deliver the product right on time. Another problem with the perfectionist is that the perfectionist always works under more pressure compared to the shipper. Since the perfectionist prolongs the delivery of the product, the product becomes (or feels) stale over time. This is why we often end up throwing up work that was dragging for moths or weeks. Overtime the passion fades away and we perceive the product useless, even though the product has some value. Perfectionist often get stuck with a product development because they are not willing to move on to the next stage.

On the other hand the shipper attitude is great for for today’s fast phased market. Shippers are usually in better control of their products. They are much happier people than the perfectionists. By shipping the product at the right time, shippers feel a sense of achievement. Therefore they are able to do a much better job in their second delivery of the product. By shipping the products on time, the shipper tames the Lizard Brain and Resistance that has been telling the shipper all sorts of negative things such as “the delivery will not happen”, “be careful”, “your product will not be received well in the market” etc.

Do you agree with what I am saying? Which camp are you in?

If the product has a quality score of 90% and if it is going to take substantially more time to achieve a quality score of 99%, will you ship the product as it is? or will you try to achieve a score of 99% and delay the delivery of the product?

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: ,

Why Apple is the King of the Tech World?

February 26, 2010 By 4 Comments

apple_logo

Ok, that is a bit exaggerated. Apple is not the king of the tech world but no one can refute the fact that the company is a dominant player in the technology market. What makes Apple a successful company? As entrepreneurs what can we learn from Apple? In this post I try to answer these questions by identifying some of the key characteristics that set Apple apart from other tech companies.

1. Market Creators

Apple under Steve Jobs has had tremendous success in creating new markets. In the past decade alone the company has created many new products and ventured into markets that never existed before. The iMac, the iPod, and the new iPad are perfect examples of such products. While others try to capture market share, Apple succeeds in creating new markets!.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With:

How to maximize your life

February 6, 2010 By 2 Comments

This week I came across a blog called LifeBeat. It is a personal development blog with lots of valuable content. As an entrepreneur I do a fair bit of reading on the topic of personal development as it helps me to keep myself motivated. LifeBeat is written by, writer and musician, Oleg Mokhov.

Oleg has written a wonderful ebook called Life Maximization Guide. In this guide Oleg teaches you how to maximize your potential by doing more of what you like and by eliminating things that aren’t necessary in your life. Most of the information in this ebook is commonsense! But, it is worth a read because it reminds us of the importance of keeping our life simple to realize it’s full potential.

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: ,

Look outside your niche and become a superhero!

January 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

superhero

Forging relationships with bloggers and Internet Marketers outside your niche is valuable. Let me take an example to illustrate this point. Let’s assume that you have a blog providing WordPress tricks and tips. You recently developed a WordPress theme and actively promoting it in your niche. Since you have been blogging about WordPress you have a good reader base to sell your product.

But, one issue that you might face is the fact that your readers are already well informed about WordPress. They know about all the other cool themes that exist in the market. This means you have to provide lot of reasoning on why people should buy your theme over others. Since you are in a competitive niche selling becomes more challenging.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With:

Have you found the following?

January 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Roots is a popular Canadian clothing company. Recently,I bought a sweater for my daughter at Roots. The sweater was packed inside a custom made roots bag that had the following text printed on its cover. I enjoyed reading it and I would like to share it with you.

  • Find Love
  • Find Happiness
  • Find A Career
  • Find Knowledge
  • Find Balance
  • Find Your Fears
  • Find Change
  • Find Peace
  • Find Time
  • Find Respect
  • Find Honour
  • Find Growth
  • Find Life
  • Find Leadership
  • Find Your Heart
  • Find Energy
  • Find Choice
  • Find Self Confidence
  • Find You
  • Find A Vision
  • Find Creativity
  • Find Achievement
  • Find Mindfulness
  • Find History
  • Find Freedom
  • Find Strength
  • Find Action
  • Find Willpower
  • Find Today
  • Find Someone
  • Find Your Inner Voice
  • Find Power
  • Find Moments
  • Find Opportunity
  • Find Hope
  • Find Kindness
  • Find Nature
  • Find Health
  • Find Roots!
Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With:

4 Core Values for Entrepreneurial Success

January 25, 2010 By 2 Comments

What it takes to become a successful entrepreneur? Lately, I have been thinking about what kind of values we should uphold to become successful online entrepreneurs. During my thought process I came up with the following 4 core values:

1. Excellence

Excellence refers to the quality of the products and services you offer. If your products and services are of low quality you might still get away by making some quick bucks. But you will not be able to retain your customers for a long period of time. Remember, it is easier to sell to a customer who has already bought from you than selling to a customer who comes to you for the very first time. By providing quality products and services you add value to your customers.

2. Innovation

As an online entrepreneur you need to be innovative in what you do. You have to bring fresh ideas to the table. Without innovation it is very hard to be in a given market or industry for a long time. Innovation allows you to excel in your industry and venture into new markets.

3. Integrity

As an online entrepreneur you should have integrity in how you conduct your business. Building trust and relationships are key for online success. This means you have to act with integrity with your customers and peers.

4. Velocity

Last but not least, velocity is very important to your success. What is velocity? Velocity is the ability to execute your plans within an acceptable timeframe. Many entrepreneurs often fail because they deliver a great product or service too late. Quick execution of ideas is very important in the Internet Marketing world. If your timing is poor you are more likely to miss your target.

These are the core values that are most important to me as an Online Entrepreneur. What other values matter to you the most?

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship Tagged With: