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How many of you use sites like People Per Hour (PPH), Elance and Guru etc?  Yes, I thought so!  And how many of you have been successful in obtaining work through them?  Me neither!  I’ve been contacted a couple of times after placing a bid, but I’ve never been successful in contracting work through them.

But still I persist.  Mainly because they are free to sign on to!  I also use them when I’m recruiting for clients.

I have some tips that you may want to consider using, either as a provider or as a buyer.  You may think, “What does she know if she’s not been successful,” but you never know and these may help you land a job.

As a Service Provider

1. Be specific in responding to the ad placed.  Two lines on how great you are doesn’t cut the mustard.
2. Set your bid at a reasonable level and consider justifying your bid.
3. Respond to individual points in detail.
4. Send (when possible) links to previous work you’ve undertaken or add files to your profile.
5. Be quick!  If there’s been 87 bids for a typing job, do you really want to be #88?
6. Sign up for email alerts on new jobs posted; it’ll save you time looking through each site individually.

As a Buyer

1. Think clearly about what or who you want to hire.
2. If the website doesn’t give you the catergories you need to be able to pigeon hole your requirements, list them in the job information section.
3. Be reasonable in setting your fee.  Either an hourly rate or by project and consider who is going to be reading your ad.  If you use PPH, for example, it’s UK based so the response is going to be mainly from UK based service providers.  They are not going to bid £1/hr for transcription work and you’ll be disappointed when no-one bids or you get a shoddy transcript.
4. Close your job after you receive 10-15 bids.  Are you really going to go through all 57 bids..?
5. Do choose your supplier carefully.  Ask for previous work and/or testimonials.
6. Shortlisting candidates makes it easier to finally select the right one and contacting them directly helps to get a feel for their skills and experience.  Do follow through, though and keep them up to date on what’s happening with the project.

Useful?  If you’ve got a thought on using these kind of sites, do get in touch.

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service.  Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money.  Find out more

I recently read Maggie Berney’s post on her reaction to the Radio 4 Woman’s Hour interview with Emma Walker, Justine Curtis  and eminent sociologist Dr Brendan Burchell.

While I didn’t hear the interview myself, the comments and reaction to this interview had me thinking.  I’d like to address a number of points that come up regularly for me and may be of interest to you, whether you’re working from home or not.

1. Missing personal contact with others.
I’ve said before that I do miss the water-cooler moments of a regular, office based job.  Saying that, however, there are so many forums and on & off line networks that one can join, being ‘lonely’ for me is not an option!  And if I’ve got Skype up, being alone can sometimes be difficult too!

2. Not being in a team or part of a work-based group.
Well, what’s not being part of a team when working with and for others is your bread and butter?  At least in my job, running my own business, I can pick and choose who I work with.  There are many examples I could give where I’ve felt as though I was excluded from the clique, (too high-school for words) and all the good gossip and office politics, as well as the hiring and firing, was done in the smokers room!  And I don’t smoke.

3. The client not being able to trust me & vice versa.
It is true that the majority of my clients, past & present, I have never met.  And this may be a restricting factor in hiring virtual personnel for some.  However, as someone who holds credit card details for a number of clients & has access to suppliers’ bank accounts, trust is something that is mutually developed over a period of time.  I wouldn’t ask a client to leave me his credit card details on day 1; instead I take the time to develop a relationship with them, showing them that I can be trusted in all matters and that hiring me & Red Box was a positive thing to do for them and their business.

It’s about mutual respect.  I have been stung a couple of times with late or non-payment from clients and so with new clients have a retainer system which is a win-win for all involved.

4. Juggling the work/life balance.
As you may know, I originally relocated to Portugal to regain my work/life balance.  It wasn’t as though I had a hugely stressful job; but I rarely saw my husband, who did.  We made the joint decision to move away from London and get our marriage back on track.  Having an incredibly supportive partner is a bonus and takes the pressure off being the bread winner/housekeeper/vet/personal shopper that many women face.  I greatly admire those who work from home and also have demanding children/parents/partner/friends/pets.  I’m not sure I would be as disciplined as needed to run a business from home and still be on speaking terms with my loved ones.

In the end, working from home is something that must be considered in the cold light of day and not something to rush into after a bad day in the office.  But it works for me and my family (all 3 of us) and for my clients, too.

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is the owner and sole-operator of Red Box Virtual Office, a off-site business support service.  Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money.  Find out more