SavvyLancer » Scams

Protect your intellectual property

Danalyn — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:04:40 +0000

When it comes to intellectual property, there is only one exception to the rule that everything you create belongs to you: Work for hire.

When you sign the oDesk Marketplace Agreement (along with other freelance board agreements), you are giving up the rights to everything you create, and it becomes property of the buyer – all work produced while working through oDesk is considered work-for-hire products. They belong to the buyer.

However, this only applies if you are actually hired.

Continue reading: Protect your intellectual property »

© 2008 - SavvyLancer. This Feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you are NOT reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are viewing is guilty of copyright infringement.

Buyers: Manage like a pro on oDesk

Danalyn — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:03:02 +0000

Up until now, my posts have been strictly provider-centric – there are many ways that a provider can get scammed or lose out on an opportunity because they just don't know any better.

Buyers, however, are just as susceptible to "wrongdoing" in the freelancing world. It's nice to think we can find someone to do our dirty jobs for us, but without keeping a watchful eye on the progress being made, it's easy to be taken advantage of.

oDesk provides two types of billing methods to help you pay for and manage your projects efficiently.

Continue reading: Buyers: Manage like a pro on oDesk »

Rates vs. wages

Danalyn — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:02:42 +0000

One thing that comes up often in the oDesk Community Forums is the topic of rates. More specifically, people assuming that what they are being paid is a wage, therefore demanding a minimum to be set.

What a lot of people new to freelancing aren't aware of is that they are not paid a wage, rather a contract rate. Whether the rate is hourly or fixed-price, it is one that all independent contractors set themselves.

Continue reading: Rates vs. wages »

Freelance bidding: Avoiding the red flags

Danalyn — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:19:50 +0000

Often, when browsing jobs on sites like oDesk, the occasional job will appear where a buyer requests providers be "tested". Now testing, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. Many buyers (myself included, when I post data entry jobs) will give all interviewees the same test to complete to see who can follow directions. Many buyers make it clear that 1) it's an extremely small, easy task, and 2) they are giving ALL providers the EXACT SAME task…so if the provider doesn't want to do this, they know before even applying.

It's when this level of transparency isn't present that the you should be on alert.

Continue reading: Freelance bidding: Avoiding the red flags »