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Donanza – A Freelance and Telecommuting Job Search Engine

Yasuo — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:40:31 +0000

Who would’ve though that the day would come when someone would develop a search engine that was capable of pulling freelance and telecommuting job listings from across the web.

Well, apparently they have and it’s called Donanza.

How Do You Use It?

Like I said, it is a search engine.

Basically what you do is enter a search term let’s say “Graphic Design” and search.

The search engine will then search through established sites and lesser known sites for projects that meet your search query.

How Do I Know The Projects Are Trustworthy?

Whether every single job they list is rock solid, I can’t say for certain.

What I can tell so far is that there are some pretty big names that are on board with this search engine, and that’s enough to get me to use it.

Also, the search engine has a filter function that allows you to filter projects according to the sites they were found on.

This is good if you’ve determined that there are sites that you simply do not want to get jobs from.

My advice would be to use Donanza to do a mass search across the web for opportunities, and when in doubt of a site, do your research.

To help you through the process, here is a list of a few websites that Donanza will search that I’ve green lighted as sites that are established and won’t screw you around when it comes to freelance projects they post:

So What Should I Do Now?

If you’re a freelancer or employee who wants an easier way to find freelance projects or a telecommuting job, you’re going to want to start using Donanza.

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OEB 13 | The Product to Service Approach

Yasuo — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:00:47 +0000

Going from the other end, you could opt instead to attempt to create a website selling a product first and then provide a service based on the product you are attempting to sell.

Starting a website where you share free and valuable information is a good way to demonstrate your expertise in a particular area and develop credibility towards potential customers who are visiting your site for the first time.

Establishing your credibility is one of the most important factors that will encourage customers to buy if your customers are coming primarily from people who find you online.

Credibility can be established through work testimonials, customers who have bought your product, references from past employers, a work portfolio with samples of your work and a listing of your skills and qualifications.

While you might focus on selling your product, you can also offer personal services or consultation at a price.

This will help supplement your income if you feel product sales are slowing down and also help you network for more potential clients who can further advertise your site, product and services.

Listing down that you have actually worked with people and having their testimonial on your site also serves to further solidify your credibility and your ability to deliver the services that you promise.

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OEB 12 | The Service to Product Approach

Yasuo — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:00:49 +0000

There is no reason why you cannot sell a product (electronic or physical) on your website that relates to the service you provide.

Gradual evolution from a service based income to a product based income is the approach I recommend and I’ll explain why below.

People who go straight into attempting to develop a product based income have a tendency to focus on the income return. They feel like they can just create a product, put it out there and people will buy it.

What tends to happens in reality though is usually less straight forward and the people who try to sell products right away get frustrated and give up when they don’t see the income rolling in.

Starting from a service stand point is advantageous in many respects as it forces you to focus on the thing that most people who start online businesses ignore; and that is serving your market.

People who jump straight into trying to develop a product based income do so they because they are excited by the idea of income with minimal work.

Headlines like, “Learn the system that allowed me to make $22,398 in 24 hours!” appeal to people in the same way cigarettes appeal to smokers.

They’re looking for instant gratification and they aren’t willing to work hard for it.

This is the wrong mindset to have when entering attempting to develop your product based income, which is why it is better to develop yourself as a service provider first in your chosen area.

Developing yourself as a service provider also has other advantages as well. One of them is that you get to network with a lot of people who could potentially buy or promote your products in future.

You also begin to start building up your portfolio of work along with customer feedback, references and testimonials which will be extremely useful in establishing your credibility and expert status when you attempt to sell a product on your website.

Focusing on your market also allows you to learn more about what they’re specific wants and needs are. This allows you design your product so that it is laser targeted to what they actually want.

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OEB 11 | The 4 Step Guide to Selling Products and Services

Yasuo — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:00:11 +0000

To recap on what you need to do to get started, this is a 4 step guide on how to get started selling your products and services.

Firstly, you need to decide on what service or product you will provide

This is what you will offer your market to receive an income return.

You can either choose a product or service that is based on what you are currently doing in your job, or you can choose to do something completely different, such as a hobby that you are already skilled at.

You can either offer a service through a personal service with you or a service through a product that you can sell.

In the previous example of the admin person, the service they decided to provide was admin services.

Secondly, you need to decide on your target market

Once you have narrowed down and decided on the service you wish to provide, you can now decide on who your target market is. These are the people who you feel could benefit most from your services or who you feel would be ideal for the type of service you offer.

In the earlier example the target market that was decided on was self-employed professionals, people who needed someone to help them organize themselves every once in awhile.

Thirdly, you need to decide on your target demographic

Now that you have decided what service you are offering and who your specific market is, it is time to decide on your target demographic.

Your target demographic is basically a group of people within your target market that you are confident you will be able to work with and relate to the best.

For instance, if you look around at your friends, what are the similar traits that they share that caused you and them to eventually be friends. Maybe they’re all moms who have kids like you, or they are people who enjoy exercise and leading an active lifestyle.

Basically the goal of this part is to decide on a group of people within your target market who you feel will be able to relate to you the most and who you feel you will be able to get along with and enjoy their company.

While you do not necessarily need to do this, choosing a particular group of people who you know you will enjoy working with will make providing your services so much easier and more enjoyable.

Also, catering to a particular demographic will help you garner recognition as a person who is specialized towards a particular group of people. You will also gain a reputation amongst these people because chances are they know more people within your target demographic who could use your services as well.

Finally, you need to get your product and services known to your market

There is a multitude of ways in order to get your services known, though the number one thing you must have (and this is a necessary precursor to allowing you to sell a product relating to your services eventually) is a website.

A website is a place online where people who want to contact you or learn more about you can go anywhere at any time.

It is the web equivalent of a physical office that potential clients and customers are directed to in order to learn more about what you have to offer.

Once you have a web presence, every bit of marketing you do from there will be aimed at directing people to that website.

Online, you might frequent places where you know your target market and demographic spend time. These could be forums, blogs and web groups which are the equivalent to social clubs on the net.

Go to these places to meet people and to get yourself known to start building up your reputation and offering your services to the people who you feel might benefit from them.

For in person interactions, you would have a card with your contact details and web address that people can reach you at if they are interested in hiring your services.

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OEB 10 | Primary Income Development Overview

Yasuo — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 13:00:29 +0000

Once you have established your base income and created the time you need to pursue your self-employment or personal income streams, it is time to decide what it is exactly that you want to do.

Do you want to do something that is related specifically to what you are already doing in your current job or do you want to move in a completely different direction?

Do you want to develop yourself as a service professional or focus primarily on a product based business?

I believe the answer to this question will come naturally to you, though I always make the recommendation that you do both at the same time.

The easiest way I’ve found to start you on the road to developing your personal income is to do something that is related to what you are doing in your base income job or to do something that you are already skilled at.

For instance, let’s say that in your base income job you are an admin person. As a service you could provide personal admin services to self-employed people helping them with data entry work and other tasks that they would rather not do.

To promote yourself, you could setup a website where potential clients can either find you online or that you can direct them to if you ever meet someone in person who is interested in your services.

As part of your efforts to help potential customers or people like yourself, you can start placing informative articles on your site on tips on how to be a successful and effective admin.

This can eventually lead to a following of people who come to your website for advice and ideas on your chosen topic.

Usually the people who visit your site are of a particular demographic or background. This means that chances are the visitors to your site are interested in similar products and services.

This gives you the opportunity to sell advertising space on your website to companies or people who are targeting the people who are already visiting your website.

Selling ad space is the first method to generating income from the website where you are simultaneously promoting your own services.

A second thing you could then do is develop a product based on the questions you frequently hear being asked by your clients or by the people who visit your site.

For instance, let’s say you find that the reason why self employed people hire people like you is because they feel managing their own admin tasks is too tiring and they wished that the whole process was simpler.

In response to this, you could develop an admin training course for self employed people that you can sell on your site.

This could be an online course that people who are self employed can purchase and then use to teach themselves how to manage their own personal tasks more efficiently and effectively without stress or losing control.

The good thing about developing a course like this is because it isn’t limited to your local clients.

Chances are there are self employed professionals around the world who have been wanting a course like this as well. Your income streams become global.

Eventually, you may opt to reduce admin service jobs as your product sales reach a point where you can comfortably sustain yourself.

If let’s say product sales dip and you need additional income, you can always go back to providing your service.

All the while, you will have your base income that ensures all your bills and necessities get paid consistently month after month.

Having three sources of income ensures that your income is always protected and you don’t get overly stressed during periods where your primary personal income might fluctuate.

Below is a visualization of how the transition up from base income to primary income might take place.

You’ve just started and are relying fully on your base income. You are just starting to develop your primary income streams.
Generating some income from the service side of your primary income. This combined with you base income is enough to support you and your family comfortably.
Generating some income from the product side of your primary income. This along with the service side of your primary income is enough to support you and your family. At this point you can either opt to hold on to or drop your base income completely to focus on developing your primary income.
You decide to drop your base income and focus solely on developing your primary income streams. You take on service jobs whenever you feel like you need to raise your income above a certain level.
You stop offering services completely when your product sales begin to take off. You are receiving business internationally and no longer need to rely on time on demand service type of work to support yourself, though you can whenever you want to. You’ve reached the point of financial freedom whereby you have the time and the income to pursue anything you want.

This gradual process of transitioning from your day job to full-time sustainable self-employment is great for people who have a very low risk threshold and don’t like financial uncertainty.

Using the method above you can gradually move from an employee to someone who is financially free and isn’t tied down to any particular location.

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Why you should have alternative work options before negotiating for job flexibility

Yasuo — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:46:21 +0000

photo credit: CarbonNYC

When it comes to your job, there are basically two things that will keep you from getting the flexibility you want:

How much negotiating leverage you have on your side
How afraid you are to ask for it

It’s all well and good if your company values you and you are confident that you have enough leverage that you are sure they wouldn’t fire you if you asked for what you wanted (namely a telecommuting position or more flexible work hours).

“But what if this doesn’t work? “

At the end of the day, no matter what cards you hold in your hands, if you don’t have another income option in the worse case scenario, you are basically making a gamble on your financial stability.

“What if they decide they would rather let you go than give you what you want. What then?”

Just this thought alone is enough to hold people back from taking the steps necessary to negotiate greater flexibility in their jobs. It definitely almost stopped me.

Before you go into your boss’s office to ask for greater work flexibility, it is a good idea to have a plan B.

For me, plan B was to get a part-time job or even to go back into freelancing.

I already had a few contacts and a person who I could reliably go to for work in case I somehow lost my job.

It wasn’t the most ideal situation, but at least I knew that in the end I would be able to pay the bills and feed myself.

Knowing that I would be able to support myself in the worse case scenario and knowing that I had leverage to negotiate gave me the confidence to ask for what I wanted in my current job.

Plus, I was at a point in my mind where I was determined to pursue my goal of becoming self employed or to have my own business, so it didn’t matter to me too greatly what job I had as long as it gave me enough income and more importantly, time to pursue it.

Being able to get a job that gave me time and work experience that was relevant to work and projects I wanted to do was an extra bonus.

So if you know that you have leverage to ask for what you want but are scared to do so because you freak out at the idea of losing your job, you need to think of your plan B.

If you know that you already have valid arguments to ask for greater work flexibility but are still holding back from making the move to ask, answering the following question just might help push you over the edge to go ahead and ask:

“What do you think you would do for money if you lost you job tomorrow?”

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OEB 9 | Plan B: Finding A Telecommuting or Part-Time Job

Yasuo — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:00:41 +0000

If somehow all negotiations fail and your company decides that it is absolutely impossible for you to work from home or work less than 5 days a week, then the only option you have left is to leave your job.

This can be a hard decision, but remember that the purpose of this income is to allow you to comfortably support yourself so you can eat, have some fun and pay all the bills while you work on building your future primary income sources.

You won’t save heaps necessarily, but you’ll be able to survive and earn extra income from your efforts to develop your other income streams.

One year is not an unreasonable amount of time that a person will need to develop themselves as a freelancer or to develop an income generating online business.

Also, by having your job, your resume stays up-to-date assuming you are a person who worries about such things. Your career options remain fresh and you don’t have to worry if after a year of trying you decide you need to go back to a full-time job.

To find a telecommuting position can be tricky depending on where in the world you might be. In the USA, there are job sites such as Flexjobs.com that promote telecommuting jobs. This however does not seem to be prevalent in other places in the world and if there are similar sites to Flexjobs they are not widely known to me.

Most of the sites that promote telecommuting type work usually tend to mix freelance jobs and ongoing contract work. Some of these sites as well do not go through the extensive filtering that sites like Flexjobs does to ensure that all the telecommuting jobs they promote are legitimate.

Telecommuting jobs by my definition are long term jobs that pay consistently and are usually being offered by companies that are publically visible and can be verified easily as real companies.

You don’t need the added stress of wondering whether the company that is offering you a job is actually legit.

Because of this we recommend you attempt to find a part time or telecommuting job locally or at least within your own country. There are less issues to deal with and communicating and checking out the hiring company becomes easier if they are local.

So what should you ask for when applying for such companies?

One thing you can do is outright state in your resume that you are looking to either work part time or that you are looking for a full-time position that allows you to work from home a couple of days a week.

If you’re only looking for a part-time position then this is fairly straight forward because there are a lot of companies who are only looking to hire part time staff.

When it comes to advertising job positions, most companies are fairly direct as well. If they want people to work part time, they will say that is what they are looking for in their ad.

If they are looking for staff to telecommute, they will mention that as well.

However, due to the lack of companies actively promoting telecommuting positions, you may need to modify your language slightly to find jobs with telecommuting potential and not scare away potential prospects.

Instead of stating you’re looking for a company that lets you work from home, you should instead state that you are looking for a company that promotes work life balance and offers flexible work options.

Most companies at the moment can more readily absorb requests like this as it is a growing trend for more employees to want to start work later or accumulate hours so they can take a few extra days off a month.

Negotiating a telecommuting position should only be done if it seems clear during the interview that you might get the job and that the company is open to the idea of telecommuting.

You can bring these to light by asking questions during the interview and asking them how they feel about the development in virtual work places, green initiatives and the company’s views on cutting costs.

You need to start understanding for yourself that telecommuting is not simply a perk for you. It is something that can be beneficial for all parties involved.

Employee satisfaction is a very important component for employee retention and productivity. Knowing that you are working for a company that believes in this philosophy at its core makes it easier for you to negotiate greater job flexibility later on.

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OEB 8 | Plan A: Negotiating a Flexible Work Arrangement

Yasuo — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:00:52 +0000

I believe that the best place to start looking for extra time is in your own job. The reason for this is because you are already familiar with the job, you know the people and you probably have some leverage that you can take advantage of.

Going out and looking for a telecommuting job or part time job should only be done if you do not manage to get the flexibility and freedom from your current job.

If you are in a position whereby you are prepared to leave your job, then you are in the perfect frame of mind to negotiate for greater flexibility.

Remember, the whole purpose of the increased flexibility is so you can work on your other income streams. Increased flexibility can be anything from them letting you work from home 1 to 5 days a week or letting you work for them on a part time basis whereby you go to work 1 to 4 times a week.

The path you choose will be completely up to you and what method suits you best, and both are effective at immediately lowering your stress levels.

In order to negotiate a flexible work arrangement from your job, you need leverage. Honestly, you might not even need very much if your company likes you and values the work you do.

Here are a few tips that I can give when it comes to successfully negotiating a flexible work arrangement:

Prove you can be productive while away from the office
This can be done on trials while you’re on holiday, sick leave or some other occasion when you need to separated from the company for a period of time
Demonstrate how it can be beneficial to the companyIt could be beneficial for the company if you don’t quit provided your experience has value and you have proven to be a productive employee
Explain how you can lower company costs by working from home if your company is actively looking for ways to reduce company overheads

i. Equipment
ii. Materials
iii. Electricity
iv. Office Space
v. Software
Agree to take a cut in pay, reduced bonuses or to freeze your salary for an extended periodIf the problem of giving you more flexibility isn’t strongly rooted in your company’s desire to maintain productivity and they know you would be productive wherever you are, then this will get their attention
Frankly, I don’t quite agree with getting a pay cut unless you are reducing the days you are working for the company by working part time

Freezing your pay or asking to be forfeited from bonuses might also help to push them over the edge of letting you work from home, however I don’t like this approach either
The honest truth is that you will doing as much If not more work than the people who are in the office, so getting your pay reduced by helping the company maintain productivity and reduce costs doesn’t make sense.

You need to get out of the mindset that working from home is a perk and instead think of it as you doing the company a favor.

By giving you the flexibility you want you are happier employee and as such will decide to remain with the company (point 1). By being a happier and more contented employee, you automatically increase in productivity because you don’t feel like you’re dragging your feet day to day (point 2). Also, you help them to reduce their running costs by not being in the office (point 3).

The only arguable points left then are those on productivity, which is why it is important to demonstrate your ability to work away from the office before asking for more flexibility.

The last card you get to play in negotiating for more flexibility is the threat to quit. Obviously this isn’t going to be a direct threat because you don’t want to destroy your relationship with your company as a good relationship will go a long way to you actually have peace of mind while working away from the office.

No, you don’t out right threaten that you will quit. Instead, if it seems like your company has no plans to budge on the topic of giving you more flexibility (which is highly unlikely if they really care about you), then all you need to do is tell them how you feel.

Tell them that the hours are draining on you, and while you enjoy the work you are not happy and it is getting harder for you. Tell them you had been considering looking for another job that would help you achieve the flexibility and lifestyle you want but you thought about approaching your current company first because you like the work there and would like to continue working there if possible.

A threat does not need to be direct, and when it is communicated in such a way that it doesn’t feel like you’re finger pointing and that you’re actually trying to reach a win-win situation, then you’re more likely to be heard.

More often than not, your boss will be willing to negotiate, especially if they know you are a good employee who cares about the work and has proven to be an asset to the company.

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OEB 7 | Things To Remember

Yasuo — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:00:11 +0000

You need to remember that the main purpose of your base income job is to give you the time to develop the income streams that will eventually become your primary or main source of income.

True, your base income job is also designed to give you more freedom and flexibility in your daily life and this makes your base income job a tempting place to stop and forget about developing your personal income streams.

I mean, by all means, it is alright for you to enjoy it for awhile. When I first got out, I didn’t make any major efforts to develop my self-employment income streams.

I just enjoyed the new found time I had and spent it bringing myself back to a happier and more stress free place. That year you could almost consider it as a form of rehabilitation from spending way too much time in the office.

Eventually though, you need to remember that like any job, you can lose it, and like any job you aren’t in full control of your time, your location or the size and growth of your income.

It is my advice that you don’t get so comfortable with your base income position that you forget that its main purpose is to help support you while you develop the self-employment income stream that will provide for you and your family in the long run, even if you lose your job for some reason.

The base income serves to give you more time and to provide you with your minimum ACCEPTABLE income so that you don’t get stressed worrying about money when pursuing your self-employment income streams.

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OEB 6 | The Benefits of Part-Time Work

Yasuo — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:00:20 +0000

If you are the sort of person who finds it hard to balance regular work while working on your self-employment income, then I would recommend you get part-time work.

I find that there are 2 types of people when it comes to work. People who are comfortable with doing other work during work hours and those that are not.

As a telecommuter, you would need to find the balance of your base income work and working on personal projects.

While the idea is to only work on your personal projects after you have completed your base income work, some people are still uncomfortable with doing any other non-related base income work tasks during “work hours”.

The reason is because even though they have completed all their required tasks, they are still technically “on call” for other base income work related tasks.

Sometimes just the thought of knowing that their base income employer can call them anytime to ask them to work creates enough stress that they are unable to focus on working on anything else.

It is in cases like these where working part-time is recommended over telecommuting as this allows you to have free days in the week during which you can do whatever you please without guilt or stress.

I can vouch for the merits of separating the days you work on base income work and the days you work on personal projects. This is usually what I do even as a telecommuter for the reason that it allows me to focus better when working.

I will usually dedicate one full day a week during which I will work only on personal projects. I am not a big fan of multi-tasking so when I do something I like to be fully focused in doing it.

During the rest of the week I will focus on completing my base income work tasks so that I can have that additional day for my personal projects.

I usually take Friday as my personal projects day because I feel more comfortable with pushing non-urgent work requests to the following week if it is already the end of the week.

Also, I find that it is rare that I will be asked to complete urgent work requests on Friday. By Friday, everyone is preparing for the weekend and nobody is really in the mood to work.

Whether you choose part time work or telecommuting will all depend on a number of things, namely how much of a reduction in your current salary are you willing to take and how comfortable you would feel with working on personal projects during base income work hours.

If cutting back on your current regular full-time salary is not an option, you may want to telecommute.

If working on personal projects on days when you are still technically on call with your base income job makes you feel stressed and uncomfortable, then you may want to work part-time.

If neither option appeals to you, then you may want to try a combination of both and work part-time as a telecommuter.

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