Some years ago a web designer asked me if I thought it was right for him to design a site for a religious group whose values he completely disagreed with. “The site is actively promoting their beliefs,” he said, “and I’m not sure I want to be a part of that.”
I was reminded of his dilemma last week, when a potential client contacted me to ask if I could write sales copy for his multilevel marketing scheme — at twice my usual fee. After doing a bit of research on the company, however, it became apparent that this person was running a scam.
As freelancers, we sometimes get requests that we find shady. These can range from the above examples to creating promotional materials for companies whose ethics we don’t completely agree with. How do we deal with these requests? Read the rest of this entry »
“How do you find jobs?” This is one of the most common questions I hear after I tell someone that I’m an online freelancer. My answer to this question is varied. Most of the time, new clients find my website or hear about me through referrals. This is often the best way for me to get new jobs, because it requires little effort on my part. But I can’t depend on this approach alone.
It may be alright to wait for leads to find our professional sites and contact us, but there are some cases where this isn’t enough. Other times, we have to actively scour the web for new jobs. After 5 years of online job hunting, I eventually developed my own system that requires minimal effort and time – a necessary ingredient if you don’t want your job hunt to mess up the jobs you already have.
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Can the internet public know more about you than you would like? According to an article at New Scientist, there’s a company that uses software to analyze blogs and forum posts to find out a blogger’s age, gender, and interests. Web workers who are avid users of Twitter also let the public know what they’re up to most of the day. Here at WWD, we also discussed the lack of privacy of the average web user when it comes to their browsing activity.
How do we maintain privacy when we work on such a public platform?
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It’s hard work to set up and supervise a teleworking team for some projects. In the web content service I run, I need to gather work-from-home writers together and help them work as a team. This is especially important for projects that require group cooperation and interaction, such as an ebook or a multi-authored blog.
One of the advantages of teleworking is that there’s less opportunities for workplace gossip and personality clashes. Most teams approach their communications very matter-of-factly. But I find that this isn’t always the case, especially when members each have very different working styles.
When managing a team of very different people all over the globe, what can you do to keep the team, and the work, from imploding?
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As I’m writing this post, I’m in a small hut in the jungles of Bohol, a small island in the Philippines. The past week has been part of an experiment for me, trying to see how far I can take this digital nomad thing.
Here’s the truth so far: web working on the road is harder than it looks. Even with all the research and planning, some things are bound to be different from what you’re expecting.
Internet Access
In a previous post, I mentioned how internet access should be one of the things you look into when researching travel destinations. This is especially important for us web workers, since it’s hard to anticipate what client queries or work emergencies you’ll need to attend to.
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Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
