How to place an order on the exchange of freelancing
Newbies are not only among freelancers, but also among customers. We wrote instructions for our customers on Freelansim to help them competently draw up an order description and quickly receive the first responses on any freelance site. In the post we will tell you what fields the order placement page consists of and how to fill them in correctly. Welcome under cat.
Find a performer on the freelance site in two ways. The first is to open the list of freelancers , filter it by the necessary criteria (specialization, portfolio availability and reviews), select the most suitable candidate and contact him. Contacts are usually listed in the profile. There are risks and disadvantages here, for example, the freelancer you like may not provide your contact details or be busy with other work.
The second option is to place an order on the site and select a performer among the responded freelancers. The order creation page on all sites is approximately the same - only additional parameters can differ. In our case, it consists of the following items:
Take the hypothetical customer Masha and look at her example, how to do it, and how not. Suppose she owns a small flower shop and wants to go online. Masha already has a website with a catalog of flowers, and she wants to make sure that the bouquets can not only be viewed, but also ordered online. Layouts from the designer are ready, Masha's husband is engaged in backend development, it remains to find a freelancer who will make the visual part of the site.
For this, Masha will:
The instructions will help with the second step - the publication of the order. We will analyze the answers to the following questions:
Consider each of them in more detail.
A competent order header is always based on the same scheme.
This format of the problem statement gives a clear understanding of what should be done and how. For example, let's replace the first word “to impose” on “draw” and we already have an order not for the developer, but for the designer. If we remove the verb, then it will be completely incomprehensible for whom this task. Replace the “online flower shop” with “high-load ERP-system”, and a preliminary estimate of the operating time will immediately increase tenfold.
It is by the title that the freelancer determines whether the order is interesting to him or not. An ideal heading should be short and succinct, begin with a verb, explain what needs to be done with what.
Do not write "Urgently", do not use caps and do not put exclamation marks and emoticons. Freelancers usually ignore such headers. If you want to draw more attention to the task, it is better to use paid services of the service, for example, highlighting the order in the list in color.
How to write is not worth it:
The task description is the header detail. At this stage, the freelancer is not only acquainted with the details of the task, but also assesses the customer's sanity. The more detailed and clearer the project, the more relevant responses receive the order. The structure of a good task description includes:
Consider each of the items in more detail.
Freelancers rarely look at a customer profile before a response. The decision is made on the basis of the title, task description and other items on the open order page that you can quickly run through your eyes. To delve into what is written in the profile and the subtleties of the technical specifications begin already after the customer has responded to the response. Therefore, it’s worth starting the description of the task with a short introductory note “About Me” - what the customer does, what size company, where it can be read online.
How to write is not worth it:
Includes decryption of the information specified in the header:
Important! Order description is not a technical task, so it is not necessary to write how specific buttons work or what errors a field may have. We will write about how to make a technical task in another article. The most important thing to remember is that the items that are not described in the terms of reference are not included in the price of the order. For example, if the TK does not indicate that the registration form should contain a reference to the offer, then there will be no such reference. And when the freelancer will require an additional fee for the introduction of new functionality, it will be right, even if such a change takes five minutes of its time.
How to write is not worth it:
The description of the task in the technical task and the result obtained are different as a flower and an apple that has grown from it. In the process of testing the layout, reading the finished article or viewing the logo, some forgotten detail will pop up. For example, that by clicking on this button, the user should drop a letter in the mail or something else that was difficult to take into account before the final result appeared.
Having a specific date of work is great! If there is no such date, then it is worth asking the freelancer to independently assess the task and the time by which he is ready to complete it, and to lay from 20% to 50% of temporary risks. If the freelancer says that he will complete the task in 10 days, then it’s worth counting on 12-15 (at best). Freelancer this figure does not necessarily report. At this time, laid the reasons related to the human factor and testing (everyone regularly forget about him), as a result of which new problems may appear.
The best solution for the task that needs to be performed “yesterday” is a change in the volume of work. For example, a large article can be broken down into several small ones and released in parts. The freelancer himself can advise exactly how you can speed up the process. The main thing is not to save time at the expense of quality.
How to write is not worth it:
In the order description, specify the date of commencement of work. When the contractor needs to proceed with the task - for example, now or within a week. Often, freelancers are looking for a new project in parallel with the completion of work on another task. In order not to lose money, it is important for freelancers to have a constant flow of orders. It happens that a freelancer asks the customer to wait a few days until he finishes a previous job. This once again proves that he is a sought-after specialist you can trust.
How to write is not worth it:
It is good if the freelancer carefully studied the technical task and asked questions. According to the presence of these questions and their formulation, one can determine its competence. In addition, based on the results of communication, the customer can include new items in the TK and after that agree on the final cost.
At this stage, it is possible to specify how much additional edits (they may already be indicated (or not) in the terms of reference) and / or work hours will be included in the price.
What to write is not worth it:
In the order description write about the desire to see intermediate work options. If something goes wrong, the customer will be able to pay attention to it in time and change the performer. Be prepared that in some specializations the draft and final results may differ dramatically from each other. The freelancer may even refuse to show "raw" work, especially for texts. The customer should discuss this issue in advance.
In the layout example, while the customer looks at the first layout, the freelancer will deal with the second one. And during the testing of the third, the freelancer will make edits on the first. A lot of time is saved.
How to write is not worth it:
Pay for freelancer work in the following ways:
The choice of hourly pay is a good option for creative tasks, you can limit the flight of a professional's fantasy to a time frame. Also, an hourly fee can be used for tasks with a complex structure - where it is impossible to determine exactly how long it will take to work.
There is specialized software that helps to work in projects with hourly pay. It is installed on the computer of a freelancer and periodically takes screenshots of the screen - you can look at the pictures and make sure that at the agreed time the freelancer actually did the right task.
Payment for the project is entirely good to use when you have a detailed technical task, changes in which may be, but minimal.
Monthly billing is recommended for large tasks, such as software development. Such projects can last up to six months, so it is easier to pay for freelance work for months.
Payment for the number of characters is relevant for orders related to writing texts: copywriting, rewriting, interviews and others.
What to write is not worth it:
Sometimes it is important that a freelancer work as a team. Sometimes - that he lived in the same time zone as the customer. For some customers, the issue of prepayment or the ability to use specific communication channels is fundamental. You need to write about it.
There are situations when freelancers respond to an order without reading its terms. In order to make sure that the freelancer has actually read the order text, ask him to begin his response with a code phrase or provide some other special information.
How to understand how much a project costs? No
The calculation of the cost of each project is individual. Leave the field empty, then instead of the price the freelancer will see the “negotiable” mark. View similar projects on the chosen freelance site. Offer the freelancer to determine the remuneration for himself, calculate the arithmetic average in the responses between different offers and make the final decision.
The order is placed on the exchange in a certain category - the specialization in which the freelancer works. On "Freelance" it:
Inside the big areas, too, has its subsections. For example, in development there are such general directions as “Turnkey Website”. And there are more private ones - “Frontend” and “Backend”.
What she should not choose:
When creating an order at the freelance site, you can specify the skills that the freelancer will need to complete the task - those technologies and programs that are necessary to fulfill the order.
For example, if we are talking about machine learning and it’s important that the work be done in the R programming language, not Python, this should be indicated in the skills. Or, for example, a prerequisite for the freelancer to use Photoshop, not Illustrator at work.
What to write is not worth it:
Placing an order at the freelance site is a simple process that requires attention. Determine what result you want to get at the output, follow the instructions at all stages of filling the fields.
The face of the order is the heading, it forms the first impression of the freelancer about the customer.
The order description details the information from the header and forms the desire to respond. Do not forget to check for attentiveness - ask the freelancer to start a response with an answer to a question or a special phrase. This can be done in any part of the order description.
The calculation of the cost of each project is individual. If you do not know what price to assign, ask the freelancer to offer your option, compare several answers and make a decision.
Under the category (field of activity) on freelance sites we mean the areas of work in which you need to implement the project. Some freelancers receive newsletters in their selected categories and subcategories to mail, telegrams bot and social networks. If the category is chosen incorrectly, the necessary specialists may not see the order.
Skills refine the selected subcategory. If you are not sure about the technology or the program, then it is better not to fill this field. Adequacy, attentiveness and sense of humor are the traits that every freelancer should possess, do not mention them in skills.
Find a performer on the freelance site in two ways. The first is to open the list of freelancers , filter it by the necessary criteria (specialization, portfolio availability and reviews), select the most suitable candidate and contact him. Contacts are usually listed in the profile. There are risks and disadvantages here, for example, the freelancer you like may not provide your contact details or be busy with other work.
The second option is to place an order on the site and select a performer among the responded freelancers. The order creation page on all sites is approximately the same - only additional parameters can differ. In our case, it consists of the following items:
- title;
- order description;
- attachments - technical specifications, layouts, pictures, all additional materials that may be required for work;
- cost;
- order category;
- tags.
Take the hypothetical customer Masha and look at her example, how to do it, and how not. Suppose she owns a small flower shop and wants to go online. Masha already has a website with a catalog of flowers, and she wants to make sure that the bouquets can not only be viewed, but also ordered online. Layouts from the designer are ready, Masha's husband is engaged in backend development, it remains to find a freelancer who will make the visual part of the site.
For this, Masha will:
- register at the freelance site;
- describe the task - in the order and the technical task;
- choose a freelancer;
- answer additional questions in the process;
- test the finished work;
- pay for the order and leave feedback about the artist.
The instructions will help with the second step - the publication of the order. We will analyze the answers to the following questions:
- how to create a capacious and simple header that will interest freelancers;
- that must be in the order description;
- how to understand how much the project should cost;
- what are the categories of orders and how to choose the right one;
- what skills are and how to determine what the perfect freelancer should have.
Consider each of them in more detail.
Order header
A competent order header is always based on the same scheme.
- Verb - to make / draw / write - this is an action that a freelancer should do.
- Noun - layout / logo / article - this is the subject with which the freelancer will work.
- Specification - for the online flower shop / for the company of the natural cosmetics / for the benefit of fruits - for what purpose it is necessary to complete the task.
This format of the problem statement gives a clear understanding of what should be done and how. For example, let's replace the first word “to impose” on “draw” and we already have an order not for the developer, but for the designer. If we remove the verb, then it will be completely incomprehensible for whom this task. Replace the “online flower shop” with “high-load ERP-system”, and a preliminary estimate of the operating time will immediately increase tenfold.
It is by the title that the freelancer determines whether the order is interesting to him or not. An ideal heading should be short and succinct, begin with a verb, explain what needs to be done with what.
Do not write "Urgently", do not use caps and do not put exclamation marks and emoticons. Freelancers usually ignore such headers. If you want to draw more attention to the task, it is better to use paid services of the service, for example, highlighting the order in the list in color.
What does Masha write: “Make layouts of a personal account for an online flower shop”
How to write is not worth it:
- "Developer for store layout."
- "Layout of the site of 11 pages on the engine of Bitrix".
- “I am looking for a coder! It is necessary to impose a site.
Task Description
The task description is the header detail. At this stage, the freelancer is not only acquainted with the details of the task, but also assesses the customer's sanity. The more detailed and clearer the project, the more relevant responses receive the order. The structure of a good task description includes:
- brief description of the customer’s project;
- description of the task itself;
- date of delivery;
- date of commencement of work;
- the number of modifications included in the price of the order;
- the need for an interim assessment of the result;
- payment options;
- additional terms;
- passphrase
Consider each of the items in more detail.
Description of the customer project
Freelancers rarely look at a customer profile before a response. The decision is made on the basis of the title, task description and other items on the open order page that you can quickly run through your eyes. To delve into what is written in the profile and the subtleties of the technical specifications begin already after the customer has responded to the response. Therefore, it’s worth starting the description of the task with a short introductory note “About Me” - what the customer does, what size company, where it can be read online.
What Masha writes: “We are an offline flower shop with 3 years of experience. Until now, our site has worked as a business card and product catalog. In the near future we plan to expand the range and start selling online. ”
How to write is not worth it:
- "Hi guys!".
- "I am Peter, now I will tell everything ...".
- “We have a type of flower shop here. We have not yet decided what we exactly want, but there are some developments. You will respond, and then we will sort things out further. ”
Task Description
Includes decryption of the information specified in the header:
- clarification of all details of the order;
- a story about the current situation on the project, for example, which technology stack is used;
- description of additional materials: technical specifications, layouts, prototypes, and so on;
- designation of performance criteria for the task.
Important! Order description is not a technical task, so it is not necessary to write how specific buttons work or what errors a field may have. We will write about how to make a technical task in another article. The most important thing to remember is that the items that are not described in the terms of reference are not included in the price of the order. For example, if the TK does not indicate that the registration form should contain a reference to the offer, then there will be no such reference. And when the freelancer will require an additional fee for the introduction of new functionality, it will be right, even if such a change takes five minutes of its time.
Masha needs to create a personal account layout for an online flower store, so she writes: “I need to create three personal account layouts: the goods in the basket; page with the delivery design; page with a summary of the order. Layout must be valid and cross-browser. I have already received layouts from the designer, work is underway on the backend part. Testing will be done by me and the backend developer. ”
How to write is not worth it:
- "I have several layouts, the rest of the details I will write in personal correspondence."
- "I will send all the information from the TZ to the mail."
- “The models are still in development, but when we agree on the cost, everything will be ready.”
Date of work
The description of the task in the technical task and the result obtained are different as a flower and an apple that has grown from it. In the process of testing the layout, reading the finished article or viewing the logo, some forgotten detail will pop up. For example, that by clicking on this button, the user should drop a letter in the mail or something else that was difficult to take into account before the final result appeared.
Having a specific date of work is great! If there is no such date, then it is worth asking the freelancer to independently assess the task and the time by which he is ready to complete it, and to lay from 20% to 50% of temporary risks. If the freelancer says that he will complete the task in 10 days, then it’s worth counting on 12-15 (at best). Freelancer this figure does not necessarily report. At this time, laid the reasons related to the human factor and testing (everyone regularly forget about him), as a result of which new problems may appear.
The best solution for the task that needs to be performed “yesterday” is a change in the volume of work. For example, a large article can be broken down into several small ones and released in parts. The freelancer himself can advise exactly how you can speed up the process. The main thing is not to save time at the expense of quality.
What does Masha write: “I have two weeks planned for this job”
How to write is not worth it:
- “The project had to be completed yesterday, so I’m looking for a great professional who can work quickly.”
- “I don’t have a specific time frame; you’ll do it when you do.”
- "I have two weeks planned, but it’s better if you do it in one."
When to proceed
In the order description, specify the date of commencement of work. When the contractor needs to proceed with the task - for example, now or within a week. Often, freelancers are looking for a new project in parallel with the completion of work on another task. In order not to lose money, it is important for freelancers to have a constant flow of orders. It happens that a freelancer asks the customer to wait a few days until he finishes a previous job. This once again proves that he is a sought-after specialist you can trust.
What Masha writes: “We need to start on Monday next week”
How to write is not worth it:
- “Begin when you start.”
- “It will be possible to proceed when I receive the layouts, because the designer has finished working. ”
- "It was necessary yesterday, so let's quickly solve all the formalities."
Whether completions in the price of the order
It is good if the freelancer carefully studied the technical task and asked questions. According to the presence of these questions and their formulation, one can determine its competence. In addition, based on the results of communication, the customer can include new items in the TK and after that agree on the final cost.
At this stage, it is possible to specify how much additional edits (they may already be indicated (or not) in the terms of reference) and / or work hours will be included in the price.
What Masha writes: “The cost of the project includes the ability to add up to 2 new items to the technical task, the cumulative implementation of which will take no more than 4 hours”
What to write is not worth it:
- "Until I am satisfied with the result, you will not receive payment for the order."
- "There will be no changes, I fully rely on your professionalism and integrity."
- "I reserve the opportunity to make any number of edits to the terms of reference throughout the entire workflow."
Evaluation of intermediate and final results
In the order description write about the desire to see intermediate work options. If something goes wrong, the customer will be able to pay attention to it in time and change the performer. Be prepared that in some specializations the draft and final results may differ dramatically from each other. The freelancer may even refuse to show "raw" work, especially for texts. The customer should discuss this issue in advance.
In the layout example, while the customer looks at the first layout, the freelancer will deal with the second one. And during the testing of the third, the freelancer will make edits on the first. A lot of time is saved.
Masha writes: “It is necessary to send the results of work as soon as they are ready. The task will be considered completed after all the layouts are laid out in accordance with the terms of reference and transferred to me. ”
How to write is not worth it:
- "Send me something to see in a couple of days."
Payment format
Pay for freelancer work in the following ways:
- for the project;
- per hour of work;
- for a month of work;
- for the number of characters if the text is ordered.
The choice of hourly pay is a good option for creative tasks, you can limit the flight of a professional's fantasy to a time frame. Also, an hourly fee can be used for tasks with a complex structure - where it is impossible to determine exactly how long it will take to work.
There is specialized software that helps to work in projects with hourly pay. It is installed on the computer of a freelancer and periodically takes screenshots of the screen - you can look at the pictures and make sure that at the agreed time the freelancer actually did the right task.
Payment for the project is entirely good to use when you have a detailed technical task, changes in which may be, but minimal.
Monthly billing is recommended for large tasks, such as software development. Such projects can last up to six months, so it is easier to pay for freelance work for months.
Payment for the number of characters is relevant for orders related to writing texts: copywriting, rewriting, interviews and others.
What Masha writes: “We plan to pay for the project. But we are ready to discuss payment for each layout as soon as it is ready.
What to write is not worth it:
- "We will agree on the payment after the completion of the order."
Additionally
Sometimes it is important that a freelancer work as a team. Sometimes - that he lived in the same time zone as the customer. For some customers, the issue of prepayment or the ability to use specific communication channels is fundamental. You need to write about it.
Code phrase
There are situations when freelancers respond to an order without reading its terms. In order to make sure that the freelancer has actually read the order text, ask him to begin his response with a code phrase or provide some other special information.
What Masha writes: “Start your response by estimating the time you need to solve a problem.”
Cost of
How to understand how much a project costs? No
The calculation of the cost of each project is individual. Leave the field empty, then instead of the price the freelancer will see the “negotiable” mark. View similar projects on the chosen freelance site. Offer the freelancer to determine the remuneration for himself, calculate the arithmetic average in the responses between different offers and make the final decision.
Masha does not choose anything at this point, she plans to receive offers for payment from freelancers
Category
The order is placed on the exchange in a certain category - the specialization in which the freelancer works. On "Freelance" it:
- development (sites and software);
- testing;
- administration;
- design;
- content;
- marketing;
- different.
Inside the big areas, too, has its subsections. For example, in development there are such general directions as “Turnkey Website”. And there are more private ones - “Frontend” and “Backend”.
Masha already has a design for her order “Create the layout of a personal account for a flower shop”. The case remains only for the visual component. Masha chooses the category "Development", and in her - the subcategory "Frontend"
What she should not choose:
- "Development / Backend".
- “Development / turnkey websites.
- Design / Websites.
Skills
When creating an order at the freelance site, you can specify the skills that the freelancer will need to complete the task - those technologies and programs that are necessary to fulfill the order.
For example, if we are talking about machine learning and it’s important that the work be done in the R programming language, not Python, this should be indicated in the skills. Or, for example, a prerequisite for the freelancer to use Photoshop, not Illustrator at work.
What Masha writes: “JS, HTML, CSS, PHP, layout, adaptability, cross-browser compatibility”
What to write is not worth it:
- "Backend, design, layouts, responsible performer, attentive, intelligent, with a sense of humor."
findings
Placing an order at the freelance site is a simple process that requires attention. Determine what result you want to get at the output, follow the instructions at all stages of filling the fields.
The face of the order is the heading, it forms the first impression of the freelancer about the customer.
The order description details the information from the header and forms the desire to respond. Do not forget to check for attentiveness - ask the freelancer to start a response with an answer to a question or a special phrase. This can be done in any part of the order description.
The calculation of the cost of each project is individual. If you do not know what price to assign, ask the freelancer to offer your option, compare several answers and make a decision.
Under the category (field of activity) on freelance sites we mean the areas of work in which you need to implement the project. Some freelancers receive newsletters in their selected categories and subcategories to mail, telegrams bot and social networks. If the category is chosen incorrectly, the necessary specialists may not see the order.
Skills refine the selected subcategory. If you are not sure about the technology or the program, then it is better not to fill this field. Adequacy, attentiveness and sense of humor are the traits that every freelancer should possess, do not mention them in skills.