Question for ODesk users

by BillyPilgrim

Posted: 12 years ago 14 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

I'm outsourcing fiction and want to use ODesk now. What are the benefits and drawbacks for paying hourly vs fixed fee?

#odesk #question #users

JOSourcing Banned 12 years ago

oDesk doesn’t guarantee hourly work, nor does it require escrow for fixed-fee projects. It also lets its workers hide bad feedback (last time I checked).
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phil.wheatley 12 years ago

I've used Odesk a lot in the past. They are an easy way to get started with smaller projects, but I often find that people on there will dissapear halfway through something. This was mostly with VAs, they will say they can work X amount of hours, but then you find they dissapear for a day or two, probably because they don't want to turn work down.

The good thing of course about Odesk is the built in system for seeing exactly what they are doing via screen dumps.

With all that said, all that is pretty different to what you are doing, outsourcing fiction. There are some really good writers here on the Warrior forum. You might want to consider contacting some of them from the WSO/warriors for hire sections, and if they can't do it, they probably can recommend somebody as writers stick together.

If you like, you can PM and I have at least one I can suggest.
Cheers
Phil
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tristatemedia 12 years ago

it is sad to say. i never used the same person more than once. they are usually good on their first job to impress you.
MY ADVISE: NEVER LEAVE AN OPEN CONTRACT: ALWAYS CLOSE ASAP WHEN DONE.
OTHER THAN THAT, THEY ARE GOOD, I SPENT 10K WITH THEM LAST YEAR.
THEY ARE THE ONLY ONE I USE.
I NEVER USE ANYONE THAT DOES NOT HAVE A LOT OF HOURS LOGGED IN AND 4.8-5.0 FEEDBACK.
ALWAYS READ FEEDBACK...............EXTREMELY IMPORTANT..............
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- mirza786 12 years ago
  
  Hi!
  
  I'm working as a contractor. I can tell you from the contractor perspective side that Odesk is safe and they will not make you to face any of the issue.
  Keep in mind that if you are intending to hire for Hourly (then Odesk gives guarantee about this, means whether the contractor do your work or not.. I think odesk will deduct amount before only).
  
  If you are hiring as a fixed price then it is upon you to pay.
  
  Odesk charge 10% fees.
  
  If you are looking for the real job ( I mean long term) I will suggest you that hire the person who have many feedbacks and comments ( Hourly or Fixed ).
  If you want newbies then just give them small projects and see whether they are doing your work properly or not. If newbies ask for upfront then reject them.
  
  Thanks
  
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clou 12 years ago

I suggest you outsource from Elance.com
I am a contractor there and they won't allow us to hide bad ratings. There is no option to hide it. So you will really know who is good and not.
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- BillyPilgrim 12 years ago
  
  Anyone else have fiction writers they can recommend? I'm looking for 10000 words for $75-125. I just paid my current writer the low end of that.
  
  Thanks
  
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Resale Rights Ninja 12 years ago

You have some protection from odesk when you go hourly. With fixed fee if your worker doesn't do the work and you gave him some money upfront then your screwed.

I prefer fixed though. Then you know what your getting and what it is going to cost you. Per hour your worker could slack off.
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- BradRich 12 years ago
  
  I really like fixed fee. I hate hourly. I feel like I'm getting cheated. With fixed you'll never go over budget or be asked to increase their weekly hours. I've done hourly a few times and I hate it! If they're hourly, every change that needs to be made because of their screw up costs you money. Fixed price- they have to fix everything and make changes before they get paid on their own dime and time. What if they work for several hours and didn't do it right? happens all the time. Thats why I hate fixed. I had a girl make me a link wheel and she really seemed like she knew what she was doing. She worked for 3 weeks before I checked her work and had done it all wrong. The link wheel was huge but never even pointed to my site so what the heck was the point. It was a waste of money. Sorry to go on a rant but stuff like this happens all the time. Fixed is the absolute best way to go!
  
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mollymarkiewicz 12 years ago

Originally Posted by BillyPilgrim

I'm outsourcing fiction and want to use ODesk now. What are the benefits and drawbacks for paying hourly vs fixed fee?

I've tried to use them to write articles for me. Be careful as they try to get more money then you have suggested. I would go with a fixed rate for your project not hourly. I agree with the others to not use the same person for each project. Sometimes you do find a very honest person, but you do need to be careful. Look at their past posts and comments from others that have used them.
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quercus5 12 years ago

I would lean towards getting a fixed price job on this one, probably on elance. That way you don't have to worry about the contractor running up the hours and price if they have a brain cramp or writer's block.
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mollymarkiewicz 12 years ago

Originally Posted by BillyPilgrim

I'm outsourcing fiction and want to use ODesk now. What are the benefits and drawbacks for paying hourly vs fixed fee?

I have used ODesk to write articles for me. You need to be careful. Sometimes they try to get more money for the project than you originally set it for. They try to barter. With that being said, I would go with a Fixed Rate NOT an hourly rate. BE CAREFUL!

I also agree with the others to go with someone that you can check their comments from others they have worked with. You can give them a test of your own to see if they have the ability you are looking for.
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travelerjim 12 years ago

Ive gone the hourly rate and been happy with that as an employee/hiring party. But that is because the jobs have called for that. If you know exactly what you want fixed might be better. The key thing to me is finding people who have the exact skills I am looking for, lot of folks applying that claim a lot of different skills but do not have specialties.
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fated82 12 years ago

Paying hourly only works if you know how long it takes to do a certain task. I paid an outsourcer for 20 hours a week max (you can set that) because I know that they don't usually take more than 2 hours to complete one task a day.

But if you do not know how long it will take to finish the project, then I suggest you go the route of per project. It also helps you with your budgeting since you know beforehand how much you are willing to pay.
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BudaBrit 12 years ago

Billy, I was going to offer my services, but what you want to pay is a bit low for me

I've had no problems with oDesk, but then again I don't hire anyone... I think it would just be common sense with article writing - when someone replies, it can be pretty obvious if they are going to be good for you or not. At least that's what I would think, but I don't get every job I apply for, so somethings up

Recently there's been a large increase in nonsense jobs on there, though, from last week to this... There has been about one advert for a writing gig that actually pays - the rest are $1-$3 for 500 words, which is crazy - and they're looking for native speakers. I don't understand why a native speaker would want to do that, as it's really not worth it, but they still get applicants.
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