Archive for the 'Service Providers' Category

Project Contract- Building Mutual Trust on LimeExchange

Published
by
LimeExchange
on July 17, 2009
in Business, Freelance, Freelancing, LimeExchange, SMB, Service Providers and Small and Medium Business
. 0 Comments

The Project Contract on LimeExchange helps to determine in advance how the project will progress from stage to stage or milestone to milestone. Before the project execution gets started, both the parties have to agree to the terms and conditions laid out in the Project Contract, which comprises of milestones and attachments.

Why Project Contract?

  • Both the parties mutually agree on scope, deliverables, payment and schedule of project.
  • Increased transparency and mutual trust
  • Sustained monitoring of the project at every stage.

    • Project Contract for a Buyer

    On receiving a bid, the buyer can view the Project Contract sent by the service provider and can agree/disagree or edit the same. However, if a buyer edits the Project Contract sent by the provider when the project is in the bidding stage, the contract is automatically withdrawn. But if the project is in progress and a buyer submits a new Project Contract, the previous one would continue to hold until the new one gets approval from the service provider.

    A buyer can also attach:

    • Statement of Work (SOW) – stating exact scope of the work to be completed, often known as deliverables.
    • Master Service Agreement (MSA) – stating the terms and conditions and modalities for the completion of a project.
    • Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) – restrict providers from disclosing any confidential or business information obtained during the completion of a project.

    A buyer can award his project to a service provider provided the provider confirms his ability to execute the project within 48 hours of selection of bid and the Project Contract stands in the ‘Agreed’ state.

    Its Advantages:

    This unique work flow (Project Contract) safeguards a buyer’s interest against non-delivery or provider’s inability to work for your project, reducing the chances of any mediation. However, there are times when changes need to be made in the Project Contract circumstantially. In such a case, either of the parties may initiate the changes in the same but the other party needs to agree to the changes made therein.

    Project Contract for a Service Provider

    While bidding for a project, the service provider creates a Project Contract describing his bid in terms of milestones and project amount and sends it to the buyer for his approval along with the attachments (Statement of Work, Master Service Agreement and Non-Disclosure Agreement).

    It may also happen that a provider gets a project Contract from the end of the buyer. In such a case, he can agree/disagree or edit the same and resend it to the buyer. However if he agrees, it doesn’t mean that his bid has been selected and if he disagrees, it doesn’t mean that the negotiations between the buyer and him have come to an end.

    Its Advantages:

    Project Contract protects a service provider’s interest against non-delivery due to your preoccupation with other work and projects. However if he confirms to work on his project and the contract stands in ‘Agreed’ state, the buyer needs to escrow the project amount to our platform.

    Hope our Project Contract would minimize the chances of intricacies associated with project execution. We welcome your insights and suggestions on the same.

    Designing Tips for Web Designers

    Published
    by
    LimeExchange
    on July 16, 2009
    in Freelance, LimeExchange and Service Providers
    . 7 Comments

    A good website is always simple, intuitive to use with easy navigation and one that attracts users to visit it again and again. It is a designer’s job to make a website look visually appealing along with simple navigation and easy to use functionality.

    Whether you’re working for a design firm or as a freelance designer, here are some useful designing tips to help you build a professional website, friendly to human and search engines.

    1. Clean Layout

    Layout of a website includes right usage of images, colors and fonts, and effective use of white space as this makes the site look more appealing. “Keep It Simple”. White space gives an overall neatness to the website. It is important to use standard & readable fonts that do not require text size to be enlarged or reduced by the user. Try not to overstuff your page with too many images, backgrounds and colorful fonts.

    2. Easy Navigation

    Navigation links on the website are one of the key factors for increasing page views or stickiness of the site. All important links on a website should be placed appropriately that enable visitors to quickly find what they are looking for. Organize them according to their importance under varied categories. Important links usually come on the top of the page and other usage links on the right side of the page which are consistent and similar throughout the website.

    To organize a large number of links you can use navigation menus. You can easily get copy & paste code for drop-down menu scripts available on the Internet as they are easy to install and use. You can also use drop-down menus or fly-outs to arrange too many links.

    Keeping these basic principles in mind you can design an effective layout and navigation system for your site.

    3. Quick download and response time

    It has been noticed generally that the average time which a user spends on a website is very less. Hence, it is important for a web designer to make a website which has low loading time and get the user instantly to the page he is looking for. Each page must be optimized for the web to make sure that your website has an optimum loading time. To ensure your website loads faster, you must:

    Optimize HTML tags Make sure that the website you are designing must not have any unwanted tags or broken links.

    More text Area then Images – More content means more readability and less loading time.

    Optimize images – Take the images you need and optimize them for the web. They must be in the png, gif or jpeg format. Decrease file size so images load faster.

    Use Text links- Try to make use of text links as much as possible as they are easier to maintain. Using CSS Styles you can make text links attractive.

    Use Div tags – Using Div tags for your design means faster loading time and complete control over the layout. It also ensures scalability and helps you make changes in the future.

    Less use of graphics, Flash and scripts- As they make your web page heavier, try to minimize them if possible, if required you can replace them with background colors and fills.

    Keep it simple- Use simple and small icons that add a little color and are visually enticing. Also avoid using animated gifs as they take long time to load.

    Use SSI files-When extracted from the web server, each Server Side Include gets lodged into its own cache, which on subsequent request enables faster loading of web pages.

    Track W3C standard validity and Load time- Check your Load time and W3C code and CSS validity regularly. Maintain an error-free website!

    4. All Resolution and browser compatible website

    It is important to make a website which is compatible to all screen sizes. There are more than 40 different screen resolutions used until now. 1024×768 is the most popular resolution used .Take a quick glance on some important considerations:

    Select a screen resolution first- Before designing a website select a normal resolution size. Your pages must work at any resolution, from 800×600 to 1280×1024 and beyond.

    Measure Tables in Percentages- While converting the design to HTML, measure it in terms of percentages rather than on pixels.

    Measure cells in Pixels- Within the table, it is always better to measure cells in pixels. Provide a fixed measurement to all the cells, except the content cell.

    Final check of Website in All the Resolutions- At the final stage of web designing, test your designed site in all the resolutions which are compatible to all the computers.

    Make sure the website you are designing must be compatible to Internet Explorer 8+, Mozilla Firefox 3.0, Opera 9.64 and Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.06 as they are widely accepted browsers.

    5. SEO friendly design

    Here are some SEO guidelines you all must abide to while designing a website.

    SEO Friendly Code-Writing SEO friendly code can help search engine to index faster. Ensure your coding is error free. Always Check for W3C compliance.

    Meta Tags & URL-Make sure to include Title, Meta tags on your web pages. Each page must have unique Title & Description. Your URL should be simple, easy to remember and contextual.

    Alt Tags- Use alt tags for images as it helps search engines get information about them.

    Internal linking -Internal linking must be done properly to ensure that your website gets properly crawled by the search engines, to establish relevancy of a page to a keyword phrase and to increase the PageRank of an internal page.

    Sitemap is Must- Sitemap helps search engines to understand your website structure and increases indexing.

    Hope these designing tips would help you design a professional and high-quality website. Please provide us with your feedback and suggestions on the same.

    How To Get Repeat and Referral Business?

    Published
    by
    LimeExchange
    on July 13, 2009
    in Freelance, Freelancing, LimeExchange and Service Providers
    . 2 Comments

    In order to make your business flourish, you need to have a constant in-flow of business opportunities. We often look for new channels to acquire new businesses and perhaps that is one of the standard strategies to keep your business get going. But not to forget the clients/customers list that you already have. In fact, your old client can be your one of the best sources to get repeat as well as referral businesses.

    How to get that?

    Your specialized skill set and quality of the work that you do can help you thrive in this utter competitive freelance business.

    Any business experience can become a gateway to a world of new business opportunities. For instance, an old business associate can recommend your good services to other business associates and boost your credibility in the freelance business. Word-of-mouth publicity can actually help you acquire more work opportunities.

    Here are some of the considerations that can help you increase your chances of getting repeat and referral business opportunities.

    1. Commitment & Commitment

    The most important factor to keep your clients happy and get referred for projects is to stay committed. Dedication and determination would build trust and credibility in the eyes of the client and he’d consider you for giving more business. Once your committed approach towards work gets recognized by your client, rest assured that he’d keep coming back to you and offer you lots of repeat and referral business.

    2. Well-devised Project Execution Plan

    An effectively laid out project execution plan ensures better results. So it is recommended to plan how you would execute the plan and utilize the available resources accordingly. A proper project execution plan that would fetch you lots of repeat and referral business must entail the below-mentioned steps:

    a) Clear understanding of the project- Ask your client to give you a complete description about the project. Understand his requirements, needs, expectations and approach towards the project. Working on a project with clear cut strategy would fetch you lots of appreciation and repeat and referral business.

    b) Effective collaboration - In case you need more clarifications on a work requirement, ask questions. Prepare a brief questionnaire listing all your important queries related to work and get them resolved. Send them through email, chat, project message board etc. The more you co-ordinate and collaborate with a client, the better your professional relationships become. This is very important aspect if you want to acquire repeat and referral business.

    c) Under promise and over deliver- Make a crystal clear strategy for project execution and ensure that you deliver results beyond your client’s expectations. However, you must make sure that you are able to beat the deadline of the project. So it is recommended that in the beginning of the project itself you take some extra time in advance so that you are able to over deliver. This would establish trust and credibility and the client would feel that you’re a dedicated professional who would always execute the project with utmost dedication.

    3. Focus on long-term goals

    Working on a project is not a one-time affair, the client you are working with can get your more projects or repeated business provided you deliver quality-backed work results. Be passionate about the project you are working on so that you can carve a niche for yourself. A focused approach towards work can influence the client to refer you for more projects.

    4. Keep him updated

    Communicate project progress to the client from time to time; let your client know about your project queries and ask for feedback every time you achieve one milestone as this will bring a feeling of trust and responsibility in the eyes of the client. You can collaborate with the client effectively using tools like Project message board (PMB), Instant messaging (IM), Google docs, Email etc.

    5. Meet promised deadlines

    It is important to deliver the work you committed on time. Timeliness is one of the most essential considerations taken into account while awarding a business or referring someone. if the client gets convinced of your ability to finish the project on or before time, half the battle is one as timeliness and quality are the two major aspects a client looks forward to while working with a freelancer.

    6. Add value

    Good and valuable suggestions enhance the scope of improvement in the project as well as establish credibility. A good advice shows your enthusiasm towards making the project better and also makes your client feel satisfied that he is working with a dedicated freelance professional.

    7. Don’t take clients for granted

    If you are getting repeat business from the same client, don’t assume that whatever you deliver would be liked. Instead work hard every time, challenge yourself to come up with better results. Be consistent in delivering the best of quality and on time projects. You never know that same client bring more work or refer you to some other client.

    8. Testimonials and Feedback

    Ask your client to give his feedback on the services that you have rendered to him so that the testimonials can entice other service seekers to get in touch with you for their projects to be done. The testimonials and feedback from the client you’ve already worked with would reflect that you’re a trusted professional and you put in your best possible effort to deliver top-grade work results. This may entice new service seekers to give you their projects to execute.

    Hope these considerations will add value to your freelance efforts. Please share with us your suggestions, feedback or views on the same.

    How to Enliven your Creative Spirit?

    Published
    by
    LimeExchange
    on July 3, 2009
    in Freelance, Freelancing, LimeExchange and Service Providers
    . 0 Comments

    Juice up your creative abilities!

    Creative freelance professionals such as writers, designers etc., many a times, feel that their creativity has stagnated and they’re no longer able to come up with innovative ideas. There are some common factors, which if avoided, can help freelancers in enlivening their Creative Spirits and delivering top-grade results in their freelance career.

    Let us take a look at the some of those creativity killers, which you should certainly avoid to stay focused and productive:

    Monotonous Work Regime

    Working in isolation away from colleagues and professional environment often fosters monotony and despair in a freelancer’s life and one feels like going stir crazy. monotonous schedule

    Networking with other freelancers via social networking tools is recommended as it would bring a feeling of companionship and help you to stay motivated and deliver excellent work results. Play around with ideas that come to your mind to make your freelance work interesting. Take frequent breaks to avoid this monotonous schedule and let creative juices flow with full velocity.

    Over-committing deliverables

    Always under-promise and over-deliver! Clients sometimes pose big challenges for you by setting strict time lines for the projects they want you to execute. However, the capacity to face this challenge varies from freelancer to freelancer, and the creativity is one important aspect that needs to be paid attention to for delivering excellent project results.work pressure

    Some freelancers stay calm and composed when they hear about the deliverables & time frames set for the same, whereas some freelancers start panicking on just the mention of strict time frames and work stress. So in those circumstances, it’s always better to take some extra time in advance so that your creative juices can keep flowing and you’re able to plan and execute your project efficiently.

    Real-world difficulties

    Freelancers often come across real-world difficulties such as handling their finances, managing software, dealing with bad clients, paying their credit card bills, petrol bills, mortgages, repair work etc. It then becomes a cumbersome task for a freelancer to focus on his work and come up with impressive work results owing to the day-to-day problems that surface.monetary insecurity

    A freelance writer, graphic designer, web designer etc. who earn their bread and butter owing to the creative abilities they possess cannot come up with good write-ups & visually enticing graphics & designs in case they’re worried about handling these unfortunate real-world challenges. So the best way you can gear up your creativity is keeping this distress aside and then work on the projects.

    Freelancers’ effective marketing tool is the quality of their work and hence put in your best possible endeavor to deliver these results as only this would bring you great appreciation and personal freedom as a freelancer.

    Cluttered Work Environment

    Creativity gets easily disrupted by unhealthy work environment. As a freelancer, you work from home but it is equally important to keep your place of work clean just like in office environment. Keep your desk clutter-free as dirty work environment is a serious creativity killer. Remove all the loose stationery, kids clothes lying around as a clean professional environment would open the creative doors of your mind and fresh ideas will flow out, which would certainly reflect in your work.work environment

    Stay organized and keep all necessary items of use such as pens, calculators, paper clips etc at your arm’s length. As a freelancer, you own the project from scratch to end. Hence, you need to think, concentrate, plan and then execute the project. So, you need to have your creativity in action. Try to keep your desk in front of the window that opens to a garden or park. The view would keep you rejuvenated and refreshed.

    Multi-Jobbing & Multi-tasking

    A part-time freelancer might be tempted to do some ‘freelance work’ during his office duty hours and simultaneously doing regular office duties such as answering clients’ calls or emails, or executing Boss’ instructions. This is the biggest catch involved as this way you won’t be able to come up with innovative ideas and integrate them in your freelance work.multitask

    Some people are good at multi-jobbing and multi-tasking but working on numerous things at a time is a tedious task and can adversely affect project execution. Most of the freelancers when do multi-tasking (such as emailing, chatting on different messengers, talking on phone, executing a freelance project) cannot stay focused and it’s then when their creativity takes a back seat and they end up doing a mediocre job.

    To keep your creative instincts alive, you need to be attentive and devoted in execution of your freelance project. During project execution time avoid using your phone, chatting on messengers so that nothing can distract you.

    Interrupted Work Schedule

    Frequent interruptions by kids or family members, phone calls, relatives’ visits etc. can seriously kill your creativity. Such fragmented work schedule can sabotage your creativity and drain out all your energy and inspiration.work schedule

    Make a work schedule and stick to it. Try to stay away from the factors which can prevent your innovative ideas from germinating and getting you involved in your work.

    We hope that these suggestions given by us would help you in identifying your creativity killer and overcoming it thereby enlivening your Creative Spirit, which would certainly help you in carving a niche for yourself in freelance market.