Guru.com has proven to be trial and error. I have only landed 1 project of the 70 or so proposals I have submitted. I take the time to read each proposal and tailor a proposal just for that project. The sad part is that probably 95% of the projects are never even assigned, let alone followed up on. The end result is you spend a lot of time working on proposals if you take the time to do a proper proposal for each project.
I have also been looking for contract work on Sitepoint. While the marketplace does not get as many projects posted, the likelihood that the employer will actually follow up on the job is much higher. I have posted on a few items on Sitepoint and have already been in discussions with several posters. Hopefully some will pan out!
My one awarded project on Guru is proceeding along. We have the design nearly complete and then it will be on to implementation. Design has taken a bit longer than expected, but the holidays have made it a bit harder to keep in contact with the client.
We are slated to deliver the final product in 2 weeks and we should have no problems hitting that.
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As part of my efforts in drumming up new business, I went ahead and signed up on Guru.com as a freelancer. I have used Guru.com in the past as an employer when I was looking for some outside help on a couple of projects.
So I go through the signup process and start off with a Basic account. Unfortunately, having a basic account is pretty much useless. The Basic account is supposed to allow you to search for and bid on projects in your category, but I was unable to find even 1 project in my category to bid on! All projects required the upgraded ‘Vendor’ account to even be able to submit a proposal! So it sounded a bit like a sham to me but thought I would go ahead and give it a shot.
I upgraded my account to Vendor ($150 for 1 year). I was then able to go bid crazy. Let me start by saying there are literally hundreds of projects posted. I filter through looking for a gig that would match my skill sets. On the first day I submitted 12 proposals. Looking through the available projects and submitting bids is a time consuming process. I spent about 90 minutes searching for compatible projects and writing out well thought out proposals.
Luckily for me, I did find a good project lead that has already gotten back with me and awarded me the project! Let’s hope finding work on Guru continues to be this easy! So I have my first Guru gig and here’s to hoping it goes well. I have read some not so great stories of people’s experiences with Guru, so let’s hope mine turn out better.
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A few months ago, a friend and client came to me about a new business he was getting into. Hill Country Insulation is the business name, and they wanted a web presence. We worked out the details and I begun work on the site. I partnered with a fellow Austinite to do the design and after a bit of time it was all complete. Last night we put the finishing touches on the site and turned it live! The project took a bit longer than anticipated due to delays for various reasons, but all in all it went along quite well.
www.hcinsulation.com
So please check them out for your Austin insulation needs, please check them out!
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