How a Non-Tech Husband and Wife Team Brought An App to Life

Have you ever had a great idea for a new app, but dismissed it because you don’t know how to build it yourself? What if you could find someone to build the app for you, would you give it a try?

When Loren Locke, an accountant from New York, shared an idea for a new app that would help people connect with others, his wife Tamara, a psychologist, didn’t dismiss the idea just because neither of them had the background for it. Instead she responded, “Let’s find someone to help us develop it!”

Their newly launched app, GoPoint, helps people create small communities wherever they are based on shared interests. Say you are really into Star Wars, running, or making pickles, and you want to connect with others who share your passion. With GoPoint, you can create an event that others in your area can see and join.

Unlike websites that share calendars of events so you can find things to match your interests, GoPoint lets users know what is going on in their area with no search required. As such, GoPoint travels with you wherever you go to help you find a community of people to share experiences. Users can also easily create invitations to new events and activities as well.

“We felt there needed to be a better way for people to connect with others,” said Tamara. “With GoPoint, we hope people feel like they can be more courageous to connect.”

GoPoint’s Tamara and Loren Locke.

From idea to app

Loren and Tamara started bringing GoPoint to life in July 2015. Their first attempt at working with a developer did not go as they had hoped so they put the project on hold.

When they were ready to focus on building the app again, they worked with Upwork Pro to find the right partner to help them.

“Upwork Pro acted as a fantastic matchmaker,” said Tamara. “They listened to our ideas and objectives and then did the legwork for us to find a great match for our vision. The process was incredibly simple and far less stressful than searching through hundreds of possible freelancers.”

Based on their needs, Upwork Pro connected them with a global agency based in Palo Alto, CA called Intellectsoft.

“From the first conversation with Intellectsoft, everything seemed possible,” said Tamara. “They shared past work with us to show us the quality their team produces, and everything they said really hit the mark for us!”

“It was great getting connected with The GoPoint team through Upwork. Their attention to detail, focus on product excellence, and flexibility to incorporate our development knowledge and expertise made the project an absolute joy,” said Shawn Sieck, Intellectsoft’s Executive Vice President of Sales. “We’re happy to have found a client with a brilliant idea, and be the ones to make it happen.”

Knowing clients come to them for their expertise in software development, the Intellectsoft team has a process in place to help ensure clear guidance and structure throughout the development process.

To start the pre-development phase, for example, there were weekly calls with the project manager during which Loren and Tamara very methodically reviewed their goals for the app, discussed how the app would make money, and reviewed their budget.

Once in development, the project manager provided regular updates, arranged times to connect for key milestone reviews, and helped coordinate the submission of the app to iTunes.

Ready to bring your app idea to life?

The Locke’s learned a lot while developing GoPoint that might help you in your own efforts to bring your app idea to life with expert assistance.

Vision is much more than an idea. Having a great idea for an app is the fun part. The hard work comes in building the vision of your app—from how it will function and make money, to how it will grow over time. “The Intellectsoft team had very realistic conversations with us based on their experience to help us define the right vision.”

Focus on your core. Once you have your vision stay focused on delivering that well. It can be so easy to want to have your project be all-encompassing from the get go. However, this can also derail you from delivering really well on the main purpose of the project. Other ideas can be considered for future add-ons and upgrades once you have loyal customers.

A budget vs. the right budget. Building a quality app was a must for Loren and Tamara. If they were going to invest their time and money in it, they wanted to make sure the outcome was successful and had a viable future to eventually earn revenue. “At first we were nervous about budget, but they helped us determine the right budget to create a quality app.”

Finding a doer vs. a skilled guide. It’s one thing to find someone who has the skills you think you need to do the development work for your app. It’s another thing, and far more important — especially if you don’t have a background in app development or marketing — to find support from a developer or development agency that can actually guide you through the process. “Intellectsoft helped us to not only build the app, but to create a vision that would be successful,” said Tamara. “From the start, their team was invested in helping us make our dream come true!”

Ask all the questions. Communications is key throughout any project so do not hold back your questions. Asking questions will help you better understand the process, as well as, help you understand how to think about things long-term.

Find more information to help you get started

Upwork’s Hiring Headquarters offers a wealth of resources to help you learn more about creating an app, how to hire a developer, when hiring an agency might be a good idea, and strategies to help successfully market your app.

You can also learn more about Upwork Pro, a premium service that matches companies with hand picked freelancers that have been pre-vetted based in their skill category. The Upwork Pro team can help you find the right developer or agency team quickly to fit your specific project needs.

The post How a Non-Tech Husband and Wife Team Brought An App to Life appeared first on Upwork Blog.

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What’s Your Secret Productivity Hack? [Survey]

How can you get more done in fewer hours with less stress? That’s what Upwork wants to find out.

Share your favorite tips and “power-tools,” the challenges that always get in the way, and the tasks you wish you could drop altogether.

Take our productivity survey now >>

Until Dec. 10, 2016, we’re collecting your best productivity hacks with a brief survey—it’ll take just a few minutes, it’s mostly multiple choice.

Your input will help us compile incredible productivity tips that’ll show you and lots of other busy people how to get more stuff done—with less stress. Once the tips are ready, we’ll send them to you.

Thanks for sharing your ideas! Please take the survey here >>

The post What’s Your Secret Productivity Hack? [Survey] appeared first on Upwork Blog.

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Upwork Newswire: Traditional Hiring Isn’t Enough

This biweekly column features the latest freelancing trends and Upwork’s role within them.

Huffington Post | Build On-Demand Teams Instead of Hiring Employees

The number of freelance professionals is growing at the same time demand from business for more flexible talent is on the rise. In many companies, however, this effort is more than a little informal; rogue spend is what happens when the established channels can’t meet demand.

Startup mentor Marty Zwilling says it’s time for businesses to take a more strategic approach:

“Entrepreneurs today can’t afford to acquire talent through traditional hiring alone, and need to revise the perception that ‘talent’ is only full-time employees,” he said.

Referencing the book “Navigating the Talent Shift,” by Lisa Hufford, he cites eight steps to help businesses break out of a traditional frame of mind:

• Build teams to meet goals rather than organization charts.
• Focus on deliverables and skills required right now.
• Prioritize objectives and seek expert talent to match.
• Build an on-demand pool of strategic do-ers.
• Think in terms of projects to keep up with an evolving strategy.
• Stay nimble by quickly filling gaps in the existing team.
• Leverage the broadest possible network.
• Maintain budget flexibility as the business changes.

Read Zwilling’s full comments to learn more about how to navigate the movement to on-demand talent teams >>

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Common Questions about Timber Frame and Log Home Joinery

There’s more than one way to join two timbers. When it comes to timber frame and log home joinery, strength is priority number one and then it comes down to your own personal style. The joinery and fasteners you select will depend on engineering specifications, structural needs, your budget and, as always, the look you want for your home.

Below, we’ll answer the four most common questions that we get asked about timber frame and log home joinery.

#1 Is joinery a major consideration when building my log or timber framed home?

Joinery is what holds a home together, so we’d say that it’s pretty important.

Nailing a couple of two-by-fours together is pretty straight forward, but joining two 10” x 12” timbers is a different story. Regular 3” framing nails won’t exactly do the job. As the size of timbers increase, so does the size of the fasteners and joinery needed to keep them in place. This makes them an even more important consideration for design.

#2 What types of joinery and fasteners are available?

Steel joinery and fasteners are your first option and will make your home’s engineer happy since steel is very strong, making their calculations easier.

Wood to wood joinery is your other choice and has been put to the test over hundreds of years of traditional building. There have also been great technological advancements in wood fasteners and new ways to join massive timbers created over the last decades. Selecting wood to wood joinery will mean more cost for added labour during the cutting process, but costs less in materials since it requires fewer fasteners.

#3 Can joinery and fasteners impact the look of my home?

Definitely. You’ll want to consider these questions: Do you want strictly wood to wood joinery for a traditional and more natural look? Are fasteners a requirement to support your home’s structure? Would exposed steel joinery and fasteners suit the style you prefer?

Joinery can be exposed or concealed depending on the look you’re going for, your home’s design, and your budget.

#4 How does joinery impact the structure of my log or timber frame home?

Besides the obvious support joinery can add to a home’s frame, it’s also used to ensure a tight fit between timbers. This is important for your home’s
longevity because a tight fit minimizes movement, reduces shifting and cracking, and adds energy efficiency by minimizing heat loss.

As you can see, there are many different ways you can fasten and join timbers together. Most log and timber frame home designs incorporate a mix of the options above. We hope this guide helps you to select joinery for your home that’s strong, lasts long, and looks fantastic, too.

If you’re considering building a log or timber frame home and have any questions about joinery, feel free to contact us at info@artisanlog.com.

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Synchro by Bold – 29 West Coast Modern Presale Condos in Mount Pleasant

At a Glance

• 5-storey, mixed-use mid-rise
• 29 1- & 2-bedroom residences
• 3 ground floor retail space
• 1 ground floor restaurant space
• 38 underground parking spaces
• direct access to bike routes & public transit
• close to Main Street boutiques, cafes, restaurants
• proximity to post-secondary schools
• near Brewery Creek, Olympic Village, False Creek

Human-Centred Design
Introducing Bold Properties’ flagship collection of 29 West Coast modern homes in Mount Pleasant. Featuring an integrated system of smart home technologies – from wireless climate and lighting control to keyless entry – and a philosophy based on human-centred design, Synchro has been developed with quality of life at its heart. This is a rare, appointment-only opportunity to own in Bold Properties’ vision of the future of Mount Pleasant.

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With Synchro, enjoy an outstanding range of walkable options for your day-to-day shopping needs. Directly opposite, Kingsgate Mall offers grocery shopping, a drugstore, a liquor store, clothing stores, a bank, an optician, dentist, and a hair salon. Within a two-block radius of Main and Broadway, you’ll find an enviable variety of bustling multi-ethnic restaurants to enjoy a night out. With a bus stop and bicycle route literally outside your door, mobility options are unparalleled! Kick back at Dude Chilling Park, relax with a coffee at Kafka’s, fill your growler at Main Street Brewing, groove to live music at the Biltmore, or pick up a book from the local Vancouver Public Library branch. Experience urban life and human-centred design in synchronicity, in the heart of Mount Pleasant.

Pricing for Synchro
As this is an appointment-only ownership opportunity, contact me to learn what purchase options are available.

Floor Plans for Synchro
Finalized floor plans have not yet been released. However, Synchro will offer 13 1-bedroom floor plans, ranging from 532-653 sq ft, and 16 family-friendly 2-bedroom floor plans from 724-1,062 sq ft.

Amenities at Synchro
Most homes include outdoor areas with either balconies or private landscaped roof decks. There will also be an outside amenity space that provides urban agriculture, a space for children to play, and a gathering area.

Parking and Storage
Synchro will provide 38 parking spaces in two levels of underground accessed from the lane, consisting of 8 small car, 16 standard car, 2 handicapped, 1 car-sharing, and 5 commercial parking stalls. There will also be 37 Class A bicycle stalls and 6 Class B bicycle stalls. In addition, a lane-accessed loading bay will service ground floor commercial tenants. All homes have in-suite storage.

Maintenance Fees at Synchro
Will be included in final pricing details.

Developer Team for Synchro
Bold Properties is a real estate developer fueled by innovation, creativity, and the needs of their customers. They meticulously design their developments in order to construct, nurture, and foster new communities across Greater Vancouver. Bold challenges the notion of typical in an effort to bring you the newest and greatest in real estate without compromising on tradition or quality.

Bold Properties have chosen Ankenman Marchand Architects to articulate their vision for Synchro. AMA is experienced in a broad spectrum of architectural, urban design, and community planning projects, including multi-residential developments, commercial projects, heritage restoration, and resort planning. At AMA, fresh ideas are paired with technical skill, to produce award-winning results. Their multi-disciplinary team finds thoughtful solutions to clients’ needs, using sustainable building practices and building information modelling. AMA’s strengths are in quality of service and the form and function of the resulting architecture, regardless of budget.

Expected Completion for Synchro
Although a completion date has yet to be announced, construction will begin in December 2016.

Are you interested in learning more about other homes in Mount Pleasant, along Main Street, or near False Creek?

Check out these great Mount Pleasant presales!

The post Synchro by Bold – 29 West Coast Modern Presale Condos in Mount Pleasant appeared first on Mike Stewart Real Estate Specialist 604-763-3136.

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5 Books That Will Help You Succeed in Business

Continuous learning is key to a thriving business. To excel, the most successful business folks push through our ever-changing environment by constantly exposing themselves to new skills and ideas.

There is an abundance of resources available, both online and in your local bookstore or library, to help you pull ahead. So dust off your reading glasses and pull up a big comfy chair; we asked some of Upwork’s employees and freelancers to share their favorite business books and why they like them.

1. “The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Achor

“I don’t read a lot of traditional business books, but in the personal development space I highly recommend ‘The Happiness Advantage’ by Shawn Achor. It’s not an airy fairy, woo woo ‘find yourself and find enlightenment’ kind of book (although I do love those, too). It’s a really scientific (yet funny) book about happiness and how it affects everything in our lives, especially our work. [It also describes] how to find our own brand of happiness in a completely real-world, actionable, practical way. Shawn Achor’s TED talk is pretty great to get an idea of what the book is like.”
– Radhika Basuthakur, Freelance Social Media Expert

2. “The 4-Hour Workweek,” by Timothy Ferriss

“’The 4-Hour Workweek’ by Timothy Ferriss. It has very practical ideas on how we can simplify and be more efficient in both our professional and personal lives. I read the book well before joining Upwork, and it certainly made me a believer in how freelance marketplaces like Upwork will help revolutionize how we work and operate on a day-to-day basis.”
– Chandhini Balakrishnan, Category Manager

“Tim Ferriss’ ‘4-Hour Work Week’. There are so many nuggets of lifehacking awesomeness in that book. It’s not cut and dry either. It has a really personal voice that you can relate to and nothing feels too lofty and far away from accomplishing.”
– Alvin Ding, Marketing Manager

3. “StrengthsFinder 2.0,” by Tom Rath

“My favorite business book is ‘StrengthsFinder 2.0’ by Tom Rath. I used to spend time trying to find ways to overcome my weaknesses because that’s what we’re taught to do. This book helped me pivot my focus to developing my strengths and coming to terms with the fact that no one can be great at everything.”
– Lindo Lo, Premium Talent Program Manager

4. “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,” by David Allen

“Getting Things Done, it simplifies the tasks.”
– Oleksandr Drach, Freelance Service Reliability Engineer

5. “The Art of the Start 2.0,” by Guy Kawasaki

“‘The Art of the Start’ (recently updated/re-released) is an actionable, to-the-point guide to presenting ideas with purpose and clarity. It’s a crash course in testing and running a business of any size—particularly a startup. It won’t all be 100% relevant to everyone, but anyone can learn from Kawasaki’s advice. Whether you’re promoting a business or yourself, ‘The Art of Pitching’ (chapter 6) is a must read.”
– Amy Sept, Writer and Managing Editor of the Upwork Blog

What books can you attribute some of your success to? Tell us in the comments!

The post 5 Books That Will Help You Succeed in Business appeared first on Upwork Blog.

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Creating a Great Upwork Profile

One of the most important aspects of being a freelancer who works with clients through Upwork is having an online presence that speaks to your professional abilities.

From awesome portfolio items, to client testimonials, to a killer intro and high scores on skills tests, each portion of your Upwork profile serves as proof of your skills to potential clients. The more clearly your profile portrays these skills, the more likely clients will be to trust you with their business needs.

So what makes for a great profile? We asked the Upwork Facebook Community what they thought. Here is a sample of their responses.

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“In your Upwork profile overview, honesty pays. Tell clients what you can do by highlighting your skills and knowledge, then give crisp reasons why you are best suited for your niche. This lands you projects pretty fast. Be brief, because the platform is competitive given thousands of skilled Upworkers looking for the same job. Stand out!”
– Wordsworth S O Nyatuga

“What’s good for the client isn’t always good for the portfolio. Be picky, polish your work, make mockups!”
– Ivan Vukovic

“There are countless guides available online when it comes to creating a great Upwork profile. And a lot of these are available on Upwork’s resources alone. Some of which are as follows: Enhance Your Upwork Freelancer Profile for Greater Success, How to Build Your Freelancer Profile on Upwork, Make a Great Impression Every Time with Your Freelancer Profile.”
– Maria Marilyn

“Film yourself with a nice background, introduce yourself, and tell what value you can add to your client’s job using your skill set. Be smart and give some good reasons [why you fit] the bill and post this video on your profile. The day you stop being generic and start talking some sense in your cover letter, you’ll start landing jobs like hot cakes.”
– Bakhtawar Durrani

“Take relevant skill tests, include some client reviews at the top of your profile, focus on what you can do for the client, not what you are good at, and make sure your profile pic is warm and professional. Lastly, make sure your hourly rate shows value. Clients actually like a higher rate because it shows you know what you are doing. Add a video. And lastly, be fun and friendly!”
– Josef VanTine

“Taking skill tests, adding certifications and samples of work, and a brief overview that shows how professional you are, makes a great profile.”
– Juwairiah Zia

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What do you think makes for a great profile? Tell us in the comments!

Editor’s note: Responses edited for grammar, spelling, and clarity. The statements above are those of their authors and do not constitute the views or opinions of Upwork.

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Perspectives on the Future of Work: November 21

Upwork’s biweekly column brings you the latest news on the future of work, including trends, freelancing, and other shifts in the way we get things done.

This week’s roundup highlights:

• Could freelancing bring more balance to the U.S. economy? Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel thinks there’s potential—if steps are taken to help support freelance professionals.
• The changing world of work takes a different way of thinking. Heather Willems offers her ideas to help shift your perspective.

Here’s a look at the latest headlines:

Fast Company | How Protecting Freelancers Could Boost the U.S. Economy

Could the freelance economy encourage more balance in the U.S. economy? Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel thinks it’s possible. “If you look at the last 40 years or so, GDP has become more concentrated in a smaller number of cities,” Kasriel told freelance journalist Jared Lindzon. “There are about 100 cities in the world that do about 50% of the world’s GDP.”

That’s created an imbalance; some regions struggle while others are booming at an unsustainable pace.

The 2016 Freelancing in America study, conducted by Upwork and Freelancers Union, found that while freelancing is strong in urban areas, it’s just as strong in suburban and rural areas—with a lot of potential for growth.

One way to support freelancers, Kasriel says, is to protect their income. Freelancing in America found freelancers face an average loss of $6,390 from clients who skip out on payments. More protection, he says, could “encourage [more people] to enter the freelance economy, improve unemployment in some areas, and congestion and the rising cost of living in others.”

Open Forum | The Power of Non-Linear Thinking

In the midst of all this change, creative thinking is at a premium. Getting in the right frame of mind, according to Heather Willems of Image Think, means learning to think like an artist.

“It is rare that artists can sit down at a blank canvas and instantly make a masterpiece,” she said. “Rather, they first have to gather research, tap into their insight and then practice creative thinking by working and re-working the canvas.”

As Willems explains, typical linear thinking “can lead to getting stuck in tunnel vision.” Instead, she says, people need to lean more on their insight, intuition, creativity, and emotion.

She offers several suggestions to help you shift your way of thinking, such as connecting with people who work in adjacent industries. “Step back and make space for your intuition to see the broader picture as a way to spark new ideas,” she said.

How you changed the way you work to fit the future of work? Share your experience in the comments below.

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Tips for Android App Development Success

At last count, Google said there were 1.4 billion active Android devices—more than the one billion iOS devices Apple reached this summer—which is one of the things that makes Android such a competitive platform for app developers.

However, developing for any mobile platform can be hard work, and there’s no surefire way to know whether your app will catch fire until it’s live and in the hands of users. Everything you can do to optimize your development process, while maximizing your chances of crafting a hit app, has the potential to make a difference.

These tips from the Hiring Headquarters—Upwork’s resource for businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs—will help steer you closer toward the path to success on your next Android project.

App Performance Pitfalls to Avoid

Knowing the nuances of the Android environment and being aware of the most common trip ups can save you a world of headaches.

“7 Common Mistakes That Could Affect Your Android App’s Performance” touches on some of the issues to avoid if you want to ensure your app runs smoothly across the full spectrum of Android devices. From design quirks to coding oversights, these are the types of problems that can bring negative reviews and even spur users to delete your app altogether.

Here are three examples of pitfalls to avoid:

1. Burning too much battery power. Nobody likes to run out of juice while they’re on the go. If your app is an energy hog, it increases the chances your users will delete it to conserve precious battery power.

2. Forgetting to test on different screen sizes. With so many different Android devices in the marketplace (one startup counted 24,000), it’s crucial to take time to test how your app looks and performs on a range of screen sizes—including both phones and tablets.

3. Not using asynchronous design. For apps that tap into the cloud, you can’t assume a user will always be connected to the Internet when triggering a function. Avoid hang-ups by using AsyncTask.

Implement Design Best Practices

Steering clear of common trouble spots and avoiding major mistakes will help boost your app’s chances of success, but what will take your user experience to the next level? Google offers some very specific guidelines for people making high-quality apps for its mobile platform, though it’s also valuable to gain insights from developers in the coding trenches.

“Helpful Tips & Best Practices for Android Developers” explores a range of handy tidbits to implement into your own development process. These tips build on Google’s own Android app design best practices and recommendations—good rules of thumb to follow to make sure your app is primed to deliver an optimal user experience while making life easier during development.

1. Make user security a priority. With hackers shifting their attention to mobile device users, it’s increasingly important to design your app’s code and features with maximum user security in mind.

2. Learn XML and Java. Between XML-driven UI and Java’s back-end code, these two languages make up the backbone of the Android platform. While there are other ways to create Android apps, it’s worth mastering these two languages if you intend to get the most out of the platform.

3. Be mindful of memory. Memory usage can make or break your app on most mobile devices—it’s a challenge that isn’t limited to Android. Careful design that minimizes memory consumption is important to bring a smooth experience to your end users.

For additional mobile development tips to enhance your skills, check out the Hiring Headquarters >>

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What Great Customer Service Looks Like? It’s Not What You Think!

 

 

 

What does it mean to offer great customer service?

Have you been doing it the wrong way all this time?

It’s simpler than you think…

 

 

When I first work with my clients, I meet them in my office and I go through a questionnaire.  Using the questionnaire I try to find out what my clients need.  Whether they need to buy or sell, I need to find out my client’s motive, desires and expectations.  

I want to figure out my client’s motivation to buy and sell.  Sometimes, they are drawn to buy or sell based on what the media says and so I want to make sure they are fully informed about what is REALLY going on in the market.

Then, I figure out whether what they want is compatible with what they need based on what they have told me.  For example, a client may think that her $500K budget can only afford a 2 bedroom apartment in Burnaby but what she really actually wanted was to live in Vancouver but she thought it wasn’t possible.  That’s where I come in and show her what’s possible and what’s not.  

The same goes with clients who think their home is worth X, when in fact their home is worth a lot more.  

The post What Great Customer Service Looks Like? It’s Not What You Think! appeared first on Gary Wong Realty Vancouver, BC.

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How To Boost Salon Retail Product Sales

Boost Salon Retail Sales With The 3 Ps!

Whether you’re a booth renter or multi-location salon business owner, knowing how to effectively sell retail products is vital to your success. It’s not just about increasing revenue, it’s an opportunity to build trust with your clientele and ensure their needs are met. 

In this video training, Rebecca Gregory and Tracy Olson will teach you the 3 Pillars of Salon Retail Success and what has and hasn’t worked in their own salons. Spoiler Alert: they also deep dive into an Oway Product Knowledge Session (one of the main factors that will determine your ability to sell salon retail products).

3 Pillars of a Successful Salon Retail Strategy

Promotional Planning

Proper promotional planning is vital component to your salon retail strategy. Not only does it set expectations for your team, it can also help purchasing decisions and your ability to maximize retail product profit. In this training, you’ll learn innovative promotion strategies, and how to effectively plan and implement them.

Psychology & Perception

Communication is both spoken and unspoken. Your client’s perception of you and your business begins the moment they wall in the door. Neglecting sensory details like scent and visual merchandising can be detrimental to your salon’s retail sales without you even knowing it. In this section of our training, you’ll learn how to implement experience merchandising, and how to make sure your salon and staff are speaking the same language.

Product Knowledge

It’s vital for those actively selling salon retail products to exactly what and why they’re selling a specific product, and most importantly, how to use it. In this section, we give our best tips for selecting your ideal retail product line and even a little bonus product knowledge session on our Oway product line.

Can’t get enough retail sales knowledge for your salon? Check out these 8 salon retail sales tips!

Need help implementing your salon’s retail strategy? Customers can give us a call M-F 9a-7p EST at 888-213-4744

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From Rebels to Resources: The Evolution of Freelancers

“You’re a freelancer? That means you can’t get a job or you’re difficult to work with,” said the smug man after I introduced myself. He smirked triumphantly as if he exposed a dirty little secret.

It was 2005 and I just went freelance. Unless you were something cool like a photojournalist or a web developer, freelancing was a dirty word.

In my experience, people not only assumed I couldn’t get a “real job,” they also thought freelancers were less reliable. Or that our skills and experience weren’t as good as our peers who worked in traditional jobs. After all, if we were good enough to hire, we’d be working for someone else, right?

At that time, I also lived in a small city where freelancers weren’t seen as professionals. Many assumed I was a housewife seeking an occasional project for fun money.

What surprised me most were that clients expected to be disappointed. Since I didn’t work for a “real company,” they figured I’d miss deadlines and provide inferior customer service.

Compared to how people view freelancers today, those perspectives seem like the knuckle-dragging dark ages.

From rebels to resources

Freelancers used to be the rebellious outliers of the working world. Now, we’re a respected symbol of the modern workforce. In one study, 60 percent say freelancing has become more respected as a career path.

This shift in how we work is so popular that today, freelancers make up an impressive 35 percent of the U.S. workforce. And our size isn’t the only significant number: Freelance earnings contribute nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. economy each year. Our impact will likely soar as freelancers are predicted to total half of the U.S. workforce by 2020.

Not only are more workers freelancing, companies are increasing demand for them too. According to one survey, 95 percent of companies believe freelancers are key to developing and running a successful business.

But this perspective shift didn’t come from spontaneous enlightenment. A perfect storm of conditions came together, which made using freelancers almost inevitable. In a nutshell:

• Our largest workforce (millennials) demand greater work/life balance
• Companies face a worsening talent shortage
• The cost of doing business continues rising
• New technologies make it easier to work remotely
• There’s more widespread access to high-speed internet
• Growing competition forces companies to move faster, with more agility

Freelancers help companies work more nimbly, access high-end talent, and manage costs. On the flip side, freelancing gives individuals more control over their earnings, time, and professional growth.

Unfettered, but not unstable

In my early freelancing days, some peers would envy my freedom. Then quickly say, “But I could never do it. I need a steady paycheck.” As in anything else, freelancing has its pros and cons. One of the cons is creating a regular stream of work, which may be difficult if you live in an area with limited opportunities.

Thankfully, the internet’s made finding steady work a whole lot easier. In the latest Freelancing in America study, 73 percent say technology—such as online marketplaces—make it easier to find work. In fact, 66 percent say the amount of work they obtained online had increased within this past year alone.

Having it all

When people think of freelancers, they usually think of creatives and coders. But now, professionals including lawyers and accountants are making the switch too. Attorney Kay Ma freelances so she can spend more time on her cake-making business. “A lot of freelance solicitors are good lawyers – and something else. I can be a serious lawyer and have other interests without feeling like I am committing adultery on my career,” says Ma.

In case you’re wondering, most of us aren’t sacrificing pay for our freedom either. Over half report that within a year of leaving their full-time job, they earned more as freelancers.

Although everyone has different reasons for freelancing, the majority said they didn’t feel forced into it because of economic reasons. Six out of ten say it was a lifestyle choice. The top two reasons cited are: “To be my own boss” (77 percent), and “to have flexibility in my schedule” (73 percent).

There’s never been a better time to freelance, or to get your projects done using freelance talent. Not only can you get more work done, faster—it can get done by some of the most experienced talent available.

If you’ve got a project ready to start, why wait? Get started today!

The post From Rebels to Resources: The Evolution of Freelancers appeared first on Upwork Blog.

from Upwork Blog http://ift.tt/2fBYIIt

Upwork Newswire: When Rogue Spend is Good

This biweekly column features the latest freelancing trends and Upwork’s role within them.

Spend Matters | When Rogue Spend is Good: The Case for Online Services Platforms

“Rogue spend” is spending that happens outside a business’s established process for obtaining supplies and resources—spending that isn’t necessarily accounted for or economical. It’s a problem for people who work in procurement, but Andrew Karpie argues there’s a case for rogue spending when it comes to the contingent workforce.

The problem, he says, is that existing supply channels can’t always meet demand. When it comes to freelance talent, business managers are looking for more effective and efficient ways to do their jobs. Sidestepping established channels, Karpie explains, gives them better access to the talent they need.

“In the current environment, many types of talent are in short supply, and the established sourcing channels (e.g., temporary staffing suppliers) are costly, slow, have quality-control issues and do not support short-interval, intermittent engagements. So there is a problem, and business managers are stepping up to solve it, achieve superior performance and save the company money,” Karpie said.

Noting that there are reasonable objections to rogue spend on independent contractors, Karpie suggests the risks can be mitigated. Further, he says, the data generated by online work platforms can actually enhance procurement’s abilities to monitor activity and ensure compliance.

Read the full commentary here >>

The post Upwork Newswire: When Rogue Spend is Good appeared first on Upwork Blog.

from Upwork Blog http://ift.tt/2fRVAJC

Texture Hair 101: How to Identify Curl Types and Ideal Styling Products

Many of us Hair Stylists have a tough time determining the needs of curly and textured hair clients. You may even panic when a head of beautiful curls walks through your salon door. Introducing our Texture Hair 101 Guide!

Now, you’ll be able to easily determine various curl types and patterns, while servicing these clients with poise and confidence. As with all successful hair appointment experiences, it all starts with a thoughtful and thorough consultation. Your approach and questions are the key to gaining a textured client’s trust.

But first, you must know to ask slightly different questions when consulting with your curly clientele. This due to the various textures (which you’ll learn to identify in this article) and how they hold up to moisture, humidity and your client’s unique lifestyle.

Below are some sample topics and questions to ask during your  consultation:

1.  Ask them how long their has been free from chemicals.
2. What do their daily/weekly activities consist of? This question will probe them to tell you lifestyle choices, like whether they exercise or not and what they do for a living. Which at this point should help you determine the importance of convenience to this client.
3. Listen to your client to give them the best experience. If there is a service or technique you are not comfortable with, please let them know… they will most likely appreciate you being upfront about your limitations. You have now become a team in finding a style that you both will love and are capable of achieving.

 

How to Determine Different Curl and Textured Hair Types

Below, is a handy chart on how to identify different hair textures and curl patterns.

As trained hair stylists, we understand that you not only have to identify texture, but understand how certain hair types react to moisture/humidity and heat. This is the knowledge that the consumer is missing, which has unfortunately, led them down a road to becoming product junkies. Spending hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars on products they don’t use.

This is where you come in with your new found textured hair knowledge and styling product suggestions.

Images courtesy of Naturally Curly.com

Types of Textured Hair Styling

Straightening/Silk Press:

This method, of course, can be done on all hair types. Textured hair is sought after often times because of its versatility. Straightening is for those that want convenience, professional reasons and/or personal preference. If worn too often, or if iron temperatures are too hot, you may cause heat damage to your clients hair.

That’s why I also recommend using our non-toxic, organic heat protection products.

Oway product suggestions: Thermal Stress Protector, Silk’n Glow line (Hair Bath, Hair Mask, Serum), Nurturing Drops, Glossy Nectar

Wet Setting/Wrapping:

Coils/Comb Twists

Texture Hair Types: 4-8
Oway Product Suggestions: Moisture line (Hair Bath, Mask and No-Rinse Moisture Spray), Flux Potion

Double Strand Twists

Texture hair types: 5-8
Oway Product Suggestions: Moisture line (Hair Bath, Mask and No-Rinse Moisture Spray), PreciousWax, Boho Pomade

Curl Defining

Texture hair types:  3-6
Oway Product Suggestions: Curly line (Hair Bath, Mask and Curly Potion), Shabby Mud, Precious Wax, Boho Pomade, Flux Potion

Roller Wraps

Texture Hair Types: All
Oway Product Suggestions: Flux Potion, Glossy Nectar, Silk’n Glow Serum, Glamshine Cloud Spray

Protective Styling:

Double Strand Twists/Coil Comb Twists

Texture Hair Types: 4-8
Oway product suggestions: Moisture line (Hair Bath, Mask and No-Rinse Moisture Spray), Flux Potion

Locs/ Dreadlocs

Texture hair types: 4-8 (but can be done on all types with manipulation techniques)
Oway Product Suggestions for Starting Locs: Flux Potion (for more coarse textures)
Oway Product Suggestions for Maintaing  Locs: Frozen Glaze, Boho Pomade

Braids & Braids/Twists Combo Styles:

Texture hair types:  4-8
Oway Product Suggestions: Boho Pomade, Frozen Glaze

Disclaimer: The product suggestions are a tool to help stylists. It is not suggested they be layered or to be used separate. The suggestions are merely for ideas only for this article. 

About The Author

Jennea Dorsey-Gordley

As a Simply Organic Educator, she brings to us years of experience working with textured hair, and more importantly, how to achieve desired results with non-toxic, organic hair products. If you’re interested in bringing Jennea into your salon for an in-depth texture class, please contact us at 888-213-4744

from Simply Organic Beauty https://simplyorganicbeauty.com/texture-hair-curl-types-and-product-tips/

Using Freelance Talent to Enhance Your Business

Whether it’s to scale a company, test an idea, or find a specialized skillet, an increasing number of companies are turning to fast and flexible freelance talent. How can the growing contingent workforce help you grow your business?

To explain some of the broader possibilities of shifting to virtual talent, these helpful articles from the Hiring Headquarters—Upwork’s resource for businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs—look at some of the tech and logistics involved.

How Freelancers Help Businesses

Deciding to incorporate freelancers into your business model can have a positive impact on your productivity. “9 Ways Agencies Can Successfully Scale with Freelancers” looks at how the growing freelance market has changed the work landscape and offers specific examples of how freelancers have been a boon to growing companies.

You’ll also get excellent tips to help you get the most out of the business relationship:

1) Cultivate relationships with reliable contractors. When you find high-quality freelance talent that truly delivers, it’s worth developing a relationship with them so you can leverage their skills as you have projects available. This helps cut down on the time it takes to find additional freelancers, and offers peace of mind that you’ll get great results every time.

2) Facilitate good communication up front. Be clear about things like project objectives, budget, deliverables, and processes, as this can set a positive and productive tone that can carry on throughout the engagement.

3) Bring freelancers aboard earlier. The sooner you can get freelancers involved in a project, the more informed and invested in it they’ll be. It’s also worth having their input and expertise available earlier on to help shape important decisions.

Cloud-Sourcing Your Talent

As modern business practices continue to evolve alongside emerging talent pools and high-tech trends in work, many companies are ditching the old mindset that work has to be done in one specific location. Contracting with remote workers and specialists is becoming the new norm for tech-savvy businesses, allowing some companies to even skip the need for a physical space altogether.

“Meet the New BPO: Cloud-Sourcing” explores the different possibilities that can arise from shifting toward a fully distributed workforce. It looks at changes in the way people work—thanks to the rise of Internet-based business in recent years—and offers examples of organizations that have transitions to a cloud-sourced model.

Among the range of potential benefits this can have for your business, three points stand out as prime perks.

1) Major cost savings. Without the ongoing and expensive overhead costs of a physical space, businesses can save significantly. This is in addition to potential savings from the ability to scale talent as needed.

2) Faster talent engagement. Reduce the time it takes to find new talent from months to days when you have a broad and diverse pool of virtual workers to consider.

3) Easier scaling. Ramping up your business for seasonal peaks is far easier and faster when you work with a virtual team that can grow and expand quickly.

Freelancers as a Cost-Saver

Going through traditional talent agencies to find skilled workers can be a time-consuming affair that may burn through your budget in ways you might not initially predict. When you want to save money while getting the best freelancers to suit your project, it’s worth considering how a Freelance Management System (FMS) can help you hit your goals without breaking your bank account.

“Calculating the True Cost of Getting Freelance Help” uncovers some of the hidden costs that can arise from the talent search process and how to best avoid these financial drains by using a FMS.

The piece looks at important metrics to watch and factor in through the hiring cycle. It also explores the goals of engaging contract workers—filtered through the important lens of quality, speed, and cost savings—and details how a FMS can speed up the hiring process while saving your company significant money.

For more helpful tips on scaling your businesses and finding top freelance talent, check out the Hiring Headquarters.

The post Using Freelance Talent to Enhance Your Business appeared first on Upwork Blog.

from Upwork Blog https://www.upwork.com/blog/2016/11/freelance-talent-enhance-business/

Exclusive Offers from Pluralsight to Help You Grow Your Business

Keeping your skills competitive, so you can deliver top-notch work, is one of the most effective ways to build your freelance business—whether by raising your rates or taking on new and more challenge projects. Another way to grow is to share your expertise with others.

A new partnership from Upwork and Pluralsight, an on-demand online education platform, can help you do both through a subscription discount or by becoming a course author.

“Tech skills have a two year half-life on average, and the pace of technology is rapidly changing,” said Jake Vago, Corporate Development Director for Pluralsight. “It’s never been more important for freelancers to stay current in their skills.”

Pluralsight offers more than 5,000 courses for developers, IT administrators, and creatives, which you can take individually or as part of a learning path: a curated group of courses designed to take some of the guesswork out of your professional development. An assessment test helps you identify the strengths and weaknesses in what you already know, so you can focus on filling the gaps rather than starting from scratch.

And if you’re at the top of your game, you can establish your reputation as an expert by becoming a Pluralsight author—an initiative that can help you not just raise your profile but also earn royalties from the course you create.

Subscription Discount

Whether you want to hone your expertise or develop a new one, all freelancers on the Upwork platform can take advantage of this deal:

• 20 percent off an annual subscription
• Unlimited access to 5K+ courses, 40+ learning paths
• Unlimited access to skill tests to measure your progress

Learn more about the subscription discount >>

Author Program

Help other people learn what you know and build your personal brand by creating a course for Pluralsight. The bar for the authorship program is very high, and is only available to top freelancers on Upwork—those who have a Job Success score of 90 percent or greater or are Rising Talent. It offers a chance to:
Get paid a completion fee for creating and publishing a course.
Receive a royalty based on how much the videos have been viewed each month.

Authors approved by Pluralsight will be engaged through the Upwork platform, so you must be a freelancer who meets the program’s needs and requirements.

Joining the author program is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to enhance your reputation by creating a high-quality course that’s truly yours. Pluralsight gives you access to one million learners worldwide, with tools and a world-class team that has the skill and experience to produce great courses.

Apply to become a course author >>

The post Exclusive Offers from Pluralsight to Help You Grow Your Business appeared first on Upwork Blog.

from Upwork Blog https://www.upwork.com/blog/2016/11/upwork-pluralsight-exclusive-offers-help-grow-business/

Hootsuite’s 4 Secrets to Boosting your Brand with Social Media [Webinar]

More than a decade after the launch of major networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, there continues to be an explosion of networks, participants, and content. As much as ever, harnessing the power of social media is essential for businesses of any size that want to encourage brand loyalty and recognition.

Candice Charleton, Hootsuite’s senior manager of global social and community, recently shared what she’s learned during a webinar for the Upwork community, “Hootsuite’s 4 Secrets to Boosting your Brand with Social Media“.

“This is an unprecedented time for content,” she explained. “Making sure that you have a proper plan in place to leverage the networks, get in front of your audiences, and deliver fantastic content that can break through the clutter—these are all really important things when you’re looking at why you need to have a proper social media plan.”

So what does an effective social media plan look like? During the webinar, Charleton shared four steps to help you create a plan that works and provided tips on each:

1. Do a social media audit
2. Develop your plan
3. Engage your audience with a set content strategy
4. Measure your progress.

Step 1: Audit Your Social Media

A social media audit is your chance to scrutinize what your audience is up to on social media:

• Which networks do your customers and prospects use?
• What are they saying about key topics related to your business?
• What are the people in your space, such as leaders and competitors, saying?
• What are the existing conversations you can leverage?

It’s also an opportunity to look back at what you’ve shared on your own social media accounts in the past—see what the best performing content has been. “Your audience is your best barometer on telling you what’s working and what’s not,” Charleton said.

As you begin your audit, find all the social platforms you have an who runs them. Use Google to find people, blog posts, and other content that refer to your brand. Determine what social networks you want to focus on.

“Prioritize and make sure that you’re feeling focused in terms of what networks you want to go ahead and spend the most time and energy on,” she said. Create new networks, consolidate existing networks—to streamline your efforts instead of juggling multiple profiles—and eliminate the networks that don’t have value for your brand.

Step 2: Develop a Game Plan

An effective social media marketing plan starts with goals that are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time based.

“If you don’t know where your goal is, you don’t know where you’re going—it’s going to be a very rocky road and you’re not going to have your North Star that can help make your plan successful,” Charleton said.

She says you also want to make sure your business goals and social goals are in sync. “When you can sit in a room and prove the value of social at that organizational level, that’s really where the magic is.”

For example:

Business goals like…	May pair with social goals like…
Brand Awareness	Reach
Thought Leadership	Comments and Inbound Links
Word of Mouth	Shares and Retweets
Leads	Form Fills
Sales	Online Purchases

Set your content strategy

Having an editorial calendar that’s in sync with your social media calendar can help you map out content releases and promotion. This will help you identify:

• Whether you need to segment your content by audience
• Original social content you need to create to support the editorial pieces
• What content you want to share
• How often you should promote it.

“Developing one piece of content and blasting across all of your networks isn’t the way that social [works],” Charleton said, explaining that it’s important to understand how the experience on each social network is different. “You want to match [the] audience’s consumption behavior.”

As you develop your strategy, aim for a balanced mix of messages using what Charleton describes as the rule of thirds:

• Spend a third of your content promoting your products—not just talking about your product but looking for ways to educate and inspire.
• Converse with your audience about industry news and best practices.
• Just talk to people!

Step 3: Drive Engagement

While a calendar is important, Charleton says it isn’t enough if you don’t have someone available to respond.

“When people comment and ask questions, you need to answer them,” she said. “If they shout out and give you a high five—’that was really great and I learned a lot, and thank you so much’—it’s amazing if you can have someone say a simple ‘Thank you,’ or send a high five, or ask another question and get a dialogue going.”

Engagement is an important part of any social media plan; everyone is important, and if you don’t have someone dedicated to engaging with your audience, you could miss out on huge opportunities and new relationships. “It’s the magic of social,” Charleton added.

Learn how an editorial calendar can help keep your business on track >>

Step 4: Measure Your Results so you can Keep Improving

Business and social goals have a matching metric that will help you measure your social media ROI so you can tell whether you’re succeeding or not.

For example, you can measure brand awareness and reach by following total impressions. Or you can use social mentions to help measure your success with thought leadership, comments, and inbound links.

“Shares is my number one KPI right now,” Charleton said. “When I put that forward in 2016, people thought I was crazy—they were like, ‘I want to see web site traffic,’ ‘I want to see form fills.’”

But Charleton told them the focus on shares would help keep their efforts focused. “Are we putting out content that people love, that’s going to make us remarkable, that they’re going to then share with their networks, which is going to give us that third-party validation and reference?”

You can track these numbers using analytics tools, such as Google Analytics and Hootsuite Analytics. Using a URL shortener such as ow.ly can help you track who is clicking on your content and what part of the world they’re in.

Then, use those numbers to refine your strategy:

• What worked well and what resonated with your audience?
• What didn’t work?
• What learnings have you taken away?
• How can you refine your goals for the next period or quarter?

Social media is an opportunity to have 1:1 interactions with your audience; businesses can’t afford to neglect that engagement. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to a strong social media strategy—you need to hone your skills and stay up-to-date.

If you’re going to succeed, Charleton says, you need to be clear about what you want to achieve and know how you can meet your audience where they are, have a plan to create information your audience will love, and get the information you need to change and improve.

For more information to help you through this process, watch the full webinar and check out these templates from Hootsuite.

The post Hootsuite’s 4 Secrets to Boosting your Brand with Social Media [Webinar] appeared first on Upwork Blog.

from Upwork Blog https://www.upwork.com/blog/2016/11/hootsuite-boosting-brand-social-media-webinar/

How Upwork Takes an Engineering-driven Approach to Solving Problems

The engineers at Upwork are closest to the systems that impact our most precious asset: our customers. As such, our engineers are in a position to influence and improve the inner-workings of our site to make it better, faster, and more stable—so freelancers and clients can get more done.

Because of their proximity to the customer and the site, engineers can be valuable contributors to more than just code—they can provide insight and perspective when it comes to problem-solving on a bigger scale. Following is a look at a few valuable lessons we’ve learned about shifting certain decision-making responsibilities to the engineering team, a move that’s yielded significant improvements to the stability and performance of our legacy platform, and a better experience for the users who rely on our site every day.

Why Make Changes to a Retiring Legacy System?

The oDesk Remote Procedure Call (oDesk RPC, or ORPC) team at Upwork maintains the legacy oDesk backend, written in Perl. oDesk RPC initially described our own custom binary RPC protocol for remote calls between the backend and consumers.

Although this backend subsystem will be discontinued in the mid-term, in favor of a modernized microservice platform, it still handles all of the core business entities of our domain model (e.g., users, job posts, job applications, offers, contracts, and time tracking information). Because of this, we felt while it is still being actively used, it should bring no surprises. It was important to increase the stability, performance, and predictability of this legacy back-end subsystem.

Planning the Work & Working the Plan

At the beginning of Q2 2016, we decided to switch our planning responsibility from the Product Team over to the Engineering Team. Fortunately, we had some space in our sprints to make room for this experiment.

To start, we created a Google Doc and asked each developer on the team to provide three items they felt were worth addressing. After collecting everyone’s input, we discussed then finalized our action items.

Every developer received the chance to work on items they personally considered important, which had a very positive impact on team performance and motivation. All scheduled tasks were completed on time and scope as planned, including:

• Fully refactored email rendering in the legacy backend. This resulted in a 2x to 5x speedup of the rendering process, and removed network dependency for rendering.
• Implemented a fully asynchronous email sending. This effort yielded a 5x increase in speed of email sending calls, loosening external dependencies (Mailgun/SMTP), and thus increasing overall stability of our application server.
• Enabled modernized time tracking synchronization on our production servers. This resulted in 10x speedup of the process and much more frequent updates of all time tracking reports.
• Improved the PostgreSQL connection pool cleanup. The total number of active connections at any moment now does not exceed 3-4 for all legacy application servers.
• Improved application logging to make problem detection in production easier. We did a huge cleanup of reported warnings, which reduced log size by a magnitude. This was beneficial both in terms of logging infrastructure utilization and troubleshooting.

Driving Platform Issues Down to Zero/Month

This process not only enabled our engineering team to make quick and efficient system improvements, it also established a pragmatic and inexpensive approach to improving the quality of our product.

We repeated this process in Q3, only on a lesser scale because our product-related workload became significantly higher. By the end of Q3, the number of production incidents (outages) due to legacy platform issues reduced to zero per month.

Optimizing for Success

When working in an environment that’s highly technological, it’s important to iterate, adapt, and learn better ways to approach future projects along the way. In this case, the two major lessons learned were:

• Listen to the engineering team’s opinion and understand the significance behind each opinion. Good engineers often have a huge amount of insight into more intricate details of software—aspects that aren’t necessarily visible at a management/product level.
• Trust the judgement of your engineers, and provide all necessary support for them to execute what they think is worth executing. This lets them do their job to the most efficient degree. Engineers often need some kind of political support from upper management to accomplish what they need to accomplish, so it’s helpful to ensure that up front.

Ultimately, every professional in software development seeks to contribute something impactful to their organization. By shifting certain decisions to the engineering team, Upwork Engineering was able to make quick and efficient improvements to our system, establishing a more pragmatic (and less expensive) approach to improving the quality of our product.

For engineers on the whole, this shift creates an opportunity for them to do what they love doing. For businesses, this improves a company’s product in the long run, helping to satisfy customers and maintain growth.

The post How Upwork Takes an Engineering-driven Approach to Solving Problems appeared first on Upwork Blog.

from Upwork Blog https://www.upwork.com/blog/2016/11/upwork-engineering-driven-approach-solving-problems/