Because I’ve had so many new subscribers join the list in the past few weeks, I’m guessing it would be a good time to review how I screen ads and what is and is not included in Freelance Daily. While on occasion I have run ads that are exclusive to FD, this is primarily a screening service – I visit more than 200 Web sites each day so you don’t have to.
Random notes on what I do and how I do it:
1. I usually do all the screening in the evenings, although I do re-check some of the bigger sites and Wes Coast sites early in the morning as circumstances warrant. For this reason, jobs will not always be included in FD within 24 hours of their being posted on the original site.
2. I include any job that pays or appears to pay. Because this newsletter is primarily targeted at people who earn all or a significant portion of their income from freelance writing and editing, I never include ads that specifically state they do not compensate writers (and I’d guesstimate a quarter of the time I spend on this is reading through those ads, so forgive me on the rare occasion that one slips through).
3. I do not include ads from students looking to hire someone to write their papers for them, or from services that write and sell term papers to students. I do, however, include ads from students who appear to be looking for legitimate editing and tutoring help.
4. I include ads from legitimate businesses and publications, even if I don’t necessarily agree with the philosophies or editorial stances of those organizations (if you don’t like companies that provide adult services, no one will force you to apply for their openings).
5. I do not include ads from companies looking to fill full-time, permanent positions, although I do include full-time, temporary and contract positions. Again, this is a service for freelancers and there are more than enough services out there for people looking for full-time work.
6. For Craig’s List ads that specifically say it’s not okay to repost, I only include the link. I have had one person cancel their subscription because of this, but my feeling is that a link is in the public domain, and it’s no different than someone forwarding a potentially interesting job lead to a friend or two (or, in my case, 1,500). Otherwise, links to the actual ad are only provided when there is an anonymous email address or the ads are incredibly long.
7. If an ad looks fishy, I try to check it out by contacting the poster and/or validate its legitimacy before I include it.
8. I generally only post ads once, even if the people posting them repost them frequently and on several different sites. I may, however, repost ads every few months taking into account I add 50-100 subscribers per week and ads that are reposted over that length of time are generally coming from companies that have a constant need for writers.
Generally, I err on the side of including too much. If I don’t include ads – even ads for positions that most of us would consider low-paying – I’m defeating the purpose of this. Put another way, if you have to check the Web sites to see the ads I didn’t include, then there’s really no point in you reading this.
To answer another question that was asked recently, “Do I apply for positions listed in Freelance Daily?”
Well, duh. I need to eat as well. This essentially started soon after I began freelancing full time. I figured since I was screening all of these sites to begin with, I could email what I was turning up to a few friends. And then it sort of snow-balled from there.
You’re going to have to take my word on this, but let me go on the record as saying I will never leave out an ad because I’m applying for it in an effort to limit my competition. That’s just shady. (On the contrary, I often end up listing a job I have applied for as “Freelance Job of the Day”).
Questions, comments, suggestions or complaints? Email me.
- DC
