Test 1 of guaranteed freelance work
I just had Bedrok’s first test, and this is really exciting stuff. The main hypotheses I was testing were:
- That random freelancers can effectively work together.
- And that we can deliver a product that the client is satisfied with in 8 hours.
The first project was a humble logo design. And although it’s not a large project by any means, I definitely felt more comfortable starting small for the first test. There were a bunch of unknowns in the first place, and having a behemoth of a project would have only totally, and unnecessarily added to the stress. No thanks!
And before I get straight into the test results, here’s some context a few days leading up to the project written like a captain’s log:
(1/18/22)
Letting freelancers know a couple days before hand to stay alert for a project update.
(1/20/22)
9:17pm
I was playing Diablo III when I got this notification (:
Based on the proposal I wrote, work begins at 9am PST the next morning after payment is received. I’m on east coast, but the client was on west. So I wanted to make sure same day delivery was confined to 9am-5pm for him. This meant I would work 12pm-8pm, but I’m glad for that because I was able to get everything I needed prepared during the morning. Crossing all my t’s and dotting all my i’s and whatnot. Want to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible. But this basically meant that the Bedrok’s first project was unexpectedly coming tomorrow. Time to prepare!
(1/21/22)
8:30am
Sent a message a couple hours before stating that the logo project is going to be posted at 10am EST.
10:06am
Two people showed their interest before the project began, but after posting, neither of them actually joined. And no one was sitting in the #official-jobs chat waiting to snipe the job. I really was expecting people to jump on the opportunity for a job even if it wasn’t ideal. It was a small sample size in the Discord though, so this doesn’t prove much of anything yet.
10:08am
Okay, time to go to LinkedIn and find two logo designers before noon.
10:15am
LinkedIn post goes out. And one of the dudes who said they were interested in the beginning finally did comment “I’m in”. One down, one to go.
10:20am
He asks if I can bank transfer. I don’t have a business bank account so I say no. He gets a PayPal account. Problem solved.
10:26am
No one else has shown interest in Discord. It’s been pretty dead though since very little was occurring for months. Probably about 10 online people at most in a server of 37. As long as we have one person, we can still make this work. Him and I will work together. There’s a number of people in Discord who aren’t in the US though, so the timeframe of 12–8pm might be just too late and not worth it for $250.
10:28am
Engagement on LinkedIn goes down on the weekend, and I posted during a non peak time (~10am). Peak times are like 7–8am, noon-ish, and 5–6pm. Definitely not ideal lol.
10:31am
Posted in the freelance professionals group with 57k members. This place usually has a lot of crap posting in it though, so I was hesitant in the first place.
11:06am
No one new on Discord or LinkedIn showing interest.
11:12am
Scott responded to the LinkedIn post that he was interested. I know he’s got solid design skills, so I just sent the discord link to him. Not sure if he’s going to work on the project though.
11:28am
No other LinkedIn comments. I did get a bland connection request of a dude who runs an agency blindly offering his services. Deleted.
11:54am
About to begin. Was being messaged by someone that they do logo designs but I didn’t think they were good enough so it looks like it’ll be me and the other guy.
12:05pm
Project began! Gave the breakdown of how we’ll execute. We each make our own 5 iterations.
1:41pm
Send message to client saying that the two logos will be over soon. I just finished with mine. And the the other guy is still working on his. Hopefully we get it in by 2pm.
1:43pm
LinkedIn has a few comments. One from Pakistan and one from India. That would be way out of the time zone. But the stuff also doesn’t look good. We definitely need to have some degree of decent quality control. These designs won’t cut it.
1:59pm
He left the call…?
2:02pm
He joined back lol I was getting nervous, thought I was gonna have to finish this myself.
2:17pm
Expect the unexpected. He has PC issues.
2:24pm
I told the client over 40 minutes ago that he was going to be able to expect the logos soon. Probably shouldn’t have done that because managing expectations and all.
2:26pm
You know maybe I’ll run into this thing over and over again. Where a project always compresses or expands to meet the deadline. At any rate, I designed another logo just in case he doesn’t come back.
Also, we haven’t talked much during the project. We do our own things and show designs from time to time. If there really is value in networking in this environment, I’d have to test ways to facilitate more interaction.
2:30pm
If he’s not back on by 3:00… Man I hope he’s back on by 3:00. I want to step in and fix stuff because Bedrok is my baby, but I gotta make sure this is as realistic as possible.
2:36pm
He’s back! 20–30 minute wait for the logo now.
2:50pm
If there wasn’t much down time, I can imagine wanting to have my lunch and some snacks at my desk…
2:52pm
I could also see this being a good way to have junior designers interact with senior ones. Maybe like an on hands mentorship kinda thing with real projects.
3:02pm
Still don’t have a logo yet ): And that post on Linkedin has given me +16 followers and a decent number of connection requests with no attached message. Come on…! I asked for people to put their portfolio in the comments. And only one person did. You’re connecting but won’t put a portfolio link in? Do you they not have one?
3:13pm
I feel pressed for time just because I told the client I’d have the logo soon, but it’s been like an hour and a half since I said that. Next time, don’t tell the client where you’re at unless they ask. They assume you’re working the whole time because it’s same day delivery anyhow.
3:18pm
Sent both logos out, waiting to hear back which one he likes better so we can do edits on it.
4:27pm
Client said he wasn’t expecting to get the logo done it to get done in a day. But he bought a package for same day delivery. Learning moment: Only look for clients that need work done fast. I’m cutting off the project now and initiating the Venmo transfer to my checking account. When I get the money, it’ll be sent to the Rehoboth via PayPal.
I realized quickly that people also need good mics, and the expectation of delivering quickly. Maybe when one designer is done they can copy the other designers logo and start making their own edits. Something collaborative to move it along? Sounds like it could be a “I did more work and should earn more money” type of problem though. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
Side notes:
When we were waiting for the client to get back, I took the time to mention some things I like about his design and stuff I would change. I particularly liked the font, but I thought it needed something else. So I took the screenshot of the logo he sent and made a quick adjustment. I figured the font would look even better if the “P” was able to keep the same feel as the other letters. Meaning, one spot where it was really thin like at the top of the “A” or middle of the “X”.
Little moments like that in between waiting for clients to talk was a really organic way for us to connect and talk design together. I’ll definitely try to incorporate something like that next go around if there is some downtime between client feedback. It offers a nice little moment to network.
Overall, it was a successful first test. Lots learned, and lots of new things to incorporate or do differently on the next project.
