RentACoder Freelance Job

RentACoder is a place where software buyers and software coders meet to do business. RentACoder was founded and is owned by Ian Ippolito. He is the Chief Executive Officer and holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Central Florida. The offices are located in Tampa, Florida, USA.

Doing business in RentACoder is sheer simplicity. Buyers simply post their requirements on the site and coders (programmers and writers) make a bid for these requirements. The buyer hires the coder who they feel is best qualified and pays them when the job is completed. Think of RentACoder as a giant online marketplace where people with software needs find coders to meet those needs. It provides excellent opportunities for software programmers and freelance writers to put their hard-earned skills to use and earn cash. One of the marvelous things, writers can actually find work and get paid without ever leaving the comfort of their home.

How much can a coder make?

Fees vary depending on the nature and scope of the particular project. The smaller jobs can cost $20 or less while the larger jobs can pay you thousands of dollars. The sky is the limit in RentACoder. You get paid according to your skill level and your capacity and readiness to work hard and deliver the goods on time.

How do I get paid?

One of the best things about RentACoder is that they take care of the money side of your business transactions with buyers. They have a marvelous instrument called “Safe Project Escrow” which assures coders that they will be paid. Here is how it works: Let’s say a buyer selects your bid from the dozens of bids received. After approving your bid, the buyer puts the agreed upon amount in escrow, meaning the funds are automatically forwarded to the RentACoder website. Once your work is complete and the buyer approves and accepts it, the funds are released to you. Payment is usually sent a few days (two or three) after your selected payment period. There are three payment options on RentACoder:

(1) Snail Mail Check
(2) Western Union
(3) Pay Pal

How can I improve my chances of getting future work?

Put your best foot forward

When you sign up to RentACoder, there is a portion in the sign-up procedure that asks for your resume. Unfortunately, a lot of newcomers do not give enough attention to their resume. This is a major mistake. At the beginning and with no track record on the site whatsoever, your resume is one of the few things that buyers can study to assess your capability to do their job. When writing your resume, you should remember to be clear and concise. After all, you are a writer and clarity and brevity should be two of your strongest points. Don’t simply put down a laundry list of past positions and tasks you have handled in your career. Give brief descriptions to each of them, particularly about the writing aspect of that particular job.

Prepare an intriguing bid letter

Every time you make a bid for a project, you will have to write a bid letter. Make sure the first line in the bid letter catches the attention of the buyer. Make it lucrative and interesting. Another thing that buyers look for is speed and efficiency. Let the buyer know that you can tackle their particular job efficiently and quickly. Give them a firm commitment about meeting the deadline and assure them that you will be communicating with them regularly in the course of the job, if only to give them updates.

Send buyers your best samples

Although not every buyer requires coders to send samples when they bid for a project, it is always best to send them samples anyway. Your samples will give buyers an idea of how you write and whether your particular style fits their project.

At the beginning, aim low and sacrifice income

The most difficult time to get jobs on RentACoder is at the beginning when you are new to the site. That is because you are an unknown entity, with no track record on RentACoder whatsoever. You may have a glowing resume and impressive samples, but many coders want to know how you work given the parameters and conditions of RentACoder. For this reason your first priority should be getting a few jobs under your belt. Don’t disregard the small projects (small pay, small deliverables, etc.). You may also bid for the major projects but, as a newbie, your chances of getting the smaller jobs are better. Initially, your objective will be to establish a track record. Start with some simple projects that you can do easily. Don’t make the size of the payment a priority. In fact, you will be much better off if you don’t pay any attention to the payment at all. Once you have a number of projects under your belt – and potential buyers will take note of that – they are more likely to regard you favorably because you have a history of delivering the goods.

Deliver quality work

In every job you do always give the buyer your best work. There are two reasons for this. First, you make the buyer happy and increase the likelihood that they will use you again for future projects. Second, the buyer will give you a good rating after completing the job. On RentACoder, a coder’s rating is one of the main factors that buyers consider when handing out jobs.

Establish a good reputation

Aside from ratings, buyers also post comments on their coder’s work after they have completed the job. These comments are another thing that buyers look at since they convey much more than what a numerical rating can say. For instance, getting a 10 rating will tell prospective clients that you have satisfied your previous customers but the comments portion is where they will learn about your professionalism, attitude and working style.

Exhibit versatility

Since the projects on RentACoder run the gamut of practically any subject imaginable, it always pays to exhibit versatility to prospective buyers. Show them you can successfully write about a wide range of topics and that you can adapt different writing styles, be it serious, humorous, or provocative.

Meet all your deadlines

Most of the buyers on RentACoder have deadlines and they expect the coders they hire to deliver the work within the agreed-on deadline. This is a basic requirement for any professional writer. Deadlines have to be regarded as almost sacred. No one wants to hire an undependable writer. If you want to be regarded as a professional and paid like a professional, you have to act like a professional and meeting your deadlines is part of that package.

Give regular updates

In line with being a professional, freelance writers must also give their clients regular updates about how the work is progressing. Buyers will always want to know where their project stands. Most of the time, they just need to know that the writing is going smoothly and that you, the writer, will have no trouble meeting the deadline. However, they also want to know about any problems you may encounter, especially if these problems will hamper you from meeting the deadline or delivering quality work.

Be honest

As a professional writer, never assume to know what the buyer wants if you are unsure about it. If you are not clear about something, ask. Don’t go ahead and write about something if you are not absolutely sure about what your buyer expects. If you do and you are wrong, the buyer may ask you to rewrite the project all over again.

Make suggestions

Making suggestions tells the buyer that you have given their work some serious thought and they will appreciate the gesture.

Go the extra mile

This is a general rule for success in virtually every human endeavor. Go the extra mile and deliver more than what is expected. This does not mean writing more articles than the buyer wants. What it does mean is proofreading your work and putting in the extra time it takes to make necessary revisions. Do everything you can to insure that the work you submit is impeccable and represents your best work.