Re: Freelancing Technical Writing

["Edgar D' Souza" <edgar -dot- b -dot- dsouza -at- gmail -dot- com>]

A few points I'd like to make:
1. Yes, English is quite obviously a second language for the OP. I
belong to roughly the same ethnic group, so I can't really be accused
of unlawful discrimination or bigotry; it's a mere observance of fact.
I agree that Anuj's post _could_ have been much clearer.

2. Having gotten used to some of the foibles we Indians have in our
local dialects of English :-/ I'm probably better situated to
understand that post - but then, Sean read the same meaning into it
that I did. Though we're doing our best to avoid a flame war (and the
OP is nowhere around to clarify), I have to admit it *is* possible (a
bit of a stretch, but possible) to read it as a request for
client-company contacts. I don't know the OP personally, so cannot
vouch for the meaning of his post, either way.
Al, I don't think there's need to apologize, especially if, as Donna
says, solicitation is forbidden on this list. (Hmm.. is that gonna
trigger an admin posting of list rules? :-)

3. I dunno about what the response would've been if the OP had been an
American citizen; suffice it to say that if I were freelancing, I
would definitely NOT pass on a list of client contacts to anyone who
asked - whether from the same country, race, state or village. Family
and real close friends would be a different matter - but anyone
outside that would get a pretty cold reply.
Sub-contracting work - sure, but in a guarded way - I'd need to see
that the person could deliver good work, and on time.

4. It's not just about protecting your income sources; there's your
reputation to think of, too.
Like John G. and others mention, back when I was a freelance
programmer I tipped off another freelancer to work I couldn't handle.
The client (who had no problems with my work, incidentally), came back
to me complaining about the shoddy work the other f/l had tried to
offload on them. I had to take quite a bit of flak on that - "you
recommended him" (I didn't, actually, just put them in touch with each
other), "you knew the quality of work we wanted" and the like...  I
lost that company as a client, because they thought I'd pulled a dirty
trick on them. And it actually _was_ my fault, for not knowing that
the other f/l did such lousy work. So I guess a freelancer needs to be
careful about his recommendations, too - not just the work he does.

5. Donna, to the best of my knowledge, the OP is in India too.
Employment agencies wouldn't be much use; sites like getafreelancer,
elance and others already mentioned on this thread would.

Regards,
Ed.
On 7/21/06, Jones, Donna <DJones -at- zebra -dot- com> wrote: