First client! I need help learning how to navigate my first freelance job on ProZ Thread poster: Alline Pollman (X)
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Alline Pollman (X)
United States
Local time: 04:02
English to Portuguese
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I just finished setting up my profile and got an email request for a potential first client through ProZ. I was under the impression all communication and request would be through this platform. Do clients usually submit a request through my email? How do I go about receiving documents, sending an invoice, receiving payment, delivering the finished work... I know this is a lot of info! I have been reading through the website and learning and would appreciate some help from some of you more exper... See more I just finished setting up my profile and got an email request for a potential first client through ProZ. I was under the impression all communication and request would be through this platform. Do clients usually submit a request through my email? How do I go about receiving documents, sending an invoice, receiving payment, delivering the finished work... I know this is a lot of info! I have been reading through the website and learning and would appreciate some help from some of you more experienced ProZ freelancers. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 12:02
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Alline Pollman wrote:
I just finished setting up my profile and got an email request for a potential first client through ProZ. I was under the impression all communication and request would be through this platform.
No, ProZ.com doesn't work like some modern gig platforms whereby all communication and administration is via the platform. ProZ.com brings the translator and the client together, but all subsequent communication, negotiation etc. are strictly between the translator and the client, usually via email (sometimes also other forms of communication like Telegram or WhatsApp, although email is generally safer). This also means that ProZ.com is not responsible if something goes wrong with your and the client's interaction or business arrangement.
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Please be very careful and check thoroughly your potential client as being contacted immediately after setting up a profile smells very much like a scam…
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 06:02
German to English
| Watch out for scams | May 31, 2023 |
Read through the Scam section. New members are especially susceptible to fraudulent offers.
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| Welcome! Here is some more useful information... | May 31, 2023 |
Hello Alline,
Welcome to ProZ.com!
Alline Pollman wrote:
I just finished setting up my profile and got an email request for a potential first client through ProZ. I was under the impression all communication and request would be through this platform. Do clients usually submit a request through my email? How do I go about receiving documents, sending an invoice, receiving payment, delivering the finished work... I know this is a lot of info! I have been reading through the website and learning and would appreciate some help from some of you more experienced ProZ freelancers.
The first thing you should know is that, at ProZ.com, the main source of clients is the directory, where clients search for service providers using different parameters and they are presented with different options (profiles). These results are ordered by membership status --the list of profiles with ProZ.com membership is displayed first-- and then by other criteria that includes KudoZ points (click here to learn more about these). Clients review results and contact service providers directly through their profiles using the "Send email" option. These messages arrive at your email inbox --this is probably what the client you mention did.
Other jobs come in the form of job postings. These may require you to submit your quote online via ProZ.com or directly to the job poster via email, phone or a specified URL. Negotiation and file sharing may be done outside the platform here too. Only what we call cloud jobs will require the entire project to happen online (offer, acceptance, translation, delivery and payment). These are not published anywhere, but offered directly via email to suitable providers. Other partner offers may also be sent through your profile.
For invoicing and payment, ProZ.com has two dedicated services available: Invoicing and ProZ*Pay. ProZ.com invoicing is a tool that allows you to create, send and track invoices online. ProZ*Pay, on the other hand, is a payment service that allows you set up your payment preferences in advance and be paid using different methods (sometimes even in advance!)
I guess this is a lot already, so I'll stop here for now. Take a look at some of these items, and the great suggestions posted by colleagues above, and let me know if you have any doubts or if you need any help. The support team is also available to assist you at any time, https://www.proz.com/support
Have a nice day,
Lucia
| | | | Alline Pollman (X)
United States
Local time: 04:02
English to Portuguese
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TOPIC STARTER | Thank you everyone! Would requesting payment help avoid scamers? | May 31, 2023 |
Is asking for payment in advance standart procedure? Could I offer to do half the payment in advance and the other half after delivery of translated documents?
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 06:02
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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| Paying you in advance | Jun 1, 2023 |
Paying you in advance is just how some scammers work. They will send you a casher's check that is much more than the dollar amount on your PO. They will then provide an excuse for why you are overpaid, and ask you to kindly wire back the difference to them.
Later you will find out that the check is fake.
[Edited at 2023-06-01 13:04 GMT]
| | | | IrinaN
United States
Local time: 05:02
English to Russian
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Alline, you are worried about the wrong things. Looks like you didn't give proper attention to the Scam section.
First of all, please do something that all newbies disregard in excitement after receiving an immediate job offer. Think "Why me?" What is there in your profile that is so special that a serious client would be knocked off his feet and rush to offer you a job on Day 1 of your registration, bypassing Proz stars with impressive profiles, proven reputation and decades of exp... See more Alline, you are worried about the wrong things. Looks like you didn't give proper attention to the Scam section.
First of all, please do something that all newbies disregard in excitement after receiving an immediate job offer. Think "Why me?" What is there in your profile that is so special that a serious client would be knocked off his feet and rush to offer you a job on Day 1 of your registration, bypassing Proz stars with impressive profiles, proven reputation and decades of experience? Any tests or samples in the required field requested? You advertise very few working fields that are neither in high demand nor of exclusive or overly complicated nature. Is the subject of your "potential job" within the advertised range? Have you been asked if you can/want to work on the offered subject? Did the client agree to your high rate without a beep, if you requested one?
No one in Proz history have ever received a serious job offer and obtained a real, worthy client within days after registration. Oh well, I know of a few cases 20+ years ago in my pair, and I was a part of it but times were different then. Still, it came in 2-3 months. 2017 is the year of my second registration, the first was in 2002.
The only real offers that can come that soon will be 1-3 cent offers for a million-words projects with massive CAT discounts:-) These guys don't care about any reputations and profiles but I suspect that you wouldn't care about them either.
Demanding payment upfront is a very bad idea. Unless you are "well-fed" already and do not really want or need that job, or your gained and proven reputation on the market makes the client chase and beg you no matter what, you'll simply push a potential client away. Why start with an open distrust? It's different from researching him beforehand.
The other side of the coin - scammers are more than happy to offer payment upfront and send you a fake check or ask for your bank data before sending a job.
I wish you best of luck, patience and wisdom.
[Edited at 2023-06-01 13:24 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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