Does your company have a freelancer database?
June 19th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comLast month or so, I was invited by my corporate client to be part of their internal database of freelancers. The marketing department already knows me, obviously, but this type of exposure would give the rest of the company access to my contact information in the event they may need a reliable and trustworthy copywriter to help work on projects.
I was flattered to receive the invitation, and thought it was a highly functional way for this company to maximize their outsourcing potential. Let me describe to you how they’ve organized their internal database:
1. As a new member, they assigned me a private login and password so that I can manage/update my contact profile at any time.
2. I was given an option to check off all the freelance areas where my experience might apply. Some of the choices included copywriting, website design, graphic design, photography, information technology, database management and so forth. This is particularly advantageous to those “multi-faceted” types of freelance professionals.
3. They designed an all-purpose freelance contract that I was able to sign electronically (and I’m happy to note they were completely reasonable in their requests - see Why Copywriting Contracts Are B.S. for my thoughts on contracts).
4. I had room in my profile area to include a link to my website, Wordfeeder.com, and or upload PDF files of copywriting samples so that managers could get an idea of my experience and writing style before determining whether I’d be a good fit for their projects.
One thing worth noting is that I did NOT upload samples of my work. The reason why is that before uploading, I was prompted to sign another agreement. This one would attest to the fact that I do in fact “own” the copyright to the work I provided.
For a creative professional, this is where it gets tricky. I fully admit that I don’t *own* any ads that were produced by clients of mine. THEY own the copyright to those ads. The electronic sample that I display on my website clearly indicates that the company in question is the owner of said copyright.
In associating my name with said copywriting sample, I’m saying that I was hired by that company to help create the ad. And that’s ALL I’m saying.
But anyway, none of that caused a problem with the marketing department, as I did run by them my reasoning for not uploading any files that they might falsely label as being owned by me.
All in all, I’d say that outsourcing is a pretty intelligent direction for corporations to go in during these lean times (or any time, really)… and that having a freelance database definitely makes things more organized and convenient for everybody.
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July 22nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
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