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Here are a list of frequently asked questions and answers. If you don’t see your question
here, please send it to us to answer and add to the list.
GENERAL
What is Freelance Connect?
How does Freelance Connect work?
Where can I post or find full-time employment positions?
Are there any fees associated with this service?
What languages do you support?
Do you have RSS project feeds?
What is a WatchList?
REGISTRATION/LOG-IN
How do I sign up?
What is mediabistro.com?
How long am I signed up for?
How do I update my e-mail address and password?
I forgot my password. How do I retrieve it?
What information is public and what remains private?
ACCOUNT SET-UP/MANAGEMENT
How do I promote my skills and services?
Where do I create a public profile?
Where can I add my business registration number?
What is the "Employer Activity" menu in the left nav of my home page?
What is the "Freelancer Activity" menu in the left nav of my home page?
POSTING AND AWARDING PROJECTS
How do I find freelancers to hire?
How do I post a project?
What type of auction event styles do you support?
What type of bidding privacy do you support?
How many projects can I post?
Can I invite freelancers to bid on projects?
How do I view bids and award project?
Can I cancel a project that I have posted?
SUBMITTING BID PROPOSALS
How do I find projects to bid on?
How do I bid on projects?
How many projects can I bid on?
Can I Re-bid on a project I already bid on?
Can I retract a bid?
How much time does a freelancer have to accept an awarded
project?
How do I know if I was awarded a project?
COMMUNICATION
How do employers and freelancers communicate with each
other?
How do Private Message Boards (PMB) work?
How Do Public Message Boards work?
COLLABORATION
What is the secure MediaShare system?
How does the feedback/rating system work?
What if additional work and payment is required beyond
the original scope of the project?
PAYMENT
What exactly is safe escrow?
How do I fund safe escrow?
Where can I see transaction details?
What currencies do you accept?
How do I fund my account? What payment methods do you
accept?
How do freelancers get paid?
How can I withdraw money from my account? What payout
methods do you offer?
Do I need to submit 1099 tax forms?
GENERAL
What is Freelance Connect?
Freelance Connect is a bidding service that matches highly-skilled media professionals with employers via project auctions. All project posting, bidding,
collaboration, communication, and payment are performed in a safe and secure work environment.
How does Freelance Connect work?
The typical process works like this:
Employer posts project. Freelancers bid on project. Employer reviews bids, evaluates
freelancers and awards project to a freelancer.
Freelancer accepts project. Employer funds the safe escrow account that will be used to pay
freelancer.
Freelancer begins work on project. Employer and Freelancer communicate using internal
private message system. They can share files with the secure MediaShare system.
Once the freelancer finishes the project, the employer pays the freelancer by releasing all
funds from escrow account into freelancer’s online account.
Where can I post or find full-time employment positions?
Freelance Connect lets employers find freelancers who are looking for work on a project by project basis. Freelance Connect's sister site, mediabistro.com,
has the leading job board for finding and posting full-time employment positions in the creative
services industry.
Are there any fees associated with this service?
Freelance Connect is free to join, post projects, and submit bid proposals. We only take a
fee when the freelancer who is awarded the project is paid by the employer. A small
commission fee of 6% is deducted plus an even smaller fee of 3% to cover fees payment
processors charge us.
What languages do you support?
Right now we only have an English version of the web site.
Do you have RSS project feeds?
Yes we do. You may use our simple feed generator to select which categories you would like
to receive project feeds from. You can also set the number of projects to download at one
time. Feeds are RSS 2.0 compliant.
What is a WatchList?
Watchlist allows members to keep track and recall marketplace service providers, merchants
or service/product auctions, the Watchlist manager can be found in the main CP control
panel. This section is mainly used to organize and monitor potential employers/freelancers
and project activity in the marketplace and to keep record of current interests.
REGISTRATION/LOG-IN
How do I sign up?
Freelance Connect is free to join and available to all mediabistro.com users. To become a mediabistro.com user and create a Freelance Connect profile in one
easy step, simply complete the registration form.
Once you submit the registration form, you will receive an e-mail requesting that you confirm your Freelance Connect account.
If you are already a mediabistro.com user, you may use your existing account info as part of your Freelance Connect profile. Just provide your
mediabistro.com login e-mail and password in the appropriate boxes on the registration page. If would not like to use your existing mediabistro.com account
info, you will need to register using a different e-mail address. Note that a new mediabistro.com account will also be created with this e-mail address.
What is mediabistro.com?
Mediabistro.com and Freelance Connect are part of WebMediaBrands Inc. Mediabistro.com is dedicated to anyone who creates or works with content, or who is a
non-creative professional working in a content/creative industry. Through events, courses, boards and forums, and exclusive content, mediabistro.com provides
opportunities to meet, share resources, become informed of job opportunities and interesting projects and news, improve career skills, and showcase your
work.
How long am I signed up for?
You are a Freelance Connect and mediabistro.com user forever, but your Freelance Connect membership plan will expire after 10 years. Once your plan expires,
you will be asked to renew. You may renew anytime using the auto-renewal feature in the Membership Plan Manager.
How do I update my e-mail address and password?
E-mail address and password updates are performed at the mediabistro.com member center.
Links to the member center exist in the "Preferences" menu in the left nav of your home page. Click "E-mail Preferences" or "Password" to access the
mediabistro.com member center. You will need to sign-in again when you arrive at mediabistro.com.
I forgot my password. How do I retrieve it?
Password retrieval also occurs on mediabistro.com. When you click the "recover my password" link from the Freelance
Connect sign-in page, you will be directed to mediabistro.com's "Forgot Password?" page. Enter your e-mail address, hit submit, and you will receive your password.
What information is public and what remains private?
When you join Freelance Connect, you have a personal profile and a public profile. Your personal profile remains private and includes all of your required
registration data such as:
- first and last name
- e-mail address (used to login)
- mailing address
- phone number
- password
Your public profile includes any information you wish to share with the community to identify and promote yourself. This is optional information that
includes:
- logo
- video profile
- nickname/username (required)
- city/state/country (required so employers can find freelancers in specific locations)
- categories of expertise
- skills
- hourly rate
- user feedback
- professional summary
- relevant work experience
- education/degrees
- awards/distinctions
ACCOUNT SET-UP/MANAGEMENT
How do I promote my skills and services?
Freelance Connect provides five ways to promote your services, skills and talents.
- Public profile
- Create opening statement or business case. This statement will be presented in
the search results where your profile appears.
- Upload your company logo
- Post a promotional YouTube video
- Choose up to 9 project categories of expertise
- List your work experience, education and any awards you have received.
- Portfolio provides an area to showcase any work you have done. You may upload
photos, images, Word documents, spreadsheets—anything that will help showcase your talents.
- You may also choose up to 25 skills in which to feature your profile. Employers
looking for particular skills can quickly find your profile.
- Bid on projects. By doing the above, you will be ready to bid on projects when
employers post them in the public service area or invite you to a private project.
- Receive high ratings from employers you have done business with. These ratings will
be publicly visible to employers when you bid on other projects.
Where do I create a public profile?
Public profiles are available to all members, but their primary purpose is to allow
employers to learn more about freelancers. Once you are registered and logged in, you may create and update your public profile. You can also
access this area by clicking on the "Public profile" link in the "Freelancer Activity" menu
of your home page.
Where can I add my business registration number?
In the left navigation under preferences, click on "Personal Profile". The last section of this page provides an area where you can add business registration
information such as company name, company registration number, VAT registration number, and/or Dun and Bradstreet number (DUNS). This info will be visible to
staff and partners you do business with. Your number will be displayed on invoices and related receipts generated to or from you.
What is the "Employer Activity" menu in the left nav of my home page?
When you have a project to post, you are an employer. You can post and manage your project listings from your Employer Activity menu.
What is the "Freelancer Activity" menu in the left nav of my home page?
When you have a bid proposal to submit, you are a freelancer. You can manage your bid proposals, public profile, skills, and portfolio from your Freelancer
Activity menu.
POSTING AND AWARDING PROJECTS
How do I find freelancers to hire?
Finding freelancers begins by posting projects for bid. During the posting process there are
a variety of options you can choose to target freelancers. Some of these options are
categories, public or private projects, localization requirements, and rating requirements.
You may also use our advanced search engine to find specific freelancers and invite them
individually to bid on your project.
How do I post a project?
All registered members can post projects. There are two ways to begin the project posting
process:
- Click the Post Project tab in the top menu.
- Click "Create New Project" from the "Employer Activity" menu on your home
page.
What type of auction event styles do you support?
We offer three popular auction event styles:
- Public – anyone can view and bid on your project
- Invitation Only - private invite-only auction which provides the option
to invite other existing members from the marketplace or include a specific email adddress
(s) from potential providers who are not yet registered with the marketplace to bid on the
auction event
- Realtime - can conduct a live auction event which gives bidders a more
competitive and live environment to participate, including an up to the minute bidding
graph.
What type of bidding privacy do you support?
Employers have the choice to enable various types of bidding privacy for their auction
listings.
- No Bid Privacy Enabled indicates that the bidder's names and bid amounts
are shown and the listing is available to search results
- Sealed Bidding indicates that the bidders names are shown and bid amounts
are hidden
- Blind Bidding indicates that the bid amounts are shown and bidders names
are hidden
- Full Privacy indicates that owner can see all bids placed and bidders can
see only their own bids but can't see other bids placed.
How many projects can I post?
As many as you need. There is no limit.
Can I invite freelancers to bid on projects?
Yes. You may invite specific members and non members to bid. When posting a project, enter
the e-mail address and first name of people you would like to invite. They will receive an
e-mail with an invitation to bid on your project.
If you know they are already a member of Freelance Connect, go to their public profile page.
In the left column under "My skills" click on the "Invite to Bid" link to invite this
freelancer to bid on an existing project or a new one you will be creating.
How do I view bids and award project?
You can view bids and award projects from your Project
Listings Activity. Simply click the "Manage Bids" link below the project title.
Can I cancel a project that I have posted?
Yes. Your membership allows you to cancel one project per month. Use wisely.
SUBMITTING PROJECT PROPOSALS
How do I find projects to bid on?
There are a few ways to find projects to bid on:
- You can use the search engine to find project auctions
- You can browse project auctions via categories
- You can receive e-mail notifications of projects in the categories you chose in
your public profile. Project notifcation e-mails are delivered once daily.
- You can use our RSS feed generator to create RSS feeds for project categories
of your choice. Notification of projects are instant.
How do I bid on projects?
To bid on projects you must be registered. Once you find a project to bid on, simply review
the project details and click the "Place a Bid" button.
This will take you to a page where you can submit:
- Bid amount
- Time to deliver (in days)
- Bid proposal
How many projects can I bid on?
You may bid on up to 20 projects a day up to 500 a month.
Can I Re-bid on a project I already bid on?
Yes. If you would like to adjust your bid on a project you already bid on, then you may do
so as many times as you need. Re-bids do not count against your daily or monthly bid
allotment. To re-bid, visit your Bid Proposal
Activity and click the "Re-Bid" link for the desired active project.
Can I retract a bid?
Yes. You may retract up to 5 bids per month. However, these should be used with caution and
only in exceptional cases. Bid retraction count is displayed in your public profile for
employers to view.
How much time does a freelancer have to accept an awarded project?
This is ultimately up to the employer, but once an employer awards a bid to a freelancer,
the freelancer has up to 3 days to accept the award. After 3 days, the system automatically
re-opens the project for bidding if there is any time left.
How do I know if I was awarded a project?
You will be notified by e-mail if an employer chooses your bid and awards you the project.
You can also check the status of your bids by clicking on the "Awards" tab in the "Bid Proposal Activity" area. Once you have been
awarded a project, you must then accept (or decline) the award.
COMMUNICATION
How do employers and freelancers communicate with each other?
Freelance Connect has a private messaging system
that registered members may use to communicate with each other.
The employer also has the option to create a public message board for each project auction.
Public message boards allow freelancers to ask employers questions during the bidding
process.
How do Private Message Boards (PMB) work?
Private Message Boards allow members to
communicate with each other privately. In general, members can private message each other at
any time. Private Message Boards are also automatically created for each project as soon as
that project receives at least one bid. This allows the employer to communicate with each
freelancer individually and in private about the specific project.
How Do Public Message Boards work?
All employers have the option to enable public message boards for their projects. When
enabled, a public message boards will appear below the project listing on the project-
listing page. This allows freelancers to ask additional questions about a project before
placing a bid. Public message boards are visible to everyone, but members must be logged in
to post to it.
COLLABORATION
What is the secure MediaShare system?
Once a project has been awarded, employers and freelancers can utilize the Secure Mediashare
system to exchange project details.
The Work Space icon will only appear in the project listing and bid proposal activity once
a project has been awarded and accepted.
The Secure Mediashare system allows employers and freelancers to upload relevant project/RFP
content to share with each other or for private reference information they wish to keep
orgainzed within the Private folder areas. The Media Share process begins when a freelancer
accepts the awarded bid. Then files can be exchanged through the media space
provided.
Private folders are available for the employer and freelancer to store private info not
meant to be shared with each other. Shared folders are used to share relavant project media
with each party in a more open format. Each party has access to these folders.
Buyers and Providers who have access to the folders have the ability to create new folders,
move, copy or rename items, and even upload additional media. They can also move files
between private and shared folders.
How does the feedback/rating system work?
Freelance Connect provides a detailed mechanism for employers and freelancers to rate and
comment on their experience with each other.
Employers have the opportunity to
provide detailed written feedback, rate their overall experience as positive or negative,
and provide detailed ratings on individual aspects of their experience. The detailed rating
system uses increments of 1.0 to 5.0 with 5.0 being the highest. Members in the marketplace
will end up with an average of the overall feedback ratings given from other members which
will be displayed in their selling profile for others to review. Employers may then use
feedback ratings as a filter critieria when posting projects. For instance, an employer can
create a project that only freelancers with a user rating of 4 out 5 or higher can view.
Feedback information for freelancers will be visible when a member has received at least 10
detailed seller ratings. This information will be available on the freelancer’s public
profile page.
The feedback left for employers from freelancers is simply based on a positive or negative
experience and the feedback score can be reviewed from the buyer's profile page.
What if additional work and payment is required beyond the
original scope of the project?
If additional work for a particular project is required, Freelance Connect offers
freelancers access to our invoicing system free of charge. In your "Bid Proposal Activity" area locate the Invoice column, click the Invoice
icon for the project that you need to bill for additional work. Here you will be able to
enter the invoice amount and description that will be sent to the employer for that project.
The invoicing system is free to use. No fees are deducted for using the invoicing system for
additional billing.
PAYMENT
What exactly is safe escrow?
Safe escrow provides a secure holding area for funds related to a specific project. When a
project is awarded and the freelancer accepts it, a safe escrow account is created for that
project. The employer is instructed to fund the safe escrow account with the winning bid
amount before the freelancer begins work. The freelancer is instructed not to begin work
until the safe escrow account is funded.
How do I fund safe escrow?
The employer can fund the account by going to the Service Escrow Buying Activity page and hitting the "Pay
Now" link. This goes to a payment page where the employer can transfer funds from his online
account into the secure escrow account. Once the escrow account is funded, one e-mail is
sent to the employer confirming the transaction and another is sent to the freelancer
notifying him that the money is in safe escrow. The freelancer can also verify that funds
have been deposited into the safe escrow account by clicking on the "Escrow" tab in his "Bid Proposal Activity".
Before funding safe escrow, please make sure you have enough money in your online account to
transfer. Learn more about depositing funds.
Where can I see transaction details?
Freelance Connect provides a very detailed and intuitive invoicing system that is accessible
from "My Account Manager". View account
summary, unpaid invoices, debits, and credits. You can also view transaction history and all
scheduled transactions.
What currencies do you accept?
We only accept US Dollars. We only payout in US Dollars. We provide a built-in currency calculator to estimate
conversions from US dollars to a variety of international currencies.
How do I fund my account? What payment methods do you accept?
We accept a variety of popular payment methods. Please see the chart below for
details.
| Payment Method | Minimum |
| Credit Card | None |
| PayPal | None |
| Check (US only) | $100.00 |
| Bank/Wire Transfer | $100.00 |
To deposit funds, click the "Deposit
Funds" link from the left nav of your home page. From there you will be able to choose
your desired payment method from the pulldown menu.
NOTE TO CREDIT CARD USERS: You must first register your credit card. Then it will appear in
the payment method pulldown menu on the deposit page. To register your card, click the
"Credit Card" tab from "My Account Manager".
How do freelancers get paid?
Once a project is completed by the freelancer, the employer releases the funds from the safe
escrow account to the freelancer’s account. At that time, a 9% final value fee is deducted.
This covers a 6% commission and a 3% processing fee that payment processors charge us. The
remaining money is in the freelancer’s online account, and he can withdraw the funds or
accumulate funds to withdraw at a later time.
How can I withdraw money from my account? What payout methods do you
offer?
We also offer a variety of popular payout methods. There is no additional withdrawal fee
with any of these options. Please see chart for details.
| Withdrawal Method | Minimum |
| PayPal | None |
| Check | $100.00 |
| Bank/Wire Transfer | $100.00 |
To withdraw funds, click the "Withdraw
Funds" link from the left nav of your home page.
Do I need to submit 1099 tax forms?
If you are a U.S.-based employer and hire and pay a freelancer who is considered a U.S.
Person, then you may need to file a 1099 MISC tax form. The Form 1099 MISC is the form
issued to freelancers who are U.S. Persons and who have earned more than $600 in one fiscal
year. The 1009 MISC form basically provides a record of the income a freelancer has earned
from a particular employer. It is the employer’s responsibility to issue the 1099 form to
the IRS and the provider.
In order for an employer to complete and submit a 1099, he must request and collect the
necessary W-9 form from the freelancer who is considered a U.S. Person. You are considered a
US person if you are:
- An individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States
- A partnership, corporation, company, or association created or organized in the
United States or under the laws of the United States, or
- Any estate (other than a foreign estate) or trust.
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