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Hello, <<First Name>>,
Some people freeze when unexpected changes happen, bringing potentially negative impact for their work or life in general. Others choose to be positive and see an opportunity in every crisis. Which one are you?
I am not a big fan of change but with time and practice as a freelancer, I learned how to be positive and always see the silver lining in a bad situation.
Here’s an example how the ability to turn a crisis in an opportunity was valuable to me just the other day.
It was early evening on May 5th. I was in meetings with clients all day. I was just about to turn my computer off when I saw an email coming in – “oDesk relaunched as Upwork today.”
Wait, what?
What do you mean oDesk relaunched as Upwork?!
I have a book coming out the next day that’s about oDesk!
I typed odesk.com in my browser and I was redirected immediately to upwork.com. I visited my profile, their Facebook page, everything I could think of – nope, they had done the switch. oDesk was no more – Upwork was all I could find.
Ironically, the very next day, May 6th, was the date I had planned to release my first book about freelance, titled “How to Succeed on oDesk and Elance”.
Yes, I was about to publish a book about a website which is no longer.
The panic started to settle in. What should I do? Is it possible that months’ worth of hard work just went down the drain because of a name change? Can I still release the book?
Then I looked at the matter from another angel.
The fact that oDesk changed their name overnight does not mean the new site is totally different from the old one. So why am I worrying about the validity of my book?
Upwork (formerly oDesk) is still the same site and no matter how great their future plans and coming changes are, right now, Upwork is exactly the same platform that oDesk was yesterday.
So no, I shouldn’t start editing my book and delay its release only because oDesk decided to rebrand. The tips in the book are as valid as ever.
But I kept on thinking – I cannot just release the book without a mention of Upwork, right? It’s a major event in the platform’s development. It has to be in the book.
And here’s where a crisis turned into an opportunity.
If I changed my book cover and added information in the book intro about the latest development (a.k.a. name change from oDesk to Upwork), I would be the first book ever, published on the topic of Upwork.
And that’s what I did – I changed my cover, I edited the introductory of the book to be in line with the new platform name and rebranding effort, and released the book as planned.
It is yet to be seen what SEO impact that would have on my book and indirectly, on my blog and myself as the author.
I hope this story helps you improve your ability to look for the silver lining the next time you find yourself in a bad situation.
Have a great month ahead, <<First Name>> !
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My latest post on the blog
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3 Things to Never Do when Negotiating with Clients
A lot of freelancers get to the interview stage but fail to secure a contract because they do rookie mistakes. Most often, they don’t know better yet due to lack of experience. They may not even realize when their behavior is unprofessional or unethical.
To help you be a better freelancer and land more projects, I’ll share the top three things I continuously see freelancers do during negotiations with freelance clients, which in most cases cost them the project. Read more.
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Diana ツ
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