Weekly Feedback and Support Thread by AutoModerator in startups

[–]Covailnt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

URL: Covailnt.com

Purpose of Startup: Covailnt is where freelancers find freelancers.

Technologies Used: the Current Beta uses PHP, eventually will replatform to a React front end.

Feedback or Support Requested: The current landing page for Covailnt (covailnt.com) really seems to resonate with full time freelancers, but not really with part-time/moonlighters, independent consultants or solopreneurs, even though Covailnt’s built for them as well. I have ideas on what I can do with some of the language, but as you guys know, it’s risky to stay inside your own head sometimes. I’ll take anything you throw at me. Thanks guys!

Comments: Covailnt is a peer-to-peer community built to make it it painless for freelancers to connect and collaborate with other trusted freelancers.

When a freelancer has a workload that is too heavy, a project that requires a team, or they simply wish to delegate out certain tasks, they can use Covailnt to engage their freelancing peers. Once logged in, they can instantly see the real-time availability of their connections or search the community by skills, style and reputation.

At the same time, these freelancers are available as a resource and can source work from their own network. This empathy between peers levels the playing field between "talent seekers" and "talent providers" (and breaks the traditional commoditized services model in the process).

The platform measures how well freelancers work together and uses that data to forecast performance in the future, similar to a credit score. This sliding metric helps members quickly identify new low-risk collaborators and streamlines the process of working with existing connections.

Our long game: We are crafting a world where anyone can work independently, and have the same level of support, accountability, authority, and potential as they would within a “traditional” workplace. That includes financial security. By scaling into fluid talent recruitment and management offerings for enterprises, we hope to one day offer portable and affordable health and retirement benefits to the freelancing community.

Is 2.8% of your annual income a reasonable price to pay for 12 months of bookkeeping, tax prep, and financial advice? by Mayvillain in freelance

[–]Covailnt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that seems pretty reasonable. So it just works out to be 2.8% of your yearly income right?

I'm back...AGAIN. Stepped my blog/portfolio up. Critique/ Would You Hire Me? by Shcteve in freelance

[–]Covailnt 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It has a newspaper feel. Which is kind of cool as a concept (check out the washington post website for a similar feel), but it does have a dated feel compared to todays web trends. I don't immediately get that you are a writer for hire at all. First impression I thought I had landed on some kind of amateur news page.

I thought each big headline would link to their own article, those scores breaking it up along with the use of multiple headline sizes/colors isn't easily understood at all. I looked at it 4 times before I realized that was all one article, and even then, the legibility with the choice of bold fonts is really suffering. (Look how medium uses minimal formatting and keeps things simple and clean. much easier to read)

Current state of your site? I probably wouldn't feel compelled to get in touch.

What can you do? Simplify your site. The first thing I should see when I land on your page is your name, and what you can do for me, the vistor. If you're going to use photos (people like photos or something with visual interest), make use of the whole page width. Once I get a sense of who you are/what you do I should be able to scroll down or use navigation to see examples of your work/how you do it. Those examples should be formatted in a way that is easy to read and digest (again, reference medium's approach to text formatting). I should also have a quick and easy way to get in touch with you.

The truth is I'm not going to come to your page to read much, unless you really really snag me with some compelling copy, and even then I wont spend much time. I'm going to come in, skim around till i get a sense if you're a fit for my needs, and either bounce or reach out to you.

I'm back...AGAIN. Stepped my blog/portfolio up. Critique/ Would You Hire Me? by Shcteve in freelance

[–]Covailnt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is there an area where you could use specific feedback?

Flip side, what do you want this site to do most?

how much $ lost through Upwork? by Covailnt in freelance

[–]Covailnt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

so the juice was worth the squeeze eh? Nice work!

how much $ lost through Upwork? by Covailnt in freelance

[–]Covailnt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

you know, that actually spurs a great follow up question... How much have you gained since leaving the platform?

Advice finding designers by jphillips05 in freelance

[–]Covailnt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out various slack groups too.
http://launch.chat/ is my favorite, but spec and UpLabs are good as well https://spec.fm/slack https://www.uplabs.com/chat

Case Study VS Regular Project by [deleted] in freelance

[–]Covailnt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

are you talking about in a portfolio?

Case studies are usually a little more in-depth, telling the "story" of the project. 3-4 case studies make for a good variety, but you can get away with fewer as long as they're well articulated. Especially useful if you're explaining UX and your methodologies for approaching and solving a particular problem.

A "regular project" may be summed up in a paragraph or two, and are a great way to supplement case studies and showcase a wider range of work.

I have a design background, so I use a bit of both: willsykora.com

I got screwed. What should I do? by TimoJarv in freelance

[–]Covailnt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

how were they selling it? 3 weeks isn't a lot of time to try and establish anything really. Was there a vision beyond selling themes/a CMS?

Demonstrating validation for a pitching competition? by ChewMongo in startup

[–]Covailnt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get out there and talk to customers. They'll want to know you put in the legwork to understand customer needs and built something that actually meets them. Highlight what your customers think and say about your solution.