Professional Overview

You do the work. We'll take care of the rest.

Become a Professional

Overview

Increase Your Visibility

Exposure is a key element to any freelance business venture. You may be an experienced professional who has developed and refined your capabilities, but without adequate promotion your skill set and associated income will not reach its full potential.

Let us promote your services using a wide variety of marketing initiatives, while giving you access to our existing client base which has been growing for over 20 years. Your profile will highlight your attributes to thousands of potential clients in an accessible, easy-to-read format. Those who appreciate your services can not only add positive ratings and reviews to your profile, but they can also use social media to recommend your services to their friends. As you establish client relationships and receive positive ratings, your ranking within the ServiceScape directory will increase, which will drive even more traffic to your profile and expand your overall earnings potential.

Earn Your Income

The earnings from projects are split between ServiceScape and the hired professional. There is no bidding on projects or crowdsourcing contests. Instead, most aspects of project creation have been predefined and integrated into your profile, meaning that a client can buy most services without your involvement. When predefined services do not apply, a custom project can be set up that gives you the flexibility to quote a unique price for a unique service.

To be eligible for payment, a professional must first submit a valid W-9 Form/W-8BEN Form in order to declare his/her tax status. Once we have received your form, you will be added to our earnings distribution schedule and you will receive your earnings on a monthly basis.

Know Your Responsibilities

In order to maintain the highest level of service, all freelancers who are promoted within ServiceScape must adhere to minimum standards of conduct while interacting with clients, projects, and messages. These rules have been implemented to not only encourage client trust and repeat business, but also to define a clear and straightforward method for performing your tasks. Please review your contractual obligations as well as your responsibilities, and make sure that you understand these rules and expectations before beginning your freelance campaign.

Profile

The Basics

Your profile is the storefront of your freelance business. It will introduce you and your services to potential clients and will be the starting point for every interaction you will have on ServiceScape. Your profile contains several pieces of information that you should develop and refine over time:

  1. Description - A brief summary of your services that highlights your abilities.
  2. Credentials - A list of degrees and positions that are relevant to the services you are offering.
  3. Portfolio - A showcase of your completed work which will give potential clients insight into what you can do for them.

Your profile will also contain your average client rating, client reviews, amount of work you have performed within ServiceScape, headshot photograph, video introduction, languages, social sharing buttons, and service prices.

Besides that information, your profile will also have several buttons that will allow clients to interact with you, including:

  1. Buying a Service
  2. Sending a Message
  3. Setting up a Teleconference Call
  4. Submitting a Free Sample (Editing Only)
  5. Adding to Favorites

You should familiarize yourself with all aspects of your profile and optimize how you promote yourself and your services.

The Freelance Directory

The freelance directory is where your clients are going to look for you. Similar to any shopping experience you may have online or offline, clients will look throughout the available options and investigate something that catches their eye. Perhaps it is a qualification or maybe it is a username that makes a client want to see your full profile. Whatever it is, it is your job to make sure that your profile stands out among the crowd.

For editing, graphic design, and writing services, the freelance directory is organized into several categories and subcategories of specializations so that clients can find professionals who understand a specific field. For translation services, the freelance directory is organized by source and target language. For instance, if a client is looking for an English to Chinese translator, he/she would navigate the directory by first selecting "From English" and then selecting "To Chinese".

The freelance directory is sorted by average client rating (Elite to one star), then by amount of work completed. Elite status is the goal for every freelancer within ServiceScape. It will guarantee you a high position within the directory and will dramatically increase the amount of traffic your profile receives. The requirements for achieving Elite status are:

Elite Editor

  1. Average Rating at Least 4.9 out of 5 Stars
  2. Edited at Least 10,000 Pages
  3. Accepted at Least 50% of Free Samples
  4. Availability Over Last 30 Days at Least 50%
  5. Must Have Profile Photograph

Elite Translator

  1. Average Rating at Least 4.8 out of 5 Stars
  2. Translated at Least 300 Pages
  3. Availability Over Last 30 Days at Least 50%
  4. Must Have Profile Photograph

Elite Graphic Designer

  1. Average Rating at Least 4.8 out of 5 Stars
  2. Completed at Least 50 Projects
  3. Availability Over Last 30 Days at Least 50%
  4. Must Have Profile Photograph

Elite Writer

  1. Average Rating at Least 4.8 out of 5 Stars
  2. Written at Least 1,000 Pages
  3. Availability Over Last 30 Days at Least 50%
  4. Must Have Profile Photograph

What Makes a Good Profile

Crafting the perfect profile is both a science and an art. You have to understand client reaction and adjust your strategy to fit what they are looking for.

The first step is to look at the competition. What are they doing to make their campaigns successful? Can you use the same ideas for your profile? Understanding what makes your competition tick will give you insight into what works and doesn't work.

Next, you should focus on your campaign data and figure out where you are and where you want to be. Once you have a good sense of your situation, you should run experiments and see if they have a positive or negative effect. Try changing your photo and see if your clickthrough rate increases. Maybe you should add more content to your portfolio and see if there is a corresponding increase in client interest. The more you experiment, refine, and craft your profile, the greater the chances you will be conveying the right ideas to your potential clients.

Once you are satisfied with your profile, you should translate the content into all of the user interface languages of ServiceScape. The price for profile translation services is $5.00 USD. It is recommended that all professionals have their profiles translated in order to broaden the effectiveness of their campaigns and to have search engines index their profiles across several languages.

Do you need additional help? Take a look at our blog post on this subject and learn about the ins and outs of profile optimization.

Projects

Set Up a Project

Most of the time clients will submit their projects to you with little or no help. However, if you want to set up a project for a client and make it as easy as possible to get things started, you can do so by clicking on the "Set Up Project" button located within the client's profile. After setting up the project, your client will be notified via email and, if the project is not a free sample, will be instructed regarding how to pay for it.

Modify a Project

Is there something wrong with one of your projects? Maybe the client wants you to modify a certain part of it. Most aspects of your project can be changed before and after project delivery by clicking on the project's "Modify" button. Some things can't be changed depending on the situation (for instance, you cannot change the price and due date after you have delivered the final version of the project) but everything that can be changed will be available to you.

Pause a Project

Is there an issue with your project that requires pausing it, such as insufficient information, files that you are unable to open, or perhaps your client has asked you to stop working on it? If that is the case, you should click on the project's "Standby" button and pause the project. When you would like to resume your work, just click on the "Standby" button again. Please note that when Standby status is removed, the start date for the project will be changed to when the project is resumed and the due date will be adjusted according to the new start date. If Standby status is not removed, the project will be automatically cancelled after the first week of next month.

Cancel a Project

If you have determined that a project cannot be completed, you can cancel it by clicking on the project's "Cancel" button. Acceptable reasons for cancellation include a client request for cancellation, multiple versions of the same project, a request for a service or due date that is outside of the scope of requirements that you are obligated to perform, the project includes the unauthorized use or close imitation of another's work, the requested services are of a lewd or morally objectionable nature, the requested writing services are for academic or admissions subjects (writing services only), or the requested writing services are beyond your expertise (writing services only). Please note that you should never refuse to provide services while accepting projects and without acceptable justification.

Deliver a Project

To deliver a project, simply click on the project and click on the "Deliver" button. If the delivered files are graphic design concepts or writing drafts, your project will be placed on Standby status until your client submits a response. Otherwise, the project will be considered finished and your client will be notified via email regarding the successful completion of his/her project.

Communication

Send a Message

To send a message to a client, simply click on the "Send Message" button located within the client's profile, write your message, and attach any files you want. When you are done composing your message, you can either send the message or save the message as a draft and send it later.

Receive a Message

ServiceScape will notify you via email when you receive a new message from a client. Simply click on the message to open it and download any associated attachments. You can send a reply to the client by clicking on the message and clicking on the "Reply" button.

Schedule a Conference Call

If you would like to set up a teleconference call between you, your client, and ServiceScape Support, you can schedule it by simply clicking on the "Teleconference" button located within the client's profile. ServiceScape Support will contact you as soon as possible regarding your teleconference request and will set up the call at a time and by a method that is preferred by all parties.

Responsibilities

Check Your Account

If you are available for projects and/or messages, sign into your account at least once a day and check your projects and messages. This should be done before noon United States Eastern Time. So, for example, if you were checking your account today you should sign in before . If you are available for express delivery projects, sign into your account and check your projects every 15 minutes. Though ServiceScape sends email notifications regarding projects and messages, you should not rely on email for managing your account as spam filters and greylisting may delay or even prevent email delivery. We cannot guarantee that an email sent from ServiceScape will be delivered to your email address, so please sign into ServiceScape at least once a day to administer your account.

Manage Your Schedule

If you plan to be away from ServiceScape for more than a day, or if you have received too much work and you need time to catch up, you should temporarily stop accepting projects and/or messages. When you change your status, please make sure that you follow these guidelines:

  1. It is very important to provide your clients with a constant and predictable work schedule. Imagine, for example, if you were trying to shop at a store that was open at random hours. Eventually, you would just give up after a few failed attempts and go someplace else. Please make sure that you do not do this to your client base. Do not toggle your account status on and off during the course of a day. Though it is not always achievable, your goal should be to limit account status changes to once or twice per week. If you make your schedule as predictable as possible, your clients will appreciate it and will be more likely to hire you in the future.
  2. You should also not provide a false reactivation date. When you stop accepting projects and/or messages, you will have the option to tell your clients when you are coming back. When your profile states that you will be ready on a certain day, you should accept new projects and messages throughout that day. Not accepting projects and messages on the day you were supposed to accept projects and messages will confuse and frustrate your client base.

Work On Your Projects

You should start every project that you receive and complete the project to the best of your abilities before the due date. Please make sure that you understand these fundamental requirements regarding projects:

  1. If you are selected for a project, you should start the project as soon as possible. Clients have access to the current status of their projects, and they know if you have not started your work. If you do not start a project within a reasonable time period, ServiceScape will consider the project to be abandoned and we will be forced to cancel the project.
  2. If the client has made a mistake regarding the price of the project and you would like to increase or decrease the price to match the project's actual requirements, please click on the project and click on the "Modify" button. If the project requires additional payment, a service proposal will be generated for the client which will outline the changes you want to implement as well as the new price.
  3. If there is an issue that prevents project completion, such as a missing file or a client request for cancellation, please sign into your account and manage the issue. You should click on the project's "Standby" button and pause the project if:

    • The client has requested it.
    • The project contains insufficient information, such as missing files or inadequate instructions.
    • The project contains file(s) that you are unable to open.

    You should click on the project's "Cancel" button and cancel the project if:

    • The client has requested it.
    • The client has submitted multiple versions of the same project.
    • The client has requested a service or due date that is outside of the scope of requirements that you are obligated to perform.
    • The client has submitted project material or has requested services that include the unauthorized use or close imitation of another's work, such as plagiarism or copyright infringement.
    • The client has requested services that are of a lewd or morally objectionable nature.
    • The client has requested academic or admission writing services (writing services only).
    • The client has requested writing services that are beyond your expertise (writing services only).

    You should never delay service delivery without acceptable justification or refuse to provide services while accepting projects and without acceptable justification.

  4. If there is no issue that prevents project completion, please deliver the project before the due date. If you are planning to complete a non-express project near the due date, please notify the client. Please do not deliver a non-express project after the due date.
  5. If a client submits a poor rating for a project, you may not encourage a rating reversal by harassing the client, offering to cancel the project, or offering free or discounted services. You may encourage a rating reversal by contacting the client, understanding what was insufficient about your work, and redelivering a satisfactory result.

Communicate With Your Clients

You should always read the messages that are sent to you within a reasonable time period and provide a response if necessary. Not reading and responding to client messages will ultimately result in a poor client experience and will severely limit the potential of your campaign. You should also never ignore teleconferencing requests or scheduled teleconference calls. Being responsive to your clients' needs is fundamental to providing freelance services online.

Earnings

Determine Your Prices

How you price your services is one of the most important parts of your freelance business. Predefined services have a default pricing structure that you can change. You also have the ability to provide individual quotes for custom projects.

ServiceScape commission percentages are:

  • Editing - 50%
  • Translation - 50%
  • Graphic Design - 50%
  • Writing - 50%

When determining your pricing strategy, your primary consideration should be project volume. If your goal is to increase your ranking within the ServiceScape directory or to build a repeat client base, you should attempt to increase your project volume by setting your prices lower than the competition. If you are inundated with work and are forced to limit your availability, your goal should be to decrease project volume by setting your prices higher than the competition. If you have to decide between limiting availability or increasing prices, we would always recommend that you increase your prices. Clients are generally happy to pay more if they can work with their preferred professional.

Whatever you do, please make sure that your strategy is implemented incrementally. Make a small change, view the results over the course of a month or so, and if you are not satisfied, make another small change. Eventually, trial and error will lead to a pricing strategy that works for you.

Tax Status

Under U.S. federal tax law, we are required to request taxpayer information from persons receiving funds from our company. In order to fulfill this requirement we must receive your completed W-9 Form or W-8BEN Form, as applicable, declaring your tax status.

U.S. Taxpayers Residing in the U.S.

If you are a U.S. taxpayer residing in the U.S. (a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident alien), you should submit a valid W-9 Form. Please note that we do not accept taxpayer identification numbers.

W-9 Form
W-9 Form Instructions

Non-U.S. Taxpayers Not Residing in the U.S.

If you are not a U.S. taxpayer and you do not reside in the U.S., you should submit a valid W-8BEN Form.

W-8BEN Form
W-8BEN Instructions

Everybody Else

We cannot distribute earnings to individuals with the following tax status:

  1. U.S. Taxpayers Not Residing in the U.S.
  2. Non-U.S. Taxpayers Residing in the U.S.

If you fit into one of these two categories, please do not register as a ServiceScape professional.

After you have completed the appropriate form, please send it to the following address or fax number:

ServiceScape Incorporated
9 Bartlet Street, Suite 229
Andover, MA 01810
United States
(978) 475-1713

Please do not send your form by any other means, including email.

You can track your form status within the Overview section. W-9 Form/W-8BEN Form status is updated within the first week of the month. Due to the earnings distribution schedule, forms that are submitted after the first week of the month will not be processed until next month. So, in other words, if you submit your form after the first week of the current month, your status will not be updated until the first week of the next month.

Reporting Your Income

Professionals who have submitted a W-9 Form and who have earned income during the previous year will also receive a 1099 Form. A 1099 Form is used to report income to the IRS and is distributed once a year during January. Professionals who have submitted a W-9 Form are required to report 1099 income on a Schedule C attachment within their tax returns.

Professionals who have submitted a W-8BEN Form will not receive a 1099 Form, will not have their incomes reported to anyone, and will not have taxes withheld from income. If you have sent a W-8BEN Form, you should consult a local tax professional to determine whether your earnings from ServiceScape are taxable.

Earnings Distribution Schedule

1st to 7th Day of the Month

Earnings distribution begins each month with updating professionals' W-9 Form/W-8BEN Form status. The time period for processing new forms ends after the seventh day of the month. W-9 Forms/W-8BEN Forms that are received after the seventh day of the month will be processed at the beginning of the next month, which may delay earnings distribution for those individuals.

8th Day of the Month

On the eighth day of the month, ServiceScape will stop accepting new W-9 Forms/W-8BEN Forms, cancel all non-concept/draft standby projects that were submitted during the previous month, calculate earnings for each professional from the previous month, transfer PayPal® earnings to PayPal, and submit U.S. resident earnings information to our third party payment/tax processing service. Please note that PayPal transfers can only be sent to non-U.S. taxpayers not residing in the U.S.

15th to 25th Day of the Month

After all transfers are complete, ServiceScape will then distribute earnings to professionals who were active during the previous month. Earnings distribution may occur at any time during this ten day period. After earnings have been distributed, a professional may request to have his/her payment resent if the payment is not delivered properly.

FAQ

Why am I not receiving email notifications?

Though ServiceScape sends email notifications to you whenever something happens to your account, we cannot guarantee that an email sent from ServiceScape will be delivered to your email address. Spam filters and greylisting may delay or even prevent email delivery. If you are not receiving emails from us, please make sure that you check your spam filter for ServiceScape emails. If they are being treated as spam, you should add "@servicescape.com" to your email account's safe senders list. If you are still not receiving emails from ServiceScape, please contact your ISP regarding this issue.

How can I provide cost and due date options for a client?

To send a quote, simply click on the "Add Quote" button while you are writing a message and include the quote within your response.

Have you received my W-9 Form/W-8BEN Form?

You can track your form status within the Overview section. Please note that everything we know about your form status is posted there. You will not receive a different response if you contact us directly regarding this issue. Also, please note that W-9 Form/W-8BEN Form status is only updated within the first week of the month.

Can I send my W-9 Form/W-8BEN Form by email?

We do not accept W-9 Forms/W-8BEN Forms sent via email. Instead, please mail or fax your form to ServiceScape. You should never send private and sensitive information over online channels that may or may not be encrypted.

I did not receive my payment. Can you resend it?

A payment can be resent by contacting ServiceScape. Please include your name, the date of the payment, and the amount of the payment. Please note that there is a reprocessing fee for resending a payment. If the amount of the payment is less than the reprocessing fee, the payment will not be resent.

How does the tutorial project work?

The tutorial project is the first project you will receive from ServiceScape. We want to make sure that you can start and deliver a project before a due date. The tutorial project will help us confirm this and will also help you familiarize yourself with how ServiceScape works.

When your application is accepted, just click on the tutorial project to start it and click on the "Deliver" button to deliver it. A graphic designer or writer will have to deliver a round of concepts/drafts, wait for ServiceScape to send a concept/draft response, and deliver a final version.

Please note that you can upload any file you like. The tutorial project does not require work on your part besides learning how to use the system. After you complete the tutorial project, you will receive a small commission and your tutorial will be rated by ServiceScape.

How do I send an invoice to my client?

If a client asks for an invoice, you should just direct him/her to ServiceScape's instructions regarding invoices. Everything that the client needs to know is explained there.

My client accidentally submitted two duplicate projects. What should I do?

We would recommend that you cancel one of them.

How do I modify the price of a project?

To modify a project's price, simply click on the project and click on the "Modify" button. If the modifications require additional payment, a service proposal will be generated for the client. Common reasons for creating a service proposal are a miscalculation of page length (for editing, translation, or writing projects), an ill-suited selection of service and design subject (for graphic design projects), or a response to a custom project.

When you submit a service proposal, the project will be at Standby status until the client either accepts or declines the new parameters of his/her project. If the client does not accept or decline the service proposal, the project will be automatically cancelled after the first week of next month.

What do I do if I put a project on Standby status and the client doesn't respond?

You don't have to do anything. If Standby status is not removed for a project that was submitted this month, the project will be automatically cancelled after the first week of next month right before earnings are processed. Please note that this does not apply to graphic design concept delivery or writing draft delivery. Projects that are paused due to a concept/draft delivery will stay at that status until the client responds to the concept/draft, the professional removes Standby status, the project is abandoned by the client, or the project is cancelled by either party.

Can I cancel a project after delivery?

A professional can cancel a delivered project as long as earnings have not been processed for that project. So any project that is submitted this month can be cancelled up until the first week of next month.

I received a poor rating. Is there something I can do about this?

Ratings cannot be altered by ServiceScape or by professionals. Only clients can modify their project ratings. The best method for handling a poor rating is to contact the client who was dissatisfied with your service and attempt to rectify the situation.

What is free sample editing?

Free sample editing is a great way to introduce yourself to potential clients. It allows clients to better understand your abilities without any risk involved and establishes a sense of trust between the two parties.

As the name suggests, a free sample project is a project that a client does not pay for. The project size is usually 5 pages or fewer and has a 2 day turnaround. You may deliver a partially completed version of the project if you have determined that the delivered version is an acceptable sample of your work.

You may also decline the sample project outright by clicking on the project and clicking on the "Decline" button. Please note that to achieve Elite status, you must accept at least 50% of sample projects. If you decide to decline a free sample project and the client has submitted more than 5 free sample projects over the last 3 months, the declined sample will not count against your Elite status.

Do I have to provide free re-editing services?

It is up to you whether you want to provide free services or not. Every professional has their own policy regarding this. We would recommend that you provide free services if you find it necessary to make a client satisfied with your work. Establishing a long-term client relationship should always be your ultimate goal.

How do editing certifications work?

An editing certification is a signed declaration from ServiceScape that certifies that a document has been professionally edited by a ServiceScape editor. ServiceScape handles the processing of these documents without editor involvement, so if a client asks for one just direct him/her to ServiceScape's instructions regarding editing certifications.

How do translation certifications work?

A translation certification is a hard copy of the translated document plus a signed and notarized statement from ServiceScape which attests to the accuracy of the translation. Similar to editing certifications, translation certifications are processed by ServiceScape without translator involvement, so if a client asks for one just direct him/her to ServiceScape's instructions regarding translation certifications.

Why do characters within my file come up as empty boxes or random accented letters?

If characters are not rendered properly, you probably do not have the correct language pack installed. A language pack will allow you to read foreign characters within your application. If the error is occurring within Microsoft Office®, you should download and install the appropriate Microsoft Office Language Pack. Language packs for other applications can usually be found at their respective corporate websites.