Not Reliable, Not Hireable
Managing ThemeForest and Nettuts+, I’ve learned something. More than not, people are generally unreliable. I’ve hired extremely talented web developers who I will never work with again. If you can’t get the job done by my deadline, or you don’t even attempt to, it doesn’t matter how talented you are – I won’t work with you.
For example, I’ve managed to do quite well for myself. I’m in my mid-twenties, make plenty of money, work for a fantastic company, and will hopefully be moving to Melbourne within the next six months to work in-house with said company. While I can’t speak for my employer, I credit 100% of these achievements to reliability. When I worked full-time as a freelancer over a year ago, my motto was that I would “meet any deadline”. While sometimes, this meant that I had to work late into the night to finish a project, I was more than happy to.
Happy client equals happy referral!
Freelance Switch
A bit less than a year ago, I actually posted an article on this very subject over at Freelance Switch. Looking back, it makes me giggle a bit. While I can somewhat agree with many of the commenters who stated, “I will never wake at 4:00 in the morning for a client”, I think they missed the point of that article.
The point is that if a client can rely on you, he will use you for every single project he has.
The “4:00 in the morning” concept is just that – a concept. Very, very rarely have I had to wake early for a client – if ever. However, offering that assurance can make all the difference.
Nettuts+
I’ve hired countless authors whose only responsibility was to submit one article every week. For a tutorial site, we pay quite well; yet still, I’ve yet to find an author who has performed consistently. Many last for a month or so before disappearing. With a readership of 40,000, you would think that it wouldn’t be too difficult to find quality writers. Somehow, you (and I) would be wrong.
The bottom line is that people, in general, simply aren’t that reliable. What a shame – when there’s so much money to be made.
Envato
I’m asked many times each month how I got my job working for Envato. Once again, I can’t speak for them obviously, but I typically respond by crediting three things:
- Pure luck.
- Being in the right place at the right time.
- I’m RELIABLE.
The latter makes all the difference. To prove it, here’s a snapshot from one of my first emails to our TUTS manager, at the time, Cyan. It was in reference to becoming a weekly writer for Nettuts, and was sent about a year ago.
Notice the keywords: “ASAP”, and “reliable”. Now that I’m the manager, I search for these words when meeting prospective authors. It rarely occurs, but when it does, the authors always go on to being my favorites. I only wish I saw it more.