Including a FAQ in our regular profile

[lplobinske]

I just wasted 2.5 hours, plus the effort to get signed onto the Chicago Manual of Style site, because my ex-potential client and I had some unspoken assumptions. He sent me a proofing sample (that was even the name of the doc, Proofing Sample.doc), thinking that I would take a quick glance at it and estimate how long it would take to do, so that he could figure out how long it would take to do his project. That's not the way I work. In my experience, each proofing job is different. In order to know how long it's going to take, I actually have to do it. So I started proofing his sample, and today I found out he hired someone else. If I could include this question in a FAQ section on my profile, it might help to avoid misunderstanding.

I know that we can already include FAQs in the Project Catalog. I'm asking if we can have that functionality in our actual profile. Thank you.

[g_vasilevski · Accepted solution]

Hi Louise,

I`m sorry to hear about the bad experience you`ve had. At the moment we don't have this function regarding your general profile however, I will share your feedback with our team. Thank you.

[prestonhunter]

You can add a FAQ section to your regular profile overview text.

[wescowley]

There's nothing preventing you from adding a list of FAQs to your profile. That doesn't mean a prospective client will read it, which would be the case even if it was an officially supported profile section. Anything about how you work that you want the client to take into account should be in the interview discussion. That's your best chance of getting them to read it (and even that won't guarantee it).

I get having to do a little bit of the editing to evaluate how long it will take. Personally, I consider any work I do to evaluate a project to be part of the cost of doing business—it's time I'll never be paid for. Sometimes that prep work will land a client, sometimes it won't. That helps me scale the amount of time I spend in the evaluation versus how much I think the contract will bring in.

[petra_r]

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Louise P wrote:

 If I could include this question in a FAQ section on my profile, it might help to avoid misunderstanding.

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That would assume that clients read your FAQs.

Most don't even read beyond the first couple of paragaphs of the overview, if that.

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Louise P wrote:

I just wasted 2.5 hours, plus the effort to get signed onto the Chicago Manual of Style site,

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Don't do that. 2.5 hours to scope a contract is way too long. You can train yourself to get a rough estimate without spending hours by spending a few minutes, not hours....