This week saw the beta launch of the innovative new Freelancing portal; OfficeCavalry.com.
The site launched with over 3,000 Freelancers and Project Owners already signed up during the initial registration phase with an huge amount interest from the online marketing and PR activity.
OfficeCavalry.com approached Cyber-Duck with a business plan and a vision to reinvent how Project Owners can engage with Freelancers. The concept is simple: Project Owners need a place to search for Freelancers within a community that protects both parties. This bespoke offering encourages Project Owners to post their own projects first. Most competitors are focused on extensive navigation systems, whereas OfficeCavalry.com has a dedicated Cavalry for each key category.
The service requests the Project Owner to define the initial scope, timelines and budget upfront to avoid a ‘Dutch Auction’ whilst ensuring the project is always market competitive, allowing the Freelancer to achieve the best rates available for that particular assignment. The process ensures that the Project Owner benefits from the quality of the completed assignment. It also ensures that the Freelancer gets a fair market rate for the work completed.
Cyber-Duck embraced this philosophy, and planned a radical and easy to use interaction model with built in interview tools, and a commercial engagement mechanism. Cyber-Duck also developed the concept of 6 Cavalries, which can best be described as specialist hubs, each with targeted search tools relating to particular skills categories.
The Technology
Cyber-Duck’s web developers incorporated a range of SaaS (Software as a Service) features, including software such as Codeigniter and jQuery. This has resulted in website features which include; two secure payment facilities, a two-way rating & feedback system, loyalty points scheme and 6 Freelancer hubs across Tech, Creative, Marketing, Support Accountant and Legal related categories.
Innovative Online Marketing
Aside from the website launch itself, Cyber-Duck and the OfficeCavalry.com team have been working on an integrated online marketing campaign to support the successful launch of the service. This has included competitions and promotions through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as well as various forums and blogs. OfficeCavalry.com has an established partnership with Crunch, the leading accountancy solution provider for Freelancers and an interactive affinity arrangement with the National Union of Students.
Cyber-Duck have been working with PR agency Hot Cherry, which has just launched its first phase of an exciting PR campaign in conjunction with the OfficeCavalry.com team. Numerous careers fairs and trade shows have been attended to support the PR effort and to promote the launch at ground level.
The website launch was successfully promoted via online and regional media channels, including the London Evening Standard, where OfficeCavalry.com’s Andy Turner revealed which celebrity figures are most inspiring Britons to ‘become their own boss’. As part of the research, 2,000 men and women were questioned to find out who inspires them to become their own boss, with Lord Sugar topping the list for the men.
Subsequently, the story was also picked up by Lord Sugar who instigated a series of tweets about the London Evening Standard article. He tweeted “Someone will be fired at Eve Standard making mistake publishing positive stuff on me”. This and the other online channels created a surge of visits to the site.
Andy Turner and Ian Patrick, Co-Founders of OfficeCavalry.com, were united in their praise of the Cyber-Duck team, stating: “OfficeCavalry.com wishes to thank every member of the Cyber-Duck team contributing towards this immense deliverable.”
Cyber-Duck will be working with OfficeCavalry.com on a continued basis as the selected technical and marketing partner, exploiting social media, Facebook advertising and Search Engine Optimisation as well as making continued improvements to the website in response to user feedback, testing and a range of new and exciting product enhancements.
