Strong communication sells By Aaron Anderson (Rent A Coder buyer and coder)     "Strong communication sells" is true for both the coder of the project and the buyer. This article is primarily written from past experiences with my work not only on RentACoder but through other sites (and off-line clients) as well.     When you are buying a project from a coder, graphic artist, search engine optimizer, you-have-it, you expect your project expert to remain in contact through each step of the process of completing your project and you expect them to reply to each of your messages as quickly as possible. For most coders, we pride ourselves on quick turnaround communication at all times during the course of your project whether it be a project update, a question or whether it's a reply to an inquiry you sent earlier.     One of the things you may not realize as a buyer is we value that communication structure as much as you do. The majority of my past clients over the years were successful but every once in a while there will a buyer (client) who seems to drop off the planet and fail to respond in a timely manner. Unless you are a coder yourself, I don't think you could possibly understand how frustrating it is when we work as fast as we can and respond to all of your inquiries as soon as we read them when you don't show the same respect and courtesy back to us.     At many stages during your project we may have a question that we need answered before we can continue. If you don't respond and help us help you, you're not only delaying your project but possibly projects we are working on with other clients. We want your project done as quickly as you do but at the same time, we also want to make sure we are doing everything right the first time around but we can't do that without you b y our side throughout the project.     Many of you are coders yourself and are using RentACoder to outsource your client's projects on us because it is either out of your expertise or you're too busy with projects yourself. We understand that it takes time for you to relay our questions and comments to them, and from them to us, but it would be nice if you sent us a comment every day or two letting us know you're still waiting for feedback on the client's end. Nothing is worse than waiting...and waiting...and waiting. A simply message letting us know you haven't heard from your client is much better than not keeping us updated on your project and having us wonder whether or not you've received our message.     We are all busy people and we all have lives outside of RentACoder, the internet, the computer and our homes and we understand that at times things my come up. For instance, the other day our cat got sick and I had to bring him to the vet but I informed my current clients so they wouldn't get discouraged if they needed help and I wasn't around. But the minute you have a chance, and that's all it takes is a minute, let us know where YOU are on YOUR project so we can continue knowing you're still with us.     We value strong communication as much as the buyers do so please keep us informed and we'll do our best to keep you informed on our current status as well.