The virtual platform has three main purposes: 1) To allow Mercy Corps team to track freelancers' activities and provide reports to help improve the freelance academy. 2) Give each freelancer a personalized dashboard to see their progress, activities, and income generated. 3) Build a community of freelancers in Lebanon who can generate income and improve living standards through the platform's tools and training programs.

1. Freelance Virtual Platform

2. Table of content
Virtual platform purpose
Virtual platform pages
• Sign up / sign in pages
o Dashboard
• Why enroll in the FA program
• For whom the FA program is
• Success stories
• Training sessions
The important of virtual platform to MC team.
The added value of the virtual platform

3. Virtual Platform Purpose

4. The purpose
There are two main objectives of the virtual platform:
1- The platform will allow Mercy Corps team to track all the freelancers
activities using different tools and analytic reports that allow Mercy Corp
team member take proper decision on the best practice to improve the
academy
2- Each freelancer will have his/her own dashboard that shows the activities
like: attend live sessions, watch recording, communicate with other team
members, collect badges etc..
We aim to build a community of freelancer who are willing to generate
fresh income and improve their living standards in Lebanon. Using this
virtual platform as tool in order to help us reach our goal

5. Virtual platform goal
• Increase the participants’
income generation by
building their capacity in
the freelance work
• The platform will allow
users to track their
activities find best
practice to encourage
employment
• The virtual platform will
serve as tool that
freelancers and MC will
use to run the freelance
academy
• Our objective is to
encourage
participants to apply
for freelance projects
and become part of
the gig economy Objective Purpose
Impact
Essence

6. Pillars of the virtual platform
The virtual platform will be promoted using the five principles of the freelance academy:
1. Capacity building: improving the knowledge of participants in the freelance work by
delivering training and coaching sessions.
2. Networking: open the door for networking experience as freelancers can create teams
and conduct referrals, as well as networking with professional freelancers and
influencers in the same sector.
3. Career Sustainability: promoting freelance as a career and creating opportunities for
learning and development to become expert freelancers to ensure continuity
4. Market Opportunities: global marker and global customer are within reach by bidding
on different multinational freelance websites.
5. Social impact: supporting the Lebanese community to generate fresh money and
improve the standards of living.

7. • Sign up / sign in

8. The virtual platform will be used as an outreach tool that allow participants to register ONLY
as freelancers and create details profile.
The Mercy corps team will advertise the website to recruit experienced freelancers to
register in the website instead of using a Google form.
Interested freelancers should either enter the website URL: www.MCfreelance.com or scan
the below QR code. Traffic will direct users to the home page which include the following
tabs:
• Sign up / sign in pages
• Why enroll in the FA program
• For whom the FA program is
• Success stories
• Training sessions

9. Sign up page
After surfing the platform the freelancer who is interested in enrolling in the freelance
academy can register to the program by filling out all the below detailed information
1. Create your freelance account
• First name
• Last name
• Email address:
• Password
• Current job title
• Location
2. Personal Information
• Upload your photo
• Phone number:
• Education Level:
• Experience Level: (less than 1 year, 1 – 3
years etc..)
• What is your freelance professional
expertise?

10. Sign up page
3) Profession information
• LinkedIn profile
• Did you enroll in any previous training with Mercy Corps
• Please give details about the training like: Program name, topic, date, location
• Do you have previous freelance experience? (yes/no)
• Portfolio - Upload sample of your work
• Upload your resume
• How did you hear about us?
Sing up/sign in other option using the LinkedIn social media account to register to access their profiles
Why LinkedIn, because this social platform is the most professional channel that people are using to search for
jobs and communicate with experts in the same field.

11. Sign in page
Freelancers will have the option to either sign in using their LinkedIn account or using the
credentials created in the sign up process.
• Email address:
• Password:

12. Dashboard

13. Dashboard
After finishing their registration process, the freelancers will be directed to their dashboard
page, where they can have full view of their activities and progress in the freelance
academy
But first what is a dashboard?
Dashboard is a visual, at-a-glance representation of key data point. The dashboard will be
used to indicates items which require urgent actions at the top of the page, like
write/update the profile, apply for jobs, schedule one to one coaching session, etc..

14. Dashboard different sections:
Training sessions details: Mercy corps team will schedule the 10 training sessions and the
group coaching sessions ahead of time, so all participants have access to the training
sessions: topics, date, time and link to attend (the attendance rate will be automatically
extracted when needed). This feature will be reflected in the dashboard so that
participants and MC team track the attendance rate per participant.
• The benefit of this section is that it will highlight the important data and send
notifications to the participants’ email in order not to miss sessions or to decrease the
absence rate
Profile: Writing a detailed profile is very essential for applying to any freelance work.
Participants should create their detailed professional profile with the help of trainer to
catch the customer attentions. Mercy corps team will create a template to writing a
professional profile and divide it into sections that allow participants to form a
comprehensive profile after wiring all the profile.
• The benefit of this section is that participants will be using a professional profile (both
English and Arabic to apply for jobs and compete in the global market by showing
clearly their competitive edge.

15. Dashboard different sections:
Badges: the purpose of badges is to encourage participants to work as freelancers and
implement to learning received by trainer. Once they report for any of the below activities
the badge will be displaced at their dashboard and other participants will be notified as well
• The benefits will be mentioned in the grant section
Achievement Badge
Getting the 1st project among participants on any platform The Pioneer
Getting the highest income amount (due last session of the FA) The wolf of Wall Street
full attendance (all sessions) The committed
Work as a team on a project (max 3 pers) The Avengers/ The Team Player
Getting 5 stars review on 2 platforms The Superstar
Getting jobs on 3 different platforms The strategist
transfer a job for another participant (a valid accepted offer) The referral
Getting the highest grade on Post-test The champion
Winner of 4 quizzes The scholar
First to receive income above 800$ The achiever/ leader/ tycoon
Extra: collecting the 10 badges The terminator

16. Dashboard different sections:
Setting goals - self improvement: Mercy Corps team and the service provider will ask each
participant to set an achievable goal to be reachable at the end of the academy and
after receiving freelance capacity building training and coaching sessions. This tool will
be places in the dashboard to push the freelancers to improve their digital skills or even
building up on their soft skills. The team can measure this improvement by conducting a
small interview or asking some questions to the participant during the group coaching
sessions.
• The benefit of this section is that participants will be committed to build their own
capacity and when they see improvement they become more and more motivated.
Also it will help them manage their time in an efficient way by setting a deadline for
each achievement planned.
Scheduled coaching sessions: because each participant will be entitled for one, one – to –
one coaching session, they can schedule it directly from the platform without using any
external software or system.
• The benefit of this section is that participants will be automatically notified of the one
to one coaching sessions and pencil down the most important topics to be discussed
with the trainer/coach.

17. Dashboard different sections:
Status of the grant: each participants is entitle to apply for a grant whether it’s a software,
program, subscription or even hardware like laptop/tablet/ equipment. In order to
choose the winning applicants for grant, mercy corps team will add the selections
criteria to the grant page, hence in this section they can track their application status if
they are selected or not and if they need to submit more information. The main
information we are requesting
o Required support
o Why you need it?
o How it helps you in freelance work
o How frequently you need it (if subscription)
o When you need it
o Value
• The benefit of this sections is that we reduce the follow up time with each participants
for sending reminders and following up with each one on missing element. Also this
process push the participants to apply for a grant that will help them in long run as they
build their freelance career.

18. Dashboard different sections:
Income generated: since participants will be asked to input their income generations of
each project they win and deliver, regardless of the amount and platform, after
enrolling in the freelance academy, Mercy corps team and the service provider will have
access to the overall income generated by each batch, gender, platform, sector of
freelance etc.. While participants will see the total amount of income generation from
each platform, date and client.
• The benefit of this sections is
that once participants start
see inform of a chart that sum
up their income generation
they become more motivated
to apply and win projects. This
tool can be enhanced in the
future to become “sales
funnel tool” and to be covered
in the soft skills

19. Dashboard different sections:
Mobile credits receives: participants can check the next date of transferring the mobile
data to their designated mobile phones in order to attend session in case they have any
electricity or internet challenges. Mercy corps team to preschedule the data transfer
and add the dates to the system
Attendance rate: the system will calculate automatically they attendance rate which will be
shown as small graph for each participant to notify them about their attendance and
Pre and post test results, certificate and others: we can also add to the dashboard the pre
and post test results with the correct answers. Also participants can download the
certificate after they complete successfully the training and link it to their LinkedIn
account. In addition to any other feature that can be added to the dashboard.

20. Why enroll in the FA
program

21. Why enroll in the FA program - Training
In this page which will be accessible for everyone ( registered or not registered in the
program) we will define what are different services will deliver in the FA program:
Capacity building: intensive training sessions will be delivered to freelance trainers by
experts in this sector. Participants are expected to attend 10 training sessions 2 hours
each and 3 soft skills sessions 2 hours each. These sessions will help participants gain
the knowledge and tools needed to market their skills on digital job platforms and to
win the bids
Coaching sessions: participants will also attend 2 group coaching sessions, two hours each.
On to one coaching session (optional) in case any participants feel they need more
coaching sessions they can schedule on to one coaching session with the training. The
purpose of coaching sessions is to discuss any challenges that participants are facing
and convert them into opportunities.
Soft skills training: 3 addition soft skills training that will be delivered as practical sessions
to build the participants capacity on how to write a professional profile, how to
negotiate with client and how to improve your selling skills, etc..

22. Why enroll in the FA program - Training
Training topics and outline
Session Topic Outline
1 Intro to Freelance
2 Getting jobs through Social Media – part 1
3 Getting jobs through Social Media – part 2
4 Searching and applying for jobs on Mostaql and Khamsat
5 Build Your Personal Brand And Portfolio
6 Practical session/coaching session -1
7 Searching and applying for jobs on Upwork.com – part 1
8 Manage Time and Tasks With The Right Tools
9 Practical session/coaching session -2
10 Searching and applying for jobs on Freelancer.com - part 1
11 What us a sales funnel
12 Searching and applying for jobs on PPH.com
13 Practical session/coaching session -3

23. Why enroll in the FA program - Grant
Apply for a grant: Each participant enrolled in the freelance academy will have an
opportunity to apply for a grant which is defined based on the needs of the participant.
It could be license of software, purchasing a program, purchasing an
equipment/machine, subscription to any online software or any technology related
device. In order to apply for a grant, participants have to define their needs and fill out
the following form:
o Required support
o Why you need it?
o How it helps you in freelance work
o How frequently you need it (if subscription)
o When you need it
o Value
Each participant will be chosen based on this selection criteria, to be added under this
section.

24. Why enroll in the FA program - Badges
Collect badges: It is an incentive tool that we will use to increase participants' engagement
in the academy, favor competition and therefore motivation, in addition to help us in
scoring.
.Achievement Badge
Getting the 1st project among participants on any platform The Pioneer
Getting the highest income amount (due last session of the FA) The wolf of Wall Street
full attendance (all sessions) The committed
Work as a team on a project (max 3 pers) The Avengers/ The Team Player
Getting 5 stars review on 2 platforms The Superstar
Getting jobs on 3 different platforms The strategist
transfer a job for another participant (a valid accepted offer) The referral
Getting the highest grade on Post-test The champion
Winner of 4 quizzes The scholar
First to receive income above 800$ The achiever/ leader/ tycoon
Extra: collecting the 10 badges The terminator

25. Why enroll in the FA program - Badges
Leaderboard
• The Pioneer Badge: awarded to the participant who got the First job on any of the
platforms. (An evidence of the accepted offer needs to be provided with date)
• The wolf of Wall Street Badge: This badge is awarded to the participant with the
highest income amount recorded by the end of the last FA session.
• The committed: Awarded to the participants (applicable for more than one) that
completed the full attendance (all sessions).
• The Avengers: Awarded to participants (diff backgds) collaborating as a team to work
on a project (Team projects of max 3 persons)
• The Superstar: participants with 5 stars review on 2 platforms
• The strategist: Getting jobs on 3 different platforms (out of 5)
• The referral: someone who transfer a job for another participant (a valid accepted
offer)
• The Champion: post-test highest grade
• The Scholar: winner of 4 quizzes (during sessions)
• The Tycoon: First to receive income above 800$
• The Terminator*: an extra badge for the participant collecting the full 10 badges.

26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Reward
x x x x x Vouchers..
x x x x x x LinkedIn recommendations (at least 2)
x x x x x x X (Min 7) Eligible for grants
x x x x x x x x Win an opportunity at MC for 1 project (applicable
for more than 1 participant)
Why enroll in the FA program - Badges
Scoring scale
• The benefits of collecting badges is that participants can share them on
LinkedIn, mentioned on the participant’s certificate and designed as small
trophies that can be awarded and distributed with the certificate to the relevant
participants

27. Why enroll in the FA program - Networking
Network with colleagues from same sector: the freelance academy will offer participants to
network and exchange experience, also Mercy Corps team will encourage team work
and referrals by creating a environment of collaboration between participants. They will
be asked to form a team of experts(from the same or different sector) to deliver specific
projects which require different types of skills and refere projects for other participants
Phone credits: participants will receive 3 times phone credits in order to attend the sessions
without any electricity or connection problems.
Certificate: after successfully completion of the program participants will be awarded a
certificate of completion, they can share it on their LinkedIn account or in their resume.
Other benefits:

28. For whom the FA program
is

29. For whom the FA program is
In this page, participants will be able to check if they are eligible to enroll in the FA program
or not. Below is list of selection criteria we are using.
• Has a digital skills background (including web dev, app dev, graphic design, UI/UX, video
editing, digital marketing etc.)
• Has previous experience in freelance work
• Has regular access to a computer and internet
• Has a good oral and written level of English
• Shows motivation and commitment to attend online training for 3 months
• Age between 16 and 34
Sing up button will be placed at the end of this page to direct the eligible participants to signup for this program.

30. • Success stories

31. Success stories
After graduating 2 batches of participants we have identified great success stories. The
team will conduct interviews and record short videos with these participants then
upload the content under this page.
The objectives of this section is to show the impact we are doing in the freelance academy
and to inspire future participants by the stories of their previous colleagues.
We will continue adding success storing after graduating each batch, which in return
will creates credibility and clarity around the value of the academy
The success stories will be in form of videos or case studies.
Sing up button will be placed at the end of this page to direct the eligible participants to signup for this program.

32. • Training sessions

33. Training sessions – FA Training topics
Detailed tailored training sessions will be included under this sessions, so participants will
have a clear expectations of the training sessions and outline and duration of each one.
Session Topic Outline
1 Intro to Freelance
2 Getting jobs through Social Media – part 1
3 Getting jobs through Social Media – part 2
4 Searching and applying for jobs on Mostaql and Khamsat
5 Build Your Personal Brand And Portfolio
6 Practical session/coaching session -1
7 Searching and applying for jobs on Upwork.com – part 1
8 Manage Time and Tasks With The Right Tools
9 Practical session/coaching session -2
10 Searching and applying for jobs on Freelancer.com - part 1
11 What is a sales funnel
12 Searching and applying for jobs on PPH.com
13 Practical session/coaching session -3

34. Training sessions – Soft Skills topics
After defining the soft skills training topics to be delivered along with the freelance training
topics, we are planning to conduct the soft skills training as onsite training instead of
online training.
This idea behind onsite training is that participants will be able to implement the soft skills
topics related to freelance, like writing “live” the profiles both En and Ar, send a winning
proposals to potential clients and sales technique:
▪ Cross-selling
▪ upselling
▪ sales funnel
Also it would be an opportunity for MC team to introduce the virtual platform and explain it
in detail along with the benefit of continues accessing the platform. A demo will be
conducted as well on how to use the dashboard and track activities using the platform
and demonstrate the added value of using all the features offered at the virtual
platform.
The main challenge is to gather all participants in one accessible premises especially
participants are enrolling from different locations in Lebanon.

35. Added value of the virtual
platform

36. Partnering with private sector
The virtual platform will be used as a marketing tool to establish partnerships with private
sectors and startups especially those organizations that are looking to outsources their
activities and reduce cost by hiring talented digital freelancers.
Meaning that, once we run the platform and freelancers start building their profiles we will
be trying to establish a partnership with private sectors and choosing the qualified
freelancers based on their profiles that will be accessible for everyone.

37. Sample of the
profiles created
by freelancers
As illustrated in this screenshot,
upwork platform is marketing
the freelancers profiles
including price per hour, skills
and profession, to any visitors
before choosing the
freelancers.

38. Selling proposition
Our selling proposition would something like:
A platform that allow your organization to find the best digital freelancer
delivering high quality of service at a decent price. The outsourcing
strategy will reduce your overhead cost and support freelance
community to build a startups that address all your business digital
needs.

39. The important of virtual
platform to MC team.

40. Why we are building a platform for VA
Tracking the activities for freelance academy each batch by batch has put the team under
pressure to create several excel online tools like: registration, attendance sheet, one to
one coaching sessions, grants, session recording etc..
All these tools and the more advanced ones that will be requested to analysis the behavior
of freelancers and understand their needs in terms of resources and tools that allow
them perform professionally and build a career as a sustainable business.
Using the reporting tools extracted from the platform will make our life easy to analysis and
report for better implementation in the near future

41. Next steps
The platform will be pilot phase to test how participants are dealing with such system and if
the impact aligned with the objectives set to this program.
The next phase is to improve the features in the platform to become “one stop shop” for
freelancers who are potentially willing to improve their freelance career.
Best scenario is moving the “hub” where participants will be meeting in one place to attend
training sessions, meet with coworker and professionals in the freelance economy,
deliver training sessions, and form startups with teammate.

42. Thank you