Freelance writing: taking FOREVER 2 be picked for a writing job. Anyone else?

Could be, how is your English? really good? You really have to emphasize that you know English very well. I think the employers are sketchy about non-English speaking bidders. So next time you bid really drive home that point ok. all the best!

With regards to Elance, I've been bidding to a lot of writing jobs since I joined in. I almost got an offer since the person who was looking for someone contacted me, however, when I replied, she rejected my bid. That's okay with me, though. She said I bid too high. I am from the Philippines too. I guess you have to take those tests they have so as to convince those who are hiring to pick you instead of others. I just stopped bidding on Elance already. I am not getting anything out of it at all.

I tried 4-5 freelancer site for a month and later on I quit..I got some few project like forum setup,website design and some flash editing work but I got no luck for big project as many people used to bid so much low price..I am not sure if they were capable to do the project or they do just to get the work..specially newbie bid so less.I don't bid too high price nor I like doing project than its actual coast.

I am on triond, bukisa, and infobarrel. They pay less but I am quite content with it. I never tried 0desk so far. Let me brush up my writing skills. If people will start viewing their articles without having to ask them then I would think I am a good writer. Until then I will continue writing for peanuts.

It depends on the job provider, certain job providers prefer to hire experienced lancers and every time when your work gets approved it gets added in your resume, on the other hand certain job provider prefer freelancers only form a certain geographic location. So my advice would be to bid as low as possible( because you are a fresher) also write your "ABOUT ME" section in your profile very attractive and eye catching, as it shows about you and the quality of work you can deliver. I am also a freelancer and,though I didn't want to discourage you but, it took nearly 1 year for me to get decent jobs, and for the first 4 months I spent without any job, but now I am quite OK with my job.

Hi redmaryjane, I haven't tried oDesk, I can only share my experience on ELance. First, build a portfolio, if you haven't done so already, using your best articles online. Then, try to lower your first bids, in exchange for good reviews from the employer. You can increase your fees later on, when you have a good rating. Since English is also not my mother tongue, I bid mostly on jobs that require a lot of research and documentation work, rather than just writing skills. For instance, I never bid on marketing jobs or on re-writing jobs, I know I'm not good enough. But I did bid (and won) on a 6000-word job about how to start a worm farm. Try to create a niche for yourself, for 3-4 subjects you can specialize on. It took me about 6 months to get my first 10 jobs. But I got good ratings on all of them, and then things started to look up.