Freelance Jobs -
By webgirl01
@webgirl01 (689)
United States
4 responses
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
1 Dec 11
I've used them in the past to find work, though not for a while. I've also used them to hire freelancers - pretty extensively last month, with 3 hires for about $700.
A lot of people dislike the bidding sites because there's a lot of low-paid work there. Personally, I think they're brilliant. Thousands of jobs, you can ignore the rubbish and just apply for what you want, it allows you to control your workflow (i.e. you choose when you work, rather than having stuff dropped on you)... fits my part-time attitude perfectly!
Most people - at least the people I've spoken to and my personal experience - find work after about a month of bidding. It's tough at first because you have no feedback (though personally I've never cared too much about that when hiring). One option is to take a short-term, badly-paid, rubbish job and over-deliver for really good feedback, then use that to kick-start things. As soon as you have a 5-star review, it gets easier.
As for tips and ideas, there are loads here on myLot. However, since the search engine sucks awfully, how about this: http://scrawlbug.com/2009/06/13/10-tips-for-elance-success/ - a search for "Elance" or "bidding site" on there should turn up half a dozen helpful articles, at least.
Feel free to ask questions. 
1 person likes this
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
2 Dec 11
"I wonder if you know any sites that do actually just hire online freelance. Or is there freelance non bidding sites?"
There are plenty of job listing sites (and aggregators) around. Job listing clients tend to be a lot pickier than bidding site clients if they pay well and, of course, scammers and slave-wage employers love job listings because they're not monitored like the bidding sites. It's riskier but there's some nice work around. The first one that spring to mind is digitalpoint's forum here:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=24
That's not a referral: the bit at the end just takes you straight to the "Buy, Sell or Trade Forum". 
"I'm not sure what they look for? High bids or low bids?"
Neither. Both. Either. Some employers want the cheapest possible worker. Some want the best possible quality. Some want the best quality they can afford on their budget. Personally, when I hire someone, I'm MUCH more interested in what they can do. I don't even look at the price until the final decision stage. A good bid answers the employer's questions, shows what you can do and offers a couple of examples of your work.
"Also on the odesk I put i usually charge 13.50...but when I go bit or apply for positions, some wouldn't accept cuz bid is too high."
Those are the employers you don't want, anyway. 
The brutal truth (excuse me for being so blunt) is that if you're looking for data entry work, you're too expensive. That's because you're in the US. No employer is going to pay you $13.50/hour to retype data when they can get someone on the other side of the world to do it for a tenth of the cost.
For $13.50 an hour you need to be offering distinct, valuable skills - writing, design, consultation, customer service, admin, etc. - not just the ability to type. There are simply too many people who can do that a lot cheaper and your cost of living in the US prices you out of the market.
If you have those skills, you can charge a lot more than $13.50 an hour. I paid $450 to have someone edit my book, for example (although she only asked for $300 - I discovered she was worth a LOT more when she'd done the first edit, so I upped her pay). $200 for a cover design (but damn, he's GOOD!).
Basically what I'm trying to say here is that you need to start thinking like a freelancer, not an online worker. Figure out what skills you have to offer, set your rate, treat yourself like an independent, professional consultant - the more you do that, the more your clients will.
"Have you tried Odesk?"
Yes, I've worked and hired through there. My main client came from there.
Eland and oDesk (and the others) are all pretty much the same, to be honest. I find Elance easier to use and the contractor quality is generally better, but other people find the opposite. I guess it all comes down to personal experience.
"I'm not sure what they look for? High bids or low bids?"
Neither. Both. Either. Some employers want the cheapest possible worker. Some want the best possible quality. Some want the best quality they can afford on their budget. Personally, when I hire someone, I'm MUCH more interested in what they can do. I don't even look at the price until the final decision stage. A good bid answers the employer's questions, shows what you can do and offers a couple of examples of your work.
"Also on the odesk I put i usually charge 13.50...but when I go bit or apply for positions, some wouldn't accept cuz bid is too high."
Those are the employers you don't want, anyway.
The brutal truth (excuse me for being so blunt) is that if you're looking for data entry work, you're too expensive. That's because you're in the US. No employer is going to pay you $13.50/hour to retype data when they can get someone on the other side of the world to do it for a tenth of the cost.
For $13.50 an hour you need to be offering distinct, valuable skills - writing, design, consultation, customer service, admin, etc. - not just the ability to type. There are simply too many people who can do that a lot cheaper and your cost of living in the US prices you out of the market.
If you have those skills, you can charge a lot more than $13.50 an hour. I paid $450 to have someone edit my book, for example (although she only asked for $300 - I discovered she was worth a LOT more when she'd done the first edit, so I upped her pay). $200 for a cover design (but damn, he's GOOD!).
Basically what I'm trying to say here is that you need to start thinking like a freelancer, not an online worker. Figure out what skills you have to offer, set your rate, treat yourself like an independent, professional consultant - the more you do that, the more your clients will.
"Have you tried Odesk?"
Yes, I've worked and hired through there. My main client came from there.
Eland and oDesk (and the others) are all pretty much the same, to be honest. I find Elance easier to use and the contractor quality is generally better, but other people find the opposite. I guess it all comes down to personal experience.1 person likes this
@yahnee (1243)
• Philippines
2 Dec 11
My online job is for freelancer.com, writing articles on any subject that my employer requires. In order to get hired,you must post a reasonable bid.In article writing the normal pay that should be expected is $1 for the 400W and $1.5 for the 500w.If you can finish at least 5 articles in a day then you can bid for $5 daily depending on the number of articles required. Look closely at the other bids and don't go higher than them. There are job openings for almost everything that you would care to do. After you have registered with this site,they will be sending the latest job opportunities in your email.It seems difficult at the start but once you get the hand of it, everything will run smoothly and you can bid for more jobs.
1 person likes this
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
2 Dec 11
No offense, but all that advice applies ONLY to cheap, bulk work that won't pay the bills for someone in the US (as WebGirl is). While it's good advice for the "low end" of the market, it doesn't apply to the higher-paid, high-quality jobs.
1 person likes this
@PointlessQuestions (15397)
• United States
1 Dec 11
I did one for elance. I wouldn't do it again. I worked hard on 2 test articles and I didn't satisfy the client. In fact I would have had to jump through hoops. He told me not to worry about SEO and then that was his major complaint. I told him that I would sell them myself and to just take me off his list. I did sell them to Associated Content for more than the guy at Elance was going to pay.
1 person likes this
@webgirl01 (689)
• United States
2 Dec 11
Hey there! i see, sorry to hear about the elance experience. have you searched other jobs there as well?
Well I'm actually there for data entry jobs on those freelance sites. So what happened with the client you dealt with? was he rude?
That's cool you sold the article to Associated Content. i wonder if its easy to make money on that site?
lol.
@leon923940426 (480)
•
1 Dec 11
I do not know for I never try that before . I think this kind of jobs must be difficult .
1 person likes this
@webgirl01 (689)
• United States
2 Dec 11
Ah i see, oh wells. Yeah I know it may be difficult to get awarded or accepted but i have to find something to do. lol
