Do you have marketable skills? Have you been thinking about trying to sell those skills on freelance platforms such as Elance or oDesk? Here are some tips to help you market your skills and get paid.
Know what you want to offer, and for how much. It is difficult to create a meaningful profile and seek freelance work if you are unsure what skills you’ll be selling or what you’ll charge. Create a specific list of the services you want to sell, and check out freelance sites to get an idea of what similar contractors are selling. Determine how much your time is worth and decide on a competitive rate based on your type of work and experience. Keep in mind that as a new contractor on any site, you may need to start as a lower rate until you get some positive reviews from clients. Decide which sites and levels of membership are right for you. Many freelance platforms have a free membership level and that may be enough for your business; however, depending on what type of work you will be doing, how many jobs you will be taking on, and whether you will have other people working on your projects with you, you may need to upgrade to a paid level of membership on some sites. Do a fair amount of research on a few different web sites to determine which would work best for the kind of work you are looking to do. Market yourself! Put your freelance profile site address on your business cards, tell your friends and clients, create a social networking page on sites such as Facebook and Twitter with a link to your freelance profile – put your freelance profile site in front of as many people as possible. Don’t wait for the work to come to you. Clients often won’t invite you to place a bid or contact you directly, so you’ll need to be proactive. As often as you can, check for open jobs that you can place bids on or apply for and put forth your best proposal. Be responsive to client needs and do your best work. On freelance sites, your profile and ratings are important! Clients check contractor reviews before making a hiring decision. You will want to ensure that you communicate with your clients, get work done on their schedule, and always submit professional, quality work. This will help ensure that you get positive reviews and ratings, upping your chances of landing future projects. You may also find repeat projects when a client is happy with your work. Follow the site’s policies for guaranteed payment. Most of the freelance sites out there do guarantee payment when you work within their terms. This might mean using their downloaded software to track your work. Most clients will pay as agreed; however, for guaranteed payment you will need to carefully read and stick to the site’s policies.
Freelancing your work can be rewarding and fruitful, if you are willing to put in the initial setup time for research and marketing. Remember to promote yourself, your skills, and your freelance site, and always put forth your best quality, professional work and you should find that clients will be happy to give you great reviews and repeat business.