Many New Freelancer ask me why we are unable to get a project despite we post very low estimates/bids, here is my tip for freelancers.
One of the vital reason I found for these new comers are their profile.

Remember its not necessary that only an experience person can have a charming profile, even young freelancers need them more then experienced one.

A common mistake I see with profiles of new freelancers is they do add a profile but mostly it is not properly formatted and skills are mentioned in a scattered manner.

Remember your freelancer profile is your first face that client see, if it does not look beautiful, do not consider the client to proceed further. Yes I mention “beautiful”, Don’t try to make it over whelming with skills, too techy or mention anything big, but simply mention all you got in proper formatting that is easy to read and look pleasant to eyes.

Most of the Freelancer sites allow html in your profile or separate sections, use them accordingly. Make separate headings for each section.

Keep Certifications in Area Of Expertise but as a heading.
Make it easy to read and all left allign
Do not use too much “I”, thats my recommendation

Here is how it should typically look like, in its simple form:

Areas Of Expertise:

- VB.net
- C#.net
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Application Hosting Management
- ASP.net
- Photoshop
- Dreamweaver

Certifications:

MCSE – Microsoft Certified System Engineer
MCITP – Microsoft Certified IT professionla – SQL Server 2008 Administration
MCT – Microsoft Certified Trainer

Resume:

- Significant experience using .NET technology especially VB.NET

- Coded an ETL (Extract, Transform &Load) package using VB.NET for a data warehouse that I designed in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 for a medium sized technology company

- Experienced with developing and administering Microsoft SQL server databases

- Possess a good working knowledge of network fundamentals including functions such as setting up Active directory configurations

- Experienced in using Microsft Access as a back end database for small to medium sized projects

• keep it pleasant for eyes (means simple to read)
• mention each element in separate line
• use points wise structure, separate point for separate value
• keep on reviewing your profile once every week and improve what ever you feel you can
• If you are not getting success, change the  wording of your resume

Preparing Freelancer profile is only the first step, but its the vital step. And you should keep on revising it from time to time.

Ask yourself “Are you ready to Start as Freelancer?”

If the answer is Yes, then proceed this articles is for you

If the answer is No, then you need to make up your mind first, read this motivational article ‘Start Working Freelancer‘

Ok, Now its good that you are ready to start, here is your Freelancer Starter Guide.

There are lots of freelancing websites available these days. Many of them doing good business and some only trying to beat the competition, but some of the starter and popular of these are Elance.com, RentACoder.com, oDesk.com and Freelancer.com (previously known as GAF – GetAFreelancer.com) there are many others too, will list these for you with my review in another article soon. I use many of these, started with Elance.com in past when it was free many years back but later focus more on RentACoder.com and so far it is my favorite freelancing site due to its ease, usability and fairness.

All of these site works almost in similar ways. I recommend you to select only one at a time and try to build your profile there first [Its also good to join a site when it start, specially if its growing -> bringing in more buyers]. ok lets start with one here.

Lets go with RentACoder (RAC) Freelancing site first, We will do it in quick following steps to start with:

Step 1- Prepare Freelance Profile:

- Register with RentACoder RAC (or any other Freelance site) and create your profile and polish it up with your skills. Mention your skills in points and off course mention your certificates in it. Mention any online work that you have done, any achievements that you have made. I recommend to make it look professional and mention all your plus points, keep it in Verdana 10 (size2) fonts. Make specific points bold.

[added see new article on profile here: http://www.myfreelancerguide.com/preparing-freelancer-profile/ ]

Step 2- Review Projects:

- Once your profile is set, you are ready for next step, that is reviewing projects on regular basis based on your skills and bidding on these. In RAC you can do this through ‘Browse Projects’ or ‘Search Projects’ feature easily (similar on other).

Step 3- Start Bidding:

- I recommend to bid on small projects first, for which you are sure you can do it in best way. (I myself did the first RAC project for $5). But remember to review larger projects too if by any chance you find some requirements that you know you can fulfill, go for it and place bid but make your bid text make sense.

Step 4- Know when not to bid:

- There are tons of open project at RAC (and other sites), but you will not get them all or may be getting your first hit some time takes lot of time and efforts (That is also one of the reason why we are here for you).  So its important to utilize your time best while bidding and make sure you understand when to drop a project from your bidding list. Do not bid on any project that you feel you may not be able to complete for any reason, time, low motivation, low understanding of the subject or anything.

Step 5- Polish your bidding style:

- For bidding you need to adopt some styles, and practice different words, we can guide you more on this. But basic thing is that, read the bid description carefully, while reading the description or attached documents (with bids), write down questions that comes to your mind while reading and then ask these as many questions as you can (but no dumb question) in your bid to the buyer, buyer should get a feeling that you study his/her requirement seriously and willing to do it with full heart.

Step 6- Understand Buyers:

- Remember all buyers do not like long replies specially when its cluttered, so make your bid comments in points. On other hand, every buyer likes it when he see someone replying to him after reading his requirements carefully. But no one like a reply where  you explain all about yourself but it sounds like you don’t read the requirements carefully.

Step 7- Place Comments, not only bids:

- Also if you are not clear on the complete requirements or not sure of the bid price, do not place bid at-once, first send message without bid price but message should be asking to the point questions. Then based on the reply decide your actions to bid.

I believe thats it for now. We will discuss these points in more details soon, you are also welcome to Ask any Questions to your specific issue.

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Tip: Promote your Freelance Service through Article Directories by writing your domain related Articles

Latest: Here are some more tips added for Freelance Writers

Remember people who are looking for some service, will must be looking and searching for information related to that service. And if that search brings them to your article that shows some in depth knowledge of the subject, you can make an impression.

Even if you cannot write on subject you want to promote yourself, for example if you run an affiliate website (that is also a way of freelancing), you can always hire a writer to do the work for you. Getting a real quality articles written can be expensive up front, but it will pay for itself in long run, either through affiliate sales or selling your own services.

A bit about freelancing
A self-employed individual who works as a professional for different employers is considered as a ‘Freelancer’ or “Freelance Worker” provided he/she is not engaged to a specific employer on long term basis. The word ‘Freelance’ is itself conjunction of two words ‘Free’ and ‘Lance’. This refers to the fact that during medieval times, warriors (or Lancers) used to offer their services to any kinghood at their specified amount. Now the term is coined to freelance journalists, writers, editors, proof readers, graphic designers and web programmers instead of medieval mercenary warriors. Majority of Freelancers work from home and use broadband internet connection for project delivery and client’s communication.

Usually freelancing is based on verbal commitments and occasionally it requires client to sign a contract. This also depends upon the type of work or project assignment. Some freelancers can even request payments before starting work for a particular client or employer.

The amount which a freelancer can charge also varies. It is related to both skills of freelancer and type of work e.g. quality and quantity. A freelancer can charge on hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis. He/she can also charge on project basis. For lengthy projects a freelancer can take payments on milestones basis.

Sometimes freelancers can produce their own work and opt for different publishers to publish their creative work. In this case the copyrights are owned by freelancers. They can sell copyrights to publishers.

How to initiate as freelancer?

Before starting as a freelancer you may require some resources. The foremost thing is that you must be skilled in your work. This does mean that you should possess a dynamic profile and sound portfolio. Your sample work should be evolved with time and technology. There should be instances of your previous work experience both in resume and World Wide Web.

You must have some money saved in your bank. This will allow you to work for couple of months without getting paid. This is due to the fact that freelancers are sometimes paid on project’s result basis e.g. Search Engine Optimization projects. Excessive amount also comes handy if you do not have a client base which is common in beginning phase.

There should be a nice or atleast comfortable workplace of yours. Mostly freelancers work from their own homes. Your room for work should be separated from noisy sections e.g. TV lounge, Garage. The environment of your work place should be neat and clean.

You should possess necessary tools to start with. These tools can be software, hardware or communication devices. Especially your internet connection must be broadband. It will allow you to interact with clients online and also update your work in efficient manner.

You should design a business plan based on current market analysis. Distribute your business/visiting cards among former colleagues, companions and friends. You need your presence felt in competitive market. Social networking both online and offline will help you to not only identify yourself but also accumulate potential clients. Online job boards can also offer you a lot.

Be a part of social gatherings and increase interactivity with those who are successful in their own occupations. Chat with them in confident manner and do not show them any sign of desperation so that they can trust you.

Freelancing is not limited to finding a client and doing his work for money. Freelancing is beneficial only if your client is satisfied with your service. Remember a satisfied client is your permanent client. In order to satisfy a client your objective should be success and timely completion of project. And as mentioned earlier for this effective communication with client is necessary. For this stay intact with client. Be a part of thorough discussion(s) with him. Phone, e-mails and usage of Instant Messengers keeps you get connected with client.

Finally a factor which plays a key role is your self-belief. You should be sure that freelancing is right option for you. If you want to enjoy a persistent and successful career as a freelancer then always act with a professional attitude and also keep a balance on your work-health relationship.

Become your own Boss

Now I am a successfull Freelancer Guide, but when I first heard about freelancing, I thought that it is a type of job designed for students, elders and disabled persons who want to earn a little by utilizing their free time left apart from routine work. That was my wrong perception. Freelancing is not a mere self employment but a career which has lot to offer. Though we may run out of words while defining advantages of working as a freelancer but want to highlight some which are mentioned below.

The Boss will be none other than a You

It is you who will be managing yourself while working as a freelancer. You will not be eyed by anyone. No more nightmares (in which your Boss haunts you), workplace politics and office distractions. At all you are totally independent. This independence can bring innovation. This is the mental freedom which will force you to allow productive experimentations in work. So it is you who will command your own work.

Freelance Jobs saves both time and money

Working as a freelancer saves both time and expenditure. First of all you are not going anywhere because most freelance jobs requires to do work from home. So there is no need to travel and waste an hour on it. Secondly there is no need to pay public/private transportation costs and cafeteria bills. The expense on the fuel of your own transport is saved too. No more formal dressing. You can work while dressed in casual wear. This may keep you relaxed and comfortable while doing work.

Select what you want to do

A freelancer has no compulsion to do each and every thing. He will be doing what he can deliver as a best work product. It is a freelancer who will select project of his choice to work with. The work required to do in office based jobs is mostly repetitive. As a freelancer one can face variety of work to do e.g. my previous project was related to shopping portal but now I work for technology blog.

Fetch International Work

A freelancer can do assignments belonging to an employer of a different country. Working as a freelancer gives drive to do both international and quality work. Even if you are living in third world you can earn dollars, euros and other stronger currencies by working as a freelancer. We can can tell you more in our Feelancer Guide.

Earn according to your will

Some freelance jobs are based on hourly basis. The more hours a freelancer can dedicate to an employer the more he can earn and vice versa. Similarly if a freelancer may do maximum work the more he/she will earn. For instance in web content writing assignments employers used to pay per written page by a freelancer. So if he writes x number of pages then he will be paid x times specified amount per page. It is a freelancer who will decide how much to earn by deciding how much he will take to work.

No Work Load & Stress

If you are working as a freelancer then you will be taking work according to your capacity. So there will be no work load if you will be doing things in timely manner. Since there is no boss so there will be no external pressure. The only thing is to manage your work not people.

Enjoy Freelancing Flexibility

For a freelancer there is no headache of following specific time. If you are a freelancer then you will work during the timings of your choice. There is no one to hinder you from viewing sporting event or to relish meal at popular food chain. All in all a freelancer is committed to meet project deadline (if he is not working on hourly basis). In freelancing you can surf multiple websites (apart from those related to your work) in order to do online shopping, getting information without being bothered. A freelancer can also enjoy occasions and festivals with his/her family without being worried.

No Commitments & Bondage

You are committed to your work only. You are not bound to any “prior notice” type thing. You as a freelancer are free to leave your current work (after completion and payment) and opt for better opportunity without fulfilling any commitment of half/full month notice (employed in office based jobs).

These are some of the benefits (in general) of doing work as a freelancer. It is recommended that if you want to pursue a career of freelancer then go for it but with full confidence and self-belief. Here we can guide you more in our Freelancer Guide on how to achieve this freedom.