Networking is the bread and butter of a freelance career. Because competition is so fierce, landing consistent gigs isn’t just about talent. It relies heavily on who you know, and how connected you are.

Social media can expand your freelance network exponentially and yield opportunities that you’d never find elsewhere. But just like pounding the physical pavement, it takes investment, hard work, and time.

We spoke to some freelancers in a variety of fields who find that channeling efforts into social media can really pay dividends. Here are some examples of their success.

- Connect Your Networks to Your Work

- Social Networks as a Resource

- Share What You’re Currently Working On

- Build Credibility in Public

Read complete article here: Freelancers and Social Media

Hi,

Just found this interesting blog on Tax Returns for freelancers, so decided to share with you all.

If, like me, you’re a freelancer who does their own tax return (rather than hiring an accountant), then this tip may come in handy. It’s really rather simple . . . do your tax return as early in the year as you can!

Read it complete here: Freelancing Tips: Top Tax Return Tip

When you entered in your professional life and start doing some kind of job to earn some money. You daily wake up early morning and get ready to go out for job or some kind of business. After working continuous eight hour you come back home eat food and again go to your bed to sleep. Next day you revise these entire thing again, even you just spend all of your professional life on this boring routine.

At some summit of your professional life, when you get up early morning due to the loud and frustrating sound of your alarm clock. You wish that, when that day will come? When I just switch off this annoying alarm clock and instead of getting up and get ready for my job I again get back to my bed for my sweet dreams. But you just dream about that.

Everybody in the world gets up early morning and get ready for their jobs. But there are some highly classified people who don’t bother to get up early morning; they just wake up when they want. There are people who work 8 hours continuously and earn such amount of money through which they fulfill their needs.

But there is another option using skills and dedication, you can earn cash which is no doubt more then your daily 9-5 hour job. This option is called “Freelancing”. This is the easiest and also trouble-free option against your full time office job.

So if you want to become a good freelancer and wish to see your dreams come true just apply these 10 tips in your professional career. After becoming a good freelancer I am sure that you will see the difference between your daily work routine and your freelancer career. These 11 tips surely make you a good and fine free freelancer and help you grow in this field.

Tip 1) Responsibility of Work:

First you should be very careful and responsible towards your work. As a freelancer, you have to work so hard to find and get you first work. Because it’s up to you how you put your efforts on getting contracts and work. You have to walk towards your work; your work will never come toward you.

Tip 2) Work Dedication:

While working as a freelancer you know that you are working for yourself. Because of your talent the people will hire you, but it is your dedication for which they will keep on working with you.

Tip 3) Collect knowledge About Your Contracts:

You should clearly know about your contracts that what your clients want and what you are providing them. Spend good amount of initial time to understand their exact needs and propose them multiple solutions whee applicable.

Tip 4) Complete Your Work On Time:

Responsibility is the main key to become a good professional. As a freelancer you should be very responsible towards your work. First priority is to submit your work on time. Remember to convey any delays early to the client, and even if you can not avoid missing the deadline, do provide a milestone delivery on deadline. But normaly missing a deadline means missing the contract and earning bad reputation.

Tip 5) Start Your Work At Small Sector:

When you are starting your freelancing career first get you work from your local areas. Because when you start your work at small sector your base will become stronger. After when you get some experience try to use your talent at international market. This will surely helpful for you.

Tip 6) Join Freelancing Websites:

If you want to try a quick option, there are different online freelancing websites available. Most of the freelancers are getting jobs through these websites. And most of them are free or have minimum fee, that is worth paying off.

Tip 7) Try To Work For A Niche:

Most of the freelancers are becoming successful because they do one thing right; they used to work for a specific niche. Whether, they are working for medical, for magazines, for software house or different specific groups or niche. Selecting one niche and becoming master in that is more beneficial then  floating in different directions.

Tip Create Your Own Website:

First of all create your own particular website. On which you show all of your contact number and different useful information for your clients and customers. Remember you showcase your profile of completed jobs.

Tip 9) Make Different Offers to Your Clients:

Try to make different offers and bonuses with your work, like give some discounts, offer some free designs or free services. By doing this the customer will attract towards you and give you more work. And as you know more you work more you earn.

Tip 10) Always send formal Invoice to Your Customers:

Always try to send formal invoice to your clients. It will create a good impression on our customers and also helps you to manage your accounts.

Tip 11) Always End With a Happy Note:

When you complete your work and send it to your customer please attach a happy note at the end of your work. No matter how hard time the customer has given you during the project.

So, its time to wakeup and fulfill your dreams. Just go out and start with an attitude to prove that, You are the Best.

This is the question, I heard from almost all new freelancer starters.

On sites lik rentacoder.com freelancer.com oDesk.com and others you will find too many registered coders and freelancers that have not won any single project, despite  that they are bidding on too many. Most of these don’t have low skills or low passion or low luck. Basically they all lack in understanding how to make a bid that can effect buyer decision.

When I started, I also face difficulty in winning my first project, off course you can’t beat experience and too many bidders with good ratings, but this is not the case all the time. With too many projects online high rated bidders not always bid on all projects, but on selected ones and when they have time.

I know this as I am among top rankers, but I made my way to this, its very easy to win a bid now but it was not always. And nowadays I am not a big competition for others as now I rarely got chance to bid on any freelance project, because I have built too many good relationships over the years that I don’t have to bid for work anymore.

Let me share some key points with you on how to win your first bid.

• Select bid wisely: Do not try to go for the big shot first time. Remembe the people who is going to pay more like to have more guarantees from coders, including a past track record. So do not waste your time in start on  big projects, you will have your time to go for those too in future.

• A bid with low cost does not always mean you have to do less work, normally low bids are those that have lower budgets from client and many times I see a low bid project later on turn into a big budget project in later phases or when buyer realize the efforst I am putting into it.

• Do every bid with full heart, even if its paying you very low. My first bid that I won was of $5, but this is where it all started and later I won bids in multiple thousands too.

• Be polite and natural in your bid message. No buyer like an automated style bid message. Then make them feel less important. As a personal and natural message looks more like it is written only for them.

• Do not write lengthy paragraph, its hard to read. Break your bid message in multiple short line messages or better if in points wise fashion, as that is easy to read for most buyers.

• Read the bid requirements and any attachment carefully. When you read it carefully it will give its results in your bid message without any effort.

• Ask sensible questions about project in your bid message. Do not ask too many general questions, but more questions related to the requirements, this the best way to make buyer realize that you read his requirements carefully and serious about doing the project. Also proves your knowledge on the domain, so make sure to ask sensible questions.

• In small budgeted projects, its recommended to place the bid amount with your bid message. [Not always true for big projects, but applicable for your first low budget project]

• Know when NOT to bid, avoid reading all the project requirements, save your time and focus only on the projects relevant to you and low budgeted so that you have less competition there.

• Learn from your failures: [This is my Key] When ever you lose a bid do not loose the lesson on why you lose it. Read the message of the winning bidder (some site hide this) also review the profile of the winning bidder and compare with yours. Adopt any style you like [but no fake or copy paste, be original].

• Keep revising and updating your profile from time to time. I use to review it daily till I won my first bid.

• If you are not winning any bid for long time, then revise your bid message style. Try some new words that you see in most winning bids. Learn your way up.

• Do not ask any sympathy from client, I see this many times that new bidders post a message telling buyer how needy they are. Remember buyers are there to get there work done. So show them professionalism.

• Also never get irritated with any message from buyer, be polite and sensible in your replies, if you don’t like a message from buyer then do not reply to him at once, take your time and give him a well thought reply in professional manner. With patience I have turn many angry clients to my regular happy buyers.

• Do not lose heart, keep on trying and remember “slow but steady still wins the race”.

I believe this helps you improving more on your freelancer track. You are welcome to ask more freelancer questions here