Written by Avery Russell Gross

Elance is an exceptional platform for writers. The thrill of waking up in the morning, checking email to find your proposal has been accepted is truly exhilarating. As you build your online reputation and book of business, you’ll meet some interesting people along the way, and perhaps get to know them even better through SKYPE or email. Sounds good so far, but herein lies the real problem, which I’ll cover a few paragraphs down.

This document, will enable you to gain valuable insight on what to avoid as you turn to this modality to build your business.

How do I know this? Well, it seems, almost everything of value I’ve learned in my two plus decades of creating content on behalf of others has been acquired by reviewing the mistakes I’ve made along the way. Have I made mistakes with Elance? You bet.

Elance is a numbers game. The more projects you bid, the greater chance of success. That’s an easy one. How you bid is not so straight forward. The Elance proposition seems simple; you provide a service, and through technology you’re paired with others who need what you do. Point to consider: as Service Providers (you) differ from person to person, so do Elance Buyers.

So, the first order of business in scoping out the landscape is to consider whom you are going to submit a proposal to, and who you may want to pass by. This is subjective, but the concept bears review.

• Not every Buyer has the same motivations so you need to try to figure out their basis of decision.
• Some are shopping on price, and either aren’t concerned with quality, or they want both and expect a lot for they’re willing to pay.
• Others don’t really know the value of your time, or the extent of effort that you’ll have to expend in order to meet their requirements
• Alternatively, they do know what’s involved but due to the broad range of Service Providers available, somehow they know, somewhere, somehow, someone who is desperate for work, or willing to work for substandard wages is going to seek to earn their business.

So, take the time to read the assignment outline. Try to figure out what they want; cheap, fast or good. Take any two, they can’t have all three. Point made?

As a practical matter, in the beginning stages of your Elance relationship, it’s probably a good idea to bid less than what you’re used to charging, just to build a good reputation and a solid book of business. Do great work, ask for honest feedback and work hard to maintain your five star rating. This helps in the long run.

The second area of scrutiny is to determine how much business the Buyer has done on Elance. I don’t respond to proposals where the Buyer has no track record of purchases. I may be leaving some low hanging fruit on the ground, but my “connects” cost money, and I don’t want to waste my time or resources on someone who is only kicking the tires.

At the risk of sounding negative, the purpose of this report is to keep you out of harm’s way, let me be very clear, for the most part, my Elance projects have been great, most people are decent, respectful of my time and the contributions and adjustments I’ve made whether modifying my pricing to meet their budget requirements or staying up all night to meet their deadlines. Others aren’t.

Your next stop on the proposal journey is at the “Client Info” link located at the top left hand side of the project description. This link will let you know how much the client has purchased in the past, their percentage of job awards, etc. Use your judgment, do you want to spend time writing a proposal for a potential client who only pulls the trigger on 20% of the jobs they post on Elance? I don’t.

I’m going to paint with a broad brush right now, but, generally speaking, the internet business model is point, click and ship. The successful outcome of an Elance assignment begins with the client’s clear, and I mean very clear, description of what they want, what they want to pay and the specific deliverable they want and when they want it. The more precise, the better. Vague projects if you’re selected to do the job, become nightmares and seem to last forever. Know exactly what’s expected right from the start. If you have concerns voice them upfront.

Hourly versus fixed price is also a component of the Elance dance. If you accept an hourly assignment, without fail, use the Elance tracker software, so your efforts are documented in the Elance workroom. If you enter in agreement to provide your services under a fixed price job, make sure the assignment is covered under the Elance escrow protection and without fail, build milestones into the project, so you are compensated along the way for work. I’ve found, clients have a better respect for my accomplishments when they have “skin in the game” and have parted with funds at predetermined intervals.  If the entire project amount is left to the end of the project, you run the risk of it being cancelled, or the client continuing to require additional work that wasn’t part of the original deal.

At the time of the writing of this article, I am having this very issue with two clients. I am not sure of the specifics involved if a client cancels a project but the Customer Service people at Elance are very accommodating if you call in with questions.

Once you’re awarded a project, and it’s time to go to work, understand there is a very big difference in the relationship you have with face to face, flesh and blood clients and those you work for on Elance. I’d stand on my head to make this point if you want me to, but I can’t stress enough, there is a difference, it’s subtle but can have a huge impact. So what do I mean?

Deliver exactly what a client asks for, even if during the course of the engagement you realize there may be a better way, or you have ideas on how the scope of their project can differ.

This is of course done in the real word under the consultative sales model, but that’s NOT what Elance is all about. This is where I’ve made the mistake of taking on a larger role than what was asked of me, resulting in disappointing results. Remember, agree on a clear scope of work, stick to it, if it changes along the way, have the client UPDATE the scope of the assignment.

As your assignment progresses, ONLY work through the Elance workroom. Many clients have a tendency to want to communicate via email, SKYPE or telephone, but these communications are not documented in the Elance workroom, and, may, in fact, violate the terms of the Elance user agreement and may not protect you if there is an issue regarding payment. The Elance workroom provides a timeline and has everything you need to post files, comments and messages. Keep all communication with Elance clients on the platform.

Now that you’re clear of the landmines, realize the time it’s taken you to read this document has been well invested and will serve you for a long time to come. The Elance platform is just portion of my marketing mix; I’m earning money and I’m enjoying the wide range of projects that have come my way.

In the long term, know not everyone will be happy with your work, and that comes with the territory. It is important, however, to achieve great customer feedback and high ratings. Elance client relationships are different, however, at the end of the day; they are still clients. They deserve your full attention.

Thanks for reading, and now I’m off the Elance to look for work. Car payment is due in one week.