Freelancer\u00a0 has been around for quite awhile and I know several people who make a good living at it. What kind of a living? $3000 or more a month. That’s why I wrote this review. To help you get started with Freelancer. I can’t guarantee that you’ll make $3,000 a month, but this guide will get you started.<\/p>\n
This is largely a bidding site. I\u2019m normally opposed to bidding sites because I feel it diminishes writers and it tends to be almost a worthless effort when bids come in from non-western writers. Freelancer.com does take steps to minimize the impact and even the ability of these writers to bid on the same jobs that you will be interested in so lets get started and examine the site.<\/p>\n
Hop over to Freelancer.com and sign up. After signing up you will need to create a profile. It\u2019s more than just a standard profile including a photo, name and address. You will also see some blank boxes. These boxes will eventually contain information to let other potential clients assess your completion rate, on time rate, on budget rate and how often the same client has rehired you. There is also a section for feedback.<\/p>\n
You are signing up for a free account. There is an upgrade option but look around the site first and take it for a test drive or two. Get a feel for it, the community of freelancers and how the site works before you make any decisions about upgrading.<\/p>\n
The profile system here is somewhat unusual but it\u2019s actually fun. The site uses points and levels to get you to complete your profile. The more of your profile that you complete, the higher your level, the more likely you are to see the posts of the higher value projects and the more likely you are to be hired. It has almost a game atmosphere.<\/p>\n
There is plenty of space to include samples in the portfolio area as well as a nice resume setup. You just copy and past your information into the blocks or write it directly. It\u2019s simple to use and doesn\u2019t take long. For every section you fill out there will be \u2018points\u2019 and a percentage added to your account. These points add up to increase your level making you eligible for the better assignments.<\/p>\n
The next area is the one most people leave until last and that is the one marked \u2018exams.\u2019 This is both the plus to this bidding site as well as it\u2019s negative. There are exams for English proficiency. This removes the non-English speakers from the bidding list. Successfully completing this exam gives you an 85% better chance of getting hired by English speaking clients over those who don\u2019t take the exam. The negative is that you have to pay to take the exam. As of this writing the cost is $5. Passing this exam also opens up thousands of jobs that would not be visible otherwise. Many clients who only want to get offers from native English writers will click the box that only allows those who pass the exam to bid on their projects.<\/p>\n
Freelancer.com is not just a writing site. If there were any doubts to that the exam section will quickly clear it up. If you are a writer that also has technical expertise in computer and technical areas, you can also take those exams. Once certified you will be able to bid on those jobs as well.<\/p>\n
This is probably one of the most basic Dashboards in the business. The reason is that Freelancer.com splits up their Dashboards into two segments. The main Dashboard shows only the projects in progress, how much money is in your account and how many bids you have left for the month. The higher your level, the more bids you can place. You can also upgrade your account from the free status for more bids per month.<\/p>\n
Your Dashboard has several tabs on it so navigating to the other sections is simple and easy. Most of these are informational so you can keep up with site news.
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This is important because Freelancer assumes that you are going to be on their site a lot. You will want to go into the settings area of your profile and set up your email notifications. This will ensure that any projects you are awarded are emailed to you immediately. You can also view everything directly from the Freelancer.com inbox.<\/p>\n
This is unique. All other sites integrate finances into the main Dashboard. This is neither good or bad, it\u2019s just different. From the Financial Dashboard you can transfer funds, verify payment sources and handle all of your finances. What you are most interested in is how you get paid. Well, that is largely up to you. You can withdraw to Paypal, Skrill, direct deposit to your bank account or, my personal favorite, to a pre-paid Visa via Payoneer. This final method is the quickest and easiest way. You have Freelancer send you a pre-paid debit visa card and when it\u2019s time to get paid you withdraw the money to the card. It\u2019s instant payment. All of the other methods can take between 1-5 business days. Regular readers will note that Guru also has this as a payment option.<\/p>\n
At the top of your screen you will see a tab to browse projects. Click on that and take a deep breath! You are going to land on a page with thousands of links. It\u2019s okay, just scroll down until you see the red highlights. These are the project categories matching the skills you put on your portfolio. They should be within the writing category. You can also see what other writing jobs are available.<\/p>\n
Click on one of your highlighted links and look over the projects. When you find one you like you will see the description of the project, the budget and the average bid price. How you handle the bidding is up to you but consider bidding low for a project or two just to begin building a reputation. Once you have established yourself then you can bid your normal rate and clients will pay it. If the bid is accepted then you have your first project.<\/p>\n
Bidding sites largely have earned their poor reputation in the freelance world. I\u2019ve seen cases where the bid was $25 for 500 articles of 800 words each. This doesn\u2019t happen on Freelancer.com because of the controls they have in place. This may be one of the only decent bidding sites left. It makes sense when you consider that Freelancer.com is also the largest single website devoted to freelancers of every industry.
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By now you have noticed that in the lower right side of your screen there are occasionally pop up ads. These are projects that meet your listed skills and are being brought to your attention. Anytime you are logged into the site it is scanning for projects that suit you. It\u2019s a nice touch. If it bothers you then you can disable it from the settings menu.<\/p>\n
This is an upload site. After winning a bid you write and upload the file to the system. There is no editing here other than when a client requests a change. You will have to self-edit and handle making any changes yourself. Once the client approves the submission you are paid. Freelancer.com of course takes their percentage. Freelancer.com holds your payment in escrow until completion of the project. When your client is satisfied the money is released to you.<\/p>\n
Your free account doesn\u2019t enable you to participate in all that Freelancer.com has to offer. There are reward programs, perks and contests that are not open to those using the free account. The free account is also limited to 10 bids per month.<\/p>\n
If you wish to upgrade you have several options and each option gives you greater availability to bids and perks. I would never suggest to anyone that they upgrade their account nor would I suggest that they don\u2019t. What I would suggest is that if you are considering it then you might want to so with a smaller or even the free trial of the basic account before committing to the premium. This holds true for any site. You may find that the site doesn\u2019t meet your needs or mesh with you. That\u2019s fine but it\u2019s better to find that out before you hand over the money. I suggest trying the free account or the basic. If you like the site and how it works then you can consider further upgrades in the future.<\/p>\n
Invariably there are going to be disputes. Freelancer.com works very hard to resolve them in a way that makes everyone happy. The best course of action however is to do everything you can to avoid an issue escalating to that level. If there are changes or additions that a client wants, try and accommodate them as best you can. It saves time in the long run. If you have a difficult client you will remember them and be less likely to accept projects from them in the future.<\/p>\n
Happy Writing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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