If you are a freelancer and have been burnt many a time at job boards especially when others outbid you, you are definitely not alone. I have my bids turned down and declined so many times that I almost gave up!
However, I did win some bids (and am up to my neck in projects now...though I am not exactly earning big bucks for it!) and thanks to a really good buyer who gave me a really great review rating, I am able to get noticed more often in my bids. So, how did I win those initial few bids when I do not have any reviews?
Here are the steps that I took:
1) Find out the name of the buyer : I always try to address the buyer by his/her name when submitting a proposal. For example, when I see a job I am interested in, I will first check out the profile of the buyer. If it reveals a name, I will take note of it.
2) Be polite, professional and brief: When I submit a bid, my proposal is always polite, professional and to the point. I start it by addressing the buyer and then I state out in brief, why I could provide the services required. I always end it with a thank you.
3) Pricing: There are a lot of firms / freelancers out there who could submit really low bids from $1 per article to $3 per hour of work. We could never go down to that level of pricing (or else you'd be earning peanuts for a lot of work!) so DON'T! Instead, stick to your original pricing and search out projects which have higher budgets. It is not wise to reduce your prices as it would only lower your standards. If the buyer do contact you about your pricing and asking for a lower bid amount, you could do a bit of adjustment but not much. If possible, offer the buyer a few options as in a range of pricing for certain services. Example: $5 per hour for basic data entry work, $6 per hour for data entry and basic research work, $10 per hour for research and writing of articles, etc. This way, the buyer have a choice and may even accept your bid.
4) Close the deal: Sometimes, the buyer would send a message asking you a few specific questions. Sometimes it is to test your skills, sometimes it is just to get to know you and sometimes it is just to check out your response time. So, ALWAYS check your message board/email on a regular basis, if possible, a few times a day to ensure that you did not miss any new messages. ALWAYS reply to a message immediately and again, be polite and professional about. If it is a test, do your research first before answering the questions. If it is a sort of interview, answer it as eloquently as possible and be genuine and honest. Do not claim to be able to do this or that when you can't as it will only backfire on you later. Buyers always appreciate frank, polite and professional responses to their messages. It reflects that you are serious about your work and that you are professional about it.
5) Get a good review: If you are awarded a project, congrats! But before celebrating, the crucial point is to ensure you deliver the project. Be sure to do it according to the buyer's requirements. Adhere to whatever schedule they set. Always report back to them (if they required it) and always treat them with the utmost respect and professionalism. Remember, they are your clients and you do not want to drive away your clients! Follow instructions and importantly, put your best into your projects. It may be paying you only $15 per article or $9 per hour but it is still payment for your services. Be your own worst critic and go over all your work carefully before submitting it to your client. Once you have a satisfied client, you will get a great review!
These are but a few of my own personal tips. I do hope it helps! Happy bidding out there.
Showing posts with label work at home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work at home. Show all posts
Sunday
Don't DIE for your employer
Because it would go unnoticed and largely unappreciated. Seriously.
I do not know about small companies but when it comes to large corporations, all of its employees are dispensable. Any one of them can drop off from the face of the earth and the company will just rehire a new person as replacement. No tears, no regrets, nothing. Okay, maybe a wreath at your funeral but that is about it.
The people who will miss you most, mourn for you and basically feel like crap when you are gone are your family and close friends. To them, you are indispensable and nobody could ever replace you. You could be someone's mother, sister, daughter, wife, best friend, father, brother, son, husband or soul mate. To them, you matter a lot. Your lives are intertwined and you depended on each other in all of your lives. To them, losing you is like losing a large part of their lives, leaving a void that only time could heal.
So, then. why do so many people work till late hours every day, stay fiercely loyal to their employers and practically spent more time in the office rather than at home with their loved ones?
This is one question that really beats me. It is something I find hard to understand. Admittedly, money is something everyone needs in this material world but do we really need that much?
Will working to death to buy a palatial house be worth it if you hardly have time to enjoy the house with your family? Will tonnes of money in the bank be worth it if you neglected your family and friends to the point that you have none left and you end up spending your retirement days sitting alone in a huge empty house? Will becoming the company vice president through long working hours be worth it if it means you don't get to see the birth of your first child, participate in his activities, watch him grow and finally did not even get to know your own child?
Will working to the bone for a company be worth it at all if you were to fall dead one day without going on the tour around Europe vacation you promised your family/partner or fulfilling your lifelong dream of becoming an artist or fulfilling any of your promises of 'maybe next time when I am free' to your family / friends? Would it be worth it at all to actually die after spending most of your life at work and none of it actually enjoying life with your family and friends?
Well, I think it is really not worth it at all! No money in this world could buy the simple pleasure of watching your firstborn learn his first words or the wonderful moments you spent with your loved ones or just appreciating nature with your loved ones. Nothing is more precious that your family and friends.
So, why does work always take precedence? Why do people keep saying 'I have work. Maybe tomorrow'and the tomorrow never comes?
Sure, we all have commitments, mortgages to pay, bills to settle, debts to clear. A steady income is imperative for us to survive but it does not mean we have to put 90% of our time in it.
That is why,one of my favorite saying is always: Work is just a means to an end, not an end to the means.
It is with this reasoning that I am now working hard (I know it sounds contradictory to this whole post but read on...) so that I could quit my day job and spend more time with my son at home.
I am admittedly putting more hours into my own freelance work at night, which is taking up most of my spare time, but it is with the goal of quitting my day job to stay home. I, too, have bills to pay, but I am not making work a priority in my life. My priority is my family. And perhaps spiritual development. I intend to quit my day job soon and this would mean more time to my family and less time at the office.
So, to all the workaholics out there, do stop and think about the time you spent at the office. Is it worth it in the end? The best way to think if it is worth it, imagine you were told you have only two more hours to live. What were your first few regrets about things you don't get to do? I can bet that it is not about the report that was supposed to be due tomorrow!
Life is fragile. We all know we will die one day so make wise decisions now so that you will not regret it later. Go out and Dream, Discover and Explore!
I do not know about small companies but when it comes to large corporations, all of its employees are dispensable. Any one of them can drop off from the face of the earth and the company will just rehire a new person as replacement. No tears, no regrets, nothing. Okay, maybe a wreath at your funeral but that is about it.
The people who will miss you most, mourn for you and basically feel like crap when you are gone are your family and close friends. To them, you are indispensable and nobody could ever replace you. You could be someone's mother, sister, daughter, wife, best friend, father, brother, son, husband or soul mate. To them, you matter a lot. Your lives are intertwined and you depended on each other in all of your lives. To them, losing you is like losing a large part of their lives, leaving a void that only time could heal.
So, then. why do so many people work till late hours every day, stay fiercely loyal to their employers and practically spent more time in the office rather than at home with their loved ones?
This is one question that really beats me. It is something I find hard to understand. Admittedly, money is something everyone needs in this material world but do we really need that much?
Will working to death to buy a palatial house be worth it if you hardly have time to enjoy the house with your family? Will tonnes of money in the bank be worth it if you neglected your family and friends to the point that you have none left and you end up spending your retirement days sitting alone in a huge empty house? Will becoming the company vice president through long working hours be worth it if it means you don't get to see the birth of your first child, participate in his activities, watch him grow and finally did not even get to know your own child?
Will working to the bone for a company be worth it at all if you were to fall dead one day without going on the tour around Europe vacation you promised your family/partner or fulfilling your lifelong dream of becoming an artist or fulfilling any of your promises of 'maybe next time when I am free' to your family / friends? Would it be worth it at all to actually die after spending most of your life at work and none of it actually enjoying life with your family and friends?
Well, I think it is really not worth it at all! No money in this world could buy the simple pleasure of watching your firstborn learn his first words or the wonderful moments you spent with your loved ones or just appreciating nature with your loved ones. Nothing is more precious that your family and friends.
So, why does work always take precedence? Why do people keep saying 'I have work. Maybe tomorrow'and the tomorrow never comes?
Sure, we all have commitments, mortgages to pay, bills to settle, debts to clear. A steady income is imperative for us to survive but it does not mean we have to put 90% of our time in it.
That is why,one of my favorite saying is always: Work is just a means to an end, not an end to the means.
It is with this reasoning that I am now working hard (I know it sounds contradictory to this whole post but read on...) so that I could quit my day job and spend more time with my son at home.
I am admittedly putting more hours into my own freelance work at night, which is taking up most of my spare time, but it is with the goal of quitting my day job to stay home. I, too, have bills to pay, but I am not making work a priority in my life. My priority is my family. And perhaps spiritual development. I intend to quit my day job soon and this would mean more time to my family and less time at the office.
So, to all the workaholics out there, do stop and think about the time you spent at the office. Is it worth it in the end? The best way to think if it is worth it, imagine you were told you have only two more hours to live. What were your first few regrets about things you don't get to do? I can bet that it is not about the report that was supposed to be due tomorrow!
Life is fragile. We all know we will die one day so make wise decisions now so that you will not regret it later. Go out and Dream, Discover and Explore!
Tuesday
Creating a website
Nowadays I really have my days brimming with work, work, work and more work. Every single minute of my free time is relegated to work. No, it's not only my day job but also my freelance work and now, my website.
I realized that concentrating on only one source of income, albeit freelancing, will not work in the long run as I may not be able to get projects all the time so I need something to generate income. After reading through countless internet guru's advices and sites, I arrived to the conclusion that having my own website may just help me to earn some stable income. No, this is not another get rich quick scheme. More like an online business scheme.
That is why I have been neglecting this blog and not reading other blogs. I have been too busy completing my freelance projects and creating my own website and researching for the content. It is no simple task and definitely not a get rich quick scheme as I've been at it for almost two weeks now and though I am not earning anything yet (because the website is yet to be completed) I am more than convinced that it may work after all.
I have chosen to start a website through Site Build It! which I feel is the right choice as there was a complete set of guides and instructions and support for me to learn the basics and know-how of creating a great website, generating traffic and ultimately earning income via adsense, affiliate programs or even sale of actual products or services. It is thanks to Site Build It! that I learned the basics of SEO and keywords.
Unfortunately, my days are already so full that finding time for my website is difficult and it is because of this that it is still a work in progress. So far, I only have four pages up and a million more to go...uhhh..well, okay, not exactly a million but it seemed like it due to the shortage of time!
I am not aiming to earn my first million within six months or anything from the website but more of using it to unload my fascination and long-term affair with chocolates (In future, I will be blogging there about chocolates since the site is all about chocolates!). Whilst indulging in my favorite pastime of placing chocolate on a pedestal, it doesn't hurt to earn some income from it, right?
Anyway, to cut a long story short (since I should not be writing this now when I have a gadzillion other things to do), I find that there are many legitimate options to earn money on the net either through freelancing or our own websites. We just have to learn to weed out the fakes from the real diamonds.
I realized that concentrating on only one source of income, albeit freelancing, will not work in the long run as I may not be able to get projects all the time so I need something to generate income. After reading through countless internet guru's advices and sites, I arrived to the conclusion that having my own website may just help me to earn some stable income. No, this is not another get rich quick scheme. More like an online business scheme.
That is why I have been neglecting this blog and not reading other blogs. I have been too busy completing my freelance projects and creating my own website and researching for the content. It is no simple task and definitely not a get rich quick scheme as I've been at it for almost two weeks now and though I am not earning anything yet (because the website is yet to be completed) I am more than convinced that it may work after all.
I have chosen to start a website through Site Build It! which I feel is the right choice as there was a complete set of guides and instructions and support for me to learn the basics and know-how of creating a great website, generating traffic and ultimately earning income via adsense, affiliate programs or even sale of actual products or services. It is thanks to Site Build It! that I learned the basics of SEO and keywords.
Unfortunately, my days are already so full that finding time for my website is difficult and it is because of this that it is still a work in progress. So far, I only have four pages up and a million more to go...uhhh..well, okay, not exactly a million but it seemed like it due to the shortage of time!
I am not aiming to earn my first million within six months or anything from the website but more of using it to unload my fascination and long-term affair with chocolates (In future, I will be blogging there about chocolates since the site is all about chocolates!). Whilst indulging in my favorite pastime of placing chocolate on a pedestal, it doesn't hurt to earn some income from it, right?
Anyway, to cut a long story short (since I should not be writing this now when I have a gadzillion other things to do), I find that there are many legitimate options to earn money on the net either through freelancing or our own websites. We just have to learn to weed out the fakes from the real diamonds.
Saturday
Job boards and bidding
It is not easy to bid and win projects in job boards, free or otherwise.
This I have discovered in this past month. In the free job boards, it is even worse as competition is stiff and more often than not, some bidders' rates are so low it is hard to compete with them.
In paid job boards, competition is equally stiff but not as bad and there are also bidders whose rates are so low, you wonder how they could actually make a living with those rates.
Another thing I found out is that it is very difficult for new freelancers like me as we do not have any positive feedback from other employers yet. Many of the employers preferred those who have positive feedback and of course, also the lowest rate.
With this conditions, it is very difficult to break into the market. I noticed many new freelancers lowered their rates in order to win some projects so that they could get feedbacks at last and perhaps, be able to get more customers in future.
I have contemplated that but I could not bring myself to it. I am of the opinion that I should not lower my rates just to get a project when the amount of time and energy put into it cost more than the quoted rate. It does not make good business sense.
In situations like this, it reminds me of a very wise advise from the shoe fashion guru, Jimmy Choo, whom I interviewed a few years back.
"We must always set a standard and pricing for our masterpieces and never lower it no matter how much you needed the money."
The reason is simple, he had said that if the price was lowered, you lose your integrity and customers will expect you to lower it again in future. It would be very difficult to bring the price back up without losing customers.
Not surprisingly, Jimmy Choo was practically broke trying to sell his handmade shoes in the beginning because he placed a very high price for his shoes and were not getting any customers. He only had his big break when his shoes were showcased in a women's magazine and the rest is history.
Despite being world-renowned for his beautifully crafted shoes, Jimmy Choo remembered his poor background and remained a humble, nice and polite man. Even now, he is very friendly and courteous to everyone he meets.
But I digress. To get back to the point of bidding and rates, I decided to follow Jimmy Choo's advise. Considering where he is now in the fashion industry, I am sure he is not wrong about setting a standard for our work and never lowering it just because we needed the money.
So, I shall steadfastly stick to my usual rates and continue bidding till I get my break!
This I have discovered in this past month. In the free job boards, it is even worse as competition is stiff and more often than not, some bidders' rates are so low it is hard to compete with them.
In paid job boards, competition is equally stiff but not as bad and there are also bidders whose rates are so low, you wonder how they could actually make a living with those rates.
Another thing I found out is that it is very difficult for new freelancers like me as we do not have any positive feedback from other employers yet. Many of the employers preferred those who have positive feedback and of course, also the lowest rate.
With this conditions, it is very difficult to break into the market. I noticed many new freelancers lowered their rates in order to win some projects so that they could get feedbacks at last and perhaps, be able to get more customers in future.
I have contemplated that but I could not bring myself to it. I am of the opinion that I should not lower my rates just to get a project when the amount of time and energy put into it cost more than the quoted rate. It does not make good business sense.
In situations like this, it reminds me of a very wise advise from the shoe fashion guru, Jimmy Choo, whom I interviewed a few years back.
"We must always set a standard and pricing for our masterpieces and never lower it no matter how much you needed the money."
The reason is simple, he had said that if the price was lowered, you lose your integrity and customers will expect you to lower it again in future. It would be very difficult to bring the price back up without losing customers.
Not surprisingly, Jimmy Choo was practically broke trying to sell his handmade shoes in the beginning because he placed a very high price for his shoes and were not getting any customers. He only had his big break when his shoes were showcased in a women's magazine and the rest is history.
Despite being world-renowned for his beautifully crafted shoes, Jimmy Choo remembered his poor background and remained a humble, nice and polite man. Even now, he is very friendly and courteous to everyone he meets.
But I digress. To get back to the point of bidding and rates, I decided to follow Jimmy Choo's advise. Considering where he is now in the fashion industry, I am sure he is not wrong about setting a standard for our work and never lowering it just because we needed the money.
So, I shall steadfastly stick to my usual rates and continue bidding till I get my break!
Wednesday
Blogging for money through PPP
I discovered another great way to make money online and though it may not be much but it is good enough to generate a little income.
I am talking about PayPerPost. It is a marketplace where bloggers or posties are paid to write about a product or service by an advertiser in their blogs.
It is in fact a win-win situation for advertisers and bloggers. Advertisers will get the exposure needed for their business while bloggers get paid doing what they do best, blog!
I actually joined PPP quite a while back but my blog was not approved as my blog did not meet the minimum blog entries requirements. I signed up to try it out because I read about it in another blog and thought, hey, why not. It is free to sign-up and I have nothing to lose.
Though I have yet to earn anything from it yet considering my blog was only recently approved, I am sure, if I check out the PPP marketplace and blog more often, I may earn some side income.
It may not amount to much but a few extra bucks is better than nothing, huh? Hopefully, it would pay for, at the very least, lunch and dinner. Of course, if I am able to earn more than lunch money, it would be great way for me to save up enough savings to quit my job and fully immerse myself into working from home.
An example of how it works is this very post. I am actually paid to write about PPP. Isn't it wonderful? All I need to do to get some side income is to blog!
If you want to earn some side income (there is no promises of earning millions here!!), go on over to PPP and check it out by clicking blog reviews.
I am talking about PayPerPost. It is a marketplace where bloggers or posties are paid to write about a product or service by an advertiser in their blogs.
It is in fact a win-win situation for advertisers and bloggers. Advertisers will get the exposure needed for their business while bloggers get paid doing what they do best, blog!
I actually joined PPP quite a while back but my blog was not approved as my blog did not meet the minimum blog entries requirements. I signed up to try it out because I read about it in another blog and thought, hey, why not. It is free to sign-up and I have nothing to lose.
Though I have yet to earn anything from it yet considering my blog was only recently approved, I am sure, if I check out the PPP marketplace and blog more often, I may earn some side income.
It may not amount to much but a few extra bucks is better than nothing, huh? Hopefully, it would pay for, at the very least, lunch and dinner. Of course, if I am able to earn more than lunch money, it would be great way for me to save up enough savings to quit my job and fully immerse myself into working from home.
An example of how it works is this very post. I am actually paid to write about PPP. Isn't it wonderful? All I need to do to get some side income is to blog!
If you want to earn some side income (there is no promises of earning millions here!!), go on over to PPP and check it out by clicking blog reviews.
Thursday
Thursday Thirteen The Tenth!
The past few weeks, I have been browsing through hundreds (if not thousands) of sites to do research on work at home opportunities. After clicking on one too many ads proclaiming that it is a 'legitimate' work at home opportunity, I have learned a lot about online scams. So I have come up with a list of the top 13 lines these scam sites liked to use to draw unsuspecting people in.
1) 'Make $200 - $3000 and more per day!' - we all know it is never that easy to make so much money.
2) 'Simple online surveys. $ 5 - $75 each or more' - online surveys are not all that profitable.
3) 'Part-time work, $150 an hour' - again, if it is that easy to make that kind of money, there would be a lot of millionaires in this world.
4) 'This is not a scam but a legitimate work at home business' - if it is really legitimate why announce it and insist that it is not really a scam?
5) 'Start making money in just 15 minutes' - Might as well go buy a lottery ticket if you have money to throw away.
6) 'Not earning money with clickbank? We will pay you more' - and we will cheat you of your hard-earned money so that we can become rich! (between the lines)
7) 'Steps to making millions in a short time' - such as coming up with scam-sites like ours...(between the lines)
8) 'Top ten secrets to making money online' - this is often offered free and once you click on that link, they will offer you some information which can easily be found with proper research online and lure you into purchasing some other e-book with similar sounding and tempting names such as 'Make a million dollars now', etc.
9) 'Earning money easily online, increase your profits' - and give us your money so that we will earn the easy money. (between the lines)
10) 'Fire your boss and earn immediate income' - don't do it because you may never see the promised 'immediate' income.
11) 'Double and triple your investments in days' - need I say more?
12) 'Make money just by reading emails' - HAH! A good one. Paid emails are not all it's made out to be and yes, you may get a few bucks or so but that's it. No millions rolling into your account just because you read some measly emails.
13) 'Free money making website' - nothing is free in this world. EVERYTHING comes with a cost so wise up.
So there it is. There are thousands of variations to the lines I mentioned and I could not possibly mention all of it. Even the lines I mentioned are not exact words from any scam sites, just the gist of the lines used by scam sites. So do be careful when in search of the pot of gold under the rainbow. It is better to wake up and remember that there is no pot of gold no matter what you were told.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Wednesday
Freelance jobs abound!
Wow, I recently found a very interesting entry in another blog (MakeScratch.com) . It is very informative and helpful for freelance writers who are mainly dependent on online job boards where freelancers have to bid for jobs and sometimes not get any at all.
I have always used Google for most of my research work and it never did cross my mind that I could easily use it to find freelance jobs. Just by using the correct search phrase. Thanks to Justin of MakeScratch, I now know better!
I have always used Google for most of my research work and it never did cross my mind that I could easily use it to find freelance jobs. Just by using the correct search phrase. Thanks to Justin of MakeScratch, I now know better!
Tuesday
MIA
It looks like I have neglected my blog for more than a week now... It is really amazing how time flies and how 24 hours is never enough!
I have been contemplating quitting my job and becoming a SAHM for quite a while now. Actually, it was the original plan for me to quit my job after delivering LR but somehow we have to shelve the idea, what with increasing costs of living and stacks of bills to settle.
Even as we postpone the plan of having a second child, I am now busily looking for avenues where I can be a work at home mom. Boy, it was not easy to sift through the amount of overload I get on the net.
In fact, even now, I am still sifting through all the get-rich-quick schemes which will not amount to anything but heartache and the 'work at home and earn thousands' scheme which are mostly not true. The few bona fide internet income I found to be reliable does not pay that much and I would need at least $200 weekly to be able to quit my job and not have to worry about tonnes of unsettled bills.
All this is while I try to complete my mss which is still stuck at where I left it months ago. Seriously, I need to get things going but it is giving me a massive road block at every turn.
Back to the work at home option, I just wish there is a watchdog somewhere that monitor all those so-called organisations offering work at home solutions and boasting of paying out thousands to weed out the genuine ones from the ones out to cheat unsuspecting people like me.
I am sure there must be some, just that I have not found them.
So, now excuse me while I continue my search for options to enable me to spend more time with LR instead of having to send him off to the babysitter's every day.
I have been contemplating quitting my job and becoming a SAHM for quite a while now. Actually, it was the original plan for me to quit my job after delivering LR but somehow we have to shelve the idea, what with increasing costs of living and stacks of bills to settle.
Even as we postpone the plan of having a second child, I am now busily looking for avenues where I can be a work at home mom. Boy, it was not easy to sift through the amount of overload I get on the net.
In fact, even now, I am still sifting through all the get-rich-quick schemes which will not amount to anything but heartache and the 'work at home and earn thousands' scheme which are mostly not true. The few bona fide internet income I found to be reliable does not pay that much and I would need at least $200 weekly to be able to quit my job and not have to worry about tonnes of unsettled bills.
All this is while I try to complete my mss which is still stuck at where I left it months ago. Seriously, I need to get things going but it is giving me a massive road block at every turn.
Back to the work at home option, I just wish there is a watchdog somewhere that monitor all those so-called organisations offering work at home solutions and boasting of paying out thousands to weed out the genuine ones from the ones out to cheat unsuspecting people like me.
I am sure there must be some, just that I have not found them.
So, now excuse me while I continue my search for options to enable me to spend more time with LR instead of having to send him off to the babysitter's every day.
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