Having a hard time getting that first job on Elance, Vworker, or Odesk? Clients won’t trust you until you’ve built up a job history. You know that once you’ve passed this barrier, it will be much easier for you to get your next client, and then you’ll really start building your business. So how do you do it? Keep on reading because you’re about to find out.
Have A Very Well Written Elance Profile
Your Elance, Odesk, and Vworker profiles are much more important than your Facebook profile. You aren’t just writing something for your friends. You are writing a little advertisement for yourself. Make sure your English is perfect and your wording is as smooth as butter. Be specific about your unique skill set, and never promise to do more than you know you are capable of.
I see a lot of profiles where the freelancer states too many generalities. If you find yourself saying things like, “100% satisfaction and amazing turnaround,” or “the most innovative web designers on the web,” stop yourself. This is a huge turnoff to buyers because they know you are just fishing for whatever phrase sounds nice. Take the time to find very specific strengths that set you apart from everyone else. Your buyers will notice the extra effort.
Bid Competitively (For Now)
The lowest bidder doesn’t always win, but a bid that is lower than average can help to position you as the better choice. Here is something you can try. Go through the buyer’s project history and try to find out what she has paid for something similar to the project currently listed. Instead of bidding the lowest price possible, position your bid slightly lower than the price of the last project.
There is such a thing as bidding too low, and it can actually cost you the job because it makes you look like you don’t understand the scope of the project. I certainly don’t always hire based on price alone. I almost always pick the candidate who grasps the project the best.
Be There For Someone In A Time Of Need
Emergencies happen, and they are the reason companies like Elance, Vworker, and Odesk exist in the first place. If you can find someone in a rough spot who needs your expertise right now, you will be on your way to securing that crucial first project. To narrow down your results, just type “urgent,” or “emergency” into the search bar. There is almost always at least one person in desperate need of your help on any given day.
Realize that I offer this advice with a word of caution. I wouldn’t recommend most of these clients on a longterm basis. Some people genuinely do get into emergency situations, but I’ve often found that most “needed it yesterday” types simply lack good time management skills. Take the project now, but don’t offer to help them when they come back with another “emergency” unless you are getting excellent compensation.
Follow Through With Your Best Work Ever
So you got hired? Excellent. Now get to work right away and impress your client with some real results. Time is ticking. The more time you spend procrastinating, the less excited your client will be when you deliver your work. Keep a sense of urgency and get your work done a few days ahead of the deadline. Stay in close communication in case anything unexpected happens.
Still lacking motivation? Think of it this way. It’s better to have a profile with no job history than to have a profile with one botched job. If you fail now, you basically ruin your chances of ever getting work on any of these sites. I did that with GetAFreelancer.com, and it’s one bridge I’ll never be able to cross again. Don’t close the door to more opportunities just because you want to be lazy!
When All Else Fails, Get A Friend To Hire You
It took me a month and a half to land my first job on Vworker. That’s one month too long if you’re looking to use platforms like Odesk and Vworker to build up your portfolio and launch your online career. It might seem unethical, but it is completely OK to have a friend hire you for your first project.
Just make sure you’re actually doing a project and not simply paying off your friend. I’m sure you can find something that needs to get done. Maybe your friend needs a custom made Twitter account or some help editing a term paper. This practice is completely ethical as long as you are going out and commissioning real work.
My friends still hire me over Elance and Odesk because these sites aren’t just tools for finding work. They’re also great for managing projects and making sure everything gets done according to a set schedule. I see these sites as a software platform and nothing more. Their job is to facilitate the online work process, making it easier for you to manage your work life from home.
Don’t allow the fact that you don’t have an online job history get you down. It’s a lot easier to build an accomplished profile than you might think. With persistence and the desire to create a schedule that allows you to get the most out of life, you can win your first job and launch your freelance career.
Ted,
You are absolutely right that a VWorker profile is even more important than your facebook profile–because it can determine whether or not you receive work. It is essential that people pay attention to their profiles. Vworker is an excellent tool if used right.
I spent all day putting up a profile on vWorker but I just do not have a clue how much to bid on work as a newbie. I did email them and ask but never got any kind of reply.
If someone reading this has some experience with them could you please post a reply?
Hey Karen,
It all depends on the kind of work you are doing, your experience level, and what your client expects from you. I always look through a potential client’s job history to see what he or she has paid in the past. If it’s your first project, you should bid a little lower than the amount your potential paid for a similar previous project.
As I said in this article, you can bid too low, even if you’re just beginning. A higher bid reflects professionalism. It shows your client you are serious.
If your potential client has no job history, good luck. There’s no way to guess how much you should bid.
I hope that helps.
Hey Karen,
I’m just letting you know that I’m currently taking on students for free. For more details, read this. I want to help you build your online freelance business.
You must bid with low cost in your first project. I get project more easy after I am finishing my first project. good luck
Have a friend hire you via the site, just to build up a reputation? Gray area – I would not do it – and if I was a business looking for a bidder, I would not be thrilled if I realized that was what the job was. I say, only do as a last resort. My thought is to examine the small jobs that can be done in a day, start bidding on those, and each time you bid, do what you would do if you had the job: think through the details, research anything you don’t know, and “start doing the work”. May seem like a waste of time, but think of it as taking a class. Not saying to waste a lot of time on each one, just get far enough to be sure you could whip out the result if you actually got the job. If you are just starting out, I bet you will find there is something that would hang you up on each one! Find the solution, so that next time it would not hang you up. Maybe go back to the task and add a comment “XYZ is the hard part of doing this job, but I have worked through a solution”.
Hey Steve,
I don’t see a problem with it. It’s just one job. You still have to build up your business somehow. That single job and rating won’t get you very far, but it will get you over the “I don’t have a single job” hump that a lot of people run into when first starting. Here’s the thing though. If you can’t provide legitimate value to your 2nd and 3rd clients, it won’t matter that you worked with a friend to get a start.
Umm… you actually have to be GOOD to succeed.
A lot of great businesses begin with one’s immediate family and friends. Mine didn’t, but I have no objection to everyone else using this tactic to get a start.
Another thought, on the topic of how much to bid. Look at the job histories of other workers. Compared to workers who have successfully completed jobs, how much are you worth, realistically? Be honest with yourself: someone isn’t going to hire you, if they can get someone with proven talent, at the same price. You must underbid those with a track record. Then, you must show that you DO have the skills. How to do this? Along with the bid, provide DETAILS of what you would do to complete the job. Prove that you UNDERSTAND what is required, by being AS SPECIFIC as you can. If the job is not clearly described, take a different tack: Ask Good Questions, to clarify the job details.
Couldn’t agree with you more on this. Thanks for sharing.
I started using vWorker about 3 months ago and have built up to a 25 rating in that time. The first job was definitely the hardest to get but after that it was certainly easier to attract attention and get noticed. It’s a big plus if you can actually spell properly and word your bids well, you’d be amazed at some of the rubbish bids employers get so its a ray of sunshine when they see one from someone who has a good command of the english language.
Totally. I think new contractors fail to realize that there isn’t much good competition out there. If you put in a little effort to at least seem professional, you’d be pretty amazed at some of the jobs you can get on both Elance, Vworker, or Odesk. For as cheap as outsourcing is, my clients are always telling me that they’d much rather work with someone from a first world English speaking country. I think that’s because we don’t need the money so badly that we’d lie and cheat our way to get it.
True story bro. I just came across this line and was like ‘oh, really!?’ : “I have so much and so wast experience concerning writing- best writer in the current market.”
It’s a pity that good writers have to wait considerably longer getting their first job. Justice O justice.
Hey Ted- Do you think that choosing site A over B could make getting the first job easier by any means, or all the sites have equal prospects for the new workers? For instance, a relatively new site would have lesser number of bids, hence increasing your chances of being picked (or not =/).
I think there is such a thing as getting in on the ground floor when a new freelance writing marketplace is opening up. To do it right, it helps to have some kind of connection with the people who just started it. Really, any angle helps. I don’t think the competition is my biggest problem, nor is it yours. The biggest problem is the lack of serious buyers on most of these sites. Most buyers looking for things like “article writing” don’t want quality. They want you to churn out SPAM, and they believe the going market rate for it is dirt cheap. In my experience, it is so much better to build connections with people instead of bidding. Elance and Odesk are okay when you’re desperate for work, but I’m tired of not seeing my income grow after years of working from these sites. It’s time for a change.
Hmm, I see.
Thanks!