Becoming an Elance Writer
If you’re a writer, you know that we live with a sort of craving that never goes away–that nagging urge to sit down and pour out words, sentences, phrases … anything, just to articulate on paper (or computer screen.) Unfortunately, many of us haven’t had the opportunity to make our living doing what comes naturally. We’ve settled for jobs or careers that seem to fall a little flat. If this sounds like you, you’ll be happy to learn about a reputable moneymaking opportunity doing freelance writing.
If you have a computer and an Internet connection, you can find an endless supply of opportunities on Elance. In my opinion, it offers the best all-around set of features for a freelance job site.
Getting Started – Ease of Use
Before I could bid on a job, Elance took me to a section called “Elance University.” I had to review three topics that showed how to navigate Elance, use its bidding, communication, and payment sections, so that I could respond in a timely way.
Elance University offers an unbelievable amount of training and help in building a good resume and presentation for employers, which Elance calls “buyers.” There’s a personal message board or chat options to communicate with buyers, a “water cooler” area to communicate with other providers, a provider guide to help you get started quickly, and many more resources. They give you a wonderful interface to build your resume, highlight and demonstrate your proficiency in different skills, and generally show you how to promote your writing skills.
The interface is really easy to navigate and update. You don’t have to complete it all in one sitting, and allows for easy changes when you want to make additions or improvements.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever finished mine. I’ve been too busy writing for the buyers who accepted my bids. I’ll get back to it, one day. When I’m looking for my next project, I don’t want to have to navigate a difficult site. I want to find jobs, quickly, that I can do, prepare my bid, and get on with other things. So, I start with Elance.
Elance employer’s job descriptions include about all the details you need to understand what is involved in doing that project, as well as the buyer’s expectations. Even with good descriptions, there is an opportunity to ask a buyer questions about his job before submitting a bid, making it easier to prepare an accurate bid.
I’ve never experienced any undisclosed expectations that popped up later, requiring me to change my original bid. I have, though, changed my bid to be more competitive. Once I place a bid on Elance, I get even more information, such as the high, low and average bids.
I originally signed up for a basic membership at no cost. Since I could choose from three paid levels, Individual, Small Business, and Large Business I recently upgraded from basic to “Individual.” Each level has a corresponding fee and benefit increase. All are very affordable, starting at $9.95 a month. Elance’s fee schedules, also, are lower than other sites, though are still based upon what I am paid for each job. This makes it easier to put in a more competitive bid. Knowing bidders pay lower fees and probably place lower bids because of those fees, Elance can attract more buyers with better jobs.
Job searches are easy on Elance. The job search page is tabbed by categories and sub-categories, so, nearly every job listed in my search category is relevant.
Getting Down to Work
Elance provides easy-to-use, convenient features, saving me time that I can use to earn money. At any given time they have thousands of jobs listed, and hundreds just in the writing category I’m interested in. Over 20,000 new jobs are posted each month.
Remember, many jobs lost to layoffs are showing up on sites like Elance. I can search for and evaluate jobs that I know I can complete in a predictable amount of time, and space bids so that deadlines don’t collide too badly. Bidding deadlines give me a way to pace my bids and increase the odds of having a steady flow of work, AKA income.
I set my timeframe with each bid, which allows me to pace my workload. It usually works out well. After doing a few jobs and developing a few bids, I’ve learned some of the skills for doing both in an efficient and productive manner. What seemed so mysterious when I began, quickly boiled down to common sense. Find out what the employers want done, decide if you can do it, then tell them how you’re going to do it and help them reach their goals. It’s all about them, and if you keep that in mind, you’ll be a giant step ahead of many competitors.
Mobility
I love that I can set up my own workspace whether I’m at home or traveling. I am one of those solitary writers, and need plenty of quiet to get things done. This is the perfect work from home job. When traveling, it’s not hard to find free Wi-Fi spots to check email, do some quick research, check bid status or report to employers.
Once I’ve gathered my research I’m ready to write. We often travel for business and personal reasons. Since I usually don’t drive, I’m free to write. I’m never without my camera, portable computer, and inverter that plugs into the car’s accessory power. When I’ve completed a job, we pull up to a truck stop, or one of the growing number of rest area Wi-Fi spots, send my finished work, and forward payments on to my checking account. How can you NOT love this work?
Schedules
My life seems to be one continuous disruption after another, and always something beyond my control. For nearly 30 years I’ve struggled to find alternative sources of income because committing to a day job just never worked out for long periods of time. I got pretty creative and learned to do just about anything within my ability. I even filled toner cartridges for a few years. But writing has always been my niche.
Elance has made it easier than ever to schedule around these endless disruptions. If I can’t finish something in a single session, I can get back to it at night, or at 2 a.m. if that’s what works. Try doing that with your day job!
Jobs for Anyone
I’m retired, so my need is to supplement my fixed income. But, I can’t recommend this work-style enough, especially for working moms who agonize over not being available to their kids as much as they want. If you can write (or do any of a number of other jobs) you can build up a part- or full-time income at your own pace. When you’re ready, you can leave your day job, knowing you can take as much or as little work as you want, schedule around your family’s needs and never feel as though you have to choose between your income and your kids, again.
Not only are there plenty of jobs to bid on, but you may also build relationships with several buyers who give you additional, or ongoing work assignments.
Take a few minutes to visit Elance.com and look over some of the writing jobs they have open for bid. Or search in other categories that interest you. You can join at no cost, and even make a few bids. Who knows, taking a little tour now might bring you some cash in a week or two.
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