Finding Freelance Work

by guest author Forrest McDonald

Once you decide to work from home, the biggest challenge you'll face is finding freelance work; all your talent, ambition, and enthusiasm waste away without assignments. Fortunately, you have many resources at your disposal.

The first resource is your personal network: family, friends, colleagues, fellow members of organizations. Don't hesitate to contact these folks to see if they need work requiring your talents or if they know someone who does. These second degree contacts (people who know people you know) demonstrate the value of networking and broaden your opportunities.

Finding Freelance Work On the Net

1. www.ifreelance.com
2. www.elance.com
3. www.sologig.com

These sites share several similarities. They require you to categorize your talents, they ask you to create a profile describing to potential project suppliers (the freelancing equivalent of an employer) what your capabilities are and what types of projects you are looking for, they notify you when opportunities matching your criteria are posted, and they let you submit a bid for the work.

In finding freelance work, bidding on projects isn't enough; you have to prepare for your chosen field. Preparation means anticipating what potential suppliers may ask you and having answers ready. So, if you are a photographer, put together a portfolio showing how you can accommodate weddings, team banquets, etc. If you are a writer, write two or three short press releases and a few blog posts you can link to. If you are a web page designer, have a couple of websites containing different aspects of your talent (CSS, design, ASP, etc.) you can point them to so they can see your abilities first hand.

Preparation also means knowing how the your freelance boards work, making sure your accounts are set-up properly, knowing how to navigate them. Losing a potential gig because you couldn't attach samples of your previous work hurts. Additionally, make sure you check your resources daily. Freelance work is as much lining up the next project as it is completing the current gig; you want a steady supply of work.

Submitt A Winning Bid

1. Read the project description carefully. Make sure you understand what the supplier wants and when he needs it.

2. Only bid on projects you can complete. Ideally, you will be using each completed project as a reference (by way of the supplier's rating of your work) for every new project you bid on.

3. Write your bid. Show you have read the project requirement by addressing specific points in your bid: describe how you will handle specific items, estimate how long it will take you to complete, include your bid for the project, and briefly describe your plan to complete the project.

4. Proofread your bid to make sure it is error-free; nothing turns a potential supplier away faster than an improperly written bid. If you don't have the ability and the attention to detail to make sure you get that right, why would anyone assume you will have both for his project?

5. Make sure you indicate your payment preferences. Many folks use PayPal; some suppliers will ONLY use that service to pay freelancers. Others may have different arrangements in mind. Whatever you prefer, make sure both you and the supplier are confident that the transaction will go smoothly.

6. Submit your bid. Send it off knowing you did everything you could to win that project right now.

7. Look over the boards for your next project. Remember, this is a cycle and you must constantly be looking for, bidding on, and winning projects. That constant work flow is what you need to make a living with your freelance work.

Finding freelance work requires regular time and effort. But if you have the talent, the desire, and the willingness to do the work, you will find projects and make a living. Being your own boss, doing what you love is too rewarding not to give it your all.