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Are you a writer, web designer, programmer, translator or photographer? Do you need work? There are dozens of online job boards ... some of them are specific to freelancers, others are more general in nature.

When I need freelance work ... I'm the type of person that just gets on the phone and asks for it! Of course I've been a freelancer for over 25 years (I started when I was 5) ... so I know who to phone and what to say.

Twenty-five years ago I would have preferred ripping out my eyeballs with my own fingers over lifting up that phone! So ... what DOES a person do?

There are dozens of ways to promote yourself that do not involve the phone ... right now, I'm going to focus on the job auction boards. "No way." you say ... "bid on a job! I don't want to have to low ball in order to get work!"

Well ... the good news is:

I've personally had good and bad experiences with the job bid sites. So far, all my personal experiences have been from the hiring side of things.

My very first experience was when I decided to hire an programmer to do a little repair job to one of my websites. I put the job up on the bidding board and within a day I had 20 bids for the job. Ten of the bidders wrote notes saying that my job could virtually be done in hours and that they could have it done within a day. So I chose one of the bidders (after looking at resumes and samples) and talk about disappointed!

The programmer I chose replied to me right away. And then a week and a half later he did a pile of stuff I had not asked for and told me why I shouldn't be doing what I asked for. Since I knew what I asked for COULD be done (I just didn't want to take the time) I fired him.

I decided to give it one more try. This time ... the job was done in less than two hours on the SAME day! I couldn't have been MORE impressed by the professionalism and speed of my new programmer. Note how I said "my new programmer?" That's because I have hired Joe regularly ever since!

I asked "Joe" about his experience of getting work through the job boards. He said that he bids on jobs whenever things look like they are about to slow down ... and that he now has 5 steady clients because of his participation on the job board. He bids for short, fast jobs ... so that he and a new client can "try each other out."

Rent a Coder is a site especially for freelancers who are looking for work ... and for contractors wanting work done!

The freelance talent includes writers, computer programmers, translators, and photographers, to name only a few. The first step to bidding on jobs is to register yourself as a freelancer. You can post your resume, and samples of your work, and choose the skill categories you wish to be listed under. This shouldn't be a big deal, because you have this on hand anyway ... don't you? You will then be listed in the "Service Providers" section under the various skill categories.

Contractors can look you up by skill category, check out your resume and then contact you directly. You can also actively bid on jobs. Don't undersell yourself. When I was deciding on a programmer, I didn't choose the lowest bids. I picked somewhere in the middle. I also appreciated when the bidders wrote a short note about how long they thought the job would take and what it would involve. The time they took to personally write a note DID make a difference.

You could wait a long time to be "discovered" under the skill category listings, so the fastest way to get work, is to bid on it!

You're probably wondering, "Who pays for this?" Well, it really depends on the site. Some of them are free and often you get what you pay for! With Rent a Coder the service provider pays a percentage of their job payment. Is that fair? Rent a Coder puts you together with employers ... they pay the expenses for a very large and well-run website. You will be able to tap into jobs you would otherwise never heard about.

You may be tempted to "circumnavigate the system" once the client contacts you. This may work for longer term relationships, however when you are first getting started it would be counterproductive. Why?

Because:

If you need work, or want to build a steady client base ... give the job bidding boards a try!

Click HERE for a list of the TOP job boards

 

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