Friday, March 27, 2009

How to be a successful freelancer and make money, fast.


All who are seeking to make money online, there are various options available. Just go to any search engine and you will find a lot of stuff related to this. But half of them are scams or a kind of job which a normal person will feel is a lackluster job. If a person who has skills, knowledge of any field can get a suitable freelance job online and work for a long time. By doing this he would get paid and as well as enhance his personal skills. And we call that person freelancer. To start with the steps that how any person can make money as a freelancer, a brief picture has been drawn of freelancer below.

Freelancer: is a person who works for individual and for a group not on a permanent period and provides his services to their clients.

There are so many websites or forums which work as a platform for freelancers and employers. These websites are an online workplace where businesses connect with qualified professionals to get work done. With the largest network of certified technology and creative talent, they help businesses succeed by connecting them with the people they need to get work done. And these websites facilitate the entire work process from hiring to collaboration to payment.

Businesses use these sites to get work done by qualified professionals whenever they need it. Service providers use site to meet customers and get paid for doing what they do best. You can join any site out of them as a provider to make money online for your work by selecting a membership plan that is right for you. Membership plans range from free trial memberships to paid memberships. Paid memberships have few extra features and facilities.

First of all clients will Post the job (free) and list the skills they need while indicating timelines, requirements, and a budget range they are expecting to pay. Providers will respond by offering their services in the form of proposals. Client then review proposals, evaluate and interview candidates (via chat, messaging or calls), and award the job to the provider that best fits their needs. Alternatively, they can post a job, and then proactively invite specific providers to submit proposals on the job. They can browse the directory of providers, and identify providers who have the right sets of skills and portfolios of work that matches their business needs.

Once the membership plan is chosen, you set-up a profile to showcase your skills and services. You can upload samples of past work, list credentials and get your skills certified by taking skills tests administered by some websites.

You can find work by browsing the open jobs posted by clients, and then submit proposals for the work that interests you and best matches the skills that you possess. Once the work is awarded to the selected provider and both parties agree on business terms, the client will typically "fund" the project by putting money into his account. This ensures the money is available to pay the provider upon completion of agreed milestones.

And after getting assured of being paid you can start working at this point within time limits. Freelancer’s websites ensure structured communication between businesses and their service providers to drive great results. Some websites provide a workroom where both parties can easily communicate and collaborate with each other, set milestones, provide status update, share feedback, and ultimately make progress toward completion of the work. At the conclusion of the work (and sometimes upon completion of interim milestones) the provider gets paid for the results delivered.

All freelancers websites provide a distinguish category of work from writing/translation to making strategies for sales and advertisement. Any person who has the knowledge of any field like technical, financial concepts, digital photography fashion design, animation, translation, editing ,blogs, content writing ,advertising ,branding , data handling , business planning , tax preparation, negotiation , legal aspects etc can work here for long term and make a good name in his area of interest.

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These websites collect a small percentage generally (4% - 6%) of the total billings on the work done on website. This money is collected from the provider during the payment settlement process. Additionally, websites collect subscription fees from service providers who voluntarily opt into membership plans that are designed to help them grow their business and get great work on site. Clients pay no fees beyond the money that is paid to the provider for the work that is done.

Creating a Provider Profile

To submit proposals on jobs that interest you, you must sign up for as a provider membership plan and create a provider profile. Your profile will represent all the categories for which you or your firm has membership plans. Your profile allows you to promote your marketing message and samples of your work tailored to each category. Websites recommend that you upload samples of your work to the Portfolio section of your Service Provider Profile. A comprehensive portfolio is especially important for service categories such as Design & Multimedia and Writing & Translation.

After you have created your provider profile. Some forums also take a test of skills to check the right person which can increase your chances of getting project once you clear the test you can start submitting proposals to jobs. Access jobs by browsing the site or by receiving invitations from employers to submit proposals on their jobs.

In addition to actively browsing for jobs, you can also sign up to receive daily email notification of jobs in your categories of interest. You will receive a daily email containing links to jobs posted in the categories that you select. . Employers may also invite you to submit proposals on their jobs. When this happens, the following will occur:

• You will receive an email notification that you have been invited to submit a proposal.

• The job will appear in your 'Invites' list.

After you submit your proposal, the employer may contact you via the Private Messages to discuss the job in more detail.

At key milestones or when you have completed the job, you will need to invoice the employer through the Billing and Payment system (they may be called something different but most good sites have them) to receive payment for jobs. Once the employer receives your invoice, they will send payment via website’s Billing and Payment system.

After the successful completion of work the client leaves feedback in your profile and you will also have an option to leave feedback for your clients regarding the payment and his behavior during the project. Leaving feedback helps other members of the community properly evaluate each other when considering who to hire for a job or work for, when giving feedback, consider the impact that your comments and rating will have on the reputation of your client: So be fair and objective.

The most important feature of this kind of website is the bidding process. When any client posts a job then he invites bid for getting job done. And after receiving all the bids up till a certain deadline, he will evaluate on the basis of bidding amount as well as your experience. Your experience generally counts on the basis of projects which you had done in past and what kind of response you got after providing the service. The minimum proposal amount a provider can submit is based on the posted job's budget regardless of category. Generally for jobs posted with a budget less than $500, the proposal minimum is $50 on some popular websites. For jobs with a budget between $500 and $1000, the minimum is $300. For jobs posted with a budget of over $1000, the minimum proposal amount is $700. So for getting a job two things are more important one is your bidding amount which should be minimum or your experience should be obviously better than all others providers.

There is no limit of work on these websites as industry trend is changing; most of the companies are shifting their work from permanent basis to their temporary employees. The question is how much you can earn, Projects on these sites varies according to small in size to very big projects also. So if you have enough time you can take any big project. And if you have a team of freelancers you can execute big projects. Me and a few of my friends started a small firm, anyone can own a business (cyber) now with just a computer and an Internet connection.

And if you can hire some professionals for your work then you can outsourced your work and can work as a mediator for your client. The real bonanza of this method to make money online is that, there is no need for you to hang up for boring kind of jobs just for a few dollars. And also you will be enjoying your passion. You will grow in reputation in your market after executing projects successfully.

There are a few suggestions which should be in your mind before starting work as a freelancer. The first thing is that you should be committed to your work for the long term. Because timely completion of the work is necessary in freelancing. The second and more important advise is to market yourself for your skills and best way for this is through website if you are going to work for a long time then create your own website. It will assure your online presence and you can mention your past work.

Try to create a large customer base. Do not work only for a single person it does not mean that you should not be loyal for your client but working on different project will enhance your credentials.

For those who want to use their design or writing skills to make money online this platform is the right choice. So you are ready to make money and enjoying your work then waiting for what? Go to any good freelancing sites and make an account and select the category in which you fit better. And enjoy your first project. Be your own boss no need to work in a group or under fluorescent offices lights. Work in a way as you want was never easy before. In the end best of luck and happy earning for those that decide you are going to start their career as Freelancer.