Workshop: How to Jump Start your Freelancing Career with Elance and Win your First Project

Please see updated course details here: http://wordpl.net/index.php/2010/11/freelance-with-elance-course-details/

So who’s geared up for another workshop?

I had so much fun doing the last one, that I’m wanting to hold the next more in-depth session soon. But while the first one was a general overview of online business opportunities mixed with some inspirational stories, I want the next one to be a very hands on, step-by-step kind of tutorial to get started making money online.

So I’ve been wanting to do the first such hands-on session on freelancing (since I got loads of requests on that!) and more specifically on “How to Jump Start your Freelancing Career with Elance and Win your First Project“.

By the end of this session you will be able to:
- Choose a freelancing niche
- Setup a kickass Elance profile that will wow buyers
- Pass the Elance admissions test as well as a few skills tests in your area of expertise
- Choose/shortlist your first few projects
- Discover how to choose serious and high-paying buyers
- Write custom bids for those projects and buyers
- Work out your hourly rate (in $)
- Make/choose a few samples to send with your proposal
- Follow up with communication messages and added detail
- Setup your banking system with Elance to receive direct deposits to your local bank account
- Win your first project !!!

So thats what you’ll get from the workshop. Here’s how I envision the logistics of this session:
- A very small group of people so I can give individual attention to each
- Max 10 people per session (more sessions if others are interested)
- Session will be at least 3 hours long (maybe more depending on content)
- Participants will receive recording of session plus presentation notes as take-home material
- Most probably held on Saturday morning (Nov or Dec)
- Pricing Rs.5000/. Now before you get all hot and bothered about the price, consider this: I will be teaching you and taking you through the first steps of winning your first Elance project. The minimum price that a buyer can award a project for is $50, which is about 5000 rupees. So you will actually earn back your investment amount with your first project! And with my success steps and guidance, there’s no reason why you won’t earn not just your first project but many more and for much greater amounts! After all, I got my first project for $630 And here’s the next reason for this amount:
- Full access to me for troubleshooting and support until you earn your first project! You will be my exclusive client I will work out weekly calls with you and offer post-workshop support within this price (and occasionally whip you into shape and into a positive mindset!).

So who’s interested?

This session is for:

- beginner freelancers

- students who wish to freelance on the side

- housewives and other work at home people wishing to add an extra income stream

- existing companies and freelancers who wish to pitch to international clients

- anyone who wants to get started with a service-oriented business of their own

To be considered to join this session, please fill out the following survey and I will shortlist the first 10 participants to join.

Why Freelancing is Exactly Like Running A Business

So the idea of this post started due to a feature story on “freelancing” in my local technology magazine, Spider. The assumptions in the magazine about freelancing not being the same as entrepreneurship really felt wrong to me. Ever since I started my freelance career, I knew that I wanted to treat it as a “business” and made a conscious effort to do so. Therefore, I feel obligated to address the points made by the writer in the magazine and present my viewpoint.

Let me start by quoting parts of the story that I take exception to:

“Freelancing is not entrepreneurship”

Under this heading, the author goes on to state that:

“Entrepreneurs are people who launch risky and innovative business ventures, in order to pursue new economic opportunities. Meanwhile freelancers may launch their careers without setting up their own firms; in a way this makes freelancing a low-risk enterprise, as opposed to entrepreneurship.


Moreover, entrepreneurs may hire specialists to manage their company’s organizational functions, like marketing or finance. Freelancers, on the contrary, tend to act as lone wolves – managing all aspects of their work themselves, including accounting, business development and following up on receipts from clients.”

Let’s tackle these claims.

Freelancing is a business. It is a business that may or may not include the founder at its helm. It is a business that works just like any standard brick and mortar business – that is, you fill a need, you develop a service, you sell to customers, you get paid. Freelancing in its essence is no different than running a retail store (the only difference being that you are offering a virtual service while the retail store is offering a physical product). But all the other arms of business are there: buyers, sellers, middlemen, overheads, etc.

If anything, freelancing is even riskier than just “another business venture” because the work and money may not be consistent and because the freelancer has to learn multiple trades (selling , marketing, book-keeping, customer relationship management, etc) to survive.

One of the main differences I see between successful freelancers and not-so-successful freelancers is that of entrepreneurial thinking. An entrepreneur, by definition forms businesses that are not dependent on him. In other words, they are scalable. When a freelancer starts to think like an entrepreneur, that’s where the real magic happens.

So just how does a freelancer think like an entrepreneur/business owner?

A successful freelancer must do the following (just like an entrepreneur):

Make a Business Plan

A fly by the pants approach will work only so long as your luck holds out. If you wish to freelance for money and economic support, you MUST have a business plan which lays out your goals, and strategies and timelines for meeting those goals. Included in your business plan must be a marketing plan, which determines your promotional strategies, whether organic or paid.

Take your Freelancing Business Seriously

If you’re going to be lackadaisical about it, you’ll get wishy-washy results. Success follows those with determination and clarity of thinking. The minute you start taking your business as a serious entity is when you will start seeing serious results (monetary and otherwise). Take your business seriously by staying focused on your goals, staying motivated in the face of setbacks, and completing the action steps necessary for your strategies. Other people (including clients, friends, team members, parents, relatives, etc) will take your business seriously if you do.

Invest back into the Business (and in you)

A portion of your incoming cash must go towards building your business – its infrastructure, equipment, people, training, etc. While a freelance business may require little overheads, a freelancer cannot forgo the constant learning and professional development that is needed to stay ahead of the curve. The successful freelance entrepreneur must invest back in the business by investing in himself and his team. He can do this by reading books in his field, attending conferences, staying abreast of marketing and business development trends and by understanding and analyzing business trends.

Excel at Marketing, Client Management & Leadership

At its heart, every successful business owner needs to be a great marketer and a great leader. A successful freelancer will also hold influence within his sphere, be known as an expert on his subject and be a thought-leader in his field. He may do this via his blog, or with his outstanding referrals, or in any other way in which his expertise takes tangible form.

Build Value; Build a Brand

Every successful freelancer knows that running a one-man show is not scalable and not healthy for the long term. Therefore he must focus on building products and value that will exist long after his services cease to exist. Successful freelancers do just that – they take out products built upon their expertise. These products may be in digital form (such as e-books, podcasts, etc) or they may be in tangible form. Whatever your method, everything you do will come under your umbrella brand. Your reputation, your services, your products, the level of trust clients have in your business – all form the basis of your brand.

Build a Team

A key part of this magazine’s contention is that freelancers work solo, and even if a freelancer works with others, it is solely in a collaborative role. This is not true. The world’s best freelancers build a team around themselves and in spite of themselves. The best freelance businesses can rely on their team and their brand, not their founder. Successful freelance businesses don’t fall apart when the owner gets sick, is injured or is otherwise incapacitated. Freelance businesses can choose to register themselves legally as proprietorships or partnerships.

Be Organized

Successful freelance business owners follow the 80/20 Pareto Principle and spend 80% of their time doing 20% of the high-yield tasks. That may mean they outsource parts of their business, hire virtual assistants, etc – just like any other business owner!

Take Time Off

Burnt-out is a very real possibility in the world of business. Every freelancer must consciously take time away from the business as a way to rejuvenate, relax and gain perspective.

Bottom line: you cannot afford to be “just a freelancer”; you must think of your freelancing as a business and work with the same passion and drive that fuels any business-owner.

The magazine article goes on to say that “freelancing is not entrepreneurship, consulting, outsourcing or part-time work.” I disagree. I think that a really talented freelancer is all that: entrepreneur, consultant and outsourcer working part-time (or full time) hours!

Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Workweek – Book Review

I have to admit; initially I was not a fan of Timothy Ferriss. “Extreme personal outsourcing”, for which he became famous, was just not my thing. Then I learnt that he was a judge in a contest in which I won second place. I wrote him a twitter thank you, he replied wishing me good luck. Then in karmic continuation, I won his book The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updatedin an online contest and realized he has much more to offer than just outsourcing tips. And the rest, as they say, is history.

This book arrived at my doorstep at one of the most tumultuous times in my life! I was literally putting out a fire when the package was delivered. Most of my house had just burned down. Yes.

Thanks to the book, I:
Conquered my fear of delegating work and managed to keep my business not just running but thriving through the most turbulent summer I’ve ever had
Have started my first affiliate website with plenty more in the pipeline
Got a product line in development stages in order to automate my income streams and free myself from the daily tasks of running multiple businesses
Have great “bathroom” reading material that I flip open and voilà! Instant inspiration and ideas!

Not to be flippant or anything, but this book has given me the courage of my convictions. To follow through. To believe. To stay focused and determined.

In Tim’s own words, this book is “not for people who want to run businesses but for those who want to own businesses and spend no time on them”.

The most important chapters for me in this book (although each chapter and section is inspirational in its own way) were the Income Autopilot chapters. I loved these chapters because they provided:
Very real scenarios and case studies of running an online entrepreneurial venture, which enabled me to visualize pitfalls and strategies
The practicality of the advice; all the detailed steps and resources needed to start an automated income stream were provided with handy website links and descriptions for more info
The overall “you can do it” nature of the advice made me feel confident and knowledgeable immediately

What’s the DEAL?

If you must know, the other chapters in the book all deal with Tim’s DEAL philosophy. DEAL stands for Definition, Elimination, Automation and Liberation (or DELA as prescribed for employees).

In D for Definition he overturns traditional thoughts and pre-conceived notions. Do you really have to watch the news and read the newspaper regularly to be informed? Do you really need to buy that umpteenth info-product? Are you using Pareto’s brilliant 80/20 principle to be more productive and efficient? Are you working 9-5 and just “filling time”? Can you speed read and be selective with information consumption?

In E for Elimination he teaches you to get rid of the unnecessary and the wasteful. Checking email is not “work”. Interrupting people when they go on and on with useless trivia is okay to do. How to batch process similar tasks, like email. How to get people to get to the point when they call you on the phone.

A for Automation starts off with my personal “un-favorite” section on outsourcing your business and your life. I’m sorry but hiring a VA for $5/hour may be cheap and affordable, but it doesn’t translate into a healthy standard of living for anyone in an under-developed world. And I should know; I live in an under-developed world! At first the somewhat condescending nature of this section and the non-native Indian English examples provided made me feel a bit uptight. But then I realized I don’t have to equate myself with that. My business, skills and talent are location independent. I charge my fees not based on my geographical co-ordinates but according to the quality and professionalism of my work. So there’s no need for me to feel threatened in any way by the concept of outsourcing. I can choose to use it or ignore it. I know where I stand as a business owner.

What follows this section are the Income Autopilot chapters – my personal favorites! They take you through the journey of entrepreneurial but scatterbrained Sarah and methodical, Lamborghini-owning Ed. Tim uses these characters to vividly illustrate the importance of having a viable business plan before taking the plunge. Poor Sarah winds up in the red while Ed prices his product exorbitantly high after having determined the necessary demand for it. The latter is the best-case scenario. The trial and error part of your income autopilot project should happen in the initial planning stages, not after you create a product!

These chapters also make a great case for why you should be selling info-products – they are “low-cost, fast to manufacture, too time-consuming for competitors to duplicate”.

Then of course there’s a section on testing your product idea (Tim likes to call it your “muse”) again using believable characters and products via Sherwood and Johanna. And then enters the real life example of Doug and how he earns over $10,000 a month with his website www.prosoundeffects.com.

Tim masterfully pieces together the art and skill of putting together a viable product to sell on the Internet. The aim of this entire exercise is to establish an income stream that will, for the most part run by itself, be fully automated and keep cash coming in to your pocket on a regular basis.

Of course once you are done with creating your passive income stream, it’s time to turn your focus to what you really want to do with your life!

The last step, L for Liberation focuses on what the lifestyle of the rich and mobile really means and why having mobility is equal to having freedom. In his usual entertaining style, Tim provides travel packing lists, destination guides, mini-retirement getaways, and the basics of “adding life after subtracting work”.

You want to believe it because Tim has actually done all this in his life and continues to do so, has friends who are doing it and the book is peppered with examples and emails from people who are liberating themselves in exactly the same ways.

So who is this book really for?

I believe you’ve already got to have a certain mindset to benefit from this book. You must realize that although the concepts presented in this book may deviate from the traditional, they are a necessary part of wanting to change your life for the better. If you know you can do more, be more, live more, then this book is for you. You must intrinsically believe in yourself and then use the book as a guide to achieving financial and personal freedom.

Who is this book NOT for?

Die hard traditionalists unwilling to change even the simplest things and those who see obstacles in every direction (e.g. I can’t follow the principles of the book because I live in an under-developed country, have six children, am a single mother, don’t have a college education, blah blah blah, ad nauseum) Grow up! Who doesn’t have problems?

Why You Should Buy this Book


If you fall in the former category and are a do-er, then buy this book now. I can’t say whether you’ll become rich after reading it since that entirely depends on your ability to act upon Tim’s guidelines, but I CAN say that the book will provide you a comprehensive and detailed path to follow to setting up a steady stream of passive income. I was able to take my freelance business from earning $1000 a month to up to $3000 a month on the strength of the advice given in this book. And I have plenty more income streams in the process. Learn how to do it. Read the book. Follow the steps. The best part is that because it’s all so practical and worded in Tim’s enthusiastic style, it seems oh-so-very possible! Buy Here .

P.S. In hindsight, I think I won this book because I wanted so badly to win it. I entered the contest knowing this was the prize

My “Cloud Commute” – Elance Contest

This video is about how I make the transition from personal thoughts to business thoughts and consciously put myself in the work zone every day. Because the freelancer’s commute to work is a state of mind.Freelancing is often equated with freedom, but the definition of freedom that most people tend to imagine is a world without boundaries, expectations or accountability. That’s not what freedom actually means. Freelancing freedom means the ability to decide when to work, how to work, who to work for and how to get to work.

How freelancers get to work is also called the “cloud commute”.

Contrary to the typical rush hour/traffic/parking commute that most office-goers endure, freelancers or work-at-home professionals get to their workplaces in a matter of minutes or seconds. Freelancers typically work from home offices, cafes, coffee shops or anywhere they can get a good wi-fi connection with minimal distractions.

In doing so, the most important part of a freelancer’s commute to work is not so much the physical journey as it is about the mental journey to a place conducive to work. For some people this journey starts as soon as they’ve reached their home office or place of work. For others it starts after they’ve checked email and social media. For still others this journey starts right after they’ve woken up and started to think about the most important work tasks to be accomplished for that day.

Many people, such as Leo Babauta, have morning rituals that allow them to focus on the workday ahead. Some people need to motivate themselves every day. Others such as Jonathan Fields like to start their day by helping others. Still others, such as Dave Navarro, force themselves to prioritize their work tasks.

Each freelancer’s solution for starting their “commute” is different; however what’s similar is the conscious decision to start work. Without a 9am deadline to get into the office, the only deadline that remains is in the freelancer’s mind. When and how are you ready to start work?

I like to start work every day with a simple to-do list on a piece of paper (my Elance post-it pad, if you must know) and tackle the most important tasks of the day. Most days I don’t even notice the transition from personal/family thoughts to work-related thoughts; the journey for me is so smooth. But once in work mode, I am definitely in work mode – no distractions allowed!

I believe that making a conscious decision to “go to work” every day is a trait that most successful freelancers and entrepreneurs practice daily. It’s right up there with other success factors such as making business plans and sales objectives.

So what’s your cloud commute like? Share in the comments below or put up your own video and participate in the Elance cloud commute contest. Hurry, contest ends Nov 15th 2010!

How to Start Working Online

I get a lot of questions everyday but one question that I get asked almost every single day is: How do I start working online? What’s the first step? How do I do what you’re doing? So today I’m going to attempt to answer that question.

For most people working online means earning a few bucks, or doing something for zero or little effort. That’s not what I’m about or what I teach. I can’t help you get started working online by clicking on ads, or by filling surveys and questionnaires, or by mailing envelopes, or whatever else kind of menial work is being advertised to make you millions.

When someone asks me how to start working online, I assume that they are asking me for a viable sustainable online business that they’d like to start. It could be a part time business, it could be weekends only, but you have to be serious about it. If you don’t ask me seriously then no matter what advice I give, you will not be able to earn money online.

So assuming that you are serious about making money online, here’s what I would say are the first few steps in this order:
Step 1: Know what kind of work you’d like to do online

Example #1: Perhaps you’re a musician with extensive knowledge about learning to play an instrument (or various instruments) – you could perhaps start a website that gives guitar tutorials. Or maybe you’re a singer songwriter who wants to compose music for international clients – you could become a music producer on a freelance website.

Example #2: Maybe you’re a graphic designer fresh out of school and looking for online work. Maybe you could advertise your design services online and start to get work through the internet.

Example #3: What if you’re a doctor. Can you work online? Well, yes, but that depends on what kind of work you want to do. There are many reputable publications in the health, nutrition and fitness fields that require content for their websites, newsletters, advice columns, etc and would maybe want to hire you as an expert. Alternative therapy and natural medicines is also a fast growing field with not a lot of qualified practitioners; you could maybe get work with them as a side income project.

Example #4: You have an existing t-shirt designing business and would like to find a market for your products online. Can you do that? Yes, and it will depend on finding international buyers ready to stock your products at agreed upon rates. You can do that through various online companies such as www.alibaba.com that specialize in providing physical products via an online medium.

Example #5: You are a journalist, looking for ways to earn some extra money. Perhaps you can start a blog, or write a book, or look for a gig writing for an international column.

These are just five examples; basically you can work online in just about any capacity that doesn’t require your physical presence and you’ll be surprised how few those are. Are you an engineer? You can find work online as a contract manufacturer. Are you a housewife? You can find work online leveraging your expertise in cooking, designing, parenting, etc. There’s online work awaiting you in almost every conceivable field from financial to legal to engineering to writing to design to web programming.

So do you know what you want to do? Figure that out first and then move to step 2.
Step 2: Find your market

The assumption here is that you have a skill or a product that you’d like to make money from. Once you have identified that skill or product, you must find a market that will buy your services/products.

Here are some ideas to get you started:
You can sell your existing products using affiliates. Affiliates are people that sell your product on your behalf for a small commission. You can join an affiliate network and get your product listed for sale. Examples of affiliate networks are www.clickbank.com, www.commissionjunction.com, www.amazon.com/associates and plenty more – just do a search for affiliate networks to get a more comprehensive list.
You can sell your services in a freelance marketplace such as www.elance.com, www.guru.com, www.odesk.com etc.
You can get your products sold globally through international vendors and drop-shippers such as www.alibaba.com, www.wordwidebrands.com, www.thomasnet.com, www.housewares.org, www.expoeast.com and www.expowest.com.
You can start your own WordPress website by registering a domain name through www.namecheap.com, buying hosting from www.godaddy.com and installing WordPress through www.wordpress.org. If you don’t feel confident you can do this on your own, you can start with a free www.WordPress.com account which just requires a username and password to use. Else, you can hire a company such as www.customsocialpages.com to set it up for you.
You can use social media to find prospective buyers and clients, although that is a less direct way and you will have to invest some time in it. It is recommended if you are not in a hurry and are good at having online conversations. Social sites that would be a good fit for finding leads include www.linkedin.com, www.twitter.com, niche forums (search for your niche + “forum” on google), and www.facebook.com (pages and ads).
Step 3: Determine how you’ll get paid

Once you have found your market, you need to sort out payment details. There’s a comprehensive list of payment processors that you can work with here, but only some of these are compatible with Pakistan. Those that work in Pakistan include www.payoneer.com, www.alertpay.com, www.2checkout.com, www.westernunion.com, www.moneybookers.com, and sites that pay you via direct deposits and through checks (such as most freelance sites do).

Payment processors help you determine how you will charge prospective customers and how the money will get transferred into your bank account.

So, I hope this list has given you a starting point. Essentially there’s just a few ways to run an online business, such as you can see in this online business info-graphic. You just need to find the tools and resources that will help you and chart a path that is unique to your skills, products and abilities.

Questions? Mail me at ask@wordpl.net with your very specific question or just write it out in the comments below so that your question and my answer benefits lots of people. Good luck!

p.s. For more in-depth information, check out my presentation How to Start an Online Business (from Pakistan).

Freelance With Elance – course details by salma jafri

Wouldn’t it be great to earn in dollars and spend in rupees? Wouldn’t it be great to earn money from anywhere in the world – while working from home? Wouldn’t it be awesome to be your own boss, choose your own projects and determine how much you want to make every month? Wouldn’t it be totally cool to finally break out of the 9-5 and live a life where you control your work hours and output?

Welcome to the freelance life! Living a freelance life enables you to do all of the above, but requires discipline, motivation and effort. If you think you have what it takes, live in Pakistan and want to dive into the world of freelancing, then Elance.com is your best starter bet.

Elance provides you a marketplace of ready and willing buyers who want to utilize your services. Elance protects you with escrow so you are guaranteed payment. Elance gives you immense marketing and earning opportunities, but navigating Elance and knowing the tricks of freelancing requires a bit of a learning curve.

I am offering a comprehensive course that will take you step-by-step through the freelancing world and put you through your Elance paces. I am also guaranteeing that you will win your first project worth hundreds of dollars with my guidance and help.
Who Am I?


So who am I to make these guarantees?
I have earned over $25,000 from Elance in the past 12 months alone.
I have won second place in the Elance New Way to Work contest.
I write for the Elance blog.
I am ranked amongst the Top 25 freelancers on Elance (out of 74,000+).

As you can see, I have gained a lot from Elance. It’s time to give some back

What will you Gain from this Course?

By the end of this course you will be able to:
Choose a freelancing niche according to your passions and interests
Setup a kickass Elance profile that will wow buyers
Pass the Elance admissions test as well as a few skills tests in your area of expertise
Choose/shortlist your first few projects
Discover how to choose serious and high-paying buyers
Write custom bids for those projects and buyers
Work out your hourly rate (in $)
Make/choose a few samples to send with your proposal
Follow up with communication messages and added detail
Setup your banking system with Elance to receive direct deposits to your local bank account
Win your first project worth hundreds of dollars!!!

How will this Course Work?

So that’s what you’ll get from my Elance course. Here’s how this session works:
This session will consist of a tightly focused group of people
Session will be approximately 4 hours long
Participants will receive presentation notes as well as comprehensive printed take-home material
Session will be held on [next date to be announced soon]
Pricing for Lahore participants: Rs.7000/. Here is how this course is priced: I will be teaching you and taking you through the first steps of winning your first Elance project. The minimum price that a buyer can award a project for is $50, which is about 5000 rupees. So you will actually earn back your investment amount with your first project! And with my success steps and guidance, there’s no reason why you won’t earn not just your first project but many more and for much greater amounts! After all, I got my first project for $630 And here’s the next reason for this amount:
Exclusive access to WordPL’s discussion forum for troubleshooting and support You will be able to share your triumphs, ask for critique on your profiles and proposals, and network with a support group via the discussion forum.
Who is this Course For?

This course is for:
beginner freelancers
students who wish to freelance on the side
housewives and other work at home people wishing to add an extra income stream
existing companies and freelancers who wish to pitch to international clients
anyone who wants to get started with a service-oriented business of their own

Event Details
Date: Sunday March 27th 2011
Time: 2:00PM – 6:00PM
Venue: 27 CCA, Sector DD, Phase 4 DHA, Lahore, Pakistan
Duration: Four (4) hours
Speaker: Salma Jafri, WordPL.net

Note: stationery will be available for note-taking; you are free to bring laptops if desired (please indicate in registration form if you will bring your laptop)
How to Register for “Freelance with Elance”
Registrations are on a first-come first-served basis
Registration is between Wed March 9th – Sat March 19
Please call Alex John on 0314-2968861 for any registration-related questions
Registration for Lahore participants is via direct deposit. Details have been emailed to everyone who pre-registered for the course. Register now for Freelance with Elance

Note: There are limited seats available for this session, so if you want a seat, please register early. Participants who register once registration is over will be placed on a waiting list for the next session. They may be called for current session in case of cancellation.

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COMPLETE COURSE OUTLINE


Freelancing

What it is

What it entails

10 reasons to love freelancing

10 freelancing challenges

Elance

What it is

How it works

Why it’s the best choice for Pakistani freelancers

What you can expect from it

Basic Elance ToS everyone should be aware of

1. Getting Started

How to make an account

How to choose a category

How to choose a membership plan

How to verify credit card

2. Your Account

How to choose a username

How to build your profile for maximum effect

What skills tests to take and how to work them

What keywords to use

How to make yourself contactable & searchable

How to setup your bank account info

How to get verified recommendations & referrals

3. Start Bidding

How to choose a project

How to scout buyers

10 signs this projects isn’t a good fit for you

10 signs this project is perfect for you!

10 signs of a buyer from hell – avoid at all costs!

10 ways to work for great long term high-paying clients

When to use pre-bids and public Q&A

Action Item

[Tea Break]

4. Write your Proposal

The 6 steps of proposal writing

How to determine your freelancing rate

Why do some proposals fall flat while others prosper?

Remember: your proposal is your sales pitch and your personality pitch!

How to play to your strengths

The #1 proposal writing mistake and how you can avoid it

Examples and case studies of good and bad proposals across different categories

Proposal writing checklist

Action Item

5. Follow up

Watch your watchlist

How and when to send follow up messages

Why some projects don’t get awarded

How to keep your award ratios high

6. When the Project Gets Awarded – to YOU!

Congratulations!

Your first correspondence after an award

How to make a detailed scope document

How to set milestones

How to never start work before escrow is funded (hint: it’s all in the way you ask)

Your rights as a provider

What you should know before signing NDA & other agreements

Copyrights and plagiarism issues and how to protect yourself

Why it’s essential to keep all communication on Elance

What to do when projects get awarded to others

7. Living the Freelance Lifestyle

All that and a bag o’ chips?

Managing work and family – the ultimate balancing act

Working evenings and weekends only

Managing multiple projects

When you have too much work…

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What you Get

At the end of the session you will receive:
A printed & bound quick start guide (w/ screenshots) to setting up your membership account on Elance
A checklist for choosing the right projects
A checklist for proposal writing & bid submission
You will have “homework to do” after this session as well. You will be sending me three shortlisted projects each week and three of your best bids to critique. I will help you with 3 bids each week (via email only) until you win your first proposal. If you follow my guidelines and have what it takes, then it won’t take you more than a few weeks to win your first project worth hundreds of dollars!

Join me now in the quest to live to work, not work to live

Elance Success Strategy – Fine Tune your Buyer Radar!

Many people write in to me claiming that they’ve been pitching their freelance services for a month (or more) without a bite. Upon closer inspection, they have the perfect profile, a healthy portfolio of work, some testimonials from past employers or clients, and education and skills to back their qualifications, the whole nine yards really! So what’s missing? Why aren’t they landing the hot jobs?

I’ll tell you what’s missing. What’s missing is their buyer radar!

All projects are not the same and all buyers are definitely not the same. Each proposal of yours must not only be tailored to how well you fit the project, but also how well you can work with a particular buyer.

The success or failure of procuring a freelance project depends on 1. your ability to execute a project based on your skills, talent, and drive and 2. your rapport with the buyer. The second point is also the basis for ensuring (or at least setting up the stage) for repeat business, positive referrals, and long term clients.

So how do you fine tune your buyer radar on Elance?

Practice, practice, practice!

Choose a few projects each day and determine whether this is the kind of person you’d like to work with. You might not have to share a cubicle space with a buyer and you may be sitting in geographic polar opposites, but if your ideology and outlook doesn’t match, trust me, it will feel as suffocating as sitting in a trapped elevator.

Recently I cancelled a project before even starting it because the buyer never made it on time to scheduled Skype conversations, expected free phone consultations throughout the duration of the project (which was over a month), and established bad pre-project vibes with me. I would rather not start such a project at all (and take the initial hit of my time and effort investment) than take on the project only to realize that this attitude would continue and keep derailing my project management schedule.

So, here’s my quick list of bad buyers characteristics to watch out for. These things will often raise a red flag with me.
1. The All for Nothing Buyer

This kind will demand the perfect project (perfect English, SEO’d, 150 articles, formatted to a tee, blah blah blah) at a laughable rate, like a dollar an article. Stay away from him because he’s the lowest of the low and will never respect you or your work.
2. The Scope Creep

This buyer will say stuff like “Oh and can you submit the article to directories too?” “Oh can you format my blog and add pictures as well.” “Btw, since you’re already writing my web content, can you just put the same information in a brochure for me – it’s just copy paste right?” Argggg! These buyers are penny pinchers – they know that this is extra work requiring a whole new definition of the project’s boundaries, yet they want to sneak it in so they don’t have to pay more for it. By making it sound like trivial work, they expect to get away with peanuts. Don’t fall for it.
3. The Donkey and Carrot Trickster

He’ll suck you right in with classic bait and switch tactics such as “there’s long term work to be had if you do this right”. Or worse “if you do this test article, then I may hire you for another one”. Look man, either commit to it or not. You can’t hire me and then choose not to pay me after I’ve already done the work!
4. The Internet Marketing Speaker

I’m an internet marketer, so don’t get me wrong, I think internet marketing and its terminologies are pretty neat. But unfortunately, there are a lot of spammers in this field. This kind of buyer hangs with the spammer and uses cheap tactics learned from them in his project descriptions. Phrases such as “this is easy work for someone who knows what they’re doing” or “you should be able to do this in no time at all” or “I would do this myself considering it’s so easy, but I just don’t have the time”. These are all code words for I don’t respect you and therefore will be-little your work and its complexity. I will determine how much time you need to do it because I am the specialist, not you. Don’t even bother bidding for projects with these phrases; you’re above that.
5. Mister Vague

This guy thinks that “I need an e-book about my life” constitutes a complete project description. Not only has he not bothered to define his project, he scares me because he doesn’t seem to know what his project should be. Even if I know nothing about logo design, I would do some research and surfing to find out how to write a complete project description for a logo designer. How else can you expect to attract the professionals? People who don’t put effort into their project descriptions, and worse, refuse to add/edit/comment on their projects just don’t care about them. I don’t want to work with someone who doesn’t care about his own project. Do you?

This was really just a starter list. There are so many other buyer red flags to look out for. Perhaps we’ll cover them in another blog post and perhaps you will respond in the comments below to your favorite type of buyer that induces your eye roll! C’mon share with us, you know you want to!