Time Management is Crucial

If you've ever submitted the manuscript of a book to a print publisher, you've probably read the advice that it's okay to submit your manuscript to more than one publisher at the same time, because if more than one publisher accepts it, that'd be the least of your worries.

The same holds true for working on Elance or on any other online freelance site. (And, indeed, there's nothing to say you can't sign up for all the freelance sites on the web - ODesk, TextBroker, etc. If you're having a drought with one you can get work from another - especially TextBroker where you do not have to bid on jobs - if there's a job there in your Category, you can snap it up right away with now problem.

But if you stick with one freelance website - and I stick with Elance.com for the most part - you may wonder if you should bid on more than one job at a time.

Well, you will quickly find out that you MUST.

It seems like at least 80% and even more of jobs posted on Elance - at least in the writing categories - never get awarded.

So if you bid on 20 jobs, you might be awarded one or two.

You can increase this percentage if you specialize in niche categories - for example Wikipedia experts are always in demand. I advise you to create an account on Wikipedia right now, as a matter of fact, and start learning how to do the coding, and the writing that will satisfy the editors, because you can charge a very reasonable amount of money to put up pages on Wikipedia if you know how to do it. (And I'll share more information on how to work with Wikipedia in future posts.)

It's difficult to say whether you should confine your bids to only those clients who are old established Elance clients - they have little green dots by their name indicating that they have hired people for jobs in the past. But sometimes they are just searching for cost info and don't actually hire someone, whereas a brand new person - no dots to their name - may well hire someone for their job.

Read the project descriptions to get a feel for the client, and make your own decision on this...

Elance does have a series of tests you can take to show your levels of expertise with various software programs...you can do these if you like and they may increase your bid award percentage. (I've never done any of them - but I work mostly with clients who request a repeat of my services because they know what I can do...I'm at a point where I don't have to go out and find new clients.)

But if you are fortunate and are awarded one or two jobs - or more - at the same time, rejoice, and get to work!

Manage your time properly - no procrastination. Make sure you know your deadlines and meet them - every client can review your work and most will deduct a star if you miss a deadline. Communicate with your client and be candid if you need more time to do the work.