All Freelancers are Not Created Equal

January 27, 2009

If you’ve looked for freelance work on freelance bidding sites (Getafreelancer.com, Rentacoder.com, Elance.com, etc) you have probably noticed there are many people applying for the same jobs. What you don’t see is the number of people who apply for work listed on sites like Craigslist or Problogger -but I can assure you there are even more freelancers applying for these jobs than you see in the freelance bidding sites. What’s a freelancer to do? If all freelancers are applying for the same work, and have similar experiences and/or educational backgrounds - how is it that one person is selected for the work over another? Is it pure luck?

Even when it seems just about everyone applying for the work has similar experiences and educational backgrounds, all freelancers are not created equal. If you can give yourself the edge, and somehow stand out from the competing freelancers, you’ll have a much better chance at landing more of the freelance jobs you apply for.

Your Online Reputation

If you’re primarily applying for work via the internet, it makes sense for you to develop a reputation online. When a business owner is looking to hire a freelance writer, graphic designer, virtual administrative assistant, etc - they’re probably going to look for other information about you online, as well.

Having a website that portrays your skills, provides customer testimonials or other information about you is helpful to the potential client. They get a better picture of who you are and what you are capable of - and if the other freelancers he or she is considering do not have a website, you’ve given yourself a competitive advantage.

photo credit: Matt Brett

Another way to stand out from the hundreds of other people applying for the same jobs you are is to change your process of applying. On freelance bidding sites, you’re only given so much space to provide your “bid” for the work and information about yourself. You can use your profile on the site to improve your image and “show off” your abilities. Most sites do not allow contact information, but you can take advantage of the space in your profile to paint a complete picture of your experience and abilities. The more detail you can provide, the better off you are. Look at some of the other user profiles on freelance bidding sites - most contain very basic information that doesn’t give a prospective buyer any more information than they got from the bid itself! Create your freelance bidding site profiles similar to your official proposal.

What’s a proposal? Whenever you are using Craigslist or similar sites to find freelance work, you are able to send more detailed information than you can when using freelance bidding sites. Take advantage of this!

When contacting prospective client contacts to quote a job, or someone responds to your initial email/letter of interest for a job they’ve posted - don’t just shoot off a standard email with prices for services in it. Take the opportunity to continue painting a professional image and send a full “proposal” or quote.

What do you include in a proposal? Most importantly, every single proposal should contain the details related to the specific job or project you’re hoping to work on. That means you’re going to tailor each and every proposal to the individual job details. That being said - don’t think you need to spend hours on each proposal - it’s easier than you think.

Just as when you apply for a job your cover letter should address the details of the job description to show that you’re paying attention and applying to their specific job rather than a mass-mailing; your proposal will want to touch on those specific points right at the start.

Once you’re sure you’ve covered the specifics of the job, your proposal can go on to cover additional services that you would be able to provide, including how it would benefit their business and how it relates to what they’ve listed. This works well for web-based companies, and even if they’re not interested in your other services - they’ll be impressed at your level of professionalism and you will certainly stand out over people who send an email that says:

Thank you for contacting me. My rates are $20 per article of 500 words. Please contact me if you’d like to get started.

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