Elance Series: Part 1
Why...A Little Background
|tease start|With so many freelance job and gig listing sites, it can be hard to know where to start. As a freelance writer, who has scoured the different sites searching for a niche, I have come to appreciate the ease and professionalism of Elance.com. Over the next few articles, I will show you why Elance has worked for me, how to get started and how to be successful with your Elance experience. Keep writing!
With so many freelance job and gig listing sites, it can be hard to know where to start. As a freelance writer, who has scoured the different sites searching for a niche, I have come to appreciate the ease and professionalism of Elance.com. Over the next few articles, I will show you why Elance has worked for me, how to get started and how to be successful with your Elance experience. Keep writing!
Part I - Why...a little background
When it comes to being a military spouse, successful work is flexible work. If you can get creative, you can make a career happen. Knowing that you have a plethora of marketable skills is not the problem; it's knowing how to market those skills that can be tricky. That's where a service like Elance comes in. On Elance, you can search for, bid on, get hired for and get paid for jobs that you might not even know are available. Discover jobs that fit your talents and interests and get paid for your expertise as a world-traveled, educated, independent military spouse.
It's fast
Searching online for work can be daunting. Even when you look through consultant or freelance job ads, you may find yourself wading through vaguely named jobs or unclear posts. Elance streamlines that process. You can search for jobs in your area of expertise and filter further by field or general compensation. You can quickly hop on each morning, check what's been posted and move on with the rest of your day. Depending on your niche, just 15 minutes to an hour a day is all it takes to keep up with the job offerings.
It's Easy
A simple confusion over how to apply can be an obstacle in getting many jobs out there. "Do they want a cover letter? Do they need me to tell them my fees? Do they need a resume? Do I even want to send a resume to some random guy?" Elance erases all those doubts. When you click on a job, the right side of the screen gives you space for bidding. In a little white box, you write a simple cover letter, highlighting your fabulous experience and perfect fit. Below that, you will find little boxes for your fee per hour or job and the length of time you will need to finish it. You can even upload some files, in case some piece of your portfolio should be attached. It's that easy! Now you just wait to get an email from the provider if you are chosen. In the meantime, you have more bids to make!
It's Expansive
If you are just starting out as a freelancer, you may not know exactly what you want to do. If you studied one field, worked in five others and are interested in still others, you find it difficult to narrow down your niche. Military spouses often have this dilemma as we often take jobs as we can get them, developing the most eclectic resumes. Elance offers an almost endless number of opportunities. Bid on whichever posts piqué your interest and fulfill your job skills. You may find a new career path that you didn't even know existed.
It's Safe
Elance allows you only a limited number of jobs bids per month, depending on whether you try the free option with 10 or some of the paid options. As you search around jobs with a pocketful of job bid chances (or connects), you click on posters' links and find information about anything else they have posted. If you find they post jobs on Elance all the time and receive positive feedback and prompt payment, you can rest assured that your bid won't be thrown into an abyss. Furthermore, once you get a job, you can work on it with a timer widget that will allow your client to see how many hours your spent. And when nit comes time to get paid, Elance offers an Escrow option that ensures you get your fair wages. Sounds a lot more comfy that writing an email back to the unknowns of an online job post, doesn't it?
Next week's installment: How to Get Started
Tiffany Silverberg is a Navy wife and independent writer. Tired of rebuilding a career every three years, she set up a home office and started writing. Four years later, she has found a career writing for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. With experience ranging from grants to blogs, online and offline pieces, Tiffany Silverberg has the flexibility and passion necessary to be a successful military spouse freelancer.
www.tiffanysilverberg.com
Disclaimer: featuring Elance does not imply endorsement by the NSMN. Elance is one of several online options for freelancers and consultants. It is simply the preferred provider of our writer. We encourage you to research the best solution for your needs.