Hello friends, in the first part of this article I shared a few basics of earning money online with freelancing. I talked about odesk and how to sign up and complete your profile. In this part I will share in a bit detail on how to complete the rest of your odesk profile and how to apply for jobs.
Odesk is a freelance marketplace and it lets you search online jobs and then get hired. You will have the freedom of working from home. This is a platform you can both learn and earn. I personally learned a lot of thing about business, marketing & personal branding.
If you are a complete newbie in odesk then things will be a bit confusing at the beginning and you will find that bidding and finding a job is hard. But fear not because if you follow my tips, you will do good.
Let’s continue!
Did you know that clients can look for you and hire you directly? When you have completed your odesk profile and it is optimized you will have more chance of appearing in search and getting hired. And getting hired means you can earn money faster. This is where you have to be creative and professional. Start by writing your odesk title. You are allowed to write just a few words in there so make it count.
For an example I wrote this:
You can include your skills and what you are good at. People usually add keywords like: photoshop, CSS, HTML, MS Word, Adobe Premiere Pro –software and tools work better in reaching new clients through search. I am a wordpress designer so I added “WordPress” in my title.
Then here comes the description section. In this part you have to be creative and write a brief description of your skills and what you can do. It can work like an introduction. It is better to add the things you can do in bullet points. You can also paste links here. I have posted my portfolio link and video testimonial links from youtube.
This has really increased the number of searched that bring in my profile. So try to write a good and informative description, try to sell your services. Give them a reason to contact and hire you. Do not copy-paste descriptions/bios from other people.
Your hourly rate is important. It should not be too low or too high. People, who join freelance marketplaces like odesk or elance, make a big mistake by charging less money per hour. When you set rates like $2-3 –the client looks at you and feels you don’t have the skills or confident enough to take this jobs. Not everyone at odesk looks for cheap labor. There are quality clients out there who will hire quality prices. So set your prices competitive enough.
For an example you are a logo designer. Search for logo designers and look how much these top designers have set the rates. Now they usually set more than what they get paid. So click on one of them and look at the works they done. How much they got paid? If their hired rate is $12, then set your rate to $8-10. Or even a slightly less dollar. You are newbie here so set less than what they are going.
The number of hours you have worked on odesk and the feedback you receive determines how much work you will receive and how much income you can generate. As a beginner you have no control over this one so you better start bidding on jobs and get some hours recorded. Aim to get at least 1 hour, then 10 and then 100 hours as your ultimate goal. It will take time but try to do it. In odesk quality beats quantity. You don’t have to record 1,000 work hours. Just work less and charge more.
For an example I have just a low number of hours in odesk, I am a member since 2009. But my hourly rate is $25 so I earn more money with fewer hours. When you work on client sites, be a good provider and you will get 5 star ratings. In order to get 5 star ratings in odesk, you just have to be a good communicator. Be fast in responding emails & messages; be available on skype. Improve your English speaking skills.
Now that you know how to complete your professional profile at odesk, in the next article I will share how you can write cover letters and get the actual job. I will also share some advanced tips on online earning through freelancing. Thanks!
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