Going Out and Getting the Gigs - Using Outside Sources
June 22, 2008 |
Who’s Hiring Freelancers?
A look at the job boards (see below) reveals that freelancers are needed by organizations small and large — from media companies to the Fortune 500. Publishing houses and magazines create a steady demand for freelance writers, copy editors, illustrators, artists, and proofreaders. Software companies contract with developers, tech writers, and web application specialists to meet various needs throughout the project life cycle. As mentioned in Types of Freelancing, agencies, like City Staffing in Chicago, even hire freelancers as employees to service their own clients.
If you are a writer, the Writer’s Market is the de facto standard resource for writing jobs. You can locate a copy at your public library or subscribe to the online version. Also, check out Helium, a web site that promotes writers to prospective content buyers.
A Sampling of Freelance Job Boards
While the major employment web sites like Monster, CareerBuilder, and Yahoo! HotJobs also list freelance jobs, there are a number of job boards targeted directly to the freelancer.
Guru
One of the best well known is Guru.com. Guru was launched in 2000 as “A2ZMoonlighter.com”, just as the dot.com phenomena was at its height. Many talented individuals who were then employed by venture-backed startup companies soon found themselves out of work and flocked to services like Guru to help them find work as freelancers.
Guru’s interface is very straightforward and freelancers can use the site to either look for projects posted, or they can fill out a profile and list the work they do and the rate they charge. Clients who have used your services can post a rating, and a favorable rating, in conjunction with a competitive hourly rate, can help you win future work over your competitors on the board. You pay a small commission to Guru for brokering the transaction.
Elance
Another popular freelance job board is Elance. Founded in 1999, Elance was established “to help small businesses easily and efficiently hire freelance talent” according to the site.
Elance works on a bidding system where the best (not necessarily the lowest) bid gets the job. Once again, if a company has experience with you, they can post a rating and that will figure into the decision process for future employers.
iFreelance
iFreelance is run by Internet Brands, Inc. who also licenses the popular vBulletin forum software. Clients can either post their projects to have members submit bids to them, or they may contact members directly. Freelancers subscribe to be an iFreelance member at Basic, Silver, or Gold level, the difference being the amount of exposure the site gives you. There are no commissions beyond the membership fee.
BitWine
Billing itself as an online advisory service, BitWine provides freelancers with an opportunity to share their expertise online with clients for a per-minute fee. Founded in 2006, it uses the Skype platform to communicate and PayPal for its payment system, for which both parties must have accounts. BitWine is less about projects and more like per-incident help desk work.
Other Job Boards
FreelanceSwitch, a web site for freelancers, has compiled an impressive list of freelancing job sites.
How to be a Rockstar Freelancer
Bidding on Jobs
As mentioned above, many of the freelance job boards use a bidding system for awarding projects to service providers. For a price conscious client, or one on a budget, your low rate bid might win the contract. However, as with anything else in life, the lowest price may not represent the best value. Experience counts for something, and with everything else being equal, the freelancer who has some high ratings to show for past work performed is more likely to win a competitive bid over one who has no ratings.
But you have to start somewhere, so in the beginning, you may have to post some low bids to get the work. As you gain some experience — and high ratings — you will be able to up your asking price.
The following is offered by Lori Redfield in her blog, FreelanceMom.com:
- Before bidding, research the client. See what other jobs they have posted in the past. Get a feel for which providers they choose. They may only choose low ballers. If that is the case, you might not want to bid. Or, you might want to low ball simply to get your first gig and get feedback.
- Check what the client has left for feedback. If they have given low feedback, check out the provider they gave it to. If that provider has great feedback in general - you might want to think twice about working with this buyer.
- Make sure your bid is original. Don’t copy paste the same text into different bids. That means, REALLY read the project description and address it in your bid. The more familiar you seem with their project, the more your bid will stand out from the rest.
- If they have a website, visit it and try to casually comment on it if it seems applicable.
- The tone of your bid should be somewhere between friendly and professional. You don’t want to be too casual, but you don’t want to be too uptight.
- Don’t sound desperate. Do sound confident.
When you are looking over the competitive bids for a given project, don’t get discouraged with what look like ridiculously low bids. If you are a true professional and know what the job is worth — and more importantly — what your time is worth, then place your bid confidently knowing that clients accepting those low bids are not the ones you want.
Writing the Pitch Letter
In some types of freelancing, notably writing, it is customary to approach prospective publishers, editors and other publications people with what is known as a pitch letter (or sometimes a “query letter” or “proposal”).
The pitch letter is used to convey a proposal to write a piece or series of articles on a topic with the idea of generating interest in your offer. In many ways, it’s like writing a press release to a newspaper to generate interest in creating publicity for some event, product, or person associated with an organization.
Here are some important points to keep in mind when writing your pitch letter:
- Become very familiar with the publication you are pitching to. You want to make sure that you are aware of the audience and industry they serve, the types of features they publish, and the general image they project to the public. Convey your understanding in your letter.
- Find out who in the organization has the power to hire freelancers and the type of needs they have.
- Be creative, witty, entertaining, and imaginative in your pitch. Introduce a fresh idea. Your objective is to gain their attention, create interest in your proposal, and motivate them to want to move forward.
- Learn what the lead times may be for the type of deliverable you intend to sell.
- Keep it short. Your letter should be one page or less.
- Convey why you are qualified to write the piece. Mention any educational background, specialist knowledge, or previously published work.
- Try to find out if the publication has writer’s guidelines that you may need to adhere to.
- It goes without saying that your letter needs to look professional without typos and misspellings and contain a formal salutation to the proper editor.
- Try to be specific as to how long the piece will be and in what section of the publication you feel would be most appropriate to include it.
- You may include supporting materials with your letter, such as clips (samples of your work), your bio, awards you may have received, etc.
Just like sending unsolicited resumes to prospective employers, expect that you’ll receive a fair amount of rejection. Always follow best practices by following up shortly after sending your materials either via email or phone to determine if there is interest. Persistence is the key to any successful marketing campaign.