Most freelance jobs are trades. Contract freelance jobs are typically called projects. Freelancers are essentially contractors and being a contractor means regularly searching for employment. There are two ways a freelancer can hunt for jobs: online and locally. The best place to look is online. However, exploring both job search methods is still a crucial part of freelancing.
Searching for Freelance Jobs Online
The internet has several freelance sites and job boards with a wide array of companies seeking to employ a contract worker or freelancer. The key is knowing which sites work. Remember to never pay for membership to any freelance job board. Because there are so many job boards out there for free, there's just no reason to use a paid site unless it's highly reputable and doesn't cost much. Even then, be careful as there are several freelance scams floating around the net. Losing money as a freelancer can be a scary thing
The following is a short review of some of the top freelance job boards on the net.
elance.com: Elance has been around for several years and was one of the first to create a job board specifically for freelancers. However, this site has since lost it's luster in more ways than one. The problem with elance is that at least every project has over 40 bidders. This is a problem because with the increased amount of competition, its less likely the freelancer can obtain projects.
Another problem is the big name company takeover; that is, that the entire site is mostly controlled by huge overseas companies and individual freelancers will often lose bids to these companies because they have the ability to offer cheaper services. Another problem is the fact that elance only gives freelancers a 3-6 proposal limit per month unless they pay for membership and then even still, freelancers are not given unlimited applications; only 20. Suffice it to say, elance has made some improvements in recent years but not enough to keep most of their original individual freelancers around.
odesk.com: Odesk.com is fairly new when compared with other freelance job boards. They give freelancers a 7-application-per-week limit. However, they force freelancers to ace a test about their website before they are even able to apply for jobs. The test is difficult, as some of the concepts were not clearly explained in the FAQ section. Once the test is passed, freelancers are free to apply to various jobs. The only issue about odesk is that the pay scale for writers is absolutely atrocious, averaging around only one dollar per article flat-fee. A freelancer has to sift through a massive amount of low-paying projects to find something worth his or her while. This can become a rather tedious and frustrating process, often resulting in freelancers leaving the site.
In short, online freelance jobs are a dime a dozen. Some will be great opportunities, others will not. The key is to find a steady gig and then search for projects. One cannot survive in this world, especially these days, without some type of steady gig. Some great places to find steady gigs are monster.com, careerbuilder.com, and mediabistro.
Offline Job Searching
Searching for jobs offline is often something that freelancers really miss. While having an online presence is important, when times get slow and there's a need for an immediate project, it may be quicker to search locally. This really depends upon where one lives, however. In rural areas, this might be impossible, but in urban areas a freelancer should have no problem pounding the pavement and doing a little footwork to find immediate projects.
The needed materials are:
- Business cards: Not the kind on printed stock paper with perforated edges, but decent and professional looking cards. If finances are an issue, quality stock paper can be purchased from stores like Best Buy for a very reasonable price.
- Targeted brochures: For example, if a business provides services for students, independent professionals, and businesses. There should be three targeted brochures; one for each target group. Student brochures would typically be placed in a library, the one for professionals can be placed in a busy office building downtown, and the business ones can either be mailed out to local businesses or to save on stamps, envelopes, and paper they can be passed out by hand.
- Professional attire: Though freelancers are generally a laid-back bunch, they still need to dress professionally. Not necessarily wear a business suit, but dress up a little when meeting with potential clients or attending local events for networking purposes. Jeans and a T-shirt will not suffice.
Of course there are dozens of places one can go out and network, in fact there are too many to list. Those were just some basic examples that have been proven to show results.
Freelance Writing, Art, and Design Jobs
Today's job market is heavily niche-focused. This can be troublesome for freelancers because freelancers need to have a very broad set of skills in order to make a living. The key is to market the most popular niche.
An artist who draws comics and paints oil paintings should first start by marketing his paintings. Paintings not only make more money but its easier to market paintings than comics. A writer who offers grant writing and academic research should market both. Essentially, the key is to market whatever is popular or sought after.
Because the job market is so specialty-based, there are now various job boards specifically for writers, designers, or artists. They are too numerous to list but they are worth searching for. Each freelancer may prefer a different job board.
 |
