Okay, maybe I’m not quite an expert in Odesk yet since I’ve only been working there for more than 2 months. But in those 2 months, I’ve successfully obtained 18 contracts (14 fixed price projects and 4 hourly jobs), 6 of those currently active and ongoing (3 fixed price and 3 hourly), and my overall rating remains at 5 star. I’ve also successfully raised my hourly rate, and I’m happy to say that my current rate is more than double the current average hourly rate of Philippine writers in Odesk. If you’d like to see the trends, check out the Odesk oConomy. I think that Filipino freelancers continue to underestimate themselves, however, as our rate is pretty low compared to other countries.
But anyway, if you haven’t heard about Odesk before, let me give you an overview of it. It’s basically a global freelancing market, where freelancers, also known as “contractors,” can post their profile, bid on projects, and find clients/employers all over the world in need of their services. There are actually a lot of sites similar to Odesk, including Freelancer.com, Elance, Guru, Rent a Coder (now known as vWorker), etc. I haven’t exactly tried all of them yet, but I’ve tried some of them, and I still keep coming back to Odesk because I believe it’s the best freelancing market out there.
Anyway, if you’ve just began your freelancing in Odesk, it can look very tricky to you, and you may not be sure where to start. Well, here are five tips to help you get started. (Actually, these tips probably apply to any freelancing platform you choose)
1. Read up!
Honestly, sometimes it’s very exasperating to see posts in the Odesk community about people asking why they still can’t find a job, only for you to check out their profile and see that it doesn’t contain anything at ALL. Really, how can anyone help you if you don’t help yourself out first?
I actually became a member of Odesk in November 30, 2010, but it was only in February 2011 when I started bidding on projects. Well, I was working as a full-time registered nurse back in November, so I was rather busy, but I also wanted to take the time to understand how Odesk works before bidding on any project. This is very important if you want to avoid encountering problems. Truly, there’s a lot of great information to be learned in the Odesk Learning Center. And you should definitely read the Odesk policies so you can find out how to protect yourself from any scams, and avoid doing something that could get your account suspended.
2. Work on your profile
After reading all there is to know about Odesk, the next thing you need to do is work on your profile. You need to market yourself in the best way possible – you need to highlight your skills and strengths, and let clients know what YOU can do for THEM.
Though it may be your aim to find a well-paying job to feed your family, that’s not exactly the thing to put in your profile. Clients want to know what you can offer to them, not the fact that giving you a job will provide food for your table. So concentrate on what the clients wants, on the best skill you have. Highlight that skill. Add your employment and educational background. Place something in your portfolio. Take tests related to your skill. That’s one thing I love about Odesk, the fact that it offers free tests to help you get your foot in the door. Having good results in tests can literally help you land that first job. (It helped me)
3. Decide on your hourly rate
Well, this is certainly an important decision for you to make. Do you go for a low rate so you can easily land a job and get some feedback? I know that some freelancers have used this strategy, starting out small and working their way up to the rate they really want. But some also got stuck in their low rate, unable to raise the bar because clients are only willing to pay them what they were paid before.
But I’ve also seen some people successfully land that first job without compromising their rate in the beginning. They stood firm with their hourly rate, and are now enjoying success in their field.
Well, honestly, I leave this decision up to you. I think that both can be utilized with success, but a reminder if you’re thinking of going for a low rate first: I don’t recommend going for a super low rate, like $1 to $2 or even less, as you may get stuck in those rates forever. It’s kind of a red flag to see someone working for that low a rate, and it’s practically exploitation really. I’ve seen people working for $0.50 an hour, and I’m truly shocked. It’s just utterly madness in my opinion, as I don’t think that’s enough to even pay for your Internet connection.
You can check out the Odesk oConomy so you can have an idea of average rates for different freelancing jobs. If you’re curious about what I employed, well, I started out with a rate of $5/hour, but I actually decided to go for fixed price projects at first. I guess I wasn’t yet comfortable with the idea of someone taking pictures of my screen (as with hourly jobs), so I thought it was a good way to get my feet wet. After garnering some 5 star feedback with fixed price projects, that was the time I finally decided to look for hourly jobs. I got my first hourly job at $6/hour, so not bad, don’t you think? And my rate is a lot higher now.
4. Start bidding
Finally, it’s time to start the bidding process. Find jobs that fit your skills and talents, and then bid on them. ‘Coz however will you find any jobs if you don’t bid?
I’ve seen people in the Odesk community posting that they want a job, but you can see from their profile that they haven’t bid on a single project. It’s truly exasperating. Though yes, you may occasionally be invited to a project by a client, this typically happens only when you have a lot of good feedback already and have proven yourself to be an “expert” in your field. If you’re just starting out, you need to bid a lot and bid hard. Write a cover letter that will knock the client’s socks off. Make yourself stand out among the competition. Try not to sound like a broken recording. Be unique. Be different. Learn how to sell yourself in your cover letter.
5. Don’t give up!
My last tip for those starting out as freelancers? DON’T GIVE UP. Yes, it may be discouraging to continually get rejected, and you may be getting tired of drafting those wonderful cover letters only to get declined again and again, but you can’t give up now. You should give it a month at the very least. A month of bidding, taking tests, improving your profile, bidding some more, the works.
Sometimes it takes a while for clients to reply to contractors who bid, so don’t easily get discouraged if you don’t hear from them for days. And continue bidding. Maximize your job application quota. And don’t stop learning. Yes, even as you bid on projects, try to take the time to learn something new to help you become a better freelancer. You don’t want to be stagnant. Learn the best way to sell your talent and skills. And soon, a client will take notice and finally take the chance on you.
Honestly, I still remember that great feeling of landing that first job in Odesk. I wanted to skip around, and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I admit I was lucky… I landed the job in just a few days of bidding. But I made sure that I had a good profile with some good test results and a bit of portfolio.
Yes, you can be a successful Odesk Freelancer as well. You just have to believe in yourself and not give up. I hope you find these tips helpful to you. Here’s to your success as a freelancer!
