It's no joke, securing projects in the freelance marketplace is a job in itself. You must be prepared to work as hard at finding contract work as you would at completing the work when assigned. And working hard doesn't mean mechanically sending out proposal after proposal with little thought given to nature of the work and your ability to successfully complete it. Securing a job, in the freelance marketplace or otherwise, requires a system. You must develop a process for identifying your desires and talents, as well as implement a plan to secure the work.
Regardless of your freelance background, you must be willing to add the roles of businessperson, marketing guru, salesperson, and financial whiz to your list of skills if you want to survive and thrive. Unfortunately, the majority of Freelancers do not see themselves as businesspeople but instead identify themselves as part of a specialty group: web designer, writers, programmers, etc.. These Freelancers hit a brick wall when trying to secure projects because they have no plan for securing work other than applying. They struggle with the need to sell themselves and fail to develop a plan of attack that will make the best use of their non-freelancing time.
This article will help you begin to create your plan, but it is not a comprehensive guide to landing freelance work. Reading this article will not guarantee you work anymore than reading a book on Mother Theresa will guarantee you the ability for infinite compassion. However, it will steer you in the right direction and give you the tools to begin revamping your approach to freelancing.
Create a detailed profile and resume that highlight your skills. Working as an independent contractor means selling yourself. For the majority of people, this is the most difficult aspect of the freelance marketplace. However, without the ability to sell yourself as a product - the best product - you won't gain any ground in this industry.
When creating your profile and resume, remember that you don't have to give someone your life story and detail every job you have had starting with the ice cream parlor attendant position you held in 10th grade. Since you are selling yourself, take the time to create a resume and profile that highlight your skills and accomplishments while, at the same time, being brief. Employers are busy and generally spend five seconds on a resume or proposal before clicking to the next one. If something doesn't catch their eye within those five seconds, it's a safe bet you won't have another chance to convince them you're the Freelancer they need.
- Create a detailed profile and resume that highlight your skills. Working as an independent contractor means selling yourself. For the majority of people, this is the most difficult aspect of the freelance marketplace. However, without the ability to sell yourself as a product - the best product - you won't gain any ground in this industry.
- When creating your profile and resume, remember that you don't have to give someone your life story and detail every job you have had starting with the ice cream parlor attendant position you held in 10th grade. Since you are selling yourself, take the time to create a resume and profile that highlight your skills and accomplishments while, at the same time, being brief. Employers are busy and generally spend five seconds on a resume or proposal before clicking to the next one. If something doesn't catch their eye within those five seconds, it's a safe bet you won't have another chance to convince them you're the Freelancer they need.
- Upload Work Samples that detail your skills and showcase your work. Although Employers can see your resume and proposal, allowing them to view previously-completed work will offer a view into your talents that is unmatched by pure text.
- Create Package Deals that market specific, bundled services to Employers. Guru and Guru Vendor members can upload up to five packages - marketing their offerings directly to the Employer in a concise, informative way.
- Spend the time and personalize each proposal to the Employer's needs. Employers are not only looking for someone with the skill set they asked for, they are looking for someone who is in sync with their thoughts about the project. If you send a canned response that does not speak about their project or organization, you are sending the message that you don't care or have the time to communicate with them. This lack of time or caring issue will carry over to their impression of how you will handle their project. If you can't take the time to write a personal response, how will you manage the time to complete the project?
- Submit a Premium proposal to indicate how serious you are about working on the project. Premium proposals are sorted to the top of the Employers' Quotes page and are distinguished from standard proposals by an icon. They are the first proposals to grab an Employer's attention and because they cost more bids to submit, indicate to Employers how dedicated you are to acquiring and completing their project. Only Guru and Guru Vendors can submit Premium proposals.
- Indicate your desire to use SafePay. It is the safest way for both Employers and Freelancers to transact.
- Avoid communicating in the first person. Your resume and proposals are not meant to serve as an autobiography. Ultimately, Employers are not interested in John Smith; they are interested in a PHP programmer with experience relative to their industry and a talent for communication across various groups. When writing any document for an audience other than yourself, avoid using the first person (I, me) and rephrase your accomplishments to reflect what you did to help XYZ company succeed in the Y2K challenge or how you managed to lower the IT budget by migrating from an outdated legacy system to Linux.
- Focus on quality over quantity. Though it is tempting to spam Employers as you feel there may be nothing to lose, spamming not only takes its toll on you by making you work hard to send out proposal after proposal, it affects your approach as well. No one can proposal-spam successfully. Eventually, all spammers resort to dry, canned responses that are ignored by Employers. This creates a lose-lose situation for both parties as you become frustrated from sending out hundreds of proposals and the Employers become annoyed by receiving numerous quotes that do not relate to their project. Focus on the positions that interest you the most and fit in with your skill set the best and hone your proposal to snap up those projects.
- Don't let rejections deter you. Securing work of any kind is a tough business. For every twenty or more proposals you send out, you may receive one response. Dealing with that type of rejection takes resilience and the more you have of it, the better off you will be in the independent contractor world.
- Re-evaluate your approach often. Ask a friend or colleague to review your documents and your approach and give their honest opinion. Would they hire you? Though your resume and proposal text may have worked wonders last year, this year and its economy are a whole new ballgame. You need to take into consideration the changes in the marketplace and modify your attack plan to suit these changes.
- Be proactive in your marketing by seeking new contacts, avenues, and methods to showcase and discuss your skills. New companies and opportunities for Freelancers pop up every day and it is your job to stay on top of these developments and use them to the best of your ability. That being said, evaluate the methods you are currently using against the return. If you realize that you spend the same amount of time on three freelance avenues, though you only receive work from one, you may wish to consider shifting the time spent on the first two to the third. Abandoning those opportunities altogether may not be the answer, however borrowing time from them may be. If you spend 30 percent of your time on three venues, borrow 15 percent from the non-returning venues to allow you to spend 60 percent of your time with the company that grants you the most work.
- Make sure all your documents are free of spelling and grammatical errors. Though your work as a C++ programmer often does not require you to be an expert in grammar, the person in human resources will likely perceive you as a poor communicator if your proposal and profile are lacking in the proper grammatical structures. And, as time has shown, all people need to be solid communicators to survive and do well in the job market.
- Complete all projects assigned to you in the most professional and time-conscious manner. Good credentials and a well-developed track-record go a long way to securing future projects.
- Research has shown that 60 to 75 percent of the jobs filled today are filled through referrals. People are comfortable when dealing with those they know. If an Employer is looking for a marketing analyst but doesn't know anyone personally, he is likely to consider a referral from a colleague a great deal more than a blind submission. Every time you successfully complete a project remember to ask the Employer to endorse you, so others in his or her Guru.com Network will see you as a recommended Freelancer.
As a professional in the freelance marketplace, you have to arm yourself with the information and tools needed to achieve success. By approaching job searching in the same way you would approach a hunt, with hunger and a cache of tools to achieve the end goal, your success is guaranteed. |