You may already have an idea of which area, or “niche” you'd like to enter. If so, that's great. Either way, I recommend you at least skim through the following list of gig ideas and service marketplaces to better know your options.
Elance.com
Elance is one of the most popular online marketplaces on which to find work as a contractor. There are thousands of potential clients on this site looking to hire consultants to do a large array of different jobs, from simple data entry to complex, full time gigs with lots of responsibility.
Sometimes you'll hear people knock Elance because it can be hard to land decent paying jobs. And there's definitely some truth to that.
When an employer posts a job, there are often dozens, if not hundreds of contractors who bid on that job. And many of the applicants are from developing nations like India or the Philippines. Yet many of them are quite educated, skilled, competent, and ambitious. More importantly, they're willing to work for a lot less than a contractor from a developed country.
Yeah...I'd say that competition willing to work for a few bucks an hour can definitely pose an obstacle to getting hired! The second major obstacle is that, initially, your Elance profile won't have feedback from any clients since you won't have completed any jobs yet. And most employers would rather hire somebody who already has a proven track record than to take a chance on an unknown contractor who may or may not deliver the goodies.
Now this all may sound very intimidating. But in truth, if you can sit down and bid on jobs for a day following the guidelines I'm about to share with you, you will probably get your first job that very day. And if you do a good job on the work, you'll have your first 5-star feedback shortly thereafter!
Guidelines:
1. Write a personalized, juicy application message.
I have personally hired consultants from Elance, oDesk, freelancer.com and similar sites, and most of the application messages I received were either spam (“Dear Sir, We have reviewed your job requirements and can surely do the job for you! Awaiting your reply...”) or a bland one liner (“Hey, I can do this job.”)
Most employers also ask applicants to include a random word, say “giraffe”, at the start of their application message, to prove they've actually read the job posting and aren't just blanket-spamming a bunch of employers with copy & paste messages.
In the end, out of dozens of applicants, an employer might get two applications that actually appeal to him. They are usually short, personalized, demonstrate an understanding of the job requirements, and are cordial.
I have personally hired consultants from Elance, oDesk, freelancer.com and similar sites, and most of the application messages I received were either spam (“Dear Sir, We have reviewed your job requirements and can surely do the job for you! Awaiting your reply...”) or a bland one liner (“Hey, I can do this job.”)
Most employers also ask applicants to include a random word, say “giraffe”, at the start of their application message, to prove they've actually read the job posting and aren't just blanket-spamming a bunch of employers with copy & paste messages.
In the end, out of dozens of applicants, an employer might get two applications that actually appeal to him. They are usually short, personalized, demonstrate an understanding of the job requirements, and are cordial.
2. Use the client's first name. Twice.
Use their first name once in the opening --- “Hi Bill”, “Hi Maria”, “Hi Dave”, etc. --- and once towards the end, e.g. “Thanks Bill, talk soon.”
This adds a personal touch without assuming an unbusinesslike level of familiarity. This leads to the next guideline.
Use their first name once in the opening --- “Hi Bill”, “Hi Maria”, “Hi Dave”, etc. --- and once towards the end, e.g. “Thanks Bill, talk soon.”
This adds a personal touch without assuming an unbusinesslike level of familiarity. This leads to the next guideline.
3. Use professional yet human language
DO say “Hi”, “Hello”, “Thanks for getting in touch”, etc.
Do NOT use “Hey”, “What's up?”, “What's happening?”, “Yo!”, etc.
DO keep it short and to the point.
Do NOT ramble or go off on a tangent.
DO rephrase the client's requirements and ask for confirmation that you've understood them correctly.
Do NOT refer to the job generically, e.g. “I've done this kind of job before.”
DO be specific, e.g. “I've written several articles for the Huffington Post on relationships.”
Do NOT rattle off unrelated professional information to “fluff” your application.
DO calmly and confidently state if you've done similar work and that you can bring the project to a satisfactory completion within “x” amount of time.
DO say “Hi”, “Hello”, “Thanks for getting in touch”, etc.
Do NOT use “Hey”, “What's up?”, “What's happening?”, “Yo!”, etc.
DO keep it short and to the point.
Do NOT ramble or go off on a tangent.
DO rephrase the client's requirements and ask for confirmation that you've understood them correctly.
Do NOT refer to the job generically, e.g. “I've done this kind of job before.”
DO be specific, e.g. “I've written several articles for the Huffington Post on relationships.”
Do NOT rattle off unrelated professional information to “fluff” your application.
DO calmly and confidently state if you've done similar work and that you can bring the project to a satisfactory completion within “x” amount of time.
Years ago I bid on a job to ghostwrite an eBook for a client on oDesk. Out of almost 100 applicants, the client chose me to do the job. And it certainly wasn't because of my experience; I had logged exactly zero hours as on oDesk contractor! But he was impressed with my well-thought-out, personalized message (and even told me so). So he took a chance on me. All it takes is just a little more effort than the next person is willing to put in.
Tags : progressive insurance,elance,part time jobs,allstate insurance,freelancer,online jobs,graphic design,
work from home,freelance,data entry jobs,earn money online,freelance jobs,working from home,graphic designer,
web developer,jobs from home,graphic design jobs,
Tags : progressive insurance,elance,part time jobs,allstate insurance,freelancer,online jobs,graphic design,
work from home,freelance,data entry jobs,earn money online,freelance jobs,working from home,graphic designer,
web developer,jobs from home,graphic design jobs,
0 comments:
Post a Comment