Freelancing sites (like People Per Hour) can be a major opportunity for freelance writers, artists, graphic designers, IT professionals and many others, but how can you stand out from the crowd, use these sites to your advantage and improve your annual bottom line? Here are five tips to increase your success on freelancing sites.
- Post your best work – Most freelancing sites have a place for you to post a portfolio of your past work – use this to your advantage! Post your finest work and ensure that it displays correctly.
- Set reasonable, competitive rates – Ideally, you should always set your rates at a level that makes you happy and values your work appropriately – but at first it is a good idea to start your prices on the low end of the scale, in order to amass positive reviews from pleased clients.
- Schedule, schedule, schedule! Success on freelancing sites depends greatly on your reviews and ratings from your clients, and a positive review often depends on a timely delivery. Do NOT take on more work than you can handle, and ensure you deliver on time.
- Do NOT give free samples – When a client asks for a free sample, you need to assess the situation carefully. If they want a sentence or two, proceed with caution. However, if they ask for a full piece of work or anything more than a small piece of work – feel confident and just say no.
- Bid early, and bid often – When you build your own clientele and high rankings clients will come to you, but until then you will need to bid on jobs and win the trust of those seeking a job well done.
Already using freelancing sites?
If you are already using these kind of sites, and you will continue to do so, it may be worth looking into setting up a limited company.
For any help setting up your limited company, or to find out if setting up is the best choice for you please get in touch.
