New freelance writers often wonder how to bid for writing work – and, more than that, how to write bids that land them the jobs. It’s a topic we’ve covered extensively over the years at Get Paid to Write Online. But before I give you a round up of bidding advice, I want to share an excellent resource I discovered only this week.

Dollars and Deadlines, by Kelly James-Enger, published a range of templates freelancers can use. Although I’ve got templates of my own, I liked Kelly’s approach and promptly bookmarked the page linking to all 13 of the bidding templates she shared. You’ll need to customize these so they suit your particular writing skills and profiles, but they are a great place to start if you have no idea about bidding (and even if you do!)

One more tip: start collecting examples of your work, with brief descriptions, that you can shoehorn into the templates as required. For example, pick your best article on real estate or your best blog post on pet care – you get the idea. Keep those links in a list with your templates to really streamline the bidding process.

And now, here are the links to previous bidding advice on Get Paid to Write Online:

• How do you Win Writing Job Bids? – by Dana Prince
• Seven Steps To A Professional Bid
• Freelance Bidding: The SMART Approach
• Freelance Writing Questions: How To Bid Successfully
• Querying And Bidding Strategies
• Writing Talk – Bidding Woes – a good example of what not to do

If you‘re a freelance writer, you write for more than one client ,and …have any control over your rates, there are a lot of things to consider in terms of setting your writing rates. I’ve had jobs that have paid great and jobs that have bled money.  I’ve made mistakes in setting rates and I’ve had scenarios go much better than expected. It’s a learning experience that is ongoing and I’ve made some rules for myself that typically helps my gigs bleed cash a little bit less often.

If you have an opportunity to set your own rates, which I highly recommend striving to do, consider many factors when setting your pricing. Here are a few things you’ll want to consider:

-How much you want to earn per hour and how many hours the job will actually take. It can be tough to estimate so weigh it carefully.  Don’t just think in terms of writing time. Consider research and time for revisions, conference calls, and any other time you’ll spend working on the project. (Tip: give yourself a raise on a regular basis!)

-Consider how they’ll pay you. If you’re doing the job through a bidding site, you could lose a chunk of change in terms of per job fee, membership fee, etc.  If payment will be via PayPal, what sorts of fees will there be? Different countries and different payment methods will impact the fees. There’s also the issue of exchange rates. Maybe you prefer your local currency or perhaps you prefer to bill in your client’s currency. Weigh this carefully as things like fluctuation of exchange rates and fees can add up.

-Is it a one-off or a client that could be ongoing? I don’t advocate dropping your rates drastically but there may be benefits to offering a slight discount for a bulk rate and a client that pays instantly,rather than once a month, for instance. And, if you don’t need a one-off gig because you’re busy enough already, consider plumping up that quote. What have you got to lose?

-Consider ease of doing business as well as the joy of doing the research and the writing when setting your rates. If you don’t love a particular type of writing, you may opt to charge a bit more to make it worth your while. If you find a particular client’s communication style difficult and find it more labour-intense to do business with them, it’s probably a good idea to ensure your rates reflect the extra effort involved.

-Consider what other writers charge for similar services. Talk to writing friends, look online, check out job bidding sites for insight. Maybe your cost of living or your experience level is different than the rates you find but some guidelines could be helpful.

Many writers accept rates offered by content mills, advertised writing jobs, or they bid low in order to win business. But setting your own rates and setting them adequately really does make freelance much more “free”. How do you set your own rates? My #1 tip is to help clients find you, rather than applying for jobs with a set rate. Have your website at the top of the search engines for the keyword phrases that relate to your writing specialty. Use tools, such as social media , to your advantage for self-promotion. And, present yourself well to prospects and chances are that you’ll command the sorts of rates that will make writing a profitable and enjoyable venture.

Have I missed anything that you find helpful in setting your rates? If so, please share!

Gotten a great testimonial? Hope you’re taking advantage of all it can do for you!

The other day, Sharon Hurley Hall was elated when she had a rave review from a happy client. Don’t glowing testimonials just make your day? Mine, too. One day this week I had a particularly difficult assignment and when I sent it off, I was waiting for it to come back with red pen all over it. But it didn’t. The client said, “This is great. Thanks so much for all your hard work!” If you’ve had great testimonials, don’t sit on them or smile and then file them away. Share them with the world. Seriously. Toot your own horn. It’ll help you immensely.  Here’s how:

-Add it to a testimonials page on your website. This page will show prospective customers how past customers have felt about your work. More content on your website equals more potential traffic, too. Every time you update your site, search engines could come visit to see what you’ve added and then send you increasingly relevant traffic. If you look at Sharon’s testimonial linked above, you’ll see another reason why clients find her and offer work to her.  Her testimonials help her with her online marketing. marketing. How? That testimonial is on its own page on her writing site with a keyword optimized permalink structure, relevant category,  and tags that relate to the type of writing and to testimonials. This strategy ups the chances that someone looking for those specific services will find Sharon and find out that not only does she offer resume writing services but also that people LOVE her work. I have a testimonials page on my website today but think I’ll take a cue from Sharon and re-create individual pages on my blogs for those reviews as well.

-Send the kudos out to the social sphere. Mention it on Twitter, Plurk, Facebook… wherever you hang out online. A prospective customer may read it and contact you for a quote. (Hint: This works well when you use the Twitter widget on your blog, too. Clients can see those testimonials in your sidebar when they browse your website to see if they’d like to approach you for a quote.)

-Add some short but rave reviews to your bidding template. Do you use a template when you apply to writing gigs? If so, a few blurbs about what existing and past customers have said about your quality of work could help tip the scales in your favour.

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to consider when posting testimonials:

-Don’t post the client’s name unless they give you permission to do so.

-Do consider linking back to the client’s site or the source of work you’ve done, if the client is agreeable and you aren’t going to be breaching any ghostwriting / confidentiality agreements, of course. Then, you can show prospects what all the buzz is about.

-Don’t be afraid to ask . If a client seems happy, ask them if you can have a testimonial. Offer to link to their site, if they like. Links are coveted online and offering a link could make your client jump at the chance to write a recommendation or… to sign off on a recommendation you’ve written for them about you. (A client of mine didn’t have time to write one but responded when I told him I was offering links on my testimonials page and he gave me the green light to write the testimonial for him and to tell the world how much he valued me. )

-Do consider joining and using LinkedIn. This site is great for creating a professional profile and networking. There’s a feature on the site where you can get and give recommendations and those are updated in your time line so those recommendations are viewable by others (after you approve their going live).  If people recommend you on LinkedIn, you may want to add those recommendations to your own site or blog as well. Don’t be afraid to recommend great clients on LinkedIn  and perhaps they’ll return the favour.

The next time you get a pat on the back, I hope you’ll use it to your advantage!

Do You Have a Summer Writing Schedule?

School is OUT for summer! Does summer slow down for your freelance writing career? For some writers, this is welcome. Some of us have kids at home, some of us like to get out more.  But some of us dread the dip in income and the scrambling.   Summer is here so here are some things you could do if your volume is slipping and you’re not so happy about it:

• Contact your existing customers and say Hello to ones you haven’t heard from in a while. Many of them may be on holidays so not ordering as much automatically but a bit of gentle prodding or a summer sale could get their attention. An approach I tried last year worked out well for me in a post I wrote for my customer blog that suggested that summer time was a great time for them to up their content publishing efforts. (Feel free to give it a read at: Summer Time, a Great Time for You to Make More Money Online)

• Do some marketing.  Raise your writing profile, use social marketing, do some article marketing, and you could get some new queries.

• Content companies. Many writers don’t like dealing with content companies and the pay could be lower than you’re accustomed to but if you’re not against it (or are in a pinch), many of them offer an all-you-can-write buffet, which could be the ticket to filling in some summer schedule gaps. (Options could include: Break Studios, Demand Studios, TextBroker, Internet Brands)

• Start bidding on a job site like Elance. You could grab some one-off gigs or find new long-term customers.

If you’d rather take advantage of  your lighter workload, you could also do the following:

• Finally work on that novel you’ve been meaning to tackle. Or, write and market an e-book for additional residual income that could help you through NEXT summer.

• Start some niche blogs or other content sites to generate passive income and more writing samples.

• Read. Read about writing, read about marketing your business, or read a few great novels that you’ve been meaning to get to.

Care to share any of your summer strategies?

Have a safe and happy summer.

A lot of writers have varying strategies that they use to stand apart from a crowd when bidding on a writing job either on a bidding site or when responding to an ad.  How do you do it? Care to share your secrets?

While I don’t win every single bid I place, I thought it might still help you to hear about some of what I think helps me win bids for writing jobs. Here are a few and if you’d like to share any of your tips please feel free to comment.

• Carefully read the ad / bid proposal request. You would be surprised at how many writers don’t and make themselves look unprofessional. There may even be a secret word or directions in the posting to make sure you’re paying attention. So, pay attention and you won’t immediately get disqualified.
• Customise your bid. There are certain aspects of bidding that can be done via a template response but if you customise the bid at least somewhat, you’re going to be sure to show the customer that you want the job. Show them that they’re worthy of a customised bid as many can see right through a canned response.
• If there’s any info about the company you’re applying to work for, look them up. Doing so can help you in many ways. Knowing who you’re applying to work for can help you better appeal to them in your application as well as to have enough info to best serve them when you win the bid.
• Check the buyer’s history. If you’re on a bidding site, checking history can tell you various things (depending on the site), such as: if they have positive feedback from other freelancers, what % of their jobs listed are actually awarded, and how much they’ve paid for similar services in the past. This can help you see if the buyer looks worth dealing with and give you information to help you create a winning proposal.
• Check out your competition (if possible). If you’re on a bidding site, you can often check out the profile of others who are bidding on the job. Then you know who you’re up against and can structure your proposal accordingly.
• Proofread your bid. All of it. I once spelled my own name wrong. Yep, that was embarrassing. I won the bid so correcting my name and explaining after the fact wasn’t fun. (Although, I suppose I could’ve continued letting them think my name was Dan)
• Offer something extra of value. Is there an additional service you can offer? This can help you stand apart from the crowd, particularly if you identify an area the buyer hadn’t thought of.
• Offer proof. If you’re bidding on a project for writing SEO articles, you could demonstrate where you’ve ranked well for a competitive phrase, for example. Don’t forget examples of work in their niche, if you have any.
• Link to testimonials. I have a testimonials section on my business site for this reason. Showing potential writing customers what past customers think of my work, with linking to their site and / or the project I worked on is definitely something I believe helps, in addition to sending someone to my online writing portfolio.

Not everyone uses bidding sites and not everyone sends job proposals to companies through blind ads, either. But, having a bidding strategy and carefully preparing can help you win more writing gigs.

(photo credit: www.sxc.hu/profile/iprole)

Just over a year ago, I wrote about my initial experience using bidding site Get A Freelancer. At that time I spent about $13 to land a project worth around $750 and considered that fair enough. GAF got a bad press from many of my readers. With the exception of a few who had been lucky like me, most comments were similar to this one from James Chartrand:

GAF was bad back then. It’s still bad now. I think all writers should stay away from the place, because it’s a definite arena where 98% of the buyers don’t give a crap about quality work.

One Year On

So, a year later, am I still using GAF? Am I heck! By the end of last year, as recession started to bite, it seemed to me that potential clients used that as an excuse to offer projects that paid even less  (if that’s even possible), while asking writers for even more. It just wasn’t worth it for me. I believe that writers should be paid fairly for their writing skills. Although I haven’t deleted my account, I’ve stopped subscribing to email updates and don’t plan to use the site again.

Who Should Use GAF?

I’m not writing Get A Freelancer off altogether. If you want to get paid to write and have absolutely no experience, sites like that can sometimes offer a way into the writing business. Just be careful not to take on so much work that you don’t have time to take advantage of better opportunities. Or spend the time writing articles for article marketing or your own blog – you might find that’s even more useful in the long run.

Bidding can be one of the hardest things to get right. Someone asked me the other day if I had a bidding template. I’ve discussed bidding before, but for those who missed it, here’s a snapshot of my approach to bidding.

1. Read The Brief

I start by reading the brief carefully so that I can identify how my skills match what the client wants. If they don’t, then there’s little point in bidding.

2. Introduce Yourself

The people I am writing to don’t know me, so I start my bid with an introduction. It basically says that I am a freelance writer/ghostwriter/blogger (whichever is most appropriate) and mentions how long I have been doing this job.

3. Cut To The Chase

Freelance writers can improve their hit rate with a great bid.

My potential client has little time to waste, so my next sentence cuts to the chase. It says why I would be perfect for the job. This can take different forms. Depending on what seems most important to the client, I may:

 

• list the different types of writing or blogging I have done that are relevant to the job
• include the names of some of my clients (those who are happy to be identified)
• highlight qualities such as being a native English speaker, good with deadlines and so on.

4. Back Up Your Claims

Next, I back this up with some proof, including links to my resume, testimonials and relevant examples of work (not too many), then I give my bid for the job. By the time I get to the figure, I hope I have already sold the client on my services.

5. Follow Up Info

Just in case there’s any doubt, I follow this up with:

• any relevant information I haven’t already mentioned
• the link to my professional website (as opposed to the specific pages I have listed earlier
• an invitation to the client to get in touch to discuss the bid further

Within this general template, there is some flexibility. For example, if clients ask specific questions, then I include the answers in my bid.

6. Creating A Template

Once you’ve done a few of these bids, you will be able to put together a single document that has versions of the usual sentences you use. This will help you to bid faster and more effectively. (I’ll be honest: I haven’t actually put them all together – at least, not recently – but I do keep an email folder with the text of my most successful bids so I can adapt them if needed.)

7. Keep It Professional

One final word – tone. Some people are good at making cheeky, cheerful bids that make the clients laugh their way into handing over the job. If you can do it and it’s right for the job, then go for it. I’m not one of those people, though, so I tend to play it straight. Although I use an informal style, I still aim for a professional appearance – there is no text speak in my bids. My bid is the first chance clients have to see my writing, so I make sure each bid is properly spelled and punctuated and grammatically correct.

Today, I’m happy to welcome Kerrie Spencer as a guest blogger. I’ve worked with Kerrie for a couple of years, and lately she’s been finding success with Elance, something that has eluded me despite success on other bidding sites. I asked her to share her secrets.

I’ve talked to a lot of writers who have nothing but bad experiences with Elance. This isn’t to say there aren’t bad things that happen, but if you know how to use the system, you can make it work FOR you rather than against you.

Getting Personal With Bidding

The main key to landing bids is how you place your bid! DUH! No seriously, bids should not be approached in a pro forma way, but in a personal way. And for heaven’s sake, use the Private Message Board (PMB) to pitch the potential client. Otherwise all and sundry (read your competition) will know what you said to land the bid.

The personal touch means talking to the person like they are – well – a person and not a client. Even if it means addressing them by their sometimes hilarious nicknames (we won’t go there!) just do it.

For instance if the nickname is a company name, just use it in your pitch. Talk to them like they were across the kitchen table from you swilling coffee. The people behind the call for bids appreciate being spoken to in a personal way. It also shows them you are approachable and know enough about human nature to take the time to personalize your bid.

When you join Elance, one of the first things they tell you is to personalize your bid. Would that more people would listen to that. I’ve read some really atrocious, stilted bids that came across like a bad infomercial. Fake even, more’s the pity. Clients aren’t so stupid that they can’t tell when the bid they get is thrown together.

Perseverance

Never underestimate the power of your bid. No, you won’t get everything you bid on for a variety of reasons: from your bid may be too high, to the client wanted someone with different expertise than you have. That happens. Just keep on bidding.

It takes awhile to get a following built up on Elance, so be prepared to work really hard for a long time. Choose categories you know you can write in and can prove it. Don’t try and wing it or that will show up on your feedback and take your percentage down.

Hidden Penalties

Having said that though, be aware that the price of the project you work on has as much to do with your feedback score as does the actual feedback received from client. More actually. If you work on a $50 project and get super feedback it actually lowers your ratings because the project amount wasn’t very high. Sucks doesn’t it? You bet it does, it means you’re being penalized for working for smaller amounts.

Don’t get me wrong, the Elance system can be your best friend if you work with it to the best of your ability. It has its glitches; for instance you can’t bid less than $50 on a job and there are jobs posted for less than that. You need to be creative to figure out the way to work the system.

Working with escrow bids is another whole can of worms that makes you rip your hair out by the roots. It’s designed to protect the buyer and the writer, but figuring out the milestones, changing terms of the business agreement, and funding milestones becomes a bit like a treasure hunt – one where you don’t always find the prize.

Paying The Price

Be aware too that Elance will charge you a fee between 6.75 percent and 8.75 percent when your project is completed. That is a percentage based on the cost of your project. This seems to be the reason why a great number of freelancers eventually opt to deal with their clients directly and vice versa.

While it makes sense for them to charge a fee, it can certainly cut into the bottom line unless your bottom line runs into the thousands of dollars. When you’re writing and doing it on your own, thousands of dollars takes a long time to become a reality.

Bottom line is? Elance is a good system that has it moments of inexplicable idiocy, but it’s better than anything else out there. Just remember to be personal. It will win you more business, and with some luck good friends who will give you repeat business.

For more information or to just drop by and say hello, Kerrie Spencer can be found hanging out on Elance or Spiritwriters. Feel free to email her on kspencer [at] sasktel [dot] net.

A post from Allena Tapia made me think more about the process of querying for freelance writing work. The post outlined all the stuff that writers sell to editors along with their idea when they pitch to a magazine. At the end of the post, Allena asked three questions:

How long do you spend on a query? Do you use a form letter that you simply change up? Any hints on streamlining the process?

I pitch most of my work to those buying web content, and I thought it was worth replying to those questions here.

Streamlining The Query Process

I’ll start with the last question first. I found it essential to streamline the querying process. If you want to win bids, especially when you’re starting out, you have to bid for a lot of work. That means you can’t be writing bids from scratch every time. That’s part of the reason I have an online resume and testimonials, so that I can send potential clients there to look at what I’ve done. (I confess that it’s not as up to date as it should be, but I am working on that.) It also gives me a handy list of links to my work so I can choose the appropriate ones when bidding.

A Matter Of Form

That brings me to the second question – the form letter. Yes, I have a form letter. It contains a paragraph which outlines my experience, a paragraph with examples of the writing I can do, a bid amount, a paragraph with links to my resume and testimonials and an invitation to contact me for more information. That’s the basis of every bid. However, I do change it depending on what I am bidding for. I change the examples and I highlight different parts of my experience.

Starting From Scratch

Sometimes I throw out the form letter altogether and start from scratch. In some cases, that’s because the form letter doesn’t meet the criteria. Some potential clients ask you to bid in a particular way, in which case I do. Sometimes something comes along that I’m so enthusiastic about that I want a fresh start. Only you will know when it’s right to do that. As an example, today someone posted a job about articles on house moving. As a serial mover, I have the personal experience as well as the writing experience and I wanted my bid to reflect that.

Taking Some Time

Allena’s first (or final, depending on how you look at it) question was about how long I spend on a query. Again, that varies. If I have bid template and only need to change a line, then I can have a bid ready in a couple of minutes. If I am starting from scratch and the stakes are high, then I may spend 20 minutes (longer, if I have to include samples or other supporting material). Here’s a tip, though. Whenever you do a bid, query or proposal that you think is really great, save a copy in a bids folder on your computer so that you can use the format again. And make a note of which types of bids work best for you.

As a sequel (sort of) to my recent post on bidding, I’ve written a post for Writing White Papers called Freelance Bidding: The SMART Approach.

It applies one formula for goal setting – the SMART approach – to the task of bidding for and winning freelance writing work. Have a look, and be sure to let me know what you think.