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

One of Get Paid to Write Online’s readers recently asked how one can compete with $1 bids on sites like Freelancer.com. When I joined Freelancer.com, I had the same sentiments about $1 bids and got discouraged at having to bid so low. So let me share some of my experiences and give you tips on using Freelancer.com.

Where to start

When you start using Freelancer, you have to sign up. You will then get an opportunity select the types of jobs you would like to do. Make sure you tick the notifications option so you are able to bid as soon as new jobs are posted. Schedule time each day to work through them as there’ll be a lot of emails – otherwise you may lose out on good work.

Types of writing jobs

There are a lot of projects for article writers but most of them want 500+ word search engine optimized (SEO) articles that pass CopyScape – and they pay only $1. Don’t fall for that. That fee per article is not worth my time – nor yours. I used to bid on everything just to get work (I was slightly desperate), but when I accepted work for a client ($2.75 per article) and I had to do research, SEO etc, I told him that I couldn’t do it – it was too much work for too little pay.

Ridiculous demands

And there are others. Having to do 25 – 50 articles a day. Not worth it (the pressure). Having to deliver articles two hours after they arrive. Not worth it. (This means your entire business has to be on hold.) The idea is to be your own boss. Agree to delivery terms that are comfortable for you and watch out for pushy customers. It’s got to be worth it for you. If the fee is too low and the workload too hectic, don’t feel you’re losing out if you don’t bid or delete the email. There will be a lot more work .

Finding work worth your while

Don’t be discouraged. Just keep checking the emails and bidding the price you want on the projects that interest you. I’ve learnt that buyers don’t necessarily award projects to people bidding $30 (minimum bid) for, because it doesn’t take long to learn that if you pay $1 for an article, you get what you pay for.

Fee structures

Don’t charge by the hour. You might work more hours than you expected and overcharge the customer – losing him in the process. Or you could finish quickly and get paid peanuts. Freelancer allows you to charge per project.

Value your time

This is very important to me. It doesn’t matter how new you are to the business, your time is also valuable. Remember that when you bid or accept work, people must pay you for your time, even if it is entry level rates.

Entry level rates

For 300 word articles you could charge $3.50, $5 for 500 word articles and $6 for up to 700 words. It doesn’t matter what kind of articles they are. Some people simply want rewrites and then you could charge $3.5 per article. The more you work the system, the more you will get connected to people and your rates will improve as your experience rises.

Allocating the right amount of time

Make sure that you allocate enough time for each project. I once agreed to a project of 10 articles (the fee was great) and I ended up working until one in the morning, and I was sick. Try not cutting it too fine and budget enough time for the project with a little extra for emergencies and power failures.

What the service costs

You get over 50 bid opportunities a month on a free account. A gold membership will cost you $24.95 and your allowed bids will rise by over 130. Each job you accept will cost you $1. Don’t give out personal contact details outside the site as Freelancer will penalize you by subtracting your allowed bids. Through more infractions you could see your account closed.

Work on a sample package

Almost every project owner will ask you for a sample first. So have your best work ready as a sample to show your prospective clients. Prepare a range of samples to suit different jobs, but be sure to have a search engine optimized, well researched article.

Some customers want you to write a ‘test’ article for them before they award you the work. Beware of this as in only one case out of 25 specific articles I have written have the clients actually awarded the jobs. The others I haven’t heard from again.

The only other advice I can give is to bid on as many jobs as you can (law of averages dictates 1 out of ten customers pitched will bite). Don’t put pressure on yourself and be desperate. If you keep on bidding and keep to your rate you will get work and it will be worth your while.

Ivin Viljoen is a columnist, scriptwriter, freelancer, blogger and published author. He blogs daily at Authopublisher.com where you can download his free Work from home ebook exposing working from home scams and providing resources for freelancing. Join the Authopublisher Forum for community Q&A and support.

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.

One of the mysteries for new freelance writers is how to bid for jobs. As a new writer, you often have no idea what to charge or what clients are looking for. Sure, you can write, but bidding is about selling yourself so you can get the chance to show your skills.

I’ll say up front that I’m not speaking as a bidding expert. In the days when I used to apply for jobs, I used to have a near 100% success rate with landing interviews. Bidding is much harder, in part because the competition is even stiffer. Still, although I get a lot of my work from my other promotional efforts, I’ve managed to win bids when it has really counted. Here’s what I’ve learned.

1. Choose Your Targets Wisely

OK; I’ll admit that the more you bid, the more chance you have of getting a few wins, but there’s no point in bidding for things that you are not qualified for. My most successful bids have been those where I have been able to bid with confidence because:

• I have done that type of work before
• I have published clips I can show
• I know the field well
• I know where to find relevant information

Here’s a recent example. I happened to see a project on GetAFreelancer for someone to write some financial articles. It happened that I had written on this subject for other clients, knew the terminology and knew the sites that would make good sources. That meant that I matched the client’s requirements; all I had to do was prove it.

2. Make A Match

In this instance, the client had a list of points that he needed bidders to address. They related to the subject matter, the keyword requirements, the type of English (UK) and the deadline. My bid addressed all of these issues. Here’s what I said:

I am an expert keyword article writer. I have ghostwritten more than 150 articles on rent back, quick house sales and repossession and I understand both the legal process and how to stop repossession with a quick house sale.

I will provide error free, Copyscape proof rewrites in UK English within the specified deadline. Please see my website (http://sharonhurleyhall.com) for further examples of my work and testimonials from my clients.

My bid is based on a rate of $xx per article, which reflects my expertise in the topic. I look forward to working with you. My rewrite sample is pasted below.

As you can see, my bidding letter was very short. I highlighted:

• my expertise
• my knowledge of the client’s target subject
• his requirements
• additional reasons to hire me
• the rate I required

My bid was a combination of selling myself generally as a writer (establishing my expertise and providing testimonials to support this) and showing how I could meet the client’s needs.

3. Show What You Can Do

Sometimes clients want proof that you can do the job they plan to hire you for. It’s true that sometimes this is a scam, but at other times it’s on the level. You’ll learn to distinguish between the real cases and the BS. I’ve had to provide two samples recently. One was for the bid above; the other was for another site, which said that I would not be paid for the sample, but that I would own the copyright. Under those circumstances, I had no hesitation in writing the sample required. I saw it as an investment, which matured quickly when I got a paying gig.

4. Clarify The Brief

I find it useful to ask a lot of questions up front. Some things may seem small, but in my experience, the more you find out at the start of a project, the more likely it is that you will be able to deliver it successfully. In the GetAFreelancer project, I realised half way through that I would be short one article, so I asked the client if there were any keywords he wanted me to reuse. In fact, I communicated with him throughout the project, whenever I needed clarification. This kept things ticking over smoothly and he was happy at the end.

5. Deliver

Once you’ve followed those four steps, it’s really up to the client. As writers, we are no longer in control. However, once you clinch the deal, then it’s up to you to make it work for you. Deliver what was promised when it was promised and you will get good feedback, referrals and even more work. You’ll also gain the confidence to make more successful bids.

Technorati Tags: freelance writing,writing business,bidding

I signed up with GetAFreelancer a couple of years ago, yet I’ve only just completed my first project with them. This is my review of the experience.

Getting Started With GetAFreelancer

First of all, let me tell you why it’s taken me so long to get started.The first reason is because I was busy. I’ve hardly had any down time since I started freelancing. The second reason is because many of the projects on that site offer ludicrously low pay. I’m not just talking about 1 cent a word, but far, far less. Just like Guru, Elance and others, it’s an international freelance marketplace and you are competing with people who think that getting $1 for a 500 word article is a good rate.

GAF Gets A Second Chance

So, why did I even bother giving it a second chance? Well, I decided that I needed to bid more to meet my ever increasing income target. Part of my motivation came from participating in the Inkthinker Query Challenge 2008. I figured if I needed to query more then I needed to check out more bidding sites, and I decided to give GAF another chance.

A Quality Project

I happened to log on and see a financial rewrite project that looked promising, so I decided to bid. This wasn’t the usual $1 a rewrite nonsense, but a project from someone who was prepared to pay more for quality. However, there was a snag. I only had the basic membership, which was free. If I wanted to bid for this project I needed gold membership, which is $12 a month. I decided I could afford to invest $12 in my career, paid up by Paypal, and submitted my bid with the required sample. One PM and phone call later, the project was mine.

Making Sure You Get Paid

Now, here’s one place where GAF scores – the escrow system. Once the buyer awarded the project, he placed the agreed funds in escrow, so I knew I would get paid on completion – and I did. But then there was another issue – your first payment from them has a 15 day delay on it (I can’t figure out why). This means that even though the buyer released the funds straight away, it will be another two weeks before I can transfer them to Paypal. That sucks, but at least I know they will pay up straight away for the next project.

Another plus point is that I only have to pay for what I use. When my gold membership expires at the end of February, I won’t bother to renew it until there’s another gold member only project to bid on.

GAF Profile

The profile feature is pretty basic, but probably tells everyone what they need to know. Mine has not been updated since I originally signed up, and I’m sure I could do something to make it more appealing. That said, I’m pleased to have found a decent paying project on what seems to be a low paying site. GAF takes a $1 fee for transferring my funds to Paypal, so all in all, my project expenses are $13. It was worth it.

A Final Tip

Most importantly, I now have that all important client review – and here’s a tip. Even when bidding on multiple sites, there’s nothing to stop you from referring clients to your best positive reviews, no matter where they are located.

Technorati Tags: bidding,getafreelancer,writing business,writing career,freelance writing