by Amanda on May 12, 2009
Choosing a freelance writing job to bid on with Elance isn’t as simple as just logging on and placing a bid and there are a number of things that you should take into consideration before you do this. There are some tricks and tips that can help you make the most of your bids (connects as they are called on Elance) and not waste them.
Connects are explained in the previous post http://ghostwritinguncovered.com/Blog/elance-fees-and-connects-explained/
When you log into your Elance account and go to the Writing and Translation category to find jobs there are a few things that you should do. I always choose the show all category so that I can see a list of all the jobs that are available. Here’s a screen shot of what you should see:
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by Amanda on April 28, 2009
This week my series of articles focus on Elance. Elance is a website where you can bid on freelance writing jobs. It is a paid membership website and this week I want to give you the ins and outs of using Elance, why it’s a good idea to have an Elance account, and how to place bids on Elance. There is a lot of information to cover so be sure to check in daily to read more.
First off let me say I joined Elance back in 2004 and have been a member ever since. Is it something I regret, definitely not. Elance was my starting point as a freelancer and I have gained a lot of knowledge and great clients through Elance.
Do I recommend people join Elance?
Yes.
If you don’t have an Elance account then maybe you should get one. If you are just starting out you might think that you can’t afford to pay a monthly membership but I do believe that $9.95 per month is justifiable.
Like most people you have probably heard that bidding websites should be avoided because they pay peanuts and some of this is correct. Elance however have been around long before these peanut paying jobs started infiltrating the markets and my guess is that they will be around for a lot longer too. With Elance the minimum bid you can place on any job is $50 and the majority of people who place jobs on Elance do so in the knowledge that they will have to pay for this work.
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by Amanda on January 20, 2009
If you’ve been freelancing for a while you probably already know the answer to this question:
What’s The Worst Mistake New Freelancers Make?
If you’re new to freelancing or thinking about getting started then keep reading because you will want to know the answer to this. Believe me, it could save you a lot of hardship and sleepless nights.
Most freelancers start off using bidding websites such as Elance, Get A Freelancer, or Guru to name but a few. When you log into these websites and find a job you want to bid on your have to include your price and the amount of time that it will take for you to complete the job.
I have underlined the last part of that paragraph on purpose because this is where you can make big mistakes. I’ve made them, as I’m sure many others have and it is because of this that I can share this knowledge with you.
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by Amanda on January 13, 2009
If you are one of the many people deciding to make the transitition into ghostwriting in 2009 then you are going to want to know where to start. Now I could plug my ghostwriting Uncovered manual here but I’m not going to. If you want to buy it you can 
Today I want to list all the websites I know where you can bid on ghostwriting jobs. I probably won’t be able to list them all so if I miss any that you recommend be sure to place them in the comments. I would like to be able to compile a very comprehensive listing here on The Hidden Writer so that anyone looking for ghostwriting jobs will know where to start. I would also like it if people would post their opinions and experiences with these websites in the comments section because that way we can help prevent time wasting.
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by Amanda on January 12, 2009
This post is bound to stir up some contraversy but it is something that I have been thinking about since doing my first coaching session with a friend of mine last week. I was explaining to her how to use Elance and how to word her bids so that she might stand a chance of winning the job she was after.
So anyway after logging into Elance and getting her to pick a job that she would like to bid on, I set to work showing her how to word her proposal and showcase her talents. The next part was putting a cost on the project. I found myself explaining to her that she would have to bid low in order to get her first job and feedback rating. It was a transcription job and she like myself would have around 10 years experience doing this type of work. We set a bid price of $75 for typing up 7 seminars with a completion date of three working days. Now I know what everyone is thinking….OMG $75 how could you?
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