Anyone use GAF / Freelancer.com - have tips for my 1st time there?

Hi -

I'm considering joining freelancer.com / etc. to promote my web services.

But I have never used any of those services as a buyer or seller.


Anyone have any tips / tricks for using freelancer.com, or gotchas/things to watch out for when getting started?


Should I start out as a 'paid' member (and get that gold star or whatever it is) ?


I searched online and couldn't find any good indepth information with tips on setting up an effective profile, etc., on the freelancer sites.

I'm hoping someone here can shed some light and help a noob out!

Thanks!

Please let me know if I should be asking this in a different forum / section, or maybe another forum somewhere. If I posted on the wrong section, please excuse me, I'm a noob here Thanks.

I have moved your thread here because you are asking about how a freelancer can establish himself/herself on a site like Freelancer, Elance, oDesk, etc, and the overall experiencing on being a part of crowdsourcing website.

This forum matches your request. If there is anyone with the experience of being a provider on such resources, I am sure they will share some tips.

Is there another forum or website where I can find tips and info, if you don't have direct experience with GAF/freelancer.com. Didn't find much with my google searches. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

I had a direct experience with these type of sites, but on the consumer sites. I found that most dominating providers are the ones from India, Nepal, Russia. Low cost, but a lot of times poor quality of work. They kill most bids with low prices and unsuspecting clients then have to hire local resources to either finish or correct some of the things they've rushed through.

That, of course, depends completely on the complexity and scale of the task. If I have something simple that needs to be done, I don't mind hiring anyone who can offer that at best price.

I figured by emphasizing my USA location and quality services - I'd maybe have a small 'advantage' over some of the other bidders (from India, etc.) HOWEVER, some of them are pretty good and quite a few have been on there for a while - and have accumulated many HIGH ratings.

I'm not sure I can compete on those sites - what do you think?

Is it worth becoming a 'paid' and 'verified' member in order to help with credibility?

I'm still hoping folks speak up here and let us know what the best approaches are to these buyer/seller sites.

Thanks, Artashes, for your reply!

Originally Posted by FreelancerUSA I'm not sure I can compete on those sites - what do you think?

That of course depends on your trade. If you are a coder, then you might have more competition landing a job than if you were a designer. If you are a graphic artist, I, as a client, look at someone's portfolio, and then it doesn't matter where the person is located. If he/she is producing phenomenal work, I will hire him/her.

Artashes is spot on with the phenomenal work mark, but for me honestly I would rather not be paid for a bit on a site while I am still checking it out and poke around. Sometimes I will register at a place and just read for the first week or two, checking things out to make sure its something that works for me or not. I have dozens of sites bookmarked and sometimes I can not always get to them daily either, so while you are checking things out to make sure the site works best for all you can do (say its a site about writers and designers and you only do one, maybe look for a writers only site, etc.).

Originally Posted by FreelancerUSA Hi - I'm considering joining freelancer.com / etc. to promote my web services. But I have never used any of those services as a buyer or seller. Anyone have any tips / tricks for using freelancer.com, or gotchas/things to watch out for when getting started? Should I start out as a 'paid' member (and get that gold star or whatever it is) ? I searched online and couldn't find any good indepth information with tips on setting up an effective profile, etc., on the freelancer sites. I'm hoping someone here can shed some light and help a noob out! Thanks!

Well I just started on all Freelancer.com (previously GAF), Guru.com and a few others. My best advice is to realize that you're not going to get a steady stream of income from those sites right away. However, you can get some income within your first few days of joining. The key is to understand that no two freelancing sites are exactly the same. They all have similarities but when it gets down to how many bids and how they take their share out each works completely different. So read up and understand each one.

For example Freelancer.com takes out $5 or a percentage whichever is higher as soon as you win a bid. For your very first one they cover you however. Whereas Guru.com for example just takes out a percentage at the end when your paid.

Now for the part about making money. The key and I really suggest this to anyone getting in on the start, is to bid a of a lot lower than you normally would. Because the key is to get some completed projects and more importantly client reviews up. Once you get some of them you can start asking for more. I literally did my first few jobs at about half of what I normally charge.

Also if you plan on auto-bidding, well just save yourself some time. You will find that clients only respond to custom tailored proposals that actually repeat back some of their points/concepts. I sorta chuckle to myself when I see a staff member of one of the sites put up a test bid that clearly states "DO NOT BID" and has no project description and you still see like 15 or so auto-bidders posting their responses like "Let's start today! I can get this done for you!"

I personally have been using the free accounts so far. But I am now considering moving up to the next level on a few of the sites. Especially Guru.com as it seems to be my main moneymaker right now. But obviously that could change overnight at this point. But I recommend starting off small unless you are a full-fledged firm. If your an individual freelancer like myself when then just take the economical approach. I let the site buy the memberships for me.

I'm a new member there since 1 month also and i have already won 2 projects.
No need to star as a paid member, it is useless.
Bid a little less than the others, never describe your project in the bidding but rather write a "see your pm for more informations" and send him a pm to describe what you will do for the employee.
Provide the most details possible and if possible also a sample of your work. Try to be at the place of the employee and work as you work for you. Try to be different from the others bids.