Today, I was reminded of how important it is for writers to play smart when they bid on Elance. An Elance contractor posted a tale of woe in the Elance Water Cooler, outlining a situation in which he won a job that paid hourly. He worked hard all week, submitted his timesheet, and now it seems he may never see any of the money he earned. How did it happen, and what could he have done differently?
Archive - Bidding smarter on Elance
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Why you should NEVER hit “Submit bid amount later”
If you search for work regularly on Elance, you know that buyers often omit key project details—such as a page or word count—that you need to calculate your bid.
In cases where you are left with questions that need answers, the logical solution is to submit a proposal that introduces to your services and requests additional information from the buyer. Because you can’t predict yet what your fee will be, you check off the “Will submit bid amount later” option and send it off to the potential buyer.
This approach is logical, professional—and totally wrong. Here’s why you should ALWAYS include a bid amount with your proposal…
Two Elance buyers you don’t want to work for
When it comes to finding work on Elance, learning to avoid difficult buyers is as important as learning to spot the good ones. It’s not always easy (and sometimes impossible) to glean a buyer’s potential from the few words posted to the job description, but here are a couple of phrases to keep an eye out for…
Should Elance writers work on commission?
Commission-based assignments can seem attractive to skilled writers, offering the potential for considerable extra revenue based on the power and effectiveness of your writing efforts.
Although working on a commission-only or contingency basis is not allowed on Elance, working for a flat or hourly rate PLUS a bonus is allowed, and you will sometimes see Elance writing jobs that advertise this type of payment structure.
But before you decide to bid on these kinds of jobs, consider the following points…
