If you are having this same problem you are not alone. You’ve probably thought life is so unfair and employers are opportunists, taking advantage of the employment drought. But that is not always the case.

I couldn’t forget my interview with John Jonas when he said “When you get a job, keep the job” I’m sure John has some great experience why it made such an impact to him. But the question is, how do we keep the job and turn from being a part timer to a full time, full pledge freelancer.

1. Speak Your Mind

– It’s been taught many times and preached repeatedly how important communication is. So speak your mind. Getting your idea across is essential to ensure that you and your client are working on the same page. It’s actually a common mistake to us, that we keep things to ourselves when we have doubts or hesitations instead of saying right there and then. And the longer it gets stuck in your mind, the more destructive impact it will make if those hesitations and doubts turn to be an essential element for you to deliver the needed results. Don’t be overcome by pride that will tend to make you feign that you know things. Accept that you need an answer to all those questions at the back of your mind. Don’t guess. You’re job is not to be a clairvoyant or a psychic.

2. Learn to Negotiate

– before you can keep the job, you must learn how leverage your negotiation skills to be able to get the job. Negotiation simply means becoming more flexible in many terms or aspects like schedule, pay rates, scope of service and other issues. It means agreeing on certain terms that is tolerable to both parties and would bring out mutually beneficial working relationship. Negotiating means sacrificing a part of your comfort zone but not necessarily a lost but a reduction only.

3. Underpromise but Over Deliver

– alright, I know sometimes we tend to become so engrossed in writing those cover letters and proposals but be very careful, you might just end up ruining your career by giving too much assurance to your client. One basic rule, be REALISTIC! Don’t promise the whole universe. They might believe you. Stick on what you can deliver, and when i say deliver, I mean delivering with excellency. It means giving a wow factor to your client’s experience.

4. Don’t Get Stuck

– Don’t let yourself stagnate on what you know, strive to learn new things that you can offer to your client’ and his future needs. Exercise those brain cells! Or else, you’ll get eaten up by the younger, more energetic, affordable newbies. Keep up with the trend in your field and you’ll never regret you did.

5. Ask for Feedback

– if you’ve worked with someone for years already, don’t get too relaxed and so secure. Times change, moods sway, and most of all, this world is full of surprises. And the worst surprise you’ll ever get is a final handshake from a client whom you “thought” was satisfied. Asking for feedback or evaluation on your performance is a good way of thwarting this kind of situation. It will make you aware of where you stand and what step you should make to resolve any issues that may be critical in keeping the business.
Image source: www.businessandleadership.com

1. Watch your price tag.

One of the most influential factors that will affect your bid or proposal is your freelance fee. For some obvious reasons, (which I’m sure you know) that service buyers hire freelancers because of the savings they can actually get. And there’s just one carnal rule for this, “Don’t let your price tag skyrocket that buyers can no longer reach it nor give it at rock bottom price that even Paypal would be ashamed of charging a fee for it.”
Remember, you are a freelancer, you need work but you have bills to pay and needs to suffice, so charge accordingly. Think of the trending that the other bidders are offering and make it as competitive as possible. You can either go down a bit, (tolerable range) or raise a bit higher but still at a reasonable price. And if you would charge higher, make sure that your resume or proposal would also show why you are worthy of a higher fee.

2. Don’t be afraid to bid, but bid wisely

There are jobs that require a certain set of skill depending on the service buyer’s preference. And there will be times that you will not be able to meet all of them. Does that mean that you shouldn’t try and bid at all? Not necessarily. You must consider if the skill needed is really a requirement. They will indicate if its the main skill needed or just an additional factor that may help you in getting a more favorable standing. If the job posted is article writing and sometimes they may indicate that knowledge of HTML would be an advantage, you can still try it out. That is of course at your discretion, which brings me to my next point.
GetAFreelancer gives 15 bids per month to its regular members and would increase by one every month, Odesk gives a maximum of 20 bid allotment for a member who have passed the Odesk Readiness Test, while Elance provides 3 connects only for a free membership. You can purchase additional if your bid runs out.
Considering these details, bidding for a project should therefore be thought wisely. Bid on a project that you think will give you the highest probability of being hired. You might just end up losing a good opportunity because of an unwise choice. So bid wisely, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to spend for another bill while you are still looking for a source of income. Unless you plan on getting an upgraded membership that would cost $12/mo for GAF and $9.95/mo for Elance then using the free membership is still preferable option.

3. Be an early bird

If you are looking for a job, procrastinating or any other form of delay will make your job search miserable. Much the same with a freelancing. So, bid early. Keep yourself up-to-date. Subscribe to an RSS or anything that will keep you informed as soon as jobs are posted. The earlier you bid, the greater the chance that you can get the job especially if there is a sense of urgency for the position being offered.

4. Make your Proposal Stand Out

For about six months that I’ve been working for a recruitment agency, I probably have seen thousands upon thousands of curriculum vitae, both the good and the not so good ones. Not all of them caught my attention. Some have just passed liked an ordinary letter, but others stood among the pack. It’s like separating the colored from the black and white. But if you really want to get a job, make an effort to make it stand out. There are resume’s that are being sold from Resume Planet or you can also visit free-resume-tips.com to give you the basic concept of a simple but attention grabbing curriculum vitae.

5. Maximize the interview part

This portion will actually make or break all the efforts you have made from the previous tips. So don’t ruin what you have started, build it even stronger. Remember, this is not your usual person to person interview where you can be intimidated by the person’s looks. It will either be on your regular regular or through some VOIP service. So get out of the chicken coop or the garage and head to some quiet place where you can understand each other clearly. Relax, that is probably the best thing you can do. If you anticipate too much of the technical side you might end up failing on the simple ones. As what Brian Lamb said, “My basic approach to interviewing is to ask the basic questions that might even sound naive, or not intellectual. Sometimes when you ask the simple questions like ‘Who are you?’ or ‘What do you do?’ you learn the most.”

6. Build your reputation

Publilius Syrus said:
“A good reputation is more valuable than money”.
In freelancing if you want to earn a lot of money, nail a bid easier, a good reputation is one of the keys you should have. Every interaction with a client or prospective employer is an opportunity to build a good reputation. Maximize that opportunity and never missed out on it. Protect your job by protecting your reputation. Build your authority by banking on reputation. That is how important reputation is. Feedbacks will reflect what kind of character you have. And getting a bad feedback will kill your freelance career. Guard it with your life. As a final thought, Warren Bufftett has summarized it in his words:
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently”.