Freelancing on the Web
by Alan Oak, Member and Monthly Columnist
The
big fantasy is to give up the nine-to-five, hang out your shingle on
the Web, and start raking in dough as a freelancer. Finally, you’ll
get the pay and respect you deserve, yet get to wear pajamas all day!
Alas, it’s not quite so simple. There are some great freelancing
opportunities out there on the Web, but, in the end, freelance success
comes from building relationships with people.
Finding Work on the Web
Michelle Penn, a freelance résumé and business writer, recommends finding work on the Elance and guru.com Web sites. The sites are similar to Ebay—a buyer posts a job on the site, freelancers bid, and the buyer selects a freelancer based on price and ratings by previous buyers on the site. Penn says she’s won contracts for “résumés...essays, articles, bios, press releases, marketing letters, and various types of reports.”
You can also find freelance and contract work on the regular job and ad sites, as well as professional sites, like:
With a good marketing plan, online marketing—with Google’s AdSense, for example—can bring potential clients to you.
Don’t forget about your Web site as an online portfolio. “An online portfolio is a BIG thing!” says Louellen Coker, LSC senior member and president of Content Solutions. “It’s never done, but it’s a way to market yourself passively or actively.”
It’s Ultimately about People
Successful freelancers will tell you it’s not as easy as logging into a few Web sites and posting up some Web ads. Coker says:
It’s important to know that you can’t just market yourself on the web. After all, you’re selling your expertise to another person, not another computer. You have to build relationships, you have to become a part of your community, you have to get your name out there in other ways—direct mail, presentations, newspaper advertisements, cross-links in blogs, and the list goes on indefinitely.
That makes sense. People will buy standardized products on the Web without hesitation—computers, books, appliances—but are more reluctant to buy personalized services and expertise. And that, after all, is what you’re selling as a technical communicator.
When Kirk McElhearn, a freelance writer specializing in Macs and iPods, was asked if he finds business online, he said, “No, I have all the work I can handle, and most new work comes via referrals.” Coker says much the same thing: “100% of my clients are the results of relationships that I have formed.”
Even in the case of a Web-intensive freelancer like Penn, who gets 90% of her business online, ratings and referrals from former clients on Elance and guru.com are important for attracting new clients.
Use the Web to Build Relationships
The obvious use for the Web for all freelancers is to build relationships, and that is what Web 2.0 is all about.
- Link to your Web sites in your e-mail signatures.
- Participate in forums and discussion lists.
- Blog.
- E-mail newsletter.
- Comment on blogs.
- Network on sites like LinkedIn or Facebook.
- Do anything you can to be helpful and let people get to know you and your business.