I recently submitted a freelancer proposal on surefirehire.com for the creation of a simple application. I assigned a freelancer to a project based on their bid.

However, I made a small mistake. The mistake was that when I created the requirements, I left out an important detail. The particulars of the  detail are unimportant in this illustration. What is important, and a lesson learned, is to be very detailed when defining requirements for freelancers.

• Don’t leave proposal requirements open for interpretation.
• List roles and freelancer responsibilities and employer’s responsibilities clearly.
• Document exactly what you wish for the freelancer to provide
• Even go so far as to document what you don’t want the freelancer to do.

Avoiding This Freelance Requirement Pitfall

A strategy to avoid this allow another person to read your requirements as if they are the freelancer.  A lot of time, they will have the same questions that a freelancer may have.  Plus, the questions asked will ignite your thought process around the freelancer’s application requirements.

Freelancing is a very rewarding career path – your time is yours, you choose your projects and you have no boss to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. There are many benefits of being a freelancer; and with the economic down turn in the recent months, taking the reigns on your own career is a wise move in this time of pink slips and downsizing.

I have been freelancing since I graduated college. In fact, I have been taking small writing assignments and projects when I was in college to help me augment my allowance. I found freelancing very convenient and rewarding, and it’s just the path I want to take. It has been five years since I took my career in my own hands, and I would like to share with you a few things to help you get started as a freelancer.

Define Your Area of Expertise

Before marketing yourself in the freelancing and outsourcing niche, ask youself, “What do I do best?”  It is very important for you to define your area of expertise. Are you an excellent writer? An efficient link builder? An innovative graphic designer?

Carve a niche for your skill set. Don’t try to market yourself as an all-around freelancer, because let’s face it, everybody knows no one is great at everything. It is simply quite impossible to be able to perform every imaginable service or task for a client. That is, if you want to produce mediocre output for your clients.

I remember making that mistake a couple of years ago. I presented myself as an all-around, go-to gal. I wrote original articles, rewrote articles, designed blog templates, coded HTML and CSS. Yes, I was able to produce a good enough outcome, but not so great that I can be proud of my work. It was mediocrity at its finest, and my client was none too pleased with the output.

So don’t learn it the hard way. Pick certain areas that you can specialize in and perfect the skill set. Make it so that every client will always want to work with you again and again and again. Remember, when you specialize in a specific field, you can command more for your service.

Build Your Portfolio

There is nothing more of a turn-off to prospective clients than a freelancer bidding on a project and presenting no proof of his skills.  Sure, you are new at freelancing, but that does not excuse you for not having a portfolio. If you have yet to land your first project, you need to work hard and build your portfolio. Create sample articles or even mock designs and templates that showcase your talents and skills. Give it all you’ve got and make sure your samples will impress your prospective clients.

Have a Website or Blog

A website or blog works side-by-side with your portfolio.  I personally find it quite baffling when a freelancer, virtual assistant or graphic designer does not have a website or blog, especially if majority of his or her projects come from freelancing sites.

If you are a writer or a virtual assistant, a simple website showcasing your portfolio, your profile, your objectives and your contact information will do. If you are a graphic or website designer, it is imperative that you put your best foot forward and create the best possible design or website to present your skill and expertise.  Not having a website defeats the purpose of marketing your services online.

Join a Freelancing Website

Offshoring and outsourcing has boomed in the last decade. Along with this came freelancing websites and networks that connect businesses that are in need of help in some way and freelancers who are able to provide their services.

I am sure that you will find it very easy to join freelancing networks. After all, it’s only one Google search away. Once you have joined a network or two, make sure to fill your service provider profile and to showcase your best works to attract prospective clients.  Finding clients and landing projects is easy when you join a freelancing website, because everyone who would need your service is already there. You would only need to put your best foot forward.

These are just a few tips to help you jumpstart your freelancing career. But don’t forget, the most important qualities of a great freelancer – hardworking, patient, and able to manage time wisely. Add the tips you have just learned and you’re on your way to success.

article written by guest blogger:  thebloggermom

Example

mfubibRT @surefirehire:Freelancers and Employers Resource and Free Job Listings: http://bit.ly/5Huuv

p.s.  thanks for the RT @mfubib

Why is it important
The number one reason why RT is important, is that you can pass along freelance jobs, posted to twitter, from  http://www.surefirehire.com to your network of followers. They will appreciate the job opportunity. Hopefully some day they will return the favor.

Shorten URLs from you Browser

Shorten urls for Twitter, and other social sites, from your browser: http://is.gd/

how tweet it is

• First, if a freelancer wants to be rehired, they will not burn their bridges.  In fact, a common goal of freelancing is to find repeat clients.
• Second, surefirehire has a rating system in place, similar to Ebay.  Check the freelancer’s previous comments and rating.
• Lastly, draw up a contract, or leverage from an existing contract that states what exactly you are trusting the freelancer with and the terms.

I hope this helps to ease your concerns.  Get started today.

I also ask, if you are a freelancer, please comment.

 Surefirehire.com freelancers are available to ensure your staff over-heads stay at a minimum. Apart from reducing your business’ exposure to the risk of employing staff, even those on short/fixed term contracts, using Surefirehire.com to source staff allows you to access freelancers with a high skill levels from developing economies. This means that you may end up paying less for a highly qualified website designer than you do to the guy who cleans your car! Although this may seem immoral to some, one has to acknowledge the fact that we live in a globalized economy and folks living in India simply need less cash to live on than folks living in Indiana and therefore they can charge less money to do the same jobs. Surefirehire.com brings together people who are looking to get the highest quality of work completed with those who have the highest levels of skill, although the most experienced freelance staff will charge higher rates, there are many freelancers with great talents looking to break into the freelance market who are willing to work for a lower fee and a good recommendation.

 Surefirehire.com gives freelancers the best opportunity to market their skills and talents to the most lucrative employers. If a freelancer is looking to increase their earning potential they can use the unique systems incorporated into the Surefirehire.com system to make sure employers know how much they are worth. This means that as an employer you can see examples of a freelancers work, or check out who they have worked for before you (and most importantly what was thought of their work) before you even begin to communicate with a freelancer.

 Surefirehire.com has given me the chance to find great opportunities to using my technical skills to boost my income, I have had to compete hard to be the winning bidder on the right projects, but it has definitely been worth it. I have used freelancing as a way to build a career in an industry I wanted to move into. As I develop my own on-line portfolio I am looking forward to using Surefirehire.com to source gifted individuals who will help me survive as a business man in this economic climate.

Guy Cross 

I created an opportunity on surefirehire.  The requirements were simple:

• Job listings from surefirehire.com, sent to twitter
• Automated
• With frequency
• shortened urls

The freelancer who completed the work is 49DollarLogo (don’t let the name fool you).  The product was flawless; furthermore, I have a foundation for sending any data that I want to Twitter (I wish I could send my dry cleaning to Twitter).

If you are looking to hire a freelancer with twitter skills, create an account today.

http://twitter.com/surefirehire

Tweelancers are cool

The author argues that to combat an economic down-turn, instead of laying off an employee, consider dropping their hours and allowing the employee to work for another employer at the same time.

If I were the employer and employee, I would take this approach one step further.  I would augment my staff by hiring freelancers too.  In this example, the employee who is working only ten hours for the given employer, now has the time to take on freelancing opportunities.

Create your own economic stimulus package Today by hiring freelances on surefirehire.com!

• If possible, always attach a sample to your bid.
• Two, the freelancer should include the number of years of expertise for the freelance opportunity
• A quick summary of why you should be awarded the freelance opportunity
• Lastly, and my favorite, add a suggestion to enhance the project.  This will help you stand out in a crowd of freelancers (be careful not to be critical, but helpful)

All of these tips on how to get awarded more freelancing projects, demonstrates your ability to anticipate the need of the freelance employer; furthermore, a great freelance bid will prevent the exchange of many messages, that can be accomplished if the bid is well structured.

Get started today!

Building on a previous blog where I wrote about how to set yourself apart as a freelancer, here is another tip to help employers find a freelancer with soft-skills that can’t be measured by monetary valuation.

When you consider hiring a freelancer, several thoughts probably enter your mind.  In fact, according to several employers we have polled on “How to Hire a Freelancer”, reliability is a top consideration for hiring a freelancer.

When hiring through surefirehire, where talented experts can be hired, verify their feedback or testimonials if any, to ascertain how reliable they may turn out to be, before hiring a freelancer.

If you have not created an account with surefirehire, consider hiring freelancers on the surefirehire platform!

Remember that 87.5% of an iceberg is below water. Look below the surface, to see candidates that you might have overlooked