10 steps to earn more on freelancing sites.

Freelancing sites are the best place to start your freelance career. Here are the ten easy steps, following which you can earn more on these sites by maximising your chances of getting hired fast.

  1-Create complete profiles and get verified your account

The first steps to start working on any freelancing site are to sign up for an account and create a profile. The signup process is quite easy on all of the major freelancing sites. The important thing is your profile. Before you start working on your profile, first write down the skills you have. Whether you are a programmer

If you’re a writer, a designer, or your skill is in any other area, write down all the major points regarding it. Now you can classify your expertise level into three categories.

1. Those areas or languages in which you are most proficient and have great experience.
2. Those areas in which you are less proficient.
3. Those areas in which you have worked casually and have intermediate-level skills.

For the sake of demonstration, I’ll assume you’re a good Joomla web developer who is new to freelancing and trying to build a profile.Now your primary skills would be Joomla, PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript, mootools, ajax, object-oriented design, etc. Your second-level skills would be CSS3, HTML5, jQuery, JSON, etc. Now in the third point, you can mention all the areas in which you have worked, but less often. It could be Google Apps, AWS, moodle, bootstrap, payment gateway integration, or something else.

After you have realised this, start mentioning your skills and expertise from the top of the hierarchy down.

2-Tests are important

A good score in tests is the best tool to grab clients’ attention. Before starting to take a test, first polish your knowledge. Carefully decide in which areas you are best, and start with those. In Upwork and Freelancer, there are generally 40 MCQ-type questions that you have to answer in 40 minutes. If you are best in that specific aspect, a 40-minute interval is enough. However, keep in mind that if you failed a test or received a low score, you can only retake it after 15 or 30 days. So, be fully prepared ahead of time.

3-Now coming to the hourly rate

The hourly rate is what you will charge per hour for your services. Specify your hourly rate on your profile by taking your expertise level and experience into account. Don’t mention a too-low hourly rate because it will give the impression that you have a low level of expertise; nor mention a too-high rate because you will get fewer leads and, in general, if the client hires you on a higher rate than your skills, he will have higher expectations. So if you are not fulfilling those expectations, chances are you will get negative feedback.

4-Before bidding, have a look at your schedule

This is a very important thing. There are a lot of freelancing tools available that you can use to manage your work and schedule. Only bid on and take on projects if you are sure you have enough time to deliver the results on time. Clients frequently inquire about how long it will take to complete a specific task or project. Suppose you can deliver the results in 10 days.

Tell the client to plan ahead two days, or 12 days. Don’t neglect the element of uncertainty. Because in these 10 days, you know that so many things can happen. Your health issues could arise, you could have an urgent piece of work, and software or hardware problems could occur. So, the client should mentally prepare that you will deliver the results in 12 days, and he should set his schedule accordingly.

5-Only bid, if you are sure you can do it.

You should be very selective while marking the projects for bidding. Only bid if you are sure that you have enough time and skills to complete the project.

6-Writing cover letter

A cover letter gives your first impression to the client. You have never met the client on whose project you are going to bid. He has no idea who you are, and you have no idea who he is.Now, the point through which you tell him that you are most suitable for the task in question is through your cover letter. Below, I have mentioned three key points, which you should consider while writing the cover letter.

Don’t copy and paste.

Some freelancers make it a habit to have a prewritten cover letter that they copy and paste into all cover letters.But what happens is that, in this way, their chances of getting selected for a particular job become much less. Always read the job specifications carefully and correspond accordingly.

The first three lines are important.

The first three lines of your application are of great importance. Suppose more than one hundred freelancers have bid on a project; now the client normally does not have enough time to read all the applications carefully and completely because it could take a huge amount of time. So, it is better that you discuss the job and its potential solution first without going directly to your expertise and experience.

Don’t write too long or too short.

Applications should be concrete and concise. Always write to the point and eliminate any extra detail that is not related to the job. Recognize that the client posts the project to freelancing sites in order to complete tasks and resolve problems.So, discuss his job first and tell him how you are the perfect guy for this project. I have talked with many top freelancers, and they think that three paragraphs with three to five lines in each paragraph are appropriate for a cover letter. But you can adjust yours according to the nature of the job.

If the job duration is less than a week, always write “less” and discuss the task that the client has posted. For long-term jobs, you can demonstrate your skills and experience in more detail.

7: Build some project and time management skills.

Build some project management skills as well. When talking about a programming project, break it up into different phases. Make a list of the tasks that will be completed in each phase.You should have a good idea of how much time you can devote to each task and how long it will take to complete the project.

8: Develop a long-term client relationship mindset.

Always work at your best, so that in the future, whenever the client has any customization work or a new project, he should come to you, and you should be his first choice. Your quality work is your best impression and advertisement. Freelancing is similar to owning your own business.You are a one-man company. So, the key to success in this business is to never lose your client.

9: Market your skills

Market your skills outside the freelancing sites, too. The best mediums are blogging and social media marketing. You could have a small portfolio site, which would give you a greater opportunity to present your skills to your potential customers. WordPress is ideal for blogging with respect to SEO.

10: What if you have very little experience and possess intermediate-level skills?

If you have very little experience and skills as well, don’t bid on too many big projects. In the beginning, only bid on $50 to $100 budget projects to enhance your expertise. When you think that you have gained enough, start bidding on heavy projects also.