Getting Started as a Freelancer

Join Freelance Sites

One way of working from home is by bidding on projects in freelance sites. There are a lot of freelance sites all over the internet but these are the ones that I personally use and recommend (especially the first two):

1. GetAFreelancer
2. Scriptlance
3. oDesk
4. RentACoder
5. Elance

All of these sites have free and paid membership. Of course, paid memberships have more privileges but that doesn’t mean free members won’t get their share of success. You can start by signing up for free and as soon as you have built a strong profile, you may then upgrade your membership status. Make sure to read and follow their terms to avoid being banned on the site. (Scrap that! Just click on “I Agree” and you’re all set.)

Know Thyself

Assess your skills and interests. What is your field of expertise? What do you want to do?

 I am good in… 
 Maybe you can try… 
 Speaking 
 Voice Over 
 Writing 
 Copywriting 
 Selling 
 Telemarketing 
 Typing 
 Data Entry 
 HTML 
 Website Design 
 Japanese 
 Translation 
 Art 
 Logo Design 

If You Have It, Flaunt It

Convince your clients why they should choose you and what makes you so special. Do you have years of experience? What tools do you have? Make sure it is related to the job being offered. For instance, telling them that you can make a 3D design of a house, or that you can make a software for networking, or that you have an X-ray vision won’t do any good if the job only entails editing simple data.

Aim High

Do not settle for mediocrity. Try to exceed your clients’ expectations. If you have committed to deliver the project in 10 days, surprise your client by sending the complete and error-free data in 7 days. In that way, your clients will give you good reviews and possibly recommend you to others which can also help increase your market value.

If at First You Don’t Succeed, Heck You Know The Rest…

Do not be easily discouraged if you weren’t able to close a deal yet. Oftentimes, landing on the first job is the hardest part. It gets easier as soon as you are able to build connections with your clients. If you have succeeded on your first try, then your one lucky guy after all. You can go thank that Feng Shui guru in the Chinese shop where you bought that golden waving cat figurine.

Pros & Cons of Working at Home

I have been working at home for more than a year now and I am enjoying it but working at home is not always easy. Today, I have compiled a list of some pros and cons of working at home in my point of view. Let's start with the first one.

PROS:

1. COMFORTABLE. Simply, there's no place like home. There's nothing more relaxing than being in your own private space. You can be working in your pajamas (in my case, a tattered hand-me-down shirt from my dad and loose shorts), and at the same time watching your favorite television show.

2. FLEXIBLE. Most work at home jobs do not have work shifts so you have all the time in the world. Some only require you to reach a certain daily quota so you can work during your free time and just deliver the job before the deadline. This is very suitable for moms since they can spend some quality time with their kids and can still generate a reliable source of income.

3. COST-EFFECTIVE. It can be expensive commuting to work or renting a place close to your office. Take out meals for lunch can also cost more than just cooking at home. Uniforms or formal outfits can also add to your shopping list, whereas if you work at home, you can minimize all these expenses because all you need to have is a computer with an internet connection.

4. SAFER. It's a jungle out there. We all know there's a higher rate of danger outside your house especially when you travel to your office at night or at dawn. You can meet an accident on your way to work or get robbed in a dark alley on your way home. It is always much safer staying at home.

So what's the bad news? Read on...

CONS:

1. GAINING WEIGHT. Since you don't get to move a lot when working at home, you will start to get...brace yourself, this can get a little nasty...fat! I know girls, it's kinda hard to digest but it's true. My brother has been constantly teasing me on this. Not to worry as this can be solved by daily exercise (Yeah, I'll do that tomorrow...I'm serious!).

2. LESS SOCIAL LIFE. In the office, you can always interact with your co-workers, participate in team-building activities or attend company gatherings. Although you may have less social life when working at home, what's most important is that you will have a lot more time with your family.

3. LAZINESS. Sometimes it gets too comfortable working at home that you tend to laze around and leave the work behind. It needs a lot of self-discipline in order to stay productive. As much as possible, keep your bed out of sight so you won't be tempted to lie down and sleep all day.

Despite these disadvantages, I can still say that working at home is something that is just right for me and I know most home workers would agree with that.

The Internet is a Gold Mine. Just Dig It!

It was not so long ago when I thought that the internet was just full of scams and that it was impossible to make money by working online. It was not until I earned my first cent when I finally realized that there is money in the internet. Yes, you read it right. I earned my first cent by clicking ads. It's not much but it somehow showed me the way to financial freedom. I'm not there yet but I'm getting there. And the best part is that you can too!

There are millions or even billions of opportunities online that we don't even know yet. Some might even come your way but you just let it slip through your fingers. Some might just be right under your nose and yet you just stare right through them, not noticing a thing. We are missing a lot of things right now and the fact of the matter is that some internet gurus hide all these information from us. Why? Think of it this way. If you have just hit the jackpot in a $100-million-dollar lottery, would you be telling the whole world about it? I guess not. Chances are, you would probably keep it to yourself, pack up, and sail away to the Bahamas.

So how do you actually get to that gold mine? Start digging! Just be careful not to step on a bomb mine instead. Let us not forget about the scammers who are trying to rip you out of your hard earned money and the other jerks who are taking advantage of our ignorance. It may take a lot of research, practice, and trial and error before you can slowly understand the worldwide web and the money behind it. In my experience, I have read a lot of articles and blogs of renowned internet marketers, gurus, and the like, who still give a damn about us, amateurs. I have tried online jobs in freelance sites, joined forums about making money online, and several others. In the process, you'll lose some but I believe you'll gain a lot more.

Setting Up My Google Adsense Account

I've just opened an account in Google Adsense. From what I've heard, it's one way of earning money from your website. But you need to have good traffic in order to earn a substantial amount. I don't expect to earn a lot from it as I don't expect a lot of readers in my blog but I do wish it will happen someday. All I can do for now is just to take it one step at a time. After all, it takes a seed to grow a tree (in this case, a money tree!).

I know a lot of you might ask the question, "How do you earn money with Google Adsense?". Well basically, Google Adsense is an online advertising by Google. It displays the ads on your website based on the website content. So if your blog is about health and fitness, then the ads shown on your website may be from online stores selling herbal medicine, body building equipments, ebooks on diet or other stuffs related to health and fitness. When your visitors or readers click on those ads, then you get paid for it (commonly known as pay-per-click). If you want to know more about Google Adsense, you can just Google it! lol...