He is self-employed since 1997 and enjoys great pay and lots of time with his family. Bobby works on several freelancing websites, gaining new clients with every project and learning new things every day. Working as a freelancer is a rewarding and fulfilling experience any way you look at it. On the other hand, a steady salary is also a good option, but think about the future: is a desk job from nine to five (and extra working hours) what you want for the following 20 years? Freelancing is a refreshing alternative.

Read more on Bob became a successful freelancer

Lots of places. There are placement / employment agencies that require part time or short term project workers that hire freelancers. Find these in your yellow pages, make phone calls and mail them or email them a cover letter and your resume and specify the type of work you are willing to take on, as well as your rates.

The Internet is BOOMING with freelance sites where buyers of all kinds of service, programming and writing, for example, where buyers post bid requests at either closed or open auction and sellers (coders and writers) write bids of proposal and state a price they would charge. Negotiations can go back and forth and if you are good and lucky, work will soon fall your way.

Get used to rejection. One site that this writer uses is www.Rentacoder.com, and the average bid there gets 12.4 offers within 24 hours. If everything were equal, that means the average freelancer would win about 8 % of his or her bids. That’s a LOT of rejection. Some buyers will go for the lowest bid only, others look at your work history and rating, some are impressed at the eloquence of your bid proposal and or enthusiasm for the job. Each one is different.

This writer and computer programmer wins 19 % of his bids, which is above average I would think. I attribute my success to the fact that I AM a writer and have a few secret techniques that I use to sell myself.

However, its not just sites designed as a marketplace of buyers and sellers (coders) where people can find jobs if they work as a freelancer. There are also plenty of other ways to seek out work. One such place are forums, copywriting forums or general webmaster forumswhere people look out for content writers, for example. The pay by getting work in forums is not always great, but can definately be a good place to start out, sort of like a launch pad. It can be useful for building your reputation and getting yourself known. If you are content writer, one of the best ways to get a lot of repeat work is by seeking out permanent posts as content writers for major websites. The pay can vary greatly depending on the length and amount of reasearch time taken to produce high quality material.

Bidding

Write coherently and in goof English. User capital letters at the beginnings of sentences and proper grammar and punctuation. This is business, not a chat room or an IM session. Have form letters of different types that you can customize for each bid. Most bidding sites allow you to post a resume. Do so, and keep it honest and up to date. Typically bid periods expire on a certain date, after which the buyer selects one bidder for the project. This bidder, if he sees that the bid period has expired and has not been awarded yet, sends a follow up note to the buyer expressing interest in whether or not I am still in the running. I do this regularly and it impresses the buyer and sometimes results in winning the project.

Own Web Site

Many freelancers who are full time at it have their own web sites with samples of their past work and testimonials from satisfied customers or clients as we prefer to call them. It establishes you as having more credibility and being a real business instead of some part timer or student trying to make a few extra bucks on the side.

Have business cards printed and go to trade shows and make yourself known. Advertise your services in local news publications and free circulars if the nature of your business is aimed at the general consumer.

Sites to Visit

A quick Google search on freelancers got us some of these:

This article in no manner is intended to endorse or promote any websites mentioned herein.

http://www.bidfreelancers.com/

http://www.project4hire.com/freelancing-jobs.html

http://webmaster-forums.code-head.com/showthread.php?t=280

http://www.freelancefree.com/

http://www.getafreelancer.com/

http://www.scriptlance.com/

http://www.eufreelance.com/

http://www.writingbids.com/

http://www.projectesource.com/

http://www.projects2bid.com/

http://www.elance.com/

http://www.freelanceauctionnetwork.com/

http://www.getacoder.com/

http://www.joomlancers.com/Templates_Design_Development/various_joomla_projects_1186518676.html

http://www.freelanceauction.com/

Skill, confidence, patience and an ability to work under pressure and manage your own time very well are crucial to being a freelancer. I write this AS a freelancer and I am very opinionated. I am a freelance writer and computer programmer and split my time equally between the two efforts.

What kind of freelancers are there?

Besides writing and programming, there are many types of freelancers. Almost any job or profession has people who hire themselves out for short term or contract work on a project basis, an hourly basis or for periods of weeks. I know a nurse who freelances through an agency and moves to a different section of the country every thirteen weeks, so she switches jobs and homes and states every three months.

Educational requirements

Obviously, if the job you are freelancing at requires a license or some kind of legal certification, you must meet those requirements. As an example, nurses are licensed in all fifty states and rules vary from state to state and I don’t know how my nursing friend handles this, but in a future article I will let you know.

Otherwise? Your presentation and communication skills and experience are more important in my mind than a degree.

Preparing for freelancing?

Well, for some freelancing jobs, like mine, I make my own hours. But I work 15 hours a day. Not by choice. I just am a workaholic. I work at home and wake up early and there’s nothing else to do but work, so I start around four in the morning and turn on the computer and go at it.

Otherwise, if you freelance and are required to be at a client site, you must be prepared to adhere to their dress code and hours.

How much can a freelancer make?

As much as the market will bear. Competition is fierce in the freelance computer programming business, as everyone is looking for a bargain, and buyers put out online bids for people like me to bid on. Remember, you are competing with others just like yourself and there is temptation to underbid to get the work, but you can get in trouble that way by winding up in a hole and working for peanuts. Plus, in the programming business you are competing with talented programmers in developing countries who are willing to work for very little, with the disadvantage possibly being poor English communication skills.

Work schedule

It can be as maddening as mine, or you can be a hired gun and work 9 to 5 if you want. If you are an at home freelancer, like me, the hours are flexible. If I am burnt out or tired, I can always take a break and pick up a guitar and play a loud song to break the monotony. You have to be prepared to take the good with the bad as a freelancer. Some jobs are fun and or easy and some jobs are difficult or boring, and sometimes you have to deal with people who are very demanding and personalities clash. That’s the down side. The upside is that the jobs are of short duration and it’s not like you’re going to have the same boss that you hate for 20 years.

Getting started

There are many online agencies and employment agencies that look for contract or freelance workers and you should start there. Be prepared when you start to have some lean times until you build up a reputation and have some repeating clients or have a published rating that impresses people. Good luck and don’t miss your deadlines.

Even if she managed to find a job that suited her ambitions, Christie soon realized that there was not enough time for a personal life. It seemed impossible to continue the work she loved and enjoy quality time with her family. Therefore, Christie decided to quit her job and start working as a freelancer. In time, she managed to form a consistent portfolio and build a long list of customers; it was enough for her to support the family and enjoy free time.

Freelancing was for Christie Halmick the perfect opportunity for building a successful business and achieved that perfect balance between her work and family life. After all, isn’t this we are all look for?

Find more about how Christie Halmick started working as a freelancer