Online freelancing is getting popular today in the midst of high unemployment rate and global crisis; some regular employees may even go on working on their current jobs with fear of being laid-off anytime. That makes doing a freelance job online as one of the best option to protect your career and survival in the midst of recession.

Having an online freelance job reinforce the foundation of your career by having another source of income other than your regular pay. It also puts a cushion in the event of being laid off by still having an income even if you are out of job. Sooner or later, you might become so successful with your freelancing job that your income exceeds your current salaries. At this point of success, others even quit their regular jobs to work full time as online freelancers.

If you want to pursue an online freelancing career, the following are the recommended steps to take prior to starting your online freelance work or prior to bidding for online jobs at freelance sites:

1. Know yourself- There is a saying that ‘every person has a certain skill or talents for which he is very good at.' If you have been working for quite some time, you should have acquired some skills that other people do not have; it could be administrative works, writing, programming, web-design, sales, and marketing. So the first thing you need to do is to identify your special skills and interests, and focus on that one.

2. Set-up an email account. You may probably have an existing email account; but if you are about to start an online freelancing career, you need to create a new email account which should be purely business, apart from your personal emails.

3. Create an impressive personal profile. This is much like a resume but in different format. Although, most freelance sites have their own format for personal profile, having prepared one should be easier as all you have to do is copy-paste information. This should be done considering that you need to apply to, not just one freelance site but, multiple sites in order to increase your chances of winning a project.

4. Set-up an online payment system. You need to receive your payment for your job and the most popular online payment systems are PayPal and Clickbank. Paypal is highly recommended because it is free; you just need to verify your Paypal account through credit card or bank account. When opening an account with Paypal, be sure to open a premiere or business account.

5. Create a Blueprint or a Master Plan for your career- Nowadays, It is almost hard to be successful without having a master plan of your career or business. Just think of it, every high rise building always starts from a blueprint; a master plan of its foundation and structure. The same thing should also be done with your career. You should also have a blueprint towards your success. Your master plan should include your planned daily tasks, things you need to do, and how to achieve what you want in your career/life. Included in your business blue print are the list of freelance sites that you need to join and bid for projects, as well as strategies on how to win projects.

Your next step is to open an account with as many freelance sites as possible and bid for many projects. The more projects you bid, the more chances you have of getting an online job.

Once you have done the aforementioned procedures in setting-up your freelance online business, then I am sure you are more than ready enough to apply and bid for projects to work on. Don’t be disappointed with some early failures, it is just normal to fail at first; but once you have learned how things work, you will eventually start winning more projects and become successful with your new career.

Best of Luck

As much as possible, avoid paying for a fee in order to apply for any job. They are mostly scam.

1. Avoid applying for any high paying freelance job that requires no experience.
2. Don’t apply for jobs that automatically arrive in your inbox. They are mostly spam.
3. Do not apply for jobs that sounds too good to be true.
4. Avoid applying for jobs with unclear job descriptions.
5. Avoid applying to jobs that requires you to do long tasks to prove your credential.
6. Avoid applying to jobs posted by project providers with low project award ratio. (you're just wasting your allowable credits/bid counts/connects)
7. Avoid applying to jobs posted by unverified project providers

Visit my other hubpage for a list of more than 10 freelance sites to apply as an online freelancer; and start making money online. Top 5 Freelance Sites to Outsource your Tasks or Services

You ultimate guide to online freelancing career

Online Freelancers Handbook

Your step-by-step guide towards a successful online freelancer. This book contains more than 30 sites with brief reviews where you can apply for online jobs; as well as some very useful tips and information on how to succeed and win projects.