Getting Started in the World of Freelancing

A lot of people these days want to learn how to get paid for freelance work. This is an area that many people have not only chosen, but have been driven into work due to the lack of work in a down economy.

Freelancing is a great way to earn income in a whole new way, whether it be on a part-time or full-time basis.

If you have the skills for writing, advertising, web building, research and more, there are plenty of opportunities right here on the web for you to get paid for your professional skills.

Several sites are specialty hubs for freelancers to get paid for freelance work. Some of the most popular freelance communities are:

- Freelancer (formerly GetAFreelancer)

- Elance

- ScriptLance

- oDesk

The first thing you should do is register and setup a profile to market your skills professionally. There is a lot of competition on these sites, so make sure you sell yourself above the rest.

How to Get Paid for Freelance Work: Payment

The way these free lance sites works is typically the buyer will fund the money into what is called an escrow account. The funds are then released to you generally upon full completion of the assignment, or partial payment halfway through and then the remainder upon completion.

This escrow way of payment safeguards both the buyer and seller (you) from scams and poor business dealing. This is why there freelance sites are good to join because they are a good mediator in the freelance dealing process.

Other pay methods might include PayPal or electronic funds transfer to your debit/credit card or bank account.

Competition Is Steep

Be aware that on these type of sites there are hundreds of bidders from around the world that are actively and daily bidding for the same jobs as you are, so if you want to land a job the truth is that you must be persistent and very competitive in your bidding process.

Be ready to cut your rates down to the bare minimum for starters. Typically you won’t get what you think your skills are really worth when you’re just starting out in the freelance world. Oftentimes, you will have to build a solid reputation and loyal following over time in order to warrant a payment increase.

Other Methods on How to Get Paid for Freelance Work

Independent Route - Another way that you can make money as a freelancer is by setting up your own website or blog and marketing your skills independently. This may take more time and perhaps a small investment to set-up a professional website, but if you want to go this route then this is another avenue to explore.

The plus side to this is that you own, operate and control everything, and there are no fees that you have to share with freelance sites. But at the same time all the responsibility, management, collections and everything else falls on you

Online Tasks - And yet another way to freelance for extra cash as by doing online task. This is good if you just want to make a little extra cash here & there, nothing major. Typically these sites pay you do a range of micro jobs like: forum posting, writing short articles or blog posts, link building, sign-up for various offers or programs, etc.

There are only a few task sites that I know of which are:

- mturk

- microWorkers

- ShortTask

- myLot Social Network has recently launched a task section too!

Well as you can see there are several methods on how to get paid for freelance work. Explore the resources in this hub and hopefully soon you’ll be extra cash in your own freelance biz.

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