Got My First Elance Job

Well, I finally got my first Elance job. I thought it would never happen. I have only recently paid any real attention to it, so no wonder. I have a full time job, plus trying to break into law, plus have a social life. And, I am trying my hand at freelancing through Elance. So I don't have much time to check the jobs and bid on them. When I do, I am usually outbid. So, I was thrilled to get this first job.

It is a balancing act: You want to bid on jobs and get them, but you have to think about your schedule and can you meet the deadline. Many of the jobs are due yesterday--not sure why there is always such a fast turnaround. It wouldn't matter so much if you did freelancing full time, but when you have only a limited amount of time, you have to think carefully. If you don't meet the deadline, you might get bad feedback, and that would be bad for getting future work.

The other bugaboo is the lowballers. Elance is famous for lowball bidders. A lot of times, they are writers from other countries who outbid us and win. The problem, it seems from the buzz around Elance, is that these non native speakers do poor work, which then sometimes has to be rebid. And it pushes the prices downward. The buyers though tend to go with the low bid, and many times they are burned.

I bid a little less on the job I won than I would have liked. But I was able to write the posts pretty easily and without too much research. And at least now I have one job on my profile. I need a few more, and then I will be in business!