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How to Start a Freelancing Career Online
By Sid Kal
A freelancing career can be richly rewarding in terms of the freedom and flexibility it offers the workers. However, it is not easy to start your freelancing career online, so here are some tips and pointers to get you started. Who can be a Freelancer
Anyone can become a freelancer online, if you have the skills which are in demand. It would be hard to find very specialized jobs - you won't exactly find rocket science projects for freelance online. That being said, there are plenty of skills which are very apt for freelancing online - programming, web-designing, IT, graphic designing, writing, data entry, etc. If you have these skills required, you can always become a freelancer working on your own terms on the projects that you like. What Skills Pay the Best?
As a general rule, programming and IT related jobs pay the highest. If you are a good programmer and can set up web pages and know web languages, then you can get some great projects. That being said, this is no hard and fast rule. If you are good at something, you can always demand the best prices and there will be people who are willing to pay for your skills. Never sell yourself short. Data entry related jobs usually pay the least as they seldom require highly specialized skills. How can I start my Freelancing Career Online?
If you are a beginner, I suggest joining one of the major freelancing websites on the internet. These sites have tons of jobs listed and you can apply to work for any of them. If your skills are a match, you should be a good fit. What are these sites?
The most popular freelancing sites on the internet are Elance, oDesk, Guru and RentaCoder. You can try out all of them. However, it is best to focus on working through one of them, because all these are feedback based systems and if you establish yourself in one site, you can get projects with ease. You should also remember that these sites are a great way to build some contacts. If you do a great job, the small business owner who hired you in the first place will definitely hire you again and you might work on an ongoing basis with him. Personally, I use oDesk but you can use any of the sites. I recommend you visit all the sites and see which one best suits you - they all have slightly different features. How do I land my First Job?
Like in the offline world, the first job is usually the hardest because you have no proven track record on the website. You should write very customized cover letters which are free of any errors. You should try to include examples of previous work, which help to establish your skills. The first job can take long, but once you do a great job, you will have a great feedback and it becomes progressively easier to get subsequent projects. I hope the above tips help someone to start a freelancing career online. It seems scary, but it really isn't. You just need to take the leap and give it some commitment to follow through. Freelancing can be richly rewarding.
Sid is an accomplished freelance writer and blogger and loves to write!
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 | | nick appreciated this intel. May 22, 2011 |  | | annagergen liked this intel. May 22, 2011 |  | | biblefreeorg liked this intel. May 22, 2011 |  | | LadyD liked this intel. May 25, 2011 |
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My impression was that rates on places like oDesk are too low due to intensive global competition. Is it actually possible to make a living working as a free-lancer via oDesk?
 | | nick May 22, 2011 12:15 | |
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Nick, Actually, that is certainly an aspect, but talent anywhere demands a price. Yes, it is totally possible to make a living working simply on oDesk. I personally supported myself for almost a full year in Michigan working only part time with oDesk as a freelance writer. There are people who are looking for genuine quality and you can always find those people. You will find many who are looking for cheapest rates, don't even bother applying to those jobs. Apply to those that need and respect quality and you should do good :)
Sid, when I tried to go to "rentacoder.com", I found that they have changed their name and their website to vWorker.com.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Oh didn't know this change. I don't use personally use RentACoder. Thanks for the update!
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This intel was contributed by Sid
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