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| Finding Work Part 1 |
Hello everyone, and welcome to my new monthly blog post titled Self Employed Saturday. Once a month I plan to post some insight from the inside of being your own business You can expect to find topics related to branding, finding work, inspiration, and much more. I plan to also reach out to other independent workers and get some of their insight on here as well.
If everything goes smoothly I plan to have these post up on the 1st Saturday of each month. Please bare with me if I do get a week behind...life happens. =)
So lets get this thing rolling with our topic for the month of March.
Finding Work Part 1: Online
One of most common questions that pop up while in
conversation with others is "How do I manage to find enough work to be a
full time freelancer?"
Truth be told if you just look out across the horizon many potential
clients are all around you. You just have to put a bit of work into getting
them.
The most obvious avenue to plug into is the world wide web. Their
is an endless supply of people looking for a video, poster, album cover, voice
over, etc.....but where do you start looking? The internet is full of so many
job boards, freelance blogs, and help wanted pages...how do you know which
service is correct for you?
To make your job easier I have compiled a list of sites that
I generally use. Some of these I have been successful in getting jobs out of...others
I haven't. Just because I did not get
any jobs out of certain sites, it doesn't mean that you can't.
Lets get started...
JOB BOARDS
It is insane just how many job boards are out there! These
boards can range from full time to seasonal, from design work to pluming. With
this wide range of variety...how do you know which job boards deserve your
valuable time?
I narrowed down a few boards I have poked around with in the
past and I found them great for freelancers.
Simply Hired
Simply Hired reminds me of Craigslist without all the spam.
You simply type in a keyword at the top of the page i.e. video production,
writing, SEO, etc.. followed by a location, and then hit the search button.
Simply Hired then gives you a list of anything similar to what you are looking
for. Did you find there to be too many job postings? Simply do an advanced
search to find that dream job you are looking for.
Linkedin Jobs
Linkedin Jobs works very similar to Simply Hired. The nice
thing about finding jobs on Linkedin is typically if you are already out in the
freelance world then you have a Linkedin profile. If you don't have a Linkedin
profile yet, then you should stop reading this blog right now and go sign up!
Linkedin is very important when it comes to finding jobs. The job search
doesn't stop after searching through the list in the jobs tab...deep inside
Linkedin exist forums for just about any career choice. Inside these boards can
be potential clients as well. Just being engaged with other freelancers can
point your towards more work.
Job Bidding Sites
Would you rather compete to get a job? A lot of the time customers want to have a wide selection of freelancers to chose from, and they want to see just how much you want the job.
thecreato.rs
If you take a look at thecreato.rs website you may only see artist
and not actual jobs. This is because thecreato.rs only give out job leads to
their fellow employees. Don't worry though...signing up to become a creator is
simple and free. Once you are signed up with a set skill set the team over at
thecreato.rs will email you any jobs you may be interested in. If it is
something you like you just submit a proposal and then hope that you get the
gig. The team will communicate with you throughout the whole project, so if any
issues with the client arises they will have your back.
Elance
Take everything you would expect out of a job bidding
website and put it in one place...and you get Elance. From a huge variety of
job listings, a timer tracker, customizable profiles, and much more Elance
offers a lot. Bidding is very simple, first begin looking for a job that fits
your skill set. Once you find some that interest you, post a quick blip about
why you our qualified for the gig, add a proposal if you feel comfortable, and
then submit away. Elance also requires you to add a token for each job you bid
on. Free customers our limited to a select amount of these tokens. I really
like this, because then you don't have people spamming every single job unless
they can put their money where their mouth is.
I only scratched the surface of what is out there for anyone
looking for freelance work. Next month I
will touch on using social media to find potential clients...including the behemoth
known as Facebook.
Till next time....
-Travis
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