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The Online Freelancing Guide

Key Newcomer Tips - Developing Your Freelancing Career 1 General Guidelines for the Project Search

One of the biggest differences between freelancers and full-time employees is that freelancers must look for their own work. As a freelancer working online, you’ll need to look through listings on marketplace sites, assess clients and projects, and decide which oppor­tunities to pursue. While this is probably not the most important part of the freelancing process as a whole, it is arguably the one to which you will devote the most time. Knowing how to do it well can save you countless hours and greatly increase your potential for success in a competitive industry.

In this chapter I’ll share with you the experience I have gained from skimming through, reading and considering thousands and thousands of online freelance project listings. The first section provides some general information about searching for projects, giving you ideas about how many sites to use, how often to search, and how to limit the time you spend on pre-bid activities. The following two sections describe in detail the factors you should employ to assess the quality and suitability of both freelance projects and clients—as you’ll see, there are some important but subtle differences in assessing each. In the fourth section I share with you my advice on how to detect and deal with specific project danger signs. And finally, the last section covers some special cases such as rush jobs, projects with non-disclosure agreements, and pro bono work.

Key Newcomer Tips - Developing Your Freelancing Career 1 General Guidelines for the Project Search