Finding Freelance Writing Jobs at Elance: Is This Any Good for You?

Finding Freelance Writing Jobs at Elance: Is This Any Good for You?

freelance writing jobs at Elance
Could Elance be the ticket for your freelance writing career?
Image: Elance

Elance is another site for bidding on projects. However, it isn’t quite as bad as Freelancer.com for the race to the bottom. There are freelance writing jobs at Elance that pay a semi-decent amount, as long as…you build up your reputation!

You could end up working for small amounts of money at first, while you prove yourself to be a reliable and good quality writer. After that, clients are more willing to pay you higher amounts for your work.

So, is Elance any good for finding freelance writing jobs?

Some People Decide By Country

Your country is shown on your profile. That can be a positive or negative thing depending on the client. Some clients prefer to work with people within their country, especially if they are from a country with a lower cost of living.

On the other hand, some prefer to only work with those from English-speaking countries. There is the belief that people living in those countries have a better command of the English language (because it’s their first language). If you’re an English speaker living somewhere else, it could put you at a disadvantage.

Competing With Hundreds of Other People

So many people are not hunting for freelance writing jobs at Elance. You’re going to compete with each and every one of them. I’ve literally seen hundreds of people all compete for the same job.

Is there really any point in that?

I turn away as soon as I see hundreds of people bidding. They offer lower rates than I’m willing to accept, and

freelance writing jobs at Elance
How much time are you willing to spend on projects at Elance?
Image: Pixabay

quite frankly I’m not interested in doing that.

But I get why some people are. And I get why some people use Elance. You can be successful if you offer something that the hundreds of other people don’t. I was just looking around to see what others say about finding freelance writing jobs at Elance, and one writer admitted that he gave half of his work for free when bidding for his first three jobs.

Why? Well, it moves me onto the next point.

You Need a Good Reputation to Get Freelance Writing Jobs at Elance

Why would someone hire you when you have no reputation and no feedback? This isn’t quite the same as marketing companies directly. You don’t get to show off your portfolio of content, and people aren’t likely to research your name. Most people work under a username on the site, anyway.

So, how do you get a good reputation when you’re new? How do you convince someone to hire you? You could hire the experts at https://reputationsciences.com/ to repair your reputation.

Well, the guy that I found used half of his work for free as a way to get people to hire him. The clients saw that he knew the topic, could write and already had some of the work. They wouldn’t have to pay much to get the rest of it.

Useful, right?

But are you willing to do something like that? Some people are because they know there is the return on that investment later. The same guy managed to make $4,000 in his first month finding freelance writing jobs at Elance! That’s more than most people make in a full-time job!

So, his method certainly worked.

Oh, but he did charge $25 for 250 words of content in his bid! So, you can still charge a higher amount for your content and still get chosen for jobs at Elance.

So, is this site worthwhile for you? I’d suggest giving it a look, if nothing else. I signed up for it a few years ago but have never made a penny from it. To be honest, I don’t feel like it’s worth it for me. I don’t like searching hours for freelance writing jobs at Elance and competing with so many people. My preference is to market companies directly. But this could certainly be an option for you if you’re willing to play a little game or want to build up a portfolio.

Alexandria Ingham is a professional writer. She predominately ghost-writes in various niches, including fitness, finance and technology Everything is fully researched and well-written. Under her own name, she writes in the technology, business, history and weight loss niches

20 thoughts on “Finding Freelance Writing Jobs at Elance: Is This Any Good for You?

  1. I tried both freelancer.com and elance.com, but it is such a difficult battle against all the many and various writers in those countries where the USD is worth so much more… Gave up in the end.

    1. Thanks for sharing your experience, Anne. I know how hard it can be battling with others who are able to charge less. I prefer contacting prospective clients directly to avoid some of the bidding against others.

  2. This is a great blog series on how to make more money as a freelance writer. I owned a publishing company for 11 years and know firsthand that for small business owners it’s hard to pay for writers but writers deserve to be paid well for their services. It’s a quandary! I love that you are encouraging people to charge what they are worth. At the end of the day it’s our own self-belief that makes it possible to make money and be paid well for our services.

    1. Thanks for the insights from the view of a publishing company. It is a difficult situation for everyone, but there are bloggers and writers suitable for all companies and that’s what I love about the internet and being a freelance writer.

  3. Sounds a lot better than Freelancer. I’ve thought of using one of these sites to do web page setup, but sometimes I think the people that hire on these sites expect excellent work at a cheaper price, which can make it bad for those talented hard-working individuals who really deserve to be paid more.

    But I understand that you have to start somewhere. Think I’d go with Elance versus Freelancer. 🙂

    Can’t wait to see what you have tomorrow. 🙂

    1. I think it is. Although I don’t have the work gained from the site to be able to tell. Just the experience of the site and the bidding process.

  4. While there are a few gigs worth your time on the site, you will spend way too much looking for them. Then you have to compete with so many others who will do their best to outbid you.

    You would be much better off spending your time pitching directly to clients who need your services, instead of scouring freelance bidding sites and content mills. You’ll get better clients to work for, not to mention higher pay.

    1. Thanks for your input, Valerie. Pitching to clients can be nerve-wracking at first, and I understand why people want something a little “easier” to start with. But you are right that going directly to clients is a better way to get work.

  5. Hi Alexandria,
    I have heard of this site and, at one time, was thinking about doing it but never got around to actually going there. I’m not too much into competition like that. But it might be something to fall back on.
    Thanks for presenting it to your readers, and giving us a peek into it.
    Amy

    1. It can be worthwhile from what others have said. Personally, it’s not for me (especially anymore) but it could be great for others. Good luck with whichever method you choose.

    1. It really does, Dorit. I’d never tell someone definitely not to go for an option. It really is a personal choice, and I happily share where I would and wouldn’t find work. I just want to help people make the best choice for THEM.

  6. My writing is not such that I would put a job up on elance.com or another site, but I do have an account there. I use it to hire for projects for my websites and I find it to be very useful. I have created great relationships with the men who have helped me. I travel internationally and am open to working with people in other countries and this has saved me hundreds of dollars.

    Coaches often offer a free 30 minute session so that people know if they are a good fit or not. I think it is a great idea. It works.

    1. Thanks for your insights from the other point of view. It’s interesting that you can create great relationships with people.

  7. Your information is really helpful. I have always wanted to be “a proper writer” who gets paid but never even knew about how to go about it. I appreciate the advice in the comments too. I think I may approach some writers and just put my stuff out there on these sites- no harm in trying right? You never know what may come. Either way I have nothing to lose – especially not the joy I gain from writing! Thanks for this.

    1. Hi Nasilele, you do need to be careful when it comes to approaching other writers to put your content on their sites. I’ll cover this next week in more detail, but bloggers like to hear pitches that will link fully with their audience as well as your own targeted audience.

  8. I’m not a service provider bug I have used elance. From a service providers point of view it’s about how you show you can provide value and why you’re a little different to others. You’ve done another great review.

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