Guru.com was a disapointment. The “free” service was clunky, and didn’t allow me to look and see what prospective jobs were out there. I stayed signed up anyway and received email alerts about new jobs (which was one of the few features I liked.) However, as I had signed up with “grant writing” as a focus I found few good leads. The job postings were similar to:

I need money to purchase a house so I can start a salon business downstairs and live upstairs with my son. I need a grant for single mothers.

I received very few leads from people who were actually qualified to receive grants. Most people were looking for angel investors and they had very little in the way of tangible business plans or business savvy. It looked like a nightmare of a starting point and so I moved on.

My second choice was much better, and it was here that I obtianed my first client (who would go on to Emma’s Hall of Fame as my first repeat client also.) Elance was straightforward to setup and I actually got to pitch my ideas to real honest-to-goodness clients. I also had a great time scouting out my competitors and potential clients to see how I would fare.

If you’re ready to start looking into Freelance Writing for someone else besides yourself Elance.com is a great place to start. Take a look around, see what types of jobs are being posted and make note of ones you would be interested in. Don’t look at prices right now, just look at the types of jobs. Add them to your watch list.

When these jobs close, look at the portfolios of the people who won the bids. What sort of experience do they have? If it was open bidding, how did they post thier info – was it through the PMB? Did they disclose their business terms? How did they sound (professional or casual)? Take a good look at each of these things because you will use them to build your portfolio and to present bids to prospective clients.

In my first month I was able to land 4 clients with different freelance writing needs. I’m still working with three of them. I highly recommend Elance as a starting point for all serious Freelance Writers – it will help you get your foot in the door. Just remember, when you get to this step it’s no longer just about you being a writer – it’s about you doing business with others.

After a few posts figuring out how to do what, when, where and how I landed my first client.