Falcor The Luck Dragon and Textbroker

Well, now I feel bad. 

I'm not really a confrontational person. I don't like to ruffle feathers and stir the pot.  Don't get me wrong, I will speak my mind if I feel that it is necessary.  But when I do, I usually feel like I've gone too far.  So, after I got an e-mail from a Textbroker employee regarding my scathing post about Textbroker, I reread the post in question...

... and immediately felt bad.

I may have been too harsh on Textbroker.  I compared the freelance writing community to Elance which may have been unfair.  I might have unnecessarily stomped Textbroker's good name into the mud.  I may have been comparing puppies to luck dragons.

If you came to me and said you really wanted to get a puppy, my review of Textbroker would be like this response:

"Why would you want a puppy?  They can't fly around and carry you around on their backs!  You should really get a luck dragon, not a puppy.  Falcor is the only pet worth getting."

Well, ok, yes.  A luck dragon would be nice.  But what if you really wanted a puppy?  What if you wanted something simple and easy to understand.  Something that required less maintenance.  A puppy would be great.  Textbroker isn't a luck dragon, but it isn't completely worthless either.

If you want a simple way to make extra money each month, Textbroker is fantastic.  If you don't want to go through the hassle of bidding on projects, creating a profile, advertising your services, keeping up with complicated client deadlines, and taking self-examinations, Textbroker is the perfect choice.  Textbroker has a huge collection of available articles that you can write immediately.  They pay their writers regularly.  They are usually fair with their ratings.  The only reason Textbroker didn't work for ME is because I was looking for a way to grow my freelance writing career.  I needed to be recognized so that I could gain loyal clients.  I needed expansion. 

I needed a luck dragon.

Using Elance to Make Money

Yesterday, I talked about Textbroker and why I think it is a complete waste of a freelancer's time.  Today, I'm goingt to talk about Elance...

...because I think that Elance is exactly the opposite of a waste of time.  In fact, I think it's amazing.  Don't get me wrong, I won't be freelancing on Elance for the rest of my life.  For now, though, I'm going to show you how I can make a living using this incredible freelance community.

If you are a writer, a web designer, a marketing specialist, a social media networking specialist, an SEO writer, or a computer programmer... you can find WORK on ELANCE.  I'm talking about high paying, high quality, legit work, not cheap, ridiculous, five dollars an hour work.  You can actually be COMPENSATED for your time.

What Is Elance?
Elance is a community of freelancers.  You have to register to be a member of the Elance community whether you are looking to work or to hire.  Once you are a member (a process I'll explain later), you can bid on projects, complete work, and get paid.  Here are the benefits of freelancing within a community like Elance:

• Payment is always guaranteed with escrowed funds
• Clients are abundant; you don't have to hunt for hours looking for work
• Work is more substantial, projects come in packages of several articles
• Elance takes a cut of your earnings, not a monthly fee, so a dry spell won't cost you
• Your performance, client ratings, and skills are rated and ranked so that you can easily stand out amongst a crowd
• You can self-test to show potential clients what your skills are
• YOU are in complete control of how much money you want to make per job

If you are looking to jumpstart a brand new freelancing career, get yourself through a dip in client jobs, or do something totally new on the side to make a few hundred dollars extra every month you have got to try out Elance.  It's fun.  It costs nothing.  You can make MONEY. 

Boom bada boom.

Anybody else use Elance?  Any hobby writers out there who have considered trying to freelance but didn't know where to start?

The Freelance Experience

So, guess what I'm figuring out?  Freelance writing is hard work.  Ok, I see you all seasoned freelancers slapping your foreheads and groaning.  Of course it's hard work, you say!  Nevertheless, I admit I initially subscribed to the "I Can Write Fast So I'll Make A Ton Of Money In No Time" school of thought. 

Thankfully, the rainbow is gone and the dancing leprechaun at my feet revealed himself to be a Reality Gnome.  I've got it now.  This career choice is danged hard.

My Freelance Experience

I've been working as a freelance writer for about a year now.  I started out writing articles (for dirt cheap) on a website called Textbroker.  Textbroker was a great place for me to start because it provided me with simple articles to write and didn't require any sort of bid process.  It's just first come, first served.  Eventually, I graduated to Elance. And that's where I've parked my derriere for the time being.  Elance is great, and for now, it is providing me with most of the work I need.  There is still room for growth, of course, and I've got other plans for developing my own personal brand...  but that's going to take time.

Wanna Know A Secret?

I spend about an hour each day reading some great blogs about writing, freelance writing, marketing, social media, and SEO principles.  One thing I've noticed, there doesn't seem to be a lot of blogs about getting your foot IN THE DOOR of the freelance community.  I'm going to add a few posts for the next few weeks about my experiences with Elance and Textbroker, and offer some tips to those who are considering the industry.

To my readers: if you have been considering pursuing some ventures that will provide you with a little extra income each month, I encourage you to try Elance.  Keep checking back for my insider secrets about how I found jobs, wrote successful bids, and kept my clients coming back for more!

Sign up for ELANCE today: it's easy and free!